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Take a Stand With Us!
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
Dear friend,
The First Amendment states that the God-given right to the free exercise of religion shall not be infringed. Government does not "grant" us our rights, it must be prevented from infringing upon our natural, God-given rights.
As you may already know, for many years we have been planning to build an "Agape Restoration Community" - a Christian independent living community with 30-45 mostly wheelchair-accessible housing units and a community room / chapel: see www.Agape-Restoration-Society.org/ARC/building-the-ARC.htm. We have located a beautiful 8.8-acre hilltop property in the Borough of Trafford, PA, about 20 miles from downtown Pittsburgh, so our architect and I modified our site plan and preliminary building sketches to meet local zoning requirements and we put money down for an Option to Purchase the property.
The property is zoned "R-3 Multiple Family": zones "R-1 Single Family" and "R-2 Mixed-Use" both allow incidental religious use (a church) so our architect stated in our application that if religious use is permitted in R-1 and R-2 zones, it should also be permitted in the less-restrictive R-3 zone. On May 6, 2019, the then-acting building code inspector agreed with this interpretation of the zoning ordinance, approved our architect's site plan, and wrote that we could now apply for a Building Permit. But we were waiting and waiting for clarification of a minor point until the middle of July, with no response from the town manager.
Then we were informed that a new code inspector would be hired. This person decided to refer our application to the town's attorney, who interpreted the R-3 zoning ordinance to mean that if it doesn't explicitly allow incidental religious use, then it is not allowed. So we had to pay a $300 fee to apply for a zoning variance, hire attorneys, and wait again for the Trafford Zoning Board to meet on September 5.
This meeting lasted two hours: I said that the R-3 zoning ordinance does not need to explicitly allow religious use, because U.S. law is based on English "natural law" that whatever is not prohibited is permitted, whereas European law is based on Roman law that whatever is not explicitly permitted is prohibited. Our architect stated that our planned community room/chapel is less than 10% of the floor area of all the buildings and would greatly enhance the attractiveness of our planned community: most independent living, condo, and townhouse developments have some kind of common meeting spaces.
There were questions from the board and objections from the townspeople, both which demonstrated a clear anti-religious bias: we could have birthday parties, pizza parties, common meals, etc. in the community room, but not religious use: "Would you build this community here without a chapel?" I replied that our organization is registered with the I.R.S. as a non-denominational Christian organization and we intend to build a specifically Christian community. "Will you allow Muslims to live in your Christian community?" "Why do you need an 'altar' and 'sacristy'?" "Will you have fixed seating [pews]?" Attorneys for the adjacent townhouse association, which has a swimming pool and clubhouse where their community sometimes holds meetings and parties, spoke against our application for a zoning variance to allow religious use. The Zoning Board decided not to decide that evening, so they announced a new meeting in three weeks.
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The CDC statistics are 2 in 5 - that's 40% - of adults age 65 years and older have a disability. And as we age, it climbs to 70% of us will be disabled before we die. Will you be proactive and deal with this probability, or think "This doesn't apply to me"?
The Trafford Borough Zoning Board met again on September 25 to give their decision. They did allow me and others to speak: I said that our attorneys had requested that the following federal law be inserted in the minutes; I gave them a copy and I read the underlined portions of the "Title 42 U.S. Code §2000cc. Protection of Land Use as Religious Exercise." The attorneys for the townhouse association asked if our non-profit organization would pay property taxes on the housing units, and I assured them that we would. Then the board met briefly to make their final decision to not grant our requested variance. In this decision, they flatly disregarded this federal law, which clearly states:
"(b) Discrimination and exclusion
(1) Equal terms No government shall impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that treats a religious assembly or institution on less than equal terms with a nonreligious assembly or institution.
(2) Nondiscrimination No government shall impose or implement a land use regulation that discriminates against any assembly or institution on the basis of religion or religious denomination."
The board said they will mail me a printed copy of their decision. At first, I didn't see much sense in trying to fight for our First Amendment right to the free exercise of religion. But if we drop the issue, we will have wasted almost five months and several thousands of dollars in architect's and attorney's fees due to Trafford's foot-dragging and resisting. How much more time and money would we have to spend before we could make any headway with the stubborn Trafford Borough? Is it time to look elsewhere? No, we must appeal this clearly illegal decision!
