On Aug. 25, 1989, about 175 people were arrested as they protested the abortions being performed at 827 Webster St.

Saturday - 18 years to the day after perhaps the largest act of civil disobedience in Indiana history - the building will again be a magnet for people who want to put God's laws first.

And, this time, they'll have a friend in the courtroom.

“We found it very difficult to find legal representation at the time,” said Bryan Brown, a former leader of Northeast Indiana Rescue, a pro-life group. “(Local) attorneys who were experienced in that kind of law were few and far between, and not many were pro-life. So we ended up paying $20,000 for counsel that wasn't all that accomplished.”

In part to help Christians fight for their rights against a system he feels is too often biased against them, Brown has formed the Arch Angel Institute, which will use the former Women's Health Clinic as its headquarters when it opens later this year. As Brown envisions it, the Arch Angel Institute will be a pro-life, Christian version of the American Civil Liberties Union, defending its clients' rights against the state - in court, if necessary.

“ACLU is anti-Christian, and there needs to be a counterbalance,” said Brown, 48, who left Fort Wayne in the early 1990s and earned a law degree before going to work for the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy and Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline. When Kline lost his bid for re-election last year, Brown needed a new challenge - and the vacant former abortion clinic provided it.

Are the courts and society really biased against Christianity? Well, just last year the Supreme Court declined to review a court decision allowing public schools in New York City to ban Christmas displays while permitting a Jewish menorah and a Muslim star and crescent as secular cultural symbols. The University of Michigan this year said it will spend $25,000 on a foot-washing station for Muslim students, but would no doubt frown on use of tax dollars to install a cross in the school auditorium.

And, as Brown noted, Congress is debating the reinstatement of the “fairness doctrine,” which could force radio and television stations to provide “balance” - an obvious response to the popularity of conservative talk radio and the utter commercial failure of liberal programming. That may not be a religious issue, but it does touch on the social and cultural conservatism Brown promotes - issues he said can unite people of various denominations.

Brown's institute will have three divisions, all named after biblical archangels. The Raphael division will promote pro-life activities, among other things. The Gabriel division will include creation of Christian blogs, Web sites, radio programming and other media, along with a speakers bureau to promote the institute's political and social agenda.

The Michael division - named for the angel who led the fight in heaven against the devil - will tackle the legal work as soon as Brown becomes licensed to practice law in Indiana. In addition to representing pro-life causes, Brown also wants to promote open government and an appreciation of “natural law” among Christians.

“If Mary and Joseph had obeyed the law, Jesus might have been executed in Bethlehem,” Brown said, referring to the biblical story of the family's flight to Egypt to avoid the slaughter of newborns ordered by King Herod.

Some will dismiss Brown as a wild-eyed religious fanatic, and support for religious-based civil disobedience does pose obvious dangers. If everyone feels free to follow his or her own moral code, regardless of what the law says, wouldn't that breed anarchy? Isn't that what the Jihadists are doing?

“But there's a difference between (suing over) a personal offense and a constitutional offense,” said Brown, who also knows Christians are supposed to render to Caesar what rightfully belongs to him. Brown, for example, can't get too upset about those tax-funded foot-washing stations.

But he does get upset when basic rights are undermined because of a person's Christian beliefs - such as when traditional expressions of morality are stifled as “hate speech” or when students are told they can't tell stories about Jesus at school. “Certain situations just aren't given to compromise,” Brown said.

So he's coming back to Fort Wayne, where he hopes to raise enough money to renovate the century-old former clinic and operate his ambitious programs.

Personally, I think we have too many lawsuits already. But if people are determined to drag God into court, the legal battle should at least be a fair one. Brown and his angels are determined to try.