Saturday, May 14, 2011

Lakin freed to focus on family and career

A QUESTION OF ELIGIBILITY

Says nation lost track of links to Christianity


By Bob Unruh

© 2011 WorldNetDaily



Dr. Terrence Lakin

Dr. Terry Lakin was released today from Ft. Leavenworth, where he served almost six months of prison time for refusing orders over his doubts about Barack Obama's eligibility to be president, and told WND that he is going to focus on his family first, then his church and medical career.

In comments via telephone shortly after his release, Lakin, a lieutenant colonel in the military, told WND that he also remains dedicated to the Christian ideals on which the United States was founded.

The interview was facilitated for WND by Marco Ciavolino, who is with the Terry Lakin Action Fund, and was on hand to greet the released officer.

Jerome Corsi’s new book, "Where’s the Birth Certificate?", is now available for immediate shipping, autographed by the author, only from the WND Superstore

Lakin declined to respond to military orders because he was denied answers to his questions about the legitimacy of Obama's presidency. He then was court-martialed after the judge decided she would not allow him to present his arguments or his witnesses.

Questions during the brief interview were restricted by Lakin's advisers because of the pending status of an appeal of the military court's decision, as well as a request for clemency that remains unaddressed.

His release came after a standard reduction in time for good behavior.

Lakin's contention was that Obama may be ineligible, and therefore his orders would be illegal. He had pleaded through his chain of command for answers to his questions, but was refused.

After Lakin had served most of his sentence, Obama released an copy of a "Certificate of Live Birth" suggesting a Hawaii birth for the president. But analysts have criticized it as fraudulent and critics noted that the image revealed Barack Obama Sr. as his father, and since he never was American, argue that it simply proves Obama's ineligibility.

They say the American founders were influenced by Emmerich de Vattel's Law of Nations, in which a "natural born citizen" is defined as a citizen born of two citizen parents on the nation's soil.

Under that definition, Obama is disqualified from eligibility for the presidency because of his Kenyan father.

The action fund, which generated support for Lakin's family during his incarceration, also has planned a welcome back for Lakin when he returns to Baltimore.

In a statement on the action fund website, officials described how Lakin was allowed to cash out his $40 prison account today and was taken by van to a park-and-ride in eastern Leavenworth.

"We hand Terry a netbook running Skype so he can talk to his family. The children are home waiting for his call. Pili [Lakin's wife] appears on the screen with a huge smile. 'Come here kids, your dad is on the phone!' Holly, Jack and Andrew rush over. Jack, the 3-year-old, takes over the screen making faces and laughing."


Dr. Terrence Lakin on Skype with family

After a call to his parents, Lakin was on the line with WND.

He said getting back to his family is the "most important thing right now." Then is getting established in "a good Christian church near our house."

Then comes "taking care of my medical career."

He said while he was incarcerated, he found a great deal of encouragement from the cards and "uplifting letters" that fans sent, sometimes at the rate of 30-40 per day.

"People were sending me pictures of their families, telling me about their concerns," he said. "I tried to make it the most positive experience I could. It was an experience for self-reflection on my Christian faith."

He said he also read a great deal, starting out with "The 5000 Year Leap," which he found on a shelf the first day he worked in the library.

He also studied "Liberty and Tyranny." He also read the writings of Chuck Colson, Lee Strobel, C.S. Lewis and John Eidsmoe.

He was enlightened by his stay.

"I love medicine and want to remain in medicine," he said. "But I now see another group that needs medical services."

He said he feels he was able to help inmates at the prison, through teaching math and English classes, working with the chapel program and providing a voice of influence that other inmates perhaps might not have.

"I'm just kind of amazed where we lost track in the history lessons I had growing up of how firmly based our Founders were in Christianity," he said. "They wanted to maintain freedom of religion, not freedom from religion."

While he was incarcerated, Lakin remained under the Uniform Code of Military Justice but was allowed to post online a series of observations he's made while serving his time. Those private communications to the Terry Lakin Action Fund suggested that his focus remains on the foundations of the nation and the rights and responsibilities of its citizens.

He commented on the physical workouts he's enjoyed, his work, his cell and other issues, according to the action fund, which is the organization that has been raising money to pay the monthly bills for Lakin's family while he serves his term.

