Posted on 05/23/2004 11:54:30 PM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
Calling the approval of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts "the straw that broke the camel's back," a group of Christian activists is in the beginning stages of an effort to have one state secede from the United States to become its own sovereign nation.
"Our Christian republic has declined into a pagan democracy," says Cory Burnell, president of ChristianExodus.org, a non-profit corporation based in Tyler, Texas. "There are some issues people just can't take anymore, and [same-sex marriage] might finally wake up the complacent Christians."
Burnell is leading the charge for a peaceful secession of one state from the union, and after originally considering Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina due to their relatively small populations, coastal access, and the Christian nature of the electorate, Burnell says South Carolina has been selected as the target location.
The plan initially calls for at least 12,000 Christians willing to be active in political campaigns to move to the Palmetto State.
"We're not an invading force, we're reinforcements," Burnell tells WorldNetDaily, saying it would be a waste to move to liberal-minded states such as Massachusetts, New York or California where conservative votes would be diluted.
According to the ChristianExodus website, which is slated for a major relaunch next month, "Christians have actively tried to return our entire land to its moral foundation for more than 20 years. We can categorically say that absolutely nothing has been achieved. If you disagree, consider this:
* Abortion continues against the wishes of many states * Children may not pray in our schools * The Bible is not welcome in schools except under strict federal guidelines
* The 10 Commandments remain banned from public display * Sodomy is now legal and celebrated as 'diversity' rather than perversion
* Preaching Christianity will soon be outlawed as 'hate speech' * Gay marriage will be foisted upon us in the very near future
"All these atrocities continue in spite of the fact that we now have the 'right' people in places of power. Indeed, the occupant of the White House is a professing Christian. The U.S. attorney general is believed to be a devout Christian. 'Conservatives' control both Houses of Congress, and Republican presidents appointed seven of the nine Supreme Court justices."
The idea of moving thousands of people to affect the voting in one state is not new. As WorldNetDaily has previously reported, the Free State Project has goals of restoring certain personal liberties and limited government – but without seceding from the union. Last year, a group of 4,500 libertarians decided New Hampshire would be the best state.
S. Carolina state flag
Burnell, a math teacher and cell-phone dealer, stresses he's not looking for bloody battles that took place in the American Revolution and the Civil War, but is rather seeking a "political divorce."
"It's got to be different today," he says. "It has to be peaceful, brokered."
But he admits if the federal government decides to use military force to stop the effort, "Then it can't happen."
Already a dozen people are actively working on the project, and some 1,500 by e-mails of support have been received.
If all goes according to plan, Burnell is hoping to have a constitutional convention by 2014, with a president of the new nation – still to be known as South Carolina – elected in 2016, which is also a presidential election year in the U.S.
He says the nation would be founded on Christian principles, and the people writing its constitution would have to hash out details to safeguard it as a Christian republic.
For now, Burnell prefers to shy away from specifics on the precise laws governing the country.
"Independence first, details later," he says.
It's starting.
We talked about this today.
You assume that a christian nation would be a theonomic nation in the full sense. And I'm sure this would be a point of debate between the Christian citizens, for sure.
But it is reasonable that a christian nation would make laws that simply do not give preferential treatment to gays, as well as ban gay marriages and the murder of unborn children, without the nation concerning itself with what adults "do in private with other consenting adults".
In fact, a Christian nation would be a better safe guard of individual liberty, if constructed correctly...cetainly far better than the government we have now. Remember, Christian liberties are important, too, and they are under assault in the U.S.
Thanks, Swamp Fox! This may get interesting!
You forgot Bhutan.
Have the same mixed feelings I have about Nepal though Bhutan has more Christians, per capita, I think.
Not saying much!
If you would bother to read my posts, you would see that I have already written my opinion of the Revolutionary War.
In the Old Testament times, Jewish law held that a rebellion was justified if it had prophetic sanction -- and to name just 2 examples, the US rebellion against Britain and the Mexican rebellion against Spain were both supported from the pulpit.
