Gary Cass

Despite the fact that I have spent more than ten years monitoring and analyzing the Religious Right, I have to admit that, quite often, I have no idea what will set them off or what compels their response to things.

Take, for instance, the fact that Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission decided it was important to go through President Obama's remarks at the National Prayer Breakfast and try to refute it almost line by line in order to demonstrate that Christianity is the greatest religion of them all (Cass's commentary is in italics) :

[F]ar too often, we have seen faith wielded as a tool to divide us from one another - as an excuse for prejudice and intolerance. Wars have been waged. Innocents have been slaughtered. For centuries, entire religions have been persecuted, all in the name of perceived righteousness.

On its face, this paragraph is true, but what President Obama is inferring is that all religious conflict is wrong. But is that always the case? For example, was it wrong for Christians to defend other Christians from the attacks of Muslims in the Holy Land? The Muslims are “eternally offended” by the Crusades, but they attacked Europe relentlessly with no apology.

Obama said all the mayhem was done in a sense of “perceived righteousness.” That begs the question where we get our standards for righteousness? For the Christian we would be able to decide if a matter is just or unjust by biblical standards. A Muslim would not think it unrighteous to wage Jihad on non-Muslims based on the Koran, just the opposite, it is his duty to kill the infidels.

There is no doubt that the very nature of faith means that some of our beliefs will never be the same.

Obama is a skeptic and eschews any religious certainty, but this makes him irrational. He is a champion of religious doubt even as he asserts his superior religious vision of how things ought to be, borrowing what he wants from Christianity and disregarding the rest, thus making himself out to be god.

We read from different texts. We follow different edicts.

So how do we know which is true? Is the Bible, the Koran, or the Book of Mormon the Word of God? Besides the self-authenticating nature of the Bible, its truthfulness is revealed in its exalted spiritual ethics and its truth claims that correspond with reality. The Bible can be historically verified and contains hundreds of fulfilled predictive prophecies. There is no other “revelation” with the same marks of divine authorship.

We subscribe to different accounts of how we came to be here and where we're going next - and some subscribe to no faith at all.

True, but the Bible does definitively answer all these questions.

But no matter what we choose to believe, let us remember that there is no religion whose central tenet is hate. There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being. This much we know.

Apparently the Mohammad didn’t get the memo. Jihadists take the Koran seriously and it does tell Muslims to kill the infidels.

We know too that whatever our differences, there is one law that binds all great religions together. Jesus told us to "love thy neighbor as thyself." The Torah commands, "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow." In Islam, there is a hadith that reads "None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself."

The hadith is a holy book in Islam. So do you do as the hadith says or what it records Mohammad doing, i.e. killing people? Mohammad’s life is supposed to be the standard for Muslims. Does this text only refer to treating fellow Muslims brothers with love or does it require them to treat everyone with love? History proves that Muslims kill other Muslims more than any other religion.

And the same is true for Buddhists and Hindus; for followers of Confucius and for humanists. It is, of course, the Golden Rule - the call to love one another; to understand one another; to treat with dignity and respect those with whom we share a brief moment on this Earth.

This is a nice attempt to make all religions sound like they are all saying the same thing, but in India Hindus oppress each other based on the caste system. Radical Hindus are killing Christians. Radical Muslims are killing Christians, Jews and Hindus where ever they can get away with it. Christians do not kill with the approval of their religion except in self-defense.

But you know what makes this even more biazrre? The fact that Cass went after President Obama's speech from 2009, rather than the remarks he delivered at the prayer breakfast earlier this week.

Apparently, Cass thought that now was a good time to provide an "analysis of [President Obama's] remarks from a biblical perspective" ... even though those remarks were made over a year ago.

Not surprisingly, a spokesperson for Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network quickly issued a statement yesterday after Robertson's statement about Haiti being "cursed" for having "swore a pact to the Devil" made news, insisting that Robertson "never stated that the earthquake was God’s wrath" and inisiting that it is "countless scholars and religious figures over the centuries to believe the country is cursed":

On today’s The 700 Club, during a segment about the devastation, suffering and humanitarian effort that is needed in Haiti, Dr. Robertson also spoke about Haiti’s history. His comments were based on the widely-discussed 1791 slave rebellion led by Boukman Dutty at Bois Caiman, where the slaves allegedly made a famous pact with the devil in exchange for victory over the French. This history, combined with the horrible state of the country, has led countless scholars and religious figures over the centuries to believe the country is cursed.

Dr. Robertson never stated that the earthquake was God’s wrath.

But it looks like some of Robertson's nominal allies aren't buying it:

Dr. Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church of Dallas said, "It is absolute arrogance to try to interpret any of God's actions as a judgment against this person or that person. & Our duty as Christians is to try to help these people pray for these people and to help them."

Franklin Graham, the evangelist son of Billy Graham and president of the Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse, said he also disagrees with Robertson's assessment.

"He must have misspoken," Graham said. "But we need to get on the path of helping people right now. God loves the people of Haiti. He hasn't turned his back on Haiti."

Does Graham even know anything about Robertson? He says this sort of thing all the time - what makes him think that this time "he must have misspoken"? Also, if the name Robert Jeffress sounds familiar, it is because it is:

Dr. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, said that Mormonism is a false religion and that Mr. Romney was not a Christian.

"Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise," Dr. Jeffress said in a sermon Sept. 30. "Even though he talks about Jesus as his Lord and savior, he is not a Christian. Mormonism is not Christianity. Mormonism is a cult."

