Through speeches, music and videos, more than 100 people filled a South Hall church Sunday afternoon for a two-hour rally to support "God and Country."
The event, sponsored by Christian Men for America and taking place at Poplar Springs Baptist Church, promoted the theme "Real change in America."
"We’re not here for a political rally but a rally to motivate Christians to become Christians of commitment instead of Christians of complacency," said the Rev. John Spinks, the Christian group’s vice president and chaplain, "and to take a stand and let our voices be heard."
The event, however, had its share of politicians and statements that approached the political realm.
The audience heard from U.S. Rep. Paul Broun, an Athens Republican; state Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, in Gordon County; Georgia Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine; and U.S. Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Gainesville.
Oxendine and Deal are both Republican candidates for Georgia governor.
"We need real change in America," said Tony Hale, president of the Christian Men for America, receiving loud applause. "We don’t need the kind of change that’s going to put us in bondage for generations to come.
"We need the kind of change that will provide for our children and our grandchildren the same opportunities that our fathers and our grandparents provided for us."
Speakers also talked about how the nation was founded on godly principles.
"You look at the archway above the Supreme Court," Hale said. "You see all these lawgivers, all these people who founded our country and all of them are facing inward ... and there’s ... Moses, (and) he’s holding the Ten Commandments.
"Those were the values that were placed there for us to see. Those are the values that our forefathers wanted us to see."
Hale cited President Barack Obama’s declaring June as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month, then quoted Scripture in condemning homosexuality.
"The Bible is God’s holy word. I think every word in it is in the truth, and we need to stand up for it."
Oxendine gave his Christian testimony, saying that his life in public service stemmed from becoming a Christian. "That started the pathway to everything else," he said.
He said he believes today’s leaders need to behave more like the founding fathers, who put much on the line to establish an independent nation.
"We need more leaders ... to challenge the status quo," Oxendine said. "... It’s easy to take the status quo. That’s not why God put us here."
"... We want God in the White House, God in the Congress, God in the courthouse, God at the state Capitol and God at house and dinner table."
Deal said the nation’s movement toward socialism isn’t coincidental.
"If you want to move a country in the direction of socialism, what do you have to do?" he said. "You have to destroy that strong of sense of national identity and ... you have to erode the religious foundations that keep them united in a contrary point of view.
"Do you see what’s happening in our country? They are following that playbook."
Destroying a sense of nationalism "comes by saying that we ought to be apologizing to the rest of the world," Deal said. "The rest of the world doesn’t think we need to apologize to them. They are thankful we have come to their rescue, time after time."
As for religion, "we have seen the attacks from trying to take slogans ... off our buildings and off our coinage and off all the things that represent us as symbolism, and the attacks continue."