Vision America

Flying in the face of direct language in the hate-crimes bill – which expands protections against violent crime, and does not apply to speech or religious practice – the Religious Right continues to base its opposition to the bill on the claim that pastors will somehow be “jailed” for “biblical preaching.” “Don’t Muzzle Our Pulpits!” they shout. Christians won’t be able to “even mention the name of God,” we hear.

Rick Scarborough, in the midst of his 70-week “Patriot Pastor” tour, has naturally embraced this false rhetoric. “I assure you that homosexual activists are quietly rejoicing over the open season their lawyers and allies are about to enjoy with those of us who are visible in the pro-family movement,” he wrote recently.

His latest newsletter offers a prediction: The same day the bill becomes law, “open persecution” of religious-right activists “will begin.” Scarborough further warns that those who do not lobby against the bill through his web site or contribute to his organization will have blood on their hands – “the blood of martyrs”:

Mark this down; the day that this law becomes federal statute, the open persecution of major conservative broadcast ministries like Focus on the Family and D. James Kennedy will begin, and it will not end until it arrives at a church near you. If you want to avoid having the blood of martyrs on your hands, then join tens of thousands of other Americans who still hold to the truths of God’s Word and click here to send a message to your senators and President Bush that you do not want this legislation. Finally, please click here and make the largest contribution you can to Vision America Action, our 501C4, to assist us in fighting this battle.

Recently we noted the blatant double standard exhibited by religious-right groups in the case of Albemarle County, Virginia schools’ “backpack mail” program: Last year, Liberty Counsel told the school that if it distributed secular materials by giving them to students to take home, it had to allow religious materials as well. The school complied. But when a summer camp for “atheists, freethinkers, [and] humanists” used the “backpack mail” program, Rick Scarborough’s Vision America pounced, directing its supporters to flood the school superintendent’s e-mail account and eventually causing the school to drop “backpack mail” altogether.

Scarborough declared a “major victory” for Vision America, but lamented that the victory was only partial: He would prefer that the school reject material from atheists while continuing to distribute material from Christian programs. Scarborough explained:

People for the American Way says we’re hypocrites who want to establish a different standard for Christians and atheists.

Hypocrites, no. Different standards? Yes. Again, the court said the district didn’t have unbridled discretion, not that it shouldn’t exercise any discretion.

Why should a fringe minority have the same status as Christians? This country was not established by secular humanists. The Declaration of Independence appeals to the "Creator" and the "Supreme Judge of the World" -- not to Buddha or Mohammad or Madalyn Murray O’Hair.

Christians constitute 90% of the American people. The people whose taxes pay for the Albemarle County School System are overwhelmingly Christian.

While we didn’t actually call Vision America hypocritical, it’s easy to jump to that conclusion. After all, religious-right groups argue for increased access to public schools for evangelism on the principle of “viewpoint neutrality,” but when it comes to a viewpoint Vision America doesn’t like, the principle disappears.

Perhaps what Scarborough means when he alleges a “War on Christians” is any policy that gives other faiths equal protection under the law.   It’s clear that Scarborough’s goal is to have the government discriminate in favor of Christianity, and against people with any other religious viewpoint.  His indignant and chilling question – “Why should a fringe minority have the same status as Christians?” – is about as clear an argument for the First Amendment’s religious liberty protections as you’ll ever hear.

(For the record, Mr. Scarborough – the quotation you attribute to this blog is actually from The Hook, a weekly newspaper in Charlottesville.)

Vision America head Rick Scarborough, a Texas religious-right activist and pioneering organizer of politically-oriented “patriot pastors,” is continuing to plan out his 2007-2008 campaign, “Seventy Weeks to Renew America.” In recent years, the “patriot pastor” model has been closely tied to partisan electoral efforts, most notably Ken Blackwell’s bid for governor of Ohio in 2006; Scarborough’s effort that year in Missouri was at least nominally limited to opposing a referendum on stem-cell research, although Republican Sen. Jim Talent was no doubt aided by Vision America’s church events. (The amendment passed and Talent lost.)

