SIXTH-GRADER FORBIDDEN TO WEAR CROSS
WAS THE WEDGEWOOD BAPTIST CHURCH MASSACRE NOT A HATE CRIME?
FEDERAL PROTECTION FOR THE UNBORN
STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
THE SCHOOL PRAYER RALLY A HURRICANE COULD NOT STOP
COMPLETE STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN MURRAY
U.N. TO PUNISH ANTI SLAVERY GROUP
The shootings at Columbine High School, and what happened afterward, illustrate a pattern of hostility toward Christian believers which is becoming more and more widespread in our country. At Columbine, two Satanically-led young men walked into the school and shot to death many of the students. Some of those murdered were killed because of their faith. In fact, 17-year-old Cassie Bernall was shot in the face when one of the killers asked her, "Do you believe in God?" and she replied, "Yes." These young men wore black trench coats to school every day, and the Internet sites they maintained glorified the occult, and, of all people, Charles Darwin. There is now evidence that they believed themselves to have evolved beyond mankind!
Their actions and their dress were not suspicious, just "normal" in the view of school officials. Can you imagine the reaction of school officials if two young men had worn white trench coats with great big red crosses on the backs and the inscription, "Christ died for you." Of course, they would have been kicked out of the school.
People for the American Way (PAW) and the ACLU saw trouble in these shootings right away. These left-wing groups, along with Americans United for Separation of Church and State, knew the day of the shooting that it spelled trouble for "secular" education. Their attacks against the families of the Christian victims of the shootings came swiftly. The first complaints were about a memorial service held by Governor Bill Owens of Colorado; it was called "too religious."
Next the PAW and ACLU said they would file lawsuits against the county and school if any "religious" memorials were placed on county property. So, the Jefferson County School District, claiming to be in fear of these lawsuits, began stripping away any and all references to the faith of the students who died in the massacre last April.
The families had been told they could have a 4x4 inch tile of their own design placed in a school hallway as a memorial to each child killed. But all that changed because of the fear of the ACLU. Just before the school year began, parents of the slain students arrived with the tiles they had made. They were informed that no memorial tiles of a religious nature could be accepted. In some cases the school at first relented. For example, one tile depicted a red rose and a small yellow cross. At first it was displayed, but then was later torn down by school officials. Those officials claimed they did this out of fear of the ACLU.
The Christian parents correctly saw this as a violation of their First Amendment right of freedom of speech. With the help of Rutherford Institute attorneys James Rouse and Barry Arrington, the families of the slain students filed a lawsuit against the school, asking for damages arising out of the school’s violation of their First Amendment rights..
I hope and pray this is a lesson to other school districts. If they do the wrong thing out of fear of an ACLU lawsuit, they may wind up paying an attorney to defend themselves against Christians who will no longer tolerate bigotry against their religious beliefs.
SIXTH-GRADER FORBIDDEN TO WEAR CROSS
Anti-Christian bigotry is found not only in high profile situations like the one above in Littleton, Colorado. In Jasper, Alabama a sixth-grader and her parents have filed a lawsuit because school officials would not allow her to wear a small cross necklace to school.
Kandice Smith, age 11, began wearing a small, one-inch-high cross on a necklace this year to display her Christian faith. The Walker County School District’s reaction was to demand that she wear the cross under her shirt.
At the end of last year, the school board banned the wearing of all jewelry at county schools, but a clause was included to accommodate religious beliefs. Apparently the exception was made for the benefit for minority religious groups such as Moslems or Satanists, but not for Christians.
The ACLU is nowhere in sight. Oddly enough the ACLU did challenge a school district in Mississippi this past August when they tried to stop a Jewish student from wearing a Star of David necklace to school because school officials said it resembled a gang symbol. The ACLU also came to the defense last year of a student who wore a pentagram to school.
Neither the Associated Press nor United Press International have carried the story about Kandice Smith and her small cross. The story has not been on any major TV networks nor has it been carried by any radio news networks other than those operated by Christian broadcasters.
