READY TO DEFEND PLEDGE AS SOON AS IT'S ATTACKED

Your missionary to Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, Rob Schenck, reporting:

For almost six years, Faith and Action has been busy defending the two most cherished words in our Pledge of Allegiance, "Under God." You may remember way-back-then, I personally (and gently) confronted notorious atheist activist Michael Newdow at a meeting we both attended in the National Press Club building here in Washington. 

Newdow had just won his case at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. The judges ruled the Pledge's two-word phrase violated the so-called "separation of church and state." During that encounter,  Newdow asked me why I thought we needed to confess that our nation is accountable to God. "Because I don't trust you, Michael, and you don't trust me. We must appeal to a moral authority greater than ourselves." He offered no rejoinder.

I'd say the same thing to Newdow now. As an atheist, Michael puts his ultimate trust in humans and human agencies. I don't. Sinful people will fail and so will the governments they establish and operate. The only safety from our our own proclivities toward evil is our confession that we need God. That's what "Under God" in the Pledge is all about. This rationale is woven into the history behind the insertion of these great words. That happened in 1954 when the God-fearing United States stood in stark contrast to the God-denying Soviet Union. Our country wanted to make abundantly clear that our world view was distinctly and diametrically opposite to a Communist-Humanistic worldview. I have a paper copy of the February 8-12, 1954 Congressional Record reflecting the fascinating debate behind this move, but I can't find it online. (If you know of a link, please send it to me at info@faithandaction.org--thanks!) It's really worth examining the original reasoning offered by congressional sponsors.

As you know, we've already been out front on this, making a case for why the people of the United States must continue to acknowledge God in the Pledge. The Ninth Circuit could come down with its decision on Newdow's second case any day. To protect the Pledge as it is now, a new law has been drafted and will be proposed the instant that the Pledge is threatened. We're part of the working group that drafted the legislation.

I expect the Ninth Circuit to indeed strike down the Pledge again as unconstitutional. At the moment it does, we will ask you to contact your members of Congress to urge them to pass this new law protecting the phrase "Under God. " Please stand by for details! I'm also asking you to ask your pastor to have a sermon ready. Pastors should be poised and informed to preach on this at the very next opportunity and to make statements from the pulpit and to the media in support of keeping the Pledge as it is. You should also call into your local radio talk shows and offer your opinions as well as write a letter to the editor of your local paper If we're going to save this vital part of our national life, there must be a hue and cry in the land!

I will discuss all of this with a special group of church leaders who will gather at our ministry center next week. Our guest will be America's foremost authority on the so-called "separation of church and state," Dr. James Hutson of the Library of Congress. Dr. Hutson has done unique, original scholarship on the subject and has a new book out, Church and State: The First Two Centuries, published by the prestigious Cambridge University Press. (We'll have the book available at our website shortly.) This is not a stuffy, scholars-only tome. It's a short paperback and a very readable, easy-to-understand examination of this very important subject. If you're looking for a truly authoritative resource on "Church and State," one that cannot be dismissed as "religious right" propaganda, get Dr. Hutson's book! (Pastors who attend our "Preachers' Circle," April 10-12, will get a complimentary autographed copy. For details contact Elizabeth Sowers at my office, 202-546-8329, extension 107.) We'll post an edited video of Dr. Hutson's talk to the "Preachers' Circle" after the event.

FYI: I'm posting this blog on Sunday, March 30. My friend, Jay Sekulow, the top lawyer and director at the American Center for Law and Justice,  E-mailed me a few minutes ago announcing he expects some big news at the Supreme Court tomorrow morning, March 31. The Court met Friday in conference to discuss two Ten Commandments appeals Jay is handling. (Friday Conferences are the highly secretive sessions when the Justices talk about possible cases without anyone else present in the room.) Both cases basically amount to lower court orders requiring government approval of opposing displays. While the direct affect would be to allow atheistic and other counterpoints to Ten Commandments displays, Jay and his legal team argue this would ultimately lead to the absurd conclusion that government would have to allow the Statue of Liberty to be "balanced" with a "Statue of Tyranny." 

