Abortion

Priscilla Said It Was Okay

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 8/23/2006 1:23 pm

When the White House announced the nomination of Harriet Miers for a seat on the Supreme Court, the nomination was met with overwhelming opposition from the Right.

The Bush Administration responded by trotting out one of Miers’ close friends, Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht, to assure the Right that Miers opposed abortion.  

Ultimately, it was all for naught as Miers withdrew her nomination citing bogus concerns over access to internal White House documents, though the reality was that her nomination was killed by Bush’s own base.

But while Miers’ publicly humiliating travails are over from her nomination period, Hecht’s are not.

In May, the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct admonished Hecht for violating the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct concluding that "Justice Hecht's actions on behalf of Harriet Miers constituted persistent and willful violations of Canons 2B and 5(2) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct."

Hecht has appealed and is arguing, at least in part, that Priscilla Owen said it was okay:

Hecht testified that the rules — ones that the Texas Supreme Court itself issues — were never intended to include a judge’s comments about a U.S. Supreme Court nominee but were adopted to keep judges out of local political races. But Hecht testified that he sought advice from former Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Phillips and Appeals Court Judge Priscilla Owen and was told that he was free to comment.

Considering that Owen has a long history of rewriting and disregarding the law in order to achieve her desired results, perhaps Hecht should have sought out a more reliable source of advice on this issue. 

The Commission stated that Hecht violated

1. Canon 2B of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct states, in pertinent part: "A judge shall not lend the prestige of judicial office to advance the private interests of the judge or others."

2. Canon 5(2) of the Texas Code of Judicial Conduct states, in pertinent part: "A judge or judicial candidate shall not authorize the public use of his or her name endorsing another candidate for any public office, except that either may indicate support for a political party."

According to the Commission, Hecht

[A]llowed his name and title to be used by the press and the White House in support of his close friend, Harriet Miers, a nominee for the office of United States Supreme Court Justice. Such public support by a judicial official elected to the highest court in Texas, in the eyes of the public and the rest of the judiciary, would be construed as an endorsement of Miers' candidacy, as those terms are commonly used and understood. Because the Commission views Miers' desire for a lifetime appointment to the United States Supreme Court to be a private interest, the efforts of Justice Hecht in promoting his friend's candidacy by responding to media inquiries and assisting the White House in its efforts to convince powerful special interest groups to support her candidacy, constituted an improper use of his office and position to promote Miers' private interest.

Telling Off the Christian Coalition

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 8/22/2006 4:38 pm

Heh!

The Christian Coalition of Alabama wants to know where candidates for the state Legislature stand on a wide variety of issues, ranging from prayer in school to abortion to whether people who are homosexual should be allowed to serve in the Alabama National Guard.

The coalition has mailed a nine-page, 76-question survey to candidates and plans to use the answers in its voter guide, which will be distributed in churches across the state before the Nov. 7 general election.

The survey did not sit well with some Democratic legislators, who said they believe the purpose is to use their answers against them.

"They do it purposely to campaign for the candidates they want and to hurt the candidates they don't want," said Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, an outspoken critic of state Christian Coalition President John Giles.

After receiving the survey, Holmes sent a letter to Giles saying he would answer all the questions if Giles would answer questions revealing the source of the Christian Coalition's money. Holmes has supported a bill opposed by Giles that would force the Christian Coalition and other nonprofit groups to disclose the source of money used to run ads to influence a legislative issue or a referendum.

"Until you answer those three questions, GO STRAIGHT TO HELL," Holmes said in the letter to Giles.

Former FRC Head Discounts GOP "Lip Service" on Religious Right Issues

Submitted by Anonymous on Friday, 8/18/2006 5:51 pm

While James Dobson, head of Focus on the Family and founder of the Family Research Council, has apparently abandoned his threat to hold back on support for Republicans this year, his former lieutenant Ken Connor is still warning that the base may “stay at home.” Connor, the former president of FRC who now heads his own Center for a Just Society, writes that “Christian conservatives” were “in no small part” to thank for the election of George W. Bush, but now—despite a recent politically-timed effort to vote on socially-charged bills—  they ask, “‘What have you done for me lately?’”

A review of the recent record leaves them chagrined.  Notwithstanding the party's lip service, and aside from the confirmation of two promising (yet untested) Supreme Court justices, little real progress has been made in the last two years toward advancing the values agenda.  Planned Parenthood has not been prevented from receiving hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.  The federal courts' jurisdiction has not been trimmed to limit its ability to hear cases involving abortion or same-sex marriage. And the Republican-controlled Congress is outspending its liberal Democratic predecessors.

