Legislation

Moral Action Committee
6273 Miller Road
Swartz Creek, MI 48473
Executive Director:  Dr. Roy L. McLaughlin  

Moral Action Committee Report
 Given April 23, 2008
by
Dr. Roy L. McLaughlin, Executive Director

 

There is one thing that I often heard growing up in the Baptist church my family attended in Dallas, TX that was just plain wrong.  It usually went something like this, “Well now we’re Baptist and that means we don’t get involved in anything controversial, we just preach the gospel.”  I must tell you, a non- controversial gospel is an oxymoron.  As most of you know an oxymoron is a seeming contradiction where you take two seemingly contradictory descriptions and use them to describe the same person place or thing, you know sort of like “Humble Texan” or “Honest Politician”.  Now that is an oxymoron.  It is just as much of an oxymoron to say we have a non-controversial gospel. 

 

The gospel by its essence and nature is controversial and Jesus makes that clear to us in the 5th chapter of the gospel of Matthew.  I want you to notice beginning in verse one, “And seeing the multitudes He went up into the mountains and when He was set, His disciples came to Him and He opened His mouth and taught them.” 

 

Listen to what He says in verse 13, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.  Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.  Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”   Jesus looks at a world that is in degeneration - that is in rot – that is in spoliation and He turns to Christians and He says, “you are to be the salt of the earth.”  Now salt is first and foremost a preservative.  It does not make a dead thing a living thing.  But it does keep a dead thing from becoming a rotting thing. 

 

When I travel I always carry with me a package of beef jerky.  Now there are two reasons for this.  One is as a native born Texan it is my patriotic duty to eat some portion of a cow every day.  Second, no matter how much time I spend traveling, and that package of beef jerky stays in my luggage, it’s not going to spoil, it’s not going to rot.  Why?  Because it’s been cured with salt, it has salt rubbed into it so that it’s not going to spoil the way regular meat would spoil. 

 

Jesus is saying that we are to go out into a decaying world and we are to be a preservative.  We are to stop the rot.  Stop the decay.  Now salt is also a purifying agent.  It’s a disinfectant.  Now we don’t use it for a disinfectant that much because it stings and it burns and it irritates, but salt will purify a wound.  It will kill infection. 

 

Jesus is commanding us to be a purifying agent and a preservative, but you know, if the salt is over here and what needs to be salted is over there, it doesn’t do any good.  We must be out in the world seeking to preserve and to purify and then Jesus says we are to be the light of the world.  He says let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.  When I was a small boy we had a song we use to sing in the children’s program “this little light of mine I’m going to let is shine, hide it under a bushel “NO” I’m going to let is shine.” 

 

Now our light, to be effective, has to be close enough to the world that they can see the light and feel the heat.  Jesus looks at a world that is lost in darkness and despair and He says you are to bring light you are to bring illumination.  But the problem is men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.  You go shining light into dark places and pretty soon they are throwing rocks at your light or they are trying to shoot out your headlight because they love darkness rather than light. 

 

Did you know?             The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they’re ignorant:  It’s just that they know so much that isn’t so, and they have bought into “the darkness!”

 

Light penetrates the darkness and illuminates the gloom - but salt burns and stings and irritates.  When we go out into the world and we seek to be salt and we seek to be light we’re going to burn and sting and irritate the world.  We’re going to expose those who love darkness and they are going to try to remove the salt and they are going to try to put out the light.  So we are going to be controversial.  That’s why Paul says all who live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer. 

 

If you are not suffering somewhere for your witness for the Lord Jesus Christ, then your witness for the Lord Jesus Christ is not what it ought to be.  If you are not left out of some invitation list, if you are not considered to be radical by somebody or some group in your community, then your witness for the Lord Jesus Christ is not what it ought to be.  Because if we are going to be obedient, we must be willing to be salt and light.

 

Now let’s talk about some very important issues.  Let’s talk about pornography.  Pornography I believe is the devil’s chosen weapon to seek to destroy America.  It’s a powerful weapon with the internet as its aid and asset.  Salt seeks to stop this subterranean electronic river of emotional and polluted slime that is oozing up like toxic waste into the homes and hearts of Americans.  It is our job as believers to go out and seek to eliminate the scourge of pornography, to keep it out of the hands of children and adults, to restrict it, to do everything we can to keep it from contaminating the hearts and the minds of men and women. 