I'll have breakfast with Jay in the morning at the Supreme Court, then we'll wait for "orders" to be handed down. If the Court does agree to hear one or both of these cases, I'll be back to this blog to explore them more fully and suggest more ways for you to get directly involved. For now, please watch and pray!

Back later . . .

Your grateful missionary to elected and appointed officials,

Rob Schenck

www.faithandaction.org

Faith and Action

109 2nd St, NE

Washington, DC 20002

202-546-8329

 

PRAYING IN THE US CAPITOL

Your missionary to Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, Rob Schenck, reporting:

Today began for me the best way it could, offering a prayer in the United States Capitol. It was even nicer than that, though. I gave the prayer at the breakfast meeting that has met weekly in the Capitol for 35 years. You may recall it was this group of God-fearing Americans that was unceremoniously shown the door after the ascendance of the current congressional leadership. It took prayer and hard work to get us back in, but we are indeed baaaaaack!

What added insult to injury in the sudden eviction was the fact that many of these breakfast group members are true American heroes. They stormed the beaches of Normandy, landed at Inchon, flew missions over North Vietnam, tested our best weapons, fought in both Gulf Wars. To a one they are decent, caring, loving and enormously generous people. Yet, because they are perceived as benighted anachronisms they were dumped out on the street and told not to come back.

Well, it's a hopeful sign they couldn't be kept out. Yet not a one is a bit haughty about it. Instead, they are to a man and a woman grateful--deeply grateful to God and to this country that they can meet each week under the dome of US Capitol. Not a bitter word has been spoken in the group. They're just quietly going about their business. Each breakfast meeting begins with the Pledge of Allegiance "to the Flag . . .of the United States of America . . . and to the Republic for which it stands . . .one nation UNDER GOD . . ."

The Pledge is always followed by a prayer. Most often the prayer includes heartfelt thankfulness for everything good: family, friends, freedom and the men and women in uniform who for our benefit do what few of us would ever do.

Yeah, it was a great start to the day today. It wasn't hard for me to pray for this group; the words of gratitude always come naturally.

I'm off to Austin, Texas for tomorrow and Wednesday. Be back to tell you all about it.

Blessings,

Your grateful missionary to elected and appointed officials,

Rev. Rob Schenck

Faith and Action

www.faithandaction.org

109 2nd St, NE

Washington, DC 20002

202-546-8329

EVERY MEMBER OF CONGRESS EVANGELIZED!

Your missionary to Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, reporting:

That's right: Just before their Easter break, each and every member of the United States Congress--435 members of the house of Representatives and 100 members of the Senate--received a hand-delivered packet of materials from Faith and Action that included a full explanation of the Christian Gospel. You can see exactly what was in the packet at our website.

We hand-delivered these materials because it's really the only way to get them through to the actual recipients. Mail to congressional offices has always been fraught with problems, but since 9-11, it's almost assured that mail like ours will not reach its destination. First, it's routed off-site to a military base where it's tested for dangerous substances or enclosures. If it ever makes its way out of there, it's received by staff who use an essentially "cut and paste" process to respond. (Depending on the nature of the originating correspondence, young staffers generally pick from a menu of prepared sentences or paragraphs pertaining to the matter at hand.) Packages and printed materials are more often than not discarded.

Hand-delivery by-passes both of these steps. Generally, the package is received by the front-desk clerk and routed directly to the in-office sorter who in turn routes it directly to the member's desk. (In Capitol Hill lingo, a member of Congress--either a representative or senator--is generally referred to simply as "a member" or "the member.") Our congressional contacts confirm most of the packets do land where intended. The acknowledgment letters we eventually get from members every year indicate that, too. We'll soon post whatever notes we receive this year at our site. Some of them can be quite touching.

