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How Bryan Fischer Operates

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 6/23/2011 4:03 pm

One of the most amazing things about Bryan Fischer and his daily radio program is how he manages to pluck isolated news articles out of the ether and hold them up as rock-solid proof of the need for America to embrace his agenda.

Every article about a terrorist attack is proof that Muslims should be banned from serving in the military and every article about someone being criticized for spouting anti-gay remarks is proof that gays are committing hate crimes.

And today Fischer held up a story about a seven year-old boy driving a car 50 miles per hour on a twenty mile journey to see his father is proof that the nation needs to make it more difficult to get divorced.

Fischer actually spent four minutes talking about an incident in Michigan where a boy took his stepfather's car and attempted to drive to his biological father's house in another town before being stopped by the police.  Nobody seems to know why he did this, other than his insistence that he wanted to see his father whom, according to news reports, he sees regularly and with whom he had just spent the previous day.

But Fischer, while openly acknowledging that he knows absolutely nothing about the parents of this child nor why their marriage dissolved, nevertheless used it as evidence to argue that the nation's divorce laws need to be tightened. 

Citing no evidence whatsoever, Fischer claimed that "what I know is you got a seven year-old kid absolutely chewed-up and spit out by the fact that his parents would not stay together" and stating that he took the car because "he was desperately missing the presence of a father in his life":

The fact that Fischer doesn't "know" that at all and, in fact, seemingly knows next to nothing about the incident was certainly not about to stop him from using it as "proof" to justify his sweeping judgments in support of his right-wing agenda.

Fischer: Right Wing Watch Is Waging Jihad Against Me!

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 6/22/2011 11:14 am

Last week, we released a new report on the unrelenting torrent of bigotry that is spread by the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer on a daily basis and an accompanying video chronicling some of his "highlights," while our colleague Peter Montgomery discussed Fisher and the AFA in the context of Gov. Rick Perry's prayer rally with Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC.

Fischer has already made it clear that he does not particularly appreciate all of the attention we have devoted to covering him here, so it was not surprising that he spent nearly a half-hour of his program on Monday discussing the new report and the O'Donnell segment and accusing us of waging "jihad" against him and committing a "slow motion hate crime":

Ladies and gentlemen, right now out on the left wing there is a jihad that has been launched against me and against Focal Point and against the AFA. It is holy war. This is, in spiritual terms, a jihad. They are trying to destroy me, destroy Focal Point, to destroy AFA.

Now People For the American Way, and I've mentioned this before, I've played some soundbites of what they've done, they have been cyberstalking me for I don't know how long. It's just like a creepy obsession, they same kind of creepy obsession that the left has had with Sarah Palin. I mean, it's just weird, it's just bizarre. And so they have been monitoring everything I write, everything I say, everything we do here on Focal Point, keeping a list and checking it twice.

Here is a piece on Right Wing Watch referring to me as "The GOP's Favorite Hate-Monger: How the Republican Party Came to Embrace Bryan Fischer." And this puppy is seventeen pages long!

Remember, we are watching the unfolding of a hate crime against yours truly. You are watching a slow motion hate crime being engineered against yours truly.

Now, if we managed to put together a report chronicling Fischer's bigotry and that reported ended up being seventeen pages long, that probably means Fischer has a absurdly long record of engaging in insane bigotry. But to Fischer, it means we are cyberstalking him while waging jihad and committing a hate crime.

For those that are interested, here is the nearly half-hour segment Fischer dedicated to discussing our report and O'Donnell segment:

Harvey: The It Gets Better Project Is "Wrong, It's Evil, It's Dark"

Submitted by Nichole on Monday, 6/20/2011 5:55 pm

On a radio broadcast dedicated to the evils of Gay Pride month, Linda Harvey set aside time to express her disapproval of the It Gets Better Project. After demonizing Dan Savage, the creator of the project, Harvey condemns the It Gets Better Project calling it “wrong,” “evil,” and “dark.”  Harvey, who blamed “demonic manipulation” for making kids gay, attacked the It Gets Better Project for supporting LGBT youth and slammed Savage as a “vicious, vulgar, profane” activist.

I’ll say that again, It Gets Better. It’s a video campaign organized by a radical and vicious, vicious, vulgar, profane, anti-Christian, I can’t say enough things along that line about him. Dan Savage. He’s an activist, been around for years. This It Gets Better campaign is a video campaign that a lot of the leftist politicians including our president have jumped on board, so have some celebrities. It’s supposed to encourage kids, that’s great. Encourage kids, say, you know if you’re having trouble, you’re getting bullied, you feel despaired, don’t give up. That would be a worthy goal if they stop there. But no they tag on to it approval of homosexuality and the implication that anybody who objects is just like those bullies out there and they’re leading you or others into suicide. That’s just wrong, it’s evil, it’s dark, this Dan Savage has already come out attacking my friend Peter [LaBarbera].

Barton Lies Again, Says Obama Dropped The Ball On Child Pornography

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Tuesday, 6/14/2011 2:50 pm

David Barton never lets the facts get in the way of his promoting of right-wing view of history and political causes, no matter the issue. Today on his radio show WallBuilders Live with co-host Rick Green, the pseudo-historian claimed that under President Obama the Department of Justice stopped prosecuting cases of child pornography because the department has reduced its attention to obscenity. The de-emphasis on obscenity cases started well before the Obama Administration, as Religious Right groups even complained that the Bush Administration wasn’t prosecuting enough obscenity cases.

