Where Is The Money The Word Network Raised For Flint's Water Crisis?

Monday night, Flint's story was broadcast around the world on the

popular religious TV station, The Word Network.

Baltimore Pastor Jamal Bryant, who spent the day in Flint, turned his monthly program, 'The Empowerment Encounter' into the 'Water Telethon for Flint' at the network's Southfield studios. 100 percent of the donations will be turned over to the Concerned Pastors of Flint...to be used for not just water, but for rebuilding a city impacted by lead for years to come he said.

"The equity of their home is now under tremendous risk, the level of unemployment in that city, the inequity of the educational system. The whole city needs a renovation and tonight, the world is going to be able to help," said Bryant.

Pastor Stacy Swimp

What is odd about the telethon is  the fact that The Word Network will not release how much money the telethon raised.

One pastor in the city of Flint has some serious doubts about The Word Network.

Stacy Swimp a pastor and activist in the city of Flint had the following to say,

 “ So the The Word Network will not release how much money it raised after holding a telethon which was supposedly to support the Flint water crisis? They say, however, that 100 percent of the money will be turned over to a local group of pastors. That's strange. I don't think I have ever seen a telethon for anyone or anything where there is a refusal to be transparent about the money. Seems that a great deal of exploitation is taking place during this time of real crisis.”

Michigan State House Passes Burdensome And Un-Constitutional Act Bill Now Heads To State Senate

By: Stacy Swimp

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) HB 5958 passed by the Republican House allows government to "burden religious freedom in the interest of government!"!

Section 5 of RFRA says: Sec. 5.2  (Opens the door for Government Intrusion)

18 (2) Government may substantially burden a person's exercise of

19 religion only if it demonstrates that application of the burden to

20 that person's exercise of religion in that particular instance is

21 both of the following:

22 (a) In furtherance of a compelling governmental interest

.

23 (b) The least restrictive means of furthering that compelling

24 governmental interest.

25 (3) A person whose religious exercise has been burdened in

26 violation of this section may assert that violation as a claim or

27 defense in any judicial or administrative proceeding and obtain 403979'13 * CJC

1 appropriate relief, including equitable relief, against government.

2 (4) A court or tribunal may award all or a portion of the

3 costs of litigation, including reasonable attorney fees, to a

4 person who prevails against government under this section.

What compelling interest could government have to burden my religious freedom?

What does that look like exactly?

Call Senate' Majority Leader  Randy Richardville and ask him to NOT take up this Anti Religious Freedom Bill!

Minister Stacy M. Swimp is a 2009 graduate of the Great Lakes Bay Region African-American Leadership Training Institute and a 2011 Graduate of the Henry Marsh Institute of Public Policy.

Stacy is also a 2010 recipient of the “Frederick Douglass Award, given by the Women’s Progressive Club of Saginaw, MI, an affiliate of The National Organization of Colored Women and Youth.

Affiliates His commentaries have appeared in the Washington Times, Miami Times, Orlando Sun, Philadelphia Tribune, Chicago Defender, Michigan Chronicle, Buffalo Criterion and publications around the world If you are interested in interviewing Stacy , please contact stacyswimp@stacyswimp.com

Elliot Larsen Expansion "Dead For Now", Bill Sponsor Frank Foster Couldn't Defend Expansion

IT'S DEAD FOR NOW,...NOT enough support to get the expansion of the Elliot Larsen Civil Rights Act (to include LGBT individuals) passed out of Commerce Committee!!! - Stated a joyful Antrim Republican County Chair (Trucker) Randy Bishop. 

 Another activist, Minister Stacy Swimp went on his page to report :

Dear Saints of God:

The proposed expansion of Michigan's civil rights laws to include “sexual orientation” legislation was defeated today in the MI House Commerce Committee.

The Bill did not have enough votes to successfully pass and go forward.

It is not necessarily a final victory, as the homosexual agenda will continue fighting for legitimacy.

However, it was a significant win for the kingdom of God, for religious freedom, and even for Biblical marriage.

Only three people were called and permitted an opportunity to testify in opposition to this Bill today.

I was blessed to one of the three.

I also submitted 30 copies of written testimony opposing the proposed Bill which sought to expand our State Civil Rights Bill by adding "“sexual orientation” to it, as though sexual behavior is a "civil right".

As I testified, you could sense the entire tone of the meeting drastically changed,.As I used empirical data to destroy the false comparison of "gay rights" with civil rights.