No doubt, the Republicans would point to the vote on the Marriage Protection Amendment as a testament to their commitment to values voters' priorities.  It was, however, little more than a cynical ploy.  Republican leaders knew the measure had no chance of passage and did precious little to make it pass. That they couldn't even muster majority support in the Republican-controlled Senate is evidence of just how anemic their efforts really were.  Eyewash is not a substitute for the real thing.

In truth, the Republican Party in the last two years has done what it regarded as the absolute minimum necessary to pacify its values voter base.  Sadly, that pacification has come cheap.  Meanwhile, the party has worked hard to advance the agenda of the moneyed and business interests that finance its campaigns.  The unmistakable message has been that the party values money over votes.

Teachers of Evolution Seek to Destroy "Childhood Joy and Ambition," Says Schlafly

Submitted by Anonymous on Wednesday, 8/16/2006 9:57 am

Creationism advocates are furious about the recent loss of an anti-evolution majority on the Kansas school board. Watergate figure and high-profile Religious Right operative Chuck Colson bemoaned the “censorship” of not mandating the instruction of “Intelligent Design” creationism in public schools. Wichita pastor Terry Fox (who quit his church shortly after the election to be a full-time activist against same-sex marriage, abortion, and evolution) called evolution a “cult” and “the mother of all liberalism” and cited the “homosexual agenda[]” and “taking Christ out of Christmas” as related reasons to elect right-wing school board members. Board member Connie Morris, who called evolution a “fairytale” and lost her bid for re-election to a moderate, blamed the “lying liberal media” for her defeat, and Kansas “Intelligent Design” advocate John Calvert complained of a “propaganda” campaign of “systematic misinformation” that Kansas might have trouble competing for science-related business if it maintained a standard of science education opposed by almost all scientific societies.

Now right-wing stalwart Phyllis Schlafly weighs in, claiming that those who take their cues on public-school science curricula from scientists are out to stifle children’s laughter and quash their dreams:

Liberals see the political value to teaching evolution in school, as it makes teachers and children think they are no more special than animals. Childhood joy and ambition can turn into depression as children learn to reject that they were created in the image of God.

Schlafly claims that “The issue in the Kansas controversy was not intelligent design and certainly not creationism,” preferring to refer to “the movement to allow criticism of evolution.” She notes that the Kansas standards point to a non-binding statement that came out of the congressional conference committee negotiating the No Child Left Behind Act that singles out evolution as a “controversy” and calls on schools to teach the “full range of scientific views that exist.”

But as the National Center for Science Education details, the so-called Santorum Amendment – partially designed by “Intelligent Design” advocates as part of a long-term strategy to undermine scientific instruction – was never passed into law.

Empty Threats

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 8/15/2006 5:22 pm

Remember a few months ago when some on the Right, especially James Dobson, were threatening Republicans that there would be negative electoral repercussions unless the GOP worked harder to promote the right-wing agenda?

Some of President Bush's most influential conservative Christian allies are becoming openly critical of the White House and Republicans in Congress, warning that they will withhold their support in the midterm elections unless Congress does more to oppose same-sex marriage, obscenity and abortion. 

… 

In the last several weeks, Dr. James C. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family and one of the most influential Christian conservatives, has publicly accused Republican leaders of betraying the social conservatives who helped elect them in 2004. He has also warned in private meetings with about a dozen of the top Republicans in Washington that he may turn critic this fall unless the party delivers on conservative goals. 

…

Dr. Dobson, whose daily radio broadcast has millions of listeners, has already signaled his willingness to criticize Republican leaders. In a recent interview with Fox News on the eve of a visit to the White House, he accused Republicans of "just ignoring those that put them in office."

Dr. Dobson cited the House's actions on two measures that passed over the objections of social conservatives: a hate-crime bill that extended protections to gay people, and increased support for embryonic stem cell research.

"There's just very, very little to show for what has happened," Dr. Dobson said, "and I think there's going to be some trouble down the road if they don't get on the ball."

Since then, the Republicans haven’t accomplished much in terms of opposing same-sex marriage, obscenity or abortion – but Dobson seems to have realized the symbiotic nature of his relationship with the GOP and has quietly abandoned his petulant threats

Right Calls on Teachers to Leave NEA

Submitted by Anonymous on Monday, 8/7/2006 6:42 pm
Over gays, abortion.