Barton told co-host Rick Green that the Justice Department has now “encouraged” licentiousness and that the department is turning a blind eye to people who “use underage kids on these movies.” But earlier this year the Associated Press reported that prosecutions for child pornography are rapidly increasing, and just since the beginning of this year the Justice Department announced convictions in at least 19 cases involving child pornography.

Barton: We’ve got laws against illegal pornography, and you can’t stop all pornography but even the liberals recognize that some pornography is over the top.

Green: I mean an easy one is child pornography.

Barton: Simple. And you’ve had this Administration in three years has not prosecuted a single what’s called ‘obscenity,’ which is hardcore pornography. Not a single case. Now what’s that tell all the pornographers and all the movie guys and all the internet guys what they can do?

Green: Do whatever you want now

Barton: Man, we can push the limits, we can get over the top, we can use underage kids on these movies, we can do snuff movies because they’re not prosecuting nothing. So what we got today is—

Green: They’ve basically given a license for licentiousness—

Barton: Exactly. They’ve encouraged it, and that’s what happened with the Justice Department.

Mamas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Brain Surgeons

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 6/14/2011 10:48 am

For the last two days, James Dobson has dedicated his "Family Talk" radio program to interviewing Phyllis Schlafly and her niece, Suzanne Venker, about their new book "The Flipside of Feminism: What Conservative Women Know -- and Men Can't Say."

While Schlafly was her usual cranky and out-of-touch self, rambling on about how all feminists had horrible childhoods and hate men and babies and husbands shouldn't be expected to change diapers, Venker was the voice of today's modern anti-feminist ... the sort who tells her eleven year-old daughter not to become a brain surgeon because it'll interfere with her baby-making:

The other, very taboo thing to say to young women is "you need to look for a man who can support you." And the reason why you want to do that is not because you're never going to make your own money and go out into the world; it's because you're going to hit a point - particularly in those years when the children are not in school, the first five years - when you are not going to want to be bothered with making an income because you're going to want to be with those babies.

So that doesn't mean you have to find a rich man, it just means you have to find somebody who is ambitious and capable of holding down a job and finding a path that is consistent and where he does not flounder.

Another point is why I say the reality is there are going to be some careers that are probably not going to be good options for you as a woman. I have an eleven year-old daughter and if we got into the conversation of what am I going to be in X number of years and she comes to me and says "Mom, I want to be a brain surgeon," I would ask her "Okay, is there anything else that you want in your life?"

And if she presumably then says "well, I'd like to get married and have children too," I'd say "then you'd probably better pick something else." And here's why: these two things are going to conflict majorly. You're going to spend ten years preparing for this major life as a brain surgeon - which is one kind of life, all consuming - and then right as your body is winding down biologically, you want to get married and have children. That ain't gonna work.

Was Anthony Weiner An Unwitting Pawn Of An Islamic-Socialist Plot?

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Monday, 6/13/2011 11:26 am

Did Huma Abedin, a top aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, marry disgraced New York Rep. Anthony Weiner to usher in an Islamic, socialist, Alinskyist plot to takeover America? So says conservative Washington Times blogger Eliana Benador, who posits (in an article since pulled from the website) that the power-hungry Abedin may have married Weiner to advance the “pro-Muslim political agenda” backed by President Obama, George Soros, and her close friends Bill and Hillary Clinton, whose actions “signal their socialist agenda, which includes domination of the U.S. by a Muslim ruled world.” But their nefarious plans could be ruined by the congressman’s recent scandal.

Benador believes that Weiner may have even converted to Islam to marry Abedin, noting that no one can trust anything they say anyway because “an element of sharia that states there is a legal right and duty to distort the truth to promote the cause of Islam.” Good thing that Benador is asking the question everyone’s been thinking, “has Huma been groomed to access leading political movers and shakers to advance the cause of Islam in America, including a politically positioned marriage to Congressman Anthony Weiner?”

Congressman Weiner‘s indiscretions, however, might end up inconveniencing the present Administration’s plans. “How?” you might ask.

The clues may be found in the marriage of Huma Abedin, a devout Muslim, and Anthony Weiner, a Jew.

…

When looking broadly at the Anthony Weiner–Huma Abedin union, we have to wonder if the coupling of a Jewish American man and a Muslim woman of her pedigree was fostered by love or by a socialist political agenda.

…

Less than a year ago, in July 2010, Huma Abedin married Jewish U.S. Representative Anthony Weiner (D-NY). Attesting to the strength of her relationship with the Clintons, former President William J. Clinton officiated at the ceremony. Not unlike President Obama, the Clintons, as well as powerful politicos such as George Soros, are devotes of Saul Alinksy, who is considered “the founder of modern Community Organizing.” From my position, I clearly see that the actions of this group signal their socialist agenda, which includes domination of the U.S. by a Muslim ruled world.

Which begs the question of whether Huma Abedin been groomed by family and political leaders to carry this agenda forward? It’s noteworthy that Time Magazine listed Huma Abedin in its “40 under 40” list of the new generation of civic leaders and “rising stars in American politics.” That certainly puts her in a position to move the Alinsky-group agenda forward.

The Imam of New York has stated: “I would tell her [Huma] to be a little bit patient. In our book, if you think your wife, or husband, is doing something unacceptable, you start by counseling her.”

Counseling? For whom, Huma or Anthony? The Imam’s statement seems to state that Huma is in need.

Regardless, those are words of compromise offered by a leading Muslim Imam trying to make us forget that the Koran actually advocates stoning wives for adultery while turning a blind eye toward the sexual mis-deeds of the husband.

