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Romney Touts Support of Anti-Gay Activists

Submitted by Brian Tashman on January 30, 2012 - 3:35pm

Mitt Romney’s campaign today unveiled its Social Conservatives Coalition along with a letter from nine Massachusetts activists defending Romney’s conservative credentials on abortion rights and gay rights while governor. As Jeremy Hooper noted, one of such activists includes Roberto Miranda, who claimed that Satan is behind marriage equality and directly tied advances for gay rights to the attacks on September 11th, 2001. Kyle reported back in 2006:

Satan has warred mightily against this region, and has effectively neutralized it through the influence of principalities of rationalism, humanism, intellectual pride and spiritual arrogance. Massachusetts, as well as all of New England, has become a cemetery of churches, a breeding ground for heretical doctrine, and intellectual furnace energizing attitudes of godlessness, rational arrogance and secularism It is no coincidence, of course, that something as dramatically distant from the Christian worldview as gay marriage would be originated in this region.

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Is it exaggerated to see prophetic significance in the fact that on September 11, 2001 Boston served as the point of departure for the deadly forces that spread so much destruction and havoc in this nation and all over the world? What took place at the material level is now being carried out at the moral and spiritual level, as the virus of homosexuality and gay marriage begins to spread dramatically all over this nation and perhaps the world.

While it appears that the Romney campaign has no problem with aligning itself with someone who blames “the virus of homosexuality and gay marriage” for the 911 attacks, a member of Social Conservatives Coalition may upset one major Romney booster: Florida congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Romney has campaigned with Rep. Ros-Lehtinen in Florida and the congresswoman even stars in a Romney Spanish-language ad.

But one of Romney’s Coalition leaders, Marili Cancio of the Christian Family Coalition, represents a group that has attacked Rep. Ros-Lehtinen for her advocacy of gay rights. Here’s what the Christian Family Coalition had to say about Rep. Ros-Lehtinen for co-sponsoring the Respect for Marriage Act, attacking her as “an arrogant, anti-Family, homosexualist extremist” and a “corrupt politician”:

Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R) has embarrassed and ridiculed herself by tragically becoming the first Republican to co-sponsor on a socially destructive and totally undemocratic bill to repeal the bipartisan Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that respects marriage at the Federal level. This new fraudulent legislation seeks to impose homosexual so-called "marriage" on all fifty (50) states and thereby trample on the will of the American people and our nation's traditions and values.

Voters elected Rep. Ros-Lehtinen as a pro-Life, pro-Family Conservative, not as an arrogant, anti-Family, homosexualist extremist. Homosexual so-called "marriage" was never part of her campaign platform. She lied to and misled her own constituents, campaign donors and volunteers by corruptly kowtowing to the anti-social, extremist homosexualist agenda in exchange for who knows what.

This much we do know, in November 2008, 62% of Florida's voters, including those in her own congressional district, voted for a constitutional amendment protecting and defining civil marriage and all of its benefits as "the union of one man, one woman." Now, Rep. Ros-Lehtinen refuses to respect this law, she refuses to respect the will of the people, and she refuses to honor the moral values and ethical principles upon which she was elected to Congress! Shame on her!

There will be more to come for this public servant tragically gone astray! Voters will not allow arrogant, corrupt politicians to undermine with impunity the safety and welfare of their families and their community. This matter is far from over.

With Romney trying to shore up his social conservative backers, he may want to stay away from trumpeting the support of people who blame homosexuality for 9/11 and representatives of organizations who call one of his prominent endorsers a “homosexualist extremist.”

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Romney's Faith Leaders Rip Gingrich's 'Despicable Behavior'

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on January 27, 2012 - 11:55am

On Wednesday, Newt Gingrich held a conference call with faith leaders during which he declared that the push for marriage equality is an example of "the rise of paganism" while his supporters warned that failure to elect Gingrich would quite literally spell the end of America and Western Civilization.

On Thursday, the Mitt Romney campaign held its own conference call with its own faith leaders who ripped Gingrich for his arrogance, recklessness, and "despicable behavior":

The Mitt Romney campaign held a conference call this morning with social conservative Republicans in Florida, touting the former Massachusetts governor's integrity and values and contrasting him to Newt Gingrich. Leading the call were Pastor David Janney of Orlando Baptist Church, the largest church in Orlando, former U.S. Rep. Dave Weldon of Indialantic, and Jay Sekulow, the chief counsel of the American Center for Law and Justice and a prominent advocate for religious freedom.