Our architect agrees that this is an unjust decision and that the town is working against its own best interests. Our attorneys advise that we should wait for the written decision and then consider contacting the U.S. Attorney's office in Pittsburgh: when faced with a lawsuit and likely unfavorable decision from the Federal Government, plus fines and legal fees, local municipalities often concede.
I am revising the sketches of our main building to meet standard building codes for an "accessory use" assembly area: equal to or less than 750 sq. ft. and no more than 10% of the area of the building it is located in. This should eliminate any objections about zoning and building codes, as well as our already following federal law.
If that fails to gain local approval, we will make use of the DOJ's Place of Worship Initiative and How to File a Complaint: scroll down to the "Discrimination in Religious Land Use under RLUIPA" section.
So please pray for us and Take a Stand With Us as we take these actions. Do not think - "This doesn't apply to me" because the gradual nibbling away at our free exercise of religion affects every one of us Americans. And please share this message and our ARC website with your friends, especially our little "How YOU Can Help!" leaflets and on social media: let's make this Go Viral!
I CAN'T DO THIS BY MYSELF: I NEED YOUR HELP! So please WRITE US and say you will Take a Stand With Us for religious liberty. Thanks in advance!
Yours in Christ,
"Dr. Bob"
Robert D. Hosken, M.Min., D.Min.
In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit! Christ is among us! He is and ever shall be!
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NOW, THE NEWS:
CANADIAN CATHOLIC HOSPITAL DROPS OPPOSITION TO EUTHANASIA AFTER CRITICISM FROM BIOETHICIST
from: BioEdge
(22 Sep) A Catholic hospital in Nova Scotia has quietly changed its policy on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD), after heavy criticism from euthanasia advocacy groups and pro-euthanasia academics.
St Martha's Regional Hospital Complex in Antigonish is a facility under the control of the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NVHA), although it retains a Catholic designation. The hospital's founders, the Sisters of St Martha, reached an agreement with NVHA in 1996 to hand over administration of hospital to a secular board, while being given assurances that procedures such as euthanasia and abortion would not be provided in the facility. The Sisters believe in protecting life until the end.
Yet St Martha's is the major hospital for several counties in Nova Scotia, and critics argued that the hospital's ban on MAiD was preventing patients from accessing a legal medical procedure. Dying with Dignity Canada (DWDC) had even threatened to sue the hospital for violating patients' rights. In response, the hospital's board recently announced that MAiD will be made available at St Martha's.
In a statement to Global News, the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) said: "Assessments and provision of MAiD [Medical Assistance in Dying] will be available in a section of St. Martha's Regional Hospital complex at the Antigonish Health and Wellness Centre." Yet the shock decision was not just the result of pressure from DWDC. The hospital had also been criticised by outspoken Dalhousie University bioethics law academic Jocelyn Downie: "...it's indefensible to have a publicly funded institution have a faith-based filter on the services that are available," Downie told Canadian reporters in December 2018, singling out St Martha's in particular. [read more --]
HIGH COURT RULES THAT N. IRELAND BREACHES HUMAN RIGHTS BY PROTECTING UNBORN BABIES
from: LifeSite News
(3 Oct.) In a decision that "turns justice on its head" the High Court in Belfast has ruled that Northern Ireland's abortion laws breach the UK's human rights commitments. The High Court judge found in favour of Sarah Ewart, a woman from Northern Ireland, who travelled to England for an abortion after she was told that her baby would die before or shortly after birth.
"This judgement effectively says that severely disabled children, with life-limiting conditions, have no right to exist," Liam Gibson, SPUC's Northern Ireland political officer, explains. "They can be deprived of the most fundamental human right by having their lives taken from them. This is not justice, this is eugenics."
In making her judgement, Mrs Justice Keegan followed the opinion of four justices of the Supreme Court in London, who said last year that Northern Ireland's ban on most abortions was incompatible with Article 8 of the European Court of Human Rights, (the right to respect for private and family life), in prohibiting abortion in cases of rape and incest and "fatal foetal abnormality."