It is probably safe to assume that when a man who made himself famous for viciously attacking a presidential candidate's religion is blasting your "absolute arrogance," you have probably gone too far.

But of course, not everyone is outraged by Robertson's comments.  In fact, Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission is praising him for taking a stand and speaking the truth:

The modern cynic chaffs at any suggestion that there may be a connection between historical realities and unseen spiritual influences, or as the Bible calls it God's "blessing or cursing." Although most people are very comfortable with the notion that God blesses people, we are not at all comforted with the terrifying prospect that Almighty God might also curse.

The overwhelming majority of Americans believe in God and /or moral causality. Eastern religions call it Karma, but Christians call it God's Providence. I wonder if the reason that so many hate Pat is because he expressed what many Americans don't want to face- the moral and spiritual dimension of our lives.

As long as everything is going well we live as if we are never going to die. Then crisis hits and death slaps us in the face. Rather than humbling ourselves and searching our hearts like the Pilgrims did, we lash out at God and anyone who dares insinuate Him into our lives.

What the Robertson bashers left out is that finally, and with great compassion and concern in his voice, Pat said, "They need to have, and we need to pray for them, a great turning to God and out of this tragedy I am optimistic that some good thing may come, but right now we are helping the suffering people and the suffering is unimaginable."

Agree or disagree with what Pat said, it was well within the bounds of historic Christian theology. Maybe that's the real problem after all.

Man is offended by the fact that he is not God. They resent God's Providence. A simple reading of the Bible shows how God uses natural disasters to further his purposes. Earthquakes, floods, famine, locusts, etc. they're all there, but man hates it. Rather than humbly acknowledging that God's ways are not our ways, man rails against and accuses God. The last thing they will do is cry out for his mercy in Jesus Christ.

You may remember Cass from his statement last year before President Obama's inauguration when he told parents not to let their children watch because the Rev. Gene Robinson would be participating, making it the "most perverted [inauguration] in our nation’s history" and warning that God just might destroy the nation's capital because of it.

Religious Right participants in the upcoming hate crimes legislation protest sure intent on generating some press for themselves, as in the last few hours both Gary Cass and Paul Blair have issued press releases about it. 

And this is raising an interesting question about just how they intend to go about challenging this legislation, because they seem to think that they are going to be challenging the law by simply preaching from the Bible:

Pastor Paul Blair, founder of Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ, said, "Pastors have preached the Bible in America for over 400 years, pointing people to Jesus Christ and standing against sin. If preaching the Bible is now against the law, then let us be arrested. If not, may every pastor across America know that he can stand strong and proclaim Biblical Truth without fear of persecution or prosecution."

Of course, merely preaching that homosexuality is a sin is not going to be a violation of the hate crimes law, which even Cass seems to realize:

While the ministers do not expect to be arrested, they are willing to go to jail, if necessary, to stand for freedom of speech and religion.

The question really comes down to just how they intend to preach against homosexuality. Do they intend to preach Leviticus 18:22?

Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.

Or do they intend to preach Leviticus 20:13?

If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.

Judging by this quote from Cass by OneNewNow, it's difficult to know:

"We're going to exercise our First Amendment rights to preach [the entire] Bible, including those parts that deal with homosexuality and the truth of the sin of homosexuality," explains Dr. Cass. He further says this is being done as a way to clarify "....that this does not constitute a hate crime."

The legislation explicitly protects religious freedom and freedom of speech, but "does not protect speech, conduct or activities consisting of planning for, conspiring to commit, or committing an act of violence." So if they intend to preach that homosexuality is sinful, that is not much of a challenge, as that sort of speech is clearly protected. 

But since they obviously intend for this protest to be a direct challenge to hate crimes protections, that really only leaves them one option: demanding death for gays.

If that is the case, they ought to see if Steven L. Anderson is available to join them.

Last week, when President Obama signed the legislation expanding hate crimes protections, various fringe activists vowed to challenge it by engaging in some pointless grandstanding.  And, by gum, that is exactly what they are going to do:

A rally is being planned in Washington to raise the alarm over the nation's new "hate crimes" law and to force Attorney General Eric Holder to confront the unconstitutionality of the measure's "thought" penalties, according to a Christian leader working on the event.

Gary Cass of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission told WND there are a series of approaches being considered to challenge the restrictions on expression of religion and speech contained in the law signed last week by President Obama.

At the rally, set for 1:30 p.m. on Nov. 16, ministers will preach from the Bible on the prohibition against homosexuality, then will present a letter to Holder demanding that the religious liberty of all Americans be respected.

Specific legal challenges to the restrictions of the "hate crimes" plan also may be announced then, Cass said.

The "Rally for Religious Freedom" in front of the Department of Justice in Washington is intended to force Holder either to address the issues or be put in a position of ignoring those who say they are violating the provisions of the federal law, Cass said.

"We're basically going to defy the law, and challenge it," Cass told WND. "We're going to declare the whole counsel of God, including those parts that some may consider 'inciting a hate crime' to see if the attorney general is going to come down and arrest a group of peaceful clergy exercising their First Amendment rights."

Of course, as we pointed out last time, the legislation contained explicit free speech and religious liberty protections, so they run no risk of prosecution and they know it.  Unless, that is, they intend to "plan or prepare for an act of physical violence" or "incite an imminent act of physical violence against another."

So is that was Cass and company are planning to do?  "Defy" the hate crimes law by calling for acts of physical violence against gays?