LEARN

Lately I have started regularly posting the regular updates sent out by the Family Research Council's "Prayer Team" because they provide insights into what the Religious Right's priorities are at any given moment.  And this "Prayer Team" is actually part of a series of ways that FRC targets pastors for political involvement, even going so far as to provide sample sermons for them to use on Sundays.

But the main way FRC seeks to mobilize pastors is through its Watchmen on the Wall events where they learn to be just like John the Baptist and Martin Luther King, Jr. as they work to save our nation because "the problems we face are not just political in nature, they are spiritual in nature. Consequently, these problems ultimately require a spiritual solution administered by spiritual leadership."

In addition to the main Watchmen conference held in Washington, DC every year, FRC also holds smaller conferences around the country ... like the one on Monday that will be held in Minnesota featuring Gov. Tim Pawlenty:

Please encourage your pastor to join Tony Perkins, Governor Tim Pawlenty, and other pastors from across Minnesota next Monday, September 27th for Watchmen on the Wall 2010, a regional event sponsored by Family Research Council and Minnesota Family Institute. The year 2010 could be a turning point in the life of our nation, and we need pastors to lead in defending human life, traditional marriage, and our Judeo-Christian heritage.

Among the other speakers will be Dr. Kenyn Cureton, FRC's Vice President for Church Ministries, who, as Rob Boston of Americans United recently reported, spoke during a breakout session at last week's Values Voter Summit where he declared that those who do not support FRC's agenda are pawns of Satan:

Are you an agent of Satan?

Kenyn Cureton is worried that you might be. Cureton is vice president for church ministries for the Family Research Council. During the FRC’s recent “Values Voter Summit,” he warned attendees at a breakout session on churches and politics to be ready for some intense action.

“The battle that we’re fighting,” he said, “is not just a political and cultural battle, it’s a spiritual battle.”

And when a battle is spiritual, you can be sure that some people are serving the wrong side.

“When you think about it, you know, the real enemy is not the poor, deluded souls who are advancing these evil agendas,” Cureton said. “Really, they’re just simply pawns in the hands of their malevolent master. They’re simply doing the bidding of the devil, OK?”

Last week I noted now Brannon Howse, who had been leading a crusade against Glenn Beck because of his Mormon faith, had started explicitly comparing Mormonism with Islam:

Both belief systems teach that they have the only true and complete religion on face of the earth. Both reject Christianity as corrupted. Both taught the plurality of wives, both on earth and in here-after. Both teach that the Bible is corrupt and mistranslated. Both revealed God’s true scripture. Both reject original sin and the doctrine of the trinity. Both teach a salvation by good works. Both use a lay clergy. Both founded by a holy uneducated prophet. Both founding prophets had angelic visitations that they were to restore Adamic religion. Both prophets' words were above scripture or earlier prophets. Both teach a theocratic form of government.

I guess it should not come as much of a surprise to learn that many of the Religious Right activists who are most vocal in attack Islam also have a long history of attacking Mormons as well.

Case in point is Bill Keller:

To an audience of about 50 people -- fully half of whom were members of the press -- Pastor Bill Keller launched his 9-11 Christian Center at ground zero this morning with a fiery sermon targeting Muslims and Mormons as hell-bound followers of false faiths. Keller took aim in particular at Glenn Beck, a Mormon, and Imam Rauf, the organizer of the Park51 Islamic community center.

Keller first made a name for himself a few years back by attacking Mitt Romney, claiming that vote for Romney was a vote for Satan.

Keller's anti-Mormon attacks against Romney were echoed by Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, who proclaimed that "Mormonism is a cult" and that Christians could not vote for Romney because "Christians are uniquely favored by God, [while] Mormons, Hindus and Muslims worship a false god."

So it is entirely predictable that Jeffress likewise hates Islam:

Prominent Pastor Robert Jeffress of the First Baptist Church of Dallas gave a sermon a few weeks ago saying, among other things: "The deep, dark, dirty secret of Islam: It is a religion that promotes pedophilia - sex with children. This so-called prophet Muhammad raped a 9-year-old girl - had sex with her."