It is also important, when looking at this situation, to remember that observant Muslims practice Taqiyya , an element of sharia that states there is a legal right and duty to distort the truth to promote the cause of Islam.

Given the defense articulated by the Imam, which would be offered only for a Muslim man, we must believe this opportunity to remove this Muslim woman from a union with an non-believer would be quickly taken. Therefore we must consider that Mr. Weiner *may* have converted to Islam, because if he did not, we have to consider the unlikely, that being that Ms. Abedin has abandoned her Muslim faith, even while she still practices.

However, we should also bear in mind that any who are Jewish by orthodox standards will always remain Jewish, even if they have converted to another faith. This may explain rumors that Mr. Weiner went to his synagogue looking for moral support.

The question that begs to be asked, however, is, has Huma been groomed to access leading political movers and shakers to advance the cause of Islam in America, including a politically positioned marriage to Congressman Anthony Weiner?

If that is so, Anthony Weiner may be proven to be the weak link in a pro-Muslim political agenda.

And the final test of that may be in Huma Abedin’s reactions to her husband’s lack of moral principals.

Update (2:01) the article has now been pulled from The Washington Times website.

Lapin: Treating Animals Better Leads to Treating People Worse

Submitted by Nichole on Friday, 6/10/2011 9:33 am

Rabbi Daniel Lapin, a favorite figure on the Religious Right, really out-did himself on WallBuilders Live with David Barton yesterday. The topic of conversation was the suggestion that animals should be referred to as “companions” instead of “pets.” Lapin claimed that the elevation of animals in our society has lead to horrible things, from Nazi Germany to (gasp!) women’s rights:

 

The Bible provides guidance on certain fundamental principles of life. One of them is that there is a major difference between people and animals. Now this is so important that it’s covered right up in the beginning of the first few chapters of Genesis, we established that.

Look, it’s not an accident that some of the most brutal and cruel, demonic tyrants of history loved animals. It’s not an accident. It’s not an accident that Adolf Hitler was almost never seen without his dog, who he was petting constantly. Loved his dog! Well, what we understand is that there is a potential, it’s not going to happen to everybody, but there is a potential within a large society that if we obliterate the distinction between people and animals it’s not that people will start treating animals better, they’ll start treating people worse…

The reality is that the lives of most women are not as good today as they were years ago, they’re just not good. Now “oh they’ve got opportunities,” yeah they do, like they can get shot up and tortured in Iraq, and guess what-I’ve traveled, you’ve traveled. I mean how often does my heart break when I see a woman on a business trip frantically trying to calm her children over the telephone and tell them they should go to be with the sitter and she’ll be home after they’re asleep. That’s the woman who’d like to be with her kids if she could, but no--we really are making life tougher on people and all of this is of course consistent with the idea of promoting rights for animals

Liberty University Law Prof: On Gay Rights "Satan Obviously Doesn’t Want Us To Look To The Truth of Scripture"

Submitted by Nichole on Tuesday, 6/7/2011 11:04 am

Last month, Peter LaBarbera used his radio show, Americans for Truth Hour, to highlight a speech given by Liberty University law professor Rena Lindevaldsen, who serves as Lisa Miller's attorney in her position with Liberty Counsel. Lindevaldsen, speaking against marriage equality, declared that Christians can’t compromise on the issue of LGBT rights because that would mean “deny[ing] the truth of the scripture” and “Satan obviously doesn’t want us to look at the truth of scripture.” This is just the latest in a long line of anti-gay statements from Liberty University and the affiliated Liberty Counsel, which in the past has claimed gay marriage is a fight against an "Antichrist Spirit" and would like to see President Obama impeached for extending leave to domestic partners. 

 

To accept homosexuality as healthy and normal necessarily means we as Christians deny the truth of the scripture. There is simply no sound biblical position of neutrality on this issue. As Christians we have to treat the Bible as our action plan, therefore we have to refuse to legitimate [sic] any actions that the Bible calls sin.

And that’s one reason as Christians we hear we should compromise on the marriage battle. Let’s allow civil unions. Let’s allow domestic partnerships. When we do that, however, we compromise on scripture by calling what God says is sin, good.

Our only options as Christians, if we’re going to adhere to scripture, is to fight for marriage and everything that’s included in that. We don’t want to give up all the rights of marriage and simply protect the name of marriage because that’s not what the Bible is about when you hear about marriage.

That’s also why we shouldn’t get out of the marriage business all-together which is what some Christians say. “Let’s just give it over to churches, let them marry who they want and government gets out of the business.” That’s not the way the government works though. Government in all areas of life seeks to steer people into conduct it thinks is good, and is helpful to society. And that’s why it is involved in marriage, because time and again marriage between one man and one woman has shown to be the most optimal environment for raising godly children who are productive citizens.

And so to get out of the marriage business, as I like to call it, altogether simply means there’s going to be a void. There’s going to be a vacuum. Something fills that void. In essence, evil will sweep in and run rampant on the issues of marriage, relationships, and homosexuality.

Satan obviously doesn’t want us to look to the truth of scripture. The truth of scripture is that God has a different plan than same-sex sexual conduct for your life.  And so if Satan and those who are essentially advancing his agenda do not what to shed light on the truth, we have to.

