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PRESENCE OF LIFE CAMPAIGN By William J. Murray
A resolution does not have the force of law. A Congressional resolution is a sense of the Congress. A resolution is saying, "We, the majority of the members of the Congress of the United States believe this to be a true statement." Although not a law it can be a powerful tool. In the Roe v. Wade case the Supreme Court based its pro-abortion decision on the assumption that "no one knows" when life exists in the womb. Thus the court not only legalized abortion but created great confusion as to any limitations on abortion. In some states abortions are conducted right up to the ninth month. Indeed, some babies have survived late term abortions. Congressman Coburn’s resolution states that the definition of life should be the opposite of the definition of death. As a medical doctor, Congressman Coburn can state that the definition of death is the lack of BOTH a brain wave and heartbeat. His resolution states that life is present when a brain wave and heartbeat are present. It is important to note that a brain wave and heartbeat exist in an unborn baby at about 24 days after conception. Many women do not even realize they are pregnant until after 24 days. The resolution does not have the force of law and it cannot stop abortions at or after 24 days. It does put the nation on notice and help to educate women that the unborn child they are carrying is indeed a living human being with a heart that beats and a brain that thinks. This is a resolution that "moderates" and even liberals will have a hard time voting against. How does a congressman explain to his constituents that he does not believe that the presence of a heart beat and a brain wave means that a human being is alive? Further, if a "moderate" congressman does vote with us on this resolution, then how can he vote pro abortion on other legislation? We will be able to use the Presence of Life Resolution as a precedence for other legislation that is binding! This will help us pass more legislation against late term abortions. Dr. Coburn and I both believe that life begins at conception. We will never give up that belief, but this is a tool to turn the clock back, to help protect more unborn babies. In the last week of May the Religious Freedom Coalition mailed many thousands of petitions asking supporters to sign them so they could be presented to Congressmen. These special petitions had the actural names of the congressmen of those who received them, as well as a second petition to Majority Leader Dick Armey asking him to bring the Presence of Life Resolution to the floor for a vote before the summer recess.
The Honorable Richard K. ArmeyMajority Leader Armey is a born-again Christian. He wants to bring this up for a vote, but he is under a lot of pressure from the "moderates" not to allow this vote before the election. All he needs to know to go ahead is that we are behind him! Just tell him that; send him a word of brotherly encouragement asking him to put the Presence of Life Resolution up for a vote!
THE BATTLE FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Can you imagine the government ordering a Jewish Synagogue to ordain a Catholic as a rabbi? How about the government telling the Girl Scouts that half the troop leaders have to be men? Sound ridiculous? Not to many of America’s top universities who have ordered that Christian groups allow homosexuals to be in leadership roles. There was recently a high profile case at Tufts University. The InterVarsity Christian Fellowship was banned from campus activities because they did not allow an open lesbian to hold a position of leadership. Keep in mind that she was not barred from being a member or attending meetings. She was only told she could not hold office because of the Christian teachings of the organization.Although the Tufts situation has been temporarily resolved, there are several other colleges that would force Christians to accept into leadership people who do not agree with beliefs of the group. Whitman College, a Presbyterian campus in Washington state, de-funded a Christian organization for "sexual orientation" discrimination. It seems the secular version of discrimination is more important to this Presbyterian college than the Word of God. In every case the findings against the Christian groups have to do with leadership, not membership, and almost all cases are about "homosexual rights." Let’s get honest. The homosexuals and lesbians who are demanding leadership roles have no interest in the Christian groups. They have only joined for the purpose of destroying those groups. Homosexuals, like all other social liberals, do not believe in freedom of speech. Anyone who disagrees with them is using "hate speech" and must be silenced. Modern American liberals, Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin share common beliefs about freedom of speech. The ACLU was there to defend the Brooklyn Museum of Art, to allow them to display pornography and anti-Christian religious bigotry. But the ACLU is no place in sight to defend groups who want to choose leaders who hold the same beliefs they do. What would those who died in battle fighting the repression of nazism and communism think, if they were alive to watch the destruction of freedom of speech in America? EVANGELISM I rarely write about the evangelistic work of my ministry in the William J. Murray Report. In fact, so much is happening in Washington, DC that I am rarely able to fit everything into the four pages of this newsletter. This month, however, I want to share just a little about my evangelistic work.Last year, my calendar was full. I took a total of more than fifty (yes 50) trips within the United States. Some of those were on business for the Religious Freedom Coalition, such as going to New York to help Mildred Rosario, who had been fired from her teaching job for praying with students. Most of the trips, however, where evangelistic in nature. In total I spent one hundred (yes, 100) nights in motel rooms in 1999. For twenty years I have averaged about one hundred nights a year in motel rooms and have flown an average of 100,000 miles a year. Beginning this year I plan on only twenty-six trips, or about half what I have done in the past, although I will probably preach just as many times since the trips will be better organized. In the beginning of April I spoke at a men’s event in Ocala, Florida and then preached at two Sunday morning