Mat Staver

I've returned for vacation and am slowly working my way through everything that happened while I was away and trying to catch up.  While going through my RSS reader, I saw a New York Times article entitled "Obama Gains Evangelical Allies on Immigration" and decided to take a look at it because this is an issue that we have been covering here for several months now.

As we've been noting, a handful of Religious Right leaders including Richard Land, Mat Staver, Lou Engle, Samuel Rodriguez, and Ken Blackwell, have come out in support of immigration reform, marking a distinct break from the rest of the conservative movement which has traditionally opposed any such reform and instead favored fences, round-ups and overall anti-immigration crackdowns.

So imagine my surprise when I took a look at the NYT article and saw this photo:

Bryan Fischer, in addition to being the one of the most viciously anti-gay activists operating today, has also been among the most vocal Religious Right activists opposing immigration reform, calling for the deportation of all Muslims and advocating for the deportation of entire families in the name of compassion and controlling "vigliante justice."

While the article focused mostly on activists like Staver and Land who are supporting President Obama's efforts to reform our immigration system, for some reason the NYT decided to feature of photo of a man who easily ranks among the Religious Right's most openly hostile anti-gay, anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant activists ... and, not surprisingly, he opposes those leaders who are supporting this effort:

Bryan Fischer, director of issue analysis for the American Family Association, a national conservative Christian organization in Tupelo, Miss., said, “What my evangelical friends are arguing is that illegal aliens should essentially be rewarded for breaking the law.

“I think it’s extremely problematic from a Judeo-Christian standpoint to grant citizenship to people whose first act on American soil was to break an American law,” said Mr. Fischer, who hosts a daily radio show on which immigration is a frequent topic.

On a related note, Fischer and Staver debated this issue on Fischer's radio program last week.  You can read Fischer's take on it here.

We first started paying attention to Lou Engle in 2008 when he hosted a The Call rally in Washington, DC heading into the presidential election and another in San Diego just before the vote on Proposition 8. 

Seemingly coming out of nowhere, Engle was eagerly embraced by the Religious Right establishment as its leaders flocked to participate in Engle's day-long festivals of prayer and fasting.

Since then, Engle's influence within the Religious Right has continued to grow, as he co-hosted the anti-healthcare "prayercast" earlier this year and has lead a group of Religious Right leaders to Texas to pray against a new Planned Parenthood facility opening in Houston.

In September, Engle will be leading another The Call rally in Sacramento to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his first Call event.  And he has managed to line up video endorsements from the likes of Mat Staver, Samuel Rodriguez, Ron Luce, Tim Wildom ... and even Pat and Gordon Robertson:

Pat: Hi, this is Pat Robertson.

Gordon: And I'm Gordon Robertson. We'd like to take a moment to encourage you to attend The Call tenth anniversary in Sacramento this Labor Day.

Pat: And we want the blessing of God on our nation. But how can His blessing come to a nation that has slaughtered fifty million unborn babies, taken the Bible and prayer out of schools, and protected by law that what God calls an "abomination"? In our land, that which is evil is being called good. And what is good is being ridiculed and banished from the public square. It's time that we join together and seek national repentance.

Gordon: We need to ask God to send up a great move of the Holy Spirit here in America. And that's what The Call - Sacramento is all about. Thousands of young people will be crying out to God for his glory to cover the Earth as the waters cover the sea. If you want to be a part of seeing God rescue America and experience that demonstration of his power and glory, then come to The Call - Sacramento September 3-4 at Raley Field. You can find out more by logging on to TheCall.com.

Pat: This is a desperate hour for our country. Please be a part of turning out nation back to God. Come to The Call - Sacramento and stand in the gap for this great nation.

Last week, Family Research Council co-founder George Rekers was discovered returning from an overseas trip with a "rent boy."

Since then, FRC has issued a statement distancing itself from Rekers, saying it had had no contact with him in over a decade, he's resigned from the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality, been scrubbed from the University of South Carolina medical school's website, and announced that he is undergoing spiritual therapy so that he can "can more fully understand my weaknesses" ... all while threatening to sue anyone who says he is gay.

