As the NCLL fights for your religious liberty in federal court (against tech giant Amazon and the SPLC), the U.S. Department of Justice recently signaled a renewed commitment to our shared cause.
In announcing a Religious Liberty Task Force on Monday, July 30, the Attorney General publicly called out the unrelenting assaults on our First Amendment Rights to Free Expression and Free Speech. He revealed, “A dangerous movement, undetected by many, is now challenging and eroding our great tradition of religious freedom. There can be no doubt. This is no little matter. It must be confronted and defeated.”
The call for justice continued, “We have gotten to the point where courts have held that morality cannot be a basis for law; where ministers are fearful to affirm, as they understand it, holy writ from the pulpit.”
During this judicial crisis, please pray as our federal lawsuit advances against the SPLC and Amazon (for their slander and civil rights violations against legacy ministry, D. James Kennedy Ministries). We appreciate the Attorney General’s statements denouncing religious defamation and discrimination, “where one group can actively target religious groups by labeling them a ‘hate group’ on the basis of their sincerely held religious beliefs.”
The NCLL affirms many of the Justice Department’s stated goals to protect a set of “20 fundamental principles.” As outlined, “Those include the principle that free exercise means a right to act—or to abstain from action. They include the principle that government shouldn’t impugn people’s motives or beliefs. We don’t give up our rights when we go to work, start a business, talk about politics, or interact with the government. We don’t give up our rights when we assemble or join together. We have religious freedom as individuals and as groups.”
The NCLL’s fight for Captain Kevin Fiedor—a 28-year-veteran law enforcement officer—is a direct answer to the “dangerous movement” outlined by the Attorney General to muzzle Christians. Captain Fiedor was blatantly discriminated against expressly for his Christian faith and moral convictions. You and I do not fear, because we ultimately have Truth on our side.
The Attorney General summarizes our position as Christians in an increasingly divided culture, “In short, we have not only the freedom to worship—but the right to exercise our faith. The Constitution’s protections don’t end at the parish parking lot nor can our freedoms be confined to our basements.”
Together, we can, and must, defend our First Amendment Rights to share the Gospel. When you stand with the NCLL, you work in the courts, with churches and other ministries, and in the marketplace of ideas to proclaim what is right and true. “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong. Let all your things be done with charity.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14