Coral Ridge Ministries

• Coral Ridge Ministries is now to be known as Truth in Action Ministries.
• FRC is very relieved to learn that no gay person has been appointed to the RNC.
• Will Michele Bachmann be this election's Mike Huckabee?
• Gordon Klingenschmitt wants GOP presidential candidates "to make a major campaign speech endorsing H.R. 297, to defund the U.N. if they seize Israeli land."
• Finally, the quote of the day from Burt Prelutsky: "As for gay-pride parades, I can hardly imagine anything goofier. What is it exactly that they're so proud of? That their sexual activity will never lead to the birth of a baby, but only, tragically on occasion, to a dreadful disease?"

Last week the Southern Poverty Law Center updated its list of anti-gay groups and added several new organizations to its list of anti-gay hate groups. 

Many influential Religious Right groups found themselves placed upon the SPLC's updated list, including the Family Research Council, American Family Association, Concerned Women for American, National Organization for Marriage, and Liberty Counsel.  And to say that they are not happy about it would be a massive understatement.

NOM called it an "absurd distraction," saying it stood by its work and that the report was really an attack "on the majority of Americans who believe that to make a marriage you need a husband and wife" while Robert Knight of Coral Ridge Ministries and Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America both responded by accusing the SPLC of being the ones "who are actually filled with hate and bigotry."

For it's part, the Family Research Council called the designation part of a "smear campaign" designed to silence Christians and demanded an apology:

"The Left's smear campaigns of conservatives is also being driven by the clear evidence that the American public is losing patience with their radical policy agenda as seen in the recent election and in the fact that every state, currently more than thirty, that has had the opportunity to defend the natural definition of marriage has done so. Earlier this month, voters in Iowa sent a powerful message when they removed three Supreme Court justices who imposed same-sex marriage on the state. Would the SPLC also smear the good people of Iowa?

"Family Research Council will continue to champion marriage and family as the foundation of our society and will not acquiesce to those seeking to silence the Judeo-Christian views held by millions of Americans. We call on the Southern Poverty Law Center to apologize for this slanderous attack and attempted character assassination."

Matt Barber, who is one of the most vehemently anti-gay Religious Right activists operating today, yet somehow he and Liberty Counsel managed to avoid being labeled a hate group ... but that didn't stop him from ripping the SPLC in an op-ed in the Washington Times accusing the SPLC of comparing conservatives to Nazis:

So, center-right America: If you happen to believe in the sanctity of natural marriage and that, as a culture, we're best served by honoring the Judeo-Christian sexual ethic of our forefathers, you're now an official "hater."

Of course, the tired goal of this silly meme is to associate in the public mind's eye mainstream conservative social values with racism, white supremacy and neo-Nazism. The ironic result, however, is that, as typically occurs with such ad hominem and hyperbolic attacks, the attacker ends up marginalizing himself and galvanizing his intended target (I'm rubber, you're glue and all that).

Hence, beyond a self-aggrandizing liberal echo chamber, the SPLC - and by extension the greater "progressive" movement - has become largely, as it stews in its own radicalism, just another punch line.

It's often said that the first to call the other a Nazi has lost the argument.

Congratulations, conservative America: They're calling you a Nazi. Carry on.

Of course, that argument might carry more weight if, as Warren Throckmorton points out, groups like the American Family Association weren't regularly saying that all the Nazis were literally gay.

But in terms of sheer absurdity, it is hard to beat the reaction from the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission:

"The Southern Poverty Law Center has utterly discredited themselves by this provocative attack on organizations that promote traditional family values," said Rev. Gary L. Cass, of DefendChristians.Org, a ministry of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission.

"Labeling mainstream conservative organizations as 'Hate groups' is defamatory and is simply an intimidation tactic. We call on Congress to cut off their funding."

"Defend Christians.Org will work to form a coalition of organizations to lobby Congress to withhold funds from SPLC. We will also demand Congress restrict Federal law enforcement from relying on the biased SPLC reports, like the discredited 'Report on Right-Wing Extremism' SPLC wrote for the Department of Homeland Security," said Cass.

This tatic could possibly be effective if the SPLC actually received federal funds ... but it doesn't.  And for some reason Cass continues to insist that the SPLC wrote the DHS report despite having absolutely no evidence that that is the case. 

One of the defining features of the Religious Right is the remarkable redundancy of so many of their efforts.  For instance, as we noted earlier this month, there are at least five different 40 day prayer efforts underway targeting the mid-term elections ... or rather, make that six, as Coral Ridge Ministries is running one as well:

Join your Coral Ridge Ministries family and pray for the sake of this land we love!

September 1 through October 10 launches our brand-new 40 Days of Prayer for America campaign ... calling all concerned Christian citizens to fervent, focused, and committed prayer for America, her leaders, and her future.

Just visit www.CoralRidge.org daily, beginning September 1, to read the prayer for the day and commit this land we love to God in prayer.

Let righteousness reign in America, and let it begin by praying God's Word!

