Restoring the culture one case at a time

Liberty Counsel was formed in 1989. The ACLU was created in 1927. From the late 1920s to the beginning of the 1990s (over 60 years), the ACLU was the only voice on religious liberty.

No wonder they made so much headway; Christians didn’t suit-up for battle for 60 years!

Christians entered the political and public policy arena in the 1980s, but activist judges struck down many good laws that were passed during that decade.

The late 1980s and 1990s saw the birth of the religious liberty legal movement through which an enormous amount a good legal precedent was established. For the first time, the ACLU faced opposition, and Christians began to win.

Principled Christians in the courtroom do make a difference. In only 15 years, we have made significant advances. But, “Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

As the 1990s came to a close, I began to ask, “What more could be done? What short- and long-term strategies should we pursue?”

I prayed for a Christian law school. We don’t need more attorneys; we need the right kind of attorneys. We need jurists who understand the rule of law and who subscribe to a biblical worldview.

Dr. Jerry Falwell, the Chancellor of Liberty University, also had a vision to establish a Christian law school. Our visions met, and as a result, this August we will begin our first class at Liberty University School of Law.

But we need to expand our training and education beyond law students.

In July, we are launching the Center for Constitutional Litigation and Policy, an education and public policy ministry of Liberty Counsel. Through the Center, we will train and equip law students, attorneys, pastors, educators, legislators, policymakers and world leaders to restore the culture.

The Center will provide a comprehensive resource of the best laws in the country, backed by the best legal arguments, combined with the best planning and training.

Our first training conference is September 29, for pastors, and September 30 – October 2, for attorneys. We will soon announce additional training programs for legislators, policymakers, educators, and law school students who attend other universities throughout the country.

The need for the Center became even clearer in Fall of 2000, when the U.S. House passed a “sexual orientation” hate crimes bill. The Senate version was in the Armed Services subcommittee, and its Chairman said he intended to send the bill to the full Senate, which had already approved a similar version. President Clinton was waiting to sign the bill into law.

On the afternoon before the subcommittee meeting the next morning, while en route to the Orlando airport, I received a call from Dr. Falwell. He had spoken to the Chairman about the information I gave him on the impact that law would have on pastors and Christian organizations. The Senator said if Dr. Falwell could back up his statements with a legal memo, he would kill the bill.

I assured Dr. Falwell we could provide such a memo. I directed one of our attorneys to contact several pro-family organizations that had been lobbying against this bill to see if they had a legal memo.

To my surprise, no such legal memo existed anywhere in America. Our legal team then began feverishly putting together a 25-page legal opinion and emailed it to the Chairman. After reading the memo, he killed the bill!

Following that experience, I pledged to develop an enormous policy database filled with the best legal research, not only on what laws to pass, but also on what laws to kill. The Center is not designed to displace existing policy groups; its purpose is to serve them by providing training and resources.

The short- and long-term strategy of Liberty Counsel also includes producing curriculum for home, private, public and Sunday schools as well as publishing books, professional journals, and popular writings. My newest book, scheduled for release September 1, is entitled Same-Sex Marriage: Putting Every Household at Risk.

God has blessed us with a vision, and He has called us to create a movement – an army of Christians renewed in Christ, filled with knowledge, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. This vision is grand, but with God, all things are possible for those who believe.

Despite the deck being stacked against us by decades of ACLU activity, from our inception in 1989 to the present, Liberty Counsel has won more that 83% of its cases. Our win ratio would be even higher if we factored out amicus briefs filed in cases handled by others.

During the first five months of this year alone, God has blessed us with many significant victories. Space permits me to describe only a handful:

• In February, we filed suit against San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom to stop him from illegally issuing same-sex marriage licenses. The California Supreme Court halted this renegade mayor.
• In March, we filed suit and stopped New Paltz, New York, Mayor Jason West from solemnizing same-sex marriages. The mayor has now been charged with 16 criminal counts of violating the state marriage laws.
• Also in March, we intervened before the West Virginia Supreme Court to defend traditional marriage. The Court rejected the suit brought by same-sex marriage advocates.
• We won a hard-fought battle against Orange County, Florida, after the county tried to force Open Homes Fellowship, a Christian church, to abandon its property where it had conducted worship and ministered to chemically addicted men for over a decade. The county said the property was no longer zoned for churches or rehab programs. The court disagreed. Now the county will be required to pay for its actions.

As I’ve said many times before, these are not Liberty Counsel’s victories alone. They are actually yours, too. You provide the prayer and financial support that enables us to show up in court. And, together we are winning!

Neither of us could be effective without the other. Together, however, we are able to win law cases and advance religious freedom, the sanctity of human life, and the traditional family.

Liberty Counsel has the largest number of religious liberty, sanctity of human life, and traditional family legal cases of any organization in the county. Of the 16 challenges filed this year against traditional marriage laws, Liberty Counsel is defending 14 of them.

Two doctoral dissertations featuring Liberty Counsel both noted the efficiency of the ministry. I recently spoke to one of the authors who is turning his dissertation into a book. When he defended his dissertation, the panel of professors asked if his facts on our budget compared to our activity were correct because the organization did so much with so little. When he showed them the data, they were amazed at the ministry’s efficiency.

We live in a unique epoch of American and world history. Each person who fled Egypt during the Exodus had the opportunity to enter the Promised Land. While God’s purpose was ultimately accomplished, it was fulfilled by a new generation. Except for Joshua and Caleb, the Exodus generation lacked faith.

Like that generation, we too have a choice: Will we be instruments through which God accomplishes His purposes?

As for the same-sex marriage agenda, I believe we will win, and I also believe we will strengthen marriage in the process. I don’t want to leave for a future generation what God has called us to accomplish now.

When you hitch your wagon to the Lord, hold on for the ride! Life won’t always be a bed of roses, but it will always be fulfilling. Some of our Christian brothers and sisters, like some of our Founding Fathers, have been called to give their lives. But, unlike our Founding Fathers, we’re not asking you to pick up muskets.

We do ask for your prayers and your financial partnership. Exercise your faith. Extend your reach through Liberty Counsel to restore the culture one case at a time.

Together, we are making a difference!

Faithfully in Christ,

Mathew D. Staver

PS: Don’t leave to the next generation what God has called us to do today. The Exodus generation didn’t enter the Promised Land because they lacked faith. Let that not be written about our generation. Exercise your faith. Extend your reach. Your prayers and financial support enable us to show up in court—and together we win!