Brian Tashman's blog

In the world of Religious Right activists, waging a campaign to convince the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation to cut funding to breast cancer exams at Planned Parenthood clinics is an admirable exercise of public advocacy, but when people join a campaign to convince the Komen foundation to continue their partnership with Planned Parenthood to fight breast cancer, it’s “gangsterism.”

After Komen released a statement that opened the door to maintain its ties to the women’s health organization, Planned Parenthood said it is “heartened that we can continue to work in partnership toward our shared commitment to breast health for the most underserved women” and “enormously grateful that the Komen Foundation has clarified its grantmaking criteria.”

The uproar not only resulted in a huge black eye to Komen but also helped Planned Parenthood raise over $3 million to protect their breast health program from cuts. Moreover, the controversy exposed the Religious Right’s unabashed glee that tens of thousands of women would lose access to breast exams and gave them another opportunity to rekindle the debunked claim that abortion is linked to breast cancer.

But their excitement at women losing access to cancer screenings seems to be fading with the new statement from Komen.

Mona Charen of the National Review Online lamented that “it’s extremely disappointing that Komen has caved” but “it’s hardly surprising given the onslaught they’ve endured over the course of the last few days,” and NRO’s Daniel Foster charged Planned Parenthood with “gangsterism.” Of course, just days prior Kathryn Jean Lopez on NRO hailed Komen’s initial decision as a major victory, noting “this Komen-Planned Parenthood relationship has long been a target of pro-life activists.”

Catholic Family and Human Rights Initiative (C-Fam) president Austin Ruse told LifeSiteNews called potentially successful effort to have the Komen foundation reverse their decision defunding Planned Parenthood a “mafia shakedown”:

Pro-life leaders say that the exact import of the statement is not yet clear, and that Komen seems to be asking for breathing room, possibly with the intention of caving in definitively to pro-abortion pressure.

Austin Ruse of C-Fam told LifeSiteNews.com Friday morning that, “The mafia shakedown tactics may have worked, but we’re not sure.”

Ruse advised that pro-lifers should “take a wait and see attitude” to discern whether the pro-abortion pushback against Komen would succeed.

Kristen Walker of Live Action called it a “terrible shame that Komen has caved in to political pressure from pro-abortion fanatics who demand obeisance to Planned Parenthood” and wondered what will happen to all the money people gave to Komen to reward them for dropping Planned Parenthood:

If raising money to cure breast cancer were their primary concern, they would not have reversed this decision. Their donations went up 100% in the short time since they announced the halting of grants to PP as pro-lifers who have refused to donate to Komen opened their wallets to thank them for their decision, happy to finally be able to give to their good work of fighting breast cancer with a clear conscience. I wonder if Komen has given any thought to the fact that those people gave money in good faith believing it wouldn’t be used to fund abortions. Will they refund that money? I guess we’ll see.

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It is a terrible shame that Komen has caved in to political pressure from pro-abortion fanatics who demand obeisance to Planned Parenthood. It is a terrible shame they’re allowing PP and its followers to compromise their mission to cure breast cancer.

Evangelist Bill Keller warned that the latest move by the Komen foundation may well lead to “the wrath and punishment of God unleashed on this wicked nation at any moment”:

Keller said, "It only shows the level of spiritual decay in this nation when a private foundation who made a decision to stop giving money to the world's largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, causes the media, politicians, and the supporters of killing babies to go into a wild frenzy. The Catholic Church has always stood for the sanctity of life, yet Catholics like Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry, Joe Biden, and MSNBC's Chris Matthews, were livid that the Komen Foundation decided to stop giving a $250,000 annual grant to Planned Parenthood."

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Keller concluded, "You don't have to be a Biblical scholar to know that we are on the verge of seeing the wrath and punishment of God unleashed on this wicked nation at any moment. Every 24 hours we slaughter approximately 4,000 innocent babies. Where is the outrage about that in the media, in the halls of Congress? Sadly, society doesn't even give it a second thought and has fully embraced this 'culture of death' which hangs over this nation like a black cloud."