Televangelist Warns of Harmful Effects of Evolution

Submitted by Anonymous on Monday, 7/31/2006 12:47 pm
D. James Kennedy is a prominent megachurch pastor and televangelist whose influence extends to the political realm--his Center for Reclaiming America for Christ claims to have 500,000 members willing to sign petitions against abortion, gay marriage, and stem cell research, and his Center for Christian Statesmanship has honored political leaders of the Right including Alabama's ex-Chief Justice and Ten Commandments-wielder Roy Moore, then-Sen. John Ashcroft, Sen. Sam Brownback, and then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

On his "Coral Ridge Hour" show Sunday, which is widely syndicated on the ABC Family network, Kennedy lashed out at evolution and asked viewers to donate to produce a costly anti-evolution video.

The consequences of Darwinism have been devastating. But the good news is, many in the scientific community are realizing that the emperor has no clothes. Evolution is indeed a charade. But those who dare to voice those views are suffering persecution. ...

This is an outrage and that's why I intend to do something about it. I am determined to produce a hard-hitting, brand new special exposing the controversy over intelligent design and evolution, including examining the devastating effects of Darwin's theory. Rarely do you see anything on the consequences of evolution.

Watch the video clip: Broadband or Dial-Up.

Donors will receive an anti-evolution book published by his church, and Kennedy says, "You will be shocked at the harmful effects that evolution is still having on our nation, our children, and our world."

Despite his considerable resources, it is still doubtful that Kennedy can reverse the effects of evolution. But efforts like his are critical in the Right Wing campaign to redefine science education in our public schools--as in Kansas, Ohio, and elsewhere.

Schiavo Role Dogs Randall Terry's Political Campaign

Submitted by Anonymous on Wednesday, 7/26/2006 12:40 pm

Randall Terry, the far-right founder of the militant anti-abortion group Operation Rescue, was a key figure in the debate about Terri Schiavo in late 2004 and early 2005, orchestrating a full-scale media campaign, appearing regularly on national television, and meeting with Gov. Jeb Bush to urge him to intervene in various ways in the family dispute over end-of-life care. Terry, who once ran for Congress in New York State, decided next to run for Florida Senate against Jim King, a Republican who was recently president of the state Senate. As the Orlando Sentinel notes,

The two have crossed swords before. In 2005, when Terry lobbied state lawmakers to pass a bill to reinsert Schiavo's feeding tube, King was one of nine Republican senators who helped block the bill. Terry singled out King, called him "Judas" and vowed that if Schiavo died, there would be "hell to pay."

Now Terry is apparently seeking to present himself to primary voters as more moderate. He has posted several homemade videos to his campaign web site, in which he tells the camera that he has “mellowed out” in recent years. “What Jim King wishes is that this election was about Terri Schiavo, and it's not,” Terry recently claimed.

Unfortunately, not all of Terry’s allies on the Right have gotten the message. Paul Schenck, executive director of the National Pro-Life Action Center, issued a press release condemning Gov. Jeb Bush for opposing Terry, saying, “Shame, shame on Jeb Bush for betraying the memory of Terri Schindler Schiavo by endorsing Jim King. As Senate president, King had the power to protect Terri, but for cynical political purposes he did not. Now Jeb Bush wants us to forget that King was largely responsible for Terri's death.”

Who’s Trying to Kill Immigration Reform?

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 7/25/2006 12:01 pm

If you are trying to get a sense of whether any sort of comprehensive immigration reform bill will pass this year, just read this article in the Washington Times

The Republican base is being rejuvenated, some conservative activists say, by a flurry of congressional action on "values" issues such as marriage safeguards, flag protection and abortion restrictions, as well as President Bush's veto last week of stem-cell legislation.

…

Jim Backlin, vice president of legislative affairs at the Christian Coalition, said the spate of "values" votes "really, really helps rejuvenate our base -- especially Bush vetoing the stem-cell bill."

In the past few months, Mr. Bush signed legislation against broadcast indecency, both chambers of Congress voted on a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between a man and woman, and the House voted to retain the words "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance.

But all that grandstanding on gay marriage, the Pledge of Allegiance, and stem-cell research could be for naught if the GOP helps pass any sort of immigration bill that doesn’t turn the millions of illegal immigrants in this country into felons.  

They warn against counteracting that progress with a comprehensive immigration bill that conservatives consider amnesty.

…

Still, Mr. Backlin warned that Republicans will "lose all that goodwill" from values voters if the Senate version of immigration reform is signed into law.

Mr. McClusky agreed that such a move would devastate the party and said "there is more work to be done" on values issues.

So don't be surprised it that spells the end of comprehensive immigration reform – at least for this year.  

