Render To Caesar What is Caesars

On November, 20, 2009 the historic Manhattan Declaration was unveiled and made public to all Americans. It is a historic and significant 4,700-word manifesto, which is a public written declaration of principles, values, ethics, policies, beliefs, and objectives, authored by Chuck Colson, Dr. Robert George and Dr. Timothy George, with input from many Orthodox, Catholic and evangelical leaders as well as many doctors, nurses, and other leaders. It is without a doubt one of the most important documents that has come forth in my lifetime." The people signing this document will grow and grow to historic proportions as more and more people read it.
In my mind, signing the Manhattan Declaration is the closest I'll will come in my life time to understanding the thoughts and feelings of those signing the Declaration of Independence.  Those men were willing to pay the ultimate price to stand against tyranny. Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and others in their circle may have thought their biggest obstacle to publicly funded abortions in socialized health care were Catholic bishops. They were so wrong.
Manhattan Declaration drafters are inviting all like-minded believers to sign on, but the potential ramifications for doing so are sobering. Now, by signing the Manhattan Declaration, a growing number of determined and unwavering pro-life Americans say they are willing to endure sanctions, imprisonment and even exile or banishment to defy involvement with abortion in any way, either with their tax dollars or by compulsory participation in preborn child killing. To date approximately close to 500,000 have signed the Manhattan Declaration and it has been public for only 30 days. These include 168 religious leaders, many whose names you know and the list grows daily, 18 Roman Catholic bishops, 9 other bishops and leaders from other denominations: 11 editors and publishers of publications, 22 chancellors and presidents of colleges, seminaries and universities, this also includes 46 leaders of various other independent ministries, hundreds of doctors and nurses, and thousands upon thousands of Americans who also say "NO" to this government when it becomes necessary to do so.
The Manhattan Declaration draws a line in the sand on the three paramount issues of our time: the sanctity of human life, the sanctity of marriage as the holy and conjugal union of husband and wife, and the rights of religious liberty and conscience. Its bottom line is this, as the last paragraph in the declaration states so clearly:
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.

With the liberal push to increase acceptance and involvement with abortion and homosexual marriage via socialized health care and "hate crimes" prosecution, it's our turn to say "NO" and to stand up to what we believe. I urge everyone ready this to sign the Manhattan Declaration at www.ManhattanDeclaration.org.