Early this year a Jewish cemetery in California was vandalized. Because some Nazi symbols were drawn on tombstones, the news was on the front page of newspapers in every major city. NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX carried the "hate crime" on national TV.
In mid-October a Catholic school in Manassas, Virginia was attacked by vandals who drew satanic symbols such as "666" and pentagrams on the building. On the rear of the Seton Hall School, anti-Christian messages and derogatory remarks about Jesus Christ were painted. The school director, Anne W. Carroll, said, "Since we are a Catholic school, we regard this as an attack on our faith." She added, "We are fighting back through prayer. We're letting the world know that we’re not afraid to publicly express our faith."
The attack came just one week after someone placed a rope around the neck of a statue of the Virgin Mary at the school and pulled it down off its stand.
So, where are the headlines because of this hate crime? In the minds of the liberals "hate crimes" are only hate crimes when they are committed against certain groups. Which groups? Just about any group except Christians.
WAS THE WEDGEWOOD BAPTIST CHURCH
MASSACRE NOT A HATE CRIME?
Both Attorney General Janet Reno and President Bill Clinton were asked point blank at
news conferences if the killing of eight people in Fort Worth’s Wedgwood Baptist
Church was a "hate crime." They both refused to answer, saying it was simply the
act of a "deranged" individual--even though the killer, Larry Gene Ashbrook,
made numerous anti-Christian remarks during the attack. Remember last summer when a Jewish
day care center in Los Angeles was attacked by a madman who wounded several people? No
one
was killed in that attack, but both Clinton and Reno immediately announced it was a hate
crime and made the point that special "hate crime" legislation was needed. Why
are acts of violence by madmen "hate crimes" when committed against Jews or
homosexuals, but not "hate crimes" when committed against Christians?
Cassie Bernall’s family may not have been allowed to place a tile on the wall in Columbine High School commemorating her faith, but her faith did come to the aid of the families of the young men and women so tragically murdered in Fort Worth. Shortly after the murders, two of Cassie Bernall’s classmates and three adults from her church in Colorado came to Fort Worth to pray and to share grief with the families of those lost in the attack on the church.
The massacre of Christians in Texas quickly faded from the media within days. But the "hate crime" murder of Matthew Shepherd in Wyoming just keeps coming to light on the front page of newspapers every week. We hear and see every detail of the trial of the two drug addicts who murdered this young man. The media says this is a "real" hate crime because a homosexual was killed. Murder is not hate when Christians are the victims, at least not in the minds of left-wing fanatics like Attorney General Janet Reno or radical leftist Senator Ted Kennedy.
On August 26th, in Little Rock, Arkansas, three men broke into an apartment and beat a pregnant woman for the sole purpose of killing her unborn child. According to police, the three young men, Eric Beulah, Derrick Witherspoon, and Lonnie Beulah, were hired by Shawana Pace’s boyfriend, Erick Bullock, 29. Apparently Bullock didn’t want his parents to know the girl was pregnant. One of the suspects told police that Mr. Bullock had approached him "about beating up his girlfriend so that she would lose the baby."
Just twelve weeks before the attack on the young woman, Governor Mike Huckabee had signed into law a Fetal Protection Act. The new law makes it a crime to injure a fetus more than 12 weeks old, but allows exceptions for abortion so as not to conflict with Roe V. Wade. Under the new law, the boyfriend, Eric Bullock, will be charged with capital murder and those who actually conducted the beating will be charged with first degree murder.
FEDERAL PROTECTION FOR THE UNBORN
On September 24, 1999 the House of Representatives passed the Unborn Victims of Violence Act. The bill has been sent to the Senate for approval. The Unborn Victims of Violence Act was introduced by Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and mirrors the Arkansas law in that it gives legal protection to an unborn child unless the mother wants to kill it.