Pastor Janney said he's watched Romney being vetted and noted his marriage of 42 years, five children and 16 grandchildren: "When I look at his life I'm not concerned about being embarrassed or distracted by his personal issues."

Weldon said he was one of the members of congress who tried to oust Gingrich as U.S. House Speaker. "With Newt it was kind of like every day we didn't know what he was gonna say, we didn't know what he was going to be doing, he was just a little bit unpredictable," Weldon said. "It worries me the idea of him being in the oval office."

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State Rep. Dennis Baxley, former leader of the Christian Coalition of Florida, also spoke on the call, saying Romney "shares our Christian values and will protect our religious freedom."

"When your choosing a leader it's about integrity. The hardest thing to maintain in any leader is those essential qualities of humility and purity. ... I'm very concerned about Newt Gingrich on that front." Baxley called Gingrich "very arrogant on his moral failure - calling the press despicable for covering him instead of humbly seeking the forgiveness of his former wife and others for his own despicable behavior."

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Santorum Accepts, Romney Declines Invitation to Religious Right Forum Hosted by Gingrich Campaign Co-Chair

Submitted by Brian Tashman on January 25, 2012 - 2:30pm

To the surprise of nobody, Mitt Romney is ignoring an invitation to participate in the presidential candidate forum at Liberty Counsel’s Florida Awake! conference on Saturday. So far, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum have accepted the invitation, while Ron Paul respectfully declined because he will be outside of Florida at the time. Romney has already skipped the Thanksgiving Family Forum in Iowa and two Personhood USA forums, and his decision to skip the Liberty Counsel debate earned him a rebuke from Personhood USA, even though Romney at one point endorsed the group’s extreme anti-choice legislation. The slam from Personhood USA, a cosponsor of the forum, implied that he wouldn’t be a strong opponent of abortion rights:

Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senator Rick Santorum are confirmed to participate in Florida Awake! Congressman Ron Paul regretfully declined, as he is not scheduled to be campaigning in Florida at that time. The event is already sold out, with over 1800 tickets reserved.

Governor Romney, again expressly invited, has again neglected to notify organizers of his willingness or disinclination to participate.

"Following President Obama's statement celebrating the Roe v. Wade decision -- effectively celebrating the deliberate killing of 54 million innocent American citizens -- Personhood USA recognizes the urgency of ensuring that we know where our candidates stand," stated Keith Mason, President of Personhood USA. "We need a president who values life, and will defend the innocent in word and in deed. We certainly don't need a candidate who cares nothing for the Sanctity of Life, nor one who will join President Obama in celebrating the deaths of millions.'

But Romney may have a not terrible reason for skipping the forum led by Liberty Counsel chairman Mat Staver, as Staver is Co-Chair of the Gingrich Faith Leaders Coalition. Staver endorsed Gingrich earlier this month, calling him the “clear choice for conservatives.”

While Romney’s decision to not participate is nothing new, it is far more bizarre that Santorum would accept the invitation to a forum hosted and moderated by a Gingrich campaign leader.

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Personhood USA Regroups in Mississippi, Aims for Florida Vote

Submitted by Brian Tashman on December 6, 2011 - 12:40pm

The unexpectedly staggering defeat of the personhood amendment in Mississippi last month has not slowed down Personhood USA’s campaign to put stringent anti-choice laws on the ballot in states across the country. In fact, the group wants to put personhood laws back on the ballot in Colorado, where it was defeated twice, and even make a second attempt in Mississippi.

Personhood Mississippi head and Christian separatist Les Riley and Personhood USA’s Jennifer Mason told the Washington Times that activists are committed to passing the amendment in Mississippi:

“I can tell you that we are going to press forward. … We’ve got plans to continue a massive grass-roots campaign,” as well as work with the legislature, said Les Riley, leader of Personhood Mississippi.

“We realize we are changing a culture, and we can’t expect to change the culture with one election. That’s why we are willing to do this as many times as it takes,” said Jennifer Mason, spokeswoman for Personhood USA, which supports coast-to-coast measures seeking to establish human rights at conception.

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“We think that by including a little more information to prohibit our opposition from using these scare tactics will benefit us, while easing voters’ minds,” said Mrs. Mason, who is married to Personhood USA President Keith Mason.

