Liberty Counsel focuses on presidential election
Among the many programs of Liberty Counsel, one activity includes educating and motivating pastors and people about the upcoming election is one of the most important. They have opened several lines of communication to potential voters, including numerous pastors, speaking, sending DVDs, booklets and emails as well as making phone calls urging people to vote for biblical values, according to Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel and Dean of Liberty University School of Law.
“Voting is not merely a political act. It is a biblical witness to the community. It is a talent we must exercise wisely,” Staver said. “We elect agents to act on our behalf. If we believe life is sacred, then we cannot elect an agent to do that which is contrary to the Bible. As we believe and act on Sunday, we must believe and act on Tuesday, (Nov. 6), at the ballot box.”
Liberty Counsel represents Liberty University, which became the first private party in the nation to file a lawsuit against the Obama administration’s healthcare bill, known as “ObamaCare,” the day the bill was signed into law, March 23, 2010, according to a Liberty Counsel press release. Staver argued the case at the federal district court in Lynchburg, at the federal court of appeals in Richmond, and then filed briefs before the U.S. Supreme Court.
According to a Liberty Counsel press release, Liberty Counsel has filed a Petition for Rehearing concerning ObamaCare, and the Supreme Court has now ordered the federal government respond within 30 days, which means the challenge to ObamaCare is still alive.
“Under ObamaCare, Liberty University, Christian employers and other individuals, will be forced to fund abortion contrary to their religious beliefs. Our lawsuit continues to challenge the employer mandate and this forced abortion funding under the Free Exercise of Religion protected under the First Amendment,” Staver said.
Founded by Staver, Liberty Counsel is an international non-profit litigation, education and policy legal organization that seeks to “restore the culture by advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of life and the family,” according to Liberty Counsel’s motto.
According to Staver, Liberty Counsel was founded in 1989 with a goal to keep the doors open for the gospel, to advance religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the family.
“It is critical for Christians to be involved in the political realm, not to simply be political, but to be a voice for biblical truth,” Staver said.
According to Staver, the greatest civil rights issues that Christians face today are the deconstruction of marriage, abortion and the loss of religious liberty. Staver cited the demonization of Chick-fil-A for adhering to a biblical view of marriage as an example of how culture and the government seek to redefine traditional values by silencing those who hold them.
Liberty Counsel remains in touch with the media to monitor civil rights issues wherever they may be. Liberty Counsel also produces a short radio program known as Freedom’s Call and Faith and Freedom that educate on current issues affecting family, faith and freedom.
“Liberty Counsel is a multi-front defender of truth. In the courtroom, Congress and communities across the country, our attorneys and policy experts are protecting and defending our religious freedoms, the sanctity of life and the family,” Liberty Counsel Communications Director Charla Bansley said.
Bansley is responsible for writing press releases, managing social media, writing and directing the radios programs, and is also Staver’s publicist. According to Bansley, Liberty Counsel receives more than 1,300 calls every year from people in need of legal consultation and representation, which Liberty Counsel will provide free of charge.
The right to display the Ten Commandments, pro-life sidewalk counselors providing alternatives to abortion, and the right of Good News Clubs to meet on public school campuses are just a few cases that Liberty Counsel has litigated, according to Staver.