I’ve been watching the saga of Judge Vance Day closely, knowing the radical Gay Lobby would set their sights on him since he would not perform same sex marriage ceremonies.
As reported on September 10, 2015, at OregonLive.com:
Last week, word filtered out that Marion County Circuit Judge Vance Day was under investigation by the Oregon Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability. The primary reason given at the time, according to Day’s spokesman, was his refusal to perform marriages out of concern that he would be asked to officiate over same-sex unions. That would conflict with Day’s deeply-held religious beliefs, according to Patrick Korten, Day’s spokesman.
It’s more than that, as we now know. Day, who will face a commission hearing in November, is accused of several code of conduct violations including that he had his court staff screen out same-sex couples who wanted him to officiate their wedding ceremonies, made untruthful statements to the presiding judge, allowed a convicted felon whose case he oversaw to handle guns, accepted donations from lawyers appearing before him to “sponsor” artwork he hung at the Marion County courthouse and displayed a collage of war memorabilia that prominently featured a World War II era painting of Adolf Hitler.
Day, for his part, concedes portions of some allegations, including the fact that he directed his court staff not to schedule him for same-sex weddings due to his religious opposition, telling them to send gay couples to other judges instead. He admitted collecting money from attorneys, which, he said, was on behalf of a registered nonprofit and was to pay for matting and framing the artwork in the hallway outside the courtroom where he presides over the county’s “Veterans Treatment Court.” He also acknowledges hanging the collage showing the Hitler painting, which had belonged to a World War II veteran from Oregon. Day, Korten told The Oregonian/OregonLive editorial board, wanted to celebrate veterans’ contributions by reminding them of past accomplishments and the debt the country owes to veterans.
Then this morning I received this email from a good friend that had originated with Judge Day’s wife, Mattie:
From the desk of Mattie Day
You care – or you wouldn’t be receiving this message.
You know my husband, Vance. He has been a Circuit Court Judge here in Oregon for 4 years. In that short time, he has specially trained to identify and deal with domestic violence. He was asked to join national faculty to train other judges in this prevalent issue. He started the second and largest Veterans Treatment Court in Oregon. He has been asked to mentor the judiciary in other counties for establishing vets courts. He established the “Hall of Heroes” gallery at the Courthouse commemorating our local veterans in leadership positions to inspire his treatment court participants and bring awareness to vets issues.
Vance is now under attack by the Oregon Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability because they say he is unfit to be a judge – he won’t perform same-sex marriage because of his faith and quietly decided to stop performing all marriages. The fact is that performing marriages is an optional part of his job – there is no requirement that Oregon judges perform marriages. (Please see www.defendjudgeday.com for more detailed information on the allegations)
The Commission has piled on other charges that have nothing to do with ethical conduct, perhaps to distract attention from the fact that the marriage issue is at the heart of their effort to discredit him in the public eye. These other charges are simply window dressing, in the hope that somehow quantity will make up for their lack of quality.
Their strategy seems to be to throw every thing possible at Judge Day, hoping something sticks. And, not incidentally, to make it very difficult and expensive to defend himself.
Vance’s task of mounting an effective defense is complicated by the fact that the Commission has an unusual amount of power in its investigation. They are prosecutor, judge and jury all rolled into one, and they have the very substantial financial advantages and other resources of the state government to draw upon. We, on the other hand, have to hire our own attorneys.
The politics of personal destruction is not a new idea. In Rules for Radicals, Saul Alinsky said:
“Denigrate your opponent, then box him in, so that he must defend the accusations, rather than be able to debate the issues.”
This state-sponsored power play against Vance will have a result of damaging “judicial independence” and creating a culture of politically correct “behavior and thought police” to monitor all judges. It appears the Commission intends to destroy him, but they don’t know my husband. Vance is a congenial, humorous fellow who is not afraid to be a fighter when it comes to things that matter! To Vance’s opponents, he is just a former Chairman of the Oregon Republican Party who was unfortunately appointed to the bench by a Democrat governor. What feels even worse to them is that he is a Christian believer who is an enthusiastic patriot that they think is biased and, therefore, he cannot be trusted.
To the Commission and certain far-left groups, Judge Day’s personal decision to respectfully and quietly remove himself from performing same-sex marriages cannot be tolerated – he must be branded a bigot and found to be unfit for public service. There is a “no tolerance” policy for people with traditional values regarding the institution of marriage.
Undoubtedly, there are many judges in this nation who will face the same type of ferocious attack. Vance appears to be the first judicial target since the Supreme Court decision on gay marriage. The goal appears to be: make him an example so that other judges will not dare to push back on politically correct elites. However, they don’t know that Vance is a warrior who will not leave this battle until he wins or is expelled from office.
