Bound4Life

Lou Engle’s youth organization Bound4Life today is using the uproar over the Trayvon Martin shooting to attack Planned Parenthood for supposedly committing “black genocide” and to condemn “the hypocrisy of black America” for not rallying against reproductive rights. “Many in the black community are of the persuasion that abortion is merely a political issue of certain ‘rights,’” Corry Robinson writes, “My response is -it was Zimmerman’s ‘right’ to carry a gun and it was his ‘right’ to use ‘self defense’, right?” Robinson writes that if the police prosecute Travyon Martin’s killer, then the state should also go after Planned Parenthood “with accessory to 38 million racially motivated murders”:

Looking across the vast span of media coverage, it’s becoming increasingly evident that blacks are as passionate about ‘justice’ today as we were 50 years ago during the Civil Rights Era. Young adults are mobilizing and taking it to the streets by the hundreds to lift their voices on behalf of voiceless Trayvon Martin, one who had no way of defending himself.

This current situation raises many questions in my own heart for my fellow black Americans. Particularly, ‘Where are the unified protests of blacks against the holocaust of abortion in our nation?’ In the 54 million reported abortions in America since 1973, a staggering 38 million are innocent African American babies! In a wide sense, Trayvon’s tragedy is not much different than the tragedy of abortion in that he was helpless to defend himself. Many in the black community are of the persuasion that abortion is merely a political issue of certain “rights.” My response is -it was Zimmerman’s “right” to carry a gun and it was his “right” to use “self defense”, right? At what point do we differentiate our employment of rule of law between the two situations?

Some are saying, “Well…Trayvon’s murder was racially motivated!” This may very well have been the case…but so was the institution and practice of abortion in America-and history proves this without question. Others have said, “Zimmerman pursued Trayvon without a cause.” Such was, and still is, the case of the abortion industry. Abortionists and Eugenicists have actively pursued African Americans for almost a century. Please understand that the very fact of Planned Parenthood’s presence being primarily in black/minority communities (78% to be exact) is basic marketing strategy-Their target market is the African American/minority community! So again, where are the black voices on this issue? We cannot pick and choose when to ‘be righteous’ and when not to be! Either we are righteous people or we aren’t. In my opinion, there is enough evidence in Trayvon’s tragedy to bring charges. But in a greater measure there are heaps and stacks of evidence to charge Planned Parenthood and others in the abortion industry with accessory to 38 million racially motivated murders (just to be clear, I use the term “accessory” because of the cooperative response of participants to abortion. Abortion clinics never act alone).

Mississippi Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, who was elected as governor yesterday, also co-chaired “Yes on 26,” the campaign to pass a “Personhood” amendment in the state, and said on Election Day that the fight over Initiative 26 was “a battle of good and evil of Biblical proportions” and warned that “Satan wins” if the initiative fails. Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association, which heavily funded the “Yes on 26” effort, warned that the country would face God’s judgment if Initiative 26 lost and urged voters to “choose life lest the flickering flame of our liberty be extinguished forever.”

But the initiative did indeed fail, with a whopping 58% of Mississippi voters rejecting the extreme personhood law.

Along with Personhood USA and the American Family Association, Religious Right groups including the Family Research Council, Faith 2 Action and Liberty Counsel all backed Initiative 26.

Hours after the initiative was trounced at the polls, anti-choice activists are already blaming Planned Parenthood, the media, and Satan for the defeat.

Personhood USA’s Keith Ashley pledged to bring the personhood initiative back to the Mississippi ballot:

Personhood USA firmly believes that our campaign fell victim to the outright lies of our opposition, and because of their lies, children will continue to be murdered in Mississippi.

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We recognize that the right time to end abortion in Mississippi is now, and that is why the citizens of Mississippi will attempt a personhood ballot measure again—and again, if necessary—until every person’s life is protected.

Brad Prewitt, the executive director of “Yes on 26,” likened the personhood fight to the struggle against slavery, and Gualberto Garcia Jones of Personhood USA blamed the media and the “culture of death” for the defeat, in interviews with the American Family Association’s OneNewsNow:

"It's easy to look at things in a linear fashion, but we know that God's provision is not easily discernible by us in terms of his will -- and we have to await his will," he tells OneNewsNow. "And in the meantime, we have to be committed to biblical truth."

Meanwhile, Prewitt stresses the pro-life movement is not on life support in Mississippi. "There has been and there will continue to be a pro-life movement in Mississippi," he assures. "William Wilberforce started the anti-slave movement in England [in the late 1700s] and it was a 20-something year process. So if you have to start somewhere, I think it was a productive dialogue to have."

…

A spokesman for Personhood USA say advocacy groups for personhood learned a lot from the campaign. "I think definitely the lies that were put out there by Planned Parenthood definitely took their toll on the people of Mississippi, and a lot of them believed them," says Gualberto Garcia Jones.

He laments that that misinformation converted to no votes on Election Day, even among pro-life residents.

"One of the things that was very telling to me was that the media, even in a conservative state such as Mississippi, was incredibly negative," Jones notes. "We had to battle uphill the whole time. They just carried the water for the opposition at every level.

