By Joe Kovacs
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

Calling the approval of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts "the straw that broke the camel's back," a group of Christian activists is in the beginning stages of an effort to have one state secede from the United States to become its own sovereign nation.

"Our Christian republic has declined into a pagan democracy," says Cory Burnell, president of ChristianExodus.org, a non-profit corporation based in Tyler, Texas. "There are some issues people just can't take anymore, and [same-sex marriage] might finally wake up the complacent Christians."

Burnell is leading the charge for a peaceful secession of one state from the union, and after originally considering Alabama, Mississippi and South Carolina due to their relatively small populations, coastal access, and the Christian nature of the electorate, Burnell says South Carolina has been selected as the target location.

The plan initially calls for at least 12,000 Christians willing to be active in political campaigns to move to the Palmetto State.

"We're not an invading force, we're reinforcements," Burnell tells WorldNetDaily, saying it would be a waste to move to liberal-minded states such as Massachusetts, New York or California where conservative votes would be diluted.

According to the ChristianExodus website, which is slated for a major relaunch next month, "Christians have actively tried to return our entire land to its moral foundation for more than 20 years. We can categorically say that absolutely nothing has been achieved. If you disagree, consider this:

* Abortion continues against the wishes of many states

* Children may not pray in our schools

* The Bible is not welcome in schools except under strict federal guidelines

* The 10 Commandments remain banned from public display

* Sodomy is now legal and celebrated as 'diversity' rather than perversion

* Preaching Christianity will soon be outlawed as 'hate speech'

* Gay marriage will be foisted upon us in the very near future

"All these atrocities continue in spite of the fact that we now have the 'right' people in places of power. Indeed, the occupant of the White House is a professing Christian. The U.S. attorney general is believed to be a devout Christian. 'Conservatives' control both Houses of Congress, and Republican presidents appointed seven of the nine Supreme Court justices."

The idea of moving thousands of people to affect the voting in one state is not new. As WorldNetDaily has previously reported, the Free State Project has goals of restoring certain personal liberties and limited government – but without seceding from the union. Last year, a group of 4,500 libertarians decided New Hampshire would be the best state.

Burnell, a math teacher and cell-phone dealer, stresses he's not looking for bloody battles that took place in the American Revolution and the Civil War, but is rather seeking a "political divorce."

"It's got to be different today," he says. "It has to be peaceful, brokered."

But he admits if the federal government decides to use military force to stop the effort, "Then it can't happen."

Already a dozen people are actively working on the project, and some 1,500 e-mails of support have been received.

If all goes according to plan, Burnell is hoping to have a constitutional convention by 2014, with a president of the new nation – still to be known as South Carolina – elected in 2016, which is also a presidential election year in the U.S.

He says the nation would be founded on Christian principles, and the people writing its constitution would have to hash out details to safeguard it as a Christian republic.

For now, Burnell prefers to shy away from specifics on the precise laws governing the country.

"Independence first, details later," he says.

reasons the be optomistic

don

If they're feeling so persecuted why don't they do what people have done forever and move to another country that is more accepting of their "ideas".
Or is it because there aren't any other countries that would tolerate their particular brand of intolerant "Christianity"?

How reliable's the source?

(not trying to flame or start a debate; I don't know anything about that news service)

I honestly couldn't say. I just stumbled across it on the 'Net and found it interesting and pretty startling...

I thought it was called Utah

Even if the story is a "fake" or just a press release from a tin foil hat organization . . . isn't the real story that Christianity, in the eyes of more than a few citizens, is the national religion?

In the examples cited in the press release, there was no law that prevented them from practicing their religion, rather it was not forcing that religion on everyone else that seemed to be upsetting them the most.

Just think of the irony . . . Puritans left England for "religious freedom" from persecution and perhaps now their ancestors want to perpetrate the same persecution.

Newsflash! Beanie Baby people want to create their own gated and self-sustaining community where they won't be unduly influenced by the godless creepiness of Cabbage Patch dolls.

Worldnet Daily is very far right wing, however knowing what I know about the Tyler Texas area, I believe most of the story. It's freakin kook land out there when it comes to religion. The small towns in the East Texas/ Arkansas area regularly go into "Satan panic", where rumors of Satanic cults in their midsts sweep the towns to the point they result in prosecutions and arrests of a lot of innocent people. The worst case was in Gilmer, Tx, when the whole town literally went nuts, to the point of arresting their police force:

http://www.skepticfiles.org/misctext/whunt2.htm

Another case out that way is the the very odd story of the West Memphis 3, a bunch of Goth kids who were arrested for a supposed Satanic cult murder of young children in Arkansas. Their case was portrayed in the "Paradise Lost" series on HBO. These kids were convicted on hardly any evidence, and the jury of rednecks was swayed by some fundmentalist who called himself a "Satanic Cult Expert" who was given wide leeway by an elected fundie judge to pretty much use a bunch of BS to portray these kids as Satan worshippers because they listened to Metallica. Any objective person who takes even a cursory look at the evidence in this case can see they are innocent. As an example, bite marks that didn't match any of the defendants were found all over one of the kids, and two days after the murder the kids wacko step-father, a guy who had been in and out of the joint for years, had had all his teeth removed. In the HBO specials, its pretty clear all the evidence points to this guy, but the cops never even considered him because all the cops were caught up in the Satanic Cult thing as well. You have no idea how the "Satan in Their Midsts" thing grips these people. The 3 kids, now grown men, have remained in prison for 11 years. One is on Death Row and will probably be executed. Their case is a cause celibre among the Goth crowd, Their website is at

http:\\www.wm3.org

Stuff like this happens out there all the time. The fact one of them wants to try another run at the Civil War doesn't surprise me, however the economy in South Carolina is now driven so much by Yankee retirees I doubt if the locals will want to end that gravy train. I would have picked Arkansas, or perhaps Far East Texas for a new country called Nutbar. Of course, then Little Rock and Hot Springs would have to secede from them.

"* Gay marriage will be foisted upon us in the very near future"

How exactly is this "foisted?" Sounds painful.

Why do you think I'm eventually moving there? (one of many reasons, actually)

__________________
past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

I really don't think we'll be giving up Myrtle Beach anytime soon. Anyone object to giving up North Dakota?

Now there's a waste of a state. A great big nothing. Yeah, they can have that.

__________________
past MB rides:
'68 220D
'68 220D(another one)
'67 230
'84 SD
Current rides:
'06 Lexus RX330
'93 Ford F-250
'96 Corvette
'99 Polaris 700 RMK sled
2011 Polaris Assault
'86 Yamaha TT350(good 'ol thumper)

Good riddens and we throw in TX and it's a win-win.

__________________
72 W114/M130

RedMeat cartoon

Well, just part of Texas, everything north and east of the Trinity.