We need your help! In one month, my husband’s two week “ethics trial” will start: November 9 – November 20. We have competent and generous lawyers who have given many free hours to this case and reduced their rates because they believe in Vance. Nevertheless, we are discovering a case like this costs a fortune just to prepare considering numerous day-long depositions, hiring of experts, delivering subpoenas, and hiring investigators, let alone covering the copy charges.
To take this case through the end of the year we must raise $300,000. We have put in our savings and will sell our home, but we must have donations to finance this case in the next three weeks. Our friends at the James Madison Center for Free Speech have raised just over $50,000, bringing the total needed by November 1st down to $250,000. We need a whole bunch of people who will give $25, $50, or $100. We need to raise as much as possible in the next three weeks.
Maybe this sounds simple, but it can work – it must work, or Vance’s case will be greatly compromised:
We need just 100 Friends!!
The 100 Friends will commit to give or raise $250 and also find 9 others who will give or raise $250.
With each of our 100 Friends putting together a group of 10 at $250 each, that equals $250,000!! (Go to http://sho.co/16X1B to view an info graphic that explains everything!)I know it sounds too simple, but if we all take a small bite of this seemly enormous project, the money can be raised. And even if you are not comfortable with being one of the 100 Friends, would you be one of the 10!! – meaning you would give or raise $250? – whatever you can do.
Our son Daniel recently graduated from Northwest Nazarene University. He is looking for a full time job and does not have much money. He told me, “Mom, I can do $250. I can give $25, and I will find 9 friends who can do the same!” Our other son, Justin, said, “I can do $50, and I will find 4 friends to do the same!” Our daughter, Elizabeth, and her husband have also committed to be two of the 100 Friends, with Daniel and Justin being 2 of their combined 18.
Will you please help?? Any amount really does make a difference. Please go towww.defendjudgeday.com and make a commitment to raise $250 through your friends and family. There is a donation link on the website, which is really easy and secure. It will only take a few minutes. We must have $100k by Friday, October 16th, with a total of $250k by November 1.
Please stand with Vance. Please help him push back those who want to run people of faith out of public service. We all have First Amendment rights designed to protect us from this type of assault. If they win, who is next?
Sincerely,
Mattie Day
“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing”
Edmund Burke
This is another watershed moment: this battle has never been merely about “marriage equality,” but rather the complete acceptance and celebration of deviant and sinful lifestyles.
This is also not about “hate” or being “haters,” the ad nauseam mantra of the LGBT activists and their Progressive proponents.
I know zero Christians who hate. We love God, we love his Word, and we love people, the height of God’s creation. But either we are true and faithful to God and the Bible, or our faith means nothing.
The Founders were informed and inspired by God’s Word and precepts, as noted in the famous John Adams’ quote:
Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
And what would Abraham Lincoln think of our current culture? Consider this proclamation from Lincoln of March 30, 1863:
By the President of the United States of America.
A Proclamation.
Whereas, the Senate of the United States, devoutly recognizing the Supreme Authority and just Government of Almighty God, in all the affairs of men and of nations, has, by a resolution, requested the President to designate and set apart a day for National prayer and humiliation.
And whereas it is the duty of nations as well as of men, to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God, to confess their sins and transgressions, in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord.
And, insomuch as we know that, by His divine law, nations like individuals are subjected to punishments and chastisements in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil war, which now desolates the land, may be but a punishment, inflicted upon us, for our presumptuous sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole People? We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven. We have been preserved, these many years, in peace and prosperity. We have grown in numbers, wealth and power, as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace, and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us; and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us!
It behooves us then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.
Our nation is racing toward the precipice of moral collapse and ruin: murdering babies and selling their body parts in Nazi-esque fashion, celebrating perversion, and most importantly, kicking God out of every societal institution.
I am proud of Judge Vance Day, here in my home state of Oregon, standing as Caleb of old, for God and His principles. I would implore every person of faith reading this breaking news to stand with Judge Day, whether that means in prayer, financially, or through encouraging correspondence.
We can be like the story of Israel defeating the Amalekites:
While the people of Israel were still at Rephidim, the warriors of Amalek attacked them. Moses commanded Joshua, “Choose some men to go out and fight the army of Amalek for us. Tomorrow, I will stand at the top of the hill, holding the staff of God in my hand.”
So Joshua did what Moses had commanded and fought the army of Amalek. Meanwhile, Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of a nearby hill. As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage. Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset. As a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle.
After the victory, the Lord instructed Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” Moses built an altar there and named it Yahweh-Nissi (which means “the Lord is my banner”).
Our part may be solely to hold Judge Day’s arms, via the power of prayer. But we MUST act!
Let us begin to practice 2 Chronicles:
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14
And I pray it’s not too late to right the ungodly and immoral trajectory of America, the nation I love, for God to shed His grace on us.
