Home > Newsletter > April 2002

SCHOOL PRAYER UPDATE

The office of the Religious Freedom Coalition is being flooded with school prayer petitions and letters to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert supporting school prayer. Every day our mail box at the post office is so full that we must go to the main window to pick up large envelopes of petitions. Some of the envelopes contain one hundred or more petitions to Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert asking for a vote on the School Prayer Amendment.

Although the Religious Freedom Coalition has received thousands of school prayer petitions, many more are needed before they can be presented to Speaker Hastert. The goal is a minimum of 100,000 letters addressed to the Speaker before May 1, 2002 asking him to schedule a vote before the end of this year. Presenting 250,000 would really make an impression upon him and almost guarantee that a vote would be held before the end of the year.

SCHOOL PRAYER RADIO CAMPAIGN

The Religious Freedom Coalition has hired a radio booking agent for the sole purpose of arranging interviews on radio shows throughout the United States to promote the School Prayer Amendment and encourage people to sign school prayer petitions. In the month of March alone I appeared on more than thirty radio programs, some of them nationwide! During the week of March 16th I appeared on the Armstrong Williams Show which is carried on hundreds of stations throughout the United States. That same week I carried the school prayer message on many major radio stations including some in Los Angeles and Chicago!

The appearances on radio shows are arranged by a professional booking agent. It is agreed upon in advance that the Religious Freedom Coalition Internet site at www.rfcnet.org will be mentioned on the program several times. At the Internet site is a special school prayer page explaining the need for the petitions and letters to Speaker Hastert. Those listening to the radio show can print out the school prayer petitions right from the RFC Internet site, sign them and send them in!

Because of these radio shows the Religious Freedom Coalition has received thousands of school prayer petitions from people we have never heard from before! The only downside is that we do not have the available funds to send all of those who sign the petition a copy of the William J. Murray Report to keep them updated on the progress of the School Prayer Amendment.