• Sarah Posner @ Religion Dispatches: No Hen-Pecked Men Here: The Black Robed Regiment Before Beck.
• Good As You: Shockingly Misrepresented starring Cornerstone Policy Research (i.e. NOM by another name).
• Wayne Besen @ Truth Wins Out: Molotov Mitchell Hints At Support For Overthrow of Obama.
• Joe.My.God: Focus On The Family Defends Their Fight Against Anti-Bullying Programs.
• Towleroad: Sally Kern Says Gays Worse Than Terrorists...Again.
• Bartholomew’s Notes on Religion: Creation House Scrubs Terry Jones “Islam is of the Devil” Book.
• Julie Ingersoll @ Religion Dispatches: Kirk Cameron Joins the Anti-Mormon Chorus (Sort Of).

• The effort by the Pacific Justice Institute to force California to defend Prop 8 has been rejected.
• Chinese students will now be learning about abstinence from Focus on the Family.
• Gary Bauer blames the Discovery Channel hostage situation on the Left.
• This may be one of the dumbest WorldNetDaily articles I have never seen, and that is saying something.
• Speaking of WND, this first person tale from Glenn Beck's rally written by Victoria Jackson absolutely has to be read.
• AZ Gov. Jan Brewer did not get off to a good start in her debate last night.
• This NRA ad is actually rather funny, though the main character seems to be a pretty obvious rip-off of Danny McBride in "The Fist Foot Way."
• The battle of the century: Ray Comfort vs. Stephen Hawking.
• Finally the quote of the day from a column in the Baptist Press: "How should we as Baptists regard the growing popularity of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)? Simply put, we should hate it."

I will admit that I am utterly fascinated by the Family Research Council's "Prayer Team" and how it merges its political agenda with specific prayer recommendations.

The latest installment, in addition to asking participants to pray that God will grace the Values Voter Summit and use attendees to make a difference in the election, also seeks prayer to fight off the administration's embrace of Islam: 

May God continue to expose Obama's favoritism toward Islam and disfavor toward Biblical Christianity! May Christians arise to resist this religious invasion through prayer and by communicating truth!

But most interesting is the fact that FRC takes issue with the Obama administration for submitting a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council that covered both what the administration considered America's success and failures in the human rights arena. 

Of course, recognizing, or even perceiving, any sort of failure in anything America does is a monumental outrage:

May Americans learn of this egregious act to diminish American power and prestige, exalt the U.N. over us, and aggrandize the liberal Obama agenda. May voters grill candidates for office, and elect pro-American candidates this fall!

As I noted a few months ago, it is remarkable how FRC slowly seems to be transitioning from a political group with a religious agenda to a religious group with a political agenda.

The Republican strategy of painting President Obama as an arrogant politician with a messiah-complex dates back to the 2008 campaign, but conservative author David Limbaugh has intensified the use of discredited smears in order to vilify Obama as an evil narcissist. While promoting his new book Crimes Against Liberty (Regnery Publishing) in an interview with blogger John Hawkins of RightWingNews, Limbaugh claims that the “Marxist” Obama and members of his Administration “are tyrannical, dictatorial Stalinists” and that he is “systematically abusing his authority to contravene the rule of law and the Constitution to the detriment of our liberty.”

Limbaugh goes on to delve straight into Birther conspiracy theories:

I'll tell you the Framers, when they inserted that provision in the Constitution that you couldn't have an alien be President -- they did it because they didn't believe a foreigner would have the loyalties to our country. I will just say this and this is kind of irrespective of the rule of law in the legal question, I think Obama has the kind of visceral disloyalty and contempt for America that the Framers were trying to avoid.

I honestly don't know factually whether he was born in Hawaii, but I do know there's a lot of suspicious activity and he's done a lot to suppress his records. He's gone around and asked Harvard student classmates of his not to talk about him. We don't even know if he went to Columbia. Maybe we'll find out later, but this guy's mysterious and his background is so suspect and so negative after being raised by all these America-hating, racist, card-carry communists. ....And what was the question again?