UPDATE: Liberty Counsel Action is now urging its members to cancel any donations they made to Komen, with Matt Barber arguing that the group should change their name to “Susan G. Komen for the Cause,” pushing the discredited charge that abortion is linked to breast cancer:

The reversal comes on the heels of news that Komen’s donations jumped 100% after deciding to defund Planned Parenthood, the nation’s leading abortion provider that is currently under criminal investigation in multiple venues. Liberty Counsel Action is encouraging its members to cancel any checks and credit card contributions made in the wake of Komen’s initial decision to defund Planned Parenthood and asking any pro-life participants in Komen’s June 2 Global Race for the Cure run in Washington, D.C. to withdraw.

Matt Barber, Vice President of Liberty Counsel Action, says that anyone who sincerely wants to contribute to the fight against breast cancer has dozens if not hundreds of other options from hospitals to other nonprofit organizations, but Komen should be off the list.

“It’s a sad day for those who both seek a breast cancer cure and who respect the dignity of all human life,” said Barber. “Susan G. Komen for the Cure should recognize that abortion is not a cure for anything. Perhaps they should change the name to Susan G. Komen for the Cause. What a tragic paradox. There is mounting medical evidence that indicates abortion significantly increases the risk for breast cancer.”

Calling Komen’s decision “the coward’s way out,” Barber said that the decision to once again partner with Planned Parenthood was nothing more than capitulation to “tremendous left-wing political pressure.”

“They have chosen death over life – cancer over cure,” said Barber. “Instead of showing courage, they caved. Komen is now part of the breast cancer problem rather than the solution.”

JC Penney quickly shot down the American Family Association’s campaign through its subgroup One Million Moms to have the retailer fire Ellen DeGeneres as their spokesperson because she is openly gay, but that hasn’t stopped the organization’s efforts. Instead of calling JC Penney’s corporate office, now OMM is telling activists to call local managers. OMM accused the corporate office of “insulting” them by not bowing to their anti-gay pressure campaign, and now hopes that store managers will be easier targets:

OMM began contacting JC Penney after the store announced that comedian Ellen DeGeneres would become the company's new spokesperson. Funny that JC Penney thinks hiring an open homosexual spokesperson will help their business when most of its customers are traditional families. As consumers, what we find tragic is a corporate office and customer service department that not only transfers customers to voicemail, but even hangs up on them rather than verses hearing their concerns.

It is absurd to think that a company would find treating customers in this fashion an acceptable behavior. Our members stated their concerns in a kind, professional manner. Insulting customers by ignoring us will not be tolerated. OMM members can shop elsewhere if JC Penney does not appreciate our business. Unless JC Penney decides to be neutral in the culture war and listen to customers in a considerate fashion, their brand transformation will be unsuccessful.

Degeneres is not a true representation of the type of families who shop at the retailer. The small percentage of customers they are attempting to satisfy will not offset their loss in sales by offending the majority.

Since JC Penney won't listen to us nationally, it is time we let them hear from us locally!

Since the corporate office doesn't consider your call important, please call your local store manager. Local managers are more likely to listen to your concerns and pass them along to the corporate office.

Please be kind when you ask them to tell corporate that Ellen DeGeneres is a poor choice for spokesperson and should be replaced with someone who more represents your family values.

OMM spokeswoman Monica Cole, last seen attacking Glee, told the AFA affiliated OneNewsNow that DeGeneres doesn’t make a good spokesperson because of the small size of the openly gay community:

But Monica Cole, director of American Family Association's advocacy groupOneMillionMoms.com, tells OneNewsNow the campaign might backfire since only an estimated 1.7 percent of the population is homosexual.

"Yes, DeGeneres is not a true representation of the type of families that shop at their store," says Cole. "And they're going to be gaining a very small percentage of liberal customers. This will not satisfy or offset their loss in sales. They will be losing more than they'll be gaining."

In hiring a lesbian to sell the public on the idea of shopping at J.C. Penney, the company is making the mistake of turning its back on its base of customers, says Cole.

"[We're] asking J.C. Penney to hire a spokesperson who's more representative of the type of the customers that shop in their stores, such as traditional families," she concludes.

OneMillionMoms is asking people to call J.C. Penney to politely ask that DeGeneres be replaced -- and that instead of "jumping on the pro-gay bandwagon," the firm take a neutral stance in the culture war.