But this far before November, 2008, there’s neither a clear issue at stake nor a presumptive candidate for Scarborough to support, making his “major effort to enlist 100,000 Values Voters, 10,000 key leaders, 5,000 Patriot Pastors and 5,000 women - who will pray for national renewal and who will vote their Christian values on election day 2008” a seem somewhat nebulous. Nevertheless, a “Patriot Pastor”-driven political machine as Scarborough hopes to build would be nothing to sneeze at, no matter who wins the Republican presidential nomination.

Vision America’s PR firm has uploaded this video segment to GodTube, in which Scarborough offers a preview to church audiences of his “One Day Crusade to Save America.” Appearing with Scarborough will be Gordon Klingenschmitt, the former Navy chaplain who declared himself a martyr cut down by the military policy of non-sectarian prayer at certain types of events, and former presidential and senate candidate Alan Keyes (who is pictured arguing that the Constitution forbids Congress from preventing the establishment of religion). “You’re the greatest fear of the left: a church united and mobilized,” shouts Scarborough.

Also available from Vision America are a sample program and press release:

___________________________ (church) will serve as the local host church for the national ONE DAY CRUSADE TO SAVE AMERICA rally led by Dr. Rick Scarborough of Vision America located in Texas. The rally will be held _________________ ( date) at _________ (time).

The mission of the rally is to motivate and train Christian men and women to enter the public square and articulate their Christian faith, to vote their values, and to be salt and light in their communities. The rally is non-partisan in nature and purpose.

After the Walt Disney Company announced that it would sell its theme-wedding package to same-sex couples, the Religious Right reacted predictably. “America continues to slide toward the abyss. God help us!” cried Vision America head Rick Scarborough at the threat of Mickey Mouse commitment ceremonies.

At its Orlando resort, the Walt Disney Company has decided to open up its "Fairy Tale Weddings" (I didn’t make this up!) to same-sex couples, notwithstanding that gays can’t legally marry in Florida - or anywhere else outside of Massachusetts. …

Apparently, Disney (which also has "Gay Days") doesn’t care if it offends the deeply held values of its customers. Pandering to a radical fringe group seems to be more important.

"We are in the hospitality business and our parks and resorts are open to everyone,” said a Disney spokesman. The president of the American Family Association scoffed at the idea of sharing an 85-acre theme park with committed gay couples:

Such inclusiveness, says AFA president Tim Wildmon, is why families must be warned. "You could be innocently taking your family to Disney World or Disneyland, and you're walking down the middle of the park and here's comes this parade of wedding attendees [that includes] two men who've just gotten 'married' at Disney World," he says. "That's something to take into consideration before you go and patronize the Walt Disney Company this summer."

Wildmon's last statement can be taken as a threat – AFA initiated a boycott against Disney in 1996, which was joined by the Southern Baptist Convention and which lasted nominally until 2005. Similarly, Scarborough suggested restarting the boycott, writing “Perhaps it’s time to reconsider that decision” to call it off.

The Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland.

It has been well-documented that the GOP’s right-wing base has been less than impressed with the crop of candidates seeking the party’s presidential nomination. 

While some of the candidates have garnered support from a few right-wing leaders of varying status here and there, the recent controversy regarding General Peter Pace’s statement that homosexuality is immoral offers a telling example of the dilemma the GOP frontrunners are facing in trying to secure the Right’s support.  

Following Pace’s statement, right-wing organizations unleashed full-throated defenses and accolades for Pace, yet the Republican nominees, with the notable exception of Sen. Sam Brownback, universally declined to come to his defense. 

And that has not gone unnoticed by Vision America’s Rick Scarborough:

Senator John McCain declined to express an opinion, other than to say that the don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy is working. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who claims to be a convert to the pro-family cause, said Pace should “show more of an outpouring of tolerance.” It has nothing to do with tolerance, but our government officially condoning evil.

