I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. I spent time with family and was able to take a few days off to celebrate the birth of Christ and all the blessings we have experienced.
However, it is now time to look ahead.
With just a few days left in 2007, I want to ask you to consider a tax-deductible donation to Faith and Freedom.
We need your support because we have a very aggressive agenda for 2008. As we begin to move forward to "Change The State in '08," I am certain that our activities will bring significant challenges as we stand against legislators, bureaucrats and big-money organizations who will try to accelerate Washington State down a path that includes redefining marriage and the family, advancing abortion, a secularist agenda in public schools that "indoctrinates" under the guise of education, and new laws that raise taxes and further erode personal freedoms. In fact NARL of Washington has asked their donors to help them stop Faith and Freedom.
Your financial support is essential. We cannot do it without you.
I want to personally wish you a very merry and blessed Christmas. As you celebrate the birth of Christ in the coming days, we wish you hope and joy and peace. Our prayer for you is that you may know Christ in the most personal and meaningful way and that His blessing may rest upon you and yours as you celebrate His birth.
Perhaps George Frederick Handel best expressed what people of faith feel at this most holy time of year in his "The Messiah."
The kingdom of this world is become,
The kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ,
And He shall reign for ever and ever.
King of Kings and Lord of lords.
HALLELUJAH!
_____________ Gary Randall President Faith & Freedom
As usual everyone sees the ad from their personal point of view.
If you are Ron Paul (also a GOP candidate), you are alarmed--maybe terrified. He told Fox News (quoting Sinclair Lewis), "When fascism comes to this country, it will be wrapped in a flag, carrying a cross."
If you are Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, you will say, "Jesus and Mike Huckabee are both products being sold by this commercial."
If you are most newspapers or major TV news organizations, you will try to marginalize Huckabee as well, maybe too religious or out of the mainstream, or a little extreme as Meredith Vieira did on the Today Show (Dec. 18) by emphasizing the negative, that some are saying that the ad is sending an overt religious appeal to voters.
And all the time we have thought that TV ads were supposed to send messages. At least that's what NBC's sales team is telling customers.
If this is a couple of hundred years ago and you are John Jay, America's first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, you would say, "Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians for their rulers".
Think of the press that would get today.
If you are Mike Huckabee, you would say, "If we are so politically correct in this country that a person can't say, 'Enough of the nonsense with the political attack ads, could we pause for a few days and say Merry Christmas to each other,' then we're really, really in trouble as a country."
And we might say, "Mr. Huckabee, sir, we really, really are in trouble. Those with the most influence, education and media, are trying with all their heart to lead America away from her spiritual roots and heritage."
If you are an atheist or secularist, you may say, "This discussion is helpful."
If you are a person of faith, you may say, "This discussion is very, very helpful."
If you are Faith and Freedom Network and Foundation you would say, "God bless you as you prayerfully consider who could best lead this country."
Merry Christmas.
_________________ Gary Randall President Faith & Freedom
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has released a position statement that targets pro-life physicians.
Their new policy position insists that those doctors that refuse to do abortions should refer patients to doctors who do perform abortions.
As you can imagine, the 15,000 member Christian Medical Association has responded in a forceful way.
In a letter sent to ACOG on behalf of themselves and co-signed by a number of pro-life organizations, Dr. David Stevens, CMA's director, tells ACOG that it's new position statement "suggests a profound misunderstanding of the nature and exercise of conscience." The letter also states that ACOG has "an underlying bias against persons of faith and an apparent attempt to disenfranchise physicians who oppose ACOG's political activism on abortion."
This is reminiscent of the complaints filed against the Stormans' in August of 2006 regarding the dispensing of plan B or morning after pills in their pharmacies in Olympia. (Read article.) As you will recall, nine women filed complaints against the pharmacy because they were unable to have their morning after prescription filled at the Ralph's Pharmacy in Olympia.
At the time, Kevin Stormans, co-owner, said, "Everybody has to make a decision about when life begins."
