Before moving on to what is hot in Washington this week I have an important announcement about the Holy Land: Christians In Peril documentary by Pierre Rehov. Several weeks ago I introduced the documentary when only the DVD was available. We received hundreds of e-mails from people saying they wanted the documentary but did not have a DVD player. Since that time the producer has made available to us VHS copies of Holy Land: Christians In Peril. Because of the RFC’s close relationship with the producer I am able to offer the VHS format of the documentary for just $19.95 including shipping!

I went to the Holy Land in July of this year and I can attest that the situation for Christians in the West Bank under Yassar Arafat is as reported in Holy Land: Christians in Peril. There is constant fear and constant repression. The Religious Freedom Coalition sponsors private Christian schools in the West Bank, schools that do not teach a culture of hatred and death as is taught in the schools run by Arafat’s thugs. Any "profit" we make from the sale of Holy Land: Christians In Peril will be sent to help repressed Christians under the rule of Yassar Arafat.

SERIOUS REQUEST: The Saudi government is sponsoring a multi-million dollar campaign to place books and videos in America’s libraries that depict the hateful, murderous version of Islam they call Wahibbism as a "peaceful religion." Once you have viewed this video and shown it to your Sunday School class, please place it in a library in your home town. This will help counter the propaganda campaign paid for by the Saudi government. If you want to keep the video then I suggest you buy two and donate one copy, preferably the DVD copy, to your local library.

My comments about Senator Trent Lott (R-MS) and his plight over his comments about Strom Thurmond (R-SC) brought hundreds of e-mail comments. Half of those contacting me criticized me for attacking Trent Lott. The other half said that I should not have defended him. Many conservative blacks who receive these updates expressed outrage. Actually, I neither defended nor criticized Lott on his comment about Thurmond. My commentary last week went beyond the race issue to explain why conservative leaders in Washington were not defending Lott because of other problems with his leadership.

Let me address the race issue first. Like most whites in America I do not think in terms of race. I never think about being white. I do not vote based on race. I vote for the social conservative candidates regardless of race or gender. I am the chairman of a political action committee called Government Is Not God. (Because I believe government is not God and should not try to be God.) In the last election cycle my PAC backed eleven candidates for the House. Of those eleven, three were black, one was Hispanic, and one was Jewish. Five of the eleven, or almost 50% of the social conservative candidates I gave money to, were minority candidates who believe in the same values I believe in.

A final note on the Senate ... many black leaders have stated that a "racist" such as Trent Lott should not be number four in line for the Presidency in time of war. Actually, as Majority Leader, Lott is not in line for the Presidency should there be a disaster that would cause the death of the President, the vice-president and the Speaker of the House. The President pro-tem of the Senate is fourth in line. Who is that? It is Senator Byrd of West Virginia, the only member of the Senate who was actually a member of the Ku Klux Klan. (Just prior to the release of this update Senator Lott announced that he would not seek to be reelected as Majority Leader. He also stated he would serve out the remaining four years of his Senate term. Senator Bill Frist appears to have a lock on the Majority Leader position. The vote will be held on January 6th as previously announced.) Photo above is of William J Murray and Senator Bill Frist

I will be returning to Israel in March to visit the Christian schools supported by the Religious Freedom Coalition on the West Bank. Please pray with me that the conditions under which Christians live in Islamic areas can be improved and that Christian schools can remain open. The video documentary which was filmed on my last visit in July has received a final edit and is now in the manufacturing stage. I expect it to arrive next week at our Virginia office. Hopefully I can offer it in the final Legislative Update of 2002. To obtain the documentary filmed by Pierre Rehov and mentioned above please go to the RFC online store.

The Religious Freedom Coalition works in Washington, DC and overseas to protect the vanishing rights of Christians. While most of our work is financed by contributions, a good portion of RFC operations is financed by the sale of books, audio and video tapes of a social conservative view point. Many of these items can be found at our online bookstore.

Congress will be adjourned until January. Current issues of the William J. Murray Report are available online at www.rfcnet.org.

William J. Murray, Chairman

To continue to inform the public on key issues, financial help is needed. Please consider giving a contribution ONLINE or by mailing a check to the offices of the Religious Freedom Coalition, P.O. Box 77511, Washington, DC 20013.