UPDATE

We got a 6-3 vote in favor of flying the flag but then they voted to reconsider it on the 19th.  As a result, we will amend the petition to declare November the Christian Heritage Month so that we can get a whole month.  We are still fighting and God is with us.  We will not stop this fight.  We will see it through.  Thanks for all the support.

Obey the Call

PIONEERS: YOU WILL BE ATTACKED

Speech Given in Defense of Flying the Flag to the Supreme Court

EXCERPT FROM A SPEECH GIVEN TO THE SUPREME COURT IN FAVOR OF FLYING THE CHRISTIAN FLAG:

- Of such importance to the American experiment was and is religious freedom.
- And this being of first importance.
- Our Founding Fathers wrote the Bill of Rights,
- And soaring high above the rest was religious liberty as the First Right
- And they recognized it as a wingman buttressing that first right—the freedom of speech

- One of Boston’s greatest sons, John Adams, stated "Nothing is more dreaded than the…government meddling with religion."
- We understand nothing is more threatening to that Freedom than the silencing of speech.
- So, we let the freedom of religion and speech fly high.
- This means in big cities and in little towns.
- Let Freedom Fly
- Whether it’s a giant metropolis with skyscrapers--- or a little town with one stoplight.
- Let Freedom Fly
- Whether it's a city that likes what you're saying---or a town that doesn't want to hear it.
- Let Freedom Fly
- No territory under the banner of freedom can tell citizens what they can and cannot say –
- When they have allowed others to speak.
- Picking winners and losers is the role of Olympic judges, not Government Officials.
-
- And this is not being done in a vacuum –
- It has been trending for some time -- but also exposed so noticeably in recent months as Department of Health official and Governors state that private gathering of worshipers is dangerous to the public.
- Or that encouraging one another through singing is threatening to your health.
- Society is a juncture
- It’s a juncture where we have to make a decision.
- A decision to soar high with these country’s first truths
- Or allow dark stormy headwinds to reconfigure society-- where only some get a say and others are told to remain silent.
- We are at a juncture
- This is not unlike other times.
- It's always been typical of majoritarian rule to blowhard and to quiet and silence those with which it disagrees.
- So it is clear in these times for the judiciary to hold steady through the noise, and make a clear pronouncement from the bench
- That religious liberty and free speech in America is here to stay.
- And that the banner over freedom will not be torn down.

- Oh yes- at certain times the windstorm against our freedoms are obvious.
- A city official baggers a lawful protester.
- A march for jobs is cut short—
- And yes as is relevant to this Martin Luther King Jr weekend.
- Dogs are released on a rallying crowd and firehouse houses turned on a lawful gathering
- Sometimes it’s as obvious as that.

- But sometimes the erosion is quiet, its gradual.
- One stamp of denial here another rejection of access there.
- A permit is refused here –
- A citizen is deprived of a commonly available benefit there
- The abridgment of the freedom of people to speak and to share can be grand and more obvious—But it can be small and unceremonious.
- In Camp Constitution’s case it was a sweeping or sudden seizure of rights. –
- Through a quiet voice that said. You can’t fly this flag here.

- ...Because the city of Boston ignored John Adam’s wise counsel and “Meddled with religion” Meddled with free speech—
- and in doing so they meddled with America...
-
- ...So we say this now and clearly—with fitly spoken words that are like apples of Gold in the setting of Silver
-
- To the Supreme Court: end Boston’s unconstitutional intrusion upon Mr. Shurtleff’s religious speech
-
- We stand before the justices and speak to this honorable Court to make certain this “sacred property” of conscience and the fundamental right of religious liberty are still constitutionally guaranteed in America.
-
- We speak so that the justices get it right
-
- We speak so that more men like Hal Shurtleff have the courage to stand
-
- We speak so that Boston is restored to a city on a hill
-
- We speak so that the truth of our Republic’s liberties break through any unlawful hindrances levied against.
-
- We speak so that the message of Christianity is heard
-
- We speak so that Liberty rings From cities with skyscrapers all the way to towns with one stoplight.
-
- We speak so that regardless of winds of change, gales, headwinds, and storms.
-
- ---- because our standard is raised our motto is clear.
-
- We speak to let freedom fly
-
- We speak to let Freedom fly

- Pray that we succeed

- Pray once again Freedom Flies over our great land...