Boycotts and lawsuits followed.
In fact Mrs. Stormans told me at our recent "Change Your Culture" youth leadership retreat that this affair has been financially devastating to them. She also expressed their deepest appreciation for the support that has been given by the pro-life community.
As you also know, this issue has continued in court until last month when a federal judge suspended the state ruling that required the Stormans and others to violate their conscience and dispense abortion pills. (Read article.)
You will remember that Patty Murray, D-WA, and Hillary Clinton introduced a bill this past September requiring the federal government to inform women about the availability of the abortion pill. (Read article. )
Two things:
First, it is apparent that abortion activists will tirelessly continue to advance the personal option of killing babies under the guise of "choice" at any cost and at all levels.
Secondly, there are correlations between the fight to normalize the killing of unborn children and the fight to normalize the homosexual lifestyle and to have that normalization enshrined in law.
In both issues, there is the attempt to control not only actions but thoughts and beliefs by the activists who advance these agendas.
I would suggest that this is a time to become active on behalf of your deeply held beliefs and certainly be prepared to VOTE.
Ohio Governor, Ted Strickland, has reversed a decision by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The Department had decided to remove some manger scenes from public park land after they got one complaint from a visitor. The visitor had argued that large figures representing the Hindu and Zoroastrian religions should be displayed as well.
The Governor's response is interesting. The secularists response is predictable.
When Gov. Strickland heard that the Department had removed the nativities, he ordered them resurrected. (Read Article).
Keith Dailey, a spokesman for the Governor, said the Governor decided the nativities should be restored to state parks because they are appropriate and traditional. He said a Zoroastrian symbol would not be acceptable because it is not traditionally displayed for the holidays.
The response is predictable.
The Madison, Wis. based Freedom From Religion Foundation is threatening to take legal action and have already written a letter to the Ohio Inspector General this past Friday.
Ironically, right in the back yard of the Foundation, there is another out burst of common sense in Green Bay, Wis.
Green Bay City Council President, Chad Fradette, after complaining of the absence of Christmas expression in the public marketplace, was given permission to purchase his own nativity and place it on an overhang at the entrance to City Hall. He and Mayor Jim Schmitt agreed that they would also allow expressions of other religions if it was requested.
Yesterday, tempers flared while TV crews covered it when two city residents walked into City Hall with their own symbols--one a peace sign, the other a cross decorated in red, white and blue to illustrate the separation of church and state. (Read Article).
It's amazing that the very people who exercise the freedoms provided to us by "our Creator" and protected by our government are the ones who consistently seek to strip every vestige of the religion and that Creator from our public experience.
It is, however, refreshing to see politicians who are not choking on political correctness
____________________ Gary Randall President Faith & Freedom
James Corbett, a high school teacher, has been sued for statements he made in his Advanced Placement European history class.
According to court documents filed by Chad Farnan, 16, and his parents Bill and Teresa, Corbett made "highly inappropriate" and offensive statements in class regarding Christianity.
Their suit contends, among other things, that Corbett told the students during class that, "When you put on your Jesus glasses, you can't see the truth."
He also said that, "Religion is not connected with morality," and compared Christians to "Muslim fundamentalists" who, according to Corbett, "want women to stay pregnant, barefoot and in the kitchen and have babies until your body collapses." He also suggested that church-goers are more likely to commit rape and murder.
Capistrano Valley High School Principal Tom Ressler is defending Corbett and said he is a "solid" teacher who has been with the school district for more than 15 years. He added that his class is popular and that it has a high pass rate. In defending the teacher he said they would have to look at the context and all that was said.
The problem he may have in defending that kind of unacceptable behavior in the classroom is that Chad, the student, has been taping his lectures for more than two months. Apparently the tapes are pretty telling.
The LA Times reported that Teresa became suspicious the first day of class when her son came home asking whether the Founding Fathers used Christian principles when they founded America. Chad told his mother that the teacher said they did not.