...

First Baptist's Sunday evening service on August 22 featured an "Ask the Pastor" segment, in which Jeffress called Islam "oppressive" and violent." He also said that "around the world today, you have Muslim men having sex with 4-year-old girls, taking them as their brides, because they believe the prophet Muhammad did it."

"I believe," Jeffress added, "as Christians and conservatives, it's time to take off the gloves and stand up and tell the truth about this evil, evil religion."

...

"It does incite violence. It is used to oppress women around the world," he added, continuing that he "was not talking about this country" when referencing pedophilia. But, Jeffress said, "the worst thing about Islam is that it is a deception that leads people from the true God."

Jeffress contended that "we do not hate Muslims" and noted: "I have a very good friend here in Dallas who is a Muslim."

Something for Glenn Beck to keep in mind as he gins up anti-Muslim sentiment and opposition to Park 51:  people who hate Islam generally have equally harsh views about all other faith traditions as well, including Mormonism.

I will admit that I am utterly fascinated by the Family Research Council's "Prayer Team" and how it merges its political agenda with specific prayer recommendations.

The latest installment, in addition to asking participants to pray that God will grace the Values Voter Summit and use attendees to make a difference in the election, also seeks prayer to fight off the administration's embrace of Islam: 

May God continue to expose Obama's favoritism toward Islam and disfavor toward Biblical Christianity! May Christians arise to resist this religious invasion through prayer and by communicating truth!

But most interesting is the fact that FRC takes issue with the Obama administration for submitting a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council that covered both what the administration considered America's success and failures in the human rights arena. 

Of course, recognizing, or even perceiving, any sort of failure in anything America does is a monumental outrage:

May Americans learn of this egregious act to diminish American power and prestige, exalt the U.N. over us, and aggrandize the liberal Obama agenda. May voters grill candidates for office, and elect pro-American candidates this fall!

As I noted a few months ago, it is remarkable how FRC slowly seems to be transitioning from a political group with a religious agenda to a religious group with a political agenda.

I spent the weekend trying a sense of just how the Religious Right is responding to Glenn Beck's "Restoring Honor" rally, but haven't seen any sort of dominant narrative emerge.  Instead, it has mostly been a mish-mash of vague statements and generalities. 

Jim Garlow asserted that the theme of the weekend's events was quite obvious: a call to decency and a return to God:

For starters, a call to decency reigned. Not some bland, gray, boring form of mundane living, but rather the centuries-old respectable virtues that gave us the America we now enjoy.

Sometime around 1960, morals jumped off the bridge without first attaching the bungee cord. The result is a nation with everything from devastated families, drug- and crime-infested communities to a hedonistically driven national debt.

...

America, by margins of 70 percent to 80 percent believe in the values that made us, whether it be in maintaining “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance or “In God We Trust” on our coins. Americans have grown weary of the oligarchic cultural elite oppressing the masses.

To discerning persons, the rally was not about Glenn Beck. It was not about Sarah Palin. This rally was about freedom, honor, our American heritage, and sacrifice. And foundationally, it was about God.

But the best Deacon Keith Fournier could come up with was to blast the media while claiming that those who attended the event left with hope and encouragement:

Clearly, Glenn Beck's dreams for a Rally which could "restart the heart of America" exceeded all expectations. Even the Press, which for days leading up to the event had minimized, mocked and trivialized the event, immediately began to acknowledge its massive size and possible significance. Then, they quickly regrouped and the punditry began all over again. I imagine the implications of the event will be fodder for much pontificating for weeks. However, any honest reporter must admit that this was clearly an historic event.

The people who gathered in the Capitol on August 28, 2010, from all over the Nation and representing a wide cross section of the people of the United States of America, left filled with hope, encouraged and challenged to serve and participate.That can only be good for what ails this Nation.

