CALL TO GOD, NOT JUST CONGRESS, DURING HATE
BILL CRISIS
By Rev. Ted Pike
23 Apr 07
This Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will move forward
its federal hate crimes agenda by a cunning tactic: They will take
advantage of sympathy for the victims of hate at Virginia Tech and
anger with Don Imus' "verbal violence" against young black
athletes. A special hearing is to be held next Wednesday discussing "Rising
Crime in the United States: Examining the Federal Role in Helping
Communities Prevent and Respond to Violent Crime." 1
Inevitably, they will conclude that much greater coordination between
federal and local policing powers is necessary: The government should
receive expanded privileges to prevent and respond to violent crimes
in the states. Such federal takeover of states' rights in law enforcement
with unrestricted "police state" powers is a huge part
of the objectives of the federal "anti-hate" bill. It is
now moving forward rapidly in the House and Judiciary Committees
and even perhaps to a vote in the House next week. The federal hate
bill threatens to end free speech in America, just as similar Orwellian
hate laws have done in Canada and many European countries. (Download
Hate Crimes Flyer)
How can America best respond to this threat to freedom -- a threat
that may be immeasurably heightened by skillful manipulation of recent
tragic events?
How George Washington Responded
During the Revolutionary War, Gen. George Washington was immersed
in similar crises and emergencies. His response: Proclaim a national
day of fasting and prayer in which all Americans were encouraged
to humble themselves before God and cry out for national deliverance.
Pres. Lincoln made a similar decree during the Civil War, but until
1982 the national day of prayer was, for all practical purposes,
unobserved. 2 How it was revived is a story best known to me. I helped
make it a reality.
In the spring of 1980 my father, Rev. Claude Pike, a veteran radio
broadcaster and pioneer in conservative politics, was very burdened
for the future of Christian America. After reading an editorial by
Richard Viguerie, editor of Conservative Digest magazine, calling
for revival of the National Day of Prayer, he decided to make it
happen.
A family of pilots, my father, my brother John, and I saw our ancient
1929 Bellanca monoplane, the same type that first flew the Pacific
in 1931, as our instrument. I painted an American flag on the side
of "Old Glory," as we christened her. We rigged an enormous
aerial banner behind, proclaiming, "Pray for America." Underneath
the belly was mounted a deafening loudspeaker. We planned to fly
all over America proclaiming from the skies, like God, the need for
national repentance.
We prepared Old Glory during a period of unusually low finances,
confident that God, Who had inspired this venture, would provide
the funds to fill our tanks -- even at the last minute. Yet, by the
day before takeoff, our bank was still empty. That afternoon my father
borrowed $2500 at 30-percent interest from a loan shark. For the
next week we flew eastward barnstorming from city to city. We almost
reached New York, then traversed the south and southwest and California.
We held press conferences and proclaimed our message over cities
and towns and at Christian conservative patriotic rallies. On the
ground we gathered many thousands of signatures petitioning re-observance
of the National Day of Prayer.
During that summer, many religious conservative leaders and tens
of thousands of Christians became aware of our campaign. And yet
Pres. Reagan might never have proclaimed the National Day of Prayer
if my father had not personally talked with Morton Blackwell, Reagan's
liaison to the religious right, who promised to mention it to the
President. Several weeks later my father was summoned to the Oval
Office for the signing ceremony, accompanied by a handful of national
religious leaders.
ACLU Fights Back
The ACLU was outraged that Reagan had violated "separation
of church and state." They threatened to make the National Day
of Prayer illegal. Fortunately, in 1988 Congress stood behind the
President with their own resolution. ACLU backed off.
Today, the National Day of Prayer reminds us that God's power to
save remains. What is doubtful is whether we will humble ourselves,
as did our forbears, to repent and empower such deliverance.
Congress declared every first Thursday of May the National Day
of Prayer. This year, that's 10 days off -- too far away. We need
an upheaval of national prayer right now! With a possible vote on
the hate bill in the House this very week, May 3 may be too late. A
10-day "national
prayer vigil" should be observed tomorrow, April 23, culminating
in the National Day of Prayer on May 3.
I believe the danger to freedom today is so great that more spiritual
power and advocacy with God is necessary than can be generated in
one day. It is now, not next week, that churches should be kept open
for prayer vigils and special prayer meetings be held. An extraordinary
time of crisis demands a corresponding response.
Be assured, God will find a way to hold back the darkness, at least
in our time, if we put Him first in our lives. God's job description
is simple and direct: HE IS THE DELIVERER. If we are true to Him,
He will be true to His unchanging promise: "If my people, which
are called by My name, shall humble themselves and pray and seek
my face and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven
and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (2 Chron.7:14)
Endnotes:
1 http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=2719
2 The National Day of Prayer was reaffirmed by Pres. Truman in 1952.
Truman's decree was virtually unknown and unobserved by the religious
public with one notable exception: businessman Peter Stuart who commissioned
a public prayer memorial in Dallas and attempted to promote public
prayer in his region during the 1970s.
September 6, 1980
"Old Glory" returns, laden with thousands of signed petitions
calling upon the President to re-instate the National Day of Prayer.
February 6, 1982
President Reagan, before Rev. Pike and other national religious leaders,
signs the proclamation requiring that the first Thursday in May
be observed as National Day of Prayer.
Rev. Ted Pike is the director of the National Prayer Network, a
national Christian/conservative watchdog organization.
Call your member of the House and Senate immediately protesting
all hate crimes legislation! Call tollfree 1-877-851-6437 or toll
1-202-225-3121. Come to www.truthtellers.org for much more information
on how you can help save free speech in America.
Let the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith teach you how they
have saddled 45 states with hate laws capable of persecuting Christians:
http://www.adl.org/99hatecrime/intro.asp.
Learn how ADL took away free speech in Canada and wants to do it
right now in the U.S. Congress. Watch Rev. Ted Pike's Hate
Laws: Making Criminals of Christians at video.google.com. Purchase this
gripping documentary to show at church. Order online at www.truthtellers.org
for $24.90, DVD or VHS, by calling 503-853-3688, or at the address
below.
TALK SHOW HOSTS: Interview Rev. Ted Pike on the
history of the National Day of Prayer or the federal hate bills presently
in Congress. Call 503-631-3808.
National Prayer Network, P.O. Box 828, Clackamas,
OR 97015
