KILLER INSTINCT NEEDED TO DEFEAT HATE BILL
By Rev. Ted Pike
20 Feb 07
My recent article, "Who's Warning About the Hate Bill?" revealed
an alarming fact: Most large Christian/conservative watchdog groups
were either unaware of or had not alerted their constituents about
the ominous federal anti-hate bill, H.R. 254, even after it had been
in the Congress for six weeks!
My article was emailed to many of them. Some responded.
Within a day of our posting, World Net Daily published a powerful
article, "Diss a gay? Go to jail!" by Bob Unruh. Linking
to www.truthtellers.org, WND quotes me extensively, along with new
right activists Michael Marcavage, head of the "Philly 11," Peter
LaBarbera of Americans for Truth, and Mary Starrett, PR director
for the Constitution Party. (Starrett has written a hard-hitting
expose of H.R. 254.)
Astonishingly, WND had the courage to do what other new right organizations
have considered unthinkable: They named "the powerful [Jewish]
Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith" as a primary supporter
of the hate bill. This is WND's third recent article critical of
H.R. 254, continuing its record of dependable reporting on hate crimes
issues.
Others have also responded. Buddy Smith, spokesman for Rev. Donald
Wildmon, head of the American Family Association, assures us Rev.
Wildmon has been hard at work on an article against H.R. 254; it
will be posted imminently on the AFA website and emailed to 3 million
constituents. AFA included several articles against the hate bill
within the last month on its onenewsnow.com news service. This fact
eluded us in our search of the AFA website last week.
In my recent article, we reported no mention of H.R. 254 on Concerned
Women for America's website. CWA responded, saying a search must
be for "H.R. 254" rather than HR 254 (although we did search
under "hate laws" and could find nothing more recent than
Robert Knight's excellent article of 2005). CWA did in fact post
an article by Sarah Rode on January 19, 2007. While it misleadingly
asserts that H.R. 254 is the work of the homosexual lobby, it is
a spirited warning to CWA's large constituency. Two days following
our e-alert, CWA featured a 15-minute interview with Michael Marcavage
in which the threat of H.R. 254 was mentioned.
Dr. D. James Kennedy's Coral Ridge Ministries responded by posting
a very brief statement warning against the hate bill, as does also
Family Research Council. Alan Keye's Renew America reprinted WND's
article. Traditional Values Coalition, while having sent out alerts
against the hate bill, still has no website warnings against it.
This is true also of Christian Coalition and Gary Bauer's American
Values.
Incredible Silence
Despite such general encouragement, the fact remains that very
little has been written against H.R. 254 since it was introduced
in the House seven weeks ago. This is astonishing, considering the
magnitude of the hate bill's threat to freedom.
Visit most of the above websites and you will find hundreds of
archived articles critical of abortion, embryonic stem cell research,
same sex marriage, etc. What makes these other issues so compellingly
more important than the hate bill threat? Why do most leaders feel
a handful of articles fulfill their duty to warn of an impending
federal hate crimes bureaucracy -- a police state which will radically
remake our whole justice system and take away free speech? Judging
by the infrequency of articles against hate laws, one would think
this issue is 1/500th as important.
The opposite is true! Our free speech, like our beating heart,
is essential to keep all our other freedoms alive. Without free speech,
none of these other issues can even be discussed in public.
Wait for the President’s Veto? No!
Gary Bauer, head of American Values, responded to our inquiry concerning
why he was not alerting his constituents. He said defeat of the hate
bill on Capitol Hill "doesn't look good right now so we are
trying to convince the President to veto it if it passes."
His approach is similar to the strategy of Dr. James Dobson. Yes,
Dobson says, we should protest to members of Congress from our state.
But eventually the President will probably have to save us. Dobson's
sentiment was also conveyed to me as shared by Traditional Values
Coalition. It seems to be the position of the Family Research Council
as well.
But most AFA constituents do not reflect this hope. In a February
9 poll, 67 percent doubted if Bush would veto a hate bill. Their
skepticism is well founded. When pointedly asked, Bush refuses to
assure us that he would veto H.R. 254.
Clearly, our only option is to fight the hate bill with everything
we have right now. I believe we can thoroughly dishearten hate bill
supporters from moving the bill forward — if new right leaders
repeatedly dramatize the hate bill threat through broadcasting and
the internet, especially during this formative time in the House
Judiciary. All conservative organizations should join the National
Prayer Network to broadcast the many, well-documented horror stories
of persecution under hate laws in countries such as Canada. They
should visit www.truthtellers.org for complete education of their
staff and writers, using the wealth of well-considered, pre-digested
arguments that have so successfully helped defeat the hate bill three
times in the last two years.
This is not a time for hesitation, skepticism, or elitism. Conservative
leaders may disagree with my criticisms of Jewish activism or the
state of Israel, but the fact is, I am powerfully furthering their
interests. They should not hesitate to take advantage of the extensive
educational resources of www.truthtellers.org. They and their staffs
should watch my video "Hate Laws: Making Criminals of Christians" at
www.video.google.com. If the entire spectrum of the new right will
work together now, the hate bill, in its fledgling state in Judiciary,
can be killed now before it takes wing through passage in the House
and then the Senate.
Needed: Killer Instinct
The advice of a World War I aviation ace is instructive to us now.
The "Red Baron" stayed in the skies thanks to very clear
thinking. He said success was due to two rules:
1) Never attack unless in a position of advantage.
2) Once you attack, do not hesitate but pursue and continue shooting
relentlessly.
Are we in a position of advantage against the hate bill? Absolutely!
Although the Democrats control the "skies" of the House
and the Senate, we can send missiles of truth and destroy the hate
bill on the "ground" of the House. These weapons, phone
calls to all members of the Judiciary Committee and copies of my
hate crimes flyer to your congressional delegation, can powerfully
ignite the tissue of lies that covers the hate bill, causing it to
go up in flames before it fully clears the runway!
At this critical time, all conservative leaders should post at
least weekly articles attacking and exposing H.R. 254 and the whole
twisted philosophy behind hate crimes legislation. More than ever,
we need the Red Baron's "killer" instinct, mixed with righteous
indignation and fearlessness that can only come from Almighty God.
If the hate bill passes Congress and Pres. Bush fulfills his pledge
to pass "modified hate crimes legislation," we will not
have a second chance at freedom. We will have a police state. How
ill advised not to give our utmost effort to resist passage of the
hate bill from the very beginning!
Yes, if, having done all, we must eventually throw ourselves upon
the mercy of the President, so be it. But for the present, we must
fight as if our very lives depended on it -- as they surely do.
Let's trust God and keep firing!
HR 254 is presently assigned to the House Judiciary Committee,
but as a streamlined version of a bill that previously passed in the
House, it could race forward to passage very quickly. Call all 40 members,
available at www.truthtellers.org and protest.
Also call your House member and two state senators at 1-877-851-6437.
Send them and their influential legislative aides Rev. Ted Pike's flyer, "Anti-Hate
Laws Will Make You a Criminal." All this information is available
at www.truthtellers.org.
TALK SHOW HOSTS: Interview Rev. Pike! Call 503-631-3808.
National Prayer Network, P.O. Box 828, Clackamas,
OR 97015
