Following is a letter (January 20, 2004) from Norm Coleman of the United States Senate, in reply to a letter I had written to him. This letter reads as follows:
Dear Mr. Grier:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the filibuster currently being waged against President Bush’s judicial nominations.
As you are aware; many Senate Democrats have supported a filibuster against the nominations of Miguel Estrada, Pricilla Owen, Janice Rogers Brown, Carolyn Kuhl, Charles Pickering and Bill Pryor. The nomination of Miguel Estrada to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia had been debated for 29 months and filibustered for over 6 months. No less than 7 times had a motion to end debate been filed, with each and every vote failing to achieve the necessary 60 votes to make cloture and provide Mr. Estra with the up or down vote in the Senate. In the wake of this unending process, Miguel Estra withdrew his nomination on September 4.
Pricilla Owen’s nomination to the United States Court of Appeals for the fifth Circuit has been debated and filibustered since last April, four times failing to achieve 60 votes that would move Judge Owen’s nomination to a vote. Bill Pyor’s nomination for United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has been debated since the end of July, failing twice to attain the necessary 60 votes. Carolyn Kuhl and Charles Pickering have each been deprived of an up or down vote as well as Janice Rogers Brown, the first African-American woman to serve on California’s Supreme Court.
The most effective way to confirm these nominations is for the majority to continue to press for an up or down vote. We will continue our efforts to move these qualified nominations forward until they are confirmed. It is my firm commitment to not let partisan politics interfere with the Senate’s Constitutional obligation of advice and consent of judicial nominees.
Thank you once again for contacting me, please do not hesitate to contact me as this very serious situation progresses.
Sincerely,
Norm Coleman
United States Senate
This second letter is not personal. It was sent to a selected number of conservative citizens across America. It reads as follows:
Dear Charles,
We are in a terrible and decisive crisis for this country, but also a great moment of opportunity to turn things around!
Let me explain . . .
This past summer I rallied with thousands on the steps of the state Supreme Court in Montgomery, Alabama. I went there to stand against government-sanctioned religious persecution – the same kind of tyrannical violation of our God-given rights that America was founded to prevent!
Of course, the liberal media has totally misrepresented the story. But here are the facts:
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore placed a display of the Ten Commandments in the lobby of Alabama’s Supreme Court building. A federal Judge demanded that he remove them. Justice Moore refused, so the judge moved to fine the State of Alabama $5,000 a day. To avoid contention and sanctions, Justice Moore’s fellow-justices on the state Supreme Court capitulated, overruled him and removed the Commandments.
And now Justice Moore, himself, has been removed from his duties as Chief Justice by the state Judicial Inquiry Commission.
-- (Alan Keyes, abridged).
What About Prayer In Our Schools?
In Missouri an elementary school student was placed in a week-long detention for bowing his head over his lunch in prayer.
A principle in a Virginia public school barred a young girl from reading the Bible on the school bus.
In Alaska public school students were prohibited from using the word “Christmas” because the word “Christ” was in it.
A high school valedictorian in Hawaii was told by her principle that she violated Department of Education policy by thanking God in a graduation speech.
--America’s Prayer Network *P.O. Box 98214 * Washington, D. C. 20090-8214,
Since The Atheists Denounce The Bible, Why Don’t They Come Up With Something Better?
No Answer From The Atheist
In Hyde Park a young man stepped forward to an infidel speaker and asked, “Can you tell me the address of the atheists’ hospital? There is St. Bartholomew’s down east and St. Thomas’s across the river. Both are named after great saints. Where is there a hospital named after a great atheist?”
The atheist growled, “Don’t be such a fool?”
The young man asked another question: “Can you tell me the name of the atheist’s orphanage? We all know of the good work done by Barnardo’s, Spurgeon’s, Mueller’s, and Quarrier’s orphanages. Is there any orphanages founded by an atheist?”
“Oh, sit down and be quiet,” replied the disgusted infidel.
“Then can you tell me the address of the atheist’s association for redemption of people in primitive societies who have never heard the Gospel? Christians have many.
They call them missionary societies. What are the atheists doing?”
“Look here young man, I’ve had enough of your talk,” answered the atheist before slipping away to ponder all that he had just heard.
– Selected Morning Glory, The Bible Friend, April 2003, p5
Men have argued about God through the centuries, and some have argued with God, BUT GOD ALWAYS HAS THE LAST WORD (Revelation 22:12,13).