Colson Center and BreakPoint have begun working informally with the 103 member (see if your representative is a member) Congressional Prayer Caucus. This is a group in congress which is working hard on legislation and policy to guarantee continued freedom of religion in the United States. From time to time we may share information from their briefings. The following is one instance.

(copied with permission)

The State of Religious Freedom in America

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In this past week's "BreakPoint This Week" broadcast, Chuck and John interview Alan Sears, president of Alliance Defense Fund, "... about the greatest challenge to religious liberty in our lifetime -- and what we can do."  It centers on the present administration's imposure of the HHS mandate on religious organizations and possible consequenses of an emerging trend from the government. They discuss legal options, many of which are already in play. Shane Morris has written a very good and succinct summary of the interview (here). You can also listen to the 24 minute audio file of the broadcast on the same page.

The United States has become increasingly divided in many ways, but no divide has affected more people or caused more damage than the divide in culture between middle to upper-class and working class Americans. As Charles Murray argues in his new book, Coming Apart, this divide is something new. Income, he says, once meant nothing when it came to culture and values. America's poor and wealthy alike saw marriage, children and faith in the same light. Now, all that has changed. This week on BreakPoint, Chuck Colson, John Stonestreet, T. M. Moore and others address the deterioration of working class American values and families, and propose solutions rooted in the Christian worldview.

"Whatever Happened to Fishtown?" asks Chuck Colson in this week's Two Minute Warning. Referencing the two-town parable in Charles Murray's book, Coming Apart, Chuck talks about how values, not economics, are at the heart of the widening gap between the two Americas.

"Things Fall Apart," says T. M. Moore in Wednesday's Talking Points. "We are becoming what Arthur Schlesinger referred to as a “disunited society” in more ways than one. Ethnic tensions are heating up, but so are conflicts of class, politics, sexual orientation, and economic interests. In many ways it seems the country no longer possesses and integrating core of values, ideals, traditions, and aspirations."

In Wednesday's BreakPoint Commentary, Chuck calls on Christians to admit a fundamental truth: personal values and economics are inextricably linked. This, he says, is at the root of the cultural divide.

The Theme of the Week this week is "Speaking Out Courageously." Chuck Colson continues a topic he has often spoken on lately in the "Two-Minute Warning" video. It is "Breaking The Spiral of Silence," taken from the mass communications phenomenon publicized by the German communications scientist Elizabeth Noelle-Neumann. Noelle-Neumann began her career in journalism during the Hitler years in Germany and noticed how easily people allowed themselves to become convinced that they were in a minority when holding more ethical viewpoints than the Nazis were promoting, even though, in fact, they were in the majority.

T.M. Moore has a "Talking Points" column called "Breaking the Spiral of Silence."  He introduced the idea the week before in "Oversteppers."  He says: "Christians today are in danger of being sucked into such a spiral of silence. But this is not inevitable..."

Colson Center and BreakPoint see this issue as so critical for the church that it has become the theme for the entire upcoming Wilberforce Weekend conference in Lansdowne, Virginia (March 30th - April 1 2012). You can get more information on that at WilberforceWeekend.org.

In Wednesday's BreakPoint Commentary, Chuck Colson deals with the Obama Administration's Health and Human Services Department's modified contraception mandate, and how the battle for religious freedom is far from over. 

Airing now! Check for your local station.

Today on BreakPoint This Week, Chuck Colson and John Stonestreet interview Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh on the raging controversy over the Obama Administration's Health and Human Services Department mandate that religious organizations must provide contraceptive coverage for employees, regardless of conscientious objections. While the administration has begun modifying its position, getting as many Christians informed and ready for action on this issue is vital to preserving religious liberty from the appetite of government.

Find a station and airtime in your area, or check back here later, and we'll link you to the show as soon as it's posted.






In the meantime, if you're not up to speed, here's what's happening:

The Time Is Now
Chuck Colson | Two-Minute Warning | February 08, 2012

First They Came for the Catholics: Obama's Contraceptive Mandate
Timothy George & Charles Colson | Christianity Today | February 08, 2012

Dobson Pre-empts Broadcast for Colson
Alan Eason | ColsonCenter.org | February 09, 2012

The Time Is Now
Chuck Colson | BreakPoint Radio | February 08, 2012

An Urgent Call to Defend Our Religious Liberty
Chuck Colson | Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk Radio | February 09, 2012