Even the pro homosexual Chairperson, Republican Frank Foster was flustered and attempted to defend what he could not prove when I asked him "Can you site a singular case to support your claims of discrimination against homosexuals?"

He, after unsuccessfully tying to change the real issue (I didn't allow that!), responded:

"We'll get that to you"

Don't bet on it!

I will keep you posted.

Keep praying and keep putting pressure on your representatives to defend your religious freedom and Biblical marriage!.

(Note: Keith Den Hollander, President of Michigan Christian Coalition and Attorney David Kallman also testified against this Bill and did a great job!)

Thomas More Law Center Files Brief Defending Traditional Marriage in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals

The Thomas More Law Center (TMLC), a nonprofit public interest law firm based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, late Friday afternoon (Nov. 7), filed an amicus brief (friend of the court brief) in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals urging the Court to affirm a lower federal district court decision which upheld Louisiana’s traditional marriage law.

Stacy Swimp (second two right) leads the
coalition of black pastors at the TMLC press conference
discussing their National strategy to defend traditional marriage

Louisiana’s marriage law affirms the definition of marriage as the union only between one man and one woman and was passed by 78% of the state’s voters. The Louisiana lawsuit filed by homosexual activists sought to use judicial power to overturn the will of the people.  However, Louisiana Federal District Court Judge Martin C. Feldman ruled that Louisiana was under no constitutional obligation to recognize so-called “same-sex marriage,” and that its state law was “anchored to the democratic process.” 

The plaintiffs appealed his ruling to the Fifth Circuit.  In support of Judge Feldman’s decision, TMLC’s brief stated:

If “marriage” means whatever a political activist, a cherry-picked plaintiff, or an appointed judge wants it to mean, it means nothing. If it has no fixed meaning, it is merely a vessel for a judge’s will. It is used as a subterfuge for judicial legislation. And as Montesquieu observed: “There is no greater tyranny than that which is perpetrated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.”

As a part of its national strategy to defend traditional marriage, TMLC formed a team of lawyers to file friend of the court briefs (amicus briefs) on behalf of the National Coalition of Black Pastors and Christian leaders.  The team consists of TMLC’s senior trial counsel, Erin Mersino, and Co-counsels William R. Wagner and John S. Kane of Lansing, Michigan. The team is tasked with filing briefs in significant cases dealing with the issue of traditional marriage.

The Law Center’s briefs reflect the view of a majority of African-Americans: that discrimination because of one’s sexual preference is not the same thing as racial discrimination and that tradition and morality should not be discarded as a basis of the law; as the pro-homosexual judges have done in their opinions.

TMLC’s brief is the fourth brief filed on behalf of the National Coalition of Black Pastors and Christian Leaders. It presents the unique perspective of African American religious leaders that discrimination because of one’s sexual preference is not the same thing as racial discrimination.

“Same-sex attracted individuals have never lawfully been forced to attend different schools, walk on separate public sidewalks, sit at the back of the bus, drink out of separate drinking fountains, denied their right to assemble, or denied their voting rights.  The legal history of these disparate classifications, i.e., immutable racial discrimination and same-sex attraction, is in-congruent. Yet, courts continue to mistakenly draw upon this in-congruence as the basis for what they now deem “marriage equality.”

TMLC’s brief also countered same sex marriage arguments based on the 1967 case of Loving v. Virginia in which the US Supreme Court overturned Virginia’s laws prohibiting interracial marriages.  The Supreme Court, in Loving v. Virginia, solely analyzed a state law that wrongfully condoned racial discrimination in the context of traditional marriage.  The case did not address redefining marriage beyond the scope of the union between one man and one woman.

As a member of the Coalition, Bishop Samuel Smith of the Apostolic World Christian Fellowship consisting of 25, 000 churches worldwide representing over 5 million laity, avows: “Marriage was defined by God.  Not by government. Government has no right to redefine marriage and destroy the meaning of family.”

SOME EXCERPTS FROM TMLC’S BRIEF (“Appellants” refers to Plaintiffs)

“The “marriage equality” slogan is self-defeating, because it is a standard-less standard that renders “marriage” equally meaningless for all. See id. at 269-75 (discussing that the logic of Plaintiffs’ position demands “equal marriage rights” for bigamists, polygamists, same-sex siblings, and virtually any other arrangement individuals might want to create).”