Florida Right Looks to Politicize Judicial Elections Through Voter Guides in Churches

Submitted by Anonymous on Tuesday, 7/25/2006 11:00 am
Voter guides describing candidates for elected office and distributed through churches have long been a hallmark of the Religious Right groups like the Christian Coalition -- which at one point lost its tax-exempt status for its involvement in political campaigning. Now, Florida Family Policy Council -- the state affiliate of James Dobson's Focus on the Family, involved in the Terri Schiavo debate and in efforts to ban same-sex marriage -- is preparing voter guides for state judicial candidates, who for the most part are elected or face an election after being appointed. According to an FFPC press release:
The primary goal of the [Florida Judicial Accountability Project] is to publish and distribute the 2006 Judicial Voter Guide, which will report information taken from questionnaire responses of every judge candidate on the ballot in Florida. The Judicial Voter Guide is strictly an educational service and will not rate or score judicial candidates in any way. The scope and nature of this project is unprecedented in Florida’s history. The FFPC anticipates at least one million copies of the 2006 Judicial Voter Guides will be produced and distributed this year in print, online and by electronic mail.

Ohio "Patriot Pastors" Bite Back on Politicking Criticism

Submitted by Anonymous on Wednesday, 7/19/2006 3:43 pm

Columbus, Ohio area megachurch pastors Rod Parsley and Russell Johnson have been at the center of the race for governor, having organized a network of so-called “Patriot Pastors” through rallies and events starring the Republican candidate, Ken Blackwell. At one point, the web site of Johnson’s Ohio Restoration Project featured detailed plans for a statewide rallies and voting registration drives featuring Blackwell and timed to influence the primary and general elections, and even a 30-second radio spot also featuring Blackwell.

In January, a group of more than 30 religious leaders from the Columbus area signed a letter accusing Parsley and Johnson of “flagrant political campaign activities” and asking the IRS to investigate whether they are using their churches’ tax-exempt status unfairly in the governor’s race. Parsley, Johnson, and even Blackwell immediately fired back, accusing the other ministers of launching a “secular jihad against expressions of faith,” as Johnson put it. “You tell those 31 bullies that you aren’t about to be whupped,” Blackwell said at a “Patriot Pastors” meeting organized by Johnson.

Parsley, Johnson, and Blackwell appeared Monday in a CBN news segment on “ACLJ This Week,” the television show of Pat Robertson’s American Center for Law and Justice, to reiterate their claims of innocence and persecution. “We have never in any way endorsed a candidate for any public office,” said Parsley, apparently referring to an act of explicitly saying something like “I endorse Ken Blackwell.” Similarly, Johnson said, “We do not endorse candidates. We do not give money to candidates. This is not a political PAC. But nothing in the Constitution says that Christians have to check their citizenship at the door.” Johnson added that “These people, candidly, are trying to intimidate people of faith” – even though “these people” are also ministers and rabbis, presumably “people of faith” themselves.

Blackwell, the beneficiary of Parsley’s and Johnson’s attentions, cites the First Amendment – not the part about freedom of expression, but rather the clause on freedom of religion, suggesting that Blackwell sees rallies and events railing against gays and abortion and honoring Blackwell with awards as somehow a form of worship.

Watch the video: Broadband or Dial-Up.

The Right Has Its 2008 Candidate All Picked Out

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 7/19/2006 2:58 pm
USA Today has an interesting article on the Right's search for a 2008 presidential candidate that it can wholeheartedly support. The Right has concerns about possible front-runners like Sen. John McCain and former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani. As Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council says
"I think it would be very difficult for someone to win the Republican nomination who is not supportive of the effort to defend marriage, including supporting a federal marriage amendment. That, I think, is a threshold issue, just as the life issue is a threshold issue."
That pretty much leaves Sen. Sam Brownback, a man who is more or less their ideal candidate

Stem-Cell Research Vote Approaches in Senate

Submitted by Anonymous on Tuesday, 7/18/2006 2:54 pm

As stem-cell research comes to a vote in the Senate, and President Bush threatens his first veto, Washington Post’s Dana Milbank offers his sketch of the members of Congress making their arguments. Supporters of research like Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tennessee), otherwise a staunch ally of Bush and of the Religious Right, cited the medical promise of embryonic stem cells, while others pointed out that they, like many Americans, have family members who suffer from or died of currently untreatable diseases like Parkinson’s. “Had the research and stem cells been available, I wouldn't have had Hodgkin's,” added Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania).