In his daily radio bulletin, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins used a series of puns to express his outrage at Starbucks over the company’s support for legislation in Washington state to legalize same-sex marriage. The National Organization for Marriage and Liberty Counsel have also attacked the coffee company for supporting gay rights, and one pastor even said that the decision is proof that “Starbucks Hates God.” Perkins lashed out at Starbucks’ “attack on marriage” and “radical agenda,” warning “if Starbucks wants to focus on politics, then its profits are on dangerous grounds”:

Perkins: There's more than coffee brewing at Starbucks. There's controversy too. Hello, I'm Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. Starbucks is stirring the pot all right, but with a liberal agenda that's got customers shaking their heads. In the fight over marriage in Washington State, the Seattle company is picking sides. Last week, the chain announced it'll join the attack on marriage and endorse homosexual unions. Spokesman Karen Holmes said, "This important legislation is aligned with Starbucks business practices... It is core to who we are and what we value as a company." Well, it may be at the core of who Starbucks is, but it's not at the core of who America is. Voters overwhelmingly believe in man-woman marriage--and they've passed 30 straight amendments to prove it. If Starbucks thinks people like their radical agenda, I hate to spill the beans. But people can get their caffeine fix anywhere. So if Starbucks wants to focus on politics, then its profits are on dangerous grounds.

It’s been a tough few years for prosperity gospel televangelist and anti-gay activist Eddie Long. In 2010, four male members of his New Birth mega church accused the Word-Faith preacher of coercing them into sex, and after settling out of court with a confidentiality agreement, some accusers spoke out nonetheless. Long’s ex-wife accused him of abuse and his second wife filed for divorce, then rescinded her divorce petition until ultimately going through with the divorce, and a star member of Long’s congregation, Bernice King, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., resigned and left the church. After taking a leave of absence, Long eventually returned to New Birth and last month a Messianic Jewish rabbi, Ralph Messer, who “actively teaches the Hebrew Roots of the Christian Faith” and claims to have “an Apostolic and Evangelistic anointing,” crowned Long king on Sunday by wrapping him in a Torah scroll he says was found in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp “on behalf of the Jewish people, the land of Israel and the God of Israel.”

“He is a king, God’s blessed him, he’s a humble man, but in him is kingship, in him is royalty, in him was the land of Israel,” Messer declared: “He’s no longer a commoner, he’s not on the earth, he’s raised from earth into a heavenly realm, he’s raised in a prophetic position, he’s released by God, he’s breaking pagan traditions, breaking into areas of God, he’s releasing Atlanta, Georgia, it’s not him, it’s the king in him.”

Dr. Will Gafney of Lutheran Theological Seminary offered a 27 point refutation of Messer’s preaching, and naturally, the crowning is not sitting well with Jewish leaders and even Messianic Jews:

Jewish leaders are criticizing a ceremony that involved a controversial megachurch leader being wrapped in a religious scroll and exalted as a "king" to the applause of his parishioners.

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Rabbi David Shiff of Congregation Beth Hallel, a Messianic Jewish synagogue in Roswell, condemned the actions in the video.

"Ralph Messer in no way represents Messianic Judaism," Shiff said. "He is not affiliated with any legitimate branch of Messianic Judaism. His actions in no way reflect the position of Messianic Judaism. I found the presentation to be repulsive and inappropriate."

The Torah is one of Judaism's most sacred objects and Jewish groups said the notion that it was used in a ceremony at the church was offensive.

"The notion that he wraps Bishop Long in a Torah is horrifying simply because it's completely inappropriate. It's an awful way to use the Torah," said Bill Nigut of the Anti-Defamation League. "And it doesn't in any way approximate any Jewish ritual."