Save California: Harvey Milk Day Releasing A "Tsunami Of Perversity" In Order To Make Kids Gay

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Tuesday, 6/7/2011 10:31 am

The right-wing group Save California is apoplectic over the recent enactment of a day to honor Harvey Milk, the openly gay San Francisco politician and civil rights activist who was assassinated in 1978. Led by Randy Thomasson, Save California has urged parents to pull their children out of public schools to protest efforts to recognize the role of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in California history. During an interview with the American Family Association’s OneNewsNow, Thomasson attacked the looming “tsunami of perversity” approaching schools and charged that openly gay Senator Mark Leno “sees children as little homosexuals-in-waiting”:

Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, tells OneNewsNow that parental rights and decency are "meaningless" in public schools.

"Wake up, parents. Public schools are no longer for the public," he says. "They're government institutions that think that you're children are their children -- and they are going to turn them into homosexual, bisexual, transsexual political activists."

…

"Just wait now until Harvey Milk is on a weekday next year, and it's going to be what? Anything goes," Thomasson laments. "It could be gay pride parades on campus; it could be mock gay weddings on campus; it could be essays, mandatory homework saying why Harvey Milk, a bad guy, was a great guy. I mean, this is in-your-face stuff."

The family advocate adds that children in California's public schools are being hit with a "tsunami of perversity" and homosexual indoctrination. He cites another example in which first-graders were read a homosexual book in honor of Milk.

…

Around 40 elementary schools students in San Francisco were read author Eric Ross' new children's book My Uncle's Wedding as part of Harvey Milk Day. California adopted an official holiday honoring Milk, who was the first openly homosexual elected into office in the state.

Thomasson argues Harvey Milk Day is being used to push the homosexual agenda in public schools -- just like the Day of Silence. "Now Harvey Milk Day is taking hold, and again, first-graders who don't even know about sexuality [are] being taught unnatural sexuality."

Openly homosexual State Senator Mark Leno visited Ross during the launch of My Uncle's Wedding and spoke briefly on S.B. 48, a bill the lawmaker is trying to push which would require textbooks in California to include information about lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and "gay" individuals. Thomasson laments that Leno will promote the bill wherever he can.

"He sees children as little homosexuals-in-waiting," he contends. "And he wants to tell them they're homosexual, tell them they're bisexual, tell them they're transsexual -- not tell them that transexuality is irreversible and it's obviously a choice; not tell them that bisexuality is obviously unnatural and obviously a choice; not telling them that the gay gene has never been found."

Harvey Calls Gender Identity Education “A Pedophile’s Dream”

Submitted by Coral on Monday, 6/6/2011 4:39 pm

Linda Harvey, founder of the fringe anti-gay group Mission: America, not only condemns the LGBT community but condemns anyone who isn’t condemning them. Harvey is also the host of the Mission: America Radio show, and last week she spoke out against pro-tolerance education:

Sex Change Pushed on Children

Recently, I read an outstanding article on the website American Thinker. It’s called The Left’s Dirty Little Secret. It exposed what has been obvious for a long time, that liberal values in schools and in our culture are leading to widespread sexual abuse of children. The author talks about the culture of Berkley, CA, during the hippie days of the 60s, how unsupervised kids in the bohemian communal living arrangements were often neglected, and so were vulnerable to abuse by drop-in friends or sketchy relatives.

These values have been dragged out into the mainstream and called everything else but what they are. Planned Parenthood calls it choice. The Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network, along with their close allies in the teachers’ unions call it safety. Promoting explicit sex practices to kids, with the rationale that they have a “right” to these practices, is one of the biggest con-jobs going and it’s a pedophile’s dream.

I’m sure the adult who wants to prey on a minor, either heterosexually or homosexually, appreciates the schools, media, and liberal churches persuading the kids themselves that all this is okay, that early sex is normal, and that adults who try to teach restraint or delay are really bigots who are violating your rights.

Well, the lunacy is rapidly expanding to new territory. We’ve talked about this before, but the boundary of gender is being breeched quickly with the transgender issue. Recently, even liberal California wasn’t ready for where some goofy educators wanted to take their kids. In Oakland’s Redwood Heights Elementary School, an outside anti-bullying consultant taught special lessons advocating gender confusion. The presentations were from a group called Gender Spectrum, who was paid $1500 with a grant from the California Teachers’ Union. The male presenter told grade schoolers that “gender identity is a spectrum, where people can be girls, feel like girls, they feel like boys, they feel like both, or they can feel like neither.” All 350 students in the school were subjected to these lessons, which the principal claimed would make a more accepting and welcoming environment for students who don’t conform to gender norms.

No, actually, they have just planted disturbing and harmful doubts about themselves within the minds of little children. I think that what we’re dealing with are deviant adults working out their considerably weird issues through children. Many parents objected, according to Fox News, and three families kept their kids home.

This gender change agenda is everywhere. Have you noticed? It’s pushed on us by teachers, Hollywood, popular musicians, even a few political figures. Numerous incidents over the past decade involve teachers who begin dressing and acting, all of a sudden, as the opposite gender. Two years ago, Ohio came very close to passing a bill, House bill 176, which would have forced homosexual and gender-bending behavior on all work places in the state, including schools. It passed the Democrat-controlled House, but thankfully not the Ohio Senate.

Friends, we must be vigilant against such corruption of our culture. So we wonder why some children are desperately insecure? God never intended for them to be so. He designed us marvelously as male and female, and we should celebrate those lovely and interesting differences. When adults who should know better want to sell these disturbed ideas to impressionable children, it’s up to us to their rescue. We must commit to keeping sexual orientation and gender identity language out of local, state, and national policies. This just opens the door to sin, confusion, and heartbreak.