Bush's congressional allies, meanwhile, were mailing it in yesterday. GOP Reps. Joseph Pitts (Pa.), Mike Pence (Ind.) and Dave Weldon (Fla.) called a "background briefing" on stem cells for 11 a.m. in the Cannon House Office Building -- but none of the three showed up. …

In the Senate, Bush's defense was taken up almost exclusively by the chamber's two most ardent religious conservatives, Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). And they were having a tough time of it. …

Brownback brought a group of parents of children grown from "adopted" embryos to make his point. "My daughter was flown out FedEx from the East Coast to the West Coast, where I live," reported Maria Lancaster. "She had been in the freezer four years."

Marlene Strege, with her 7-year-old daughter, who was adopted as an embryo, displayed a drawing by the girl of an embryo asking, "Are you going to kill me?"

Operation Save America Targets Mississippi's Only Clinic

Submitted by Anonymous on Monday, 7/17/2006 5:11 pm

The Associated Press reports on dueling rallies in Jackson, Mississippi as the National Organization of Women and others sought to counter the efforts of Rev. Flip Benham’s Operation Save America, which “is holding rallies across Jackson in an effort to force the closure of Mississippi's only abortion clinic.”

Flip Benham, Operation Save America director, said his group will remain in Mississippi until the Jackson Women's Health Organization abortion clinic shuts its doors for good.

"I'm here to tell the truth," Benham said to an abortion rights advocate who questioned why he was at the rally. "We were out at the clinic earlier today and we are out here to bring the gospel. Of course, when you do that — bring the real gospel — all hell is going to break loose and all of heaven is going to come down."

He said there were eight abortion clinics in Mississippi in 1993, the last time his group came to the state, "and now you have only one abortion mill and what you are seeing is that all eyes are turned to Mississippi."

AP--Protesters clash in Jackson, MS
(AP Photo)

Operation Save America, formerly known as Operation Rescue, had a reputation for militancy under the leadership of Randall Terry, as when OR protestors stormed a police barricade in front of a clinic in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1992, as Max Blumenthal reported. In Mississippi, the tactic appears to be increasing regulation targeted at the last clinic in the state. Curiously, however, the AP reported of Saturday’s protests in Jackson,

A bomb threat halted the rally, leading to angry exchanges between the groups. The Jackson Police Department cleared the park and blew up a package found by a bomb squad. Officers would not say what the package contained.

Religious Right’s Efforts to Influence Bush's Global AIDS Policy

Submitted by Anonymous on Friday, 7/7/2006 5:43 pm

The term “abstinence” has become a point of confusion—while educators in the U.S. incorporate an abstinence message, along with safer sex messages, into comprehensive sex[ ] education, many groups on the Right use the term to mean abstinence-only education, which excludes other messages they say would conflict with abstinence. And these abstinence-only programs often actively discourage other messages: Abstinence-only funding by the Bush administration has provided for teaching public-school students “that abortion can lead to sterility and suicide, that half the gay male teenagers in the United States have tested positive for the AIDS virus, and that touching a person's genitals ‘can result in pregnancy,’" according to a 2004 report by House Democrats. And an abstinence-only program in Louisiana told students that, “The condom's biggest flaw is that those using it to prevent the conception of another human being are offending God.”

Less visible is a similar effort by the Religious Right to change the way international aid is spent in preventing HIV/AIDS in Africa and elsewhere by emphasizing abstinence over condoms.

House Leaders Coordinate With Radical Right for Last-Minute "Values Agenda" Push

Submitted by Anonymous on Thursday, 7/6/2006 5:16 pm

Looking to maintain their majority, Republicans in the House of Representatives are pushing what they call the “American Values Agenda” – a series of bills, most of which will fail, aimed at energizing the right-wing base for the mid-term elections in November. The package consists of:

  • A bill to strip the courts of jurisdiction over hearing challenges to “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance;
  • A bill to deny court costs to successful litigants of church-state claims;
  • A constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage;
  • A bill requiring doctors performing an abortion to tell the woman that “she has the option of choosing anesthesia for the child, so that the unborn child's pain is less severe”;
  • A bill to ban human cloning and restrict stem-cell research;
  • One bill to weaken the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and a second bill to prevent confiscation of guns during national emergencies;
  • A prohibition on Internet gambling;
  • Something called the “Freedom to Display the American Flag Act”;
  • And tax cuts.

According to CNN, “House Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Missouri) told CNN's Deirdre Walsh that Republican leaders decided on the 10 legislative items after meeting with about two dozen outside groups in February as well as receiving input from the House GOP's ‘Values Action Team’ headed by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-Pennsylvania).” Right-wing stalwart Paul Weyrich – co-founder of the Heritage Foundation and founder of the Free Congress Foundation – described this “Values Summit” as effective coordination between the Right and Congress:

Earlier this year the GOP leadership began what it terms a “Values Summit.” I have been privileged to attend every one thus far. At a values summit each of us is given a few minutes to tell the leadership what we think is important. The leadership, tilted more toward the House of Representatives than the Senate, primarily listens. Questions are asked about timing. If, for example, an organization wants to do a huge grassroots mailing then it is very helpful for that group to know how much time it has to get the mail out the door.