Roy Moore, the former Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court who was removed from office for failing to follow a court order to move his replica of the Ten Commandments, is now in a four-person race for Chief Justice following his two failed gubernatorial bids and an aborted run for president. Yesterday on City on a Hill Radio, Moore said it seems that the government has become “the enemy of the people” because of its promotion of “tolerance and diversity,” which he described as dangerous concepts. He went on to say that the legalization of same-sex marriage is proof that “our government is doing a lot that is to destroy this country and it is against the people”:

Moore: When you said ‘the government can become the enemy of the people,’ I don’t know that the government is not already the enemy of the people. When it denies the faith upon which the Constitution and our country was founded, when it is de-educating our children with some of these schools teaching them tolerance and diversity, just think of those concepts: should we praise diversity? We’re one nation under God, that’s not diverse, that includes all people, black, white, yellow, red, it includes all people, people are one under God, and that’s what it’s supposed to be, you should love your neighbor as yourself despite if you know he is different than you are that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t love him. Diversity is celebrating a division among people.

Tolerance, is tolerance a good concept? We’re not to tolerate sin. There is nothing in the Bible, nothing in our culture that says we are to tolerate sin, in fact, you’re supposed to oppose sin, you’re supposed to hate sin. But does that mean you hate people? No. You love people, but you hate the sin, and that’s always been the truth. But we’ve got these concepts sneaking into our school and the government is mandating the teaching of them.

They are approving same-sex marriage, fortunately not the United States government yet but they are trying to get that established across our country, that you could marry somebody of the same sex. Our government is doing a lot that is to destroy this country and it is against the people. Unless we wake up and speak out...we’re going to lose our country.

A public high school in Montgomery County, Maryland, is being criticized for distributing literature of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays, a group tells gay youth to “transition out of a homosexual identity” even though the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Association of Social Workers and the American Psychiatric Association all deny the effectiveness, safety and ethics of reparative therapy. While Religious Right groups have sued for the right to distribute literature in Montgomery County schools, like the PFOX flyer which propagates discredited and harmful misinformation about sexual orientation and gender identity, they have also sought to deny this right to groups they disagree with.

Their pamphlet Preventing Bullying at Your School says that kids become gay because people call them gay, and that later in their lives gay people bully those who “decide to pursue alternatives to homosexuality”:

Many people, especially during adolescence, are called “gay” or other names even though they do not have same-sex attractions. Appearance is not a reliable means to know what another person feels. No one should be labeled “gay,” “sissy” or “queer” based on the perception of others. They may begin to believe what others tell them about themselves, which may be completely false labeling and cause gender confusion for the victim.

Moreover, a number of teens who do have same-sex attractions choose not to be identified based on who they are attracted to. Others are working to overcome their unwanted same-sex attractions and should not be called “homophobic,” “pretender,” or “fake” – derogatory words often used to describe ex-gays. Such name-calling can lead to depression, fear and feeling unsafe.

Students who have transition out of a homosexual identity, or decide to pursue alternatives to homosexuality, deserve compassion and respect. Their decision should not subject them to discrimination, ridicule, fear or hate.

Another PFOX pamphlet, Feelings Change, encourages kids to seek reparative therapy:

Lots of our friends had same-sex attractions when they were young and later on descovered [sic] they weren’t gay. You yourself may have heard, “You must be gay!” But no one should be labeled “gay” based on the perception of others. Get Smart! Explore the origins of your same-sex attraction. Why do I have these feelings/ Where did they come from? Why should I pre-label my life?

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A growing number of teens with same-sex attraction are looking beyond a gay identity to define who they are.

Although your same-sex attraction may feel like a gay identity, a gay identity may not fit into who you are. If you are not happy with same-sex attractions or a gay identity, there is help. Find out for yourself. Get the facts! Find out who you truly are! Be informed before you decide. Before adopting a gay identity, get smart! Get the facts!

The PFOX board [pdf] is also composed of some of the most stringently anti-gay voices in politics today, including Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel, who claims gay youth are more likely to commit suicide because they intuitively know homosexuality “is wrong and immoral;” Robert Knight of the American Civil Rights Union, who thinks there is a conspiracy among gay Hill staffers to control Congress; Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council, who has called for gays to be deported from the U.S., and of course, Greg Quinlan, who was once married to a fellow “ex-gay” woman until she divorced him. As Amanda Hess of the Washington City Paper notes, very few people serving on the PFOX board are actually “ex-gays,” but that hasn’t stopped them from promoting dangerous “ex-gay” reparative therapy to children.

