Legal Update - July 2004

BE ENCOURAGED!

“Do not be afraid because of the words you have heard” - Isaiah 37:6

Dear Friend,

If I had only one admonition to share with you at this time, it would be this:

"Be encouraged."

In my recent travels throughout the country I’ve noticed a new vigor and renewed commitment among Americans to stand up and speak out for traditional marriage and family.

It’s as if all the publicity and controversy about same-sex marriage and adoption has summoned people out of a meek personal complacency into a vital offensive force for what is good, true and God-honoring. (Not to mention issues such as the Ten Commandments, “under God” in the Pledge, and religious persecution in public schools.)

However, I’ve also sensed apathy among some people who seem to be resolved to whatever happens. A few even think we’ve lost the battle already.

Well, they’re wrong.

Any war strategist knows the best way to hasten surrender is to first defeat your opponent mentally. When the United States went to war against Iraq, our troops blanketed the country with leaflets asking Saddam Hussein’s army to lay down their weapons.

When Nehemiah began rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, his opponents launched a media propaganda campaign. The opposing forces spread discouraging news among the ranks. Nehemiah encouraged his people and admonished them to focus on the work. The wall was rebuilt and Jerusalem was restored.

When the Assyrian King Sennacherib assembled his undefeated army to attack King Hezekiah, he first sent messengers to intimidate God’s people. (Isaiah 37: 1-38). Their message sounded logical: “Surrender and live in peace under the protection of the most powerful nation on earth. Every nation that resisted has perished. You will too. Assyria’s army vastly outnumbers yours. So make a reasonable choice. Surrender now and live. Resist and you will die.”

The invitation was tempting, but not to the prophet Isaiah. He comforted King Hezekiah saying, “Do not be afraid because of the words you have heard,” and King Hezekiah then confronted those messengers of doom.

Their message was objectively true. It was futile to resist, but the Assyrians relied on their own strength. They underestimated the God of the Hebrew nation. On the night before the attack, God sent an angel into their camp and 185,000 Assyrian soldiers died. When the morning light revealed dead bodies everywhere, the Assyrians retreated.

The pro-gay and pro-abortion media propaganda campaign has been working overtime this year.

The message of the liberal press seems to have one other theme besides bashing President Bush, and that theme is: “Surrender. Accept the inevitable. Your religious and moral values are not welcome. The majority is against you. Be tolerant and live in peace.”

If we believe this, we are cowards, quitters, and worse, we underestimate and shame our Lord.

I’m encouraged about the future, not because I recite psychological pick-me-up mantras to myself, but because I know with God nothing is impossible. I also know that the difference between victory and defeat is to stand firm in the midst of the storm. God delights in working through people.

When we don’t show up for battle, we lose by default.

Last year we catalogued and summarized all of the legal cases Liberty Counsel had filed in court since our inception in 1989. The lengthy project was undertaken solely for historical purposes to educate our staff. Once the project was complete, we looked at the data, and to my surprise, it showed that we won 83 percent of the cases!

This is an incredible ratio. When we consider only those cases that we handled from the beginning, the success ratio is even higher. And this ratio does not include the thousands of cases we have resolved without going to court.

The point is this – when we show up, we win most of the time. Can you begin to see
why I’m encouraged? When I survey the landscape, we are winning far, far more than we are losing.

Take same-sex marriage as an example. About two-dozen cases across the nation have resulted in rejection of same-sex marriage. Several of these occurred within the past 12 months. Mayors are no longer issuing symbolic same-sex marriage licenses. When San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom began doing so, we sued him. We then sued New Paltz, New York, Mayor Jason West when he followed Newsom’s example. Now both mayors have court orders barring their illegal activity.

The only exception to the numerous victories in defense of marriage is Massachusetts. But the battle over marriage in Massachusetts is just beginning. Liberty Counsel still has one legal challenge pending in state court and another in federal court. Moreover, the citizens of that state are moving forward with an effort to amend their constitution to preserve traditional marriage.

I was talking to a group of men the other day about marriage. I said, “Prior to the assault on marriage by same-sex advocates, how many times have we asked the question, ‘What is marriage for,’ and ‘Why is it important that children have a mom and a dad?’”

I believe we will defeat the same-sex marriage movement. I also believe we will strengthen traditional marriage in the process. We live in a critical time. We cannot retreat. We cannot weaken our resolve. We must intensify the battle.

The surest way to lose the battle to preserve marriage is to get discouraged, to surrender, or to even plod ahead half-heartedly. These are unusual times, and they demand unusual people who will not surrender.

In order to advance the mission of restoring the culture, this month Liberty Counsel is opening a branch office and launching the Center for Constitutional Litigation and Policy on the campus of Liberty University School of Law in Virginia.

With the law school set to open next month, we have a lot of work to do. Through the law school and the Center we will train law students, attorneys, policymakers, legislators, clergy and world leaders in constitutional principles and government policies.

Already some of Liberty Counsel’s law school summer interns have graduated and are now working with federal judges. We plan on exponentially increasing our training program through the Center and the law school.

God willing, some of these students and interns will become judges, and one day one of them may sit on the U.S. Supreme Court.

So keep the faith. Be encouraged. When God’s people show up, God is glorified, and more often than not, we win. Even if we find ourselves in the midst of “apparent” defeat, we must trust in Him. Perhaps He is merely setting up a different strategy than we expected.

We believe God has directed Liberty Counsel to expand and intensify the battle.

At the same time the cultural war has escalated, we made a principled decision to discontinue a grant from a certain organization because we felt the grantor was inappropriately using its funds in such a way as to hurt the religious liberty movement. We believe that truth, integrity, and the advancement of the mission are far superior to raising money. We trust that God will supply our needs, and He will, so long as we obey Him and place our trust only in Him.

Let’s stand together now as we follow God’s call to restore the culture one case at a time. Be encouraged. Together, we are making a positive difference.

Trusting in our Lord,

Mathew D. Staver

PS: Let me also encourage you to consider a significant gift at this time. You are having an impact on preserving marriage and the traditional family.