Randall Terry

Infobox Person


image_size = 150px
name = Randall Terry
caption =
birth_name = Randall A Terry
birth_date = 1959
birth_place =
death_date =
death_place =
death_cause =
residence = Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
other_names =
known_for = Founding Operation Rescue
education =
employer =
occupation = Pro-life activist, author, musician
title =
salary =
networth =
height =
weight =
term =
predecessor =
successor =
party = Republican
boards =
religion = Roman Catholic
spouse = Cindy Dean (div. 2001)
Andrea Sue Kollmorgen
partner =
children = Ebony Whetstone
Jamiel Terry (adopted)
Tila Terry (adopted)
Faith Terry
parents =
relatives =


website =
footnotes =

Randall A. Terry is an American political and conservative religious activist and musician. He founded the pro-life organization Operation Rescue in 1987 and led the group for its first 10 years. He has been arrested more than 40 times for his anti-abortion activities. In 2003, he founded the Society for Truth and Justice and he conducted a program called Operation Witness. Terry was the spokesman for the Schindler family in the Terri Schiavo case. He was an unsuccessful Republican candidate for the Florida State Senate, eighth district in 2006.

Pro-life activist

Shortly after founding Operation Rescue, Terry was first arrested in 1986 for chaining himself to a sink at an abortion clinic. Operation Rescue grew to become a well-known example of civil disobedience by the American conservative right, and Terry was often in the news because of his activities as the group's leader. By the mid-1990s, Operation Rescue was, in Terry's words, "the largest peaceful civil disobedience movement in American history,"Fact|date=April 2007 accounting "for over 70,000 arrests from 1987 to 1994." Fact|date=April 2007

In 1990, Terry helped to organize protests outside the hospital where Nancy Cruzan was a patient, around the time that her feeding tube was removed. The group Missouri Citizens for Life also was involved in the protests, along with the Rev. Patrick Mahoney, and Terry's actual level of involvement is unclear.

In 1992, Terry, along with Robert Schenck and Harley David Belew, were arrested and sentenced to five months in prison for arranging to have a fetus in a jar delivered to then-presidential candidate Bill Clinton at the Democratic National Convention.

Lawsuit, NOW v. Scheidler

Terry was named as a co-defendant in the 1994 Supreme Court case, "NOW v. Scheidler", a class action suit to compel anti-abortion leaders to compensate clinics for loss of business. Terry settled out of court with the National Organization for Women. He promptly filed bankruptcy, prompting Senator Charles Schumer to propose an amendment to a bankruptcy bill in Congress which would "specifically ... prevent abortion opponents from using the bankruptcy code to escape paying court fines." The amendment was not included in the final bill.

On February 28, 2006, the Supreme Court voted 8-0 for Scheidler, against NOW. [http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/05pdf/04-1244.pdf]

Controversy in his personal affairs

In 2000, Terry divorced his wife of 19 years and married Andrea Kollmorgen, with whom he has had three children.

Flip Benham, the new head of Operation Rescue, reluctantly chastised Terry publicly. "Sadly, there is much more that could be mentioned, but this is sufficient to demonstrate that even if Randall's past efforts for the cause of Christ were considered, he has completely disqualified himself from any leadership position in the Christian community through his unwillingness to be held accountable for his adultery, theft, lies, deceptions, misrepresentations, perjury, failing to provide for his first wife and children, and evasion of church discipline.". [http://www.operationsaveamerica.org/articles/articles/please-remove-randalls-feeding-tube.htm] Included in the letter from OR is a note of censure from the Landmark Church of Binghamton, New York, Terry's church of fifteen years. He was censured for a number of reasons including a "pattern of repeated and sinful relationships and conversations with both single and married women."

Both of Terry's adopted daughters became pregnant outside of marriage; one later converted to Islam. [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A32934-2004Apr21?language=printer]

In 2004, Terry's son Jamiel, adopted at age eight, came out as a homosexual and wrote an article for "Out Magazine" [http://www.beliefnet.com/story/144/story_14448_1.html] .