The 2018 case was dismissed, as the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, which brought it, had no legal standing to do so. Although the judge found in favour of Mrs Ewart, she did not make a formal declaration that Northern Ireland's abortion laws are incompatible with human rights. This is because of impending legislation, already passed at Westminster, which will decriminalise abortion if there is no deal to restore devolution in Northern Ireland by 21 October. [read more --]
(28 Sep.) The Divine Liturgy was celebrated solemnly in Kyiv on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, according to the Julian calendar. The Divine Liturgy was celebrated following the Orthros on Thursday night. Metropolitan of Kiev and All Ukraine concelebrated this morning with Metropolitan Emmanuel of France.
Metropolitan Emmanuel of France, who is currently on a visit to Kyiv these days, concelebrated the Divine Liturgy, along with Archbishop Agapit of Vyshgorod, Abbot of St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery. The Metropolitan of Kyiv thanked the Metropolitan of France for his visit and participation in the Divine Liturgy and asked to convey his respect and love to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
On his part, Metropolitan Emmanuel of France conveyed the wishes of the Ecumenical Patriarch and thanked Metropolitan Epifaniy for the opportunity to celebrate with the pious Ukrainian brothers the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. [read more --]
THE MARONITE PATRIARCHATE DENIES IT HAS RECOGNIZED THE OCU
from: Interfax-Religion
(4 Oct.) The Maronite Patriarchate denies the information that the visit of delegation of the new Church of Ukraine was held on invitation of the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and the whole East. "Maronite Patriarch of Antioch and the Whole Levant cardinal Bechara Boutros Rahi has never sent an invitation to the so-called OCU, as it was hurriedly reported by the OCU and spread by mass media," a source in the Maronite Patriarchate familiar with the situation reports.
He explained that members of a Maronite family brought a statue of St.Maron from Ukraine and set it up in their village in Lebanon. To celebrate the consecration of the statue they sent invitations to all Ukrainian Churches.
"On the request of Ukrainian Maronites, the Patriarchate provided Christian hospitality to the members of delegation even not knowing who they were," the patriarchate's officials stressed pointing out that their contacts have never exceeded the frames of ordinary polite greetings, and there has never been even mentioning of invitation to come to Lebanon with an official visit conveyed to the OCU head or any other cleric.
Having learnt about misinformation about the OCU visit, the Maronite Patriarchate demanded through its representatives in Ukraine to correct this false reports. However, according to the source, the OCU refused to make corrections. [read more --]
TAKING SIDES IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH'S BATTLES OVER RUSSIA AND UKRAINE
from: The Economist
(9 Sep.) JUST OVER a year has passed since the Patriarch Kyrill of Moscow, the Russian spiritual leader and ally of President Vladimir Putin, went to Istanbul to make one final attempt to dissuade another Orthodox prelate, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, from recognising an independent church in Ukraine.
The country’s leaders had appealed to Bartholomew many times for the re-establishment of an autonomous church to buttress Ukraine’s fragile sense of sovereignty after the Russian-backed rebellion in the east and invasion of Crimea in 2014. According to a leaked transcript, the visitor argued that Russians and Ukrainians were a single people, and that Ukraine’s government was illegitimate. Seeing that that their host, who enjoys “primacy of honour” in the Orthodox world, disagreed, the Russians left angrily.
Since then, and especially since Patriarch Bartholomew granted a “tomos”, or document of self-government, to Ukraine in January, relations between the two Patriarchates have crashed: bishops in Moscow call it the biggest split in eastern Christendom for centuries. It has turned into a global contest for influence over the world’s 200m or so Orthodox Christians, and on September 7th it surfaced in Paris, a city which in the aftermath of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution became a hub of Russian theology.
What happened in Paris is paradoxical. Of the two main poles of authority in the Orthodox world, the Ecumenical Patriarchate is regarded as the more Western-oriented. Its survival as a Christian enclave in Muslim Turkey relies, to some extent, on Western governments' advocacy of religious freedom. Its Muscovite counterpart has in recent years drawn closer to the Russian state.
Yet in Paris, a historically prestigious and democratically minded group of Orthodox Christians took a big step towards realigning themselves from the Istanbul-based Patriarchate to Moscow. Their representatives voted by 104 votes to 75 for a plan that would put them under Moscow’s aegis, albeit with wide autonomy: not quite the two-thirds majority needed, but their leader Archbishop Jean Renneteau said he would continue to support the proposal and might in due course conduct another vote. [read more --]
CHURCH OF CHRIST MEMBERS MEET WITH UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT ABOUT ADOPTIONS
from: Christian Chronicle
(2 Oct.) Christians who have dedicated their lives to serving orphans and at-risk children had the ear of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Monday. Andrew and Jenny Kelly, who oversee Jeremiah's Hope Inc., a ministry supported by Churches of Christ, were one of about 20 couples invited to meet with the Eastern European nation's leader on Ukraine’s National Adoption Day.
