Dave Welch

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott is to be honored by a far-right group whose leader has a history of comparing President Obama to Adolf Hitler and attacking gays and lesbians.

Abbot is to receive an honor from two local affiliates of the U.S. Pastor’s Council, the Texas Pastor Council and the Houston Area Pastor Council. It’s unclear to what extent the groups are “groups”: all three share a website and are led by a single man, extremist pastor Dave Welch.

The groups are also planning to honor Paul Pressler, who helped lead the “conservative resurgence” within the Southern Baptist Convention. Former Clinton inquisitor Ken Starr, who now works for Baylor University, is delivering the keynote address.

The Texas Freedom Network first noticed the event and highlighted Welch’s extreme rhetoric.

For example, Welch has:

• Argued that Obama is creating a “Fourth Reich.”

• Likened pastors who vouch for Obama’s Christian faith to Nazis and asserted that “Obama’s anti-Christian, anti-life, anti-marriage, anti-constitutional and anti-American policies” prove he only seeks to “use the church in the same way as a previous leader on a different continent,” Hitler. 

• Claimed the judge who ruled that Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is unconstitutional is a treasonous “domestic enemy.”

• Referred to gays and lesbians as “forces of spiritual darkness” and a “morally depraved special interest group.”

• Said the election of openly gay Houston mayor Annise Parker, whom he called a “sodomite,” is a sign of a “cancer of the soul among the people” and that “we let our position on the wall be breached by the enemy.”

• Told the Daily Show that he wouldn’t support any Muslim candidate for Speaker of the Texas State House because he has “deep concerns about the loyalty of Muslims to the Constitution.”

But working with radicals like Welch is just part of the game for Texas Republicans, who continue to compete with each other to see who can be farthest to the right.

Organizers of Rick Perry's "The Response" prayer rally are slowing adding more names to the list of those participating or endorsing the event.  In addition to the American Family Association, Jim Garlow, and John Hagee, the event website has now added a new page of endorsers that includes another Lou Engle associate and several more anti-gay activists:

Barton is obviously well-known, but Che Ahn, who plucked Lou Engle from his life mowing laws and gave him a job as a full-time prophet and worked with Engle in co-founding The Call, is less so.

Dave Welch is the viciously anti-gay founder of the U.S. Pastor Council who apologized to the nation for failing to stop the "enemy" when an openly gay woman was elected mayor of Houston and declared her election a sign "of cancer of the soul among the people."

And then, of course, there is "respected prophet" Cindy Jacobs who explained earlier this year that birds were dying in large numbers because of the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell:

This is quite a line-up that Gov. Perry is putting together.

• Frank Pavone of Priests for Life says the Religious Right will never accept any sort of truce on the issue of abortion.
• Pam Tebow has endorsed Colorado's "personhood" amendment.
• This is an exceptionally inane column, even for Linda Harvey.
• Religious Right leaders are resoundingly unexcited about prospect of Speaker of the House John Boehner.
• Quote of the day from Dave Welch, responding to Judge Virginia Phillips' DADT ruling: "The raw arrogance represented by this Virginia Phillips should result in impeachment. She has proven herself not only unfit for judgeship but is in fact a 'domestic enemy' of the very kind our military members take an oath to defend against."
• The Catholic Church claims that Homer Simpson is a Catholic.  Please, everyone knows that the Simpsons are Presbylutherans.
• Finally, nothing spices up a boring CSPAN panel like some conservative using it to vent about a failed past relationship with a co-panelist:

The last time we wrote about Dave Welch, executive director of the US Pastor Council, he was apologizing for having let the "enemy" triumph in Houston when openly gay candidate Annise Parker was elected mayor and warning that Parker's election was a evidence of the "cancer of the soul" of America.

Now Welch is back to dispute the idea that one can be a Christian and vote for Democrats and to offer up a plan for defeating the "Fourth Reich of the Obama/Pelosi/Reid":

The political awakening birthed by the Fourth Reich of the Obama/Pelosi/Reid regime has inspired tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of Americans to step up and get involved. That is a good thing and may result in a major political shift in one branch of Congress as well as state legislatures and more governors – again.

The bottom line is that the pulpits of this nation had better get back to the business of preaching the undiluted, uncompromised word of God as applied to all vital current issues and then demand that Christians vote those principles.

If just 10 percent of our moderate- to large-size churches will effectively execute the AMERICA Plan in their churches, we not only will make temporary political changes, but will have pumped the bilgewater out of the hold and set the ship back on the right course.

Don't get mad at politicians for failing on border security, immigration, fiscal responsibility, sanctity of life, defense of marriage and family, etc., if you don't vote in every election and vote God's values, not yours.

In addition to his AMERICA Plan, Welch has unveiled a Pastors’ Declaration of Godly Citizenship [PDF] through which religious leaders vow to get every member of their church to vote and to do so in accordance with the values set out in the declaration:

We believe that the Holy Bible is inerrant, infallible and inspired by God; it is the only revealed source of all truth relevant to the governing of the person and of nations.

We believe that all authorities are subordinate to God, including family, church and government authorities, therefore the actions and decisions of each will be accountable to Him.

We believe that the primary agent for transforming personal lives, society and culture is a clear presentation and acceptance of the hope found exclusively in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

We believe that Jesus’ prayer to the Father for oneness within the body is an absolute necessity for us to endeavor to fulfill, transcending all racial, cultural and ethnic barriers in order to receive His on-going presence and guidance.

We believe that the church has a unique and sacred role in proclaiming God's principles to leaders of a city, state and nation, with government limited to its Biblical and Constitutional purpose as protector of the innocent, punisher of the evildoer and NOT provider of our wants or needs.

We believe that all innocent life from conception to natural death must be protected and valued by the people and our government to the fullest extent of the law as the highest priority of government.

We believe that marriage is a God-created relationship as the lifetime union of one natural man and one natural woman for the blessing of both, the good of the people and the foundation of the family for legitimate procreation.

We believe that the traditional, nuclear family of a married father and mother raising their biological and/or adopted children in a nurturing and protective environment is the essential building block of a stable community and a nation; it therefore must be promoted and protected by both church and state.

We believe that equal justice based on God's eternal standards - not the 'will of the majority' - to punish evil and protect the innocent regardless of color, gender or creed is fundamental to legitimate government.

Accordingly, I commit my role as Senior Pastor to lead my congregation by training them in these principles to apply them in their homes, workplaces and voting decisions at all levels; to actively seek 100% levels of voter registration and turnout, and finally to stand with all other pastors in my community who join me in this declaration.

• Rep. Michele Bachmann and Rep. Steve King are BFFs.  Why is that not surprising?
• Why is Sen. Scott Brown's daughter now a contributor to "The Early Show"?
• Rick Santorum says the only reason he endorsed Arlen Specter last time around was because Specter promised to support President Bush's SCOTUS nominees.
• Focus on the Family has kicked-off a 12-city tour aimed at educating couples on how to strengthen their marriage, parenting skills, and family life.
• Harry Jackson defends Michael Steel, saying Steel deserves more time to get things organized.  Seriously.
• Quote of the day I from Dave Welch on standing up to gays: "We must stand boldly, declare God's standard of morality for the good of the people and take back the ground that has been yielded to the forces of spiritual darkness by cleaning house at every level of government, education, media and the arts. However, as it will be with God's judgment, we must start in the house of God. "
• Quote of the day II comes from those who don't want to see Rick Green on the Texas Supreme Court: "Let’s not jeopardize that good work by electing someone who is likely to attract criticism and ridicule for himself and our entire judiciary."