For his part Ralph Reed responded by accusing the media of missing the point about the rally by focusing on Beck's Mormon faith:

The evangelicals participating in the Restore Honor event are not endorsing Glenn Beck’s theology, nor is he asking them to; they are joining in his clarion call to restore America’s honor and founding principles. Together, we and millions of our fellow citizens are calling America back to its Judeo-Christian values of faith, hard work, individual initiative, the centrality of marriage and family, hope, charity, and relying on God and civic and faith-based organizations rather than government for our security and prosperity.

We have always partnered with those with whom we had theological differences: the Jewish community in defending the state of Israel, Roman Catholics in defending life, Mormons in defending marriage. The media can’t have it both ways. Either evangelicals are theologically narrow and judgmental, or they are just as politically sophisticated and mature and capable of building coalitions with 80% friends who they do not view as 20% enemies. It seems they get criticized no matter what they do.

Of course, one of the reasons the media is asking questions about the pairing of evangelical leaders with Beck is because people on the right keep making a big deal about it:

Glenn Beck promotes a false gospel. However, many of his political ideas can help America.

Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian values. Mormonism is not a Christian denomination but a cult of Christianity.

The country needs to get back to the simplicity of the Bible. The reason our country is in bad shape is that ministers for the most part do not share the truth. Many endorse false gospels including Mormonism.

In fact, I think this "Prayer Point" in Faith 2 Action's latest email pretty much sums up the tension among the Religious Right between wanting to be a part of Beck's new religious crusade while worrying that Christians are being misled by Beck's faith:

Pray for all those involved in the large rally being held at the Lincoln Memorial tomorrow. Pray that many will learn about our nation's true heritage and that no one will be deceived into joining the Mormons. Pray that Glenn Beck will leave Mormonism and come to true salvation in Christ.

Speaking of Religious Rigth activists being upset about the fact that Ken Mehlman has come out, you knew it was just a matter of time before Peter LaBarbera weighed in, which he is doing by blasting RNC Chair Michael Steele for saying he is happy for Mehlman and saying that this is proof of why gays must be kept out of the Republican Party:

Why couldn’t Mr. Steele just have kept quiet about this tragic revelation by which another sexually confused man seeks to rationalize his misbehavior (sin) by declaring homosexuality part of his inherent being? Nope, instead, like a three-year-old boy approaching a puddle, Steele just had to step in it. Pro-family writer Laurie Higgins of Illinois Family Institute observed:

So, Steele is “happy” that Mehlman is homosexual and/or happy that he is public about it? Why would he be happy for a friend embracing immoral and dangerous practices or for a friend being public about his embrace of immorality? And why does he respect him for his “difficult” decision to announce his immorality publicly? What fecklessness or cowardice Steele’s comment demonstrates. And this from the leader of the Republican Party…

...

So, we learn that Mehlman used his tremendous influence within the Republican Party to undermine the GOP’s clear platform language in support of preserving traditional marriage. All the while rank-and-file Republican Joes and Janes were assuming that the RNC leader was standing up for marriage between a man and a woman. Mr. Mehlman just proved why homosexual activism should be kept out of the Republican Party: it undermines core conservative values supported overwhelmingly by the GOP grassroots.

Back in June, when Peter LaBarber announced his three day anti-gay "Truth Academy," he made it clear that those who did not share his anti-gay views or agenda would not be welcome and that he would actively be screening applicants: 

This is a rigorous, 3-day program featuring some of the leading pro-family experts on homosexuality in the Culture War. Prospective attendees will need to be approved with references; this is not open to pro-homosexual activists but only to those who share AFTAH’s belief that homosexuality is immoral and that the GLBT movement is destructive to America and a direct threat to our religious freedom.

So how did that work out?

Well, Truth Wins Out got someone inside who provided audio recordings and Hemant Mehta (aka “The Friendly Atheist”) likewise had two sources inside who have provided an exhaustive recounting of the conference - one of Mehta's sources actually struck up a discussion with another attendee, only to find out that that person was also there as a spy. 

