Freedom Writer - September 1995

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By Skipp Porteous

Randall Terry, founder of the radical anti-abortion group Operation 
Rescue, recently told a gathering in Washington that he wants to build 
a Christian nation. At a banquet sponsored by the U.S. Taxpayers Alliance 
on August 8, 1995, Terry received the group's Third Annual Andrew 
Jackson "Championship of Liberty" Award. About 150 politicians, activists, 
and donors attended the awards banquet. In the interest of informing 
readers about the agenda of the Radical Religious Right, a considerable 
amount of Randall Terry's speech, "Our goal? A Christian Nation," 
is presented in this article.

"You better believe that I want to build a Christian nation," Terry 
said, "because the only option is a pagan nation. Not that the government 
can make someone a Christian by decree. A Christian nation would be 
defined as 'We acknowledge God in our body politic, in our communities, 
that the God of the Bible is our God, and, we acknowledge that His 
law is supreme." 

"The Declaration of Independence is an intrinsically Christian document," 
Terry said. "The four references to God there can only be the Christian 
God."

Randall Terry and many other Christian Right leaders earnestly believe 
that someday they will be running this country. What kind of "Christian 
nation" do Terry and his comrades envision? Well, in referring to 
doctors who perform abortions, Terry said, "When I, or people like 
me, are running the country, you'd better flee, because we will find 
you, we will try you, and we'll execute you. I mean every word of 
it." He added, "I will make it part of my mission to see to it that 
they are tried and executed."  

"You say, 'This is extreme!'" he continued, "Yeah, you're right. But 
imagine God Almighty sending people to hell just because they didn't 
follow His son? That's extreme. That's intolerance. Imagine Jesus 
saying that all other religions are false. Christianity claims to 
be the only way."

In a "Christian America" women would lose more than their right of 
privacy; women would be pushed back to second class citizenship. Terry 
emphasized the need for male leadership in America.

"The greatest crisis we face is not child killing," he declared, "it's 
not the sodomites, it's not land tax, it's not the intrusion of the 
federal government into our lives, our families, as they crush our 
liberties. The greatest crisis we face tonight is a crisis of leadership. 
We are facing a crisis of righteous, courageous, physically oriented, 
male leadership. Male leadership!"

"God established patriarchy when he established the world. God established 
a patriarchal world, Terry said." "If we're going to have true reformation 
in America, it is because men once again, if I may use a worn out 
expression, have righteous testosterone flowing through their veins. 
They are not afraid of the contempt of their contemporaries. They 
are not here to get along. They are not even here to take issue. They 
are here to take over!" 

"I want the Bible to be quoted, to be read, to be referred to, to 
be revered in political gatherings. Because do you know why? Because 
this book is true. Let God be true and every man a liar!" 

Halfway through his speech, Terry announced his intention to run for 
Congress, thinking he can make a difference. "We've got a majority, 
yet not one drop of blood has stopped being shed for babies," he said. 
"The Contract with America is a joke, because it does not alter the 
direction of this country one iota."
	
"And I'll tell you what's even more bad than the Contract with America," 
he continued, "it's the Christian Coalition's Contract with the American 
Family. You read the Contract with the American Family, if every single 
thing they want in that contract were accomplished, we'd still have 
4,400 babies a day being murdered! We would still have the homosexuals 
moving further and further down the road legitimizing their godless 
perversions. We would still have the government corrupting our kids 
in the failed, godless, tyrannical government school system that graduates 
a third of their kids who can't read the condom they can use — they 
can't read the label on the thing, for goodness sake."

Randall Terry, a Christian Reconstructionist, believes the Christian 
church, not the government, should run the welfare system. 

"Listen," he proclaimed, "I believe in the separation of church and 
state. Let's get the state out of the church's business!

He said that we could immediately abolish the IRS and all income taxes 
"if we got rid of the welfare state." 

Having spent considerable time in prison for his radical activities, 
Terry not only expressed disdain for the prison system, but expressed 
an odd slant for someone who claims to be "prolife." 

"The American prison system," he said, "is inherently evil because 
it brings punishments that are not authorized by God. Somebody like 
Susan Smith should be dead. She should be dead now. Some people will 
go, 'Well how do you know that God doesn't have a wonderful plan for 
her life?' He does. It's listed in the Bible. His plan for her is 
that she should be dead."

As a Christian Reconstructionist, Terry basis his viewpoints on a 
strict interpretation of the Bible. "This book must be, it is, it 
always has been, it always will be, the center piece of civilization," 
he said. "When we depart from this book we no longer are civilized. 
The nations of the world that we refer to as the Christian nations 
have experienced the greatest blessings, the greatest liberties, the 
greatest stability."

Shooting from the hip, Terry expressed dissatisfaction with other 
Religious Right leaders. "We have well-meaning young men like Ralph 
Reed, we have fundraising companies that are making hundreds of thousands 
of dollars off the Christian community by pressing the hot buttons 
that are out there — abortion pills, homosexuals encroaching. But," 
he declared, "they have absolutely no intention whatsoever of bringing 
about true Christian government."

"Christian government, folks," Terry continued, "would prosecute abortionists. 
Christian government would say that consensual homosexual acts are 
a criminal offense. Christian government would say that the government 
cannot property tax your land. The foundation of self government is 
private ownership of land. Look at the Bible. Look at how much time 
God spent making sure that the land was distributed, and that you 
could never lose your land."

"Courage, by definition, is the willingness to die. You've got to 
be prepared to die before you can be the most courageous man or woman 
you can be. Because once you're prepared to die for something, or 
someone, you can't be intimidated; you can't be bullied; you can't 
be bribed; there's nothing that anyone can do to stop you."

In conclusion, Terry said, "We need people of vision. Howard Phillips 
is a man of vision. Are you prepared to radically, fundamentally, 
alter the face of America's political, jurisprudence, educational, 
medical landscape — bringing it back to being a Christian nation?"

A man of action, Randall Terry recently founded the Christian Leadership 
Institute. Starting this fall he is holding three five-day sessions 
at his "Outlook Farm" near Binghamton, New York. The sessions will 
focus on Biblically-based leadership in the areas of culture, activism, 
business and economics.

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Copyright 1995 IFAS
The Freedom Writer / ifas@crocker.com


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