But Limbaugh doesn’t stop there. After recently saying that Obama “truly believes he is god with a small g,” he goes on to say that Obama isn’t just a solipsistic tyrant, but also a secret Muslim:

Barack, while he very well may be a Christian, I'll issue that disclaimer; I have my serious doubts for a bunch of reasons.

We don't have time to go into them all, but he was born a Muslim. I think he has an affinity and an affection for that religion and that culture. You see it in his body language. You see it in his expressed statements. You see him writing in his book that the sweetest sound he ever heard was the Muslim call to prayer. I find that very odd that a Christian, an authentic Christian could say that.

I find it very curious that he could go to a church spewing a black liberation theology, which is more race centered and Marxist centered, than it is Christ centered.

Ralph Reed may have seen his political aspirations go up in flames thanks to his years of exploiting his Religious Right cronies for the benefit of corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff but, as we noted last week, that hasn't stopped a slew of right-wing leaders from signing on to participate in his upcoming Faith and Freedom Conference.

And Reed, whose ego and penchant for hyperbole have been the one constant throughout his career, is here to tell you, the ACLJ's Jordan Sekulow, and anyone who will listen that they had better plan on attending his awesome conference because it is not only going to change America, but it will change the lives of all those in attendance:

As you know, I was at the Christian Coalition in the 90s and I worked on the Bush campaign in 2000 and '04 and I decided to take that knowledge and that experience and, for lack of a better term, create a 21st Century Christian Coalition meets MoveOn.org with a smattering of the NRA.

So the Faith and Freedom Coalition is a grassroots permanent public policy organization that combines pro-family activists with what we might call the Tea Party activists uniting on the economic agenda as well as the pro-family agenda. We now have 400,000 people involved in the organization; we have state organizations in 23 states and as you mentioned, we're having our meeting, national gathering in DC September 10-11.

We're going to have over 60 of the leading conservative and pro-family activist leaders and organizers in the nation and I urge you to be here. It's going to change the life of our nation and it will change your life if you are able to be there. 

David Barton and Newt Gingrich have been working together for years now, but today was the first time Gingrich had ever appeared on Barton's "Wallbuilders Live" radio program.

Gingrich came on to discuss his recent column opposing the so-called "Ground Zero Mosque" and did so did so with typical Gingrichian belligerence, but eventually the topic turned toward how to actually prevent it from being built and Gingrich's preferred solution is for Congress to declare Ground Zero to be a national battlefield memorial:

Well, there are a lot of places. I think the Congress has the ability to declare the area a national battlefield memorial because I think we should think of the World Trade Center as a battlefield site; this is a war.

The Attorney General of New York, Andrew Cuomo, could intervene because frankly he has the ability to slow it down for decades if he wants to.

I am surprised that Mayor Bloomberg said it was okay and I think that if he reconsiders it, he'll decide its not.

There are a number of different steps that could be taken. There's no reason this has to occur and whether it's city, state, or federal there are plenty of ways for America to stop it.

Elsewhere, Barton gushes over Gingrich's amazing genius and notes that he has been utterly forgiven by the Religious Right for his previous multiple marital failings:

And finally, Rick Green asked Gingrich if he was planning on running for president in 2012, to which Gingrich replied that if he does decide to do so, Barton and Wallbuilders will be asked to play a key role in the campaign:

Green: Mr. Speaker, my wife and I were really wanting to be able to vote for you for president two years ago. Are we going to get to do that in 2012?

Gingrich: All I can tell you is that sometime in February or March, Calista and I and our family will be making this decision. As you know, I'm a great admirer of your work and of all you've done to teach Americans about their history and the roots of American freedom. And I can assure you that if we do decide to run next year, we're promptly going to call you and say "we need your help, and we need your advice, and we need your counsel." It's more than a voting matter. If we decide to run, David, we're going to need you.

The Liberty Counsel is "totally APPALLED that certain conservative leaders are backing down in their defense of marriage while making major concessions to the views of the pro-homosexual community."

