(11/4/2006)

Mount Rushmore Rally: The Rocks Cry Out

Pro-family supporters rally at national monument for life, marriage

By Bob Ellis

Dakota Voice

MOUNT RUSHMORE--Over an hour in advance, people were already streaming into the amphitheatre at Mount Rushmore this morning for the Rushmore Rally, featuring speakers such as Rick Scarborough, Janet Folger, Alan Keyes, and Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family.

Running against the norm for November in South Dakota, the temperature was moderate and the skies were sunny and blue, causing many to remark that God’s favor seemed to be upon the weather.

The event in support of Referred Law 6 (the abortion ban), Amendment C (the marriage protection amendment), and Initiated Measure 7 (video lottery repeal) got underway shortly before 10:00 am with some powerful praise and worship music led by seven enthusiastic musicians.

When Robert Regier, executive director of the South Dakota Family Policy Council opened the rally, he asked, “Should men be able to marry men?” and the crowd of about 1,500 cried “No!” He asked if we should be able to kill our babies, and again the crowd cried, “No!” Regier asked if we should fund government on the backs of gambling addicts and the crowd once more cried, “No!” Regier then said, “If you said ‘no’ to all these, then vote ‘yes’ to all these measures!”

Regier spoke about when, as a younger man, he had paid to have his unborn child aborted, but said that the place where he had killed his child eventually became a crisis pregnancy center started by Leslee and Allen Unruh. Regier gave her credit as the person who had led the effort that helped pass HB 1215, the abortion ban, in the state legislature earlier this year.

When Unruh took the podium, she deferred, stating she was just being obedient to God. She said that even today, as the rally was going on, there were many volunteers all over the state who were going out, telling people about Referred Law 6 and working to get out the vote.

“Get on your knees,” Unruh encouraged the crowd. “Then get on your feet and get to work.” She said people should, even going through the drive-through at Burger King, be asking people if they were going to vote “Yes” on Referred Law 6. Unruh said it shouldn’t be taken for granted that people understood the measure.

Unruh told of an 82-year-old woman who had come to her office recently, stating that she had voted early by absentee ballot, but that she had not been as informed as she should have been. The lady told her that though she opposed abortion, she had mistakenly voted “No” to Referred Law 6, thinking that she was saying “No” to abortion.

Unruh saluted the many post-abortive women, counting herself among their number, who have taken a stand this year for life. She said many post-abortive women from around the country have made donations to the VoteYesForLife.com campaign in the same amounts as they paid for their abortions.

She said that on Nov. 8, the Fleet for Little Feet women’s clinic bus was going to be traveling the state of South Dakota, doing free ultrasounds for pregnant women.

President of Vision America Rick Scarborough told the rally attendees that the rally was not their work, but that leaving the rally to make phone calls and go door-to-door was what they should do.

Scarborough told the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and how Abraham had pleaded with God for a reprieve from judgment. He said that he believes God is withholding judgment on America, waiting to see what South Dakotans will do on November 7. He said that in three days, South Dakota will have a chance to overturn Roe v. Wade and asked, “What will you do, South Dakota?”

As he introduced, Janet Folger, founder and president of Faith2Action, Regier asked, “Could these men on Mt. Rushmore have imagined the day when it would be legal for men to marry men? Could they have imagined a world where it would be legal to kill your own child in the womb?” He introduced Folger as the woman who had helped pass one of the first partial birth abortion bans in the nation in Ohio.

When Folger reached the podium, she proclaimed, “This is South Dakota, and the killing stops here!”

Folger lifted her hands to indicate the memorial behind her on the mountain and said, “There are some things so engrained in our history that even the rocks cry out!”

She quoted George Washington as saying, “The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army.”

She then quoted Thomas Jefferson: “The care of human life and not its destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government.” Folger said, “Get government out of this issue, some say? This is why we have government!”

Continuing, Folger quoted Theodore Roosevelt: “I cannot stand idly while directly or indirectly an apology is made for the murder of the helpless.”

And finally, she quoted Abraham Lincoln: “No one has the right to choose to do what is morally wrong.”

“America, the rocks are crying out!” Folger declared.

Folger also said that just as the flags of the 50 states line the path to the terrace overlooking Mt. Rushmore, so the other states are waiting to see what will be done in South Dakota on November 7.

Sylvia Rhoden of Union Center, South Dakota then spoke and said that two years ago, when the abortion ban almost passed at that time, she realized that she had to tell of when she and her husband John had, as she put it, “surgically murdered” their child in her womb.

Rhoden said that right after she had done this, she realized too late that she had “entered a realm where no woman should tread.” When she found healing, she said, “It flooded my soul to know that God loved me so.”

Author and speaker Bill Federer recounted how the Republican Party was founded in the 1800s to oppose slavery and polygamy, standing for the rights of all people and proclaiming that marriage was between one man and one woman. Federer said that even then, some had argued that while they disapproved of slavery, they also argued that the “choice” to own slaves should remain legal.