Now that spy, Timna Axel, has written her own long piece providing an inside view of the conference:

Reading Bible passages that describe God's strictly heterosexual design for marriage, Professor Rena Lindevaldsen of Liberty University traced a history of court cases which systematically de-linked procreation from marriage.

"I firmly believe we got to where we are today because we as a nation strayed from God's standard," she said. In her view, the last U.S. Supreme Court case which correctly described marriage was Murphy v. Ramsey, a case on polygamy decided 125 years ago. Decrying Lawrence v. Texas, which protected citizen privacy from anti-sodomy laws, Prof. Lindevaldsen admitted that she didn't want "the government peeking into my bedroom." However, privacy in this case should be sacrificed because "laws normalize conduct."

While anti-gay federal laws would merely discourage bad conduct, pro-gay federal laws would effectively criminalize Christianity, according to LaBarbera, who cited the cases of Canada and England. In his example, laws which prohibit renters from discriminating based on sexual orientation would make it illegal to fulfill the Christian ideology.

This scriptural keystone explains the absolute inability of these believers to compromise on gay marriage. "Sexual sin is sexual sin," asserted LaBarbera. "The truth is the truth." To budge one inch for domestic partnerships or civil unions is moral cowardice, and would open the floodgates for normalizing other sexual sins such as adultery and incest.

LaBarbera hailed his conference as a "tremendous success," but its becoming clear that a significant number of the 50 or so people LaBarbera claims attended were really there as undercover spies.

Interesting, LaBarbera is also offering DVDs and CDs from the conference ... but who needs to waste money on them when we are getting so much inside coverage of the event from the countless spies in attendance?

Last month we noted that Peter LaBarbera's Americans for Truth would be hosting a three-day training conference for anti-gay activists featuring a who's who of the most hostile voices in the movement, including LaBarbera, Robert Knight, Ryan Sorba, and Matt Barber. 

Today Accuracy in Media's Cliff Kincaid, who shares a LaBarbera-level hatred for gays, has now been added to the list of instructors, which explains why he is now writing glowing columns about the conference warning that it is our only hope of save America from its "moral suicide" as gays seek to kill themselves and everyone else:

LaBarbera is one of those brave few taking a leadership role in the effort to preserve traditional American social and religious values. Fighting off the predictable smears of “hater” and “homophobe” from the gay-run Media Matters group and the Southern Poverty Law Center, he and his associates will be gathering near Chicago from August 5-7 to educate the next generation—and their parents—about the consequences if homosexuality is promoted in the schools and by the federal government. This is when AFTAH is launching a Truth Academy on how to fight the “gay agenda.” I am honored to be invited to be a part of this effort. I will be discussing gay influence on the media and the homosexual drive for the “right” to donate possibly infected and contaminated blood to the nation’s blood supply.

Adults and young people alike are encouraged to sign up for this much-needed effort to organize the pro-family forces in America. The issue is just as important as the massive debt and deficits that are threatening to financially bankrupt the nation. The cost to attend the AFTAH Truth Academy is only $99 for students, $199 for adults, and $299 for couples.

A tentative list of instructors is proof that the three-day event will provide all of the evidence you need to understand that acceptance of homosexuality is not only a health hazard to those practicing this “lifestyle” but a historical indicator that our society is going down the drain. As such, you will leave the event convinced that the moral bankruptcy of America has to be avoided, in the same way that we need to keep our nation’s fiscal house in order. The Tea Party, in other words, has to take on a moral dimension. Our crisis is more than money alone.

...

As noted by Bible scholar William Barclay, Paul’s remarks seemed, at first glance, like the work of “some almost hysterical moralist” at the time. But it was “an age of moral suicide,” Barclay said, explaining that “Society from top to bottom was riddled with unnatural vice. Fourteen out of the first fifteen Roman Emperors were homosexuals.”