Obviously, "certain conservative leaders" means "Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, and others who waffle to take a strong public stand for the protection of marriage," which is why LC has started a petition demanding that conservatives: 

1. Express support for a Federal Marriage Amendment that defines marriage as being "a union between one man and one woman."

2. Demand that conservative party chairmen - and other conservative congressional, gubernatorial, and party leaders - make the protection of marriage a key part of their policy positions.

LC's goal is to get 100,000 signatures over the next 30 days "so that we can present these petitions directly to nationally recognized leaders, especially those who are caving in to pressure from pro-homosexual activists."

Here is the petition:

As an American who recognizes the crucial importance of the sanctity of marriage to the welfare of any culture, I am appalled by conservative leaders who are waffling in support of the definition of marriage as being "a union between one man and one woman." I am also outraged by President Obama's outspoken intent to repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and by activist judges disregarding the clearly expressed will of the majority of the people by striking down states' pro-marriage initiatives. I am deeply concerned that pro-homosexual activism is undermining the very foundations of our culture.

I believe that events in California, Massachusetts, and other states have signaled the beginning of an avalanche of judicial challenges against marriage in our country, and I am therefore asking you to actively protect the sanctity of marriage by:

1. Making the protection of marriage a key issue in your party's policy statements and official platform.
2. Publicly supporting a Federal Marriage Amendment stating that "marriage is a union between one man and one woman."
3. Working to preserve the federal Defense of Marriage Act.

Marriage is vital to the social well-being of any nation. I urge you to use your influence to make the defense of marriage a bedrock issue in your party's platform and campaigns. My position on the definition of marriage being "between one man and one woman" is completely non-negotiable!

Rick Joyner of Morning Star Ministries and The Oak Initiative just cannot decide if President Obama is a Christian or a Muslim.  On the one hand, Joyner says, Obama has a dog and hosts barbeques at the White House which are "things that no devout Muslim would do."  But then, on the other hand, maybe Obama is just following the "teachings in the Koran that allow for any Muslim to break the laws of Islam in order to deceive their enemies until they have gained an advantage over them."

So you can see why Joyner is just so confused ... and especially concerned that Obama the Muslim just might be engaging in treason:

I am about 55 percent persuaded that Obama is a Christian and 45 percent that he is possibly a Muslim, and at times I have been more persuaded that he is a Muslim. This ratio began for me believing that he was a Christian at about 95 percent, so I fully understand why so many are beginning to believe he is a Muslim, and I think it’s possible that soon the percentage will be rising.

One fact that should be very clear to any thinking, unbiased observer is that from the beginning of Obama’s Administration, we cannot trust what he says, but we have to observe what he actually does, which is to judge him by his fruit. Even a casual observer would see that Obama has demonstrated a great deal of hostility toward Christians and Jews and has demonstrated a basic affinity for Islam and Muslims.

...

In judging Obama’s faith, many are simply using the basic reasoning that “if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck—it’s a duck!” No doubt President Obama is acting more like a Muslim, and doing far more to promote Islam, while at the same time demonstrating disdain or hostility toward Christians and Christianity. The fruit of his actions bears strong evidence that Obama is indeed a Muslim, or at the very least has far more affinity for Islam than Christianity.

So why am I not persuaded that he’s a Muslim? I would believe this except for one thing—I inquired of the Lord about this and feel that I have been shown something else—that deep in his heart he wants to know the real Jesus, just as many Muslims do. He has had a hard time finding Jesus in His people. He has had bad influences to shape his life and bad counselors now. I’m praying for the Lord to raise up a Joseph or Daniel to help him.

Even so, presently we are no doubt in a very grave situation in our nation with a President who has, at the very least, shaped by some bad influences. If Obama is a Muslim, this could mean that the things being done that are eroding the core strength of America could be intentional, not just done out of ignorance. That would make it treason of the highest order.

Earlier this year, Bob Vander Plaats made a run for the GOP nomination for Governor in Iowa. He did not win and so he has now turned his attention toward "convincing Iowans the three Iowa Supreme Court Justices up for a retention vote on the Nov. 2 ballot should be kicked off the bench."