Jerry Boykin has been going on a media tour to all the usual Religious Right outlets to play the victim after deciding to withdraw from an event at West Point following uproar over his virulently anti-Muslim rhetoric. Boykin told the Christian Broadcasting Network that his “views on Islam have been grossly misrepresented”:

Boykin has issued frequent warnings about the threat of radical Islam and Sharia law, a position the left-wing political action committee views as "Islamophobic."

"My views on Islam have been grossly misrepresented," Boykin told CBN News. "I do fear Sharia. I do believe we need to stop the encroachment of Sharia."

"But I have also said consistently that there are many Muslims in America that reject Sharia as well, and those are the people we need to be reaching out to," he added.

How exactly have his views been “grossly misrepresented,” by quoting him verbatim? Like when he said that Islam “should not be protected under the First Amendment”:

We need to recognize that Islam itself is not just a religion - it is a totalitarian way of life. It's a legal system, sharia law; it's a financial system; it's a moral code; it's a political system; it's a military system. It should not be protected under the First Amendment, particularly given that those following the dictates of the Quran are under an obligation to destroy our Constitution and replace it with sharia law.

Or when he called for America to ban mosques?

No mosques in America. Islam is a totalitarian way of life; it’s not just a religion. … But Islam, we need to think Sharia, it is not just a religion it is a totalitarian way of life. A mosque is an embassy for Islam and they recognize only a global caliphate, not the sanctity or sovereignty of the United States.

Or his claim that “there is no creativity in Islam” and that Christians should be “praying over mosques” as part of “going on the offensive” against Islam?

Surely it doesn’t take any distortions of Boykin’s own words to show that Boykin is an anti-Muslim extremist.

But that hasn’t stopped other Religious Right figures from buying his cries of victimhood hook, line and sinker.

Kenneth Blackwell yesterday said Boykin had to drop out of the West Point event purely as a “because of his Christian beliefs.” Blackwell said that only the “far left” was angered by his speech in uniform framing the military as involved in a holy war against Islam, when actually, his remarks drew a rebuke from President George W. Bush as he was making exactly the same claim as groups like Al-Qaeda. He even tried to bring President Obama in the mix, saying Boykin’s own decision to withdraw is proof of “the Obama administration’s ongoing hostility to people of faith”:

Jerry Boykin has done it all. He’s been in battle as part of America’s most elite fighting force, then rose to command those troops as a general, and also served in the CIA and Pentagon on the strategic planning and management side of this equation.

He is also a Christian evangelist who speaks at churches nationwide. As a private citizen retired from the Army, General Boykin was invited to speak at a prayer breakfast at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He seems like an ideal choice, as someone who has served as the tip of the spear at the highest ranks, who is also a man of profoundly deep faith.

But the Far Left exploded. Boykin has cast America’s war against radical Islamic terrorists as fighting Satan. So his religious language has made strange bedfellows of various Islamic groups joining with atheists to call on West Point to disinvite this American hero who risked and achieved so much for this country. Evidently it’s not politically correct to suggest that blowing up children is the devil’s work.

After heavy pressure, General Boykin chose to withdraw. This soldier fears no foe, but the situation evolved in a direction where his message of faith and courage would be overshadowed by controversy to the possible detriment of the West Point cadets.

This sad episode is yet another example of the Obama administration’s ongoing hostility to people of faith, especially Christians. President Obama’s pick to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a lesbian activist who says that homosexual rights should always trump religious liberty. This is the same EEOC that argued it had the power to order a church to reinstate as a minister a person the church had fired for violating church teaching, a position the Supreme Court unanimously rejected. And the administration has enacted regulations under Obamacare forcing Evangelical and Catholic universities and hospitals to provide contraceptives against the religious beliefs of those church-affiliated institutions.