The net result of our summit was announced by the House Leadership last week. Even House Majority Leader John A. Boehner (R-OH), never thought to be sympathetic to the religious right, pronounced himself absolutely in favor of what the leadership is calling “the American Values agenda”.

Already, the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage failed by a large margin in the Senate, and the court-stripping bill on the Pledge did not make it out of a House committee with six more Republicans than Democrats. (Rep. Todd Akin (R-Kansas) told the audience at a “War on Christians and Values Voters” conference earlier this year that the Pledge bill is part of an effort to incrementally disable the ability of Americans to file suit in federal courts on a number of issues, culminating in a future bill to impeach judges for “making decisions not based on the U.S. Constitution.”)

But, as Weyrich acknowledges, many of these bills are bound to fail, but the idea is to make political ammunition. “Let’s get these Members on record. Let us see who supports a pro-family agenda and who does not.”

Falwell, Still a Political Powerhouse, Reiterates 9/11 Comments

Submitted by Anonymous on Friday, 6/30/2006 2:03 pm

NPR profiled Jerry Falwell this morning on the opening of his new 6,000-seat church, and notes the continuing influence he holds in Washington, D.C. Of politicians who he feels are ignoring his issues, he says, “Whenever it's a major problem, and I think we are being misled, I pick up the phone and I call whoever I need to call and take care of it.” And, according to Falwell, the White House call him, too.

Falwell explained the growth of his church into a television, megachurch, and political empire was partially due to his extremist rhetoric and the media attention surrounding it. But among his “brash statements,” they are “none of them by chance,” he said, citing the time he called South Africa Bishop Desmond Tutu a “phony” in order to get publicity for himself. “There’s a connection between outrageous remarks, and this huge sanctuary we see here today,” said the NPR reporter, and Falwell concurred, “Oh there’s no question about it.”

One such “brash statement” occurred two days after the terrorists attacks on September 11, 2001, when Falwell appeared on Pat Robertson’s “700 Club” TV show and blamed his political enemies in the U.S., saying, “[T]he Lord has protected us so wonderfully these 225 years. And since 1812, this is the first time that we've been attacked on our soil and by far the worst results. … I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way - all of them who have tried to secularize America - I point the finger in their face and say ‘you helped this happen.’”

In the NPR interview, Falwell flatly denied that 9/11 was God’s punishment for abortion or other things Falwell objects to, adding, “I don’t think God hurts innocent people because we hurt innocent people.” The NPR reporter, replied, puzzled, “Correct me if I’m wrong, didn’t you make a statement one time about September 11 …?”

“What I said was, our secularization of America, our attempt to separate from God, could certainly cause the Lord to lift the veil. And I usually added, the local church, our sleeping church, and then gays and lesbians and so forth and so on, all who have taken us away from the faith of our fathers, may have exposed us to international hurt,” responded Falwell. In other words, “You helped this happen.”

Religious Right Insists—Abortion, Gay Marriage Is Enough for Churches to Talk About

Submitted by Anonymous on Thursday, 6/29/2006 3:27 pm

At a summit of black ministers held in Dallas this week, some participants decried the “bedroom morality” preached by some churches at the expense of social justice concerns. In The Washington Times, a Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, founder of Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny, fired back, asserting that “Their agenda hurts the black community; the fact that these ministers are saying that gay marriage and abortion are not Christian issues makes it clear that they are not men of God.” The Times also quotes one Bishop Harry Jackson, who said, "There is a new black church that Al [Sharpton] and Jesse [Jackson] don't speak to, and they are threatened by the new black megachurches and their pastors; and they tend to talk about us as if we are just uppity Negroes, asking 'why can't they just fall in line'?"

It may be helpful to know where Peterson and Jackson are coming from. Jackson has been a near-constant presence by the sides of Religious Right activists in pushing for right-wing judges and fighting against gay marriage. He spoke at both Justice Sunday and Justice Sunday II, televised church rallies organized by the leaders of the Religious Right to push for Bush’s judicial nominees, telling the audience, “You and I can bring the rule and reign of the Cross to America and we can change America on our watch, together.”

Gays are a particular target of his. In an article in Charisma magazine, Jackson wrote that the “wisdom behind” the “gay agenda” is “clearly satanic,” and he called for an aggressive “counterattack.”

