Penny Nance

During last week's Republican presidential debate, Michele Bachmann was asked by Washington Examiner’s Byron York about her past statement that she ended up studying tax law even though she "hates taxes" and never had a desire for it" but did so because wives "are to be submissive to your husband" and so she "was going to be faithful to what I felt God was calling me to do through my husband."

In her response and since, Bachmann has been trying to claim that being "submissive" merely means that she and her husband "respect each other," which is nonsense, as Sarah Posner explained today in Salon.

And now the Religious Right is rallying around Bachmann, attacking the question as unfair and inappropriate:

Penny Nance, president of the conservative group Concerned Women for America, expressed her dismay at the question in a statement: "Byron York's question to Michele Bachmann about her relationship with her husband was incredibly inappropriate and downright ignorant.”

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Given that both men and women are called to give of themselves in marriage, Nance lamented that the male presidential candidates were not asked the same or a similar question.

Ummm ... does Nance not remember when Mike Huckabee was asked by Carl Cameron about the 1998 ad he signed stating that a "wife is to submit graciously to the servant leadership of her husband" during a Republican debate in South Carolina in 2008 where Huckabee delivered a more eloquent but equally Bachmann-like response:

CAMERON: Governor Huckabee, to change the subject a little bit and focus a moment on electability.

Back in 1998, you were one of about 100 people who affirmed, in a full-page ad in the "New York Times," the Southern Baptist Convention's declaration that, quote, "A wife us to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband."

Women voters in both parties harshly criticized that. Is that position politically viable in the general election of 2008, sir?

HUCKABEE: You know, it's interesting, everybody says religion is off limits, except we always can ask me the religious questions. So let me try to do my best to answer it.

(APPLAUSE) And since -- if we're really going to have a religious service, I'd really feel more comfortable if I could pass the plates, because our campaign could use the money tonight, Carl.

(LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE)

We'll just go all the way.

First of all, if anybody knows my wife, I don't think they for one minute think that she's going to just sit by and let me do whatever I want to. That would be an absolute total misunderstanding of Janet Huckabee.

The whole context of that passage -- and, by the way, it really was spoken to believers, to Christian believers. I'm not the least bit ashamed of my faith or the doctrines of it. I don't try to impose that as a governor and I wouldn't impose it as a president.

But I certainly am going to practice it unashamedly, whether I'm a president or whether I'm not a president. But the point...

(APPLAUSE)

... the point, and it comes from a passage of scripture in the New Testament Book of Ephesians is that as wives submit themselves to the husbands, the husbands also submit themselves, and it's not a matter of one being somehow superior over the other. It's both mutually showing their affection and submission as unto the Lord.

So with all due respect, it has nothing to do with presidency. I just wanted to clear up that little doctrinal quirk there so that there's nobody who misunderstands that it's really about doing what a marriage ought to do and that's marriage is not a 50/50 deal, where each partner gives 50 percent.

Biblically, marriage is 100/100 deal. Each partner gives 100 percent of their devotion to the other and that's why marriage is an important institution, because it teaches us how to love.

The American Family Association today announced that more traditionally pro-GOP Religious Right organizations are joining them in hosting The Response prayer rally with Texas Gov. Rick Perry. Kyle reported that Focus on the Family founder James Dobson is on board, and now Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council and Penny Nance of Concerned Women for America have been named co-chairmen. Even though Perry and the AFA are adamant that the prayer rally is apolitical, the fact that leaders of three of the most prominent Religious Right political groups in the country are hosting the event along side a potential presidential candidate makes us think otherwise.

In addition, the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission’s Richard Land has already endorsed the rally, and other endorsers — Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference and megachurch pastor Tony Evans — have also signed on as co-chairmen.

American Family Association says three more respected Christian leaders have been named as co-chairpersons of the upcoming The Response: a call to prayer for a nation in crisis prayer event.

The new co-chairpersons are Penny Nance, President and CEO of Concerned Women for America; Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council; and Frank Wright, President of the National Religious Broadcasters.

The prayer event will be held at the Reliant stadium in Houston on August 6. Several thousand individuals are expected to attend the event, according to Donald E. Wildmon, founder of AFA which is sponsoring the event.

