A clarion call

A clarion call to all Christians and the Church to take a stand on three vital issues.

SANCTITY OF LIFE

     A culture of death inevitably cheapens life in all its stages and conditions by promoting the belief that lives that are imperfect, immature or inconvenient are discardable.

“Please don’t kill the child. I want the child. Please give me the child. I am willing to accept any child who would be aborted and to give that child to a married couple who will love the child and be loved by the child.” - MOTHER TERESA, NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST, 1994

DIGNITY OF MARRIAGE

  Marriage is without exception the Union of one man and one woman.

  Marriage is the first institution of human society - indeed it is the institution on which all other human institutions have their foundation.

“When the family collapses, it is the children that are usually damaged. When it happens on a massive scale, the community itself is crippled.” - LYNDON B. JOHNSON

FREEDOM OF RELIGION

   No one should be compelled to embrace any religion against his will, nor should persons of faith be forbidden to worship God according to the dictates of conscience or to express freely and publicly their deeply held religious convictions.

 “Religious freedom, an essential requirement of the dignity of every person, is a cornerstone of the structure of human rights, and for this reason, an irreplaceable factor in the good of individuals and of the whole of society as well as of the personal fulfillment of each individual.” -POPE JOHN PAUL II

Because the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as a union of husband and wife, and the freedom of religion are foundational principles of justice and the common good, as Christians we affirm:

• 1. The profound, inherent, and equal dignity of every human life
• 2. Marriage as a union of one man and one woman
• 3. Religious liberty and the inherent freedom of human beings

As Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Old Roman Catholics, we take seriously the Biblical admonition to respect and obey those in authority. Because we honor justice and the common good, we will fully and ungrudging render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But under no circumstances will we ever render to Caesar what is God’s.