Guess Who's Coming To Dinner--Not

Because I'm a committed Christian (a real one, not a fake one), as soon as I realized the kids and I were having very serious problems finding proper legal representation, I began requesting help from various Christian organizations that claimed to handle women's and children's issues because I felt sure one of them would be appalled at our situation and would assist us.

I contacted the Christian Legal Society and received a very nice emailed response that contained referrals from them to one attorney in Austin and another in San Antonio. I called the one in Austin, but his secretary called me back and said he couldn't help us, so I tried the one in San Antonio. This San Antonio lawyer had me fax some sample documentation to his office and then was kind enough to actually call me back himself to tell me he couldn't help us because of the people he'd be up against. (Note: This attorney's call was the closest thing I've had to a truly Christian response from a lawyer so far, and I was impressed by his honesty, although of course I was disappointed that he couldn't help us.) When I went back and emailed the CLS that their referrals had turned us down and asked for another, they sent me the numbers for the Texas State Bar's referral service, even though I'd told them originally that I was asking for their help because the referral service wasn't working out.

I also contacted Focus On The Family to ask for legal assistance, and I mailed them a packet of sample documentation to show them how serious our situation was. They mailed my documents back to me along with a cover letter that was addressed to me at my ex-husband's office address (which he uses as his home address)--which I hadn't even given them! This letter also contained an alternate address for their organization that the letter said I should use, but when I did, my correspondence was returned to me with a notation that the new address was actually an old one that was no longer in service.

More recently, I read somewhere that the Pacific Justice Institute, with offices in California and Washington, D.C. provided Christian legal support for women's and children's issues, so I contacted them and asked for assistance, but they responded with an email refusing to help us. They also began mailing me repeated solicitation letters asking me to contribute to their organization. (I didn't.)

Then a few days ago, I received the invitation to a fancy, expensive dinner in California from them that is posted here. Notice that Focus On The Family founder Dr. James Dobson is one of the persons being honored at this event for "exceptional contributions to upholding faith and family". The guest speaker is none other than Karl Rove, whose stated residence for voting purposes happens to be here in Central Texas and about 30 minutes from our house.

I won't be attending this event; I guess the PJI will have to use this post as my RSVP. So far, I personally haven't seen any Christianity, justice, or defense of faith or family from this organization--just harassment. (I would love for them to prove me wrong!) Oh, and FOF continues to send me spam emails almost daily.