Ohio's patriot pastors

"Make sure that when the shootin' starts, all of the enemy is in front of you" – an Army vet.

Rod Parsley is pastor of mega World Harvest Church in Columbus, Ohio, and host of the TV program Breakthrough, broadcast on stations all around the world.

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Like so many television evangelists, he has developed a reputation in some circles as a money-grubbing name-it claim-it ministry. He has built a large ministry and now he spends much of his time feeding it, with techniques that some find offensive.

Say what you will, he has yet to fall into the chasm of seeker-sensitivity so prevalent today and still preaches a sin-killing message, although the opulence at his church sure raises eyebrows.

Russell Johnson is pastor at Fairfield Christian Church in Lancaster, Ohio. A faithful man of God, Pastor Johnson has labored for two decades, doing all he can to impact the small midwestern town in which he lives. He encourages his flock to be involved in government, and his congregation is home to several local elected officials, including the sheriff of Fairfield County. Pastor Johnson makes no bones about his position on the issues and publicly supports any candidate that agrees with the moral positions his congregation promotes.

Together, Pastor Parsley and Pastor Johnson have decided it is time to take the cultural war seriously. Parsley has founded The Center for Moral Clarity, and has been hosting gatherings of thousands of Ohio's pastors in attempt to get them to engage the culture. Johnson is head of Ohio Restoration Project and is recruiting hundreds of "patriot pastors," training them in cultural stewardship

As their efforts begin to draw national attention, the enemy is beginning to draw its swords. Crying the old worn-out saw "separation of church and state," a group has taken their complaints to the IRS, asking that Parsley and Johnson be investigated for violating their tax-exempt status.

Who is this group, you might ask, that is opposing these pastors?

The ACLU? Nope.

Americans United For Separation of Church and State? Sorry.

Moveon.org? Move on.

People for the American Way? Negatory, Big Ben.

No folks, the whistleblowers in the case happen to be "31 church leaders from nine denominations" in the Columbus area. That's right, chums, the church is blowing the whistle on the church. Seems they don't like the fact that Bible-believing churches are standing up.

I say it is about time.

In response to the leftists trying to silence the pulpit, Pastor Johnson responded, "It's sad to see the religious left and the secular left forge an unholy alliance against people of faith. We have invited people to pray, to serve and to engage, and candidly, we will not be intimidated or bullied by these folks."

That's my kind of pastor!

The battle centers around Republican Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell. Over the past five years, Blackwell has boldly championed true conservative issues in Ohio. He has publicly supported and in some instances led the battle to reclaim Ohio's Republican Party from the rapidly left-drifting inner circle. Blackwell fought for the repeal of Ohio's recent income tax increase, led the battle for an Ohio constitutional marriage amendment, is un-apologetically pro-life, and has been un-wavering in his support of Christian values.

The Republican Party is scared to death of Ken Blackwell. His strong moral stance has projected him to clear-favorite status in Ohio's 2006 race for governor. Oh, did I mention that Ken Blackwell is black?

In the election of 2004, evangelicals in Ohio turned out in record numbers to support the Ohio Marriage Amendment. The issue passed with over 63 percent of the vote. The bean counters in Columbus can do the math. When the church shows up, mainstream values win. Russell Johnson and Rod Parsley represent mainstream values, and they are turning out the voters. Kenneth Blackwell is looking very formidable.

But the church is confused. Many pastors believe that it is wrong to involve the church in politics. They say that they don't think it is right to influence how their people vote. Just vote, they say, it is your duty.

That is as dangerous as giving a young boy a gun and telling him to "just shoot." He needs to be trained, to differentiate a good target from a bad one. I don't know about you, but I want to know for whom my pastor is voting. If we are voting differently, I think I better find out why.

Separation of church and state appears nowhere in the U.S. Constitution. It was created out of thin air by Justice Hugo Black in the 1947 Everson case. It has become the shield that the anti-god crowd uses to deflect all moral accountability. The Supreme Court has the power to offer opinions. An opinion of the Supreme Court is not law.

The Supreme Court has been wrong before. Among some of the most egregious opinions are:

• In Plessy v. Ferguson 1896, the court ruled that "separate but equal" was constitutional;
• In Dred Scott v. Sanford 1857, the courts ruled that slaves were not, and could never be, citizens of the U. S.;
• In Minor v. Hapersett 1875, the court ruled that the right to vote did not belong to women.

Does anyone agree with those opinions today?

The 1947 Everson v. Board of Education, which gave us "separation of church and state," is an unconstitutional, extra-constitutional construct intended to strip the free speech rights of Christians. As the court ruled in Marbury v Madison 1803, "All laws which are repugnant to the Constitution are null and void."

A Supreme Court decision is not a law, despite what they might try to convince us, and Christians do not forfeit the right to free speech when they join a church. It is time Christians stood against this unconstitutional, unrighteous Supreme Court opinion. It is obvious that there are those in this country that want to deny Christians the same free-speech rights afforded the ACLU, National Education Association and the labor unions, all receiving some form of tax deductibility for their contributors.

Jesus told us that in Mark 3:25: "And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand." A divided house can stand, but not if it is divided against itself – in other words, shooting their guns at the wrong enemy. Christians love to shoot each other.

Say what you will about Parsley and Johnson; they have shown a willingness to lay it on the line. Like so many of today's government-compliant pastors, they could have kept their eyes inside the four walls of their churches, hid from the enemy and focused on putting more butts in the pew. What have they to gain by such a public fight? Perhaps a visit from the IRS, courtesy of their "brothers of the cloth."

In the spirit of Jonas Clark, they have decided that now is the time to fight. On the night of Paul Revere's famous ride, Rev. Clark was asked if his men would fight. He replied that he had "trained them for this very hour; they would fight, and, if need be, die, too, under the shadow of the house of God. From this day," said he, when he saw their dead bodies, "will be dated the liberty of the world."

Oh for a man of God who would say that today! Are Pastor Parsley and Pastor Johnson such men? Only time will tell.

Will the churches support Parsley and Johnson, or will they follow the usual modus operandi and choose not to get involved due to "theological differences." Will pastors stand with them, or will they fall victim to the virus NIH, not invented here (if its not my idea I'm not getting involved), and watch the forces of government unleash its power on these "Christian rebels"?

A few years ago, I was speaking with a local pastor about a youth rally that another church in town was planning. He wasn't allowing his youth to attend because he "had some disagreements with their theology," and couldn't risk exposing his young people to falsehood.

"Is that right, pastor," I queried, "You don't have any problems sending your youth to the public schools and you know the doctrine they preach." He slinked away mumbling something about theological purity.

I proudly stand with Parsley and Johnson, and I promise you these men will not be chased back into the box in which the ACLU and their ilk would like to lock them. They will not be chained to the safety of their church by the leash of the tax-exempt status.

The lines are being drawn, and the weapons are being fashioned.

On which side will you stand?

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Coach Dave Daubenmire, founder and president of Pass The Salt Ministries and Minutemen United, is host of the "Pass The Salt" radio show heard in Columbus, Ohio. In 1999, Daubenmire was thrust into the cultural war when sued by the ACLU for praying with his football teams while coaching in Ohio. He now spends his energy fighting for Christian principles in the public domain.