To that end, he recently showed up on Bryan Fischer's radio program where they two discussed the supreme importance of this effort and Fischer revealed that the American Family Association has already dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into the campaign:

Fischer: Well, I'm pleased and honored to bring with us on our Newsmaker line from the great state of Iowa, Bob Vander Plaats. Bob, a former candidate for Governor in the Hawkeye State and founding president of MVP Leadership, Bob welcome to Focal Point with Bryan Fischer.

Vander Plaats: Well, Bryan it's a thrill to be on your program. Thank you for everything that you do with AFA.

Fischer: Well Bob, I got to tell you, there are a lot of important elections that are coming up November 2; we are talking about an effort to change the leadership of this entire country by sending better people back to Washington that are going to care about fiscal restraint, who care about the Constitution. But for my money I think that it's possible that the single most important election this November 2 is going to take place in the state of Iowa. This is huge, it's important, you're leading the charge on this particular campaign, so tell us what's important about November 2 in the state of Iowa.

Vander Plaats: Well, first of all Bryan I couldn't agree with you more. I do believe the most important election will be happening right here in Iowa. What happened Bryan, just to give your listeners a little bit of background; on April 3, 2009 we had a Supreme Court that completely stepped outside of their jurisdiction, they made law from the bench, they governed from the bench, they attempted to amend the Constitution from the bench all in an effort to redefine the institution of marriage from one man-one woman, which we've been for 161 years to say "no, now we will be a same-sex marriage state." And I'm leading the effort to vote three of these Supreme Court justices off the bench - we have a retention process in Iowa - but we want to vote these three Supreme Court justices off the bench to hold them in check.

Fischer: Through our political arm, AFA Action, we are heavily invested in this campaign. I want our listeners to know that we are involved in this campaign, we want to see this thing go forward, we have put a couple of hundred thousand dollars into this campaign to stand for natural marriage and Bob Vander Plaats leading the cause there in Iowa.

Fischer and the AFA have long been among the most vigilant and vicious and anti-gay activists operating today, so it is no surprise to seem them get deeply involved in the Iowa fight, to such an extent that they appear to be essentially running the entire Iowa For Freedom operation:

I wonder if the people of Iowa realize that this campaign is being financed by a group that believes that gays should be banned from serving in public office, claims that gays are no different from murderers, liars, thieves, and slave traders, claims that gay sex is a form of "domestic terrorism" and that homosexuality ought to be criminalized, and that Hitler filled the Nazi ranks with gay soldiers because gays have no limits to their savagery and brutality?

• Stephanie Mencimer @ Mother Jones: Glenn Beck's George Washington Whopper.
• Tanya Somanader @ Think Progress: Ohio Tea Party Survey To Candidates: Reject Gay Rights, Let God Deal With Climate Change.
• Chris Rodda @ Talk to Action: Message to U.S. Airmen: "Accelerate Your Christian Journey."
• Steve Benen: Dobson's group: anti-bullying programs part of elaborate plot.
• Michelle Goldberg @ The Daily Beast: Beck Revives the Mormons.
• Eric Lach @ TPM: Tancredo: First Lady Wanted To Ban Christmas Artifacts At The White House.
• Sarah Posner @ Religion Dispatches: Evangelicals have “Deep Concerns” about Beck.
• Alan Colmes: Conservative Radio Station Polls Whether Muslims Should Be "Registered" In A "Time of War".

• Sen. Lisa Murkowksi has finally conceded to Joe Miller in the Alaska GOP primary.
• Vanity Fair has a long profile of Sarah Palin which I just don't think I can tolerate reading.
• GODTV will be airing The Call.
• Speaking of Lou Engle, he says Glenn Beck is a "moral voice" not a "spiritual voice."
• Concerned Women for America finally addresses the important issues regarding Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber, and "cougars."
• Finally, the paraphrased quote of the day from Gary Bauer: "Bauer adds that the media unfortunately did a good job of destroying the political career of Dan Quayle, who he says was sort of the Sarah Palin of that era."