***

“If “marriage” means fulfilling one’s personal choices regarding intimacy, as the Appellants insist, it is difficult to see how States could regulate marriage on any basis. If personal autonomy is the essence of marriage, then not only gender, but also number, familial relationship, and even species are insupportable limits on that principle and they all will fall. This is not just a slippery slope on which the Appellants wish to set us, it is a bottomless pit into which they desire to throw us.”

***

“The Appellants wish to replace the morality of the Judeo-Christian tradition on which our country was founded with the trendy, relativist morality of political correctness.”

***

“As our tradition recognizes, some truths are self-evident. Among them are that men and women are different. In fact, it is clear from our very existence that men are made for women, and women for men. None of us would be here but for that truth. Another self-evident truth is that it is best for children to be raised by their parents whenever possible. There have been many theories to the contrary throughout history, but they have all proven vacuous at best. Public policy that recognizes and acts on these truths is not unfairly discriminatory. In fact, the only way to have sound public policy is to build on such truths.”

***

“Louisiana’s legislature and voters, with an overwhelming majority, affirmed a truth upon which our nation was founded and has flourished for over two hundred years: that the natural family is the optimal environment in which children should be raised. Human history, scientific observations of human biology, and our own experience, common sense and reason tell us that children come exclusively from opposite sex unions, and children benefit from being raised by their biological parents whenever possible.”

***

“Marriage should be reinforced, not redefined. This Court should uphold the District Court’s just ruling and reject the Appellants’ unconstitutional arguments, which undermine the family as the fundamental building block of our society by destroying the meaning of marriage.”

***

Click here to read the entire brief

Click here to lean more about Thomas More

Federal Appeals Court Upholds Anti-Gay Marriage Law In 4 States

Today a federal appeals court in Cincinnati upheld anti-gay marriage laws in four states breaking ranks with other courts that have considered the issue and setting up the prospect of Supreme Court review.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel that heard arguments on gay marriage bans or restrictions in Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky and Tennessee on Aug. 6 split 2-1, with Circuit Judge Jeffrey Sutton writing the majority opinion. The ruling creates a divide among federal appeals courts, increasing the likelihood the Supreme Court will now take up the issue.

Michigan pastor Stacy Swimp was enthusiastic about the ruling Thursday.

"I'm very happy that the courts decided to uphold the voting rights

Stacy Swimp

of 2.7 million voters who under the Michigan and the U.S. constitutions exercised their voting rights," said Swimp of the National Christian Leadership Council and a member of the National Coalition of Black Pastors and Christian Leaders, which filed amicus briefs in the case opposing gay marriage. "No court had the right to usurp their God-given rights."

The 64-page ruling notes four courts have upheld same-sex unions, but for different reasons in each case.

"Even if we … assume that same-sex marriage will be recognized one day in all fifty states, that does not tell us how — whether through the courts or through democracy. And if through the courts, that does not tell us why," the opinion states.

The ruling says "process and structure matter greatly in American government" and laws passed by voters shouldn't be overturned on a whim. The issue should not be settled by a "poll of three judges on this panel … about whether gay marriage is a good idea."

The court also said the traditional perception of marriage cannot simply be overruled.

"A dose of humility makes us hesitant to condemn as unconstitutionally irrational a view of marriage shared not long ago by every society in the world, shared by most, if not all, of our ancestors, and shared still today by a significant number of states," the ruling states.

Attorney General Bill Schuette said he's ready when and if the case will  to the Supreme Court.

"The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit has ruled, and Michigan's constitution remains in full effect," Schuette said. "As I have stated repeatedly, the U.S. Supreme Court will have the final word on this issue. The sooner they rule, the better, for Michigan and the country."

More than 300 couples received marriage licenses in several

Michigan counties, including Dick Devos’ Michigan Gubernatorial campaign manager and current Director of the political pact Michigan Freedom Fund  Greg McNeilly before an appeals judge imposed a stay.

Greg McNeilly, 42, left of Grand Rapids, attempting to marry his

longtime partner Doug Meeks, 37, of Lansing,

outside the Ingham County courtroom

BLACK MICHIGAN PASTORS SAY REPUBLICANS WHO FILED BRIEF SUPPORTING GAY MARRIAGE ARE RACIST

Pastor Stacy Swimp, Revive Alive Ministries

Are Republican's that filed a brief supporting gay marriage racist? Many black pastor's in Michigan seem to think so.  