Zelenskiy asked his guests for input on how the nation can better serve children in need of a home and loving parents. During the visit, he encouraged the couples to write down their ideas and instructed the country's Minister of Social Policy to review the submissions and formulate a response within a month, Andrew Kelly said.
"He seemed to be a genuine man," Andrew Kelly said, "who truly desires to see change and reform in the areas pertaining to the care and rights of orphans." Andrew Kelly said of Zelenskiy, "I was impressed by his knowledge, his English and his desire to help the children of his nation."
Ukraine, which declared independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, has endured tumultuous and destabilizing conflicts in the past five years. In 2014, Russia annexed the country’s Crimean Peninsula and pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine began a long and bloody conflict with the Ukrainian military. Refugees, many of them children, fled to central and western Ukraine. [read more --]
NOW, OUR VIEWS:
Seek the Welfare of the City, Part 2
(Maybe you've read this before and you're wondering, "Why am I seeing this again?" But millions of other Christians haven't seen it! So please help us by clicking on the title above, then use the "share" buttons to share it with your social media friends. Thanks!!)
In case you're thinking about Jeremiah 29:7 - "That was then, but this is now!" - well, you're in for a surprise. It explains in Part 1 that there were beggars who refused to work, so Christian philanthropists were warned not to simply give them money: "Here we clearly see the goal of the social ministry of the Church: 'The role of social work is to make the recipient aware of the need to change' - unless the poor or disabled person makes a commitment to change, our efforts to help may be in vain." Human nature hasn't changed much in the past 2,000 years!
On our "Homes and Jobs" page, go to the link: "Get Your Life on Track." You'll see several Scriptures illustrating the lifestyle that Christians should have. At the bottom of that section is another link: "Do you want to be restored to wholeness?" which takes you to our Problem Assessment: Physical and Spiritual Rehabilitation Plan that we can fill out with our disabled or unemployed clients. Midway through the form, after gathering the client's work and health history, are the following words:
I want to be restored to wholeness, and therefore I am ready to change my lifestyle.
Signature: I, _________________, agree to follow the plan.
The client must be willing to change his/her mindset and lifestyle. Here is what the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 3 about this:
"6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you withdraw yourselves from every brother living in idleness, and not after the tradition which they received from us. 7 For you know how you ought to imitate us. For we were not idle among you, 8 neither did we eat bread from anyone's hand without paying for it, but in labor and travail worked night and day, that we might not burden any of you; 9 not because we don't have the right, but to make ourselves an example to you, that you should imitate us. 10 For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: 'If anyone is not willing to work, neither let him eat.' 11 For we hear of some who among you walk in idleness, who don't work at all, but are busybodies. 12 Now those who are that way, we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and earn their own living. 13 But you, brothers, don't be weary in doing good. 14 If any man doesn't obey our word in this letter, note that man, that you have no fellowship with him, to the end that he may be ashamed. 15 Don't count him as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother."
What did the Early Church Fathers have to say about the above Scripture passage? -
"Paul strongly emphasizes, in strict words of command, the importance of labor, especially manual labor, as an accompaniment to prayer and fasting. These religious acts must never substitute for hard work (Chrysostom, Augustine). Prayer without work is a pious pretext (Cyril of Alexandria). There is no inconsistency between trusting God to provide and engaging in hard work in order to support ourselves and not be a burden on others (Augustine, Caesarius of Arles). Faithful and hardworking members of the congregation must be careful to make a sharp separation between themselves and those brothers and sisters who are living in a disorderly way (John Cassian, Theodore). Paul holds himself up as "the form of a believer," expecting the Thessalonians to see in him how one ought to live (Chrysostom, Pelagius). In our pursuit of faithful discipleship we are to avoid the controversy that arises from idle questioning and curiosity (Basil). Christian brothers and sisters who depart from the discipline and charity required by faith are to be directly confronted (John Cassian). There is the very real danger that if we consort with erring brothers and sisters, we will be infected with their wrongdoing (Cyprian)." (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture [digital version], IVPress)
In the ancient Greco-Roman Empire it was common for the poor to attach themselves to a wealthy patron who would feed them, sometimes in exchange for being mistreated and made the butt of jokes, at other times in exchange for serving their patron. But there were some poor who would simply flatter their patrons, going from one patron's luxuriously spread table to another patron's table. This latter case was so embedded in the culture that it became the subject of ancient comedies and training in rhetoric: such people were called "parasites." In the above Scripture passage, St Paul warns against such behavior that would bring the Christian community into ridicule. St. John Chrysostom was trained by a rhetorician who used such stories, and Chrysostom adopted it in some of his writings.
