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Dear John,
On Tuesday, I had the honor of testifying before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, at a hearing entitled "Partisan and Profitable: The SPLC's Influence on Federal Civil Rights Policy."
In my testimony, I recounted an incident from 2012 when a would-be assassin entered the headquarters of Family Research Council with the intention of killing everyone inside. Thankfully, our courageous building manager was able to subdue him, preventing a potential massacre.
During an interview with law enforcement, the would-be assassin confessed that he had targeted FRC because he found us on the Southern Poverty Law Center's (SPLC) so-called "hate map."
To this day, we are still on their "hate map" alongside groups like Turning Point USA, because we stand on the truth of God's design for marriage and sexuality -- between one man and one woman for life.
While I believe the SPLC is complicit in these violent attacks because they have refused to remove FRC and Turning Point from their interactive map, the real issue is the government, the media, and corporate America.
This year, in addition to testifying before Congress, FRC gathered over 30,000 signatures for a petition that we hand-delivered to the U.S. Deputy Attorney General, urging the entire U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to sever ties with the long-discredited SPLC.
Earlier that same day, the FBI publicly denounced the SPLC.
The government, the media, and corporate America give credibility to the SPLC by promoting their politically motivated, unsubstantiated claims about their political opponents.
The FBI cutting ties with the SPLC is only the first step. It is time for the DOJ and the rest of the federal government to do the same before another would-be assassin takes the SPLC at its word.
When you stand with FRC, you are helping us boldly proclaim God's truth in a culture increasingly hostile to it and push back against the rising tide of intimidation and violence facing believers in America.
From now through December 31, your gift to FRC will have double the impact. Thanks to a $2 million Challenge Match from generous friends, your year-end, tax-deductible gift will be matched dollar for dollar to defend biblical truth in Washington and stop groups like the SPLC from targeting Christians for their beliefs.
YES -- DOUBLE MY GIFT
But if hatred toward believers is growing at home, it's exploding abroad.
Last week, I also testified before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa at a hearing entitled "Stopping the Bloodshed: U.S. Response to Crimes Against Humanity in Sudan."
Unfortunately, since my visit to Sudan in 2020 as the chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), things have taken a turn for the worse.
In my testimony, I was able to highlight how both sides of the Sudanese conflict have targeted Christians, who have been told, "Unless you leave your Christianity, no food for you."
In this Muslim-majority nation, neither the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) nor the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) envision a future in which their country protects followers of Jesus.
But Sudan isn't the only African country where Christians are constantly under threat. In Nigeria, believers have been systematically slaughtered for their faith, with some reports indicating that more than 52,000 Christians have been killed there since 2009.
That's why FRC worked so hard to have the U.S. State Department redesignate Nigeria a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) -- and why we are so grateful our outcry did not go unanswered. The CPC designation is not some arbitrary term; this change has actually helped save lives.
FRC is advancing protections for believers at home and abroad, whether by stopping smear campaigns that could lead to violence or petitioning the government to intervene to stop actual violence.
Will you stand with us?
When you partner with FRC before December 31, your gift will make double the impact to defend religious liberty. Your gift will be matched dollar for dollar to help stop the persecution of believers and advance biblical truth in Washington, D.C.
DOUBLE MY GIFT
When you stand for Christ, it is inevitably going to cost you something, maybe even your life.
But in Christ, we have assurance of salvation and no need for fear.
As it is written in Matthew 10:28, "And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell."
What we should fear is remaining silent in the face of hostility or shrinking back from boldly proclaiming and advancing biblical truth -- because one day, we will all be called to account before the Lord.
In the aftermath of the 2012 attack on FRC, I stood in the hospital waiting for our wounded building manager to emerge from a long and complicated surgery. When he did, I went into the recovery room to see him and pray with him. I asked him, "Why did you not shoot the gunman when you had taken his gun and had it trained on him as you were bleeding?" He said, "Because God told me not to."
That kind of restraint, the belief that life is sacred, is what the SPLC refuses to acknowledge in the very people it labels as dangerous.
I'm very proud and grateful for your continued partnership; it is an encouragement to be surrounded by so many faithful and courageous men and women.
As we prepare to enter 2026, let us continue to pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ and work to advance policies that honor the truth of God's Word and the beauty and power of faith in Jesus Christ at home and abroad, no matter what threats we may face.
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