Michael Farris weighs in on the fact that lots of conservatives suddenly seem less gay-unfriendly by noting that while people like Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck might be "friends" of the conservative movement, they are not "true heroes." 

And he says he knew all along that Ken Mehlman was not a "true hero" because once, when he was meeting with Mehlman at the White House, the meeting was cut short so that Mehlman could speak with Dick Cheney's daughter - the lesbian one:

This came on the heels of news that Ken Mehlman, former chairman of the Republican National Committee, had confirmed long-standing rumors that he is gay -- an announcement in which he also declared himself a supporter of same-sex marriage. I can personally confirm that Mehlman, a dynamic, articulate conservative strategist when he was working in the Bush White House, was, even then, an effective supporter of the concept.

One day I was in his office talking to him about the political necessity of the Federal Marriage Amendment -- which he was decidedly cool towards -- when he abruptly terminated our meeting because he had to speak with Vice President Cheney’s daughter. And, yes, it was the Vice President’s lesbian daughter.

...

Christians must be able to distinguish between the so-called "good ideas" of conservative spokesmen like Beck and Coulter and the authentic moral truth found only in Scripture. Generic faith never saved anyone and it will not offer political salvation to America ... Glenn Beck and Ann Coulter are admittedly pretty good friends. On many issues they take a strong stand for traditional values and conservative principles. But they are not true heroes to those who hold to a biblical worldview. They get a lot of issues right -- and we can work with them whenever our interests align. But we should not hold them up as champions and allow our movement to be defined by their convictions, because they are so radically different regarding important fundamental presuppositions.

The morning after his Renewing Honor rally on the National Mall, Glenn Beck sat for an interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace, who actually asked Beck some tough questions about calling President Obama a racist and attacking his faith. Beck retracted his notorious comments calling Obama a hater of white people and “white culture,” saying the problem was with Obama’s connections to liberation theology and its notion of collective salvation.

“I’m not judging him for that.” said Beck. “I'm not demonizing it. I disagree with it."

Really, Glenn? Not judging or demonizing?

Here’s what Beck said on air less than two months ago:

“It is evil. Collective salvation, excuse me for being a Jesus freak, is from Satan. Collective salvation is from the devil, not God. And we have some audio of the president talking about his collective salvation. His personal salvation will not happen unless there is collective salvation. That is evil.”

Whew. What would Beck demonizing somebody look like?

It might look like Beck showing a 40-year-old video of a radical Black Panther leader Khalid Abdul Muhammad calling for white people to be killed and insinuating that there is a connection between that screed and President Obama. It might look like this:

… this is the root of social justice. Social justice has to happen because we all are in this together. It also is the way that you can excuse killing cracker babies. You can kill millions of people because they don't get it, and if we don't get them out of the way, we can't all be saved. Now, this is the religious context. Now, not everybody who is — you know, most people who are like Stalin, they don't believe in the religious side. But the American social justice progressive, in the way the early 20th century or Jeremiah Wright understand collective salvation, this is it. And it is out and out evil.

I will be the first to admit that I know next-to-nothing about Islam, which is why I recently picked up a copy of "Memories of Muhammad: Why the Prophet Matters" by Omid Safi.

Now, obviously reading one book makes me only slightly less uninformed than I was before, but it has helped me to realize that the AFA's Bryan Fischer not only has no idea what he is talking about when it comes to Islam and Muslims, but that he just doesn't even care if anything he says is even remotely truthful.

Even though the book was written last year, there are passages that address the Islamophobia that is currently sweeping the Right and seem perfectly directed at people like Fischer, who use innuendo, half-truths, and outright lies to paint all Muslims as violent terrorists:

One of the most common mistakes made in cross-religious conversations is that people end up comparing the loftiest and noblest aspects of their own tradition with the most hideous aspects of others.

...

A common ploy by Islamophobes is to go to a predictable list of verses in the Qur'an and the words of Muhammad and to argue that these verses - with no context, no interpretation, and no alternative set of verses - represent the essence of Islam for all eternity, no matter what Muslims may say or why they may protest.

