IN the NEWS - Flurry of Faith Politics for 2016 this past week

 ....and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

2 Corinthians 3:17

You decide for yourself if any of these men are sincere or not. Some may be-others may not be.
Also, this poking-in-the-eye of Christians by the secular left during the Obama years, and using the powers of government to hurt Christians (such as fines in San Antonio for disagreeing with gay marriage publicly, the suing by state att. gens. in NM, OR, WA & CO of mom & pop businesses over not participating in gay wedding, the threat of JAIL TIME in CO over this subject, purging Christians in the military, the IRS targeting Christian groups in 2012 opposed to Obama even asking what they "pray" about, etc.) is what is fueling a lot of this push back.


Chris Christie

"New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Friday declared his opposition to abortion, telling religious conservatives that "every life is a gift from God that's precious and must be protected."
"I believe if you're pro-life, as I am, you need to be pro-life for the whole life," Christie said at a conference of the Faith and Freedom Coalition,..." FOX




Rand Paul
"Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) addressed a chorus of conservatives and evangelicals at the Faith and Freedom

Coalition’s “Road to Majority” conference Friday, proclaiming that “America is in a full-blown spiritual crisis” and touting the importance of faith in public life.
“I think that too often our culture seeks to separate faith and freedom,” Paul said. “Freedom needs virtue and virtue needs freedom.”
Later on in the speech he again addressed this theme, noting that voters should reject any politician who tells them that faith cannot be a part of public life." TheBlaze



Ben Carson (SDA)

"When asked how Christians can “show God’s love to the gay community without compromising God’s word,” Carson, an outspoken Christian, told Charisma News that he believes consenting adults should be able to do whatever they want, but that the definition of marriage shouldn’t change.

Carson went on to note that, in the Bible, God compares marriage to the relationship that the Almighty has with the church, arguing that the definition of matrimony is extremely important and shouldn’t be amended so lightly." TheBlaze



Ted Cruz
"Sen. Ted Cruz chastised the Obama administration Thursday for attacking religious liberties and for failing to help free an American imprisoned in Iran because of his Christian faith.
“At no time in our nation’s history have we seen threats to religious liberty, and every one of the Bill of Rights, more dire than they are right now,” he told a crowd at the Faith &  Freedom Coalition’s policy conference lunch.
“We have an IRS who is asking citizen groups, ‘Tell me what books you are reading, tell me the content of your prayers.’ Let me tell you something, the American government has no business asking any American that,” Cruz said,...
Cruz also railed against the “intrusions against religious liberty that are reflected in Obamacare,” walking around the stage as he spoke. The Supreme Court is expected to rule next week on a lawsuit by Hobby Lobby stores, whose conservative Christian owners assert that because of their religious beliefs, the company should not have to provide birth control coverage to employees.
Cruz said the administration is also failing to protect American religious freedom abroad and called for the release of an American pastor held in an Iranian prison, and the wife of a New Hampshire resident held in Sudan." DallasNews



Rick Perry (part 1)

"Perry was asked during an appearance in San Francisco last week whether he believes homosexuality is a disorder. He seized the opportunity to liken "the homosexual issue" with the physically debilitating disease of alcoholism.
"Whether or not you feel compelled to follow a particular lifestyle or not," he said, "you have the ability to decide not to do that. I may have the genetic coding that I'm inclined to be an alcoholic, but I have the desire not to do that. And I look at the homosexual issue the same way."
CBS
Rick Perry (part 2)
“I got asked about an issue, and instead of saying, ‘You know what, we need to be a really respectful and

tolerant country, and get back to talking about, whether you’re gay or straight you need to be having a job, and those are the focuses I want to be involved with,’” he said at a Christian Science Monitor event. ”Instead of getting — which I did, I readily admit, I stepped right in it.”  msnbc
P.S. - Rick-you were right in part 1