Chuck Colson & The Manhattan Declaration

The Manhattan Declaration

Manhattan Declaration Announced By Its Author, Chuck Colson.  According to the Washington Examiner: "The Manhattan Declaration was announced on Nov. 20, 2009, by Chuck Colson, Founder of The Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview. Colson drafted the declaration along with Robert George (Professor, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University) and Timothy George (Professor, Beeson Divinity School, Samford University)." [Washington Examiner, 11/23/09]

The Manhattan Declaration Advocates "Principled Non-Cooperation With Evil." Of the Manhattan Declaration, Colson wrote:

The Manhattan Declaration is a wake-up call-a call to conscience-for the church. It is also crystal-clear message to civil authorities that we will not, under any circumstances, stand idly by as our religious freedom comes under assault. [...]

This kind of principled non-cooperation with evil won't be easy-there are signs of a reduced tolerance for that most basic of American values, religious freedom. As we've discussed many times on BreakPoint, Christian organizations are losing tax-exempt status for refusing to buy in to homosexual "marriage." Some are going out of business rather than cave into immoral demands-such as placing children for adoption with homosexual couples. Conscientious medical personnel are being sued or being fired for obeying their consciences. I say, enough is enough. The Church must take a stand. And with the release of the Manhattan Declaration, that's exactly what we are doing. [BreakPoint.org, 11/20/09]

Watergate Criminal A Chief Architect Of Manhattan Declaration

Colson: "The 'Evil Genius' Of An Evil Administration."  As reported by Slate: "As special counsel to the president, [Colson]was Richard Nixon's hard man, the 'evil genius' of an evil administration. According to Watergate historian Stanley Kutler, Colson sought to hire Teamsters thugs to beat up anti-war demonstrators, and he plotted to raid or firebomb the Brookings Institution. He eventually pleaded guilty to scheming to defame Daniel Ellsberg and interfering with his trial. In 1974, Colson served seven months in federal prison." [Slate, 3/10/00]

Colson's Watergate Crimes Include Intimidation, Financial Maneuvering, And Robbery.  Of Colson's metamorphosis from Watergate actor to Christian advocate, Max Blumenthal of the Washington Monthly wrote: "No conversion story can be told without first recounting the wretched deeds and failings of the fallen sinner. With Colson, it's a rich lode." Blumenthal went on to write:

• "There was the time in 1972, for example, when Colson arranged for a Gary Hart impersonator to place a rude phone call to former AFL-CIO chief George Meany (Hart was then George McGovern's campaign manager), resulting in the union's refusal to endorse the Democratic nominee."
• "Then there's the story of how Colson diverted $8,000 of Nixon campaign funds to purchase copies of a book that purported to document the 'anti-Nixon bias' of the television networks during the 1968 campaign. (Through these bulk sales, the book made The New York Times' bestseller list.)"
• "And who can forget the tale of how Colson masterminded the break-in of the office of Daniel Ellsberg's psychiatrist, a crime which would eventually land him in prison?" [Washington Monthly, July/August 2005]

Colson Has Deep Ties To "The Family" Of C Street Fame

Colson Boasted Of The Family's Unspoken Presence In Government.  Jeff Sharlet wrote: "Christian right leader -- and Watergate felon -- Chuck Colson, converted through the efforts of the Family, has boasted of it as a 'veritable underground of Christ's men all through government.'" [Salon, 7/21/09]

• The Family, Or The Fellowship, Was Founded In 1935. According to Conservative Babylon: "The Family is a secretive network founded in 1935 and since known by several names, including The Fellowship, The Fellowship Foundation, National Fellowship Council, Fellowship House, The International Foundation, National Committee for Christian Leadership, International Christian Leadership, and the National Leadership Council." [ConservativeBabylon.com, accessed 11/25/09]

• The Family Organizes The Annual US National Prayer Breakfast. Conservative Babylon notes: "[The Family] is an international movement that claims to be centered on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ as the common ground across all religious and political divisions. The Family is led by Doug Coe and most widely known for organizing the National Prayer Breakfast, at which every President of the United States since President Dwight D. Eisenhower, including President Barack Obama in 2009, has spoken." [ConservativeBabylon.com, accessed 11/25/09]

Colson Was Converted Through The Efforts Of The Fellowship.  Newsweek reported: "Chuck Colson, who was special counsel to Richard M. Nixon and was imprisoned for seven months after Watergate, had a conversion experience in 1973 and credits the Fellowship-and [Fellowship leader] Coe in particular-for seeing him through his darkest days. 'He really ministered to me in a powerful way,' says Colson, who now runs a prison ministry. 'He had a wonderful personality; he loved the Lord.' When Colson was serving time, Fellowship prayer partners visited him frequently and 'Coe's daughter moved in and lived with my wife so she wouldn't be alone.'" [Newsweek, 9/8/09]

Colson Brought Into The Family By Leader Coe.  Max Blumenthal of the Washington Monthly wrote: "[Colson biographer] Aitken notes that it was Coe who first introduced Colson to evangelical culture through a group with the friendly name of Fellowship House. But he neglects to mention that Fellowship House is a front for 'The Family,' a highly secretive, all-male cadre of largely right-wing congressmen, industry chieftains, and members of the military. Jeffrey Sharlet, a journalist who infiltrated The Family for Harper's magazine, has described the goal of The Family to be 'an 'invisible' world organization led by Christ.'" [Washington Monthly, July/August 2005]

Colson On Homosexuality

"Many in our culture have fallen for the argument that homosexuality is inborn, even though that argument is based on faulty evidence and wouldn't matter if it were true." [BreakPoint.org, 1/7/04]

"Instead of serving moral and social purposes, sex's overriding purpose was to bring pleasure to those having sex. We see that in all of the literature and all of the discussions through the sexual revolution years. Within that worldview, it became difficult, if not impossible, to judge the morality of any sexual act between consenting adults. Once you determine consent, there is nothing left to say...It's these attitudes, and the worldview that produces them, that have fueled the gay-rights movement. It rolls on because it resonates with what many Americans believe. And that means that the only way to slow it down is to change the terms of the debate: to once again establish that we are not lower than the animal species, that sex is not for recreation-it is for procreation." [BeliefNet.com, 8/03]

"If same-sex 'marriage' is foisted upon other states, then expressing disagreement with it-or even criticizing the homosexual lifestyle-could become a firing offense for everyone. If employers had taken this attitude 90 years ago, people could have lost their jobs for disagreeing with laws forbidding women from voting!" [BreakPoint.org, 11/19/09]