Operation Save America

David Benham organized a prayer rally in Charlotte to coincide with the opening of the Democratic National Convention called Charlotte 714, based on 2 Chronicles 7:14, along with groups like the North Carolina Values Coalition and Operation Save America, which is led by his father Flip Benham. While speaking to Janet Mefferd yesterday about the prayer rally, Benham said that Charlotte was chosen not only because it is the site of the DNC but also because the city was one of the few areas to vote against Amendment One, the same-sex marriage ban voters passed in May. Benham called Charlotte’s vote against anti-gay discrimination a sign of the “very desperate spiritual situation and moral situation in our country,” requiring “a citywide church service of repentance.” Later, Benham told Mefferd that America’s Christian majority must repent for tolerating abortion rights, no-fault divorce, legal pornography, “homosexuality and its agenda that is attacking the nation” and the “demonic ideologies” that he says have taken over the education system.

In North Carolina you know we just fought for Amendment One which was a constitutional amendment that simply said, this is exactly what the amendment said is the only legal marriage in North Carolina was between a man and a woman. We received—it was such a battle in North Carolina it blew me away. I already knew in my heart as most all of us Christians in America know that we are in a very desperate spiritual situation and moral situation in our country but it really hit home during Amendment One, so much so that when Amendment One passed I realized the only three counties in North Carolina that actually voted against the amendment were Charlotte, Raleigh and Asheville, our three cities. So we had all the rural areas and all the suburban areas but we lost all the cities. So I felt like, OK it’s time that we have a citywide church service of repentance and that’s the reason that we decided to do it right in the heart of Charlotte the night before the DNC.

…

We will always finger point but we don’t realize that OK if 87% of Americans are Christians and yet we have abortion on demand; we have no-fault divorce; we have pornography and perversion; we have a homosexuality and its agenda that is attacking the nation; we have adultery; we have all of the things; we even have allowed demonic ideologies to take our universities and our public school systems while the church sits silent and just builds big churches. We are so complacent, we are so apathetic and we are very hypocritical in the church, that’s why the Bible says judgment begins in the house of God. So when we prayed at 714 we asked God and our city to forgive us for allowing these things in the house of God.

Flip Benham of Operation Save America has decided to join the cavalcade of blame being unleashed by the Religious Right over the tragic mass shooting in Colorado last night, declaring that the suspect is "an Occupy Wall Street guy" who is "the spawn of the ideology of the Democratic Party:" 

James Holmes, an Occupy Wall Street guy, murdered 14 and wounded 50+ at a midnight showing of the Batman movie that portrayed OWS'ers in a bad light. Perhaps there is a motive here. Twenty four years old and filled with the culture of death! When we sow bloodshed in the womb we will reap it in the streets. It is a law. It is God's Law. It is a law as certain as the physical law of gravity. It is a "spiritual gravity" that applies to all people at all places at all times. Whether or not you believe it, it applies. King Jesus is the only answer. The whole National Guard couldn't make James do what is right. He has become his own law, showing contempt for authority and doing what is right in his own eyes. He is the product of the Culture of Death that the DNC has embraced.

There is not a police force big enough to make a young man do what is right. The only answer - there is a King whose name is Jesus. When He occupies the heart of a young man, that young man will lay down his life that others may live.

This is what has happened to our country when we remove God from the equation. We have stolen the fear of God from our children, Violence always fills the void. This is the spawn of the ideology of the Democratic Party and now we look at each other in awkward amazement, wondering "what in the world just happened?" The answer is we have stolen God from the hearts of our children.

A few weeks back, we noted that Operation Save America had begun protesting mosques and screaming at worshipers that "Islam is a lie" and that "Jesus hates Muslims," forcing Muslim leaders in Connecticut to actually seek police protection from their harassment.

Today, the group announced that it intends to take its harassment to "mosques across the nation":

We, Operation Save America, are headed to Ground Zero in New York City, to begin our nationwide outreach to Muslims in America. We offer to our Muslim friends enslaved in the tyrannical bondage of Islam, the true source of liberty -- Jesus Christ!

First in New York City, then to Mosques across the nation!

The wounds that America is now suffering are, by in large, self-inflicted. We have forgotten the God who made this nation great and free. We have killed His children through abortion (over 50 million dead), called homosexuality good (an abomination in His sight), and prostrated Him to the level of all other false gods. God has not been silent. We are being judged. 9-11, the rise of Islam, and our present financial and social distresses are warnings of worse to come.

"God is calling America to repentance. We must begin here. Once we have returned to Him, we must go to those lost in the darkness and misery of Islam. We cannot build bridges or dialogue with this murderous false ideology. We are called to storm the gates of hell and set the captive free! We bring to America the warning that the rise of Islam is a sign of God's judgment upon a nation that has turned from Him!" Rev. Flip Benham, Director, Operation Save America.