In 2005, Terry joined the Catholic Church [http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=19866]

Political involvement

In 1993, Terry advocated hatred and intolerance as tools in achieving a Christian theocracy in the United States. He was quoted in the Fort Wayne Indiana News-Sentinel on August 16, 1993:

"I want you to just let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good.... Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a Biblical duty, we are called by God, to conquer this country. We don't want equal time. We don't want pluralism."

In 1998, Terry ran an unsuccessful campaign for Congress in New York as a member of the New York State Right to Life Party.

After the U.S. Supreme Court issued its 2003 ruling in "Lawrence v. Texas", which struck down a Texas law against sodomy, Terry advocated for the impeachment of the six justices who voted to strike down the state law. Fact|date=January 2007

In June 2005, Terry announced plans to run in the primary against Florida Republican state senator James E. King [http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51499] , citing King's work in attempting to block legislation which would have kept Schiavo alive. On September 5 2006, Terry was defeated in the primary, with King receiving over 2/3 of the votes cast.

Terry announced plans to run for the state legislature in 2008.

Terri Schiavo case

In 2003, Terry became the spokesman for Terri Schiavo's parents and was in the news as "Terri's Law" was passed in Florida. He continued as the Schindler's spokesman as the struggle rose to the level of national crisis and Schiavo's death in March 2005. [cite news
last = Susman
first = Tina
coauthors =
title = Crusading once again: A series of setbacks forced Randall Terry out of the public eye, but the 'family values' champion has returned
work =
pages =
language =
publisher = Newsday
date = 2005-04-03
url = http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usterr034202000apr03,0,2491642.story
accessdate = 2007-11-03]

Bibliography

*Accessory To Murder: The Enemies, Allies, And Accomplices To The Death of Our Culture (1990) ISBN 0-943497-78-7
*Why Does A Nice Guy Like Me... ...Keep Getting Thrown In Jail?: How theological escapism and cultural retreatism in the Church have led to America's demise. (1993) ISBN 1-56384-052-9
*The Sword: The Blessing Of Righteous Government And The Overthrow Of Tyrants (1995) ISBN 1-887690-00-X

Discography

*"I Believe in You"
*"Dark Sunglasses Day"

External links and references

* [http://www.randallterry.com/ Terry's official site]

*Imdb|2553986
* [http://www.plannedparenthood.org/news-articles-press/politics-policy-issues/abortion-access/randall-terry-11547.htm Planned Parenthood-Extremist Profile]

Older articles

* [http://www.forerunner.com/forerunner/X0471_Randall_Terry_Interv.html 1988 Interview] and [http://www.forerunner.com/revolution/rt.html An Interview with Randall Terry]
* [http://www.monitor.net/monitor/9-2-95/threat.html Operation Rescue Threatens New England Journal of Medicine]
* http://www.skepticfiles.org/fw/terry.htm
* [http://www.barf.org/articles/terry-campaign-video.html Randall Terry 1998 Campaign Video]
* [http://www.now.org/press/01-98/01-08-98.html N.O.W. Announces Victory Against Randall Terry]
* [http://www.operationsaveamerica.org/articles/articles/randallterryneedsprayer.html Please Pray for Randall Terry] and [http://www.operationsaveamerica.org/articles/articles/rt-unscruplous-pitch.htm Randall Terry - an Unscrupulous Pitch]
* [http://www.cyberussr.com/adg/posts/randall-terry.html Randall Terry shunned]
* [http://exchristian.net/exchristian/2002/03/randall-terry-quotes.php Randall Terry Quotes]

ites mentioning NOW settlement

* [http://www.feminista.com/archives/v2n1/wilson.html WOMAN'S RIGHT TO CHOOSE FOLLOWING NOW v. SCHEIDLER]
* [http://www.now.org/nnt/03-98/brmnghm.html NOW Mobilizes in Wake of Deadly Clinic Bombing]
* [http://www.cnn.com/US/9803/04/abortion.rico.lawsuit/ NOW sues anti-abortion activists under racketeering law]

upreme Court rulings in RICO case

* [http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/01-1118.ZS.html SCHEIDLER et al. v. NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN, INC., et al.] February 26, 2003
* [http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=US&navby=case&vol=000&invol=04-1244#opinion1 Seventh Circuit appeal] February 28, 2006

