Today in Lodi, California, Jesus is the winner and so is everyone nationwide who supports Christian values and religious freedom.
It was gratifying to hear Lodi Mayor Larry Hansen, who for weeks had been undecided about whether to allow Jesus’ name in invocations at council meetings, tell the packed house in Lodi that the flood of pro-Jesus emails he’s received “even exceeds Walmart [a previous local controversy] in the number of emails.”
The broad majority of email messages that the mayor was talking about were generated by active pro-family citizens using SaveCalifornia.com’s Email Lobbying System. Kudos to SaveCalifornia.com supporters who sent this specific email message to educate the council.
Thank you especially to Gordon James Klingenschmitt of Pray in Jesus Name Ministries, Christian Community Concerns of Lodi, Alliance Defense Fund, and everybody who rallied and spoke before the city council for contributing to this sweet victory that will positively affect the entire nation.
Here are scenes from inside and outside the Lodi city council meeting Wednesday night: See the News 10 TV report.
Here’s SaveCalifornia.com’s news release:
October 1, 2009
Jesus’ name again allowed in Lodi city council prayers
5-0 vote to allow unrestricted prayers is resounding defeat for atheist groups
Sacramento, California — After months of debates, protests, emails, calls, faxes, petitions, lobbying, news conferences, and more, the Lodi City Council voted 5-0 late Wednesday night to allow ministers to pray at the beginning of council meetings however they wanted. It’s a resounding defeat for atheist activists and a 180-degree reversal of the city attorney’s unfortunate edict in May that pastors could no longer pray in Jesus’ name.
“Lodi, Turlock and Tehachapi have all resisted the empty threat of an atheist group that claimed praying in Jesus’ name was unconstitutional,” said Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, a statewide pro-family, pro-child organization which has been urging Californians to protest the atheists’ attacks on religious freedom.
“Praying in Jesus’ name is not only biblical, it’s constitutional,” said Thomasson. “Even the United States Supreme Court recognizes this, which is why ministers pray today without restriction to open up sessions of Congress and state legislatures. It’s completely constitutional for pastors to pray unrestricted at local government meetings because they’re on American soil too.”
The victory in Lodi was the result of four pro-family organizations — Pray in Jesus Name Ministries, Christian Community Concerns, Alliance Defense Fund and SaveCalifornia.com — all playing different roles fighting for the same goal: the freedom to pray in Jesus’ name at city council meetings for the sake of good government.
In August, SaveCalifornia.com held a news conference and co-sponsored a rally led by former Navy chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt outside Lodi City Hall. In September, SaveCalifornia.com helped more than 1,000 people email the Lodi councilmembers to educate them on the original meaning of the First Amendment and subsequent rulings of the U.S. Supreme Court.
LEGAL BACKGROUND
RSS 2.0 Feed