Chairman’s Report for May 2nd, 2013

Jihad, Terror and Saudi Arabia

The Awakening: The Awakening is a large, annual gathering of mostly evangelical social conservatives, for a two day conference on various issues. On April 19^th and 20^th of 2013, The Awakening was held near Orlando, Florida on the campus of the First Baptist Church of Oviedo and the Religious Freedom Coalition was there to educate those present about the root of terror in the world today – Saudi Arabia.

Panel discussion on radical Islam: As chairman of the Religious Freedom Coalition, I served on the Radical Islam and National Security panel with Frank Gaffney, Pamela Geller, and Prof. Jonathan Matusitz. Frank Gaffney is the president of the Center for Security Policy in Washington, DC and served as Under-Secretary of Defense under President Reagan. Pamela Geller is a well known fighter against the politically correct approach to Islamic terror, and Professor Matusitz is an expert on Islamic affairs.

I was the first panel speaker and began by presenting the facts of 9-11 —  that 15 of the 19 hijackers were well educated Saudi citizens. I explained my frustration at the time with the Washington elites’ twisted mindset that directed American outrage against a third world nation, rather than against the heart of the problem, which is the Saudi Arabian Wahhabi cult.

The presentations of the other panelists were very pertinent as well. I made every effort to focus on the core problem of Saudi funding of radical mosques throughout the world, and the refusal of the United States to face this reality because of Saudi oil. I find the oil excuse somewhat strange, because the United States now imports virtually no Saudi oil, and by 2015 will actually produce more oil than Saudi Arabia. The United States and Canada together hold the majority of the energy reserves of the entire planet.

RFC literature booth at The Awakening

RFC at the convention: As part of the presence of the Religious Freedom Coalition at The Awakening, a booth was manned during the entire event. Two large vertical banners were on each side of our table presenting the facts about Saudi Arabia and its persecution of Christian guest workers. Our StopSaudEvil.org Internet site was promoted.

Literature was presented about our campaign to fax congressmen and ask them to speak up about how the Saudi royal family advances radicalism. We also had available brochures about the Religious Freedom Coalition, and some of my books.

Many of those who visited out table at The Awakening signed up for our weekly e-mail alerts from Capitol Hill. This year the Religious Freedom Coalition will participate in several of these types of events.

The Saudi Campaign

Religious Freedom Coalition newspaper ad ran in Orlando:As part of our advertising campaign, a newspaper ad exposing Saudi Arabia’s brutal treatment of Ethiopian Christian guest workers ran in a weekly newspaper that covers the Orlando area. This helped to reinforce our presence and resulted in dozens of the petitions being faxed to two Florida Congressmen.

Both the offices of Congressmen Daniel Webster and Bill Posey have received many petitions asking congressmen to speak out about the continued persecution of Christian guest workers in Saudi Arabia.

Our next ads will appear in California near Camp Pendleton, the largest Marine base outside of Virginia. Camp Pendleton is inside California’s 49^th district which is held by Congressman Darrell Issa. Many retired Marines live in the area, as well as those on active duty. There is a high awareness among Marine families about the true nature of the threat to Western civilization, despite the near constant politically correct training our military is subjected to, with  materials approved by the Muslim Brotherhood.

The purpose of our Saudi ad campaign is simple – to convince congressmen that their constituents do care about the continued brutality of the Saudi Arabian government against Christians. Unless congressmen hear from their constituents, they in turn will not speak out against this evil.

Send a free fax to your congressman now asking him to
speak out against Saudi persecution of Christians workers.

Sometime in the next 24 months the United States will reach the point of producing more oil than Saudi Arabia. The United States and Canada are together producing so much oil that there is talk in Congress of lifting the ban on exporting oil pumped in the USA. North America has the largest known energy reserves in the world and that does not even include the vast oil fields off the coasts of California and Florida.

We don’t need Saudi oil, and there is no need for us to be forced to accept their vile hatred of Christians, Jews and our Western way of life. Let the Saudis peddle their oil elsewhere.

Congress

            Congressman supports our campaign –Congressman Steve Stockman (R-TX) has written a stern letter to the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States requesting information on the Ethiopian Christians who were arrested in February for praying in a private home.

            I have spoken to Congressman Stockman several times about the situation with Christian guest workers in Saudi Arabia. Because the RFC has been unable to obtain information on the current status of the last group of Ethiopian Christians arrested, Congressman Stockman has agreed to get the information to us.

            The Congressman’s office has not yet received a response to his letter to Ambassador Adel A. al-Jubeir. As soon as a reply is received, the response will be reported here. To give an idea of the mindset that grips the Muslim controlled areas of the world: at the Saudi Embassy Internet site it is stated that the Ambassador was “appointed by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz as Ambassador to the United States.” Everything in the Muslim world refers to Mohammed or the mosque – religion and government are one.

Congressman Stockman bravely stands with just causes such as this.

Congressman Bill Posey standing righteous and humble –The image of the Congress outside the Washington Beltway is incredibly bad. The current approval rating of Congress is hovering around 15%, thanks in most part to the constant bashing by the media giants. In reality there are many fine men and women in Congress, including the more than 100 members of the Prayer Caucus headed by Congressman Randy Forbes; they meet weekly when Congress is in session to pray for our nation. Congressman Stockman, who is mentioned above, is a member.