Jackson’s six-point “Black Contract with America on Moral Values” is headed off with opposition to same-sex marriage, followed by school vouchers and Social Security privatization.

Peterson, a frequent spokesman on the Right who has an unhealthy obsession with Jesse Jackson, made headlines last September when he wrote that Hurricane Katrina’s victims were “immoral, welfare-pampered blacks that stayed behind and waited for the government to bail them out.” He continued,

About five years ago, in a debate before the National Association of Black Journalists, I stated that if whites were to just leave the United States and let blacks run the country, they would turn America into a ghetto within 10 years. The audience, shall we say, disagreed with me strongly. Now I have to disagree with me. I gave blacks too much credit. It took a mere three days for blacks to turn the Superdome and the convention center into ghettos, rampant with theft, rape and murder.

A few weeks later, he co-sponsored an event at the far-right Heritage Foundation to discuss the state of Black America, where he expanded on his opinion of Katrina evacuees: “I find that many of those people have lots of things. They have nice clothes to wear, they’re fat as a pig, they’re driving nice cars, big old color TVs. I think the reason many stayed there is because they lack moral character.” He criticized New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, saying that if you lived in the city, you were “out of your mind to wait on a Black Mayor to come help you.” And Rev. Peterson added that no Democrats were Christians: “You’re not born of God if you’re a Democrat… A real Christian can’t vote for a Democrat, the Democratic Party.”

“Pro-Life

Submitted by Anonymous on Wednesday, 6/28/2006 4:26 pm

In case there was any doubt that self-described “pro-life” activists care less about saving lives and more about limiting women’s reproductive choices, the issue appears to be settled.

When billionaire investor Warren Buffett donated $30 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation this week, most people cheered at the single largest act of charitable giving ever. In addition to large-scale funding for libraries and education, the Gates Foundation has spent nearly $6 billion on global health programs, such as fighting malaria, HIV, and TB; providing vaccines and research to make them more effective; and spending hundreds of millions of dollars to improve maternal and newborn health in the developing world.

But some on the Right are decrying such generosity. WorldNetDaily warns that “Bill and Melinda Gates also have spent millions promoting abortion in their home state, having given nearly $2 million to Planned Parenthood of Central Washington and Planned Parenthood of Western Washington to fund abortion centers. The Gates Foundation also gave the Planned Parenthood Federation of Canada more than $1.3 million.” With Buffett’s donation, the Gates Foundation has assets of $60 billion, which means the Planned Parenthood contributions WorldNetDaily cites constitute 0.005% of the foundation’s potential giving.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the “pro-life” Susan B. Anthony List, calls the donation “tragic.” Father Thomas Euteneuer, president of Human Life International, concludes that “Warren Buffett's philanthropy aims at killing preborn children, not curing childhood disease; eliminating the poor, not poverty; and destroying the developing world, not aiding development.”

ProLifeBlogs grudgingly acknowledges that “The Gates Foundation does support many worthy causes in addition to organizations that encourage and enable the killing of unborn babies.”

That Sounds Familiar

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 6/28/2006 4:05 pm
The Associated Press reports
House Republicans intend to hold votes this summer and fall touching on abortion, guns, religion and other priority issues for social conservatives, part of an attempt to improve the party's prospects in the midterm election. … One would to strip the Supreme Court and other federal courts of jurisdiction over cases challenging the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance. The legislation is a response to a 2002 Appeals Court ruling that held the pledge is unconstitutional because of the presence of the words "under God." A federal judge made a similar ruling last fall, citing the appeals court precedent. Another measure would block the payment of attorney fees in challenges to the display of the Ten Commandments in public areas and other, similar church-state lawsuits. An abortion-related proposal would require that some women seeking to end their pregnancies be informed the procedure "will cause the unborn child pain" and they have the option of receiving drugs to reduce or eliminate it. A separate measure would ban human cloning, a prohibition that cleared the House in the previous Congress.
It looks as if House Republicans have taken a page directly out of the Right’s “Values Voters’ Contract With Congress,” a document launched at Vision America’s “War on Christian and Values Voters Conference” and supported by right-wing stalwarts such as Phyllis Schlafly, Alan Keyes, Lou Sheldon, Janet Folger, Andrea Lafferty, and others. The Values Voter’s Contract seeks, among other things
1. TO AFFIRM the national relationship with God in our places of worship, schools, mottos, and public spaces, we call for the passage of – * The Pledge Protection Act to prohibit activist judges from taking "under God" out of the Pledge (H.R. 2389, S.1046); … *The Public Expression of Religion Act to prohibit activist judges from ordering taxpayers to pay lawyers who seek to erode our national relationship with God (H.R. 2679); and 4. TO SECURE our God-bestowed right to life, we call for the passage of – * The Human Cloning Protection Act to prohibit human cloning (S.658, H.R. 1357); … * The Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act to raise awareness of the pain experienced by children before birth (S.51, H.R. 356)
Notice any similarities?
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Abortion Posts Archive