Another state Personhood USA is targeting is Florida, where the state affiliate plans to gather signatures in support of a new Florida ProLife Personhood Amendment:

Have you heard the news? Personhood FL has launched a new prolife petition called the Florida ProLife Personhood Amendment. Personhood FL will collect petition signatures from registered Florida voters January 2012 – December 2013. We need your help to contact every church, every pastor in your county!

Because of a bill passed by the FL Legislature this year that changed the shelf life of the petition signatures from 4 years to 2 years, we are launching a new two year petitioning effort beginning January 2012. We have taken this opportunity to launch the new Florida ProLife Personhood Amendment based on language endorsed by Family Research Council and the American Family Association. The new petition language has been designed by a think tank of prolife personhood attorneys and satisfies 11 conditions needed to unite pro-life ministries. Adapting this language enables all states to come into unity anticipating and facilitating a federal prolife personhood amendment.

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The Response Returns ... Just In Time For Republican Primary Season

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on November 16, 2011 - 5:36pm

If you were like us, you assumed that the massive public "The Response" prayer rally organized by Rick Perry, the American Family Association, and others this summer was a one-off event.

But it turns out that it was not, as The Response website is now back on-line and announcing that a series of events will be held next year:

America's issues are not primarily financial, political or moral. Neither does America's hope lie in one leader or institution. Our hope is found in the One who desires for us to turn to Him with all our hearts. This is our response — to call on Jesus on behalf of America, that He might hear our cry and that we would see a revolution of righteousness in this country.

This year and next, The Response is holding state-wide solemn assemblies to gather people from all ages, denominations and backgrounds in prayer and fasting on behalf our nation. Join us in Iowa, South Carolina, Florida and Arizona as the church in these states responds to the call to prayer.

In August 2011, The Response gathered 40,000 people in Houston, TX to respond to the trumpet call to prayer. Though Governor Rick Perry initiated The Response in Houston, these upcoming state-wide gatherings will not be affiliated with any particular presidential candidates. The Response is committed to prayer above politics, to seeing the church moved to stand for righteousness and to pray for God's mercy for America.

State to state, city to city, we will not rest until we see a righteous revolution awaken the church.

The Iowa event is next month while the South Carolina and Florida events are being held in January and the Arizona event takes place in February ... which, wouldn't you know it, just so happens to coincide pretty closely with the Republican primary elections in each of those states.

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Suspension of Anti-Gay FL School Teacher Just Like Life In Communist Romania

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on November 4, 2011 - 4:03pm

In August of this year, controversy erupted after Florida school teacher Jerry Buell was suspended for posting anti-gay statements on his Facebook page.  The case because a Religious Right cause célèbre and Liberty Counsel immediately stepped in to represent him.

Buell's Liberty Counsel attorney, Harry Mihet, was the guest on "WallBuilders Live" radio program today where he asserted that the reason he fled communist Romania was to escape just this sort of "oppression":

I grew up in communist Romania and this is exactly the kind of thing that would happen there ... and we learned to live with this kind of oppression as a way of life. But we fled Romania to escape to the land of the free so that we wouldn't have to deal with such intolerance.

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Religious Right Hoping to Exploit Hispanic Frustration with Obama

Submitted by Peter Montgomery on October 7, 2011 - 8:59am

Even before the opening bell at the Values Voter Summit, the Liberty Counsel hosted a breakfast on messaging and outreach to Hispanic Americans. Liberty Counsel’s Mat Staver shared the stage with Tony Calatayud, a Miami-based activist who works for the Spanish language arm of Christian radio Salem Communications.   Calatayud, who helped Marco Rubio get elected to the U.S. Senate from Florida, now travels the country helping to identify and support conservative Hispanic candidates with the group Conservadores.

Staver said that Hispanic unhappiness with Barack Obama is “a really good thing going into 2012.” Calatayud agreed. The growing Hispanic community could be a huge electoral force for conservatives, he said, if only Republicans would stop alienating Hispanic voters with “idiotic” anti-immigrant rhetoric. He said “the Hispanic evangelical movement in this country is exploding” and said repeatedly that Hispanics are “conservative in nature” and share the Religious Right’s values on social issues. Polls suggest, in fact, that Latinos are pro-LGBT equality, but also that Latino evangelicals are more politically conservative than Latino Catholics.
 