The Unborn Victims of Violence Act does not apply to the states; rather it affects only those who harm an unborn child while committing another federal crime. Congress has no power to pass such a law applying to the States. As an example, if in the process of robbing a bank, which is a federal crime, a pregnant woman is shot and survives but her child is killed, the shooter would be charged with murder.
Because federal law does not recognize a fetus in any way, several notorious killers, including the bombers of the World Trade Center, have not been punished for harming unborn children. As another example, three pregnant women were killed in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. Liberal groups such as the National Organization for Woman (NOW), oppose the bill because for the first time unborn children would be given legal status at the Federal level. They fear that the law will lead to the recognition of an unborn child as a human being.
In promoting the House bill, Lindsey Graham pointed to the Arkansas law as a model, "The Arkansas case illustrates that without this statute, these three thugs that were hired to beat this woman would be subject to assault and battery prosecution. Now, they are subject to extreme sanctions of the law--murder charges -- because they killed a 7 pound baby."
Only eleven states have similar laws. Six states make it a crime to intentionally cause a miscarriage.
STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS
In 1998, a film called Patch Adams was released 
about the life of the real Dr.
Adams. "Patch" committed himself to a mental institution as a young man. During
his stay in the institution he developed a "new" approach to healing--with
laughter. He signed himself out of the institution and went to the medical school in
Virginia where he somehow obtained a degree.
Dr. Adams, who is a Marxist, opened and operated an unlicensed clinic while still a student. In the movie about his life, one of the most dramatic incidents was when a young follower of his was murdered by a mentally ill patient from the clinic Adams founded. The deranged man, who needed medication, was treated with laughter I presume.
Despite (or perhaps because of) his bizarre behavior, Dr. Adams has always been able to attract a following. On October 4, 1999 he led a group of fifty people to protest naked at the "Creating a Culture of Peace for the 21st Century" conference in--where else--San Francisco. Most of the conference had been dedicated to the Y2K hype that nuclear missiles were going to go off and blow up all by themselves on January 1, 2000. The press had no interest, so Dr. "Patch" Adams directed his followers to undress outside to get media attention to the dangers of nuclear fallout. There was indeed fallout, but it was not nuclear in nature.
As she shed her clothing, one of Dr. Adams’ supporters said, "It just shows that people are desperate for this cause and will do whatever it takes."
The only Reform Party candidate to ever actually win an office said that religion was for "weak-minded people." In an interview for Playboy Magazine, Governor Jesse Ventura also said that he wanted to be reincarnated as a woman’s bra.
Governor Ventura blamed the ban of legalized prostitution on religion. He stated that legalizing prostitution should be considered, as well as creating "places where the addict can get it" referring to the legalization of drugs.
On the matter of religion, Reform Party Governor Jesse Ventura said, "Organized religion is a sham and a crutch for weak-minded people who need strength in numbers. It tells people to go out and stick their noses in other people's business."
As the Reform Party’s only elected official, Governor Ventura is a powerful force in that party. He has recruited Donald Trump to run for the Reform Party presidential nomination against Pat Buchanan, whom we refer to in Washington as "yesterday’s man."
The Reform Party started out as a personal vendetta by multimillionaire Ross Perot against the Bush family. Apparently Perot believes the Bush family to be part of a worldwide conspiracy to deprive him of something or other--exactly what, has never become clear. To get his personal revenge, he spent millions of dollars of his own money in 1992 to give the presidency to Bill Clinton. As a direct result of Perot’s interference in the electoral process, our nuclear secrets have been sold to the Chinese and our national sovereignty endangered. Thanks, Ross!
Now the Reform Party he formed has become a nesting place for every other rich fruitcake in the nation to have some sort of a grandstand at taxpayer expense. Yes, taxpayer expense. The election laws are such that if ultra-rich "The Donald" gets the nomination of the Reform Party, he will receive millions of dollars from the federal government to run for president.
Ventura and Trump are pro-abortion, and they are for legalized drugs and legalized prostitution. Is that why "yesterday’s man" Pat Buchanan has decided to join the Reform Party? Let me get this straight. The Republican Party is not conservative enough for Buchanan, so he is moving to the pro-abortion Reform Party.
