DANIEL: ABIDING UNDER PAGANISM

1. DANIEL: ABIDING UNDER PAGANISM

2. Daniel Passages • Chapter Contextual Theme • 1 Pagan Indoctrination • 2 Pagan Divination • 3 Pagan Tyranny • 5 Pagan Irreverence • 6 Pagan Intolerance

3. Abiding Under Tyranny • 1. Divine basis of human authority. • 2. Normality of suffering for the believer.

4. Abiding Under Tyranny • 1. Divine basis of human authority. • 2. Normality of suffering for the believer.

5. Abiding Under Tyranny • 1. Divine basis of human authority. • 2. Normality of suffering for the believer.

6. IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America “When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness…”

7. IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America “When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness…”

8. Pagan Civil Tyranny Ordered by Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries (whose commissioner worked closely with homosexual advocacy group) to pay $135,000 to two lesbians for refusing to accommodate their request for a wedding cake. In appeal process. Ordered by Colorado according to state law to honor requests for products serving same-sex ceremonies. Efforts to overturn order have failed; petition filed with Colorado Supreme Court. Elane Photography, LLC Fined $7,000 by New Mexico Human Rights Commission for refusing to shoot a lesbian couple’s commitment ceremony. New Mexico courts upheld decision; US Supreme Court refused case. Sued by State of Washington Attorney General who took up case of two homosexuals who were refused services for their wedding. Court ruled against her and that is liable for damages. Faces loss of business and more. Under appeal.

9. Pagan Civil Tyranny In context of controversy surrounding Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act, owner was asked a hypothetical question by a reporter about catering a same-sex wedding. Owner replied she couldn’t do so in good conscience as a Christian. Received bad press and public backlash leading to temporary closure. Also received substantial support and financial aid. Reopened.

10. Pagan Civil Tyranny

11. Pagan Civil Tyranny Friday, Oct 23, 2015 03:29 PM EDT Sean Illing “Thanks to Kentucky’s open records law, the Associated Press has obtained the emails county clerk Kim Davis sent just before she went to jail late this summer. And yes, they are every bit as unhinged as you imagined they’d be. In case you forgot, Davis is the God-loving homophobe who courageously denied marriage licenses to same-sex couples in Kentucky two months ago. “The emails are interesting if only because they show just how crazy (and dangerous) fanatics like Davis are, particularly if they happen to work as public servants. Here’s Davis in her own words: “‘The battle has just begun…It has truly been a firestorm here and the days are pretty much a blur, but I am confident that God is in control of all of this!! I desire your prayers, I will need strength that only God can supply and I need a backbone like a saw log!!…They are going to try and make a whipping post out of me!! I know it, but God is still alive and on the throne!!! He IS in control and knows exactly where I am!!…September 1 will be the day to prepare for, if the Lord doesn’t return before then. I have weighted the cost, and will stay the course.’”

12. Pagan Civil Tyranny The 'gay marriage' gauntlet: Time to choose Monday, August 17, 2015 Matt Barber (Liberty Counsel) - Guest Columnist Welcome to America 2015, where evil is good, men are women, judges are tyrants, and Christians are persona non grata. There is no more in between: it's either God or man.

13. Pagan Civil Tyranny The 'gay marriage' gauntlet: Time to choose Monday, August 17, 2015 Matt Barber - Guest Columnist “It's never fun to be proven right when warning of some impending wrong. Many in the pro-family movement have long stressed that the cultural Marxist left's belligerent push for the judicial fiction that is ‘gay marriage’ was never about gaining ‘equal access’ to this biologically exclusive male-female institution, as they profess, but, rather, is, and has always been, about control. “While there are many layers to unfold, the almost instant explosion in government-sanctioned, anti-Christian extremism on display post Obergefell v. Hodges, confirms the poisonous three-fold agenda that underlies the ‘social justice’ mob's flowery ‘marriage equality’ propaganda. That is: (1) the ultimate destruction of marriage, (2) forced affirmation of sexual deviancy under penalty of law, and (3) the eventual criminalization of Christianity. The destruction of marriage “Here's the bottom line: Homosexual activists don't want the white picket fence; they want to burn down the white picket fence. The endgame is not to achieve so-called ‘marriage equality’ but, rather, to render marriage reality meaningless.

14. Pagan Civil Tyranny The 'gay marriage' gauntlet: Time to choose Monday, August 17, 2015 Matt Barber - Guest Columnist “Masha Gessen, a lesbian journalist, activist and author, expressly admitted this fact in a 2012 interview with ABC Radio: ‘It's a no-brainer that [homosexuals] should have the right to marry,’ she said. ‘But I also think equally that it's a no-brainer that the institution of marriage should not exist. … [F]ighting for gay marriage generally involves lying about what we are going to do with marriage when we get there – because we lie that the institution of marriage is not going to change, and that is a lie.’ “Homosexual activist and pornographer Clinton Fein echoes Gessen's candid sentiments: ‘Demand the institution [of marriage] and then wreck it,’ he once wrote. ‘James Dobson was right about our evil intentions,’ he quipped. ‘We just plan to be quicker than he thought.’ “The goal is to water down marriage until marriage is pointless. And as evidenced by the burgeoning legal push for polygamous and incestuous ‘marriages’– even for the ‘right’ to ‘marry’ a robot – sexual anarchists are well on their way to achieving this goal.