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From our leading news article CANADIAN CATHOLIC HOSPITAL DROPS OPPOSITION TO EUTHANASIA AFTER CRITICISM FROM BIOETHICIST we learn that when the state offers financial support to Christian charitable institutions such as hospitals and makes promises that it will not interfere with that institution's moral principles, those promises are later overruled by high-sounding sociological and medical jargon that essentially advocates the "new morality" of devaluing human life for the sake of money and/or pleasure. Another example of this is the article Bioethics Intends to Destroy Catholic Healthcare. Now those feeble old folks can be put out of their misery and save the state money.
When I was a young teenager in th 1950s, the "Baby Boom" generation was filling the schools to overflowing: the local school systems needed money to build more schools, and fast! So, as I distinctly remember, the federal government offered to subsidize the local school systems, promising not to interfere with the local school boards' curriculum. Then after a decade or so, when the schools were hooked on federal money, the U.S. Department of Education was created and the rules for schools began coming from Washington D.C.
Great, swelling promises of economic prosperity were also offered when Union with Britain was being promoted and little was said about rules and control: see our second news artice HIGH COURT RULES THAT N. IRELAND BREACHES HUMAN RIGHTS BY PROTECTING UNBORN BABIES. But now the high court has turned Christian morality on its head by ruling that a twisted version of "human rights" allows unborn babies to be killed. Again, the state promises free stuff but then it changes the rules of morality.
You may recall that in our last issue we included a report that Orthodox Christians in France were rejoicing in the decision to come under the Moscow Patriarchate. Well, it appears that not all were quite that happy: see our third news article METROPOLITAN EPIFANIY CONCELEBRATED WITH METROPOLITAN OF FRANCE IN KYIV. Metropolitan Emmanuel of France recognized the Patriarch of Constantinople's authority by concelebrating the Divine Liturgy with Metropolitan Epifaniy, leader of the new Orthodox Church of Ukraine.
Another round in the tussle between Moscow and Kyiv is illustrated in the fourth news article THE MARONITE PATRIARCHATE DENIES IT HAS RECOGNIZED THE OCU. It seems a Maronite Christian family in Ukraine presented a statue of St. Maron to the Maronite Patriarch and had a photo-op with him. Then it was widely reported in Ukraine that the Maronite Orthodox Church had recognized the new OCU, with photos to "prove" it. Whether or not this is what really happened or whether pressure was applied from Moscow, I'm not convinced. But the Maronite Patriarchate denies that this photo-op implied recognition of the OCU.
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Our fifth news article TAKING SIDES IN THE ORTHODOX CHURCH'S BATTLES OVER RUSSIA AND UKRAINE in The Economist provides you with a thoughtful overview of the whole years-long development of the current stand-off between the Moscow and Constantinople Patriarchs over the Orthodox Church in Kyiv, Ukraine. It has been over a year now since the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Constantinople decided to grant a tomos of autocephaly to the Ukraine Church, which actually took place in January 2019. Since then, various national Orthodox Churches have been taking one side or the other. It will likely take years to sort out the differences.
To close on a positive note, see CHURCH OF CHRIST MEMBERS MEET WITH UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT ABOUT ADOPTIONS - our sixth news article. With the collapse of the Soviet Union almost 30 years ago, the countries that emerged were on economically shaky ground, which meant family instability, increased alcoholism, and broken families that produced a flood of orphans. It is encouraging to see a ministry that is trying to help these abandoned children, providing them with adoptive parents and a new family in the West.
Please remember to pray for Christians in socialist countries, and for --
Your fellow-servants,
Bob & Cheryl
p.s. Be fishers of men: you catch them - He'll clean them.
5 Oct. 2019
