Religious Freedom Group Goes Up Against Goliath of Censorship
by Chad Groening
May 13, 2004
(AgapePress) - Ten members of an Ohio church have dedicated themselves to supporting religious freedom in the United States, by whatever godly means necessary, even if it requires them to take their message on the road all across the country.The New Covenant Worship Center in Wellston, Ohio, is a church of about 250 members. But Pastor Jim Marquis says his church, though small, is dedicated to a mighty mission.
Within the church, he explains, is a ten-member group called David's Mighty Men, that about a year ago felt "impressed of God to do what it took -- to travel the nation if necessary -- in support of religious freedoms in America."
The pastor says David's Mighty Men supported Judge Roy Moore, former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, when he was ousted from office. Now the group is helping residents in Hamtramck, Michigan, fight an ordinance that allows Muslim prayer calls to be blasted over loudspeakers.
"We have been with Judge Roy Moore three times. We were in the courtroom with him when he was removed from office," Marquis says. He also notes that the group has traveled to Washington, DC, to meet with the chief justice there, and has "just criss-crossed the nation," promoting freedom of religious speech. Most recently that effort took them to Michigan.
"We heard about the possibility that was before city council in Hamtramck to create an opportunity for a prayer call for the Muslim mosque that is there," Marquis says, "and it sparked our interest and we decided that we were going to go."
David's Mighty Men plans to continue assisting Hamtramck residents in their effort to overturn the local ordinance that permits Mosques to broadcast amplified Islamic prayers in public, even as they look for other opportunities to help Christians fight censorship of their religious expressions.
New Covenant's pastor says the tiny advocacy group is dedicated to facing the giants of censorship and discrimination and to supporting religious freedom and its proponents from Alabama to Michigan, or wherever the fight takes them.