Reed: Cain and Bachmann Will Be The Religious Right's Candidates of Choice

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 6/1/2011 11:49 am

Ralph Reed's "Faith and Freedom Conference & Summit" kicks off on Friday and, as today's New York Times reports, it serves as proof that Reed has been able to shrug off his deep ties to Jack Abramoff and regain his prominence and prestige as a leading Religious Right organizer:

As with the Christian Coalition, this group’s conference roster includes nearly all the likely contenders for the presidential nomination, including former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, former Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota, Herman Cain, a retired businessman, and Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, as well as a famous almost-candidate, Donald Trump. There will also be evangelical leaders like Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, and establishment Republicans like Speaker John A. Boehner and Reince Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman.

...

Many of the retirees gathered here could not even recall who Ralph Reed was, let alone ponder his past. But they loved his message. Weaving together themes of the Tea Party and evangelical Christians, he called the debt crisis a sign that the country has lost sight of its founding moral principles. He said that by working together, fiscal and cultural conservatives can “begin the process of turning the country around.”

Yesterday Reed appeared on The Jordan Sekulow Show to discuss the upcoming conference, during which he predicted that Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain would be the Religious Right's candidates of choice:

Sekulow: Ralph, let me ask you about the field. Has anyone caught your attention that maybe is a name that people aren't talking about enough or that is really exciting social conservative voters?

Reed: It's awfully early, but there are two that I'm hearing on the ground that are really getting a close look. One is Herman Cain, who is a terrific speaker and has a compelling personal testimony in addition to his conservative credentials. And the other is Michele Bachmann.

I think if they both go - and Cain's in and Bachmann looks like she's going to get in - they're both going to do extremely well among this constituency.

Reed then went on the predict that this event was not only going to change the lives of those in attendance, but the life of the nation as well ... which is the same thing he said last year:

Engle: Black Leaders Must Forgive White People Or Else "You Are Actually Holding Us As Slaves"

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 5/31/2011 4:42 pm

Last week we stumbled upon the website for an organization called Transformation Michigan, which appears to be one of those New Apostolic Reformation prayer networks dedicated to transforming the nation via intercessory prayer.

The website had posted several recent conference calls hosted by Transformation Michigan with the likes of Cindy Jacobs, Lou Engle, Jerry Boykin, and Janet Porter.  And while the calls were mostly rather dull, they did contain some revelations ... such as the fact that there is a prayer team in Michigan that is dedicated to praying over every mosque in the state; an idea Boykin would like to see spread all over the country:

Janet Porter spent her conference call arguing with supporters of the radical "personhood amendments" who were intent on attacking Porter's own "Heartbeat Bill" for not going far enough, to which Porter responded by comparing her effort to that of Oskar Schindler:

For her part, Cindy Jacobs declared that were it not for abortion, "our housing industry would be stellar [and] the economy would be booming":

Finally, Lou Engle declared that the next The Call rally to be held in Detroit on 11/11/11 would be an opportunity where "Whites must repent for any racism" while "Blacks must forgive [white people]" because, if they don't, "you are actually holding us as slaves":

Wallbuilders Trots Out Bush Administration Plagiarizer To Attack Obama

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 5/25/2011 3:11 pm

You really have to marvel at the Religious Right'a willingness to openly lie in order to attack President Obama.

Today on "Wallbuilders Live," David Barton and Rick Green brought on Tim Goeglein, the former assistant to George W. Bush, to discuss the totally bogus "Obama failed to issue an Easter proclamation" controversy. 

During the program, Goeglein repeatedly insisted that President Bush, unlike President Obama, routinely issued Easter proclamations:

Most Americans have a sense that it's a good thing that the White House and the President recognize the most important feats day in the Christian religion - the day of Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead. And yet, my friend, unfortunately the White House this year was silent when it came to a presidential proclamation on that day.

Of course, President Bush as an Evangelical Christian, knew the centrality of putting out an Easter proclamation.

So why is it that the President and the Executive Branch would not just naturally put out a proclamation on the Easter holiday as every president of both parties has done in the contemporary era of the presidency?

So the answer to your question is it's not just an oversight, it's just not something that somehow someone dropped the ball. There has to be an internal decision that says, for whatever reason, this White House is not putting out a proclamation on the Easter holiday this year. Those tings are not coincidences; someone made that decision.

Let me just point out that, contrary to Goeglein's claims, President Bush never once issued an Easter proclamation.

I, for one, am shocked that an admitted plagiarizer like Goeglein would be so cavalier with the truth.

Barton Reverses Himself On Sharia, Says He Didn't Mean To Approve Use Of Islamic Law

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Monday, 5/16/2011 2:44 pm

David Barton’s interview with Jon Stewart on The Daily Show was filled with the usual gimmicks and distortions we have come to expect from the Right’s favorite pseudo-historian, but also came with a big surprise: Barton told Stewart that he supported the right of a Muslim-majority jurisdiction that could hypothetically want to implement Sharia law. This clearly contradicted Barton’s past opposition to Sharia law, yet it helped Barton represent himself on The Daily Show not as a partisan Christian Right activist but as someone who generally supports religious influence in government:

Stewart: Do you feel like the majority in a locality should be able to determine…
Barton: Yes, yes, and here in New York City, there’s schools that are 100 percent Hasidic Jewish, and I think they should be allowed to have Hasidic Jewish practices there because all 100 percent kids are…
Stewart: So you would allow, like, let’s say Dearborn, Michigan was majority Muslim…
Barton: And it is.
Stewart: Are you all right with Sharia law and the whole business…
Barton: Sure, sure.
Stewart: Well, that’s consistent.
Barton: But for somebody from the outside to come in and say “I don’t like this, you can’t do it” that’s what I have trouble with.