And you'll notice that Coral Ridge is using 2 Chronicles 7:14 as the effort's foundational passage, which is the same passage used by Janet Porter's May Day 2010 Prayer Rally, the Global Day of Prayer, the National Day of Prayer, the FRC's Call 2 Fall event, and the Pray and Act effort.  

So in case you didn't get the message, the key to winning the mid-term elections is for Christians to pray and seek forgiveness so that God will heal our land by tossing the Democrats out of office.

Last year we noted that a group calling itself Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ which had more or less proclaimed itself the second incarnation of the late D. James Kennedy's defunct Center for Reclaiming America for Christ, though it was to be focused initially on Oklahoma.

Since then its founder, Paul Blair, has managed to establish himself among the Religious Right's B-list activists, co-organizing last fall's anti-hate crimes legislation rally and playing a key role in Janet Porter's recent May Day 2010 rally .. and so the organzation's mission has been expanded beyond Oklahoma to the entire nation:

We began working to “Reclaim Oklahoma for Christ” and now have an effective working relationship with over 100 pastors from across our state. Our goal is to connect with, encourage, and if needed, assist pastors all over the nation in reclaiming their own states for Christ and the Christian liberty upon which our founding fathers built this great country.

Although we are not affiliated or connected with Coral Ridge Ministries or its former initiative, the Center for Reclaiming America, we have been granted permission by those entities to use the name “Reclaiming America for Christ” as we expand this vision across America. We hope to honor the name and legacy of Dr. Kennedy as we strive for another Great Awakening in this nation.

And next month, the group is hosting two day conference/Tea Party event that is scheduled to feature the likes of David Barton, Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis, Jim Garlow, and Rick Scarborough:

• According to the new Coral Ridge Ministries "documentary" on socialism, the whole country is going to end up like Detroit if President Obama has his way.
• National Association of Evangelicals has announced its willingness to partner with groups that offer contraceptive services and other programs aimed at reducing the number of abortions.
• The ACLJ is demanding that the Department of Justice allow volunteers to erect a replacement cross Mojave Desert World War I memorial.
• Mike Huckabee is taking his Fox News show to Las Vegas.
• Liberty Counsel says Dont' Ask, Don't Tell must be retained because "the military should not be used as a pawn to promote a political agenda, nor should it be used for a social experiment to deconstruct the family." Huh? 
• I continue to be amazed by rigorous logic displayed by the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer.
• Finally, the quote of the day from Maggie Gallagher: "Sarah Palin had me at the word 'Trig.'"

Back in 2007, the D. James Kennedy's Center for Reclaiming America for Christ shut down, as Coral Ridge Ministries announced that it would focus on expanding its media operations.  

Since then, Coral Ridge has produced several DVD programs like "10 Truths About Hate Crime Laws Book and Hate Crime Laws" and "Pastors, Pulpits, And Politics" ... and now, via Good As You, we see that they are back with their latest production "Radical Rulers And The Obama White House Radicals": 

America has come under the rule of the most radical administration in our nation’s history. In this explosive new book, journalist Robert Knight identifies more than a dozen White House appointees (plus President Obama) who are all working to bring extreme change to America. The Obama team’s far left ideology means a government takeover of healthcare, soaring budget deficits, redistribution of wealth, forcing taxpayers to subsidize abortions, punitive energy and environmental rules, restrictions on free speech, a push to mainstream homosexuality, and much more.

Along with the book, the DVD, The Obama White House Radicals, uncovers the backgrounds of several Obama Administration appointees—from a self-avowed Communist to a member of the Socialist International. The DVD also examines the influence of Rules for Radicals author Saul Alinsky on President Obama’s political education. Experts appearing on the program include Janice Shaw Crouse, political commentator for Concerned Women for America; William Federer, a nationally known speaker and host of the American Minute radio broadcast; and Gary Cass, president of the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission.

In case you missed it, the point is that President Obama's administration is extremely "radical" ... at least, according to far-right radicals.

And for a mere $40, this insightful DVD exposé and accompanying book explaining that can be yours.

It was just last week that the Employment Non-Discrimination Act was introduced in the Senate, so the Religious Right campaign of screaming their heads off is just getting off the ground. 

But Robert Knight of Coral Ridge Ministries gives us a nice preview of the sort of hyperbolic nonsense we can expect to see:

On Aug. 5, the GOP's Maine kleptocrats, Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, joined Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and longtime sponsor Ted Kennedy in reintroducing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which we'll call the "gay quota bill" for short. ENDA is profoundly dangerous. It turns private sin into a public right and brings the force of government against morality itself. Any such law is a violation of our unalienable rights as proclaimed in the Declaration of Independence. To put it more simply, a statute that directly contradicts God's moral law is illegitimate. Laws embody and reflect morality, or they are not laws. They are tyranny. That's why so-called same-sex "marriage" laws are absurd and treacherous. Forcing citizens to accept a counterfeit as the real thing is an act of despotism.

ENDA adds not only "sexual orientation" but "gender identity" to federal workplace anti-discrimination law. Thus, it takes an ax to the idea that sexual behavior has a natural normalcy or any relation to morality. It falsely equates a changeable condition (sexual desire) with race and ethnicity. Worse, it turns traditional values into a form of bigotry punishable under the law.

