To My Fellow 'Extremists'

By Jonathan Falwell

Dear fellow "right-wing extremist": I was as dismayed as I'm sure you were this week to learn that Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano issued an intelligence assessment proposing that conservative activists could pose a real security threat to our own nation.

Ms. Napolitano has defended the report, which says that "right-wing extremism" may include those who are opposed to abortion and illegal immigration. She insisted that she is not planning to employ ideological profiling as a result of the assessment, but her pledge is not all that comforting.

The Washington Times reported that the nine-page document was sent to police and sheriff's offices nationwide on April 7 under the headline, "Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment."

Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice said of the Homeland Security assessment, "To label pro-lifers and those who are opposed to certain immigration policies as right-wing extremists and domestic terrorists is incorrect as a matter of law and wrong as a matter of policy."

As a Christian, I find this intelligence assessment particularly troubling because it hones in on pro-life Americans who are almost exclusively law-abiding people of faith. I say "almost" because there have been those rare cases of radicals attacking abortion clinics, but those past actions were roundly condemned by all pro-life leaders and leading activists, as they should be.

I look out over my congregation of thousands each week, and I do not see dangerous individuals who are threats to our nation or our government. Instead, I see people who love God and seek to hold His commandments and principles through their faith and daily living. To suggest that these people could be risky extremists is disgraceful.

Many of my parishioners are active in pro-life ministry, volunteering at our Liberty Godparent Home for unwed mothers and in other areas of service. They sacrifice their time and money for the greater good of the young ladies who live in our Home and ultimately for their babies, many of whom are adopted through our Family Life Services Adoption Agency.

Again, it is troubling to think that these people might be considered by their government to be potential dangers or menaces to their nation. The Homeland Security secretary assessment reeks of unwarranted religious profiling, to say the least.

I have in past columns attempted to persuade Christians that we are the twofold black sheep of our nation. We are jointly despised for holding to the biblical truth that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven and for upholding Judeo-Christian values that are deemed provincial (and apparently dangerous now) by the secular majority. I see the suspicion leading to the Homeland Security report as part of this general disdain for people of faith.

It is interesting that this report comes out the same week that former Rep. Tom Tancredo was to speak on illegal immigration at the University of North Carolina, only to have his speech cut short by screaming protesters who broke windows and physically scuffled with campus police. Similar incidents have happened at universities around the country, but our Homeland Security Agency is not issuing reports on these college extremists. Peaceable pro-life Americans are targeted instead.

The Apostle Paul, writing to the churches of Galatia, noted, "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart" (Galatians 6:9, NKJV). This is an encouraging verse for such a time as this when Christians face increasing bullying solely because of their faith in Jesus Christ.

I am sincerely praying for this nation that is increasingly unfamiliar.

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