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© 1999 White Rose International, Inc

WHITE ROSE
INTERNATIONAL, Inc.

     Welcome to White Rose International, Inc. 

     For over sixty years, the White Rose has stood as a symbol of principled resistance to tyranny. In 1942, during the darkest days of World War II, it was the Weisse Rose -- a small group of German students and professors driven by their Christian values to oppose Hitler's war of aggression and genocide -- who pamphleted southern Germany with calls for resistance. They paid for their courage with their lives, but today the martyred members of the White Rose are revered as the conscience of war time Germany.

     Today, White Rose International (WRI) seeks to reclaim and promote the authentic Christian response to totalitarianism -- principled resistance -- which characterized Weisse Rose. WRI is dedicated to continuing in our own day the task of opposing fascism and totalitarianism through its threefold program to advance liberty:

    The exploding world of information provides a unique opportunity for those who love liberty to network and share news and resources. White Rose International monitors worldwide news sources, organizations and discussion forums to identify and analyze those political, religious, cultural and social developments that affect the advancement or restriction of democratic institutions and forms of government. 

    Democracies require stable institutions to maintain themselves. The rule of law, orderly transfers of power, access to justice and protection of civil liberties depend on administering institutions. In totalitarian societies, those institutions exist to serve the interests of the party or the state; in democracies, those institutions must be directed to serve the citizens and preserve their liberties.     

    WRI's commitment to building stable, democratic institutions includes drafting (and assisting in drafting) foundational documents, constitutions and statutes in developing nations of the world. These institutions are the means by which democracy is established and the means by which it is transferred to the next generation. While always sensitive to cultural differences between nations and the many modes by which democracy may be implemented, WRI maintains an unwavering commitment to liberty and the rule of law in all its international consultations.     

    Because the ballot box is the means by which democratic governments are kept accountable to those they are covenanted to serve, WRI also provides technical assistance and counsel to foster the development of free and fair elections in developing countries and around the world. All consultations are nonpartisan and available to all parties who share WRI's commitment to liberty.

     The spotty record of the Western democracies in advancing democratic institutions and forms of governments around the world can be traced to a commonly held fallacy -- that democracies can function as amoral, mechanistic, organizational devices for polling what 51 percent of the citizens want,  and yet remain vital and sustainable. They cannot.

     Successful democratic institutions and forms of government rest on a foundation of ethical principles that are frequently lacking in nations without a democratic tradition. History has shown that representative democracy, liberty, freedom of conscience and the institutions that foster them arose in the West because of a shared religious ethic. The limiting of governmental capriciousness and the extension of liberty to even the lowest citizen are the gifts of the Protestant Reformation to the world.    

    To that end, WRI works to foster understanding and appreciation of the biblical foundations of liberty and support the development of religious and civil liberty in the developing nations in contradistinction to fascist and totalitarian systems.