Now, Barton is walking back from his comments during his WallBuilders Live radio show with Rick Green. Barton and Green explain that he didn’t realize Stewart asked him about Sharia law. Rather, Barton says he answered a different question that Stewart did not ask, and has therefore been completely consistent:

Maybe antics like this are why real historians don’t take Barton seriously.

Porter: Tornadoes Due To Legal Abortion, Israel Policy

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Friday, 5/13/2011 4:39 pm

Janet Porter believes that the recent tornadoes that left hundreds dead in the South were a consequence of America’s acceptance of legal abortion and “sexual sin,” along with the supposed mistreatment of Israel. In addition to wildfires in Oklahoma and Texas, Porter claims that Americans gave “God reason to at least partially lift His protective Hand from America.” Porter isn’t the only Religious Right leader who said that the tornadoes signaled that America trigged God’s wrath: Calvin Beisner of the Cornwall Alliance said the tornadoes were “early warning signals” and “little tastes” of God’s judgment. Porter warns that America continues to risk “God’s wrath against us” until Americans “give their undivided attention to God.”

Is God trying to get our attention?

The worst tornado outbreak in American history has left hundreds dead. Mississippi flooding has not been this bad in 80 years. Wildfires have swept through millions of acres in Texas and Oklahoma.

There are a number of things that could give God reason to at least partially lift His protective Hand from America, including the millions of abortions done here each year, the flaunting of sexual sin, and our recent treatment of Israel.

Any support that the U.S. provides for dividing the Holy Land risks God’s wrath against us. Rabbi Aryeh Spero says that a division could displace 400,000 Jews from their homes and more Christian holy sites would fall under Muslim control.

Pray that this will not happen and that many Americans will give their undivided attention to God.

Gallagher: "People Are Afraid To Say What They Really Think About Marriage"

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 5/10/2011 1:29 pm

Back in March, Maggie Gallagher wrote a column attacking the idea that marriage equality could be a way to foster economic growth for states and today she was the guest on "Wallbuilders Live" to discuss it.

To kick things off, hosts David Barton and Rick Green mocked the idea, calling it "wacko on steroids" while Barton, of all people, demanded that we be "logical" about this before asserting that the Disney corporation lost money year after year when it supported gay rights and, once it reversed course, became profitable:

Barton: So everything is about economics now and suddenly you get this really ... I don't know what say ...

Green: Wacko is the only way ...

Barton: No, I am looking for something stronger than wacko - wacko on steroids - I mean there are some terms that come to mind, but you've got this proposal that says 'hey, we've got economic problems and here's part of the economic development solution and that's promoting gay marriage.' Wait a minute, run that by me again?

Green: I don't even know how to respond to that.

Barton: States are proposing this ... It doesn't pass the smell test. It sure doesn't pass the logic test. And I hate to say this, but let's be logical for a minute. Let's just look at what works.

Why don't they think about asking Disney how well promoting gay stuff helped their economics. You remember Disney, when they were being boycotted for doing all the gay stuff people stopped going there, they didn't want to be a part of that. And so while every other entertainment venue in the country was making money, Disney went fifteen out of sixteen quarters, as I recall, losing money. Finally got rid of [Michael] Esiner, got the whole philosophy turned around and now they're making money again.

Then Green interviewed Gallagher, who claimed that marriage equality advocates are so accustomed to "getting a pass" from the media that they can now just make absurd and embarrassing arguments before going on to assert that she does not believe national polls showing that a majority of Americans support marriage equality, saying instead that people are just being intimidated into saying they support it:

Gallagher: It's just an absurd argument for someone to make. Gay marriage advocates are just getting so used to getting a pass in the mainstream media from any kind of rational scrutiny, it's just embarrassing to go out in public and make a claim like this. I don't really understand how they think they can get away with it.

...

So I don't believe those polls. One of the things that's happening is that people are afraid to say what they really think about marriage, which is kind of extraordinary. That's power of a kind, but they are not persuading people; they are trying to shut down this debate.

David Barton Lies To Jon Stewart On Sharia Law Views

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Friday, 5/6/2011 10:25 am

As Miranda noted yesterday, David Barton raised eyebrows when he told The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart that religious law, including Sharia law, is compatible with the Constitution if a locality or state wanted to implement it, as he has a long track record of promoting vehement anti-Muslim views. Julie Ingersoll of Religion Dispatches also pointed out that Barton has consistently criticized “the threat of Islam taking over the country by imposing ‘Sharia Law.’”

But when Stewart asked if Barton was “all right with Sharia law and the whole business” in a Muslim-majority city in America, Barton replied, “Sure, sure.”

However, Barton made the exact opposite point in an interview with anti-Muslim activist Brigitte Gabriel of ACT! for America during his WallBuilders Live radio program.

Discussing a federal judge’s injunction that blocked an Oklahoma law which banned Sharia law, Barton told co-host Rick Green that Sharia law was incompatible with the Constitution.

