Manifestos and petitions are not my thing. As Jared Wilson so aptly told me earlier today: No one remembers them six months later. Though normally true, I think The Manhattan Declaration might be different. It has been featured on several major news networks, was drafted in part by Evangelical megaleader Chuck Colson, and has been endorsed by men I highly respect such as Albert Mohler, J.I. Packer, Wayne Grudem, and Tim Keller.
What is it?
The Manhattan Declaration is a call to Christians (Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox) to stand for the sanctity of life, the preservation of marriage, and religious liberty. Published in 2009, it currently has over 400,000 signees. Here are a few excerpts on each topic discussed:
LIFE
Around the globe, we are witnessing cases of genocide and “ethnic cleansing,” the failure to assist those who are suffering as innocent victims of war, the neglect and abuse of children, the exploitation of vulnerable laborers, the sexual trafficking of girls and young women, the abandonment of the aged, racial oppression and discrimination, the persecution of believers of all faiths, and the failure to take steps necessary to halt the spread of preventable diseases like AIDS. We see these travesties as flowing from the same loss of the sense of the dignity of the human person and the sanctity of human life that drives the abortion industry and the movements for assisted suicide, euthanasia, and human cloning for biomedical research. And so ours is, as it must be, a truly consistent ethic of love and life for all humans in all circumstances.
MARRIAGE
In Scripture, the creation of man and woman, and their one-flesh union as husband and wife, is the crowning achievement of God’s creation. In the transmission of life and the nurturing of children, men and women joined as spouses are given the great honor of being partners with God Himself. Marriage then, is the first institution of human society—indeed it is the institution on which all other human institutions have their foundation. … We acknowledge that there are those who are disposed towards homosexual and polyamorous conduct and relationships, just as there are those who are disposed towards other forms of immoral conduct. We have compassion for those so disposed; we respect them as human beings possessing profound, inherent, and equal dignity; and we pay tribute to the men and women who strive, often with little assistance, to resist the temptation to yield to desires that they, no less than we, regard as wayward. We stand with them, even when they falter. We, no less than they, are sinners who have fallen short of God’s intention for our lives. We, no less than they, are in constant need of God’s patience, love and forgiveness.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY
The right to religious freedom has its foundation in the example of Christ Himself and in the very dignity of the human person created in the image of God—a dignity, as our founders proclaimed, inherent in every human, and knowable by all in the exercise of right reason. Christians confess that God alone is Lord of the conscience. Immunity from religious coercion is the cornerstone of an unconstrained conscience. 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. What is true for individuals applies to religious communities as well.
Why is The Manhattan Declaration important?
With the Obama administration in full swing, Liberalism is attacking American quicker than ever. The secular news media is no doubt helping Obama push his agenda on abortion, freedom of marriage in different forms, and the suppression of Christian principles that supposedly once governed this nation. What’s worse, there is an optional abortion section in the new healthcare bill (though the abortion clause doubtedly will pass).
Christian leaders have been entirely too silent for years on these issues. Perhaps they assumed that the world knew the Christian stance and believed that they didn’t need to vocalize it. Regardless, Christendom should applaud Chuck Colson, Robert George, and Timothy George for putting this manifesto together. Prominent atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens take their shots on a regular basis, mocking our faith regularly with no regard. Sadly, Christians have taken the “turn the other cheek” approach to the extreme while the Kingdom of God is smeared and stomped by the very country we swear allegiance to.
Though we are called to obey our national authorities (Romans 13:1-7), Scripture makes it rather clear that we are commanded to obey God first (Acts 5:29). The Manhattan Declaration does offer advice on this subject:
Because we honor justice and the common good, we will not comply with any edict that purports to compel our institutions to participate in abortions, embryo-destructive research, assisted suicide and euthanasia, or any other anti-life act; nor will we bend to any rule purporting to force us to bless immoral sexual partnerships, treat them as marriages or the equivalent, or refrain from proclaiming the truth, as we know it, about morality and immorality and marriage and the family. We will fully and ungrudgingly render to Caesar what is Caesar’s. But under no circumstances will we render to Caesar what is God’s.
What are the negatives?
John MacArthur and R.C. Sproul are noteworthy petitioners of this petition. Both make the argument that the document promotes ecumenicalism between Protestants, Catholics, and Eastern Orthodox faiths – a compromise that Protestants should not make, citing differences of belief regarding the Gospel itself.
Though the concerns of these men and others are valid, the ecumenicalism of The Manhattan Declaration should not be considered a “deal breaker,” so to speak. Though Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy both do a lot of damage to the Protestant belief of sola fide, it would be quite the stretch to call them heretics or be unwilling to stand beside them in the fight for life, marriage, and religious freedom. For that matter, should we not welcome non-believers in the fight for these principles?
Why did I sign?
I signed The Manhattan Declaration because I believe that the three issues addressed are being attacked by the Liberal bent of America in the 21st century.
I signed The Manhattan Declaration because I truly believe that Christianity itself is being infiltrated at an all-time rate by Liberalism, leading many saints astray.
Most importantly, I signed The Manhattan Declaration because I stand behind the Word of God and its principles on these matters.
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