May 8, 2009 - Washington, DC

Obama distances himself from National Day of Prayer / Can Janet Napolitano tell the truth about "rightwing extremist" report? / Congressman Forbes on America's religious heritage / Congress and the National Day of Prayer / Thought crimes legislation moves forward / Abortion less popular and guns more popular / Archbishop of Baghdad visits Washington

PETITION TO HILLARY CLINTON ON IRAQI CHRISTIANS - Read and sign the new Internet petition to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The petition urges Clinton to direct our embassies to assist Christians who have fled Islamic terror in Iraq. The petition is located at www.iraqichristianrefugees.org.

THE PRESIDENCY

OBAMA DISTANCES HIMSELF FROM PRAYER - There was no National Day of Prayer event at the White House this year, and no one representing the White House participated in the events of the National Day of Prayer. President Obama did sign a proclamation for the National Day of Prayer. Oddly, the proclamation managed to mention God only once, a far cry from the first proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln. Read moreTwo African American ministers protesting Obama's lack of participation in the National Day of Prayer were arrested in front of the White House. Read more

WHAT IS THE TRUTH, NAPOLITANO? - After weeks of intense efforts by social conservatives, veterans, and gun rights groups, Republicans in Congress made a formal demand this week to investigate how and why Homeland Security sent a "rightwing extremist" report to all law enforcement agencies in the country. The report targeted virtually every one of the constituency groups of the Republican Party, except Wall Street. House Minority Leader John A. Boehner said, "She has not explained how this report came about, why she signed off on it, or why she defended it." Read more. The Leadership of the Republican Party acted after several organizations including the Religious Freedom Coalition, placed ads in the Washington Times demanding that Napolitano be forced to apologize or resign.

THE CONGRESS

AMERICA'S RELIGIOUS HERITAGE - Congressman Randy Forbes formed the Congressional Prayer Caucus from a small group of congressmen who met each day to pray in room 219 of the Capitol. The group grew until it turned into a major national "Room 219" movement that gave birth to the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation. As part of the National Day of Prayer, Congressman Forbes has introduced HR 397, a resolution reaffirming America's Religious heritage. I urge you to read and distribute the resolution which clearly outlines the Judeo-Christian heritage of our nation. The Religious Freedom Coalition is an integral part of the movement to pass HR 307. Read more

You must watch Congressman Forbes' impassioned plea for the Judeo-Christian heritage of our nation. The video of Congressman Forbes is just four minutes long. but it is power packed. Watch here

CONGRESS AND NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER - Speaker Nancy Pelosi had not much to say about the National Day of Prayer, but Minority Caucus chairman Mike Pence did. See his one minute National Day of Prayer speech on the floor. Congressman Forbes (R-VA) made a direct reference to President Obama when he stated, "Hopefully we'll have millions of people around the country that will make up for the void we see at the White House on the National Day of Prayer."

THOUGHT CRIMES BILL - On April 30th the homosexual enforcement act (otherwise known as "Hate Crimes") passed the House by a wide margin and headed to the Senate. What can happen if this becomes law? Congressman Randy Forbes gave a striking example: "Had [Hilton] done what he said he would do and stormed that stage and pulled that tiara off [Prejean's] head and [inflicted] bodily harm when he did it, there would not have been one ounce of protection under this piece of legislation for that young girl. But after he did it, if she had in response made a statement back about the very sexual orientation that had led him to his hatred and dislike for her, and if she had responded by slapping him or any physical injury, she would have had the potential of a ten-year federal piece of legislation coming against her." In other words this law creates a special class of people who receive extra protection under the law because of the way they commit perverted sexual acts.Read more

CULTURE AND RELIGION

HELLO SARAH PALIN - At the same time that ultra-liberal pro-abortionist Barack Obama was elected president, the American people were actually becoming more conservative on the issue of abortion. Fewer than 50% of women now think abortion should be legal and for the first time the majority of men believe it should be illegal. A Pew Survey revealed that between April, 2008 and April, 2009 more people became anti-abortion. The survey showed that the number of Americans believing in the right to own a gun also increased. Can you believe that many pundits are now saying the Republican Party must become pro-abortion and anti-gun to win more voters? How nuts are they? See poll

ALL NEW APRIL 23RD CHAIRMAN'S REPORT - The all new April 23rd, 2009 Chairman's Report is now available to read in PDF format. This issue contains more information about our work on Capitol Hill with the new 111th Congress, and also about our work on international issues. THIS IS A NEW CR SINCE LAST WEEK! Help your Sunday School class understand these issues better. Print out and distribute to your class or fellowship this Sunday! Click here to view

INTERNATIONAL

ARCHBISHOP OF BAGHDAD SPEAKS OUT - This week I attended a small group roundtable discussion at the Hudson Institute with the Archbishop of Baghdad, Father Jean Benjamin Sleiman. The archbishop discussed the grim situation that exists for Christians in Iraq and made it clear that there was no true security to entice Christian families who had fled, to now return. He reaffirmed what we all already knew, that "...the laws of Sharia are not the same as the laws of democracy." He said that the government, not the church, must provide security for Christians. He explained that, "You can't eliminate the fear after your neighbors are killed". The United States provides no funds for religious minorities (that means Christians) in Iraq. Photo at left is of Archbishop Sleiman and myself.

IRAQI CHRISTIANS NEED HELP - The Religious Freedom Coalition is receiving virtually no funds for our Iraqi Christian Refugee Project from Internet sources. Just a few hundred dollars have been generated at our Facebook page. Virtually no funds are being received from the publication of this email update, even though thousands of people subscribe. Your help is genuinely needed. Please help. Donation link

CLINTON PETITION DRIVE - The Religious Freedom Coalition is conducting a petition drive asking Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to formulate a policy to stop the persecution of Christians in Iraq and to aid those Iraqi Christians who have been forced to flee. More than 100,000 paper copies of the petition have been distributed, and an online version is now available. Click here to see petition! NOTE: This is part of a large petition drive and you may receive a copy in the mail.

FACEBOOK FOR IRAQI CHRISTIANS - The Religious Freedom Coalition has a new Facebook page to expose the crisis faced by Iraqi Christians. If you have a Facebook account, please become our friend at this link. You can help Iraqi Christians directly by making a donation at the Facebook cause page!

CHRISTIAN INTERNET SUPER STORE

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Contributions to the work of the Religious Freedom Coalition can be made at www.rfcnet.org.