Lakin's support team said it has been able to supply donated funds for most of the family's needs during Lakin's absence.

Retired Cmdr. Charles Kerchner, who took his own challenge to Obama's tenure in the Oval Office all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, has said Lakin's conviction and jailing signaled the end of the "rule of law" in the United States.

Kerchner's legal case, handled by attorney Mario Apuzzo, alleged that Congress failed its constitutional duty to examine the legitimacy of a successful candidate during the Electoral College vetting process on Capitol Hill. The Supreme Court ultimately decided not to hear arguments, leaving standing a lower court's dismissal.

Kerchner's comments came in an interview with Sharon Rondeau of The Post & Email.

Lakin also earned the support of several prominent, high-ranking, retired officers during his battle, including Maj. Gen. Paul Vallely and Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney.

Kerchner had noted that Lakin, before publicly challenging Obama's eligibility to serve as president under the Constitution's "natural born citizen" requirement – an issue that remains unresolved – had gone through every available channel seeking resolution.

"Terry had been questioning Obama's eligibility for over two years, and not only did he go to his elected representatives; he used a formal path available to soldiers, filling out a form or writing a letter, to request a congressional inquiry," Kerchner told The Post & Email at the time.

"If a soldier is having some issue with the military chain of command or for any reason feels that he has been unjustly treated, there is the Article 138 where you can directly ask your senior chain of command about it. He also filed another form or letter to request a congressional inquiry; he requested more than once that an investigation be done about Obama's eligibility because as an officer, he had sworn an oath to the U.S. Constitution. He had great doubts that Obama was eligible, and he wanted them to investigate, and they didn't even answer him," Kerchner explained.

"The Congress did nothing. Terry, as a soldier, had a further right to one, and he didn't even get an answer. For example, if you allege that your commanding officer is mistreating you, Congress investigates those allegations. Terry asked for a congressional inquiry because no one in his chain of command was answering his questions, and they didn't answer him. He felt he was being unjustly treated and ignored by his chain of command in their not addressing or answering his questions about the eligibility of Obama to be the commander-in-chief and president," he said in the lengthy interview with Rondeau.


Read more: Army doctor freed to focus on family, medical career http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=298545#ixzz1MMF5MzYr

Can government tell Christian ministries what to say?

LAW OF THE LAND

Brief cites 1785 law that compelling 'propagation of opinions' is 'tyrannical'


By Bob Unruh

© 2011 WorldNetDaily


The Supreme Court is being asked to decide whether the government can dictate the message of a Christian ministry. And a brief submitted along with the question cites a page of biblical references as authority, listing them even ahead of the U.S. Constitution, statutes and previous case law.

The idea of a forced message is among the issues that are being raised in the case involving the ministry of Daniel Chapter One, which has gone to the high court to protest the actions of the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration.

The case is set for a conference before the high court on May 19, a meeting at which the justices could decide to hear oral arguments on the challenge to the government.

See how deep corruption runs in all of today's science ... in "Hijacking Science."

The core of the dispute involves the government's allegations that the ministry, which advocates for herbal and natural remedies rather than using "toxic pharmaceuticals," made promises of cures from its treatments.

The FTC's own adjudication process earlier decided that the FTC was right in attacking the organization, trying to impose massive fines and then ordering the ministry, at its own expense, to tell all of its customers that the "toxic pharmaceuticals" were the only "scientifically proven" remedies.

The original petition for certiorari was filed several weeks ago, but a new filing today includes an amicus brief from two organizations that advocate on behalf of civil and religious rights. It raises specifically the question of government-ordered messages.

"The FTC should not be allowed to force petitioners to deliver the government's message with which they disagree," said the filing by the Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund and the United States Justice Foundation.

"'For to compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions with which he disagrees is sinful and tyrannical.' Virginia Act for Establishing Religious Freedom (1785), reprinted in 4 The Founders Constitution 84 (P. Kurland & R. Lerger, eds.: Liberty Press: 1987)," the brief cites. "This principle of 'speaker autonomy' – the right 'to choose the content of his own message' – is a 'fundamental rule of protection under the First Amendment," it said.

The issue was that the FTC, after rejecting a series of expert witness statements and deciding that the Christian ministry made claims of cures, ordered that the ministry "sign and mail a letter containing the views of the FTC, thereby forcing DCO to identify itself with a message with which it profoundly disagrees."

