Week Ending August 1, 2003
Religious Freedom Coalition
August 1, 2003 4:13PM EST
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE - WEEK ENDING AUGUST 1, 2003
CONGRESS IN RECESS
THE HOUSE
THE MAJORITY LEADER AND ISRAEL
The House of Representatives actually recessed on July 25th and will not return to session until Wednesday, September 3rd.
Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) is spending much of the recess on a Middle Eastern fact finding tour. This week he spoke before the Israeli Knesset and made the proclamation that, "We know our victory in the war on terror depends on Israel's survival. We know Israel's survival depends on the willingness of free nations, especially our own, to stand by all endangered democracies in their time of need. We hear your voice cry out in the desert, and we will never leave your side. Freedom and terrorism cannot coexist." Tom DeLay, a born-again Baptist, believes Jews have a Biblical right to Israel and he is one of Israel's best allies in the Congress.FREEDOM OF SPEECH FROM THE PULPIT
The Religious Freedom Coalition is a strong supporter of the efforts of Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC), to return freedom of political speech to the pulpit. My daughter, Katie Murray, who is a Christian High School senior, prepared a powerful MS power point presentation explaining how this vital freedom was lost by pastors and how it can be restored. The MS power point presentation has been viewed by numerous congressmen and received very positive comments. The power point is available at our Internet site in two formats. Format one is a download and functions just like power point. Format two is an html version. Click here for format one and here for html format two.
THE SENATE
(Unlike the House, the Senate was in session through this entire week.)
"DEEPLY HELD BELIEFS"
These are the new Democrat code words meaning "too religious." In the case of Catholics, "deeply held beliefs" means an individual who exactly follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The Senate filibuster against Catholic judges is led by Jewish Senator Chuck Schumer of New York. It is so incredibly odd, considering the suffering of the Jewish people in the Holocaust, that a Jew would want to keep those of deep religious faith from office. One of the first orders from Adolph Hitler regarding Jews was to bar them from public office. Now we have an American Jewish Senator who would bar Catholics from office in much the same manner. A second Jewish Senator, Diane Feinstein from California, has also declared that those with "deeply held beliefs" should be barred from office. What is even stranger is the fact that the best defenders and allies of Israel in the United States are Christians with "deeply held beliefs." It is the "pro-life" Christians in America who statistically are the greatest defenders of Israel. Is Senator Schumer aware of this or is he ignorant of Jewish as well as Christian political reality?
The debate in the Senate has been intense, with Democrat Senators refusing to acknowledge that "deeply held beliefs" means religious beliefs, yet they go on to say that because of their position on abortion, Catholics should be barred from holding judgeships. Yet, these Catholics, such as William Pryor of Alabama, are merely following the dictates of the pope in Rome when it comes to their pro-life stance.
The Catholic bashing is not limited to liberal Jews in the Senate. Pro-abortion Catholic Senators have also been spouting off the "deeply held beliefs" objection. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) was quoted in The Hill newspaper as saying, "Religion is the last refuge of extremists." However, according to his church, Senator Durbin does not have the right to call himself a Catholic or partake in Catholic Sacraments because of his pro-abortion views. Catholic Senator Durbin refuses to follow the spiritual directives of his church and his pope. Thus Durbin wants to punish those Catholics such as William Pryor who do follow church doctrine. Mainstream newspapers such as the Union Leader in New Hampshire have begun to see the Senate filibusters as anti-Catholic, anti-Christian behavior on the part of Democrats. (See the
Union Leader Editorial) Catholic organizations upset with the treatment of Catholics by Senator Schumer and other Democrats have begun advertising campaigns in states with Democrat Senators who claim to be Catholic. The newspaper ads feature the "Catholics need not apply" theme. To see the advertisement click here.In bygone days in some big city police forces, when one black shot another black a street cop would radio the case in as "NHI" or no human involved. This was pure bigotry, yet is no different from the "DHB" code used by the Democrats to block devout Catholics from being confirmed to the Federal bench by the U.S. Senate. Bigotry is a big part of being a white liberal. The closure vote on Circuit Court nominee Bill Pryor failed 53-44 on Thursday. Democrats Ben Nelson (NE) and Zell Miller (GA) voted with Republicans; however, 60 votes were needed to override the Democrat filibuster.