2003 (Terri's Law)

* [http://www.rutherford.org/oldspeak/articles/interviews/randall-terry.html Randall Terry Makes a Comeback] In-depth interview! Terry speaks for himself.
* [http://www.rcrc.org/news/commentary/abortion_zealots.htm Abortion, zealots and Randall Terry]
* [http://www.crooksandliars.com/stories/2005/05/28/randallTerry.html The Society for Truth and Justice?]
* [http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=20743 Randall Terry says, 'Partial-Birth Abortion Ban is a Political Scam but a Public Relations Goldmine.']
* [http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/369/ Randall Terry Resurfaces]
* [http://atheism.about.com/b/a/046212.htm Randall Terry Resurfaces (about.com)]

2004 (Jamiel comes out)

* [http://atheism.about.com/b/a/090241.htm Deconstructing Randall Terry]
* [http://www.beliefnet.com/story/144/story_14448_1.html A Rising Son] by Jamiel Terry and [http://www.beliefnet.com/story/144/story_14449_1.html Randall's response]
* [http://wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=37979 My prodigal son,the homosexual]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A32934-2004Apr21 Family Values: Randall Terry Fights Gay Unions. His Son No Longer Will]
* [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0404/25/sm.05.html CNN Interview With Randall Terry]
* [http://www.exgaywatch.com/wp/2004/05/randall-terry-a/ Randall Terry and Gay Son Jamiel Revisited]

2005

* [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,147852,00.html Schiavo Supporters Launch Protest Campaign]

March (Schiavo crisis and death)

* [http://www.theconservativevoice.com/articles/article.html?storyid=3896 Judicial Decrees Are Not 'The Rule of Law'] by Randall Terry
* [http://mediamatters.org/items/200503220001 Who is Randall Terry?] (summarizes Washington Post, other articles)
* [http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/03/25.html Randall Terry: Self Portrait]
* [http://www.newshounds.us/2005/03/25/radical_christian_antigay_activist_and_schiavo_spokesperson_randall_terryjokes_about_being_homosexual.php Randall Terry Jokes About Being Homosexual] and [http://www.newshounds.us/2005/06/25/who_will_vote_for_randall_terry_.php Who Will Vote For Randall Terry?]
* [http://talkleft.com/new_archives/010154.html Randall Terry's Unconventional Family]
* [http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-03-27-schiavo-inside_x.htm Anger at Bushes as time grows short for Schiavo]
* [http://www.stonescryout.org/archives/2005/03/jeb_bush_rising.html Jeb Bush Rising; Randall Terry Sinking] by James Jewell
* [http://www.sptimes.com/2005/03/29/news_pf/Tampabay/Voice_for_Schindlers_.shtml Voice for Schindlers shaped by activism]

April

* [http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ny-usterr034202000apr03,0,2491642.story Crusading once again: The 'family values' champion has returned]
* [http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20040412-091634-6744r.htm Outing Out magazine] by Randall Terry
* [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0404/15/lol.03.html Randall Terry's Family Torn Apart by Values]
* [http://www.truthout.org/cgi-bin/artman/exec/view.cgi/38/10638 A Deadly Culture of Life]
* [http://www.pensitoreview.com/2005/05/27/randall-terry-for-florida-senate/ Randall Terry for Florida Senate?]
* [http://www.zogby.com/Soundbites/ReadClips.dbm?ID=11411 Randall Terry exploring run for state senate]