Given' Em Heaven at Yale University

Our invitation to Yale had been in the planning stages for three years. The faithful work of Marilyn Carroll and Carmen Vasquez had finally paid off. Yale Professor B.T. Chu would be our sponsoring professor along with the PLL (Pro-Life League), a Yale University student group. Everything was a go for the lecture on Friday, March 8, and then we dropped the Operation Save America press release:

OPERATION RESCUE CONFRONTS YALE UNIVERSITY
Leader of controversial anti-abortion group to speak on Yale Campus.

Rev. Flip Benham, the National Director of Operation Rescue/Operation Save America, will be taking the abortion battle right to the very gates of Yale University.

"On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States of America declared that a child in his mother's womb was not fully human and therefore not entitled to the full protection of the laws of our land," said Rev. Flip Benham. "Because of this open rebellion and blatant disregard for the Law of God and for life, our nation is suffering under the remedial judgments of God Himself. Blood is coursing down the corridors of our schools, work places, and streets. If the shedding of blood in the womb does not cease in America, September 11, 2001 will prove only a harbinger of judgments and disasters that are to come!"

Founded in 1701 as one of America's premier Christian colleges to train up ministers of the Gospel of Christ, Rev. Benham believes that Yale has strayed far from its roots. "We have a university founded upon Biblical principles that has expelled God from school and banished Him from the yard. Yale University has forgotten the God of her founders and, as a result, has become a wide gate of hell, murdering thousands of little boys and little girls in its university-sanctioned and sponsored abortion clinic!"

All hell broke out and all heaven came down as the Gospel battle began to unfold on this historic campus that had long since forgotten its rich Christian heritage. From 1701 to 1898 every single president of Yale had been not only a dynamic Christian, but a clergyman. Elisha Williams, Ezra Styles, and Timothy Dwhite were a few of the notable past presidents. A building on the campus bearing Ezra Styles name has come under attack recently by students because they believe Styles was a slaveholder and a "Christian bigot." There is a move afoot to remove his name from the building. The Yalies are doing all they can to erase the school's Christian roots.

Below is the response to our press release by one of the YLL:

"This press release is extremely confrontational … Did the OSA people not understand what I meant when I said that (1) This talk cannot be only addressed to Christians, and (2) the topic should be "Civil Disobedience and the Pro-Life movement"? OSA seems to be trying to convert all of Yale to Christianity. As laudable a goal as that may be, that is not why I asked Rev. Benham to come and speak here… And these are still the tactics we insist upon: (1) Use of natural law arguments for the right to life, not reliance on Christianity. (Many of the PLL's members are atheist or Jewish; I am not willing to alienate 15 of my members!); (2) Graphic photos and other media may only be shown to people who consent to see them; and (3) The topic will not be on how far Yale has strayed from God, the topic will be on "Civil Disobedience and the Pro-Life Movement." I am very upset, and am considering rescinding the invitation unless I receive further assurance from Rev. Benham that this talk will conform to our requirements."

It became immediately apparent that the school had no problem debating the abortion issue so long as God was not brought into the equation and onto the campus. Sounds like the National Right to Life! Yale was stirred into such a frenzy over the fact that God, an uninvited guest, was going to enter her hallowed gates that the pro-abortion lobby began calling its troops to battle. They wrote articles about us in the school newspaper that we were bombers, shooters, and a part of the Christian Taliban. But, because there was such a controversy, the president of the student Pro-Life League said she couldn't cancel the lecture. God is so good!

When the saints of Bridgeport and I arrived at Yale, there were about thirty students holding placards outside the William Harkness lecture hall. We immediately entered into conversation with them and found them to be brilliant, yet spiritually dead. They had miles and miles of knowledge with little depth and devoid of wisdom. One young man informed me that he had scored a 1600 on his SAT's, was a senior, and didn't need God to tell him what to do.

The lecture hall was packed. Several kids from Christian Heritage High School joined us as we took this Gospel battle to the very gates of hell and began to realize just how important it is to be able to give a reason for our faith. They were able to see with their own eyes the spiritual shallowness of those attending Yale and the unadulterated antipathy they have toward anyone who would dare proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord. They also began to realize during the "question and answer time" that the real debate was not about abortion at all - it was about who is Lord and whose laws reign. Yes, whenever we go to a college campus we have found that the kids will talk to us about abortion for a short period and then the conversation will inevitably move to what is really on their minds: "Is there a God? Can I know Him? Can you give me reasons why I should believe in Him? Is Jesus really the only way into heaven? Isn't that utterly intolerant? What about evolution?"

Several Yalies approached us after the lecture and thanked us for being there. Some of our foes became our friends. One young man from Longview, Texas, told me that he was a senior and couldn't wait to graduate because the views expressed during the lecture were not tolerated at Yale. Every "god" is tolerated here but the One who truly is God, Jesus Christ!

Professor Chu added, "I thought Rev. Benham's presentation was excellent. Thanks be to God! I was especially impressed by the respect and truly Christian manner he treated his critics. It is abundantly clear that he loves them just as Christ has commanded us to. This is not easy when our fallen nature would rather strike back, especially since we know for certain what is the truth and the facts. His talk verifies every words Lauren Mutti wrote about him! All the people I know on our side have the same opinion. We are all impressed by his faithfulness to Christ and genuine love for all!"

The spiritual bankruptcy we found at Yale in indicative of the spiritual bankruptcy we have found at college campuses across our land. The kids in these schools are being violently robbed of the knowledge of Almighty God. It is our privilege and our duty to bring God back to school - the gates of hell cannot prevail against Him!