THE PRESIDENCY
HOMOSEXUAL "MARRIAGE
"The President made it clear where he stands on the issue of "Gay Marriage" during a
Rose Garden news conference this past Wednesday, stating, "I am mindful that we're all sinners. And I caution those who may try to take the speck out of their neighbor's eye when they got a log in their own. I think it's very important for our society to respect each individual, to welcome those with good hearts, to be a welcoming country." He continued, "On the other hand that does not mean that somebody like me needs to compromise on an issue such as marriage. And that's really where the issue is headed here in Washington and that is the definition of marriage. I believe in the sanctity of marriage. I believe a marriage is between a man and a woman and I think we ought to codify that one way or the other and we've got lawyers looking at the best way to do that."A Constitutional Amendment to defend the institution of marriage has firm and enthusiastic support in the Senate and the House.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) had previously stated his support for a constitutional amendment. After the President's statement Frist commented, "I support the President 100 percent." In the House, Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) has already introduced the Federal Marriage Amendment which is supported by the House leadership. There was angry criticism of the President's remarks from homosexual Congressman Barney Franks (D-MA), but most Democrat leaders, particularly the nine running for President, said little or nothing. Supporting homosexual marriage by a Democrat presidential candidate at this point would doom election prospects. The polls show the public moving rapidly away from support of "gay unions" the more likely they become. I will review the options to "gay unions" in a more complete manner in next week's update, when Congress will be in recess.SOCIAL ISSUES
BUT BIG CORPORATIONS ARE PRO-GAY
The "Destinations Section" of
USA Today on Friday had a large story on how friendly to "gays" the online travel company Orbitz is. The company is running TV ads targeting homosexuals which depict a gay marionette ogling a man sun-tanning by the pool. Orbitz's Jefrey Marsh told USA Today that, "Going on TV is the ultimate sign that you're a gay-friendly company." Orbitz justifies the ads by pointing out that the average homosexual spends $1590.00 a year on leisure travel versus $1,370 per heterosexual. Orbitz apparently fails to realize that this statistic would be a useful business tool only if 50% of the population were homosexual. Although 10% of men have been homosexually raped by the time they reach adulthood, less than 1% of men are actually practicing homosexuals. Thus each homosexual would have to spend $137,000.00 per year on travel to match that spent by normal heterosexual men. By the way, tickets purchased from Orbitz carry an additional "service charge" while those purchased directly from airline Internet sites do not. I have never found a fare at Orbitz that I could not match or beat by going directly to an airline site. If homosexuals want to pay more for their airline tickets and to use Orbitz because it is "gay-friendly," let them. As for me I will not buy any tickets from Orbitz knowing that the "service charge" is being used to finance the "gay culture."There is more: all of the Fortune 500 companies give money to homosexual organizations or homosexual causes such as those related to AIDS. There is not a single Fortune 500 company that gives funds to social conservative organizations such as the Religious Freedom Coalition. While homosexual groups get grants of up to millions of dollars a year from big corporations, our funding comes in the form of $10 and $20 checks from individuals. We receive virtually no funds from the 50,000 people a month who visit our Internet site.
THE RFC
INTERNATIONAL
In several previous issues of the Legislative Update I have mentioned that I would accompany several congressmen to Israel this month and tour Jewish "settlements" with them. The object of the journey was to show congressmen that these "settlements" are major cities which provide billions of dollars of economic output not only for Israel but also provide jobs for thousands of Palestinians. This trip would have also allowed me to present them with the Biblical reasons for Samaria to remain a part of Israel. Although I did manage to arrange various visits to "settlements" for congressmen, I was unable to go myself because of the cost of the airline ticket and hotels during the high travel season. I do not plan to travel again to the Holy Land until later in the year to once again inspect the Christian schools and ministries the RFC funds in the West Bank. Our video documentary,
Holy Land Settlements, is now available at our online store at a discounted price.RFC ONLINE
Our online store now carries men's
Christian and patriotic ties as well as men's inspirational socks. We also now carry women's patriotic scarves. A number of videos produced by the RFC are also available.Check our Internet site at
www.rfcnet.org for last minute updates! Please feel free to forward this weekly update to friends. We are now at over 60,000 subscribers .... Get the word out and help us hit the 100,000 mark by the end of the year! See below for subscribe/unsubscribe instructions. God richly bless you, that is my prayer.William J. Murray, Chairman -
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