…

The general response to Pace’s comments is the latest sign of this nation’s ongoing moral decline. Even a decade ago, it would have been unthinkable for a presidential candidate to openly contradict the Bible, by declaring an act condemned therein “not immoral.”

…

America is sadly in need of renewal. Pray that there’s at least one candidate on the 2008 ballot who unabashedly embraces and represents Biblical values.

Scarborough’s anger over this might be cause for concern among those seeking the GOP nomination, especially since, as we noted last month, Scarborough and Alan Keyes are gearing up to launch a “Seventy Weeks to Renew America” project which seeks to “enlist 100,000 Values Voters … who will pray for national renewal and who will vote their Christian values on election day 2008.”  As Scarborough stated in his previous update:  

On March 19 I will convene a meeting with several key pastors from across the nation to discuss and pray for this national project.

That meeting must have been a rousing success, because the number of voters they are looking to mobilize has now doubled:

On July 4 of this year Vision America will embark on its biggest challenge to date, in an effort to move 200,000 Christians to vote their values in elections all across the nation. I believe that Christians need to be reminded that it is a sin not to vote, and that the absence of a clear moral leader at the top of the ticket is not an excuse to withdraw. Far too many Christians look at the magnitude of the problems in America and shrink back, thinking that there is nothing that can be done. We will be reminding Christians through our campaign - which we are calling "Seventy Weeks to Save the Nation" - that our duty is not to be pawns of a political party, but to be faithful to the Lord Jesus. We are working now to enlist 70 churches to host a "One Day Crusade to Save America" in their church.

Scarborough and company are apparently so pessimistic about their chances of getting a “clear moral leader at the top of the ticket” that they have all but given up and intend to simply “concentrate on local issues where our efforts can make an immediate and measurable impact.” 

The case of Lt. Gordon James Klingenschmitt has been a right-wing cause célèbre for well over a year now and looks as if it will continue to be one for the foreseeable future. Yet while the Klingenschmitt saga drags on over his willful violation of orders, it is probably safe to assume that the Right will not be rallying around Don Larsen, a Pentecostal military Chaplain who lost his job because he switched religions:

Larsen's private crisis of faith might have remained just that, but for one other fateful choice. He decided the religion that best matched his universalist vision was Wicca, a blend of witchcraft, feminism and nature worship that has ancient pagan roots.

On July 6, he applied to become the first Wiccan chaplain in the U.S. armed forces, setting off an extraordinary chain of events. By year's end, his superiors not only denied his request but also withdrew him from Iraq and removed him from the chaplain corps, despite an unblemished service record.

Because Larsen is not Christian, it is unlikely that the Family Research Council will be defending Larsen’s “freedom of religious expression,” or that Vision America will praise “this bold man is standing up for his right to pray in his own faith tradition” and call on Senators to “stand with him publicly,” or that Alan Keyes will be calling on his supporters to send petitions to the Department of Defense demanding Larsen’s reinstatement, saying “Respect for our Constitution, simple justice and faithful obedience to religious conscience demands no less!”

And Larsen probably won’t be invited to be a featured speaker at the Right’s next victimization rally and thus will never get the opportunity to publicly liken himself to Abdul Rahman, the Afghani man who faced a potential death sentence for converting.    

Vision America is angry about the new Alexandra Pelosi documentary “Friends of God,” a documentary airing on HBO that takes a look at the evangelical movement and, as the New York Times stated, serves as a “colorful reminder of how George W. Bush became president, why Fox News has the highest ratings of any 24-hour cable news network and why Democrats didn’t win an even greater landslide in the 2006 elections.”

Vision America’s Rick Scarborough reportedly appears in the documentary and is not happy about it:

The special, directed by Alexandra Pelosi (daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi), focuses on every oddity imaginable -- including "Christian wrestling" and "Christian miniature golf" -- to make 80 million Americans from all walks of life seem freakish.

