The Manhattan Declaration

1. Please, Please read this website and the article that it surrounds with as much entirety as your time allows.

http://www.manhattandeclaration.org/

2. Read the article posted by my poet/professor and his response to the Manhattan Declaration

http://mcduffee.wordpress.com/2009/12/

3. Now you can read my thoughts.

If you have not taken the time to read the declaration it is, in summary, church leaders who have assembled to publicly affirm and defend 1. A unborn child's right to life 2. Traditional Marriage and 3. Religious Freedom.

Let all followers of Christ be hopeful in this public movement of reconciliation between the universal church. Listen for example to this beautiful statement...

"We, as Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelical Christians, have gathered, beginning in New York on September 28, 2009, to make the following declaration, which we sign as individuals, not on behalf of our organizations, but speaking to and from our communities....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. May God help us not to fail in that duty".

However I would agree with McDuffee that it is dishonest to paint the history of the church in such optimistic tones. We are not always Christ's hands and feet bringing love and justice to this earth, but are often (as has been proven time and time again by history) the opposite.

With that in mind let us be humble about what we impose on the world. The question I would is why do we feel the need to impose our values on the world before we impose Christ on the world? The Manhattan Declaration says,

"We are Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians who have united at this hour to reaffirm fundamental truths about justice and the common good, and to call upon our fellow citizens, believers and non-believers alike, to join us in defending them. These truths are:

1. the sanctity of human life

2. the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife

3. the rights of conscience and religious liberty.

Inasmuch as these truths are foundational to human dignity and the well-being of society, they are inviolable and non-negotiable. Because they are increasingly under assault from powerful forces in our culture, we are compelled today to speak out forcefully in their defense, and to commit ourselves to honoring them fully no matter what pressures are brought upon us and our institutions to abandon or compromise them. We make this commitment not as partisans of any political group but as followers of Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life."

The rest of the article goes on to lay out christian arguments for the three principles. As much as I believe in a child's right to life, a man and woman marriage, and religious freedom this Manhattan Declaration breaks my heart a little. The fact that followers of Christ have united and proclaimed Jesus as "The crucified risen Lord, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life" is here a side note. But what we have presented to the rest of the unbelieving world is more rules. Again we have presented what the christian life "looks like", with presenting the source of our life and our change.