Chad said, "He is against Christianity and he bashes it all the time. He also said, "He has been indoctrinating us, not teaching the class. We don't need to be hearing his political views during school time when we should be learning."
Chad is an honor student and has left the class since the suit was filed. He and his parents are merely asking that the teacher be removed from that class on the basis that he is discriminating against those of Christian faith.
While there are those who consistently dismiss these kinds of events as rare and isolated, or simply deny that it even happened, it is happening all to often. And we can only imagine how many times this kind of incident goes unchallenged because a child does not want the attention and often ridicule that may go with challenging this kind of performance in the classroom.
To reshape and secularize America the so-called progressives have focused on the public classroom. Both history and morality have been revised. The Biblical basis for both law and social contract in America has been marginalized and ridiculed in public education, while actual historical events have either been revised to support the progressive agenda or simply deleted in that support.
Faith and Freedom, as you may know, has initiated a student campaign to "Change Your Culture." Our first leadership retreat exceeded our expectations. More are planned. Contact us for more information.
It has been said that any organization is only one generation away from extinction. If that is true, and I believe it is, then America must pay attention to what our children are being taught.
Abraham Lincoln said, "The philosophy of the classroom today will be the philosophy of government tomorrow."
God help us.
______________ Gary Randall President Faith & Freedom
Information Update Re: Domestic Partnerships in WA State
We mentioned yesterday that we had not received a call back from Olympia at the time we published the Blog.
We had ask the Secretary of State's office for the most recent number of domestic partnerships in Washington State since the law was signed.
The Secretary of State returned our call shortly after the Blog was published. They reported that 3061 couples have registered as domestic partners. This seems to be consistent with what has happened in other states.
It seems there is no big rush for the "benefits."
______________ Gary Randall President Faith & Freedom
A few may say He does not, but for the vast majority, He does fit and it's important just how that should look.
For people of faith, God is seen first and foremost in a personal, not civil way. Many people of faith believe that they have a personal relationship with God through accepting the atoning death and resurrection of Jesus Christ His Son.
That experience is beyond philosophical--it is a lifestyle with eternal consequences. It is not surprising that these people cannot be neutral concerning social matters.
But can anyone really achieve neutrality on such matters? Christian or atheist?
Michael Newdow, our national village atheist (according to columnist Maggi Gallagher) recently told the courts that, "It's a case of people who believe in treating people equally and people who believe in not treating people equally." Of course for people like Newdow, fairness means atheists get what they want and theists do not.
With the Newdow case back in court, debating if God has a place in American culture, Mitt Romney's "Faith in America" speech and Mike Huckabee's rise to the top of the Republican slate of Presidential candidates, this subject is dominating the news.
Romney said, "Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom...Freedom and religion endure together or perish alone."
Mike Huckabee has been assaulted about his personal faith and how that might affect his decisions since his rise to the top--as lately as yesterday morning on Good Morning America. Yet his popularity continues to rise.
I have recently read several thoughtful and provocative articles on the subject of God and His place in the culture of this country.
I want to direct you to two of them. I believe it would be helpful and informative to take some time this weekend and read both.
I also recommend an article written by Joshua Bosshardt (Lewis and Clark) which was carried in a number of newspapers. I read it in the Spokane Spokesman Review. It was published last month. The article is comprehensive and can be used for a personal reference. It's titled "Freedom of Religion, Not Freedom From Religion."
I personally believe that faith and freedom are, in the end, inseparable. Even as the ancient book of Proverbs teaches that as a person thinks in his heart, so is he, so a nation will, in the end, become what it believes and what it teaches it's children.
There is a struggle for the soul of this country. Never has it been more evident than now.
If you agree and feel what we are doing in this regard is valuable, please stand with us in your prayer and financial support.
Thank you and God bless you and God bless America.
