October 28, 2002
| For Immediate Release
Contact: Kelly Stokoe 866-866-2665 publish@starkehartmann.comTen Commandment debate: ACLU inadvertently takes the side of God How to Quit Church Without Quitting God: 7 Good Reasons to Escape the Box
The ACLU wants religious documents out of government buildings—and so does God. "It’s a case of the ACLU tripping over truth," says Martin Zender, iconoclastic author of How to Quit Church Without Quitting God: 7 Good Reasons to Escape the Box. "The Ten Commandments in no way reflect God’s attitude today toward mankind. The ACLU doesn’t know that; they’re just trying to eliminate God. Who cares? They’ll never get rid of God, but in the process of trying they’re protecting us from Jerry Falwell." Zender claims that God replaced the Ten Commandments "years ago" with a message of grace. "But somehow," Zender says, "the Religious Right never got the message." The Christian Law Association’s Web site shows a picture of a stone tablet, which reads: "Display the Ten Commandments – An Important Step in Promoting Morality." Zender calls this "a joke," warning that posting the Ten Commandments will be a giant step backward for morality. "It will make people worse," he says, "not better. The Decalogue produces frustrated religious hypocrites who damn other people for not being as moral as them. How moral is it to damn somebody?" Zender is quick to point out that all this is by divine design. "The Ten Commandments were meant to be contrasted with the grace of Christ. Jesus delivered us from thou shalts and thou shalt nots, but nobody could have appreciated that without the backdrop of law. I’m not saying it’s okay to covet your neighbor’s wife now. I’m saying that we refrain from it now because of God’s love in our heart, not because we have to obey God’s rules or else. It’s ‘want to’ versus ‘have to.’ "Going back to the Ten Commandments from this era of spiritual enlightenment is like ditching the space shuttle for a donkey cart. Wake up, Jerry. God has done something spectacularly new." Zender, 43, is a freelance, self-educated believer who writes frankly on subjects as controversial as death, sin, evil, hell, sex, free will, and the devil. His Web site is www.martinzender.com. His favorite saying is, "Believe in God, no matter what the clergy say." Media interviews & review copies available on request. For Immediate Release Contact: Kelly A. Stokoe 1-866-866-2665NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER IS A NATIONAL DISGRACE May 2 is the 50th Annual National Day of Prayer (NDP). Under the guidance of Chairman Shirley Dobson of Focus on the Family, Christians across America will be praying for our national leaders and beseeching God to provide protection, peace and direction for America. What’s wrong with that? Plenty, says Martin Zender, author of How to Quit Church without Quitting God. Dubbed "Martin Luther in Hiking Boots," this iconoclast charges something’s rotten in pew-land and NDP is merely the most prominent current example. What are Zender’s objections to NDP? National Day of Prayer is scripturally incorrect. Its foundational prayer is taken out of context. NDP’s prayer, beseeching the Israelites to, "…Seek My face and turn away from their wicked ways," was a specific prayer that was relevant thousands of years ago. One explicit condition was that supplicants were to pray toward Solomon’s temple, which no longer exists. In other words, the entire foundation of NDP is built on a false premise, which makes it out-of-touch, out-of-date and erroneous for 2002.Secondly, Jesus condemned public prayer when He said, "Go into your own room, shut your door and pray to your Father privately". NDP directly contradicts Christ’s command. According to Zender, "The entire premise of NDP is that God responds to numbers, and that He doesn’t know what He should do unless we tell Him—loudly and repeatedly. Rather than man needing help from God, NDP assumes that God needs help from man." Thirdly, NDP runs contrary to the most powerful prayer in the Bible, "Thy will, not my will, be done." Shirley Dobson and her adherents say they want what God wants, but nobody bothers to ask Him what that might be. Finally, NDP doesn’t work. Shirley Dobson has lamented in Focus on the Family, "We (The United States) are known as No. 1 in violent crime, No. 1 in divorce, No. 1 in teen pregnancies in the Western world, No. 1 in voluntary abortions, No. 1 in illegal drug use, and No. 1 among industrial nations in illiteracy". Strange situation for a nation praying like crazy. Indiana author Martin Zender is an experienced media personality whose book, How to Quit Church without Quitting God: 7 Good Reasons to Escape the Box, is revolutionizing how we understand spirituality.
Martin is available for interview please call Kelly A.
Stokoe Toll-free:1-866-866-2665 Media kits and review copies available on request.
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