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Co-chairpersons announced earlier include Dr. James Dobson and his wife Shirley, Rev. Sammy Rodriquez, Dr. Tony Evans, and Dr. Richard Land.

In an email to supporters, Concerned Women For America CEO Penny Nance said that they have one final opportunity to prevent the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. Nance tells supporters that while the House GOP is likely to approve amendments to three Defense bill that would block the repeal and restrict gay-rights in the military, the Senate would be a graver challenge because Majority Leader Harry Reid “is beholden to the homosexual lobby.” She asks activists to show the Republicans support “in light of the likely response from the radical homosexual activists.”

Nance writes:

The repeal of DADT will create undue hardships for our military and was passed to fulfill President Obama's campaign promise to homosexual activists. Even though the repeal was signed into law, it has not yet taken effect, and we have been fighting to ensure that it won't.

We have worked with House offices to repeal and delay this misguided law. We have encouraged congressional hearings that highlight the problems and costs associated with imposing this social agenda on our military. And we supported several amendments on the Defense Authorization:

Rep. Vicky Hartzler's (R-Missouri) amendment defined marriage as a union between a man and woman for purposes of military benefits, regulations, and policies. It passed the HASC 39-22.

Rep. Todd Akin's (R-Missouri) amendment prohibited using military facilities for "same-sex marriage" and prohibited chaplains from conducting the ceremonies. It passed the HASC 38-23.

Rep. Duncan Hunter's (R-California) amendment would require all of the service chiefs - and not just President Obama, Secretary of Defense Gates, and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mullen - to certify the repeal of DADT.

We expect the Defense Authorization to go to the House floor soon. Please call your representative and ask him to support the Defense Authorization with these amendments. Please thank Representatives Hartzler, Akin, and Hunter for their leadership on these amendments, especially in light of the likely response from the radical homosexual activists. Also, it is important to thank HASC Chairman Buck McKeon (R-California) and Personnel Subcommittee Chairman Joe Wilson (R-South Carolina) for holding hearings and shedding light on these important issues.

It is important to also focus on the Senate, because Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nevada) is beholden to the homosexual lobby. Please call your senators and ask them to support the Defense Authorization passed by the HASC.

After the Republican-controlled House voted to strip federal funding of Planned Parenthood for procedures like cancer screenings and STD tests, activists opposed to a woman’s right to choose want to make sure that the amendment defunding the woman’s health organization remains in the budget bill after the House negotiates with the Senate on the final Continuing Resolution. A group of prominent Religious Right leaders signed a letter insisting that Boehner “accept nothing less” than the elimination of Planned Parenthood’s federal funding, and rely heavily on Live Action’s discredited and doctored smear videos to justify their demands. Signatories include Lila Rose, Marjorie Dannenfelser, Tom McClusky, Penny Nance, Phyllis Schlafly, Frank Cannon, Gary Bauer, and Erick Erickson:

Dear Speaker Boehner,

Planned Parenthood, a scandal-plagued abortion organization, must be held accountable for abusing innocent young victims while receiving hundreds of millions in federal dollars each year.

They must be defunded of federal tax dollars, and now is the time to do it. The House vote in support of Rep. Mike Pence’s Amendment No. 11 to the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations Act, 2011 (H.R. 1) to prevent government funding for the nation’s largest abortion provider, Planned Parenthood, is an excellent start.

However, the House vote on the Pence Amendment is nothing more than symbolic unless it remains intact through the legislative process. Defunding Planned Parenthood must be a non-negotiable in the Continuing Resolution and we urge you to accept nothing less than this outcome.

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As debate over the Continuing Resolution continues we urge you to do everything you can to ensure that the Pence Amendment remains intact in the final version of the Continuing Resolution. Planned Parenthood is not safe for women, it is not safe for young girls, and it must be defunded now.

Meanwhile, Randall Terry led a sit-in at Boehner’s office where protesters, except for him, were arrested, and threatened Boehner and other House Republican leaders with primary challenges if Planned Parenthood’s funding wasn’t withdrawn. “If they do not fulfill this obligation,” Terry said, “we will run primaries against Mr. Boehner and other House leaders,” as it would be “a betrayal of God Himself.”