We haven’t reached that state of affairs in America quite yet. But we are fast approaching it ... On the gay rights front, things are also moving forward for the progressives and their libertarian brethren. In fact, the Gay & Lesbian Leadership Institute boasts that Obama has already appointed a “record number” of openly LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered) individuals. Perhaps we are catching up with Rome more quickly than anybody realizes.

But don’t get the idea that these people are serving just so they can prove they can do the job and be left alone. They are in positions of power for a reason. Their “job” is to use the power of the federal government to promote homosexuality. One of the most significant appointments is John Berry as the director of the Office of Personnel Management, with jurisdiction over 1.9 million federal employees and 2.5 million retirees.

Tragically, while the gays continue to expand their “rights” in the government and private sectors, they are killing themselves in greater numbers—and pushing policies that threaten the lives of the rest of us. This is where we need real “compassionate conservatism”—not to condemn these people but save them from themselves. And save ourselves and our children in the process.

I realize that it is probably a fruitless endeavor to try and expose the utter ridiculousness of Glenn Beck's new "university," but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try.

TPM's Jillian Rayfield signed up for the first day of "classes" and here is what she was taught:

We signed up for the $9.95/month "university." Last night's class was subtitled "Black-Robed Regiment," and "Professor" and right-wing historian David Barton talked for half an hour about happier times in American history, when clergy were a welcome and influential part of American politics.

...

So what did Barton talk about? As Beck said in his introduction, our nation's idea of the separation of church and state is "not what you've been sold."

Barton elaborated. He began by talking about Alexis de Tocqueville's concept of "American Exceptionalism," noting that "there's gotta be a reason we're different" from other democracies. That's where the "Black-Robed Regiment" comes in. These, according to Barton, were the preachers who influenced the bulk of the Declaration of Independence:

The Declaration of Independence is nothing more than a listing of all of the sermons that folks had been hearing in church in the decades leading up to the American Revolution.

Media Matters posted an audio clip from Barton's lecture and what is most remarkable about it is that it is just the standard pseudo-history that he always peddles. In fact, you can find the exact same presentations all over YouTube ... for free.

In fact, here is one such clip from a program where Barton teaches the same thing, but I want to focus on something else - namely, the claims he makes beginning at the 7:26 mark because if perfectly encapsulates Barton's absurd "teachings":

Isaiah 33:22 sets for three distinct branches of government, just as was adopted in the Constitution. And the logic for the separation of powers was based on teachings derived from Jeremiah 17:9. And the basis for tax exemptions for churches, exemptions given to us by the Founding Fathers themselves, can be found in Ezra 7:24. And there are many other examples of American government adopting Biblical patterns and precedents.

Let's take a look at these passages, shall we?

Ezra 7:24 comes from a letter written by King Artaxerxes in which he orders "all the treasurers of Trans-Euphrates" to provide Ezra with what he needs:

You are also to know that you have no authority to impose taxes, tribute or duty on any of the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants or other workers at this house of God.

According to Barton, that is how our Founding Fathers decided not to tax churches.

Isaiah 33:22 comes for an extended denunciation of Jerusalem for having turned away from God and promises of a glorious future if they will repent:

For the LORD is our judge,
the LORD is our lawgiver,
the LORD is our king;
it is he who will save us.

That, according to Barton, is how the Founders came up with the idea for three branches of government.

But those are downright plausible claims in comparison to Barton's statement that our concept of separation of powers came out of Jeremiah 17:9 in which the prophet is proclaiming God's word that he judges men based on what he finds from searching their hearts and minds:

The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?

So according to Barton, it is this passage that gave rise to our system of separation of powers.

Does that even remotely make sense? 

This is the man that Glenn Beck has tapped to lead his "university" and this is the sort of nonsense that Beck fans are paying good money to "learn"? 

Amazingly, that is exactly the case.

When I received email alerts yesterday from Wallbuilders, Renewing American Leadership, and the Faith and Freedom Coalition announcing that their respective leaders - David Barton, Jim Garlow, and Ralph Reed - were all going to appear on Glenn Beck last night, I knew something remarkable was going on.

