Legal & Public Policy
The work of the National Coalition culminates in it is ability to effectuate reasoned debate and change in matters of sexual ethics. To that end, the National Coalition employs a three-pronged strategy:
- Assimilation – the fathering of information and coordinating of efforts to address critical issues on local, state and national levels;
- Education – ensuring that citizens know and understand the issues and arguments before they engage; and
- Activism – mobilizing grassroots campaigns as well as expert abilities on various fronts.
In the past, Christian “activism” carried with it a great deal of baggage—concern that Christians meant to impose their beliefs upon others and create a “Christian nation.” The National Coalition understands that while even the Supreme Court of the United States once declared America as a “Christian nation” (Church of the Holy Trinity v. U.S., 143 U.S. 457 [1892]), the object is not to impose, but to persuade with thoughtfulness and reason. We look to the model used by William Wilberforce in England at the end of the 19th Century to abolish the slave trade as a model of persistence and persuasion resulting in not only a change in the law of the land, but also in the hearts and minds of its citizens.
The National Coalition looks to use the legal and public policy forum as an opportunity to demonstrate the gospel of Christ in matters of social and moral concern. We help educate concerned citizens and lawmakers alike on issues such as the importance of traditional marriage, the value of effective regulation of Sexually Oriented Businesses, the significance of filtering Internet access in public libraries and the usefulness of forceful obscenity prosecutions.
- The National Coalition's Kansas City office has been successful in calling for two grand jury investigations into sexually oriented businesses. Both Johnson and Wyandotte counties have began selecting juries.
- Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Rep. Todd Akin, R-Mo., have reintroduced a bill in Congress to preserve the rights of parents regarding the sexual-health decisions of their minor children. The Parents' Right to Know Act was first introduced last year, but died of lack of action in the House.
- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales approved a new government regulation that requires producers of sexually explicit material to prove the subjects in their photos and films are adults. These records will ensure children are not being used in explicit depictions. Pornography producers who violate the new requirements are subject to prison terms up to five years on the first offense and 10 years for subsequent offenses.
- Bipartisan Group of Senators Sign Compromise Seven Republican senators have surrendered their values to the political pressures of the day by signing a bipartisan compromise that guarantees confirmation of at least three of President Bush's appointees, but lets Democrats continue to filibuster two others.
- The U.S. Department of Justice has recently indicted several individuals on racketeering, obscenity and tax charges related to the operation of video arcades featuring pornography.
- President Bush is going to have his political hands full right from the beginning, and nowhere more important than in the appointment and confirmation of his judicial nominees. A great article looking at how the battle lines are drawn in the political landscape in D.C.
- The City of Dallas continues it’s decades-long battle against Sexually Oriented Businesses (SOBs) and have recently been making some tremendous strides in protecting the community from these establishments.
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