That not only "substantially burdens DCO's exercise of religion," but also violates the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the petition claims.

The letter the government was demanding DCO send to its radio program listeners and others said, "[S]ome herbal products may interfere or affect your cancer or other medical treatment, may keep your medicines from doing what they are supposed to do, or could be harmful when taken with other medicines, or in high doses."

Additionally, the letter was supposed to say recipients should "talk to your doctor or health care provider before you decide to take any herbal product instead of taking cancer treatments that have been scientifically proven to be safe and effective in humans."

The organization has posted a video explaining the impact of the government's demands:

At a special website set up over the confrontation with federal agents, the organization explains how the government-approved drugs actually kill an estimated 100,000 people a year.

It was only last year when the FDA and other federal agents spearheaded a raid on the organization's Rhode Island headquarters, shortly after a federal judge refused the government's request to assess a massive fine against DCO because it refused to send the government-mandated letters to customers.

Jim Feijo, who with his wife Tricia, founded DCO in 1986, said the products are based on biblical principles, and the name comes from the chapter in the book of Daniel where the Old Testament leader refused to eat the foods of the enemies.

"We've never had a complaint, never harmed anyone, and thousands of people have told us they've been helped by our products. We've never had a lawsuit," he explained earlier in the fight.

The FTC alleges that Daniel Chapter One falsely claims its products can cure cancer.

"We never said that," said Tricia Feijo when her organization was raided. "They took a few words from one paragraph, some words from another paragraph, put them together, and said we implied we could cure cancer … their biggest complaint was testimonies of people saying they were healed of cancer."

The conflict began with a Federal Trade Commission Internet sting operation against companies that claimed they could cure cancer. According to the Feijos, 130 health products companies were targeted, and all but Daniel Chapter One reached agreements with the government.

"They ordered [us] to tell our customers there is no science behind our products, that only conventional medical treatment has been proven safe and effective in humans. We know from experience that chemotherapy and radiation are not safe," said Jim Feijo.

"We told them we can't comply, because there is scientific evidence in favor of our products. They wanted us to give in to their position of scientism and deny our religion of faith in the Lord Jesus.

"They acknowledged that we are a ministry, but then they denied all our rights as a ministry, all our constitutional rights," Feijo added. "We are a corporate soul, a 508 corporate soul. We have same legal status as the Roman Catholic and Mormon churches."

The brief from the CLDEF, which is a legal defense organization dedicated to the application of biblical principles, and the USJF, which is a public interest firm fighting for First Amendment rights, explained DCO is a "Christian house church" that runs a healthcare ministry based on "spiritual gifts, education, training and experience of its founders, James and Patricia Feijo."

"DCO uses the Internet, publications, speaking engagements around the country, and a daily radio show to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and the healing qualities of DCO products."

Those products are conventional herbal remedies as well as products that have resulted from "the combined legacy of 6,000 years of the use of herbs and nutrition…"

The problems began in 2008 and DCO "came under attack by the federal government for offering to the public these scripturally-based and historically proven dietary supplements as an alternative to 'conventional' medicine – such as chemotherapy and radiation oncology.'"

"The FTC developed a theory that DCO was misleading the public solely because DCO had not tested any of its natural dietary supplements by controlled clinical studies of the kind conducted by the FDA…" the brief explains.

"The FTC ignored DCO's contentions that: (1) there is no health or safety reason to test a nutritional supplement as one would a toxic pharmaceutical drug, and (b) most food supplements cannot be patented because it is financially impossible to meet the test established by the FTC."

The brief said, "The FTC applied an erroneous legal standard, exercising jurisdiction over a religious ministry on the sole ground of the mere receipt of income, rather than upon the statutory requirement that such income be in excess of that which is required to carry out the ministry's nonprofit activities. Such a fundamental error intruding upon a nonprofit religious organization should not go uncorrected.

"And, in ordering DCO to convey the FTC's healthcare views, DCO's First Amendment right to 'speaker autonomy' and the protections afford it by the Religious Freedom Restoration Act were ignored, constituting fundamental errors overlooked by the court of appeals, and warranting this court's review."

Read more: Can government tell Christian ministries what to say? http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=298661#ixzz1MMDH47fr