 

On the subject of abortion, “we have to stop the killing!”  We have to stop the killing of our unborn children.  We have aborted one third of all the babies conceived in America over the last 35 years.  That’s one out of every three.  The Bible tells us that children are an inheritance from God.  America is like the prodigal son.  We have taken the inheritance of our unborn children and we’ve gone to a far city and there we have wasted that inheritance in riotous living and now we are reduced like the prodigal to feeding among the swine - for the husks of life.  The only hope for us as a nation is like the prodigal to come to our senses and to stand up and to shake the filth from ourselves and to return to our Father.  God had a plan and God had a purpose for every one of those babies that was aborted.  Have we aborted the next Billy Graham?  He could be 35 years old if his mother aborted him in 1973.  Have we aborted the next Abraham Lincoln?  He could have 34 if his mother aborted him in 1974.  Have we aborted the girl that God was molding and knitting and shaping in her mother’s womb to come forth and to find the cure for cancer?  She could be 33 and out of medical school and embarked on her research if her mother aborted her in 1975.  There is a one in three chance that this is precisely what we’ve done, because we have aborted one third of our babies.  For the last 35 years the most dangerous place an American can be is in his or her mother’s womb between conception and birth.  May God help us! 

 

God is not going to bless a nation that aborts its babies.  Being salt is stopping the killing.  Being light is saying everybody is a somebody to God.  God never created a nobody. 

 

It is so sad that we have in this country many church-going people who understand that abortion is wrong and shouldn’t be done.  We have many people who believe that pornography is wrong and people should look at it, but they have been deeply deceived, they have been misled by a liberal lie and misconstruction of the first amendment that calls for the so called separation of church and state.  They say you can’t legislate morality.  Nonsense. 

 

Society legislates morality all the time.  Laws against murder, laws against theft, laws against rape, laws against slavery, and laws against racism are the legislation of morality.  When we pass laws making murder and theft and rape and slavery and racism illegal, we are not so much trying to impose our morality on murderers and thieves and rapists and slave owners and racists as much as we are trying to keep them from imposing their immorality on their victims; because you see murder, theft, rape, slavery, and racism is not between consenting adults in private.  Somebody is doing something to somebody else against “their will” and we have a right and an obligation to protect those who are being victimized.  The same thing is true with abortion.  When we pass laws restricting abortion we are not trying to impose our morality on a pregnant mother.  We are trying to keep a pregnant mother from imposing her immorality on her unborn child. 

 

John Adams our second president said, “We have a government that is designed only for a moral and a religious people.  It is inadequate for any other.” 

 

Have you ever wondered what the Ten Commandments would have looked like if Moses had run them through the U.S. Congress?

 

Romans 13 states that God gave us government to punish those who do evil and to reward those who do that which is right.  You take away from government the ability to get on the side of right and against the side of evil and you’ve taken away from government the one reason God gave us government in the first place. 

 

Now may I give you some practical things you can do. 

˙       Number one is pray.  “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”  II Chronicles 7:14

˙       You need to be registered to vote.  And, you need to register everyone you know who has the same core values and you need to vote.   

May I encourage you to practice Christian stewardship with your vote.  Most importantly, remember you are not the property of a political party, you are the blood-bought property of the Lord Jesus Christ.

˙       You need to get involved.  Both parties in this country can use more help than all the Christians that America can give them.  Get involved in the process.  Make a difference.

 

May God bless you as you seek to honor Him in your moral/political life.  Let each of us continue to pray for God to bless this nation.

 

Dr. Roy L. McLaughlin,

Executive Director of MAC

 

 

What Is Meant By Separation Of Church And State?

 

One of the most neutralizing issues of our day is that of church/state separation.  The so-called law of separation between church and state has been used by many opponents of the church and religious community to restrict and reduce religious activity to the narrow confines of church property.

 

Christian ideas and lifestyles have been squelched by the myth of the phrase “separation of church and state” being found in the First Amendment.

 

It is essential that church leaders understand what is really meant by separation of church and state.  The concept of a secular state, that is, one separate from the church, did not exist when the Constitution and the Bill of Rights were being written.

 

When the Constitution was completed at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787, it contained no amendments.  The amendments known as the Bill of Rights were added to the original Constitution as restraints on the federal government.

 

The First Amendment, which is perhaps the most well known, guarantees, among other things, the freedom of religion and speech.  It states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

 

Notice the separation emphasis in the First Amendment occurred between the Congress (federal government) and any establishment of religion.  This fact is magnified by offering a simple definition to the primary words in the First Amendment.

