Alliance Defense Fund

For 87 years, the ACLU has worked tirelessly to create a legal climate of fear, intimidation, and disinformation to silence religious expression and erase Americans' religious history and heritage.

We've been spreading that message since ADF was launched. Today, we're very encouraged to report that more and more people "get it"--and that we're gaining allies in some very high places along the way . . . including at the U.S. Department of Justice!

Just recently, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales announced the launch of the Department of Justice's First Freedom Project to strengthen legal efforts to preserve religious liberty throughout our nation.

Not only did the nation's highest law enforcement officer recognize that

Alan E. Sears, President, CEO & General Counsel

there is a genuine crisis of religious liberty in our nation today--but also in doing so he specifically cited several cases ADF and our allies have fought and, by God's grace, won over the past several years, including victories from New York, Michigan, and Texas.

I'd like to share a portion of the General's comments with you:

"When we talk about religious freedom, we often refer to it as the First Freedom. It is a fundamental part of our Nation's history, and one of our core principles. In the First Amendment to the Constitution, at the top of the Bill of Rights, the Founders declared that ‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.' Before free speech, before freedom of the press, before all of these other crucial rights, we put freedom of religion.

"Throughout our history, nothing has defined us as a Nation more than our respect for religious freedom. . . Through this initiative, the Justice Department continues its vigorous efforts to enforce protections against religious discrimination. . . . Nothing defines us more as a Nation--and differentiates us more from the extremists who are our enemies--than our respect for religious freedom. Our great country was founded on these principles, and many of us today believe it continues to thrive because of, not despite, them." (emphasis mine)

Exactly! This clear statement of the importance of our nation's religious heritage and freedom is truly encouraging for all of us at ADF who have been on the front lines of this battle for so long. We're deeply grateful for this clear exposition of history, which clearly repudiates so much ACLU thinking and work.

As is apparent in this issue of your Briefing, God is increasingly granting ADF and our allies victories that would once have been unimaginable to Christians. We were used to watching the ACLU and its allies march from victory to victory--often without our opposition to resist their demands could even require them to defend their demands.

Thanks to ministry friends like you who faithfully support our efforts through prayer and financial support, much has changed--as this Briefing attests. Today, I earnestly pray that as a result of our work together, our nation will return to its roots of cherishing and vigorously defending Our First Liberty--religious freedom.

That can indeed happen if we will remain committed to moving forward together--our knees (John 15:5)--for as long as it takes to win.