PETITION PRESENTED BEFORE THE COUNCIL: VOTE ON SEPTEMBER 5TH

UPDATE

After speaking to the legal counsel that has defended these types of petitions before the Supreme Court, they have advised me to rewrite the petition.  They successfully defended a petition in Boston to fly the Christian flag and won a unanimous decision.  So, they have advised me on certain language to include and exclude.  What I am going to do is keep the original petition as my introduction and add the following as the actual resolution that I am going to ask them to vote on.  It is more defensible in a court of law.

WHEREAS, religious faith was not only important in American life during the periods of discovery, exploration, colonization and growth, but has also been acknowledged and incorporated into all three branches of American Federal Government from their very beginning; and

WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed this self-evident fact in a unanimous ruling declaring “This is a religious people... From the discovery of this continent to the present hour, there is a single voice making this affirmation”; and

WHEREAS, the first act of America’s first Congress in 1774 was to ask a minister to open with prayer and to lead Congress in the reading of four chapters of the Bible; and

WHEREAS, the Liberty Bell was named for the Biblical inscription from Leviticus 25:10, which passage of scripture is emblazoned around it: “Proclaim liberty throughout the land, to all the inhabitants thereof”; and

WHEREAS, in 1782, Congress pursued a plan to print a Bible that would be “a neat edition of the Holy Scriptures for the use of schools” and therefore approved the production of the first English language Bible printed in America that contained the congressional endorsement that “the United States in Congress assembled... recommend this edition of the Bible to the inhabitants of the United States”; and ​

WHEREAS, in 1787, at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Benjamin Franklin declared, “God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?... Without His concurring aid, we shall succeed in this political building no better than the builders of Babel”; and

WHEREAS, in 1853, the United States Senate declared that the Founding Fathers “had no fear or jealousy of religion itself, nor did they wish to see us an irreligious people...”; and

WHEREAS, the constitutions of each of the 50 states, either in the preamble or body, explicitly recognize or express gratitude to God; and

WHEREAS, every United States President has recognized the role of God and religious faith in the public life of America; and

WHEREAS, all sessions of the United States Supreme Court begin with the Court’s Marshal announcing, “God save the United States and this honorable court”; and

WHEREAS, Justice John Jay, and author of The Federalist Papers and original Justice of the United States Supreme Court, urged “The most effectual means of securing the continuance of our civil and religious liberties is always to remember with reverence and gratitude the Source from which they flow”; and

WHEREAS, numerous Supreme Court cases to include Church of the Holy Trinity vs. U.S. 143 U.S. 457 (1892) and U.S. vs. MacIntosh 283 U.S. 605 (1931) have affirmed that “this is a Christian nation” and “[w]e are a Christian people,” respectively; and

WHEREAS, numerous others of the most important American government leaders, institutions, monuments, buildings and landmarks both openly acknowledge and incorporate religious words, symbols and imagery into official venues; and

WHEREAS, the Northwest Ordinance (formally “An Ordinance for the Government of the Territory of the United States, North-West of the River Ohio”) of 1787 called for public education and required that “Religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged;” and

WHEREAS, the Declaration of Independence and other documents at the time of our nation’s founding have numerous references to the role of God in our history as the terms “Nature’s God” and “Divine Providence” are frequently used; and  

WHEREAS, the principles of Christianity inspired the “self-evident” “truths” of the Declaration of Independence, “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness;” and

WHEREAS, when taking the oath of office for the President of the United States, George Washington concluded the oath by adding the phrase, “So help me, God,” and this has been included in oaths by those taking public office since that time; and

WHEREAS, it has been tradition that those taking an oath does so with their right hand on the Holy Bible; and

WHEREAS, the stated purpose of 105 of the first 107 colleges in U.S. was to train and prepare ministers and preachers of the Holy Bible; and ​

