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Dear John,
After two years of restrictions on our freedoms related to the COVID-19 pandemic, with case numbers plummeting and the virus burning itself out, the vast majority of Americans agree: it is past time to allow life to return to normal.
If nothing else, we have more pressing issues--inflation, skyrocketing gas prices, supply chain issues, and the war in Ukraine--just to name a few.
But for those in power who stand to benefit from fear and division, the pandemic was an opportunity to exercise control... and these budding totalitarians aren't likely to let things go back to normal without a fight.
FRC is uniquely positioned in Washington, D.C. to remind legislators of our nation's founding principles of freedom for all.
Your partnership today will enable FRC's experts to keep Americans informed on what is really going on and to be your voice on Capitol Hill and in state legislatures advocating for your freedoms. And thanks to generous friends who have put forward the $150,000 Challenge Match, your gift will have double the impact, so $35 becomes $70, $50 becomes $100, and so on.
Don't miss this opportunity to have twice the impact in pushing back on government overreach!
Stand for Freedom
Some of the most recent news stories sound like scenes you would expect to see coming out of a nation run by communist dictatorship or radical Islamic fundamentalists:
- Crippling fines assessed and fencing erected around a church to prevent congregants from gathering.
- A pastor taken from his home in a SWAT-style arrest for praying and preaching to members of the Canadian trucker Freedom Convoy.
- Another taken into custody as his children weep outside their home after a police helicopter spotted his church gathering outside.
But these brazen crackdowns on religious liberty didn't take place in China or Afghanistan. No, this is happening in a Western democracy--our neighbor to the north, Canada. Sadly, a nation once known for its live-and-let-live liberality has been revealed by the pandemic as a burgeoning totalitarian state.
Government overreach and violations of religious liberty are becoming more and more common here in the West.
We cannot afford to be silent!
Under the guise of COVID policy, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has altered the very nature of citizenship in Canada. Canadians have suffered tremendously as they watched their freedoms dwindle with Trudeau's vaccine mandates, forced closure of all manner of institutions, and required vaccine passports.
In recent months, the media reported (mostly negatively) on Canadian truckers from across the nation as they streamed into the capital city of Ottawa to peacefully protest the loss of their liberties. But before the truckers stood against draconian pandemic policies, Canadian pastors put themselves on the line.
These brave believers, who know there is no substitute for the gathered church (Hebrews 10:25), have chosen to render to God and not Caesar--and Caesar didn't like it. They did so not to spite the government; they did so to glorify God and love needy people.
Infuriated by their refusal to obey men rather than God, the Canadian government intends to make an example out of them.
Here in the United States, we have seen the same impulse to use the fear and confusion of the pandemic--which has only been fomented by the media--to justify curtailing religious liberty. So far, the courts eventually put overstepping state and local bureaucrats in their place, but we must remain vigilant.
That's why the People's Convoy of American truckers has been so inspiring as it gained steam crossing the nation on its way to Washington, D.C. These men and women serve as a bright example of how we all need to take what we have--in their case, big rig 18-wheelers--and do what we can with it to save freedom.
FRC stands ready to amplify their voices and yours in the halls of government here in our nation's capital and throughout the heartland. Will you stand with us as we uphold our fundamental freedoms?
When you partner with FRC today, not only will your gift be DOUBLED thanks to the generous Challenge Match, but you'll receive a free Stand for Freedom bumper sticker as a thank you for your support.
Stand for Freedom
While it's true that many COVID-19 policies have eased or disappeared altogether, the threats to freedom from government overreach are far from over. Just look at what's happening in the U.S. military.
Our armed forces--filled with the brave men and women who risk their very lives to preserve our freedoms--has become ground zero for the implementation and enforcement of leftist policies.
Despite the ongoing foreign policy crisis in Europe, the U.S. Justice Department and military branches continue oppressing service members seeking a religious exemption from the COVID vaccine.
Of 16,000 military religious exemptions requested, only 15 total, across all branches, have been approved. The Marine Corps has "separated" 640 Marines. The Navy has fired 269 sailors.
As one Navy Chaplain (whose vaccine accommodation was denied) lamented, "they are picking and choosing which religion is valid and whose constitutional rights under the First Amendment will be honored and whose will not."
A month after a federal court granted more than 30 Navy SEALs an injunction from the vaccine mandate, these service members continue to face harassment at the hands of their superiors. They have gone so far as to refuse one SEAL access to acute medical care and another the ability to leave base for basic necessities!
More than 97 percent of active-duty military personnel are already vaccinated.
It's hard to come up with a logical reason why the Biden administration is continuing this crusade against the tiny percentage of service members with conscience objections to the COVID vaccine... except that leftists in government simply cannot tolerate the idea of submission to a power higher than theirs.
Family Research Council is standing as a xxxxxx against rampant government overreach, raising awareness, engaging with legislators, and partnering with allied organizations that are defending the constitutional rights of believers.
The generous support of people like you is what makes this vital work possible!
And thanks to the limited-time $150,000 Challenge Match, your gift today will have double the impact in restoring our constitutional freedoms.
No matter what happens in the world or in our nation, as believers, we have hope... and because of that hope, we have confidence.
You can count on FRC to keep you informed and equipped to stand. Thank you for joining us today and doubling your impact!
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