I have one question ... will Dr. Patch Adams be the vice-presidential candidate of the Reform Party?
Most Christians cannot support Mayor Rudolph Giuliani for Senate in New York because he
is not pro-life. But, many would rather have him in the Senate than yet another member of
the dysfunctional Clinton family.
Let’s get real .... just look at the situation in New York with the Brooklyn Museum of Art. The left wing nuts on the Board of this museum are displaying graphic photos of female sex organs. There is a painting of a known pedophile which features the finger prints of the children he murdered. There is a "Last Supper" that depicts Jesus as a topless woman. Hillary Clinton thinks this "art" is great and that tax dollars should pay for it.
On the other hand, Mayor Giuliani said it is a matter of "principle" that
persuades him to take funding away from the museum because he does not believe tax money
should be used to wage an art war against the religious beliefs of the people. At no time
did the mayor say that the individuals did not have the right to make and display this
filth. He simply said that such an outrageous anti-Christian display should be on private,
not public property.
USA Today, The New York Times and virtually every other news media outlet has attacked Mayor Giuliani. They say he is attacking freedom of speech because he doesn’t want the city to pay for this filth to be displayed.
Take note that all the anti-religious symbols were against Christianity. What would have happened in the liberal-controlled media if there had been a Star of David splattered with manure instead of a painting of the Virgin Mary? If the painting had been of Mohammad, this would not be an issue because the Muslims would have already blown up the building.
THE SCHOOL PRAYER RALLY
A HURRICANE COULD NOT STOP
(Modified from a previous release)
On September 15, 1999, Hurricane Floyd was moving up the East Coast at the same time that hundreds of people were coming to Washington to urge the reintroduction of the Religious Freedom Amendment.
Months in advance, the Religious Freedom Coalition had reserved the main area of the Capitol Building facing the National Mall for a major event promoting school prayer. The preparations and cost were staggering.
When an event is held at the Capitol, nothing is provided other than the normal security of the Capitol Police. All stages, media platforms, sound equipment, and even chairs must be provided by the group’s organizers. In advance, the Religious Freedom Coalition had signed contracts for the construction of a stage and the placement of hundreds of chairs for the elderly. Buses had been arranged to come from various places as far away as New York and Georgia.
During all of our planning for the school prayer rally, the Washington, DC area,
including Maryland and Virginia, had been experiencing the worst drought of this century.
There had been virtually no rain, and all of Maryland as well as most Virginia counties
had placed restrictions on water use. Every church in the area was praying for rain!
God answers prayers and the rain came in the form of Hurricane Floyd. The day our rally was scheduled in Washington there was twelve inches of rain. Up to the day of the Hurricane, Washington had not had that much rain all year! My lawn had turned brown because the county passed an ordinance that we could not use water for lawns at all.
Now there was rain everywhere and there was no way to cancel the event. The buses had been paid for. Hundreds of people had each paid to charter the buses they were going to ride on. The stage, chairs and sound equipment had been paid for.
Several Gospel groups had already brought their own special buses and trucks with instruments and equipment to Washington. We had to go ahead with the rally. Wednesday, September 15th, it was raining when I got up and had been raining all night. We had prayed for a break in the rain, but thousands of farmers were praying that the rain would refill their water tanks, help their dried up crops and grow grass for their livestock. The rain was simply much needed in the area.
By the time I arrived at Capitol Hill at 11:00 a.m., the buses had been on their way for hours. By noon, buses were arriving and those faithful to His Word streamed onto the Capitol grounds to sing and pray in the rain. But, the sound equipment could not be set up. As the starting time of 2:00 p.m. approached, we had to move the event to the Bible Way Church at the corner of New York and New Jersey Avenues in Washington. Bible Way Church had the largest sanctuary available within a ten minute drive of the Capitol.
