2012 brought with it a major Supreme Court decision, plus a massacre that plunged the nation into sadness.
On Friday, December 14 -- less than two weeks before Christmas -- a gunman forced his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, gunning down six adults and then 20 children in two rooms of the school. OneNewsNow talked with Liberty Counsel Action vice president Matt Barber, who said as a result both the nation and individuals need to experience change.
"We see that the culture of death -- which has been pushed certainly since 1973; since the Roe v. Wade decision -- coming out of the left is a culture that embraces violence in entertainment," he stated. "We find that America is sick in the soul."
Barber went on to say that the only thing that will save America is a revival to change the hearts of men, and a return to respecting and honoring God -- but added it's a certainty that cannot be legislated.
Will Marotti, pastor of New Life Church in Wallingford, Connecticut, was one of the first to respond to counsel families and emergency responders. He said churches in the area, including his, were packed the Sunday after the massacre, and not with just the expected Christmas crowd.
"The problem is that many times, though they run to God and then they begin to feel a sense of safety and security come back; and as we saw in 9-11, churches all over the country saw this swell in attendance. But as soon as the security and safety came back, it was like the tide rolled out and took a lot of folks back with them -- so it's a temporary faith."
Pastor Marotti told OneNewsNow that's not the kind of faith that is needed. "Saving faith is long term, lasting faith in the good times, bad times, and everything in between," he said.
Marotti added it is up to the individual members of the Body of Christ to take the gospel out into the community to bring people to Christ, disciple them, make them feel welcome in church, and encourage them to continue on the path laid out in the gospel. There have been four mass shootings in as many years.
ObamaCare before SCOTUS
The entire country was waiting for the Supreme Court's decision on whether to uphold ObamaCare or declare it unconstitutional. Liberty Counsel founder Mat Staver forecast what it would mean if the court upheld the individual mandate.
"It means that the Supreme Court has authorized the federal government to have unlimited power far beyond the original intent of the constitution," said Staver. "It's going to go beyond the mandates that we've recently seen with regards to abortion funding. It'll cover all kinds of things that the federal government will have the power to do to literally override our religious beliefs and collide with our moral values."
In its split decision sustaining the law, the Supreme Court left the door open a bit by saying that upholding the constitutionality of ObamaCare's individual mandate did not mean that constitutional rights could be violated.
In November, Liberty Counsel learned that the Supreme Court had decided to revisit its case challenging the employer mandate, which requires businesses and institutions to offer insurance, and the coverage required by law, regardless of the employers' religious beliefs. That includes contraception, abortion-causing drugs and sterilization -- all for free. Liberty Counsel's case is on behalf of Liberty University.
Lower courts go against mandate
Several courts, however, have ruled that the mandate does violate constitutional protections of religious freedom. One is Weingartz Supply Company and its owner Daniel Weingartz, who is a committed Christian.
Weingartz is represented by Thomas More Law Center's Erin Mersino, who said the federal court ruling impinges on their religious freedom.
"Basically the court went through every step of the analysis and said that it was unclear that the government had a compelling interest in the HHS mandate in promoting women's public health," Mersino reported.
Federal Judge Robert Cleland said in his ruling that "the loss of First Amendment freedoms, for even minimal periods of time, unquestionably constitutes irreparable injury."
Essentially, this is the furthest reaching injunction rendered from the court so far.
The various federal court rulings are making their way through the system to the nation's high court, where attorneys are hopeful the majority of the nine justices will rule that religious freedom overrides the authority of the mandate.
Planned Parenthood responsible for death
Several organizations kept a close watch on abortion clinics around the country in 2012. In a Chicago Planned Parenthood, 24-year-old Tonya Reaves had an abortion that went awry. Operation Rescue's Cheryl Sullenger said Reaves was left bleeding for five-and-a-half hours before an ambulance was called to rush her to emergency room doctors.
"They found out that she had been given an incomplete second-trimester abortion," said Sullenger. "They had to redo the abortion, and then they found out the uterus had also been perforated and that's what was causing the uncontrolled bleeding."
That was repaired, but it was too late and Reaves died. Operation Rescue has requested an investigation.
In Birmingham, Alabama, complaints were filed against New Woman All Women Health Care after ambulances were called to rush women to the hospital three times in one day. State authorities have closed the clinic after an investigation resulted in 71-pages of health code violations.
In Rockford, Illinois, pro-lifers maintained a constant vigil on an abortion clinic and were finally able to convince state authorities to investigate. They did and the clinic is permanently closed.
Activist, family leave China for U.S.
One of the thrilling stories of the year involved Chen Guangcheng, a blind, self-taught lawyer and activist against China's forced-abortion policy.
Chen was imprisoned and tortured time and again for over four years, and upon his release, authorities kept him and his wife imprisoned in their home, where they were regularly beaten.
Chen escaped in the dead of the night, made his way to the U.S. embassy in Beijing, and then was hospitalized. Bob Fu of ChinaAid was able to call him from America.
"Basically, he was in the hospital, feels very isolated and even during my conversation with him he was crying and kept telling me that please help and bring my family to the U.S.," reported Fu.
That situation caused a diplomatic tussle between the two countries, but eventually Chen, his wife, and two children were able to fly to New York where he is now a student.
Source: OneNewsNow.com