"I wasn't even aware that such things existed until someone alerted me that I was in the documentary and I began investigating it," Scarborough said.

…

"If you choose to watch 'Friends of God,' understand that what you are seeing is an attempt to denigrate evangelical Christians. Take it for what it is -- a cleverly packaged assault, designed to undermine the valuable contributions to our country of 80 million Bible-believing Americans," Scarborough cautioned.

Scarborough “wasn't even aware” of the Pelosi documentary?  Well, others at Vision America obviously were, judging by this giant announcement on their website:

If “Friends of God” is nothing but an “attempt to denigrate evangelical Christians,” why is Vision America trumpeting Scarborough’s involvement and providing its supporters with info on scheduling?

Since resigning in disgrace from his position as House Majority Leader, it seems as if Tom DeLay has been keeping himself busy.  

Just the other day, he emceed Vision America’s Heroes of the Faith Gala.  According to an email sent out by Vision America’s Rick Scarborough

On Thursday evening more than 500 Pastors, elected officials and supporters gathered at the Westin Galleria Hotel Grand Ballroom to celebrate Vision America’s accomplishments of the past year and to hear about the challenges of the next 12 months. This year’s Gala marked our seventh meeting in the past eight years, and it was by far the most impacting. Attendees included the Lt. Governor of Texas and the Mayor of Houston as well as dozens of Judges and State Senators and Representatives. Congressman Tom DeLay emceed the event and received numerous affirmations from the supportive crowd that evening.

Maybe DeLay will put the contacts he made at the Vision America gala to good use by adding them to his email list as he works to round up votes for Sara Evans on “Dancing With the Stars”

Former House majority leader Tom DeLay is using his post-congressional clout to influence another election -- the viewer voting on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars," which has its season premiere next Tuesday. The Hammer has sent out a mass mailing asking his friends to vote for Sara Evans because she "represents good American values." And he doesn't want them to vote for Jerry Springer.

"I am writing to you today in an effort to help a good friend of mine, country music singer and GOP supporter Sara Evans," DeLay begins. Evans sang at the 2004 Republican convention; now DeLay wants to return the favor. "Let's show Sara that same support by watching and voting for her each week to help her win this competition. One of her opponents on the show is ultra liberal talk show host Jerry Springer. We need to send a message to Hollywood and the media that smut has no place on television by supporting good people like Sara Evans."

With Tom DeLay involved, nobody should be surprised it the “Dancing With the Stars” audience suddenly finds itself facing some mid-show redistricting or arm twisting designed to benefit only Ms. Evans.  

Take a look at the Vision America website and you’ll notice a new story listed under the “Current News” section.  The story, “Patriot Pastors” by Candi Cushman, lists the date as “Friday, July 21, 2006.” 

It begins

Little did David Nelson know that his preconceived ideas about politics and the pulpit were about to change forever. As a youth minister of Smith Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Tatum, Texas, and a “born Democrat,” he rarely mixed with conservative activist pastors. Now they were sitting all around him, and he wasn’t happy.

At first, “I didn’t see men,” he told Citizen. “I saw a class of people.”

Four years ago, an article called “Patriot Pastors” written by Candi Cushman appeared in Focus on the Family’s “Citizen” magazine.  It begins

Little did David Nelson know that his preconceived ideas about politics and the pulpit were about to change forever. As a youth minister of Smith Chapel Missionary Baptist Church in Tatum, Texas, and a “born Democrat,” he rarely mixed with conservative activist pastors. Now they were sitting all around him, and he wasn’t happy.

At first, “I didn’t see men,” he told Citizen. “I saw a class of people.”

The article goes on the mention Vision America’s founder Rick Scarborough so that probably explains why it was posted on the Vision America website, though it doesn’t explain why VA tried to make it appear as if this was a recent story.  

Perhaps the fact that Scarborough hasn’t been mentioned in any press in weeks might have something to do with it.