North Carolina pastor and anti-gay activist Patrick Wooden appeared once again on Peter LaBarbera’s Americans For Truth About Homosexuality Radio Hour, where he responded to critics over his comments that he has an “anal obsession.” Wooden has claimed that gay men have to “wear a diaper or a butt plug just to be able to contain their bowels” when they are older as a result of shoving cellphones, baseball bats and animals in their anus. Wooden told LaBarbera that anal obsession is “the very basis of homosexuality” and he simply wants to tell gay men to “get it together, let the Lord deliver you and let God give you a woman, a wife, where you can enjoy the pleasures of a wife” and stop “participating in these perversive, sexual acts”:

Wooden: Now it is amazing that you and I are called men who have the obsession with the anus, right? Anal obsession, is that what she said? Is that not the very basis of homosexuality? We’re not homosexuals. What we’re saying is, we’re saying to men, ‘hey, let’s get it together, let the Lord deliver you and let God give you a woman, a wife, where you can enjoy the pleasures of a wife.’ Now you’re talking about a case of the pot calling the kettle black, we have no anal-obsession, but we are armed with the truth about the damage that people are doing to their rectums and anuses as a result of participating in these perversive, sexual acts.

He also had strong words for the show Glee, which he claimed is trying to portray homosexuality not as a “wicked, perverse lifestyle that destroys people” but as just “two clean cute little boys holding hands acting like two little effeminates.”

Wooden believes that “Satan has used Tyler Perry’s character Madea” and Martin Lawrence’s character Big Momma to promote “perversion” among African Americans. “Madea is the latest version of RuPaul it is selling perversion and drag to the African American community,” Wooden said, “and I pray that the overwhelming majority, and I see evidence of it, are not buying that perversion.” He ended his diatribe by lamenting that Oprah Winfrey, a frequent target of Peter LaBarbera’s condemnation, is a supporter of gay rights:

Wooden: We’re not talking about some little innocent looking thing that you may see in Glee, two clean cute little boys holding hands acting like two little effeminates and that is what homosexuality is all about and people think that it is something like that when we’re talking about a wicked, perverse lifestyle that destroys people and I think that it’s high time that people who think like we do come out of the closet and let their voices be heard, if not society will continue to go in the toilet.

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LaBarbera: Talk about the inroads that gender confusion and homosexuality have made in [the African American] community?

Wooden: I believe one of the major inroads, one of the two that Satan has used Tyler Perry’s character Madea. This guy Tyler Perry he pretends to be an old, African American lady, he dresses up in drag and he’s this Madea character and I think Martin Lawrence he takes on this Big Momma character and these are throwbacks to Flip Wilson’s character I think that it was Geraldine. Well what has happened is, I said this before, in the name of entertainment and jest Satan has caused many to buy a whole lot of wickedness, he’s made great inroads in the name of entertaining us and people flock out because there are those, and I’m talking about good hearted people, they flock out because they love Madea, they love the Tyler Perry movies that feature Madea, but I’m saying to them that Madea is the latest version of RuPaul it is selling perversion and drag to the African American community and I pray that the overwhelming majority, and I see evidence of it, are not buying that perversion.

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LaBarbera: Now let’s go to a black liberal, Oprah, I wanted to get you to comment. I saw one of her final episodes before she went off the air, now she’s on her own network, she ended it and she had this appeal on homosexuality. When I looked in her eyes, I saw somebody who had become a hardened supporter of so-called same-sex so-called marriage, she has evolved, she has rejected her Christian upbringing, whatever Christian upbringing she had Patrick, she was a hardcore supporter of homosexuality and I wonder how that happened. Do you think that’s just a factor of swimming in that Hollywood environment?

Wooden: I think it is; I think it is a factor of swimming. I think and this is just my opinion I’ve never talked to Oprah in my life, I think it is part of the price that she had to pay in order to build her empire. I would say to her if I had the chance, hey Oprah what has a man or a woman profited if they gain the world and lose their souls, if they gain the world and lose themselves?

Focus on the Family founder and Family Talk host James Dobson appeared with Rick Santorum at a campaign rally in Colorado, which has its caucus on February 7. Dobson joined other Religious Right leaders in endorsing Santorum and hailed him for fighting against same-sex marriage, and reportedly also backed Santorum because he disapproved of Newt Gingrich’s third wife Callista. Dobson said that neither Mitt Romney nor Gingrich are authentic conservatives, lauding Santorum for caring “about the moral integrity of this nation” and his consistent “fight for marriage and fight for the unborn.” While Dobson stressed social issues, the former Pennsylvania senator claimed that his image as a “social conservative” was responsible for his third place defeat in Florida:

After delivering a pointed version of his stump speech before a crowd of more than 1,200 people at Mr. Biggs Family Funhouse here, Santorum introduced Dobson, the head of the conservative group Focus on the Family.