This new post by Fischer today is a perfect example of this tendency in action.

Fischer takes the story of Ahmed Mohamed Nasser al-Soofi and Hezam al-Murisi, who were detained on suspicion of planning a terror attack but released when authorities found no such evidence, and uses it to "prove" that all Muslims are, in fact, terrorists:

What officials don’t realize is the fact al Soofi apparently acted on his own makes the case against the theory that there are any truly moderate Muslims in America crumble like a cheap Bedouin tent in a mild breeze.

In other words, al Soofi was a classic moderate Muslim, someone we’re told is not a threat to anyone, not a part of any terrorist cell, is a follower of the religion of peace and a man who only wants to contribute to America and realize the American dream.

Now it looks like he was trying to figure out a way to blow 300 of us to kingdom come.

The bottom line is this: if we can’t even trust “moderate” Muslims, which members of the Islamic persuasion can we trust? If a convenience store clerk in Tuscaloosa can go jihadi on us with no warning, how many other Muslims like him do we have to worry about?

The constant, constant danger is that a “moderate” Muslim may suddenly begin to take his religion seriously and get about the business of blasting some of us infidels to our final reward as his god and his religion teaches him to do. If a guy like al Soofi can’t be trusted, then no “moderate” Muslim in America can be trusted. We have to be cautious with them all.

Fischer has long been convinced that every Muslim is a terrorist, so it comes as no surprise that he would seize on this article.  But it is absolutely remarkable how he manages to present a case in which a Muslim was released after authorities determined that there was no evidence he was plotting an attack as proof that all Muslims are plotting terrorist attacks!  

For Fischer, a complete lack of evidence that al Soofi was plotting an attack or had any ties to terrorist organization is simply more evidence that every Muslims is violent radical at heart. 

Yesterday I was mocking Glenn Beck's new "Black Robe Regiment," noting that is seems to be nothing more than a duplication of a dozen other already existing Religious Right efforts to get pastors and religious leaders to take a stand on political and cultural issues.

But it turns out that even the name of Beck's group is redundant, because such an organization already exists:

The “Black Regiment” was a group of patriot-preachers from virtually every protestant denomination located throughout Colonial America at the time of America’s fight for independence who courageously preached the Biblical principles of liberty and independence. The moniker stems from the tendency of these patriot-preachers to wear long, black robes in their pulpits.

The inspiration for this directory comes from the scores of people throughout America who have contacted me asking if I knew of “Black Regiment” pastors in their respective cities. This directory is an attempt to help the many hundreds and thousands of Christians across America who desire to fellowship and worship with a courageous pastor who knows what is going on and is not afraid to preach truth to power. Men who are not enamored with political correctness or political parties. Men who love America’s Christian history and heritage. Men who support and defend the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence. Men who preach the Bible and are not owned by committees. Men who do not grovel before the wealthy and affluent. These are the kinds of men who comprise the “Black Regiment.”

The organizer of this group is none other than Chuck Baldwin, the 2008 Presidential nominee of the Christian Reconstructionist Constitution Party.

And you know who has signed up to be a member of Baldwin's "Black Regiment"?  Well, in addition to Wiley Drake, we find this name:

Perhaps you recall Mr. Anderson from when he made news last year for declaring that God commands you to kill gays:

You want to know who the biggest hypocrite in the world is? The biggest hypocrite in the world is the person who believes in the death penalty for murderers and not for homosexuals. Hypocrite. The same God who instituted the death penalty for murderers is the same God who instituted the death penalty for rapists and for homosexuals - sodomites, queers! That's what it was instituted for, okay? That's God, he hasn't changed. Oh, God doesn't feel that way in the New Testament ... God never "felt" anything about it, he commanded it and said they should be taken out and killed.

So not only is the mission of Beck's new effort redundant, it shares its name with an already existing group containing activists who openly call for gays to be put to death.

You know, maybe Beck should just go back to organizing Tea Party events and uncovering convoluted conspiracy theories on his chalk board.