Manhattan Declaration, Statement or Alliance?

About a week back there was a short entry on a blog that I follow endorsing the Manhattan Declaration Note that if you click on the link I just provided, it takes you to the home page of the Manhattan Declaration, not the declaration itself. I have to admit that I mistakenly read the home page, and went from there to a page to sign, and never noticed that I had not read the actual declaration. And I may never have noticed my mistake, but for another blog that I follow coming out strongly against the declaration.



So what is this declaration all about? In a nutshell it is a statement affirming the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage as the union of husband and wife, and the rights of conscience and religious liberty. Not exactly the type of thing that I would normally expect to find denigrated on a blog that I normally find edifying. But it seems that there were a couple items that made this declaration anathema in some quarters.



One "problem" was that the declaration includes Orthodox, Catholic, and evangelical Christians. The other was this statement: "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." As a matter of fact, it is this second statement about the gospel which alerted me to the fact that I had not read the actual declaration before signing it. When the declaration was condemned for implying that Catholics taught the true gospel, I had to go back and look because I didn't recall any mention of the gospel in it.


Now anyone who knows me well can tell you that I am about the last guy on the block to endorse any sort of ecumenism, however after reading the entire document and considering it much more, I must admit that I do not believe I made a mistake in signing it. The document says nothing about joining together to proclaim the gospel, and I certainly believe it is my duty to proclaim the gospel to the best of my ability. The three issues that are the meat of the declaration are all one's that I am willing to put my name to in support. The declaration does not even speak of joining together to accomplish any goals, but only to affirm the sanctity of human life, the dignity of marriage, and the right of religious liberty.


I am thankful that those of our founding fathers who were Christians (and most of them were), were willing to put their name to a document that affirmed that God has given us rights such as life, liberty and religious liberty, dispite the fact that they did not all belong to the same denomination. "But that was a political document", you say? Sure it was, and so is the Manhattan Declaration. And for those who are too "spiritual" to ever dirty their hands by becoming involved in politics in any way, shape or form, I hope they are prepared for the persecution that is sure to follow the downfall of this nation as it was founded.