________________________ Gary Randall President Faith & Freedom
Gay Rights Activists Expect to Gain Ground Next Session
Gay rights activists and lawmakers in Washington State are optimistic that the upcoming legislative session will be a productive one for them.
While they are not all saying the same thing, they are definitely going in the same direction.
The Seattle P.I. ran a story a few days ago, "Gay Rights Advocates Expect A Productive Session," which quotes both Josh Friedes, advocacy director of Equal Rights Washington, and Sen. Ed Murray, D-Seattle, openly gay leader of the gay rights agenda in the legislature.
The gay agenda has been politically evolving over the past few years. Murray seems to be more evolved that Friedes.
Friedes says the gay rights process should be a vibrant discussion about the needs of Washington families. "This," he says, "is ultimately a human story and should not be a political story."
However, that's an old line taken from last year's talking points, used prior to the legislature passing a domestic partner bill.
Murray says the gays have a new strategy. They tried to win gay marriage through the courts and failed, now they have politicized it. And he's positive about the outcome. He told the P.I., "We have yet to go through an election cycle where we talk to legislators and raise money for legislators around the issue of marriage."
He told the P.I. the idea of openly pursuing gay marriage by steadily expanding gay rights granted by domestic partnerships laws began in earnest this year.
Keep in mind, we were saying several years ago that the push for "benefits" was more of a smoke screen than a legitimate desire for "benefits" and would be a slippery slope. The elitists and those who want to be, soundly criticized us and others who were making that argument. We said it was really about re-engineering marriage and the family.
While Friedes is still staying with the old line like, "We hope to increase the protections available to gays and lesbian families in Washington State," and I'm sure he is, homosexuals don't seem to be as eager to access the benefits as he is to get them. Somehow the interest in "benefits" was considerably higher prior to the "stepping stone" gay legislation our legislators passed, than it is now.
In fact, Focus on The Family recently reported that after the initial burst of interest in the states that passed civil unions, they are now finding that few same sex couples sign up. This includes Vermont, New Jersey, and Connecticut which is showing only 372 applications this year.
We called Olympia yesterday to get a current count and were told they would have to call us back. As of this morning, they have not returned the call. I'm quite sure it will be consistent with other states over a comparable period of time.
The P.I. also reported what could be seen as a veiled threat. Murray told the paper, "If (Rossi) decides to use marriage equality [that would be gay marriage] for gay and lesbian people an issue, it will back fire in his face." He said he could name more than a dozen right-wing Republicans who made an issue of their support for traditional marriage and opposed gay marriage that are now gone.
As we have said, the "benefits" agenda was not about benefits, it was about marriage.
Gay marriage will open the door to completely re-engineering human society as it has been for more than 5,000 years. Traditional marriage and the family unit is the cornerstone upon which society has been built. It is the foundation that provides vitality to the human experience.
It is the norm that has accommodated alternative forms of family composition under the idea of diversity and tolerance. When the norm is gone, chaos will follow at some point. Every major religion has advocated for heterosexual marriage.
There are those that are even now preparing the way for the next evolution of society--beyond gay marriage.
Please check out this link. Beyondgaymarriage.org has laid out the plan. It will begin the day gay marriage is enshrined into law.
Biblical, traditional marriage is worth fighting for. And in Washington State the battle is well under way.
The gay activists are well funded and generally have the support of the media. Conservatives and people of faith are often characterized by the press and others as back ward, splintered and in a no win position.
Your financial support is crucial at this point. If you feel what we are doing is worth while, please send a check to:
Faith and Freedom Foundation Box 399 Bellevue, WA 98009
Episcopal Diocese Secedes From Church. Pastors Stand Firm.
The Diocese of San Joaquin voted Saturday to split from the liberal-leaning Episcopal Church.
The Associated Press is reporting that the Diocese of San Joaquin voted 173 to 22 to remove all references to the national church from the diocese's constitution, making it the first full diocese to secede from the denomination.
As you might suspect the issue was the debate over the Bible and homosexuality.
