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CPNC Newsletter - July 2003
Greetings, Friends of Liberty!
Some momentum has begun in the month of June that we hope will continue to grow. New contacts have been made, new court decisions announced, and new opportunities realized.
One major news item, the fallout of which promises to yield many new members for us nationwide, is the Supreme Court decision overturning the Texas sodomy law in Lawrence v. Texas. The decision, which came on June 26, is the most recent example of the judges of our high court showing their lack of judicial restraint and seeing in the Constitution a right that doesn’t exist – the right to privacy when it comes to perversion. This is little more than an activist move to normalize what has for hundreds and thousands of years been recognized as abomination, especially to those who are of a Christian persuasion. Our Founders would be outraged to learn that the liberties so many have given their lives for have been so twisted as to condone this type of behavior and trivialize what they so nobly sacrificed to obtain.
Recent Trip to Pennsylvania and Virginia
Saturday, June 28, we left our NC home for Pennsylvania. Staying overnight with our daughter and son-in-law in the Wilkes-Barre area, we attended both Sunday services at their church in Nanticoke on the 29th. I had been invited by their pastor to speak to the congregation regarding the Christian and government. In the morning service, I spoke from Prov. 14:34, “Righteousness exalteth a nation; but sin is a reproach to any people.” In the evening service, my message was about “Why I as a Christian Should Be Involved in Government and Public Affairs.” CP literature was available for those who wanted it, as well as a couple of articles I reproduced for them, such as Davy Crockett’s “Humbling Lesson.” There was some definite interest among this small congregation and there were many questions.
On Monday, June 30, we drove along with our daughter and son-in-law down to Lancaster and spent a couple hours visiting at the national office of the CP. We had some good discussions with Laurel Lynn, the office manager, and with Jim Clymer, the chairman of the party’s national committee. There were lots of ideas exchanged. We were charged up and encouraged. Additionally, our daughter and son-in-law expressed some interest during our discussions. They are now going to be looking up the area contacts where they live in PA.
On Tuesday, July 1, we drove down to Red Hill, VA, where we toured the grounds of the Patrick Henry homestead. On the web, you can learn more about it at www.redhill.org. There was a reasonable admission charged, and there were some interesting resource materials available for purchase. Featured on the grounds are the buildings that Henry had on the property in his lifetime as well as the graves of himself and his wife in addition to a few other family members. Admission includes of a 15-minute video presentation and a museum of Henry artifacts.
The place is located 1½-2 hours north of Durham just off of US 501. See the website for directions. We encourage others to visit and gain a greater appreciation for one of our Founders.
With the publication of this newsletter, our Ballot Access Drive is officially under way. We need everyone’s help to make this a successful drive to gain ballot access for the Constitution Party in our state. We only have a very few volunteers to gather signatures – but we desperately need more if we are to succeed at offering the citizens of NC federal and statewide candidates who place principle over politics. Can we add your name to the list of volunteers?
We have all the necessary forms. We have a set of guidelines for volunteers to follow. We even have the opportunity for training – but you must act quickly for the training.
Training for Signature Gathering
Act now! If you want to help, but feel that you need some training on how to gather signatures for our Ballot Access Drive, we have training available. Our party’s national coordinator, Cal Zastrow, has offered to train anyone who can be in the Charlotte area during one of the days from July 11 through July 20. If you would like to spend some time with him in training, please call us ASAP so we can hook you up.
OK, we realize that many just do not have the time to help with the Ballot Access Drive. We also know that people are not very motivated these days to help our country. So, there is one possible alternative, if we want to take the lazy way out. We have the name of an individual who is a professional signature gatherer who would be glad to help us get on the ballot. However, he does charge for his services. So, if you value your time so much that you cannot or will not help, perhaps you would like to contribute toward paying someone to gather signatures on your behalf. He charges $1 per signature, I’m told. So, if you think you might be able to get 200 signatures in a month’s time, we would be glad to receive a $200 check from you and apply those funds to the services of this individual. Seriously.
If, however, you are like me, you’ll give an afternoon or a Saturday here and there, wherever you can make room for it, and do it yourself – for our state, and for our nation – for the cause of liberty. How much is America worth to you? How much are your liberties worth to you?
We told you in our June newsletter about H867 in the NC House. This act will greatly reduce the requirements on third parties (that’s us) desiring to gain ballot access. Up to the publication of this newsletter, there has been no new progress to report on this legislation. We encourage you to take a few moments to write your local NC representative and urge him or her to support this House bill. Refer to the bill by name as well as number in your correspondence.
