In years past, most Americans, it is safe to say, looked at the UN as, essentially, an ineffective debating society that had little or no effect on the United States. Additionally, most Americans saw nothing wrong with this arrangement. However, the very concept upon which the United Nations is founded is hostile to the U.S. way of life and government. As described elsewhere in this issue, the aim of the Insiders has always been to have the nations of the world, including the United States, give up their legislative authority, their economic independence, their judicial systems, and their militaries — indeed, their sovereignty — to the UN. Once this delegation of power is accomplished, the result would be an all-powerful world government able to impose its dictates anywhere in the world, whenever it pleases, without fear of opposition. This is a recipe for tyranny — tyranny on a scale never before witnessed or, indeed, contemplated in the history of the world.

Popular opinion holds that a chief U.S. opponent of this scheme is Senator Jesse Helms (R-NC). The Detroit News, for instance, recently characterized Helms as "one of the harshest critics of the United Nations," and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution described him as having a "hypercritical view of the United Nations." Such hyperbole is mere spin; in fact, Helms is not unalterably opposed to the UN at all. Instead of opposing American membership in the world body, he simply wants to reform it. "Let’s be crystal clear and totally honest with each other," Helms told the United Nations Security Council in a speech on January 20th, "all of us want a more effective United Nations." Helms’ performance at the UN even received praise from Insiders who have long have pushed for global government. Ruth Wedgewood, a Yale professor and senior fellow at the globalist cabal known as the Council on Foreign Relations, remarked that the senator’s performance "was surprisingly conciliatory." His address "seems to have lifted the mood in relations between the United States and United Nations," she said.

Lining up with Helms in the ranks of those who think the UN can be made over into something wholesome and useful rather than subversive, bureaucratic, and potentially tyrannous are certain non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including the Coalition for Women, Children and the Family, of which the Family Research Council is a part, and Family Voice: The World Family Policy Center. The latter brings many well-meaning and honorable people together through conferences such as last November’s World Congress of Families II to attempt to pressure the UN into becoming more cognizant of and friendly toward traditional family values. Family Voice, says the organization’s website, "is devoted to providing world-wide democratic input on pro-family and other value-based issues within the United Nations System." Taking UN advocacy to another level entirely is the Family Research Council. Darren L. Logan, in Washington Watch, the publication of the Family Research Council, opines that Christians must work within the UN. "The U.N. desperately needs a Christ-like witness," says Logan. "If we, as followers of Christ, withdraw, then who would provide that witness?" Continuing, Logan asks: "If, by our participation, the truth is spread, is it not possible that the policies of the United Nations and its member states may be transformed?"

An Effective Plan

A truly effective strategy for dealing with the UN was inadvertently mentioned by Senator Helms during his January 20th speech. "Eighty years ago," said the senator, "Woodrow Wilson failed to secure Congressional support for U.S. entry into the League of Nations." As a result, continued Helms, the "League of Nations withered on the vine."

Essentially, this is the key to stopping the globalist march of the United Nations. Robert Welch understood that if the United States dropped out of the UN, this latter-day League of Nations would also wither and die. As a result, Welch and the Americanist organization he founded, The John Birch Society (JBS), early on undertook a campaign to "Get US out! of the United Nations." That campaign continues to this day, and, as the JBS has spread the word about the UN threat to the United States, some remarkable successes have been realized.

"All we must find and build and use, to win, is sufficient understanding," remarked Robert Welch. This is the foundational philosophy of the Get US out! campaign, and during the 1970s and ’80s, members of the Society undertook a massive petition drive aimed at waking up the American people and their representatives and senators to the threat presented by the UN. Eventually, through hard work and perseverance, JBS members gathered 11 million signatures on petitions to Get US out! of the UN. These were then delivered to every member of Congress, in both houses, along with the book The United Nations Conspiracy by Robert W. Lee. Looking back at the effect of that petition drive, JBS Chief Executive Officer G. Vance Smith told THE NEW AMERICAN that the effort "sent UN popularity into decline among Americans."

The petition drive was only one part of the overall effort being made in the Get US out! campaign. The Society has produced, and members have distributed, countless pamphlets, books, videos, and flyers exposing the UN. Numerous speakers have criss-crossed the nation with this important message. JBS members have for decades placed large billboards conspicuously along the nation’s busy highways, informing motorists of the need to Get US out! Similarly, a great many members each year bring the campaign to the attention of their hometown neighbors by entering into parades floats featuring Get US out! signs. So too, John Birch Society booths sponsored by local chapters can be found in fairs and carnivals of all types around America during the summer months. At such booths, knowledgeable JBS members come in contact with thousands of fair goers while passing out literature informing others of the UN threat. Duplicating a massive effort undertaken in southern California 30 years ago, an enterprising chapter in Denver even purchased space on a mass transit system bus stop bench upon which was placed a beautifully designed Get US out! sign. Yard signs and bumper stickers further augment the campaign’s signage arsenal.

Dr. Paul immediately let it be known that other congressmen approached him after the vote to indicate that, although they hadn’t supported his proposal "this time," they were beginning to see the wisdom of extricating our nation from the UN’s clutches and would likely support a similar measure at the next opportunity.

Then, in 1999, a similar bill described by supporters and opponents alike as a Get US out! measure attracted 74 positive votes. These historic votes would not have been possible were it not for the effect of the longstanding John Birch Society campaign to Get US out! "Anyone who has been in the trenches over the years battling on any of the major issues — whether it’s pro-life, gun rights, property rights, taxes, government spending, regulation, national security, privacy, national sovereignty, the United Nations, foreign aid — knows that members of the John Birch Society are always in there doing the heavy lifting," observed Congressman Ron Paul.

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