The Episcopal Church has been moving more and more toward so-called tolerance, which as now becomes affirmation, and social justice. They have departed from traditional Biblical teaching on the subject of homosexuality, consecrating v. Gene Robinson as their first openly gay bishop in 2003.
The traditionalists believe that gay relationships violate the teaching of scripture on the subject and that the Bible condemns homosexual relations.
A spokesman for the seceding group of pastors and churches said, "We have leadership in the Episcopal Church that has drastically changed directions -- it's impossible for us to follow a leadership that has drastically reinvented itself."
The local pastors may lose their ministerial credentials and their retirement pensions.
Their reasoning?
In their own words. "It's about freedom to remain who we are in Christ. It is freedom to honor the authority of Scripture."
This is an example of the challenges that lie ahead for those who are unwilling to bend or bow to the march of secularism that is re-engineering the family, marriage and Scripture itself as it applies to homosexuality.
It is costly to have and to act on Biblical convictions.
God bless those courageous pastors.
_______________ Gary Randall President Faith & Freedom
Time Magazine reported earlier this year that Tim Gill, a 53-year-old snowboarder, retired computer programmer and multimillionaire ($425 million), is changing the political landscape of America one state at a time.
He has started the Gill Foundation and The Gill Action Fund to advance the gay agenda and gay causes.
Time reports that his money has put secularist Democrats in control of the Colorado Legislature for the first time in four decades.
Now, he and his millionaire gay allies, have taken the model they used in Colorado and will be using it in other states in the 2008 election. He believes that most all so-called gay rights legislation is primarily state based. I agree. He is now going state-to-state defeating traditional conservative lawmakers and replacing them with pro-gay rights lawmakers.
He and his colleagues threw $15 million into a dozen states during the 2006 elections, targeting 70 politicians whom they regarded as "unhelpful" to gay causes: 50 of them went down.
His Fund and allies are literally transforming the political landscape of the country. The Atlantic Monthly has written an extensive article about this.
So what about Washington State? What about the Judeo Christian culture that has served America so well for so long?
Faith and Freedom has no big donors or "fat cats" stepping up to "throw" money at anything, however, we do have a growing number of people who really do care and are stepping up to do what they can to support our efforts.
This next election cycle is perhaps the most important in our lifetime.
We need many to step up and take a stand for what is right.
Faith and Freedom is doing the following to change this state, but we can only do it with your support.
1. Holding David Barton rallies across the state to affirm our nation's Godly heritage.
2. Holding youth leadership conferences across the state to help motivate the next generation to carry the torch for biblical values and become involved in statewide politics and public service. The first conference has been held and it exceeded our expectations. More to come.
3. We will again, as we have for the past years, have a full-time lobbyist in Olympia during the 2008 session.
4. We are holding candidate/coalition building workshops across the state. Two have been held. Many more to come.
5. We have targeted certain districts that we feel can be changed. Secularist, liberal out--conservative traditional lawmaker in. Local people in these districts are stepping up to help. We are certain we will be able to make some changes in these districts.
6. We are holding "get out the vote" rallies including a major concert at the Clark County amphitheater.
7. Our website continues to record hundreds of thousands of visits and millions of hits. We are grateful and are using this to inform and will be giving specific information as these events occur.
The other side cares and are doing something about it.
I know many of you who read this blog care. I'm asking you to act on that concern by making a donation today to our Foundation.
While many of us are advocating for biblical, sustained marriages and as best we can, giving both biblical and social reasons for doing so, now we are told that divorce actually harms the planet.
Researchers, Jianquo Liu and Eunice Yu from Michigan State University, have found that in the US circa 2000, there were more than six-million "extra" households created because of divorce.
But the associated numbers are even more startling.
Liu and fellow researcher Yu concluded that in 2005, just in the U.S., divorced households could have saved 38 million rooms, 73 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity and 627 billion gallons of water if their "resource-use efficiency" had been comparable to that of married households.
