BARBARIANS AT THE GATE!

The new congressional leadership with Speaker Nancy Pelosi leading the charge is looking to steal, pillage and destroy what tiny gains have been made by pro-lifers. Speaker Pelosi started by declaring open season on the most vulnerable of the most vulnerable. In the first 100 hours--not days--she rammed through legislation on human embryonic stem cell harvesting. (Spawning human children to devour them for medial experimentation--what many said was an exaggeration of the early pro-life movement--has now come to pass.) Thank God we have a president with the moral courage to veto it. (Some see it not as courage but as political cynicism. Whatever it is, I'll take the outcome.)

Like the South's dreaded Pine Weevils, the new leaders of the House have a ravenous appetite for young seedlings and, if left unchallenged, will do as much damage to humans as a plague if locusts does to crops. Let's call it a plague--and call on God to lift this plague in His mercy!

Speaking of calling on God and His mercy, this coming Monday we gather for the National Memorial for the Pre-born and their Mothers and Fathers. This beautiful service involves clergy from virtually every Christian denomination and is the only indoor fully dressed worship service held in the US Capitol complex. My brother and I launched "The Memorial" (as we affectionately call it) thirteen years ago. Today, several groups co-sponsor it, including the National Pro-Life Religious Council.

The Memorial is first a solemn rembrance of all victims of abortion: the babies, their moms AND their dads. People forget it takes a mom and a dad to make a baby. It goes without saying that babies are the principal victims of this uniquely American holocaust. (To get a feel for its scale and horror, just read the dissenting opinions in the first US Supreme Court case on partial birth abortion, Stenberg v. Carhart.) But there are secondary victims of the abortion holocaust. You might call them "collateral damage." These other victims include the babies' moms, damaged in their souls and often their bodies. Dads are also hurt by abortion; most often by being demoralized into thinking a little money earned, borrowed or stolen, will get them out of being a father. But some dads' hearts are simply broken by the judges who have historically ruled dads have absolutely nothing to say about the murder of their unborn progeny. They must sit by and simply cry. And on and on the suffering goes: grandparents robbed of their grandchildren, a society poorer for "getting rid of a problem," rather than challenging our humanity and generosity. All this is not to mention the affront to a holy God that loves His creation--especially the crown of it.

So, we will gather on Monday morning, January 22 (the 34th anniversary of Roe v. Wade) at 8:00 AM in the auditorium of the US Senate Dirsken building immediately opposite the US Capitol in Washington to mourn these losses and beg God's mercy; to ask Divine favor in bringing and end to this American holocaust. And just in case you think it's not worth it (because, after all, it's been 34 years), remember: it took more than 75 years to end the sin of slavery in this country! But you need to know that this service is not at all a funeral. It ends as a grand celebration of God's precious Gift of Life. We rejoice to see in faith the day when all of God's Human Creation is honored for bearing His image!

Please join us this coming Monday, January 22, 8:00 AM here in Washington. (Check our website for details on travel, parking, mass transit, security questions, etc.) The service is timed so you can get to the annual March for Life and other pro-life events that day. If you just absolutely cannot be here, logon through your computer to listen to (and maybe even watch) the service. National Pro-Life Radio (NPLR) will be live streaming the entire service. (I don't know if it will be audio only or audio / video.) You can get to NPLR via our website (www.faithandaction.org). Click on the logo at the upper left corner.

PS Don't miss my live missionary field report tomorrow: Faith and Action Live! I'll give you the whole scoop on what I saw and heard from Nancy Pelosi up close and personal during an internal, "no-pro-lifers or conservative Christians welcome" briefing. She didn't want me there, but I was there none-the-less. It was another one of those miraculous, "How did I get here?" moments! I'll tell you all about it tomorrow, Wednesday, January 17, 12:00 noon, EST. Tune in again using the link at our website, www.faithandaction.org, upper left corner. (You can also download it later and listen at your convenience.)

Be back . . .