 

The word “Congress” has, from the beginning, been interpreted to mean the federal branch of government.  The word “respecting” is defined as “having anything to do with.”  “Establishment” has historically meant “government support of a single church or government preference of one Christian creed or denomination over another.”  James Madison defined “religion” as “the duty we owe to our Creator.”

 

As you can see, this amendment was designed to place restrictions on the federal government and not the states.  It was meant to ensure the continuance of the Biblical foundation and the religious liberties germane to the founding fathers and the documents they penned.

 

You will also notice that the words “church and state” are not to be found in the First Amendment and the popular phrase “wall of separation” is also absent from the Constitution.  These are contemporary terms, and many Christians today are often heard referring to “the time honored tradition of the separation of church and state.”  Clearly, there is a misunderstanding of the issue and the substance of the Constitution.

 

As people understand the First Amendment in its historical context, they can then understand how distorted this amendment has become.  The Supreme Court, by ignoring the historical context for the First Amendment, has managed to nullify 300 years of true American tradition and, in the process, the Court has violated the law it was sworn to uphold.

 

This has provided the impetus for the religious purge that has continued to this day.  This “separation of church and state” has provided the motivation for groups such as the ACLU who file more than 6,000 suits each year.  The ACLU and other groups have successfully weakened the moral and spiritual fiber of our nation.

 

Understanding the facts regarding the First Amendment can certainly help in the fight to turn this nation around.  As former President Reagan said, “The First Amendment was given to provide freedom of religion, not freedom from religion.”

 

As Christians we should be concerned with the details of the law and how it relates to us, but we should not be sidetracked into a defensive lifestyle that wishes to comply with non-existent terms such as “wall of separation” between “church and state.”

 

What we must do is major on what is really there within the First Amendment.  That is, the guarantee of freedom of religion and the guarantee that the federal government will leave the church alone in the proclamation of the faith and the exercise of free speech.  In addition, we must protect our freedom to express our religious viewpoint.

 

 

Do’s and Don’ts of Political Activity for Churches and Pastors

 

Pastors are concerned about the legal effects of political activity on themselves and their churches.  Churches are exempt from federal tax so long as they do not participate in political campaigns.  Federal election law also places restrictions upon political activity by individuals and institutions, particularly corporations, both profit and non-profit.  The scope of proper political activity varies from case to case, but the following do’s and don’ts are applicable.

 

Voter Registration

Pastors and  churches may engage in non-partisan voter registration activities, since such activity is not considered political for tax or election law purposes, unless an attempt is made to register only voters of a particular party.

 

“Political” or “Electoral” Activities

A pastor may individually, or personally, endorse candidates for political office.

 

A church may not endorse candidates for political office, and a pastor may not endorse candidates on behalf of his church.

 

A pastor’s personal endorsement may be made from the pulpit if it is made clear that it is his personal view and not that of the church itself.

 

A pastor may allow his name to be used as a supporter of a candidate in the candidate’s own political advertisements.  In this connection, the pastor may be identified as pastor of a particular church.  (Not very wise – RLM)

 

Churches may engage in non-partisan voter registration and voter education activities so long as such activities are not intended to benefit any political candidate or party.

 

A church may allow political candidates to speak on church premises on the same basis that civic groups and other organizations are allowed. 

 

A candidate should not be allowed to appeal to a church congregation at a church service for support or funds to be used in his political campaign.

 

Lists of members of the church congregation may be provided to candidates for use in seeking support or raising funds only on the same basis that such lists are made available to other individuals and organizations.  If a charge is normally made for such a list, the candidate should pay the same amount.  No favoritism should be shown among candidates in providing a list of congregation members.  (Not very wise – RLM)

 

A “church” may not establish a “political action” committee. 

 

“Pastors and other like-minded individuals” may establish a political action committee, but care should be taken that the committee is separate from the church.  Meaning, the committee should not be named the “churches” political action committee.  A name like “Concerned Citizens for Morality” or the “Moral Action Committee of (your city)” should be chosen.

 

“Legislative” Activities

A church may not engage in “substantial” legislative (as opposed to electoral) activities.  The substantiality of legislative activities is usually measured by reference to church expenditures.  Expenditures of less than 5% of an organization’s total budget are generally not considered substantial.

 

A church may give its mailing list to a legislative organization (lobby) on the same basis that such a list is made available to other organizations.  If a legislative organization is given more favorable terms for receiving a mailing list than other organizations, the cost of the list would be considered a legislative expenditure.

 

A pastor may engage in lobbying activities in his individual capacity without adversely affecting the tax-exempt status of his church.