As it turned out, these men with also joined by several other Religious Right leaders, including NOM's Robert George and John Hagee (John Hagee!?):

The discussion went pretty much as you would expect it would when a bunch of Religious Right leaders who are convinced that America was, is, and ought to always be a Christian nation team up with a far-right conspiracy nut ... so it is not really worth covering.

Instead, I want to use this to further explore something I mentioned last week in my "The Religious Right and Six Degrees of Dominionism" post: though not every person who shares a stage with a controversial figure can be said to share that figure's views, those who either invite such figures to participate in their events or else themselves agree to appear at events hosted by such figures are offering, on some level, their validation of such views. 

In the case of last night's Beck program, it would be unfair to say that Robert George shares the radical views of John Hagee just because they shared the stage; but it is fair to say that Beck does, at least in part, or else he would never have invited Hagee on to participate in this panel.  By the same token, by appearing on Beck's program, George is signaling that he is entirely comfortable using that venue as an outlet through which he is eager to share his own views with an audience who shares Beck's views.

Which brings me to my main point: two of the men featured on Beck's program last night also appeared at Convergence 09:

Perhaps you recall our posts about Convergence 2010, where Janet Porter prayed for control over the media and Cindy Jacobs discussed her personal interactions with Jesus and conducted faith healings and Harry Jackson was declared to be a "modern day Martin Luther King" and Jim Garlow explained how he brought in Lou Engle to lead spiritual warriors in fasting and prayer to pass Proposition 8.

Well, Convergence 09 also featured Jacobs, Jackson, and Garlow plus several other prophetic intercessors like Dutch Sheets, Chuck Pierce, and Seven Mountains leader Lance Wallnau ... as well as David Barton.

According to the schedule, Barton spoke for three hours, but unfortunately I have not been able to find any video of his speech ... but he clearly was there:

And I did manage to track down this email announcement from Generals International announcing the conference - note especially the militant language and central role that spiritual warfare was to play in the event:

Mike and I would like to invite you to gather together with us and intercessors from across the world to raise up a prayer army to both awaken and reform this nation.

One does not have to be prophetic to realize that we are at one of the most serious junctures of history our nation has ever known. Some are even suggesting that the United States as it stands is in the balance. Critical times require us as intercessors and believers in the Lord Jesus Christ to rally for troop training. We need a new generation of Generals to arise and war for the soul of our nation!

With this in mind, we know that we cannot pray the way we have in the past season. We need new prayers for a new day. Every army has to come aside for training and equipping. They need to learn how to work with spiritual intelligence and use their weapons of warfare.

We have often said that if we want to see what we have never seen, we have to do what we have never done. This also means that if we want to see this nation not lose her destiny, then we are going to have to fight to ensure that we become the city set on a hill our forebearers fought for!

With this passion in our hearts, we are calling you to come and prepare for battle in what we are calling Convergence ‘09: Raise Up An Army! We have brought together one of the finest teams of equippers we could find to help us mobilize to change the nation, including David Barton, Dutch Sheets, Lance Wallnau, Chuck Pierce, Harry Jackson, Jim Garlow, Cheryl Sacks, Jim Hennesy, Klaus Kuehn, Mike Jacobs and Cindy Jacobs.

Again, I have been uable to find any of the video from the conference, but I did find these "action shots" of Jacobs performing some sort of faith healing on stage:

Now, I will admit that I have been following Barton's work closely for quite some time now and have never heard him talk about Dominionism or the Seven Mountains Mandate.  But I also had no idea that he associated with Dominionists like Jacobs and company either. 

Barton is currently traveling the East Coast with Jim Garlow on their Next Great Awakening Tour and Garlow clearly has deep ties to Jacobs and Engle and Seven Mountains theology.

As I have said, there is a danger in playing "six degrees" with some of these connections ... but it is also completely fair to point out these connections, especially since they seem to be playing a bigger and bigger role within the "mainstream" of the Religious Right as a movement.