The Religious Freedom Coalition staff feverishly worked to move the people, cameras, sound equipment and the media to the new location. Congressmen who were scheduled to speak, including Majority Leader Dick Armey, had to be informed. The Capitol Police, who provide special security for Congressman Armey and Congressman DeLay, had to rush to the church to secure the building for them.
We changed the program to make it work! The Gospel music had been set for 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. and the speakers from 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. We kept the speakers’ program the same and moved the music after the speakers.
As the three o’clock hour began the opening prayer was said and the event was on as planned!
Eight buses had shuttled almost everyone to the church. The video crews had made it and were set up in the balcony. The newspapers including the Washington Times and Washington Post were there as well as several radio stations. Dick Armey’s personal security arrived even before the program began.
The rally was opened by thanking God for His grace, for the rain that had been much needed by the region and for the church He had provided for us for the rally! PRAISE GOD FOR HE IS A GOOD GOD WHO DOES INDEED PROVIDE FOR OUR NEEDS!
When Majority Whip Tom DeLay spoke, I thought the roof would come down. He was interrupted many times by shouts and applause.
When Congressman DeLay was finished speaking, I made the statement that he had missed his calling because he is more preacher than he is politician. Congressman DeLay’s full presentation will be made available on video.
After several men and women spoke about the need for God and for prayer in our schools, Congressman Ernest Istook announced the reintroduction of the Religious Freedom Amendment. As he spoke, Congressman Istook pointed out that one of the worst enemies of freedom of religious speech, the "Rev." Barry Lynn, had come to the rally.
Congressman Istook spoke of the campaign by men like Barry Lynn to limit only religious freedom of speech. They want total freedom for secular speech, he said, but want to ban any religious speech in public places such as schools.
After we heard from several more speakers, some African-American Gospel groups from New York, New Jersey and Georgia sang. Many times the crowd was on their feet singing Gospel music.
God had us in the right place at the right time. This was the place the rally was supposed to happen because that is where God had placed us for the rally!
The Rally was successful. The only dark part of the day was when I learned of a shooting at a church youth meeting in Texas that same night. (See story above.) America needs prayer. Only prayer can heal men like the one who invaded that Texas church with a gun. Yet, our society does all it can to keep prayer and the Word of God away from people. The Lord and His Word will be triumphant!
The entire rally was video taped! I have every word of Congressmen Armey, DeLay and Istook on video tape. I have already personally edited two hours of tape and get it down to about forty minutes so it can be watched at home or during a Sunday School class. During the editing I also added some additional comments about the rally.
All of Congressman DeLay’s comments are on the video. I can tell you that he really preached his message that day and you will not want to miss what he said. Congressman DeLay has become perhaps the most outspoken elected official not only for school prayer but for the cause of Christ in general. He even leads a weekly Bible study in his Capitol office.
The special "School Prayer Rally" video is offered for a gift of $20.00 or more to cover production costs, and the RFC will pay the postage! This video is available now and can be order using a credit card by calling the Virginia office of the Religious Freedom Coalition at (800) 650-7664.
COMPLETE STATEMENT OF CHAIRMAN MURRAY
The following is the complete text of the statement delivered by RFC chairman William J. Murray at the rally for the Religious Freedom Amendment on September 15, 1999
In June of 1995 the Religious Freedom Coalition and other organizations presented more than 1,000,000 signatures urging then Speaker Newt Gingrich to pursue an amendment to the Constitution allowing voluntary school prayer. Again, in 1998, hundreds of thousands of petitions were presented to Congress. Earlier this year more than 100,000 New Yorkers signed petitions urging Congress to get guns out of our schools and put prayer back in. Why do some congressmen vote against the faith of their constituents?
We are back! This time organizations from as far away as New Mexico and as close as Washington, DC are represented. Another 1,000,000 Petitions are being presented here, including several hundred thousand from New York City. La gente de Nueva York dice <<Consiamos en Dios>>. From Gospel missions to the New York Hispanic Clergy Association the message is clear from those who know and understand our schools and our youth. The presence of prayer, the presence of God is needed in our ever more violent schools.