Earlier this week we noted that Flip Benham and members of Operation Save America had been targeting mosques for protests, screaming that "Jesus hate Muslims" and declaring "This is a war in America and we are taking it to the mosques around the country."

Even though the group is based in Texas, it has chosen to target mosques in Connecticut and Muslim leaders in the state are holding a press conference today to discuss the attacks: 

The Muslim Coalition of Connecticut and other organizations are hosting a press conference and rally at 3 p.m. today (Friday) on the north side (Bushnell Park side) of the State Capitol.

The gathered hope to address recent outbreaks of Islamophobia in Connecticut, as well as the rest of the country. During Islam's holy month of Ramadan, Muslims have asked for police protection so that they can go to their mosques to pray in this state.

And so, of course, Operation Save America is responding by accusing Muslims of violating their First Amendment rights: 

In an unprecedented move, Muslim leaders in Connecticut are staging a press conference in Hartford this afternoon, to plead with legislators to censor the Gospel of Christ from the public forum around mosques.

That's right! They are using their own potential for violence to silence the Gospel of Christ. Gentle Christian saints will be conducting a press conference on the public sidewalk in front of the Bridgeport Islamic Center, aka Mafjid An-Noor Mosque in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Truth is hate to those who hate the truth.

Islam is not a religion, nor a cult, but a total and complete 100 % system of life. It has religious, legal, political, economic, social, and military components. In all of the 27 countries ruled by Islam, the church is the state! No other religion will be tolerated.

"Islam presents a monstrous worldview, birthed in the pit of hell, which brings untold misery and murder upon precious people created in the image of God. Religion is its cover (its beard) by which it gains entrance into nations where the 'freedom of religion' is sacrosanct. It then takes this freedom afforded to it, and begins its insidious takeover." Rev. Flip Benham of Operation Save America.

In essence, Benham is upset that Muslim leaders are exercising their First Amendment free speech rights in defense of their First Amendment religious freedoms because doing so represents a threat to his First Amendment right to scream that Jesus hates them.

As we noted yesterday, Religious Right leaders are gathering for their own prayer rally/conference call to combat the upcoming Muslim prayer rally in Washington, DC in order to combat Islam's "dark spiritual intent" and efforts to take over America.

Now Operation Save America is getting into the act as well, openly declaring that they are heading to DC in order to wage spiritual battle against the rally participants and "storm the gates of hell to defeat the false god of Islam with the unsheathed Word of God and to set people free from the monstrous tyranny and bondage of this religion birthed in the deepest pits of hell":

The "Our Time Has Come" Islamic Juma prayer vigil to be held at our nation's capital. Thousands of Muslims from across the nation will be gathering at the Capitol Building for prayer from 4:00 AM Friday morning to 7:00 PM Friday night. They will make this statement of faith that will echo off the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial: "There is no God but Allah, and his prophet is Mohammad." This last statement demands a rebuke from the people of God. We are headed to D.C. to do just that with our faces low to the ground and our hearts filled with the Gospel of Christ that made this nation free and made this nation great.

Abortion is Murder
Homosexuality is Sin
Islam is a Lie

"What do these three have in common? They are, all three, physical manifestations of the battle between two seeds -- the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. Genesis 3:15. Islam is a visible manifestation of this battle and has been at war with Christianity for fourteen centuries. There is no dialogue, no common ground, no reaching across the aisle in this battle. We are not called to build bridges to Islam. We are called to storm the gates of hell -- to defeat the false god of Islam with the unsheathed Word of God and to set people free from the monstrous tyranny and bondage of this religion birthed in the deepest pits of hell." -- Rev. Flip Benham, Director, Operation Save America

The muslims say their "day" is come but we know that it is the day of the Lord -- not Allah but the one true Lord and the only king -- King Jesus! It is the Gospel of Christ that made this nation freer than any nation that ever existed on this planet. It is this Gospel that we will bring to the U.S. Capitol on 9/24/2009.

Among the handful of Christian Coalition chapters that parted ways with their national affiliate, the Alabama chapter has had the most acrimonious divorce. Not only did the old chapter – now called Christian Action Alabama – publicly disagree over a gambling measure with the replacement chapter, the two were embroiled in a lawsuit. Randy Brinson’s newly-formed Christian Coalition of Alabama claimed John Giles and Christian Action Alabama had absconded with Christian Coalition assets.

Now, Brinson and CC of Alabama are prepared to let bygones be bygones. “We dropped the lawsuit because basically we were getting such bad press out of it," he explained.

It’s been said that bad press is better than no press, however, and it may be a while before we hear from either faction again. While Brinson’s still trying to get the new CC of Alabama – which then-rival Giles had called “one man and a name” – off the ground, the old group appears to be moribund. Giles, who used to be its president and full-time lobbyist, found a job in the private sector, and says Christian Action Alabama will be “in an idle position” for the time being.