Over the years we've only had a few members of congress refuse the Easter / Resurrection packets--and the same goes for the similar deliveries we make just before Christmas. For the most part members are at least cordial if not enthusiastic. Our next delivery will be the Christmas package in early December. (It's not too early to pray for it's success!)

Not much more to tell you today because we were on the same Easter break as Congress last week. (Do check out the soon-to-be-posted article at our site on Rev. Pat Mahoney's success in defeating the rule banning Stations of the Cross at certain federal buildings. God bless Pat for taking on another limitation to our religious liberty!) The Easter break is one of the few luxuries our staff enjoys. Otherwise, during normal times, everyone works very hard for long days. Of course, we're back in full swing starting today. I leave tomorrow for meetings in Texas and return Thursday for the big planning session on this year's U.S. Capitol Bible Reading Marathon. More on that later this week . . .

Thanks for praying. Thanks for helping. Thanks for being a friend of this ministry!

Your grateful missionary to elected and appointed officials,

Rev. Rob Schenck

Faith and Action

www.faithandaction.org

109 2nd St, NE

Washington, DC 20002

202-546-8329

OH WHAT A TANGLED WEB HE WOVE!

Your missionary to Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, Rob Schenck, reporting:

What a tangled web indeed! Soon-to-be former governor of New York, Eliot Spitzer, looks like he wove what may be an inescapable web. The hitherto rising star in New York--a Democrat super delegate pledged to Hillary Clinton--may face a bevy of charges related to his use of a high-priced prostitution ring. 

The saddest part of this story is the Governor's family. He has three teenage girls and wife who is a high-achieving mom with a Harvard law degree. How is it that they weren't enough for him to stop his risky and even dangerous behavior? Before I explore that question, let me quickly say there is no excuse for Spitzer's egregious moral failure, the injury he has inflicted on family and friends and his alleged violation of law. He said so himself and I agree with him.

Still, it's worth exploring why people in such enormous positions of power do these things. Certainly pride plays a role. The Bible says, "Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall." (Proverbs 16:18.) Spitzer had a reputation for both. Pride makes us think we're above everybody else. They may get caught but I never will; even if I did get caught, law and punishment is made for the little people, not for me. It's hubris--arrogance--the Satanic sin: "I will rise above God!" (Isaiah 14: 12-15) Well, that's one possibility, but there could be another.

Whenever there is sin like this, you will find both victimizer and victim. The victimizer knowingly perpetrates a harmful act on others. He/she deliberately inflicts wounds and exploits and uses his / her victims. The victim allows himself / herself to be wounded, exploited and used. No doubt most people who are following the Spitzer drama would tag him solely as the victimizer, but it may not be so simple. 

Based on his prior behavior in office, especially toward the good pro-life people who were trying to help women in crisis pregnancies, there's a strong victimizer in Spitzer. Still, most victimizers are both. Violent criminals, for example, are often discovered to have been victims of violence first. What could be in Spitzer's background that made him vulnerable to the kind of mutual exploitation of prostitution? It's clear the young woman we now know was his liaison got a lot out of this, including a swank Manhattan apartment. The so-called "Escort Service" got a lot of money, too. If Spitzer suffers from a psychological disorder, say a sexual addiction, surely someone suspected it. If they knew who he was, they probably figured that knowing his identity was a possible shield against their own future prosecution.

Watching all this, I was reminded of a line from the hit song Sweet Dreams by Annie Lennox:

"Everybody's looking for something.

Some of them want to use you
Some of them want to get used by you
Some of them want to abuse you
Some of them want to be abused."