When former ambassador Alan Keyes spoke, he said that people are not declared persons by any facet of government, but by our Creator to have certain “inalienable rights.” Keyes also said the claim of a “separation of church and state” was not “a law, but is a lie.”

Keys said that marriage is the context within which procreation occurs, and a situation in which procreation cannot occur has no meaning as marriage.

Speaking of the Roe v. Wade decision, Keyes said the Supreme Court had made abortion legal, but that the Supreme Court is supposed to derive its authority for their rulings from laws that have been passed, or from the Constitution. He said that Judge Harry Blackmun had acknowledged that if the personhood of the unborn could be established, there could be no right to abortion.

Reviling the fact that government had been taken out of the hands of the people by the Supreme Court, Keyes said, “We are not peasants! We are not slaves! We are not serfs! We are people with the right to govern ourselves!”

“The Constitution does not belong to the judges,” he continued. “The Constitution does not belong to the lawyers. It belongs to the people of the United States!”

Keyes pointed out that the preamble of the U.S. Constitution says that the constitution was established to “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” He said “posterity” is defined as those who come after us, or our children. “For God and our posterity,” he said we were fighting, his voice breaking.

Keyes had the crowd on their feet in thunderous applause many times, then took a parting but direct shot at the liberal media, stating, “If the media were not the tools of Satan, they would be spreading this truth!”

Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family then took the stage. He said that these were interesting and distressing times. He said he had never seen “such hatred as I’ve seen expressed recently.” Dobson mentioned some of the things he’s said being taken out of context by the media, and also of the death threats made against some pro-life leaders in South Dakota.

Dobson said this hatred had its roots in the year 2000 when the Left lost the White House, and again in 2004 when their hopes were thwarted by “values voters.” He said liberals had been surprised by these “values voters” and had since sought to identify them so they could convince them not to vote.

Speaking of recent scandals including that of Congressman Mark Foley, Dobson said the headlines were being designed to convince values voters not to vote. Of the Foley scandal, Dobson asked, “What’s that got to do with the issues we’re faced with today?”

Dobson then asked the crowd if they were going to vote on Tuesday, and was answered with a loud, “Yes!” This was immediately followed by the loud bark of a Park Service police dog, possibly signaling his desire to vote, too, Dobson mused.

Serious once again, Dobson said too much was at stake for “values voters” to stay home. He mentioned the possibility that one or two Supreme Court justices could retire in the near future, and that if the U.S. Senate is held by a liberal majority, President George W. Bush will be unable to fill those vacancies with good judges.

Dobson also recounted the threats faced by our nation such as nuclear proliferation, the belligerence of North Korea and Iran, and threats from some Muslims who want to kill non-Muslims, and asked if the reins of government could be entrusted to those in Congress who do not understand these threats.

Dobson then spoke of South Dakota’s newest senator. “Senator John Thune is my friend, but John Thune should have been here today.” Dobson said he had already talked to Thune and told him he would be saying this today, expressing dismay that Thune had not taken a stronger stance in support of important state measures such as Referred Law 6.

On the subject of Roe v. Wade, Dobson said the case had been based on a lie, and continued in a lie to this day. He said that Norma McCorvey, the woman behind the case, has since become a Christian and admitted that she lied about having been pregnant from a gang rape.

A recent Pew poll shows that 73% of people say abortion is wrong, Dobson said. He also said 67% say abortion should be curtailed or banned. Dobson said the pro-life movement is winning, but, “We must not lose momentum, and much of that momentum will depend on what you do on November 7 in South Dakota.”

Dobson said that we must be compassionate to the rape victim, and that rapists should go to jail for the rest of their lives. Yet, he said, “You don’t punish the baby for the sins of the father.”

In support of marriage, Dobson quoted Genesis regarding the foundation of marriage since the beginning of the human race, and said cultures and religions across the entire earth throughout history have recognized this. He said that studies have proven that children do best in homes with a committed father and mother, and this stable home environment helps curb delinquency, school dropouts, and fosters better academic performance.

Dobson warned of a new idea that would be coming our way soon called “gender fluidity.” He said a new push for this concept was coming out of California, and would likely try to find its way into every other state. He said that the idea behind “gender fluidity” is that sex isn’t genetically determined, but is chosen. He said that adherents to this philosophy don’t want 5-year-olds to be told that they are boys or girls, but instead be told that they can work out their gender for themselves. Dobson said this involves unisex bathrooms and not determining whether children dress appropriate to their sex.

Pointing out that his wife Shirley is the head of the National Day of Prayer, Dobson said that Sunday November 5 had been designated as a National Day of Prayer and Fasting for the nation. He asked that even if people could not fast tomorrow, for whatever reason, they should please pray for the election.

And on Tuesday, “Go to the polls and take five people with you. Five to the polls to accomplish our goals,” Dobson rhymed.

As Dobson asked the people if they would vote for Referred Law 6 and Amendment C, their shouts of “Yes, yes!” could be heard echoing off the granite sculptures of Mt. Rushmore, making it seem that the rocks were indeed crying out.

“Let’s give everybody a shock on Tuesday night,” Dobson encouraged, as the rally drew to a close.