The Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience
By Robert Acuff|Published Date: November 25, 2009
A special edition of the Wilberforce Forum aired last evening with four of the one hundred fifty-two original signers of the Manhattan Declaration (www.manhattandeclaration.org) which was released last Friday during a press conference at the National Press Club in Washington DC. The Declaration is the compilation of thought from Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians focusing upon three basic tenets of the Christian faith: the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage between a man and a woman and the rights of conscience and religious liberty.
These groups have united at this time to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon their fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join in defending these truths. Our guests for this special edition were Rev. Carmen S. Fowler, president and executive editor of the Presbyterian Lay Committee, Dr. Kenneth L. Hutcherson, founder and senior pastor of Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland, Washington, Bishop George Dallas McKinney, founder and pastor of St. Stephen’s Cathedral of God in Christ of San Diego, and John Stonestreet, Executive Director of Summit Ministries.
During the program our guests outlined their position and unwavering refusal to compromise their beliefs. They have affirmed, along with the other signers, that they will be unwavering in support of the code of beliefs as outlined in the Declaration. Currently, 76,000 (as of this writing), individuals have visited the website and agree with the original signers to never compromise what they believe, answering first to God’s law above civil laws to the extent of suffering the consequence of the loss of exempt tax status for their churches and institutions as well as imprisonment for their actions and speech. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote from the Birmingham jail, “an unjust law is no law at all”. If you are ready to make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, go to the Declaration website, read and sign the document.