Remember when Jesus encountered the woman caught in adultery? He in no way excused or justified her sin. He called it for what it was, but he also reminded the crowd they too were guilty. He lifted the woman out of her shame but commanded her to "sin no more." (John 8:10-12)

I have to be very careful not to gloat in my enemy's downfall, not to beat my chest in prideful satisfaction that I'm better than Eliot Spitzer. It's not even good enough to think I'm not as bad as Eliot Spitzer. The truth is, I'm just as bad as Eliot Spitzer: "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)

The Spitzer spectacle is so much more than prurient entertainment. It has many lessons in it. It forces us to look at ourselves and others differently. My hope and prayer is that Eliot Spitzer will be changed by this experience. When he gave his resignation speech, I could hear echoes of spiritual--or at least moral--counselors. My guess is that when the speech was being discussed among his advisors, there must have been a venerable black preacher in the room. Spitzer's comments on "atonement" and "rising up" after a fall is not the common lingo of progressive Jews. (I know because all of my father's family are progressive Jews!) It is the language often used in black pulpits. (I know this because I spend a lot of time in black churches.)  There was probably a rabbi in the room, too. The outline of redemption put forth by Spitzer was too perfect to have been authored by such an imperfect soul.

If my speculations are right, then there's hope for Spitzer as there is hope for all of us. He should pay his debt to society, just as so many of his prosecutorial subjects had to pay their debts. He should also find redemption, though, just as all of us can through the merits of the one who suffered, yet Himself knew no sin.

We'll keep mining this for more in the days ahead.

Rev. Rob Schenck

www.faithandaction.org

Faith and Action

109 2nd St, NE

Washington, DC 20002

202-546-8329

SPITZER SAYS RIGHT THINGS AND RESIGNS

Your missionary to Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, Rob Schenck, reporting:

If you read my post of yesterday, you know I am no fan of soon-to-be former New York governor Eliot Spitzer. I must say, though, that his brief statement today announcing his Monday resignation was aptly put. He said the right things in the right order. I pray that indicates the Governor is getting good spiritual counsel.

Today Spitzer acknowledged his moral failure, its injury to his family, his need for atonement, and offered an apology to the people of New York. He spoke of remorse, gratitude for the love and compassion shown to him, and even alluded to the words of Jesus, "To whom much is given, much will be required." Then, he announced his resignation effective March 17, giving his replacement, Lt. Governor David Patterson, time for an orderly transition.

Rarely do we see a fallen politician articulate the proper path of redemption. Spitzer did so today. Our prayers are with him and his family. He has a long, rough road ahead.

More later. . . .

Rev. Rob Schenck
http://www.faithandaction.org/
Faith and Action
109 2nd St, NE
Washington, DC 20002
202-546-8329

NO SURPRISE FROM GOVERNOR SPITZER

Your missionary to Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, Rob Schenck, reporting:

When the news broke that New York governor Eliot Spitzer had been implicated in a federal investigation into money laundering by a prostitution ring, it was no surprise to my brother, Paul, and me. You probably know, we're both from New York--and we know the dark side of Eliot Spitzer.

Governor Spitzer was attorney general during the years just after Paul and I left New York, but were still engaged in pro-life activism there. Spitzer was brutal on pro-lifers. He had sold his soul in a Faustian pact with pro-abortion groups and he paid them back in pounds of pro-life flesh. He abused his office by using the crushing arm of the law to intimidate, unduly punish and drive from public space any soul that dared to dissent from the prevailing pro-abortion orthodoxy. But he didn't stop at pro-life "protesters." The young attorney general went after pregnancy care centers, accusing them of practicing medicine without a license. He unabashedly announced his intention to shut down anything that advocated for Life.

Governor Spitzer's immoral and unethical bent was apparent long before his voice appeared on a federal wire tap. Any man who so zealously champions abortion must have an ulterior reason for doing so. Whether Eliot Spitzer's reason was to pay-off a political debt, justify a guilty conscience or ensure a way of escape from the consequences of his adultery, only God will likely ever know. The rest of it will be learned as prosecutors take up the case of The People of the United States V. Eliot Spitzer, AKA Client #9 of the Emperor's Club VIP.

