Supreme Court Shocks Life Into Obamacare Challenge

The U.S. Supreme Court revived hope – long thought dead – that Obamacare, the president’s signature achievement, might yet be ruled unconstitutional. The High Court shocked the legal community by opening its new term with an order giving the Obama Justice Department just 30 days to respond to Liberty Counsel’s petition for rehearing. Liberty Counsel filed the petition on behalf of Liberty University and two private individuals.
An appeals court in Richmond, Va., ruled that the Anti-Injunction Act, or AIA, barred the court from addressing the merits in Liberty Univ., Inc. v. Geithner, which challenged the individual mandate (Section 1501) and the employer insurance mandate (Section 1513) of Obamacare.

In addition to the constitutional arguments that Congress lacked authority to pass the law, the suit also raised the Free Exercise of religion claim because of the forced taxpayer funding of abortion.

You may recall that the first day of oral argument was dedicated to the AIA, the issue that Liberty University’s case placed before the High Court. In June, the Supreme Court ruled that the AIA does not apply to Obamacare. Therefore, Liberty Counsel asked the Court to grant the petition (because Liberty University prevailed on the AIA claim), vacate the Court of Appeals ruling and remand (send back) the case to the Court of Appeals to consider the Free Exercise claim and the employer mandate, neither of which were decided by the High Court.

Long story short: If the Supreme Court ultimately hears the case on appeal – which is highly possible as the claims are unique – and rules that the employer mandate and Free Exercise claims are legit, Obamacare dies on the vine. It’s effectively overturned. It’s like a shiny new Dodge Volt without the exploding battery. It goes nowhere fast and is towed to the junkyard of really, really stupid ideas.
This means, among other things, that people who value human life won’t be made complicit in abortion homicide on the taxpayer dime.

“Obamacare is the biggest funding of abortion in American history,” said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel and dean of Liberty University School of Law. “Under the Health and Human Services (HHS) mandate, Obamacare will, for the first time, require employers and individuals to directly fund abortion.

“This abortion mandate collides with religious freedom and the rights of conscience. I am very pleased with the Court’s decision today,” concluded Staver.

Whether by legislative repeal, or through Liberty Counsel’s ongoing case, freedom-loving America should be confident. This freakish Frankenstein monster will, God willing, be soon laid to rest beneath the cold, clammy earth from which liberals dug it up.

We Still Stand With Israel

As radical Muslims wage escalating assaults and increasingly violent demonstrations and the entire Middle East experiences chaos and instability, numerous news outlets are reporting that Israel’s military has mobilized tens of thousands of soldiers for their largest “readiness drill” in many years.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Iran could be only six to seven months away from being able to build nuclear weapons – and he will not wait on Washington to approve his efforts to defend Israel.

We must stand with Israel at this critical time! Liberty Counsel will stand with Israel and I hope you will as well!

In a no-holds-barred interview with the Jewish Journal, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid out a disturbing assessment...
 

“But it is important to remember this: You can protect from missiles in one way or another, but there is one thing there is no protection from: the atom bomb. The only thing that can protect us is preventing it from becoming a reality in the hands of the enemy.

And, of course, we have to clarify to anyone who ever considers attacking Israel with weapons of mass destruction that he does so at his own peril.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu has openly stated that the United States has failed to draw a “red line” to get tough with Iran. The Prime Minister has asserted his nation’s right to do what is necessary to protect his people, even if that means launching a preemptive strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.  

The dominant fear in the international community is that an Israeli attack on Iran could spark a catastrophic regional war, Armageddon-like in scope.  

As I have written to you before, Iran has declared that no enemy nation is exempt from their missile strike capabilities, including United States bases in the region, and even the United States itself.  Of course, Israel’s borders are easily within striking distance of Iran’s extensive missile arsenal.