WHEREAS, the Holy Bible was frequently used as a textbook in both the schools and homes in the early days of our nation; and

WHEREAS, religious freedom was a principal reason for many who made their homes in the land that has become the United States, and this reason still exists as immigrants continue to come here to leave religious persecution and to be able to worship as they desire; and

WHEREAS, Presidential Proclamations calling for a National Day of Prayer and for Thanksgiving recognize the role of God in our nation, the blessings that we have received, and for our duty to give God thanks for these blessings; and 

WHEREAS, in times of greatest distress such as following the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, U.S. Presidents have implored the American people to call upon God; and 

WHEREAS, there have been attempts to change and distort our history; and  

WHEREAS, the history of the City of Montgomery is deeply tied to the Civil Rights Movement; which was inspired by the Christian faith of key leaders of that Movement; and  

WHEREAS, principles of the Christian faith have inspired advocacy for justice and equality, including by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who called for justice to “roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream;” and  

WHEREAS, in Shurtleff v. City of Boston, Massachusetts, 142 S. Ct. 1583, 1587-88 (2022), the United States Supreme Court unanimously rejected a city's attempt to censor religious speech based on Lemon and the endorsement test; and  

WHEREAS, in Kennedy v. Bremerton Sch. Dist., 142 S. Ct. 2407, 2428 (2022), the United States Supreme Court stated, “In place of Lemon and the endorsement test, this Court has instructed that the Establishment Clause must be interpreted by ‘reference to historical practices and understandings.’” The Court recognized that “‘“[T]he line”’ that courts and governments ‘“must draw between the permissible and the impermissible”’ has to ‘“accor[d] with history and faithfully reflec[t] the understanding of the Founding Fathers.”’” Id. (quoting Town of Greece v. Galloway, 572 U.S. 565, 577 (2014)); and  

WHEREAS, in Kennedy, the United States Supreme Court noted that “Respect for religious expressions is indispensable to life in a free and diverse Republic,” and rejected the notion that the Establishment Clause “‘compel[s] the government to purge from the public sphere’ anything an objective observer could reasonably infer endorses or ‘partakes of the religious.’” 142 S. Ct. at 2427, 2432-33; and  

WHEREAS, by declaring “American Christian Heritage Month,” and displaying a flag in honor of this heritage, the City of Montgomery seeks to remember its past and recognize the positive impact of Christianity upon the history of our Nation and our City, including during the Civil Rights Movement; connect our past with our present; and continue the values that define us as a community and a beacon of freedom to the rest of the world;

THEREFORE, BE IT

RESOLVED, that the month of September each year is designated as “American Christian History Month,” to recognize the many positive impacts of Christian religious beliefs on America’s history and the freedoms Americans of all faiths and backgrounds enjoy today;  

RESOLVED, that the City of Montgomery shall fly during the entire month of September the Flag of the United States on alternating flag poles owned by the City of Montgomery, and in between these flags the City shall fly a flag with white field, with a red Latin cross, inside a blue canton, and be it further

RESOLVED, that the rich spiritual and diverse religious history of our nation, from its founding to the current day be affirmed; and be it further

RESOLVED, that any effort to remove, obscure, or purposely omit such history from our city’s public buildings and educational resources be rejected in the strongest manner.

Schedule Tomorrow

I will be speaking immediately after the mayor's remarks tomorrow at 5 PM at 103 N. Perry Street.  Be there early so that you can get a seat up front.  Pray and ask for victory.  We are already victorious regardless of the outcome.  This is not anti-anything.  This is pro-Jesus Christ.  Do not let the media get a soundbite bashing any other flags or ideology.  Remember to be 100% positive.  In fact, say that you are all for the city flying other flags.  We just want equal representation as Christians.  That is why we are here in support of the petition.  They will try to spin it as hate and intolerance of other views.  We already know the playbook.  Be blessed.

Romans 8:31: “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Flag Arrived!!!

I ordered a flag about a month ago.  It got lost and I never received it.  I wanted to have a flag at the council meeting.  So, I ordered a new flag.  It arrived today. 

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