Calatayud argued that conservative leaders need to make a “covenant” with “Kingdom-minded” Latino leaders and support an approach to immigration that includes four points: border security first; family reunification; a guest worker program; and “just integration” (a term he attributed to Sam Rodriguez) of the 12-15 million undocumented people already in the country. Calatayud said he didn’t want to hear the word “amnesty” ever again; he and Staver complained about Republicans who use the word “amnesty” to describe anything short of mass deportation. Calatayud got a polite but quiet hearing from the audience for his presentation on immigration; the only applause came when, in response to a question, he affirmed his belief that everyone must learn English.
 
Calatayud also insisted that the eventual Republican candidate must build a “covenant” relationship with Latino evangelical pastors and devote real money to campaign outreach. He said he had hoped Marco Rubio would run this time around; he predicts Rubio will not accept a VP slot this year, but believes he will be the GOP nominee in 2016 or 2020.
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Florida Lt. Governor Rallies "Christians To Step Up And Lead This Country"

Submitted by Brian Tashman on September 23, 2011 - 11:58am

Florida Lt. Governor Jennifer Carroll addressed Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition’s pre-debate gathering in Florida yesterday, where she went on the attack against the media, scientists, blasphemers, secular Americans and all those who don’t fit into her idea of a “righteous government.” We made a compilation of her speech’s most remarkable moments, but the whole speech, courtesy of the Associated Press, is worth watching:

You know the Bible says faith is believing in what is not seen, today unfortunately many in the media would like nothing better to ridicule Christians: they promote 'The Da Vinci Code,' they place doubt in the public’s mind that Christ was not risen and they condemn the 'Passion of Christ,' yet they sensationalize stories that call for the end of prayer in school and removing the name of God from our country’s pledge. Ladies and gentlemen, these are very sad times when we allow the minority to poison the minds of the majority. This is exactly what dictators and socialist rulers did.

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Man does not have all the answers, some of our political leaders bow down to scientists and let them have the stage to push their evolution, but there’s nothing, nothing a scientist can make, that is exactly like what God creates.

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Trust Him to give you the strength to fight back against those who want to take God out of our country. Trust Him to give you the wisdom to speak out against injustice and blasphemy of His name. Trust God to guide your path to bring about a righteous government. …

Ladies and gentlemen, Christianity is in a fight and it is one of the greatest trials we have seen in modern times. Without a doubt, America and her people are in grave need of prayer, divine guidance, protection, to have good, solid Christians to step up and lead this country on a proper moral path. I firmly believe that if we magnify God, our problems will be minimized.

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Meet Rick Perry's Radical Leadership Team Co-Chair

Submitted by Brian Tashman on September 21, 2011 - 3:42pm

Before heading to this week’s Presidency 5 conference in Orlando, Rick Perry named two Religious Right leaders to his Florida Presidency 5 campaign leadership team: John Stemberger and Pam Olsen. While Stemberger’s anti-choice, anti-gay and anti-Muslim activism is well known, Olsen is a far more obscure figure, but no less extreme. Olsen has said that same-sex marriage will lead to God’s judgment, preached Seven Mountains dominionism, and even claims that she, as a prophet, will have the power to raise the dead in the End Times.

Olsen heads the Tallahassee branch of the International House of Prayer, whose members helped organize and preached at Perry’s The Response prayer rally in August. The Response emcee Mike Bickle, who once claimed that Oprah is the harbinger of the Antichrist and that gay marriage is “rooted in the depths of hell,” is the founder and director of IHOP. As reported by Sarah Posner, Olsen was inspired to found IHOP Tallahassee after extremist self-proclaimed prophet Cindy Jacobs prophesied over her.

In July, Olsen warned that God’s increasingly severe judgments will come on the church and America for legalizing same-sex marriage in the form of natural disasters:

We are under judgment. Do you know how many of the denominations now are suddenly saying, ‘Oh ok we think it’s ok now to have gay marriage, we think it’s ok to have gay preachers, we think it’s ok.’ Whole denominations! The Episcopalians fell off the planet, they think it’s ok to have gay priests. We’ve got other groups, one of the Presbyterians, they’re looking at voting, we’ve got other ones, they’re all of the sudden going, ‘Oh in the name of tolerance,’ and they’re forgetting God’s word completely in whole denominations. You know what, God is not one that’s gonna wink at sin, He will come and shake at everything that can be shaken. God is a God of judgment, He is. If we think we’re not gonna be judged…He judged Israel? Are we better than that? And sometimes I think we think we are, but we’re not. And God is shaking. If anybody looks at the news and has just seen what’s been happening recently with the floods, the fires, the tornadoes, God is shaking. Yeah I think you have God shaking, sure you have the Enemy shaking, you have both and I don’t want to say oh that’s the judgment of God or that’s the Enemy. But the reality is God is judging us, and I think it’s going to get worse.