Congressman Istook, we urge you to reintroduce the Religious Freedom Amendment. With godly men such as yourself, Majority Leader Armey and Majority Whip Tom DeLay, we know we can prevail in this quest for the freedom of our children to voluntarily honor God with prayer in our schools.
The courts continue to refuse the will of the people. A federal judge in Texas now threatens with jail those who pray before high school football games. There is a temporary solution to these court orders that flagrantly deny the rights of Believers.
Let us sing the last verse of the Star Spangled Banner at every public event. The last verse of our national anthem is a prayer for America that no judge can outlaw. "And this be our motto: "In God is our trust.""
The Star Spangled Banner
by Francis Scott Key
(An Act of Congress made it the National Anthem in 1931)
Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, now conceals, now discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! O long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wiped out their foul footstep's pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner forever shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Recently I met with some of the stars of Touched by an Angel, including Roma Downy who plays the red haired angel, Monica, on the show which is broadcast on CBS every Sunday evening. On the evening of September 21st, a large hearing room in the Dirksen Senate Office Building was turned into an auditorium to present a special commercial-free preview of the season opening show of Touched by an Angel.
It was an unusual gathering. Very nervous CBS executives stood by as the producer of the show, Martha Williamson, talked about the murders of two million Christians in the Sudan and the enslavement of women and children. The Clinton Administration and the liberal media have turned a blind eye toward the destruction of Christianity in the Sudan. While Clinton ordered the destruction of Yugoslavia because of the deaths of fewer than 1,000 Muslims during a civil war, he refuses to admit that a single person has died in the Sudan. No wonder the CBS executives were nervous.
The idea for the show had come from the office of Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS). He and several Republican congressmen including Frank Wolf (R-VA) had approached Martha Williamson about doing a show on slavery in the Sudan. In fact, Frank Wolf and two of his staff approached Miss Williamson in a coffee shop at the Hilton Hotel in Washington just before the National Prayer Breakfast. They told her about the millions of murders and the slavery in the Sudan since that nation was taken over by a radical Muslim government more than ten years ago.
Martha Williamson said she did not know how to present this to the public, until one day she heard "For Such a Time as This" played on a Christian radio station. The song, written by evangelical Christian songwriter Wayne Watson, gave her the inspiration of how to present on national TV the murder, torture and slavery of Christians in the Sudan. Senator Brownback actually visited the set and helped give advice on the settings for several U.S. Senate scenes.
The show was well presented and did tell of the holocaust of black Christians in the Sudan. Unfortunately, most of the media did not report on the program or its background and I am afraid that most Christians who watched it did not realize that it accurately depicted the situation in the Sudan as it is today.
U.N. TO PUNISH ANTI SLAVERY GROUP
Just days after the "Angel" preview mentioned above, the United Nations said it was going to punish Christian Solidarity International, a group that purchases the freedom of Christian slaves in the Sudan. The group may lose its status as an NGO, or non-governmental organization. Without this status, the group could no longer work with or be a part of humanitarian efforts in conjunction with the United Nations.
What was CSI’s crime? They arranged for John Garang, a leader of the Christian militia fighting the Sudanese terrorist government, to testify before the U.N. Humanitarian rights committee last year. The Swiss group is also accused of operating in the Sudan to save lives without the permission of the radical Muslim Sudanese government.
In the view of the United Nations, if someone who claims to be a Christian or is even associated with Christians commits a murder, then an army needs to be sent in and buildings need to be bombed. But, if Muslims kill millions of Christians, the world is a better place and the United Nations has no business interrupting the slaughter.
Every time I see a situation like this I think of the big Bible which President Bill Clinton waves as he leaves the Methodist Church here in Washington. I think of the day, one Easter Sunday, when he waved it knowing that Monica Lewinsky was waiting for him in the Oval office. If Christ were important to this man, would he allow more than two million fellow Christians to die and their children to be sold into slavery