Rev. Rob Schenck
Faith and Action
http://www.faithandaction.org/
109 2nd St., NE
Washington, DC 20002
202-546-8329

MY TRUE CONFESSION

Your missionary to Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, Rob Schenck, reporting:

I'm making my confession. For years I've had a secret life. What I'm about to say may shock and even scandalize you.

Okay--I've got your attention. So, here goes:

I'm a closet listener to NPR--National Public Radio. In fact, I'm an addict. I know, NPR is generally no friend to Christians or to the issues that concern us, but I love the format, style, sound and depth of NPR reporting. I get really tired of sound-bite length stories that barely scratch the surface. NPR has always been great at depth--and that smooth, pleasant, calming pace with which they deliver the story. I always look forward to doing interviews with NPR journalists (and I've done many) because while they may not always be fair, they're always courteous and give me plenty of time to answer.

While I'm in this cathartic stream, I'll be even more transparent: I love the angle of Fox News and the national afternoon radio talk shows, but the older I get, the less I can stand their frenetic pace. 

Thus, I have searched and searched for a source of news and commentary that delivers a Christian (or at least morally conservative) perspective on the big issues of the day, but without the frantic, breathless, superficiality.

I think I've found it! It's called Mars Hill Audio. 

I'm sure you get the connection with the name, but just in case it slips your memory, Mars Hill is a location near the Acropolis in Athens. It's where the Apostle Paul engaged the Athenian philosophers on the identity of their "unknown God." (In that amazing sermon, St. Paul winsomely deals with his subject and his audience by connecting with their religious traditions and even their poetry. It wasn't only anointed, it was a stroke of absolute genius!)  

Well, I digress. Back to the point.

A guy named Ken Myers put Mars Hill together. He has background experience with NPR and reflects the same sort of "sound" NPR produces. I've never been one for criticizing mimicry--it is, after all, a form of flattery. Then there's the old adage, "You don't have to reinvent the wheel." I agree. If you can get plans for a wheel rather than have to sketch it out from scratch, you're ahead of the game. NPR fell on a very appealing format and texture; it's about time a Christian version appeared. "There's nothing new under the son," as Ecclesiastes declares, so you know NPR got it from somewhere. Anyway, I'm the odd Evangelical that actually believes it was a great strategy for the early church to have taken pagan festivals and "converted them" by giving them new names and Christian meaning. God bless Ken Myers for doing the same with the "NPR sound."

All this to say I'm going to give the Mars Hill Audio Journal a try. Maybe you'll do it with me and we'll compare notes. If enough get on board and we see this is a real help to what all of us are doing together through Faith and Action, I'll prayerfully think about a major effort to promote this apparently wonderful contribution to the evangelization of our American civilization. Maybe I'll even get Ken Myers to do a future Faith and Action Live! Missionary Field Report webcast with me.

Two big headlines today: Tim Geoglein, President Bush's liaison to groups like ours, resigned Friday under a cloud after eight years with the White House. He admitted to extensive plagiarism in a regular column he wrote for an Indiana newspaper. Plagiarism is a violation of the Commandment against stealing (I treated it in my book, Ten Words That Will Change A Nation) and it can be a violation of law. Geoglein is likely not to face any legal or even civil penalties for his transgression, but sadly it has him leaving in ignominy. Please pray for Tim and his family. 

Barack Obama has officially introduced New Testament theology into his presidential race. During a recent town hall style meeting on a university campus he defended his support of same-sex unions by citing the Sermon on the Mount and diminishing the moral authority of the Book of Romans. The Illinois senator also said his support for unlimited abortion does not make him any less a Christian. ("Okay?"--to quote him.) On the subject of his Christian faith, he stated for the record, "I am a Christian. A devout Christian. I have been a member of the same church for 20 years, pray to Jesus every night . . ." Here's the whole story:

I'll write more on these . . .

Rev. Rob Schenck

www.faithandaction.org

Faith and Action

109 2nd St., NE

Washington, DC 20002

202-546-8329