Plus, Israel is susceptible to rocket assaults from Tehran’s Islamist allies: Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Our contacts in Israel emphasize that the slightest spark right now could ignite a Middle East conflict of epic proportions – one which Iran would use as “political cover” to attack Israel.  There is no doubt in the minds of the Israeli leadership that Iran will deploy nuclear weapons at the earliest moment they are fully developed.

But whatever the situation, Liberty Counsel has repeatedly vowed to stand with Israel! That will certainly not change if open warfare erupts in the region.

The bottom line: The Middle East is facing a meltdown of epic proportions – and Israel remains at the epicenter of the conflict.

++We MUST stand with Israel!

We have written an open letter which will be delivered to Prime Minister Netanyahu, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, and seven key American congressional leaders. We believe the letter will be widely distributed among the senior Israeli leadership, as well.

Click here to read and add your name to the open letter:

Even if you have signed our pro-Israel petitions and letters before, please take a moment right now and add your name to this time-critical, focused letter.  We know from our many contacts with senior members of the Israeli government that specific, timely messages of support from American friends have a tremendously positive impact!

Click here to read and add your name to the open letter:

http://www.libertyaction.org/367/petition.asp

++A biblical teaching that has never been more timely…

As a Liberty Counsel team member, I want to make you aware of a very special book/DVD set by Dr. Ed Hindson entitled “Middle East Meltdown!”  This concise, insightful teaching set reveals what the Bible says about the changes rocking the Middle East at this very hour.

Dr. Hindson explains…

“Military dictatorships seem to be taking over these countries. Behind the scenes, the Muslim Brotherhood is actively at work to destabilize those governments and bring them into an Islamic Caliphate that is destined ultimately to lead them in a march against Jerusalem.”

I assure you that this powerful teaching centered on God’s Word will change the way you look at current events unfolding in the Middle East!

Click here to sign the letter, to read more about the Middle East Meltdown book/DVD set, and to place your order for one or more copies:

http://www.libertyaction.org/367/petition.asp

Liberty Counsel supports Israel for biblical and national security reasons. Israel is a Middle East bastion of democracy and individual freedom and is the birthplace of the Judeo-Christian concept of the rule of law – which, in turn, became the foundation of America and Western Civilization.

As I have discussed with Prime Minister Netanyahu, the United States and Israel are the pillars of Western Civilization and our nations’ fates are inextricably linked.  We MUST stand with Israel!

Please take a moment right now and join Liberty Counsel in encouraging key leaders in Israel that the citizens of the United States of America stand with Israel, regardless of what misguided policies the Obama Administration may adopt! 

Abortion Holocaust? If The Shoe Fits...