Rep. Bachmann Signs on to Fringe Fest
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Monday 06/28/2010, 10:26am
Last year, we wrote a series of posts about the How To Take Back America Conference which was hosted by Janet Porter and Phyllis Schlafly and several other Religious Right groups and featured as speakers everyone from Mike Huckabee to Michele Bachmann to Trent Franks. This year, the event has been taken over by Joseph Farah and WorldNetDaily and seems to have lost most of its ties to the Religious Right, which is why we had not really mentioned it until now.  The speaker's list contained just the sort of fringe right-wing activists you'd expect from a WND-organized conference: ... MORE
Kagan's Confirmation Represents an "Existential Threat" To Jews In America
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Thursday 06/24/2010, 9:53am
Normally, when we post a release from Rabbi Yehuda Levin it is about how allowing gays to serve in the military will cause natural disasters or cause God to repeal his "Divine Grace from our military's struggles" which will thus make us lose wars. But in an apparent effort not to be typecast as merely an anti-gay loon, Levin is branching out, today releasing a statement opposing the confirmation of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court on the grounds that she is Jewish and that she will issue "extremist decisions" from the bench - the combination of the two, you see, will... MORE
With Heath Gone, Maine Family Policy Council Seeks To Change Tone and Reputation
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Wednesday 06/23/2010, 11:54am
Last year, Mike Heath of the Maine Family Policy Council found himself being sidelined in the Religious Right's battle against gay marriage in the state due to his penchant for saying ridiculous things. As such, he announced that he was leaving the organization in order to go to Africa to distribute solar cookers, only to return a few months later as head of the American Family Association affiliate in Maine and launch a shockingly short bid for Governor. And now that Heath has moved on, so too can the Maine Family Policy Council, which has announced a new interim president and executive... MORE
Zimbabwe, the ACLJ, and the Criminalization of Homosexuality
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Tuesday 06/22/2010, 2:04pm
Last year, we noticed that Pat Robertson's American Center for Law and Justice was setting up satellite offices in both Zimbabwe and Kenya with plans to participate in the drafting of their respective constitutions.  A few months ago, we saw how the ACLJ was working out outlaw abortion in Kenya's constitution, and this story makes me wonder what sort of impact they might be having on Zimbabwe's: Didymus Mutasa, a powerful figure in President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF political party, said his party will see to it that homosexuality is outlawed in the new constitution and that... MORE
She Might Not Have A Radio Show, But She Has A Blog
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Tuesday 06/22/2010, 12:13pm
A few weeks back, Janet Porter asked her supporters what would cause them to visit her Faith 2 Action website more frequently and among the top responses was "regular updates or blog postings by Janet." Of course, that choice only received 8 votes, but since only 44 votes were cast in total, that was enough to put it among the leading suggestions.  As such, Porter has responded by launching a new blog and using her very first post to announce that while her radio program is off the air indefinitely, she'll be contributing daily commentaries to American Family Association Radio... MORE
More Right Wing Opposition to Daniels' Call for a "Truce"
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Monday 06/21/2010, 12:09pm
Conservative activists continue to pile on Gov. Mitch Daniels for suggesting a "truce" in the culture wars, with Tom McClusky of the Family Research Council citing this statement from Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values: Unless he knows something we don’t, using the word “truce” when family values are under increasing attack can only mean surrender. Does he have knowledge that the other side is going to stop performing abortions during this “truce”? Are homosexual activists going to stop promoting same-sex marriage during this... MORE
Daniels Says He'd Reinstate Mexico City, But Stands By His Call For a Truce
SUBMITTED BY: Kyle Mantyla, Friday 06/18/2010, 11:10am
When the story first broke last week that Gov. Mitch Daniels was calling for a "truce" in the culture wars in order to focus on economic and national security issues, he was asked if he would reinstate the Mexico City Policy if he became president, to which he replied "I don't know." Needless to say, that did not go over well with the social conservatives, so it comes as no surprise that Daniels is now telling Michael Gerson that he would, in fact, reinstate it immediately:  "I would reinstate the Mexico City policy," Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels told me,... MORE