Recently a large foundation which runs summer camps for Christian youth leaders asked if I could arrange a tour of the Capitol for the leadership trainers. The organization was bringing 130 young adults for training. They in turn would be the trainers for the leaders in the camps.

Congressman Posey

The group was simply too large for me to handle on a tour. Through the office of a  member of the leadership team in the House, I obtained the Cannon Caucus Room for a dinner on Saturday, April 13th. This is the most prestigious room in the House Office complex, and virtually impossible to reserve. I then arranged for David Barton, the founder of Wallbuilders, to fly in from his Texas headquarters to conduct his rather famous “Spiritual Heritage Tour” of the Capitol Building, after hours when the complex would be closed to all other visitors.

I put out the word that I needed “table mentors” for the dinner. The mentors would be at the tables to talk to the young adults about the realities of Washington, DC, and about working in overtly secular fields as committed Christians.

Congressman Bill Posey and his wife Katie volunteered to be table mentors. When Congressman Posey arrived at the Caucus Room with his wife at the appointed time, the room was almost empty because of security issues we were having getting the youth through the after hours security. Congressman Posey went with me to the security check point to expedite the screening.

During the dinner Congressman Posey sat at one table and his wife at another. They did not ask to be introduced and spoke candidly with the young adults at the two tables about their lives as Christians on Capitol Hill.

When the time came for the tour of the Capitol Building itself, the Posey’s went with the group, helping by answering questions as David Barton conducted the tour, and pointing out the significant symbols throughout the Capitol, of the Christian heritage of our nation.

Of the 130 young adults, not more than five were from Congressman Posey’s home state of Florida. He and his wife were not there for votes, or for the cold barbequed chicken dinner. They were there to share their love of their nation and of their Lord. The humble and faithful nature that Bill and Katie Posey displayed to these young people who are leaders in their communities, will have a long lasting and profound impact.

Congressman Posey is a constant target of the far left. The Congressman made the reasonable suggestion that those running for office, such as for the presidency, should be required to provide a birth certificate. In response, the so-called comedian Steven Colbert stated that Congressman Posey was born from the result of his grandmother having sex with an alligator during a flood in 1928. This is the kind of personal attacks that all godly men and women in Congress face virtually every day.

International

Bishops Kidnapped: American media doesn’t care – On April 22nd, two Orthodox bishops of Aleppo, Syria were kidnapped by U.S. supported Islamist fighters. Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim and Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Boulos Yaziji, were kidnapped as they were returning from an attempt to obtain the release of two priests previously kidnapped. Father Michel Kayyal, an Armenian Catholic and Father Maher Mahfouz, a Greek Orthodox,  were kidnapped in February and still remain in the hands of the Islamist fighters that the Western media refer to as “rebels.” In a Huffington Post article, Orthodox priest Peter-Michael Preble said, “They were on a mission of peace, to bring aid and comfort, and they were taken hostage as part of the systematic extermination of the Christian population in Syria.”

Kidnapped Syrian Bishops

As an eyewitness to Capitol Hill I can say without hesitation that the Republican Party leadership is allowing the ethnic cleansing of Christians in Syria in order to obtain some minor political gain over President Barack Obama. A momentary “we got you” over Obama is more important to the Republican leadership than the lives of millions of Christians and the destruction of the ancient churches founded by Peter, Paul, and the other early Saints. Rather than trying to stop Obama’s support of the jihadist fighters in Syria, the Republican leadership is pushing for our overburdened and over deployed Armed Services to get directly involved in helping them!

Senator John McCain is the principle Republican promoter of the destruction of Syria. McCain seems totally blind to the human suffering of war and has no regard for Christians suffering at the hands of jihadists in Syria. As McCain sees it, Iran is currently our main enemy and eliminating one of its power bases – its alliance with Syria – is worth the human suffering and ethnic cleansing of the Christian population. McCain is actually pushing Barack Obama to do even more damage in Syria. McCain wants our Air Force involved today!

It is very true that Iran is a threat to the peace of the Middle East and to Israel, but arming jihadists associated with al-Qaeda and allowing them to murder Christians and destroy churches in Syria does not seem to me as the optimal way to limit the power of Iran. Indeed, the harsh persecution of Christians by jihadist fighters supported in Syria by Barack Obama is no different than the persecution of Christians in Iran. At least in Iran the Christians get a phoney show trial before they are jailed and tortured.  In Syria, Christians, with no trial at all, are tortured and murdered using American tax dollars given to jihadists by Barack Obama.

In Father Preble’s article he articulated the situation with great accuracy: “What has been called the “Arab Spring” in Syria has become the Christian Nightmare and it is high time that the United States government realize the part it has played and continues to play in this ethnic cleansing, genocide, holocaust whatever word you choose to describe what is being perpetrated on the religious minorities in Syria as well as Egypt.”

            Most Western news outlets have refused so far to carry news of the kidnappings of Christian clergy in Syria because it doesn’t’ fit the “Assad is the bad guy” story line. The press is silent even though the two bishops were kidnapped by Chechen jihadists, and this came just days after the Boston Marathon bombing by Chechen jihadists. We must break this silence somehow. Help the Religious Freedom Coalition tell the truth about Syria.

William J. Murray, Chairman

Religious Freedom Coalition, 601 Pennsylvania Ave, NW  #900 , Washington, DC 20004 * (202) 742-8990