Meanwhile, anti-abortion activists are bringing another factional dispute to the state.

The Washington Post today reports on the unusual spat among anti-abortion groups, apparently over the tactics of incrementalism versus absolutism, that spilled into public attacks against Focus on the Family founder James Dobson two weeks ago. Groups including Rev. Flip Benham’s Operation Rescue/Operation Save America and Colorado Right to Life placed a full-page ad in the Colorado Springs Gazette and the Washington Times demanding that Dobson “repent” for saying that a recent Supreme Court decision upholding the federal “Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act” would “protect children.”

Confusingly, a separate anti-abortion group also called Operation Rescue praised Dobson for pushing the ban, and Colorado Right to Life’s national parent group also said it was in “complete disagreement” with its state affiliate.

In the Post, Colorado Right to Life President Brian Rohrbough fired back. A Focus on the Family spokesman said they supported the ban “because we, and most pro-lifers, are sophisticated enough to know we're not going to win a total victory all at once. We're going to win piece by piece.” But Rohrbough said the decision “encourage[s] abortionists to find less shocking means to kill late-term babies.”

"What happened in the abortion world is that groups like National Right to Life, they're really a wing of the Republican Party, and they're not geared to push for personhood for an unborn child -- they're geared to getting Republicans elected," he said. "So we're seeing these ridiculous laws like the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban put forward, and then we're deceived about what they really do."

Today, Operation Rescue is among a handful of far-Right groups attacking James Dobson for saying a recent Supreme Court ruling upholding the so-called “Partial-Birth Abortion Ban” would “protect children”:

In a full-page ad in The Gazette newspaper in Colorado Springs, the group said Dobson wrongly characterized the court's April ruling as a victory for abortion foes. The ad said the ruling will actually encourage medical professionals to find "less shocking" methods than late-term abortions, which abortion opponents often call "partial-birth abortion."

"Dr. Dobson, you mislead Christians claiming this ruling will 'protect children.' The court granted no authority to save the life of even a single child," the ad said. It concludes by asking Dobson to "please repent." A spokesman for Dobson did not immediately return a call. …

The letter is signed by Brian Rohrbough, president of Colorado Right to Life; the Rev. Tom Euteneuer, president of Human Life International; Flip Benham, director of Operation Rescue/Operation Save America; Judie Brown, president of American Life League; and Bob Enyart, pastor of Denver Bible Church.

Also today, Operation Rescue is joining the Christian Defense Coalition for a press conference in Wichita “to demand to know how the federal government plans to enforce the Partial Birth Abortion Ban Act now that it has been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court.” In fact, Operation Rescue released a statement that it is “proud to stand with Dr. Dobson” on the Supreme Court case.

Today’s confusion arises from an internecine squabble rivaling the spat between Chris Simcox’s Minuteman Civil Defense Corps and Jim Gilchrist’s Minuteman Project.

Operation Rescue, a militant anti-abortion group founded by Randall Terry in 1988, was at the center of a legal battle over organized clinic blockades. In an effort to evade various restraining orders, debt, and monetary judgments, Terry shut down the Binghamton, New York-based Operation Rescue and reformed it as Operation Rescue National out of a much smaller office in South Carolina. Benham became national director of this group around 1994, by which time the group was struggling to keep its head above water as the clinic-access laws and headlines of murdered doctors kept participation low.

Benham started using the appellation “Operation Rescue/Operation Save America” (with “Operation Save America” letterhead) around 2000. According to Pennsylvania anti-abortion activist Steve Wetzel of Missionaries to the Unborn, “In a personal telephone conversation, Flip explained that the name change was necessary due to the large number of lawsuits filed against the Operation Rescue name - and a name change was the only way out of those lawsuits.”

As for the other Operation Rescue, also known as Operation Rescue West, that’s Troy Newman. Although Newman’s version of Operation Rescue frequently collaborates with Patrick Mahoney and Christian Defense Coalition, which Mahoney and Randall Terry founded together, Benham fervently disputes the legacy. From an Operation Save America release in January, in which the group distanced itself from Newman’s protest in Kansas:

Troy Newman is not now, nor has he ever been, the Director of Operation Rescue. He simply stole the name. …

Some of you might believe you are coming to an Operation Rescue sponsored event in Wichita this January. You are not! Flip Benham, Keith Tucci, and Operation Rescue leaders from across the nation will have no part in this event. This is not the organization that was leading the Summer of Mercy in 1991, or 2001. This is a group of about five or six people using our name to promote their event. It is not and never has been the Christian ministry you know as Operation Rescue.

Benham further declared, “Troy owning the name Operation Rescue is no more legal than abortion is.” Newman responded, “I feel that I don't ‘own’ the name; I am preserving a legacy that was purchased by tens of thousands of Christians and their sacrifice. Operation Rescue is a movement that can not be owned or controlled.”

It’s also a movement that can hardly be kept track of.