A coalition of conservative Christian groups advocates defunding the “Religious Left” and its support of the Democrat Party.
The Deposit of Faith Coalition called on the U.S. government to end its funding of politically liberal churches and U.S. Catholic bishops who promote radical leftist causes.
The coalition of 10 separate Christian organizations, including Church Militant, hosted a press conference in Washington, on July 20 to expose government funding to promote an “anti-America Democrat Party agenda.”
“Through the decades, these groups have received billions in taxpayer dollars, which they’ve used to promote the radical America-last policies of the Democrat Party—such as gun control, open border, climate change paranoia, and religious censorship,” the coalition wrote in a press release.
The coalition proposes three ways to defund these organizations.
One is to stop Congressional appropriation committees from granting them contracts.
Another is to require leftist churches to publish tax filings through an amended IRS code.
A third is to revoke tax-exempt status for politically oriented religious organizations.
Immediately before the press conference, the coalition held a prayer rally in front of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) in the nation’s capital.
The coalition believes the USCCB is Catholic in name only and a leading sponsor of radical anti-American programs.
The press conference featured four guest speakers who discussed controversial topics essential to maintaining personal liberty and freedom.
Freedom and Prosperity
Mr. Loudon countered leftist climate change doctrine with the religious teaching of The Bible.“The message of The Bible is that the Earth is here for us. You follow God’s laws, you be a good steward, and bounty is what you can expect,” Mr. Loudon said.
“There is unlimited potential in this world because we are creative beings who can solve any problem if we have the liberty to do so. And that is the key point—the liberty to do so.”
“The message is very clear: the Christian view brings freedom and prosperity. And the Catholic bishops are now standing directly in opposition to that view. They’re standing with the Marxists. They’re backing the climate-change extremists.”
“The Green movement is the ‘watermelon’ movement. It’s green on the outside but universally red in the middle.”
William Wagner, president of the Great Lakes Justice Center, discussed Michigan’s new “Hate Speech Law” and how it enables arbitrary enforcement to undermine free speech and conscience.
The new law carries both a fine and potential jail time for “misgendering” transgender people.
“We get to a place very quickly if you want to make up truth and suppress truth and ideas with which you disagree, and you have the power of government to do so, while why don’t we just make a law?” Mr. Wagner said.
“The free exercise of religious conscience and the freedom of speech is the constitutional rule of law in this nation that limits the exercise of government power.”
Mr. Wagner conceded that freedom of speech is not absolute—because one cannot use slander, libel, or threats against another without legal consequences.
“You can’t go into a bank and say you’ve got a bomb, and I’m going to blow up this bank unless you give me all the money. And when you get arrested, you can’t say you’ve got a First Amendment right to say that,” Mr. Wagner said.
Tyranny of ‘Hate Speech’ Laws
“That is why what you see is an attempt by the Left to add another thing called hate speech. The problem is that they are regulating ideas, regulating viewpoints, regulating sacred viewpoints. And they’re putting a label on it to make it sound good.”“Here’s the problem. Perhaps the most troubling are the provisions that unconstitutionally make citizens criminally punishable for their idea and viewpoints.”
Sheena Rodriguez, president and founder of the Alliance for a Safe Texas, spoke about illegal immigration and child trafficking, linking an international coalition of organizations such as the UN, religious charities, and non-government organizations (NGOs) fueling the crisis.
Ms. Rodriguez said current government policies incentivize the crisis, “thrusting [illegal immigrants] into a modern-day slavery scheme.”
“What if I told you this is being done under what some may perceive as a distortion of fundamental Christian principles?”
Ms. Rodriguez said the global immigration crisis exists because of a belief that international law supersedes the domestic law of sovereign nations and states.
“It operates under the proclamation of the UN that migration is a human right, often echoing far-Left rhetorical lines, such as no one is illegal,” she said.
“Many of these international and domestic organizations are simultaneously working against U.S. immigration laws with assistance from the Biden administration, which has fueled this massive, modern-day slavery scheme in the most massive, unprecedented scale in modern history.”
Gun rights activist Zoe Warren, host of “2A For Today,” discussed firearms ownership under the Constitution as a bulwark against government tyranny.
Mr. Warren said the purpose of the Second Amendment is to “neutralize tyranny,” citing a well-funded strategic effort by the political left to “cause America to schism” and to become powerless in the face of government overreach.
“Your right to bear arms comes from God, not from government,” said Mr. Warren, adding that gun ownership is an “impediment and restraint” to political oppression.
“And by tyranny, I mean trespassing on our God-given rights,” he said.
The USCCB press office did not respond to an email from The Epoch Times asking for the Catholic Church’s reply to the comments made by Deposit of Faith Coalition delegates.
