Rafael Cruz: Speak up, church!

Fidel Castro

Rafael Cruz, father of GOP presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, has said on the Christian TV program "The 700 Club" that Christians in America are allowing the nation's moral decline by staying out of the civic arena.

"We are where we are primarily because the church has been silent," Cruz told host Pat Robertson. "For too many years, the church has believed this lie of separation of church and state. That is neither in the Constitution nor in the Declaration."

Cruz, an ordained minister and traveling public speaker, believes now is "A Time for Action," which is the title of his recently published book. He believes inaction in the face of societal change has been the church's greatest failing over the past 60 years.

One pivotal moment, Cruz said, was in 1962 when the Supreme Court banned prayer from public schools in Engel v. Vitale.

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The church was silent.

Then the following year, when the court banned organized Bible reading in public schools, the church again failed to protest.

The church's excuse, as Cruz recalled, was that they did not want to interfere in "political issues." But Cruz objects to that characterization.

"How can you call prayer a political issue?" he exclaimed. "How can you call Bible study a political issue? But that's what the church did."

Cruz does not believe it's a coincidence that violent crime skyrocketed after 1963, when schools had been cleansed of prayer and Bible reading.

In 1973, when the Court upheld the right to abortion, the church again stayed out of the fray, saying abortion was a political issue.

"Well, we have what we deserve," Cruz lamented.

However, the minister believes the devil overplayed his hand last year when the Supreme Court declared "gay marriage" a constitutional right.

"[Last] June 26, when we had this decision against traditional marriage by the Supreme Court, I'll tell you – this has been a wake-up call," Cruz said. "How long are we going to remain silent?"

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Cruz thinks the church has finally realized it can no longer stay silent about public policy issues that deal with morality. He told Robertson Christians need to take God's message to the rest of the world.

Cruz noted with approval that many Christians recognize the importance of 2 Chronicles 7:14, which reads, "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."

However, prayer is only half of the equation, according to Cruz. The other half is evangelism, as stated in 2 Corinthians 5:20, which reads, "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God."

Cruz explained: "That means we are God's representatives here on Earth, we are God's hands, we are God's feet, we are God's mouthpiece, and Jesus said, 'Shout it from the housetops.'"

Listen to how the faith of Rafael Cruz, author of "A Time for Action," shaped Ted's campaign:

Cruz did not have the freedom to shout anything from the housetops as a young man growing up in Cuba. Dictator Fulgencio Batista ruled the island nation with an iron fist. But then, as Cruz recalled, an apparent savior arrived on the scene.

"There was this young, charismatic leader talking about hope and change," Cruz told Robertson.

The host replied, "The same thing as Obama? Hope and change?"

That young, charismatic leader was Fidel Castro, and Cruz and all the other Cuban rebels followed him, believing he would liberate them from the oppressive Batista regime. According to Cruz, nobody knew Castro was a Communist.

Cruz had migrated to the United States on a student visa two years before Castro seized power, but he returned to the island in 1959 to see what the revolution had produced. What he saw horrified him: Castro was confiscating private property and attacking individual liberties. So Cruz left after three weeks, never to return again.

"The Cuban people were fooled," Cruz told Robertson. "So many people are fooled with Communism about thinking that it's all – everybody's the same. That's not true."

He explained there are really three classes of people in Communist Cuba. The Communist Party leaders are at the top, as they control the vast majority of the country's wealth. Then there is the army, which enforces the party leaders' wishes on the population. And finally there are the ordinary people, who live in poverty. Cruz said the ordinary people could be considered equal to each other.

"Yes, I would say they're equal – they're all equally starved," he cracked.

In this important election year when at least one presidential candidate promises to make the U.S. more like Cuba, Cruz is saddened to see the Republican candidates slinging mud at each other instead of talking about the serious issues that face America.

One issue he considers critical is the appointment of a justice to replace Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court. Cruz said the Senate should wait until the next president takes office before confirming a nominee. If Obama is allowed to nominate Scalia's successor, Cruz fears the court will take a hard left turn and remain that way for the foreseeable future.

"“This could tilt the balance of the court, and … this could be something that would affect America for the next 30 years," he told Robertson. "We don't have 30 years, Pat."

SPECIAL OFFER: Get an autographed copy of Rafael Cruz's powerful new book, "A Time for Action: Empowering the Faithful to Reclaim America," at a discounted price, from the WND Superstore.

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