Guess what ? We don't live in Old Testament times anymore. Plus there is no such gift of prophecy any more, either. Preachers are not prophets in that sense of the word.
Oh please. Nobody is going around exterminating Christians. I think I'm done discussing with you, it's getting too ridiculous.
Tame, you recall correctly. (I'm a Californian too.)
Oh please. Nobody is going around exterminating Christians.
Again, what planet are you on? Christians are regularly murdered in many parts of the world. It's not happening here YET but the writing's on the wall -- just as it was in Germany before the Holocaust. It did NOT come as a surprise; many Jews saw the signs and ran, instead of staying behind and waiting to get slaughtered.
I read your posts, no fear. However, in doing so I discerned a contradiction which you either don't see or don't want to address. On the one hand, you hold that rebellion is always wrong since God institutes authority, and on the other hand, you accept the authority of the United States, which was created by a rebellion. You tried to get around this by saying that the American Revolution was a "unique historical event" -- how so? Did God set aside His laws just-this-once, for us? That doesn't make sense. So what is your explanation?
there is no such gift of prophecy any more
I predict you'll someday realize you're wrong about this.
Preachers are not prophets in that sense of the word.
Some are. As in the OT times, the phonies outnumber the real, but the real thing exists.
thanks for the support!
I can see that conversing with your esteemed self would be overly time consuming. Especially about a subject worth very little time or consideration as far as I am concerned. Fads and the like come and go, in equal proportion. Perhaps an offshore setting would be more likely to set up a free state, whatever you percieve that to be. I shall henceforth abandon the word bogus as unworthy of being descriptive.
Enjoy your day.
No, but it is a religious population. Plus you still have some that pine away about the war between the states.
That's a naive statement on biblical interpretation. Very generally speaking, there are two views of biblical interpretation regarding the applicability of the Old Testament:
1) The assumption that anything not specifically reiterated in the New Testament is no longer binding, i.e., the Sunday Sabbath, etc. This is generally a Dispensational hermenuetic.
2) the presupposition that certain Old Testament propositions are still in effect unless specifically abrogated in the New Testament, i.e., certain moral laws and civil laws (but not certain ceremonial laws which were specifically abrogated in the New Testament). This is generally a theonomic leaning covenantal hermeneutic.
Although there are varying degrees of both, I would not assume #1 to be necessarily true. Therefore, it is not legitimate to dismiss something by simply because "that's in the Old Testament."
Also, although I do not totally agree with either the dispensationalists or the covenental theonomists, I still recoccomend the following for more info:
I highly recommend that Christians who are interested in the distinctions I just explained and the whole concept of a new Christian Nation should go to a web site called cmfnow.com (or cmfnow.org?) and check out some books and taped lectures by Greg Bahnsen (see his book "Theonomy and it's critics"). There are also debates such as one between dispensationalist Thomas Ice (?I think?) and convenant theologian Kenneth Gentry.
Also, BSunday, regarding your comment that no one is murdering Christians today (in America). This is false. There are literally millions of unborn babies beng murdered today by the will of the despotic, unelected Supreme Court. (Jesus said that we must be like one of these little children).
And, BSunday, you never answered the question as to why the American Revolution was justified anymore than secession would be justified today. It is no answer at all to simply respond by stating, in effect, "Well, that was different". After all, a diffirence that makes absolutely no difference is in fact no difference at all.
bump.
<< "What happened to all those people who were going to move to Vermont last year?">>
<< You're probably thinking of the Free State Project and I believe it was New Hampshire.>>
Ya that's us. Come to NH if you want your freedom back...head to SC if you want half of it back.
Dada
Free State Project
"49 Slave States, 1 New Hapmshire"
www.FreeMe.org
I'm glad to see the publicity, but I thought Sean Hannity came across as a real dope. He acted like we are making so much progress in the U.S so there's no need for a Christian nation. He doesn't seem to have a clue.
Not in this country, but certainly in many, many others.
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