First of all, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act already has a short-hand name: ENDA.  So we don't need your suggestion that it should be called the "gay quota bill" because a) that's false and b) it's longer than the one we already have.

And secondly, it looks like efforts to pass this legislation are going to run into the same sort of Religious Right lies that plagued the hate crimes legislation, with right-wing activists claiming that it will grant "special rights" to those in the LGBT community. 

Of course, that will raise the exact same problems as their efforts to make that claim about hate crimes legislation, considering that there are already a number of federal laws on the books that outlaw employment discrimination based on things like race, religion, gender, and disability: 

• Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin;

• the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), which protects men and women who perform substantially equal work in the same establishment from sex-based wage discrimination;

• the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), which protects individuals who are 40 years of age or older;

• Title I and Title V of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), which prohibit employment discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities in the private sector, and in state and local governments;

• Sections 501 and 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals with disabilities who work in the federal government

So, once again the Right will have to explain why gays shouldn't receive similar protections as say, Christians. 

And once again, they'll fail to do that because they have no reason other than claims that God hates gays and therefore it should be okay to discriminate against them, leading to pieces like Knight's where the Right is reduced to bellowing that any "statute that directly contradicts God's moral law is illegitimate."

• We can now add Concerned Women for America to the list of right-wing groups opposing David Hamilton, President Obama's first judicial nominee, while Rod Parsley's Center for Moral Clarity says "the Senate’s response to this nomination will tell us more about them than it will about the nominee."
• Congressman Steve King and others have called on President Obama to withdraw the nomination of Dawn Johnsen. You can see the letter here [PDF].
• Remember when it was the Republicans who were labeling the Democrats as "the party of no" for opposing President Bush's agenda?
• It looks like Sarah Palin's grandstanding on the stimulus legislation is going to get sidestepped by the state legislature.
• Richard Viguerie sees the decision by the University of Notre Dame to invite President Obama as a sign of "the general collapse in American institutions and the failure of America's leadership class."
• Focus on the Family is asking people to "pick up the phone or send an e-mail to Barney Frank and tell him they’re disgusted by the fact (he) would use such disgraceful language toward a sitting member of the United States Supreme Court."
• Coral Ridge Ministries responds to Truth Wins Out's recent piece noting that Robert Knight has joined Coral Ridge Ministries.
• Finally, in an interview with the Action Institute, SC Gov. Mark Sanford was asked if it is a good thing that "faith traditions played a big role in the 2008 presidential race":

It is. But I don’t know if it was more window dressing than not. Obama had Rick Warren speak at the inauguration, and then got some guy of another persuasion to give the benediction. I don’t think you want it as an accoutrement. I think that you want it to show up in policy. In other words, conversation is certainly an important starting point. It can’t be the ending point.

Last week we noted that Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church had tapped a new pastor to replace the late D. James Kennedy who appeared intent on modernizing the church and removing it from the political and culture wars.  

But just because change might be coming to the church doesn’t seem to mean that any sort of similar change will be coming to its political arm, Coral Ridge Ministries:  

Many traditional marriage supporters have been taken aback by the pro-gay rights tone the Whitehouse.gov website has taken for its "Civil Rights" agenda, which supports the expansion of hate crimes statutes, discrimination employment laws that would grant special protections to the LBGT community, gay civil unions, gay couples' adoption rights and the repeal of the military's "Don't Ask-Don't Tell" policy.

Coral Ridge Ministries, a Christian media organization, also sent out an e-mail alert over the weekend stating, "Our new president wants to force Americans to accept homosexuality in the workplace and in the military."

"Right now, the President has the political wind at his back. Most in the media and Congress are cheering for him and his agenda to succeed," the ministry added. "That means he most likely will unless men and women of moral conviction and courage stand up and say 'No!'"

The email from Coral Ridge Ministries can be found here:

“It’s only the third day of Barack Obama’s presidency, but he just announced his aggressive plan to force Americans to accept homosexuality.

His just-revealed gay rights agenda, posted on the http://whitehouse.gov website, is a dream come true for the homosexual lobby. Our new president wants to force Americans to accept homosexuality in the workplace and in the military. Plus, he will push hard to pass hate crimes legislation and give marriage benefits to same-sex couples.

Here’s a short list of what our new president wants to do:

- Pass hate crimes legislation that will criminalize opposition to homosexuality.
- Allow homosexuals to enter into civil unions, which will 'give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples.'
- Repeal the federal Defense of Marriage Act.
- Oppose a federal constitutional amendment to limit marriage to a man and a woman.
- Repeal federal law to allow open homosexuals to serve in the U.S. military.
- Give homosexual couples the right to adopt young children.
- Fight AIDS with sex education, condoms, and needle-exchange programs.

Right now, the President has the political wind at his back. Most in the media and Congress are cheering for him and his agenda to succeed. That means he most likely will unless men and women of moral conviction and courage stand up and say 'No!'..."