Dobson, who endorsed Santorum in January, made the point that he was at the event “as a private individual,” and this disclaimer may have allowed him to be a bit more candid.

“It would appear to me that Mitt Romney is not a conservative,” Dobson said to much applause. “And Newt Gingrich is not – well I don’t know what he is. You’re the only true conservative in the race.”

The two men then had a conversation that veered more personal than political, with Dobson explaining the rationale behind his decision to support Santorum in the Republican primary.

“I believe you really care about the moral integrity of this nation and I believe you will fight for it,” Dobson said to Santorum. “Fight for marriage and fight for the unborn child and fight for the all the other principles that matters so much to me and so many others.”

During his opening remarks, Santorum suggested that his image as a staunch social conservative potentially damaged his efforts to appeal to the majority of the Republican electorate whose primary concern for 2012 is the flagging economy.

“I had the highest favorability as anybody in Florida,” Santorum said. “But I didn’t win, even though I had the most positive – highest positive, lowest negative. I didn’t win, and you ask the people why, ‘well, we’re not sure you can win. People think you’re a social conservative and we need someone who’s an economic conservative.’”

But looking at the issues, Santorum argued, none of the three other major GOP candidates differ in their stated positions on social issues. “What makes me more socially conservative than they? Some would suggest that I actually believe what I’m saying as opposed to them,” Santorum said.

Rick Joyner is doubling down on his claims that an earthquake will soon bring ruin to the west coast, writing in an email today that the New Madrid Fault Line will also rupture. Joyner, the head of MorningStar Ministries and the Oak Initiative, said that America’s policy towards Israel is responsible for “natural disasters that have struck our country.” He has already warned people “to get out of” California because America has “fallen to some of the ultimate depravity that a nation could fall into,” and said that the recent earthquake in Japan will lead to a demonic, Nazi takeover of the United States.

I've had to prophesy many negative things over the last few years, and like it or not (and many don't), we have a track record of accuracy. Quite a few have listened, evaluated, believed, prepared, and have prospered. I know the prepared will prosper in all times, but I would rather not prosper because of catastrophe. Our first goal should be to warn so that the catastrophe does not have to happen. Everything will be settled and made right on the Judgment Day, which is what I've resolved to live for.

Our West Coast is about to be shaken like it has never been shaken before. I am encouraging everyone I know to pray for more time, but we don't have much time. Others also have been seeing similar things along the New Madrid fault line along the Mississippi River. Some have seen this linked with when the U.S. puts serious pressure on Israel to divide Jerusalem. There are amazing parallels between things we have done to Israel with natural disasters that have struck our country. These are not a coincidence.

My bringing these up after the Japan earthquake hit did create one more controversy in a long list of controversies in my life. I don't like controversy, but I realize that not much can be accomplished in these times without it. Though I do not claim to have handled or articulated any word perfectly, and I do spend a lot of time second-guessing myself, in this case the more controversy that is stirred up by this word the better. It is a true word, and the controversy is causing more people to talk about it. Some on the West Coast have started hearing for themselves, even some of the most vehement doubters, and for this I am very thankful.

Even so, the day this begins to unfold on our West Coast will be the worst day of my life. I learned a long time ago that you are unlikely to get credit for accurate prophecies until you're dead and no longer a threat. For this reason, I don't even consider being vindicated. I would much rather be wrong about this one, but I know I'm not. Since the Japan earthquake and tsunami, I have been feeling the grief more and more for our own countrymen that are on our West Coast.

I am thankful too that so many great churches and works of God are on our West Coast, and hopefully all of them can be spared and be like a Goshen. I know great churches and great saints will be needed there like never before. I have considered that this may be why they are not hearing this word—God does not want all of them to leave. We must be praying now for the strengthening and protection of God's people on our West Coast, that they will be mightily used by Him, and that many will be saved for every one who is lost in the impending disasters.