Barton criticized the judge, saying, “how you can not let [the law] stand when you take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, that’s the only oath you’ve taken to uphold, how you gonna throw Sharia in there and make it equal with the Constitution it’s nuts to me.” He went on to allege that secular people like Joy Behar hate Judaism and Christianity and support Sharia law because they want an oppressive, authoritarian government:

Barton: But I love the fact that she points out that 21 states are considering what Oklahoma did, and 11 are likely to pass it this next session. So it’s going to be really significant to see what the federal judge does with that thing, whether he’s gonna let it stand or not. And how you can not let it stand when you take an oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States, that’s the only oath you’ve taken to uphold, how you gonna throw Sharia in there and make it equal with the Constitution it’s nuts to me. But we’ve seen judges do nutty things so that’s not unusual.

Green: And I’m thinking long term strategy on this thing because this will probably take several years to play out in the courts, but its good that these other states are gonna do it too because we’d like to see this come up through several courts of appeals—

Barton: And get an overwhelming thing. You know, the other thing that I found really interesting listening to Brigitte and talk about her life and stuff that was going on and how strong she is. I find it so strong that you can take all these militant, anti-Christian—Joyce Behar—she’s got the cable news program, she’s on The View, you remember O’Reilly goes on there and makes a comment about Muslims being terrorists and she walks off the program in a rage. She is all the time berating every Christians out there. She’s smashing—

Green: And defending the terrorists.

Barton: Now, this is what’s kind of interesting to me. Secular people do not like religion, but they do like Islam. So maybe Islam is not a religion, maybe it is a way of life. Because why is it that secular people who hate Judaism, who hate Christianity, they love Muslims? It’s because of the tyrannical control over lives. This is what these guys want to do through government and they want the same kind of control, so Sharia that’s a great way to control.

Green: It fits right into their way of thinking things some work.

Barton: It does, their view that we ought to be control. It’s just crazy.

The Religious Right's Fact-Free Climate Change Misinformation Campaign

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Tuesday, 4/26/2011 2:06 pm

Calvin Beisner of the Cornwall Alliance is at the center of the Religious Right’s growing push against “the Green Dragon,” otherwise known as the environmental movement. As noted in the latest Right Wing Watch In-Focus, Beisner has his PhD. in Scottish history and absolutely no scientific credentials, however, he does have close ties to corporate-financed, anti-environmental groups such as the Acton Institute and the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow. Now, right-wing activists like David Barton, Wendy Wright, and Bryan Fischer are heavily promoting Beisner’s film (which they are also featured in).

According to Beisner, environmental protection is “anti-biblical” while heightened carbon dioxide emissions are good for the earth. Even though actual scientists have concluded that the rapidly increasing human emissions of carbon dioxide cause warming temperatures, drought, and rising sea levels.

While climate change threatens to reduce precipitation and produce devastating food shortages, Beisner wrongly claims that climate change will increase the food supply and, in fact, goes so far as to accuse the EPA of intentionally seeking to "hurt the poor":

Beisner: A lot of agricultural economists think that the increased crop yields that we've seen over the last forty to fifty years, something in the neighborhood of twelve to fifteen percent of that is attributable directly to increased carbon dioxide, which means that food gets more plentiful and that helps the poor.

Well, the EPA wants to hurt the poor [in] two ways: one, by raising energy prices by forcing us to switch from carbon-based fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas, to much more expensive and much less reliable fuels like wind, solar, and bio-fuels. And two, they want to hurt the poor by lowering the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, which would reduce plant growth efficiency, reducing crop yields, reducing food availability, raising food prices. So it's a double whammy on the poor.

Then David Barton, of all people, accuses scientists of ignoring anything that does support their worldview and manipulating data to support it, while complaining that it is all plot to increase government control and play God:

Barton: This is not about science, this has nothing to do with science. Science is a vehicle to give them more control over the lives of individuals.

Green: So there's no intellectual honesty then there?

Barton: No. There's no intellectual honesty. You find something that lines up with your worldview and you say "here it is, this is what I've always believed, I knew it was out there." And you find a fake science like the IPCC at the UN which has its own agenda ...

Green: And they're willing to put out supposed data, that's false ...

Barton: And the great proof that it's a philosophical worldview is when you refuse to listen to opposing data. When you get all these scientists on the other side ... who roll out all these studies that say "no, no, no that's wrong." When you won't listen to opposing data, science has nothing to do with it. You're into a worldview conflict at that point and your saying that my worldview demands that I have more control over your life, over what you do, that's why government does exist, you're hear to serve government, not vice versa, and this is the vehicle to do it. This really has nothing to do with science.

But what happens is, not understanding that, a lot of Americans buy into that this is science.

Green: Oh, they've been indoctrinated with it in education for the last twenty years.

Barton: Are you kidding me, Earth Day in the schools? We've got to save the Earth? I mean, that's like a tick ... trying to save a whole heard of cattle. I mean, ticks go along for the ride, they don't manage the cattle, they don't tell them where to go. And that's our arrogance in thinking that we can do something to save the planet and control where the planet goes. You know, we're just along for the ride and we're insignificant peons on this thing

Green: Well, arrogance is the right word. I mean, it really does, we get to the point where we think - not that we shouldn't do the things we can do, of course you do the things that are responsible - but we think that we can control this whole thing. We think we're God.

Fischer: Beating of Transgender Woman "Proves That We Are Right"

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Monday, 4/25/2011 5:06 pm

Last week, a transgender woman was violently beaten at a McDonald's in Baltimore, MD.