"It's an indicator of how deep the culture of death has taken root of our nation.

Susan Tyrrell of Lou Engle’s Bound4Life wrote that it was a victory for “the kingdom of Satan”:

When push came to shove Tuesday night, Mississippians voted that the unborn could not be defined as people according to the proposed personhood amendment.

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The kingdom of Satan is united, which is why, for this season, it’s successful. Eventually the church will be united. At the end of the age we will be a powerful, praying church that stands for the only definition of justice that exists: the Jesus one. But right now we’re not there. I don’t want to be cynical. I know many wonderful praying people of all denominations who stand for LIFE and the word of God. We are advancing, but tonight, once again, we have let the kingdom of darkness advance ahead of us.

While in Amarillo, Texas, after his archdiocese recalled him from New York over allegations of financial mismanagement, Frank Pavone of Priests for Life is still making his voice heard. Pavone writes in his blog today that in the same way voters cannot find common ground with politicians that support terrorism, they can’t find common ground with pro-choice candidates:

“When I preach – and help other priests to preach – the clear message that candidates and parties must defend life, some – including clergy – complain to me that my message hurts their favorite candidate or party. My response? ‘Go tell your favorite candidate or party to get the babies’ blood off their hands and clean up their act regarding defending life. Then my words won’t hurt them anymore.’ ”

… “What if a candidate supported terrorism,” Father Pavone asked. “Would citizens say, ‘Well, I disagree with you on terrorism, but what’s your health care plan? Maybe we can work together on some social programs. After all, terrorism isn’t the only issue.

Susan Tyrrell at Lou Engle’s group Bound4Life made a similar claim today, saying that Christians who voted for pro-choice candidates are succumbing to the “spirit of the antichrist”:

Cut to the 2008 election season. As polls burgeoned nationwide on who was voting for whom and why, a recurring theme emerged: the economy. Voters said over and over that was their primary concern. Unfortunately, many Christian voters said this as well. It caused many to utter rationalizations such as “who I vote for won’t change abortion, but we need to help the poor. That’s what Jesus would do.” Actually so would the devil.

The devil actually feeds his business on helping the poor. This is the spirit driving the modern social justice movement that says we should help those less fortunate at all costs. The truth is, we should help those less fortunate—but only at the cost of the blood of Jesus. Not the blood of 54 million babies.

We have become worshipers of the god of riches. That’s the reason we have so much federal funding of Planned Parenthood, and why the latest recommendation for national health care includes a mandate for birth control coverage, including abortive birth control. If every person who called him or herself a Christian were standing against these issues vocally and publicly, there would be no debate. We are more in number than Planned Parenthood, NOW, Congress, the National Institutes of Health—all of them put together. The fact is, money is behind it all and since more pro-abortion policies have been in place since January 2009, we have watched our nation pursue the American dream of wealth in the name of practicality and security. We care more about our personal comfort than we do righteousness when we live this way. And that is the very spirit of the antichrist who uses this very method to find his worshipers.

While researching the Religious Right's newest start Lou Engle and his ties to the International House of Prayer which, as we noted last week, had recently canceled classes due to an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, I discovered something I had not known: namely, that Engle has a prayer house located right in Washington, DC known as the Justice House of Prayer, which is also the headquarters of Bound for Life:

In the Fall of 2004, the Lord led Lou Engle and a group of young people to fast and pray in our nation’s capitol with a focus on the upcoming elections and for righteousness and justice to be established in America’s government. The prayer mobilized before the elections soon became ongoing prayer for the ending of abortion and the reformation of our society. Since that time people of all ages continue the unending cry for justice and mercy in JHOP DC.

Our hope is for Jesus Christ to become the “desired of the nation.” We have faith for the reformation of society through revival and spiritual awakening. In the meantime, we contend in fasting and prayer in the cultural gate of America against false ideologies that are destructive to our nation and families.

Strategically located only a couple blocks away from the Supreme Court and the Capitol Building, JHOP DC facilitates training and corporate prayer and fasting through young adult internships and a network of local intercessors. While other interns in DC are learning the trade of government, our interns are learning the trade of governing through prayer. Luke 18 gives us a mandate to never give up in night and day prayer for justice. This draws us near the heart of God in His great desire to release justice in the earth and ultimately the return of Jesus–the Just One.

In addition, JHOP DC is the birthplace and headquarters for Bound4LIFE, a wide-spread grass roots prayer movement aimed at the ending of abortion, the increase of adoptions and the reformation of government and society through spiritual awakening.

I also discovered this Nightline segment from 2005 on Engle's DC-based prayer network that profiles the young men and women who have taken up the call to pray non-stop for the Supreme Court and our nation's government to end abortion:

Be sure to also check out this "mini-documentary" on JHOP uploaded to YouTube earler this year:

Keep in the mind that the man responsible for this has, in recent months, become one of the most influential Religious Right leaders in America, regularly rubbing shoulders with (and occasionally placing hands upon) current and former Republican members of Congress.