Here is the thing. Play money or funny money has been made for years as toys and pranks. This article in WND shows a website called PrankPlace.com in which you can find extremely high quality million dollar bills. And yet the Secret Service has not attempted to warn or close these places down. When someone tries to deposit a million dollar bill in a bank in North Carolina that specifically says NOT LEGAL TENDER on the front and has a Gospel message on the back, the Secret Service confiscates the Church inventory and threatens arrest for counterfeiting if compliance is not made. That sounds like STATE intimidation and an infringement of First Amendment rights. Let us recap the First Amendment once again:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Does anyone see anything the Secret Service might have done to over step This First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States? The Secret Service has affected "establishment of religion" by persecuting a Christian ministry (while doing nothing about secular play money). The Secret Service has abridged freedom of speech and of the press by prohibiting a Christian organization to freely speak and print materials.
Where is the ACLU at? These are clear is First Amendment violations! Oh that's right: the ACLU fights for everyone's rights except Christians. I forgot.
Here is the official statement from TheGreatNews Website:
Official Statement:
The Million Dollar Question - Is it real or is it counterfeit? As you may have heard, Friday afternoon, 3 US Secret Service (USSS) Agents crashed in our Christian ministry Friday around 1Pm to seize all our million dollar bill gospel tracts. I know it sounds odd, weird and difficult to believe but trust me, this is no joke and they were deadly serious. According to the Secret Service, the Million Dollar gospel tract produced by Ray Comfort (http://www.livingwaters.com/) and distributed by The Great News Network and thousands of other Christians all around the World is counterfeit. However, according to the US Treasury’s own policy it is illegal to duplicate and make copies that are comparable to existing currency with the intent to commit fraud. Since there is no such thing as a Million Dollar bill in circulation, it is obviously not illegal to create, print and or distribute one. In other words, how do you counterfeit something that doesn’t exist? In fact, you can purchase all the million dollar bills you want from various novelty retailers throughout the US and most of them look far more authentic than the ones, the USSS seized from our Christian ministry. In fact, if you Google the term, “Million Dollar Bill” you we get over 43-million results!
It is our belief at The Great News Network that the USSS was overzealous in their seizure of our property and they violated our constitutional rights by depriving us of property without due process. Without a court order, warrant or any legal precedent, they barged into our office, disrupted our daily activities and illegally seized our property. Is it possible that there’s more to this than meets the eye? Is it possible that GNN has been targeted by them and are the object of their harassment not because the bills look real but in fact because of the gospel message on the back?
While the USSS was not forthcoming in their information about the individual who presented the million dollar bill at the bank in North Carolina, we suspect that the person who presented the million dollar bill never intended to add the tract as actual money to their deposit. If we could see a copy of the original deposit slip presented to the bank I guess we’d all know for sure if that was the case. We’re hopeful that once this matter is thoroughly investigated and the whole truth comes out, we will discover that the individual most likely presented the tract to the Teller as a way to get the gospel message in their hands when making the deposit and it was never intended to be an addition to their actual monetary deposit. In all actuality, the Teller was probably offended at the gospel message on the back and decided to retaliate by making the person life who gave them the tract and our lives difficult. We have our suspicions that at the heart of the matter we will ultimately discover that the USSS’ actions have little to due with fighting counterfeiters and more to do with restricting our constitutional right to free speech and to exercise the freedom of religion. If that’s not the case, than I wonder why they targeted our ministry and have not gone after the multitude of other vendors who sell million dollar bills that look far more authentic than ours and do it at a nice profit for themselves.
In the end our hope and prayer is that God will be glorified and more souls will be saved due to the overwhelming exposure this ridiculous course of action by the US government will surely receive. We know as Christians that all things work to the good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. We also know that Jesus said rejoice in the day when men mock you and persecute you for His sake and leap for joy for great is your reward in Heaven.
If you feel the need to show your support, first and foremost please pray for us while will continue to fight the good fight of faith and do whatever we can to honor and to serve Him by spreading the message of His saving grace. If you feel compelled to send any tax deductible donations to help us fight this legal battle, please send them to: The Great News Network at 2012 W. University, Denton TX. 76201.
We thank God for you prayers, support, and help. We also thank Him for using the USSS for making His “Great News” more public than ever!
In God we trust,
Darrel Rundus, II
GNN Founder and President
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