I recently finished reading “Bonhoeffer” by Eric Metaxas. The book, a nearly 600-page biography of German pastor and influential theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was simply life-changing. Throughout his page-turning treatise, Metaxas brilliantly illustrates how Bonhoeffer lived and died by Christ’s admonition, “faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). Although Bonhoeffer penned a number of widely read books on theology and Christian apologetics, he is chiefly remembered for his key role in one of several German conspiracies to assassinate Adolf Hitler and overthrow the Nazi regime. For this he was captured and hanged just weeks before the end of World War II. It seems natural at this point to trek into “must read” book review territory; however, I will resist that temptation. Although “Bonhoeffer” kicked open the door to any number of theological, philosophical and political themes, it struck another cord with me entirely. As I read of Bonhoeffer’s efforts to thwart the genocidal slaughter of millions of Jews, disabled people and other “enemies of the State,” I could not help but recognize the parallels between the vast holocaust carried out in Nazi Germany just decades ago and the modern-day holocaust ongoing within our own shores. Whereas the Nazis were responsible for the wholesale murder of more than 6 million Jews, those today who support the practice of abortion homicide are no less complicit in the systematic slaughter of 55-million-and-counting equally precious human beings post Roe v. Wade. The parallels are undeniable and the science unequivocal. Murder is murder whatever stage of development the human victim. The stark similarities between the two holocausts were lost on neither Dietrich Bonhoeffer nor Eric Metaxas. “Destruction of the embryo in the mother’s womb is a violation of the right to live which God has bestowed upon this nascent life,” wrote Bonhoeffer in “Ethics,” his very last book. “To raise the question whether we are here concerned already with a human being or not is merely to confuse the issue. The simple fact is that God certainly intended to create a human being and that this nascent human being has been deliberately deprived of his life. And that is nothing but murder,” he concluded. Indeed, Psalm 139:13 says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” So it occurs to me that those who call themselves “pro-life” and put faith to action in defense of innocent persons – as did Dietrich Bonhoeffer – honor both the memory of this Christian martyr and the God he served. They have picked up his mantle. They are continuing his noble work. By contrast, if pro-lifers are modern-day Dietrich Bonhoeffers, then what does that make abortion supporters? In the years leading up to and during World War II, many Germans – who were otherwise generally good people – succumbed to Nazi propaganda and acquiesced to the horrific Jewish persecution that escalated from a slow boil to a red-hot torrent around them. In effect, they bought into exactly the same kind of dehumanizing, euphemistic semantical garbage embraced by those who today call themselves “pro-choice.” Mind-boggling is the human capacity to rationalize genocide. On Feb. 2, 2012, Eric Metaxas gave the keynote address at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C. He was clearly inspired and influenced by the subject of his latest biography. Sharing the stage and sitting merely feet away was Barack Obama, the most radically pro-abortion president in U.S. history. In a spectacular show of resolve and moxie, Metaxas walked over to the president and handed him a copy of “Bonhoeffer.” He then launched into one of the most powerful and stirring speeches I’ve ever heard. While President Obama squirmed nervously in his seat, Metaxas addressed both his book and the abortion holocaust with incisive clarity, saying, in part, “We are capable of the same horrible things.  … Apart from God we cannot see that they (the unborn) are persons as well. So those of us who know the unborn to be human beings are commanded by God to love those who do not yet see that. We need to know that apart from God we would be on the other side of that divide, fighting for what we believe is right. We cannot demonize our enemies. Today, if you believe abortion is wrong, you must treat those on the other side with the love of Jesus.” Indeed, we are admonished in Scripture to pray for our enemies – to love those who do evil. Nonetheless, we are also commanded to speak truth. We are told to hate that which is evil and to fight – indeed to die if necessary – for that which is good. I will, no doubt, be accused of demonizing abortion supporters by equating abortion genocide to the Nazi Holocaust. I will be charged with violating “Godwin’s law” which holds that: “As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches one.” That’s fine. Still, my comparison is not intended to be an ad hominem attack. In fact, it’s not an attack at all. It simply is what it is. To identify the undeniable juxtaposition between the Nazi and abortion holocausts respectively is to make use of the best analogy available. I can think of no more fitting a comparison. If the shoe fits and all that. Indeed, ours is a holocaust no less real – no less evil than that perpetrated by the Nazi regime. We’ve simply moved from the gas chambers to the abortion clinic – from Auschwitz to Planned Parenthood. I love America. She’s the greatest nation on earth. Nonetheless, as long as we continue to allow this enduring slaughter of the most innocent among us, we are no better than was Nazi Germany. Abortion on demand will be viewed by our progeny as the single greatest blight on our American heritage. To live under Roe v. Wade is to live in shame. To live under pro-abortion leadership is to live under the Fourth Reich.

Matt Barber (@jmattbarber on Twitter) is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. He serves as Vice Director of Cultural Affairs for Liberty Counsel. (Title and affiliation provided for identification purposes only.)