It was learned by us recently that there is an interesting bill in the US House that is worthy of our attention and support. It is HR384, also known as the Enumerated Powers Act. This act, re-introduced in January this year, is very brief and simply states that all future legislation of the House and Senate must contain a cite from the US Constitution which authorizes the Congress to act on the matter. The news item I read on this stated that there are fewer co-sponsors each time it is re-introduced. It seems that our representatives are all too aware of the fact that the US Constitution does not authorize them to make about 98% of the laws they pass. A return to constitutionality for many of them means a loss of power. It also puts a serious wrinkle in the usual redistribution of wealth that Congress regularly engages in. Representatives are understandably nervous about being held down by the chains of the Constitution. But this was precisely what James Madison said would help preserve our liberties. Let’s write our US Representatives and urge them to support HR384. You can follow the progress of this legislation and read the text of it at thomas.loc.gov.
This month, I would like to draw your attention to a site that alerts conservative-minded people to up-and-coming legislation in the US Congress. The site is www.conservativealerts.com. You can subscribe for free to the alert service that sends an email notification to you whenever a bill is introduced or sees significant activity in the US House or Senate that we should be concerned about. I encourage you to sign up (they only require an email address and a name – that’s it!). This is an excellent way to hear about legislation that the standard news outlets would rather we not know about. Keep informed, Keep free!
This newsletter will contain our last reminded about this year’s Camp American. This is the first year this camp is being held in NC. The people who organize it are from Kentucky where they have conducted Camp American in southern Indiana for five years, now. Their Indiana camps have been successful.
Camp American will take place July 20-26 and is designed for American students ages 12-19. Students learn about the Declaration, the Constitution, and the biblical principles on which these are based. The NC camp will be small, being the first for this state. Learn more about the camp at www.campamerican.org.
My wife and I have volunteered to help this year. Interesting thing about volunteering: sometimes you get more than you signed up for. I had no idea what I would be asked to do, but as the camp gets closer I’m being called upon for much more than I expected. I’ll be presenting a nightly devotion from the Bible. Additionally, I’ll be speaking to the camp on the same two topics that I presented to the PA church. I’ll also be in charge of assignments for various groups to handle morning devotions, flag raising, and prayer for the meals. And, I know there will be other duties I’ll be called upon to perform. My wife will also be involved in supervision of some of the girls.
We are looking forward to a great week. This will take place in Bladen County, in the southeast part of the state, at Singletary Lake State Park. Adults are still invited to attend and help out – there is still much to be done and the extra hands will be welcomed.
Recently, we heard from an individual who gives first-hand testimony that there are works of religious American art missing from various places in our nation. His testimony concerns a painting missing from Independence Hall in Philadelphia. It is an actual first-hand account, but I am not at liberty at this time to give his real name. We will call this man, Mr. Smith.
When young, Mr. Smith was taken by his parents on several occasions to Independence Hall. He distinctly remembers a painting in that famous place on a particular wall. This painting depicted the Congress of the US on its knees in prayer. Upon a visit to Independence Hall in the recent past, Mr. Smith, now grown and having children of his own, saw a blank wall where he remembered the painting hanging in years gone by. Upon asking one of the “park” personnel, he was told repeatedly and rather insistently that the painting never existed and that the wall has always been empty. Mr. Smith continued to make objection to what he was being told by the park ranger. Unnoticed by him at first was another ranger who appeared to be straightening up and arranging items nearby, but was really listening to the ongoing conversation. Once the discussion with the first ranger concluded and he was out of hearing, the second ranger very quietly confided to Mr. Smith that the painting had indeed been on the wall in question, but that park personnel were ordered to remove it. This ranger claimed he had been there to help load it into a crate and place it in storage. All personnel at the historic site were told that if anyone asked about the painting they were to deny existence of it. Anyone who would not cooperate would lose his or her job. This ranger also stated that the time of the removal of the painting was around the time that the Chinese premier came to the US recently. Sadly, he also stated that he had since then been back to the storage location where this painting was placed, only to find that it was gone with no indication of its destination or whereabouts.
There are reportedly other accounts of missing artistic works depicting religious influence in American history. This is indeed very disturbing. It only confirms our own long-held suspicions that there is a conspiracy to not only to remove our republic from us, but to remove the religious significance of it from our public life, from our history, and from our memory.
It is my opinion that we need to bring this to the attention of some senators and representatives and let the general public know that there is a concerted effort to remove all memory of the religious nature of our nation’s Founders and its early public life. It is an outrage, a scandal, and an attack against Christianity and the truth. Do we care about America? Do we care about truth? Why do we continue to sit by idly while things like this go on year after year and we do or say nothing about it?
As I always say at the end of my radio program, “Remember your Christian heritage here in America, and turn that knowledge into action.”
Blessings to you, as you stand on Principle.
For Christ and the Constitution,
Michael Harrison
Chairman
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