According to Lu's analysis, on a per-capita basis, divorced residents consume more goods, use more electricity and water and thus contribute to the emission of more greenhouse gasses than those whose marriages are intact.
Lu said his study is important because, at current divorce levels, the number of households is rising, even out-pacing population growth itself.
He said, "If more people knew the environmental consequences of divorce, more of them might choose to stay together."
We would hope so, Dr. Liu, we would hope so.
If you have a moment read the story.
___________________ Gary Randall President Faith & Freedom
During last week's Republican Presidential debate on CNN, ret. General Keith Kerr---a national co-chair for a Hillary Clinton veterans group, asked the question, " Why do you think that the American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians?"
McCain blasted CNN for allowing someone connected to the Clinton campaign to be asking questions in a forum that was intended for those who are actually interested in what the Republican candidates believe. Not in defeating them.
I agree with McCain. But let's forget that part for a moment.
Let's look at the question. Then at CNN's response.
The question: "Why do you think that American men and women in uniform are not professional enough to serve with gays and lesbians?"
The question suggests that any of our US military people who do not embrace the gay lifestyle as normal are unprofessional. It further suggests that the candidates to whom he addressed the question--McCain, Huckabee, Romney and Hunter also believe that.
Not only is this a slam on US military people in general and the candidates specifically, but it is also an example of what is going on in too many classrooms across America in regard to the advancement of the gay agenda under the guise of tolerance and diversity.
CNN's response is equally telling.
CNN's vice president and executive producer David Bohrman said "CNN would not have used the General's question had we known that he was connected to any presidential candidate."
Sure.
But nothing about the question its self.
It would seem that gay activists will stop at nothing to advance their agenda and some in the media will stop at nothing to assist them.
________________ Gary Randall President Faith & Freedom
The Seattle Times ran a story yesterday reminding citizens that the gay-rights agenda is moving forward in Oregon as it has been in Washington. The Associated Press story sympathizes with the gay-rights activists and affirms that the domestic partners is merely a step on the way to gay marriage.
Chris Edelson of the Human Rights Campaign in New York is quoted as saying, "Our hope is that Oregon and other states will soon join Massachusetts in legalizing gay marriage."
Oregon's law is said to be one of the strongest of the spousal rights enacted so far.
Former State Senator Marylin Shannon led an unsuccessful effort to gather enough signatures to refer the matter to the voters, who have already spoken on the matter of gay marriage. She says she is not giving up and will try again in January. However, John Hummel, executive director of Basic Rights Oregon, says they couldn't get enough votes the first time so he's not particularly worried about future attempts to stop the gay marriage movement.
In fact he said, "People were not buying what they were selling."
Yet, Oregon strongly passed a constitutional ban on gay marriage in 2004. The confidence of the gay activists may be premature.
Oregon, as Washington State, played heavily on people's goodness in getting the benefits laws, with their companion so-called "hate crimes" laws passed. Washington activists even added people over 60, who were living together out side of marriage, to their bill telling the voting public not to neglect the needs of seniors. In both cases, sad stories were told and retold, strongly identifying with the African American's civil rights struggle. While the two are not the same, the activists won by appealing to the basic decency and goodness of the average citizen, all under the guise of benefits.
In the case of Oregon, the law makers have clearly subverted the will of the people in approving this step to gay marriage.
I personally believe we are approaching the point, the proverbial tipping point, where citizens are going to say "enough." "We want to show consideration for all people, but we will not allow these folks to re-engineer marriage, family and our social order regarding those proven institutions."
I have provided a link to the Princeton Papers, the finest work I have seen in support of traditional marriage.
This is a time when people of faith and traditional values must step up and assert those principles that have given us the freedoms and prosperity that we have all come to enjoy. They are fragile and the biblical basis for family and marriage is the cornerstone of our society as we have known it.
________________ Gary Randall President Faith & Freedom
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