Pastor Stacy Swimp, of Revive Alive Ministries-Flint, Michigan, took aim at the hypocrisy of the Republicans in question.  Here is what he wrote on his Facebook status:

Detroit, Michigan, June 19th, 2014- A coalition of Republicans, which includes a national activist opposed to affirmative action for Blacks, as well as a former Michigan Speaker of the House- who initially pushed for a ban on marriage redefinition- have filed a brief in the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals supporting the March 21 ruling that briefly struck down Michigan’s voter approved Marriage Protection Amendment.

 “As conservatives, moderates and libertarians we embrace the individual freedoms protected by our Constitution,” said Rick Johnson, the former GOP speaker who paved the way for the gay marriage issue to make its way to the 2004 statewide ballot.

“We embrace Ronald Reagan’s belief that the Republican Party must be a ‘big tent.’ We believe in the importance of limited government, individual freedom and stable families. We believe that these values are advanced by recognizing civil marriage rights for same-sex couples.” Jennifer Gratz, who led the efforts to ban affirmation action at the University of Michigan, has also joined the Republicans in seeking to redefine marriage.

Gratz states "I am against special preferences based on race, gender, ethnicity, national origin, and sexual orientation- namely for heterosexuals." Pastors from a coalition of over 200 Black Pastors and Christian leaders from outstate Michigan take issue with the Republicans who fought against affirmation action for Blacks, yet fight for special preferences for homosexuals and lesbians. "Mrs. Gratz is obviously confused as she desires to defend the rights of the approximate 1.4% homosexual population at the expense of the 98.6% heterosexual population.

Perversion has never been acceptable in a moral society, but now she desires to see it not only be accepted, but also promoted in our judicial system, schools and halls of higher education ultimately receiving special privileges. Is that not what she just fought against? Sure makes one wonder the thinking processes of Mrs. Gratz."- Pastor Rodney McTaggert, Bread of Life Ministries, Saginaw, Michigan

 "How ironic that so called Republicans, whose party platform allegedly advocates the constitutional principles of limited government, would file a brief in support of marriage redefinition, which has attached to it the nefarious agenda of discriminating against the individual freedom of Christians who decline to endorse homosexual behavior." - Stacy Swimp 

The pastors say that discrimination against Christians is the direct consequence of marriage redefinition, citing an incident where owners of a Christian bakery -who refused to make a wedding cake for a lesbian couple- were found "guilty" of violating the so called civil rights of a lesbian couple, because the bakers' religious conscience would not permit them to make a cake dedicated to marriage between two women. 

The pastors also believe that racism is at the heart of the agenda of the Republicans who fought against affirmative action and so called special preferences for Black Americans, but are now advocating special preferences for homosexuals and lesbians. 

"Republicans, such as Jennifer Gratz and Leon Drolet- who ran the anti-affirmative action campaign in Michigan and Arizona- have revealed themselves as morally bankrupt racists. This is demonstrated by their focus on gutting civil rights for Blacks and replacing them with special preferences for homosexuals. "- Pastor Leonard Jackson, Beth-El Community- Church of God in Christ, Detroit, Michigan Pastor Jackson says that there has always been a correlation between racism and the homosexual agenda. "I vividly recall that, when the voter approved Marriage Protection Amendment passed in California, LGBT activists spewed all kinds of racial epithets at Black homosexuals, as they blamed the Black community- which voted 70-30 for traditional marriage- for the failed bid to redefine marriage. Black homosexuals in California learned that the homosexual culture was racist. So it comes as no surprise that the same people who fought against affirmative action for Blacks would fight for special preferences for homosexuals"- Pastor Leonard Jackson concluded. 

The pastors say they are not in the least discouraged or dismayed by the Republicans who have joined in to redefine marriage. "Imagine if our forefathers had started out with the same abominable, despicable concept of marriage as these groups have today. We would have no society.", states Elder Dr. Rader Johnson, Greater Bibleway Temple, Bay City, Michigan. "So I say to those who promote this wayward anti-Christ agenda of marriage redefinition to cease and desist your destructive, confused, anti-social concept of family. If you won't, we are prepared to fight against you for the purpose of preserving our God given traditional marriage!'

Read more about what Pastor Swimp had to say on his website.  

As previously reported , according to  Macomb Daily Political Reporter Chad Selweski , in his Sept 1st 2013 report, and Joel Kurth's editorial in theDetroit News on May 14, 2013 it is noted that  Leon Drolet is known as a gay man.  

It is also known that Jennifer Gratz, who led the fight against affirmative action policies at the University of Michigan but now is a permanent resident of Fort Myers Florida.