Here is how the media is reporting the latest news on Liberty Counsel’s case defending the Giles County, VA, school system against the ACLU… “Virginia School Board Votes to Remove Ten Commandments from School” Sadly, that is the media’s spin based on, at best, a partial truth.  Please read my important update on this pivotal case and get “the rest of the story,” as Paul Harvey used to say... Late Thursday afternoon, the Giles County School Board voted 3-2 to have an existing display of the Ten Commandments removed from the Narrows High School’s “Foundations of American Law and Government” display – the cause of a lawsuit filed by the ACLU against the school system. But, the Board (our client) also voted unanimously to accept a Ten Commandments display modification put forth by the private creator of the original display! You will no doubt remember that one of the suggestions by the federal judge in this case was that the parties consider eliminating the first Four commandments from the display – presumably because they more directly refer to “the Lord your God” – and use just the remaining six Commandments in the display. The new document replaces the original Ten Commandments display with a page from a Prentice-Hall textbook on American history, a book which is approved for use in Virginia’s public schools. The page depicts the “Roots of Democracy” and begins with the Ten Commandments’ stone tablets. The textbook page states, “The values found in the Bible including the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus inspired American ideas about government and morality.” From this origin, the page from the approved textbook traces the roots of democracy through the Magna Carta to the Enlightenment and up to the present time. Here’s a little background information: The Virginia Standards of Learning requires students to know about the foundational principles of civilizations and the origins of ancient and modern concepts of law and government. Secular textbooks published by Prentice-Hall and McGraw-Hill trace the roots of democracy and law and specifically refer to the Ten Commandments, as evidenced by the new document on display in Giles County. As I’m sure you’ll agree, the Board’s decision to post a page from an approved Virginia textbook is a much better solution than merely editing four Commandments out of the Decalogue! ++The “mainstream media” is badly misreporting this case. Amber, I’m sure you would agree that a display on the foundations of American law and government would be incomplete and inaccurate without including the Ten Commandments. Any student of history knows this basic truth. Here is the bottom line, with no spin: The Ten Commandments will still be on display in Narrows High School – but in a Virginia Standards of Learning approved format. And that’s the rest of the story! ++Sadly, ACLU bullies will continue looking for victims. The ACLU is committed to marginalizing America’s religious heritage by attempting to remove any expression of religion from the public square. They routinely attempt to bully public school administrations into “rolling over” for their radical agenda. Liberty Counsel must be ready to stand against the assaults of the ACLU on our fundamental freedoms, including our religious liberties! Amber, we need your help to counter these increasingly intense and more frequent ACLU lawsuits. Will you prayerfully consider making a tax-deductible gift right now so our team can continue to fight against the attacks of the ACLU and the activities of other radical legal groups, many of which are affiliated or highly cooperative with the ACLU? Your financial support will keep our legal team engaged in stopping the ACLU from criminalizing Christianity and in good shape to advance other key legal positions and public policy initiatives in which we are engaged. PLEASE consider a special gift to Liberty Counsel of any amount to meet this critical need.  Click here to give your special gift: http://www.libertyaction.org/7082/offer.asp ++The ACLU is a daunting, deep-pocketed adversary. As I’ve said many times before, the ACLU has an enormous war chest – and a formidable army of seasoned litigators.  They can (and usually do) put a lot of “boots on the ground” when they want to bully a local school system into submission. But as daunting an adversary as they may be, Liberty Counsel WILL NOT BACK DOWN from the ACLU in doing what God has called us to do!  That is especially true when it comes to confronting the overt intimidation campaigns they attempt to perpetrate on America’s public school systems. That’s why I am asking you to consider a special financial gift to Liberty Counsel right now. Please, click here to make your best possible gift: http://www.libertyaction.org/7082/offer.asp The “progressive” socialists know that the way to permanently alter the course of our nation is to infiltrate the minds of the rising generation.  In just two generations, God has been systematically “removed” from our public schools. Now the battle is focused on historic revisionism – an all-out attempt to rewrite our nation’s history and to recast our founding as a purely secular event! We WILL stand against revisionists!  Please help Liberty Counsel in our quest to Take Back America in 2012 – including standing against the outrageous agenda of the ACLU! http://www.libertyaction.org/7082/offer.asp Thank you and God bless you!