services the next day. Although I only spent one night, the Gospel was presented on three occasions! During Easter I also went to San Francisco to take the Gospel to the lost at the atheist convention there. I reported on that trip in the May newsletter. At the end of April I spoke in Eastern Tennessee just outside of Morristown. Pleasant View Baptist, Lebanon Baptist, Mountain View Baptist and Alpha Baptist churches went together to hold an old fashioned tent meeting. I preached Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday morning at the tent meeting. At noon on Saturday I spoke at a luncheon for local elected leaders at Alpha Baptist Church. Several elected officials, including the sheriff, were present. In May I preached the Gospel in both Texas and Colorado. In Colorado I preached in both Colorado Springs and Canon City. At virtually every event people accept Christ as their Lord and Saviour! So far this year, hundreds have come to know Jesus as a result of the evangelistic work of this ministry. I have no more available dates in 2000 and currently my office is booking the year 2001. Next year I hope to do more fund raising events for Christian schools. In the past I have spoken at between two and four fund raising dinners per year for Christian schools. At the dinners, all of the funds raised go to the schools for scholarships, building programs or other works. Usually the dinners are held on Saturday night and I am able to preach the Gospel at some church in the community the next morning. The accountants and consultants tell me my preaching on the road loses money. Their logic is that I spend three of seven days on the road, yet the offerings make up only about 10% of the ministry budget .... BUT, no one can put a price tag on even one salvation! I have flown as far as California and had only one person in an evangelistic meeting accept Christ. In my mind the trip and every dime spent was worth the journey to have reached that one searching soul. Then again, I have preached in high school football stadiums when hundreds came forward to accept Christ. I can’t keep up the pace I once did. If I could continue to work in Washington four or five days a week and then preach two or three days on the road I would. But, I must be satisfied with what the Lord will allow me to do. If you would like to review my schedule to see if I am preaching in your area it is located on the Internet at www.wjmurray.com. CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION IN THE SUDAN By Nancy Murray In the African nation of Sudan, the radical Islamic government has been waging a jihad, or holy war, against all people in the country who are not Muslims. They are trying to forcibly convert the black Christians in the south to the Muslim religion, and those who resist face murder or enslavement. The Christians have been resisting for fifteen long years, and they have sustained almost two million deaths from bombs, land mines, and from intentional starvation by having their crops and homes burned. This is in addition to the thousands of other Christians who have been captured and sold as slaves to Muslim citizens. The Muslim slave owners are protected by the government, but "infidels" have no legal rights. Clinton officials have admitted that if they were to publicly admit there was genocide going on, then they would be obligated to do something. They are unwilling to do anything. The major networks are silent because they are nothing but a mouthpiece for the Clinton administration. Madeleine Albright says the "Sudan crisis is not marketable to the American people." The Clinton Administration does send food and medicine to the Sudan, but incredibly, they give it to the Islamic government and trust them to deliver it to the very people they are busy trying to destroy. Of course the aid is given to government soldiers and their families, and none of it reaches the Sudanese Christians.
At the Sudan Campaign meeting, I got to talk to some very courageous people who risk their lives on a regular basis by going into this war torn region to deliver food and medicine, and to buy back the slaves and give them their freedom. One of these dedicated men who flies into remote areas to deliver aid is Kenneth Krohn of Faith in Action. His address is P. O. Box 64117, Tucson, Arizona 85728, phone number 520-327-7777. You can read many of the personal stories of persecuted Sudanese Christians at www.sudancampaign.com. For more information about Sudan elsewhere on our website, click here. AN UPDATE ON SEXUAL TRAFFICKING LEGISLATION By Nancy Murray In the April WJM Report, we told you about the thousands of women and children from poor countries who are entrapped each year, either by physical force or by fraud, and taken to other countries to work in brothels as prostitutes. Some investigators believe the world wide total may be as many as two million victims each year. At least 50,000 of these are brought into the United States each year. These young people often suffer permanent physical damage from venereal diseases, and death from AIDS is not uncommon. The emotional and spiritual damage they suffer is even worse. The CIA did a detailed report which the Clinton Justice Department tried to bury and ignore. However, some courageous congressmen, led by Chris Smith (R-NJ), wrote and got passed a strong piece of legislation to punish the traffickers, help the victims and influence other countries. The Religious Freedom Coalition worked hard on behalf of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (H.R. 3244) and we are happy to report that it did pass the House by a wide margin. Now, we are hopeful it will pass the Senate as well. It has an enthusiastic sponsor in Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas. The Senator became aware of this problem first hand when he visited Nepal as part of his work on the Senate Foreign Relations committee. There, he personally met girls who had been entrapped in the sex trade when they were as young as 12 years old. After a nightmare captivity in the brothels of Bombay, they were released and allowed to return home when they were too sick with AIDS or tuberculosis to work any more. "They’re just coming back home to die," said Senator Brownback sadly. He determined to try to do something to stop this abuse. Congressman Chris Smith, Senator Brownback, and others who have studied the problem agree that four main things need to be done:
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