In an April service, Olsen preached Seven Mountains dominionism, the radical theology that demands fundamentalist Christians take control over the seven critical spheres of society: government, business, media, arts and entertainment, family, media, education, and religion. Towards the end of the service, Olsen also states that in the End Times she will be capable of raising the dead:

We talk a lot about the seven centers of power or the seven mountains, asking God to come. If you are ever in any intercession set here at the house of prayer, you will find us often crying out God move on the hearts of the family; awaken the church in the West, in this city awaken the church; we cry out for the government, we’re in capital city and we better be crying out to the government; pray for the campuses and the youth to be moved; that God will move and change the media’s heart that He would begin to cause them to speak truth; that He would come and move in the marketplace and awaken and bring His people the finances to literally fund the Kingdom of God; that He come and move in every area in arts and entertainment. Those are the seven mountains of influence that God would begin to move, and we cry out for that because God wants to come, the Holy Spirit wants to come and it is like hot molten lava that He would literally sweep over every area.

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Man I tell you what, we better know God’s word in this hour with what’s coming, we better know God’s word, and we better be saying, God I want to partner with your heart, whatever’s coming I want to be prepared as an End Time messenger who has walked in the fire and knows You and knows how to say, God that person needs to be raised from the dead and I’m gonna say, in Jesus’ name rise up and walk, and I’m gonna pray that in and see the dead raised!

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Perry Names Stemberger Co-Chair Of Leadership Team For FL GOP Event

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on September 20, 2011 - 12:19pm

Last week we noted that John Stemberger of the Florida Family Policy Council was hinting that he was going to be endorsing Rick Perry for President, despite the fact that Michele Bachmann had recently headlined a fundraising event for his organization.

Today, the Perry campaign issued a press release announcing that Stemberger would be serving as co-chair of his leadership team for the upcoming Florida Presidency 5 event:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry today announced his leadership team for Presidency 5 (P5), with Speaker Dean Cannon serving as chairman. Gov. Perry will participate in Florida P5 this week, including the P5 debate, CPAC and straw poll in Orlando, Fla.

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In addition to Speaker Cannon, conservative activists John Stemberger and Pam Olsen will serve as co-chairs.

Stemberger was Chairman of the Florida4Marriage.org campaign which outlawed marriage equality in Florida in 2008 and was deeply involved in the Rifqa Bary saga in 2009.  In fact, his actions during the Bary case resulted in Stemberger eventually facing misconducted charges and a ten million dollar lawsuit, though the complaint was eventually dismissed and the lawsuit was dropped.

In addition to being a Religious Right activist, Stemberger is also a personal injury attorney who has, in this capacity, put forth some rather novel legal arguments:

An attorney suing Dollar Rent-A-Car has apologized for filing a lawsuit that characterized the Irish as hopelessly tethered to pubs and pints and unfit to drive the highways of America.

John Stemberger admitted he made a mistake and promised Wednesday to rewrite the negligence lawsuit he filed in March.

The suit was filed on behalf of the family of Carmel Elizabeth Cunningham, an Irish woman who was killed last year when her boyfriend, Sean McGrath, crashed their rental car. He is also Irish.

Prosecutors say McGrath, 33, was drunk at the time of the crash and have charged him with manslaughter. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

In the suit, Stemberger claimed Dollar "knew or should have known about the unique cultural and ethnic customs existing in Ireland which involve the regular consumption of alcohol at `Pubs' as a major component to Irish social life.''

He went on to charge that Dollar "knew or should have known that Sean McGrath would have a high propensity to drink alcohol.''

Update:  Sarah Posner reports that the other co-chair, Pam Olsen, is a Cindy Jacobs associate and the founder of the Tallahassee International House of Prayer:

Olsen founded the Tallahassee International House of Prayer after she "received a prophetic word through Cindy Jacobs that God was going to use her as a mighty weapon against the enemy through the prayer movement and that He was going to raise up a physical location that would be a place of refuge for people, pastors and missionaries to come and pray."

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