15. Pagan Civil Tyranny The 'gay marriage' gauntlet: Time to choose Monday, August 17, 2015 Matt Barber - Guest Columnist Forced affirmation of sexual deviancy “Here's what Christian America is already experiencing from coast to coast. On Wednesday, civil rights law firm Liberty Counsel filed a request for a stay and an appeal of U.S. District Judge David Bunning's opinion ordering Rowan County Clerk Kim Davis to issue same-sex ‘marriage’ licenses both in violation of her First Amendment right to religious free exercise and the biblical mandate that she must not participate in this explicitly sinful activity. Davis had been sued by the ACLU and two lesbian political activists. “‘The plaintiffs in this case only sought licenses from Ms. Davis after learning of her religious objections to same-sex “marriage,” and they refuse to obtain a license elsewhere,’ said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. ‘Just as Justice Alito predicted in his dissent in Obergefell, secularists are trying to “stamp out every vestige of dissent” by targeting people of faith who do not agree with same-sex “marriage.”’

16. Pagan Civil Tyranny The 'gay marriage' gauntlet: Time to choose Monday, August 17, 2015 Matt Barber - Guest Columnist “Judge Bunning wrote, ‘Davis remains free to practice her Apostolic Christian beliefs. She may continue to attend church twice a week, participate in Bible study and minister to female inmates at the Rowan County Jail. She is even free to believe that marriage is a union between one man and one woman, as many Americans do. However, her religious convictions cannot excuse her from performing the duties that she took an oath to perform as Rowan County Clerk,’ the ruling said. “‘Judge Bunning's decision equated Kim's free exercise of religion to going to church. This is absurd!’ responded Staver. ‘Christianity is not a robe you take off when you leave a sanctuary. The First Amendment guarantees Kim and every American the free exercise of religion, even when they are working for the government.’ “‘Kim Davis did not sign up as a clerk to issue same-sex “marriage” licenses. Her job duty was changed by five lawyers without any constitutional authority. At a minimum, her religious convictions should be accommodated,’ concluded Staver.

17. Pagan Civil Tyranny The 'gay marriage' gauntlet: Time to choose Monday, August 17, 2015 Matt Barber - Guest Columnist “Indeed, Davis' oath as county clerk was to defend and protect the U.S. Constitution and the constitution of Kentucky. As Chief Justice John Roberts rightly observed in his Obergefell dissent, the activist majority's opinion actually hijacks the democratic process and is in no way rooted in the Constitution: ‘[D]o not celebrate the Constitution,’ he said. ‘It had nothing to do with it.’ “The fact is that if Ms. Davis were to issue counterfeit same-sex ‘marriage’ licenses, she would not only be disobeying God and directly participating in expressly sinful activity, she would be violating her constitutional oath. The criminalization of Christianity “To her credit, Ms. Davis is standing her ground while the decision is appealed. Predictably, many leftists are now clamoring for her imprisonment. They want her held in contempt of court and thrown in jail for refusing to at once affirm homosexual sin and violate God's commands. This is the new pagan orthodoxy. It's ‘here, it's queer, get used to it.’

18. Pagan Civil Tyranny The 'gay marriage' gauntlet: Time to choose Monday, August 17, 2015 Matt Barber - Guest Columnist “Meanwhile, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) reports on ‘a Colorado Court of Appeals decision Thursday in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Craig, regarding a cake artist who declined to use his artistic abilities to promote and endorse their same-sex ceremony even though other cake artists were willing to do the job.’ “‘Americans are guaranteed the freedom to live and work consistent with their faith,’ observed ADF attorney Jeremy Tedesco. ‘Government has a duty to protect people's freedom to follow their beliefs personally and professionally rather than force them to adopt the government's views. Jack simply exercised the long-cherished American freedom to decline to use his artistic talents to promote a message with which he disagrees. The court is wrong to deny Jack his fundamental freedoms.’ “The court affirmed an earlier order wherein Phillips and his Christian staff were not only ordered to bake homosexual ‘wedding’ cakes against their will, but were additionally forced into pro-homosexual ‘sensitivity’ propaganda classes.

19. Pagan Civil Tyranny The 'gay marriage' gauntlet: Time to choose Monday, August 17, 2015 Matt Barber - Guest Columnist “And if they refuse? “Then they go to jail. “That's how it works. Christian free exercise isn't outlawed all at once. Judges across our fruity plain simply order from the bench that millions of Christians, just like Kim Davis and Jack Phillips, must either deny recognition of God's natural order and Christ's admonition to ‘go and sin no more,’ or face prison for ‘contempt of court.’ “Welcome to America 2015, where evil is good, men are women, judges are tyrants, and Christians are persona non grata. There is no more in between. The anti-Christ left has thrown down the ‘gay marriage’ gauntlet. It's either God or man. "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve .... But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." (Joshua 24:15).