Profiles in courage

Visit our News page Profiles in Courage By Brigitte Gabriel President, ACT! for America “Success is not final, failure not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill “Freedom lies in being bold.” Robert Frost “Courage is found in unlikely places.” J.R.R. Tolkien “Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.” John Quincy Adams “We must substitute courage for caution.” Martin Luther King, Jr. My friend, we are at a crossroads. We all know America faces challenges and problems on many, many fronts. We can choose to throw up our hands in despair and give up. Or we can draw strength from those who have faced great challenges, and steadfastly determine to re-double our efforts. Just this week, two little-noticed events occurred, one on the East Coast, one on the West Coast, that remind us what can happen if we persevere, if we don’t give up, if we have courage. In Washington state, one of our top chapter leaders helped a student with a report on Islam. In doing so, this chapter leader, using the ACT! for America Education textbook report, pointed out errors in how the student’s textbook treated Islam. This student had the courage to give this report to the principal and point out the flawed textbook. Imagine that! A student in effect saying to a principal, “this textbook has errors.” The principal read the student’s report—and decided to remove the offending textbook! Profiles in courage. The student—and the principal. In Northern Virginia, ACT! for America grassroots activists bombarded a local school board with emails and phone calls opposing an application for a charter school. Many showed up at the school board meeting. The charter school applicants are affiliated with the Gulen movement, a huge global Islamist movement led by a man named Fethullah Gulen. A movement that the publication “Jane’s Islamic Affairs Analyst” called “Turkey’s third power… a powerful political movement…” The school board voted 8 – 1 to deny the application. As one ACT! for America chapter leader put it, referring to the Gulen charter school applicants, “no one’s been able to stop them—until now.” Profiles in courage. The ACT! for America concerned citizens and the school board, who all risked being called “Islamophobes.” On Thursday evening, June 20th, during our National Conference & Legislative Briefing gala banquet, we will honor three “profiles in courage.” You need to be there if it’s humanly possibly. Because we all need inspiration now and then. We all need encouragement. We all need to be reminded that we can prevail. We all need to be reminded that we’re not fighting the good fight alone. These two victories above illustrate what ACT! for America is all about. Most people will never know they happened. But we do. And with every victory, great or small, noticed or unnoticed, we are turning the tide against the threat of radical Islam. A tide that has overwhelmed Europe and the United Kingdom because too few people had the courage, clarity and perseverance to resist. This is not the time to surrender to despair, discouragement, or hopelessness. This is the time to recognize that, when it comes to the threat of radical Islam here in America, we are prevailing. If you are one of those who is more determined than ever, we need you at the national conference. We need to draw from your strength. If you are one of those who needs encouraging, you need to be there with us. Because we’re all in this together. Like everyone else, there are days I battle discouragement. One of the ways I overcome that is just being around faithful ACT! for America supporters. Their spirit is electric, and contagious. So please join us on June 19 – 21. Because now is not the time to give up or give in. Now is the time for courage. Always devoted, Brigitte Gabriel ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACT for America P.O. Box 12765 Pensacola, FL 32591 www.actforamerica.org ACT for America is an issues advocacy organization dedicated to effectively organizing and mobilizing the most powerful grassroots citizen action network in America, a grassroots network committed to informed and coordinated civic action that will lead to public policies that promote America’s national security and the defense of American democratic values against the assault of radical Islam. We are only as strong as our supporters, and your volunteer and financial support is essential to our success. Thank you for helping us make America safer and more secure. 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