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Brother Gregory -- the "Brother" is more of a nickname than an occupational title -- ministers from the Oregon desert where he lives with his wife, some of his grown children and grandchildren. Like other conservative Christians in this growing movement, Brother Gregory believes that Christianity has strayed too far from its roots, and has given its role in people's lives over to the government -- as with welfare programs or health care. ... "Christians should be looking for a way to take care of one another without forcing their neighbor to contribute to their welfare. In essence that's coveting...

Many conservatives are feeling left out of the 2008 presidential race, with the likes of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama battling for the Democratic nomination and the GOP endorsement likely going to U.S. Sen. John McCain, who has worked with Democrats on campaign limits as well as amnesty for illegal aliens, and in 2004 actually was thought of as a possible running mate for Democratic candidate John Kerry. Some prominent leaders, including Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, even have said they will not vote rather than vote for the liberal leanings of McCain. So is 2008 the year...

Christian Exodus leader Cory Burnell says his group is expanding its mission to create a community of people working to limit government to Gem County, Idaho. The organization targeted Anderson County, SC as its first community, but only about 15 families have relocated here. "The Idaho contingent is an expansion, not a redirection, of our project," Burnell told the Anderson Independent-Mail in an e-mail. "We had several committed CE members approach us about the good things happening in their Idaho communities and the number of Westerners they're running into who'll not ever move to S.C., but who agree with our...

The leader of a small group that ultimately wants to secede from the United States and form a Christian republic is preparing to move to the South Carolina county his organization has picked as a good base of operations. Cory Burnell, leader of Christian Exodus, said he has found a job and is ready to move his family and operations by July from California to Anderson, in the state's northwest corner. His family, which includes his wife and three children, will join more than a dozen other like-minded families already living in the Upstate region of South Carolina. Burnell said...

Cory Burnell wants to turn South Carolina into a promised land for conservative Christians – and he says accomplishing that mission will be easier than he’d originally thought. Burnell, a 30-year-old financial adviser, founded the group Christian Exodus in 2003, with plans to recruit conservative Christians to move to South Carolina.

Seceding seldom succeeds, but Vermonters try By Josh Burek | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor MONTPELIER, VT. – Politics, like fall foliage, turns faster in Vermont. The state was out front opposing slavery and first to approve civil unions. And if the activists who met here last month succeed, the state will set another precedent: first to secede since 1861. No, this wasn't a clandestine meeting of militants. It was a convention for Ver- monters, held in the plush, gold-domed capitol. And its keynote - that separating from the United States is a just remedy for the federal...

CHARLESTON, South Carolina (Reuters) - Cory Burnell wants to set up a Christian nation within the United States where abortion is illegal, gay marriage is banned, schools cannot teach evolution, children can pray to Jesus in public schools and the Ten Commandments are posted publicly. To that end, Burnell, 29, left the Republican Party, moved from California and founded Christian Exodus two years ago with the goal of redirecting the United States by "redeeming" one state at a time. First up for redemption is South Carolina. Burnell hopes to move 2,500 Christians into the northern part of the state by...

Fewer than 100 people gathered in the Upstate this weekend to learn about a group that wants to create a government in South Carolina based on the Bible. "Christian Exodus" organizers say they want to have 70,000 people relocated to the state by 2016. With those numbers, like-minded people could take over the government. Movement founder Cory Burnell said at Saturday's meeting that such a new state government could require people to own property before they could vote and could determine whether the 14th, 16th and 17th amendments to the U.S. Constitution were "ratified properly, and if not, put them...

The Exodus is off to a slow start. Christian Exodus, a Texas-based group, has a goal of moving up to 12,000 conservative Christians to South Carolina to establish a government formed strictly on the Constitution and biblical principles. So far, only five families have made the move, all to the Upstate. But organizers hope to increase that number significantly after holding a three-day planning meeting beginning Friday in Greenville. The meeting will be the first extended chance for the public to listen to Christian Exodus members discuss their political philosophies and outline their plan for moving people to the state....

Rabbi gives his take on Christian Exodus http://goupstate.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050907/NEWS/509070349/1051 Rabbi Yossi Liebowitz will discuss the expansion of Christian Exodus into South Carolina tonight on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show.." Rabbi gives his take on Christian Exodus DUDLEY BROWN, Staff WriterSpartanburg Rabbi Yossi Liebowitz expects to be on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show" tonight for a conversation about some of South Carolina's newest citizens.He's a bit nervous. Liebowitz will appear with a Baptist minister and a member of Christian Exodus on the 30-minute show, which is known for its satire and exaggeration. "I've got fear and trepidation about it because it's...

It began, as many road trips do, with a stop at Wal-Mart to buy a portable DVD player. But Mario DiMartino was planning more than a weekend getaway. He, his wife and three children were embarking on a pilgrimage to South Carolina. "I want to migrate and claim the gold of the Lord," said the 38-year-old oil company executive from Pennsylvania. "I want to replicate the statutes and the mores and the scriptures that the God of the Old Testament espoused to the world." DiMartino, who drove here recently to look for a new home, is a member of Christian...

As Brits stiffen their upper lips and politicians hustle to reiterate that Islam is not the problem, cognitive dissonance grips the planet. If Islam is not the problem, what is? And are we not inviting self-defeat by refusing to recognize that Islam is at least part of the problem? Now that xenophobes are licking their chops, let me offer the requisite disclaimer. Most Muslims despise the barbaric tactics of radicals who have hijacked their religion in order to justify killing innocent civilians. The majority of Muslims don't deserve contempt from non-Muslims any more than infidels deserve "justice" administered by maniacs.

A year after suggesting possible secession from the United States, a group of Christians fed up with American laws they believe are at odds with the Bible is beginning to move to its target state of South Carolina. ChristianExodus.org has attracted more than 700 members from across America since WND broke the news of its inception last May, and already a half-dozen families have picked up and transplanted to the Palmetto State. "A year ago, no one had moved. It was just a project on the board," said Cory Burnell, a financial adviser who is president of ChristianExodus. "Now, it's...

Nearly 140 years after the Civil War, another group of Americans wants to secede from the union. Christian Exodus, a California-based group, wants God to be its commander in chief. Decrying what it perceives as the unjust secularization of the United States, it wants a sovereign state of its own.

Cory Burnell has given up on ever seeing the U.S. government adopt a conservative Christian agenda, so he and others who share his beliefs are trying to take matters into their own hands. Burnell, 28, is one of the founders of ChristianExodus.org, a group that hopes to gather conservative Christians for a series of mass moves to South Carolina. The goal is to bring enough voters to the state to establish a government based on the Ten Commandments and conservative Christian values. And if the federal government doesn't like it, Burnell said he and the other members of the board...

ChristianExodus.org is orchestrating the move of thousands of Christians to reacquire our Constitutional rights and, if necessary to attain these rights, dissolve our State's bond with the union.

By Joe Kovacs © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com In the wake of WorldNetDaily's exclusive report this week, hundreds of American citizens have contacted a group of Christian activists looking to secede from the United States to form a republic based on Christian principles.

ChristianExodus.org has been established to coordinate the move of 50,000 or more Christians to a single conservative state in the U.S. for the express purpose of reestablishing constitutional governance. It is evident that our Constitution has been abandoned under our current federal system. The efforts of Christian activism have proven futile over the past five decades and, whereas desperate times require desperate measures, we are now in the most desperate of times. The federal government is considering whether marriage, the foundation of civilization since Creation, should be reserved solely to a man and a woman. Christians must now draw a...

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...