The Manhattan Declaration

All Christians should read and consider signing The Manhattan Declaration. The Declaration was issued on 20 November 2009, signed by more than one-hundred fifty Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Protestant Evangelical leaders. Fifteen days later, on 5 December 2009, it had been signed by over 250,000 people. When I first read it on 21 December 2009, the total number of signers was 306,402. Today the number totals 307,164.

What has so solidly united leaders and Christians of such divergent religious traditions? The perception that Christianity is increasingly under assault and put on the defensive. The repeated attempts to override conscience clauses allowing medical workers to refuse to participate in medical procedures they believe to be immoral. Christian clergy in Canada and Europe being prosecuted for hate crimes because they affirmed the Biblical denunciation of homosexuality. The fact that, in Scandinavia, one who adheres to the ideas stated in the Declaration is derisively called a "mprkemann" (man of darkness). Things like that.

On what could Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical leaders agree? Their three points, expanded in the Declaration, are: 1. "the sanctity of human life," 2. "the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife," and 3. "the rights of conscience and religious liberty."

Read the Declaration but don't just impulsively sign it. Think about it first because it is not just a statement. The document asks for a commitment also. When you sign, you agree to the following statements.

"We pledge to each other, and to our fellow believers, that no power on earth, be it cultural or political, will intimidate us into silence or acquiescence. It is our duty to proclaim the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in its fullness, both in season and out of season."

"We recognize the duty to comply with laws whether we happen to like them or not, unless the laws are gravely unjust or require those subject to them to do something unjust or otherwise immoral. ... We will not comply ... nor will we bend. ... 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."