What kind of law firm would be willing to represet Rekers in such a suit, you ask?

The Jerry Falwell-founded kind, of course: 

A leading religious legal defense group said it is standing with George A. Rekers, the conservative expert on gay behavior who has seen his career implode amid media reports that he took a young gay travel companion to Europe with him.

Officials at the Liberty Counsel said Wednesday they would back Mr. Rekers if he followed through on his threat this week to sue media outlets and others for trying to discredit him.

"I think [Mr. Rekers] would have a great case to file a defamation action," said Mathew D. Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel said.

"I think it was a completely arranged setup," he said, referring to the presence of writers of the free weekly Miami New Times at Miami International Airport when Mr. Rekers and his hired travel companion arrived in the United States April 13.

I can't even say this is surprising, as Liberty Counsel easily ranks among the most viciously anti-gay organizations operating today. 

Tomorrow, the National Evangelical Association will seek to rally support for comprehensive immigration reform by placing a full-page ad Roll Call that calls for reform that "establishes a path toward legal status and/or citizenship for those who qualify and who wish to become permanent residents." Among those reportedly slated to sign on to this effort are Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel and Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention.

But before the ad has run, Liberty Counsel issued its own lengthy statement calling on "Evangelical Leaders [to] Unite on Just Assimilation Immigration Policy" that is calls on anti-immigration activists to stop labeling any effort to grant a pathway to citizenship immigrants already in the country as "amnesty" and "to stop politicizing this debate needlessly and to honestly acknowledge the difference" - it is signed by the likes of Staver, Land, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, Ken Blackwell, and Lou Engle:

Our national security and domestic tranquility depends on secure borders. We must first secure our borders before we can implement a broader just assimilation immigration policy. Secure borders are not closed borders. Violent criminals and drug traffickers take advantage of open borders. Such criminals are a threat to everyone in every community, including Latinos who are disproportionately victimized by them.

After securing our borders, we should allow the millions of undocumented and otherwise law-abiding persons living in our midst to come out of the shadows. The pathway for earned legal citizenship or temporary residency should involve a program of legalization for undocumented persons in the United States, subject to appropriate penalties, waiting periods, background checks, evidence of moral character, a commitment to full participation in American society through an understanding of the English language, the rights and duties of citizens and the structure of America’s government, and the embrace of American values.

We must return to a rational immigration policy that acknowledges that we are both a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. It is our obligation to provide a just solution to those people who are currently undocumented under the present policy. That solution is neither amnesty nor mass deportation. A just, rational policy would put otherwise law-abiding undocumented persons on one of three paths: one path leads to pursuing earned legal citizenship or legal residency, one leads to acquiring legal guest-worker status, and one leads back across the border including a swift process for the deportation of undocumented felons.

America has an obligation to preserve within her borders the culture that has made her successful. Assimilation is both key to protecting that culture and to the immigrant’s chances of success. History has proven that Latinos are quite capable of rapid assimilation. As a group, they have strong moral convictions, a strong sense of family, and a strong work ethic.

A just assimilation immigration policy respects the traditions held by people of many backgrounds that make up America while recognizing the importance of a shared language, history and cultural values. Those who choose legal citizenship should have the opportunity to fully participate in the American dream by removing any barrier to achieving those dreams. America is not a nation divided. There should be no Black America, White America, Latino America, or Asian America. There is one America made up of many races and ethnicities with a common history, culture, and values. Although Americans may speak many different languages, they share English as their common language. The immigration process should provide a just assimilation by teaching English, the history and founding documents of America, and the common values of liberty and justice which are embodied in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Naturalized citizens renounce all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, and declare allegiance to the United States. They pledge to defend America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and they pledge to support the Constitution and the laws of the United States.

Let us be clear – an earned pathway to citizenship is not amnesty. We reject amnesty. And we ask those who label an earned pathway to citizenship as amnesty to stop politicizing this debate needlessly and to honestly acknowledge the difference.