Bryan Fischer talked about the assault on his radio program today and I am sure you will be shocked to learn that not once did he utter a single word of condemnation, but rather used it as justification for the AFA's opposition to "bathroom bills":

The victim appeared to be a woman. In the video, it looked like a woman [with] long hair. But at one point in the fracas, her wig is pulled off and you still think its a woman, looks like a woman, and she's beaten to within an inch of her life, she winds up in convulsions on the floor.

And then we discover now that it was a guy all the time, it's not a woman at all. It's a transgendered woman, which means he's a man, he's a male. He's a male in every single cell his DNA. Every single cell of his body, every strand of his DNA in his entire body is male. He's not a woman, he's not a transgendered woman, he's not a transgendered female, he is a man. And here's the deal: apparently he was getting ready to go into, or had been in, the ladies' restroom.

And remember, Maryland came within one vote - I don't know if you knew this - Maryland came within one vote of passing a law this last session that would have provided special protections for transgendered people, people who think they're in the wrong body.

So if that law had passed, then this man would have had every legal right to go into the ladies' restroom, even if there are young teenage girls present and nobody would have stopped him. In fact, if McDonald's had tried to keep him, as a man, from going into the ladies' restroom, if that law had passed McDonald's is the one who would have got in trouble. They would have gotten sued, a potential franchise ending lawsuit.

That's why we always call these things "bathroom bills" and this proves that we are right. This exactly shows you the hazard of these bathroom bills. You give special privileges to people based on deviant sexuality, you're going to get in all kinds of trouble and all traditional norms of respect, privacy, civility, those are going to be completely shredded.

Barton: Obama Wants To Eliminate "In God We Trust"

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Monday, 4/25/2011 2:44 pm

With guest Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA), pseudo-historian David Barton cast doubt on President Obama’s religious beliefs and maintained that he wants to take God out of government. Barton lauded a resolution championed by Forbes which reaffirms and encourages the existing motto “In God We Trust” and claimed that Obama is imposing a “secularist” agenda, adding that “when you forget that God is part of the equation, you will lose your prosperity, you will lose your rights, you will lose your stability.”

Barton, who believes that Obama has “a worldview that is devoid of God,” has previously (and erroneously) suggested that the President tried to suppress the phrase “endowed by their Creator.” Channeling many right-wing conspiracy theories, Barton now alleges that Obama wants to do the same with “In God We Trust.”

Along with co-host Rick Green, Barton tried to link Obama’s “secularist” views with his administration’s decision to end “conscience-protection” clauses, which allow health care workers to refuse medical care if they say it conflicts with their religious beliefs. According to Barton, the Bush-era medical regulations were supported by the Founders and their repeal shows that government is moving away from God:

Barton: I don’t care what Obama says about his faith. He says he’s a Christian, fine, lots of people say that. What I know for sure is that he’s a secularist. Because seven times he’s deliberately omitted the word ‘Creator’ when he said the Declaration of Independence, he said that national motto doesn’t have ‘In God We Trust.’

And so if you’re a secularist, then you believe rights come from government, which is why his administration right now is repealing conscience-protection. Now conscience-protection was considered by the Founders as an inalienable, God-given right. We’re the first nation in the world to protect the rights of conscience.

Green: And if it comes from God, government you can’t touch it and government should protect it.

Barton: That’s right. Government protects it. Well he’s saying, look, if you don’t want to perform abortions, you need to get out of the healthcare industry, you don’t have a right to be in healthcare industry, you don’t have a rights to you’re beliefs about abortion.

So all these conscience-protection regulations we’ve had are going away, but that makes sense if they didn’t come from God. And when you have a secular viewpoint—and that’s why it is so important to continue to preserve and fight for little bitty acknowledgments of God because it keeps reminding us that wait a minute, God’s part of our government, God is involved in our philosophy of government, God is part of what we have in our documents. We got to remember that. When you forget that, when you forget that God is part of the equation, you will lose your prosperity, you will lose your rights, you will lose your stability, you will lose all those things that have been at the base of that. So, this really is a big deal.
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Barton Threatens Defamation Lawsuits Over Allegations He Spoke To Anti-Semitic Groups
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Tuesday 09/13/2011, 2:21pm
One thing that has dogged David Barton for years are allegations from the Anti-Defamation League that he had spoken at events hosted by racist and anti-Semitic groups: On at least two occasions, Barton has delivered his revisionist presentation in the meeting halls of the racist and anti-Semitic extreme right. In July 1991, Barton addressed the Colorado summer retreat of Scriptures for America, the Identity Church group headed by firebrand Pete Peters. He was advertised as "a new and special speaker" who would "bring the following messages: America's Godly Heritage -- Was it... MORE >
Staver Outraged Nobody Will Condemn "Bombastic Rhetoric"
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Monday 09/12/2011, 3:31pm
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Geller: Criticism Of Me Is "The Enforcing Of The Sharia"
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Tashman, Monday 09/12/2011, 11:06am
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Boykin: "Persecution" Of Christian Soldiers, Politicians A Sign Of The End Times
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Tashman, Friday 09/09/2011, 4:13pm
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SUBMITTED BY: Brian Tashman, Friday 09/09/2011, 1:06pm
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Kern Doubles Down On Claim That Homosexuality Is "More Dangerous" Than Terrorist Attacks
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Tashman, Friday 09/09/2011, 10:37am
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Wagner Admits NAR Presence At Perry Prayer Rally A Sign Of Its Growing Influence
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Thursday 09/08/2011, 3:49pm
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Schlafly Mocks NEA for Opposing Discrimination in Schools
SUBMITTED BY: Brian Tashman, Thursday 09/08/2011, 2:18pm
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