U.S. Religious Persecution: Victims Speak Out
During the weekend, whistle-blowers spoke up about the ongoing surge of attacks on religious freedom across the United States as several popular names came to the defense of the victims.
The meeting was held at the same hotel where the Values Voter Summit happened. Advocates of religious freedom, including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Kelly Shackelford of the Liberty Institute, gave real-life examples of Americans who had their faith and religious beliefs attacked.
Standing before the victims who attended the news conference, Cruz said, "The media likes to say the persecution of religious liberty, it's not real, it doesn't exist. They belittle it; they mock it."
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One of the victims who shared his experiences is Navy Chaplain Wes Modder, who was cut from his ranks in the Navy and even lost his right to pension. He was charged on grounds of offering answers with "Biblical" connection while he was counseling sailors regarding premarital sex and homosexuality at his naval post in Charleston, South Carolina.
Modder said the experience was very "devastating" and very "emotional" on his part, adding that he feared what the future may bring, especially fearing that he might never get another job.
The Liberty Institute immediately came to Modder's rescue. According to the attorney, "If chaplains can't answer biblical questions with biblical answers, we don't have chaplains."
16-year-old Liz Loverde, who made headlines last year, also attended the conference. She recalled how she was denied by the principal of her Long Island, New York public high school of holding Bible club meetings at school. Loverde said she was told not to have the Christ-centered meetings "because it was illegal."
Shackelford explained that Loverde's case was one of the more common issues about religious liberty in educational institutions. He noted that lesbian and gay clubs were allowed but Christian clubs just were taboo.
According to the Christian Broadcasting Network, Shackelford supported Cruz's statement that religious rights are being trampled on "all over the country." He noted that the figures have increased to more than 133 percent in terms of attacks on religious beliefs in the United States.
The religious liberty advocate noted that if people will stand and fight together, they will come out victorious in Jesus' name.
