citizenship

• Pat Mahoney declares victory in his protest against the DC city government and Planned Parenthood.
• I think it is hilarious that Rick Santorum is seriously contemplating running for president.
• Carly Fiorina says she opposes efforts to alter the 14th Amendment to remove birthright citizenship.
• FRC and CWA don't like the new birth control pill.  What else is new?
• A bunch of right-wing bloggers have chosen "the 25 worst figures in American history." Number 1 is Jimmy Carter, who is apparently worse than Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and John Wayne Gacy combined, since they didn't even make the list.
• Finally, quote of the day from Bryan Fischer: "[S]ecular fundamentalists are easy on Islam for the simple reason that they share with Islamic fundamentalists a deep and abiding hatred for America and its traditions and values."

• Miranda @ PFAW Blog: GOP Blocks 20 Judicial Nominees, Rebuffs Goodwin Liu Again
• Evan McMorris-Santoro @ TPM: Anti-Mosque Protester To TPM: Muslims Hate Dogs And America Too.
• Bartholomew's Notes On Religion: Karl Rove at Apocalyptic Christian Right Rally in Canada.
• Towleroad: Ruben Diaz Sr. Calls on Biblical Warriors to Fight Gay Marriage.
• Good As You: NOM featured speaker Brad Brandon's extremist quips.
• Tanya Somanader @ Think Progress: Iowa GOP Supports Amendment To Strip Obama’s Citizenship Because He Won The Nobel Peace Prize.
• Joe.My.God: Jerusalem's Deputy Mayor Plans Donkey Parade To Counter Gay Pride.
• Jim Burroway @ Box Turtle Bulletin: Scott Lively on the Daily Show.
• Jillian Rayfield @ TPM: TPM Braves Week Four Of Beck University.

For months we have been covering the fact that a handful of Religious Right leaders, including Mat Staver and Richard Land, are supporting immigration reform that offers a path to citizenship for immigrants already in the country and pointing that that for all their talk of compassion and Biblical obligations and whatnot, what they really care about is swelling the ranks of their movement.

And nobody has been more open about this than Richard Land, who freely admits that he supports immigration reform because most of the immigrants are Hispanic and Hispanics are "tailor-made to be social conservatives" ... if the majority of immigrants weren't ripe for "aggressive evangelism" he'd have a much harder time supporting reform:

Evangelical groups in recent weeks have become key players in the Obama administration’s efforts to get immigration reform moving in Congress. And while they have largely couched their arguments in moral terms or with references to biblical teachings, top leaders acknowledge another important reason:

Latino immigrants, legal and illegal, represent fertile prospects for proselytizing.

“First and foremost, it’s a kingdom issue, and, second, it’s a moral issue,” Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, told POLITICO. “We have hundreds of thousands of Hispanic Southern Baptists and many of them are undocumented. … It’s no secret that we practice aggressive evangelism. Many of these people were converted after they got here.”

...

Some evangelicals have stirred the pot further by drawing a contrast between predominantly Christian immigrants to the U.S. and a largely Muslim migration to Western Europe.

“Realistically, I think it is probably more politically feasible to do this because the overwhelming majority of the people that we’re talking about come from a European civilization,” said Land. “It would be more problematic if we had 12 [million] to 14 million undocumented people and they were either Oriental or Islamic. … Whether that is right or wrong, I’m just giving you a realistic political calculation.”

Senator David Vitter can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble this week. First he employs a convicted domestic abuser, with nary a comment from right wing moralists; now he’s lending the weight of his office to a completely unhinged conspiracy theory. At a town hall event with his Louisiana constituents, reports ultra-conservative blog WorldNetDaily, Senator Vitter encouraged conservative groups to challenge President Obama’s citizenship in court, saying he didn’t trust the “mainstream media” to verify that Obama was, in fact, born in Hawaii:

"I support conservative legal organizations and others who would bring that to court," Vitter said, according to an Associated Press report citing a video of the event.

Vitter becomes just the latest high-profile leader, and the first U.S. senator, to take such a strong stand on the issue.

It's also significant that the AP reported on Vitter's comments. The news wire has stated the president's "birth certificate" has been made public even though the image of the document posted online actually is a "certification of live birth," which was available to those not born in Hawaii.

Lou Engle has descended on St. Louis' Gateway House of Prayer for a month of prayer meetings and Truth Wins Out's Evan Hurst attended one last week and has provided a in-depth look inside of what goes on at one of Engle's revivals, complete with audio. 

You really need to read the piece to get a proper sense of what took place - like Engle revealing that he had been sent by God to warn San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom that he would be judged for promoting homosexuality - but I want to highlight a few choice quotes that Hurst captured that show just how political all of Engle's efforts truly are:

“You weigh every decision, say, for instance, the way you vote — OH, we’re getting political, Lou — God never abdicated one sphere of society to the Devil! It’s all his! Let me tell you, there’s gonna be…anyway."

...

“Voting is not just a political act! It is not just a choice that you make. It’s not some kind of decision. I’m shouting it. The Bible says that God gave Adam the responsibility to govern! From the beginning, man was given the government of the earth! Romans 13 says all government is derived from God’s government. It’s all delegated authority, and that those governors are to rule in such a way, in the fear of the Lord, Psalms chapter 2. So, if all government comes from God, then THE GOVERNMENT WE HAVE IN AMERICA IS FROM GOD! So, who is the government? Not Barack Obama! It’s a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Therefore, when you vote for those who shed innocent blood, you are making a governmental decision under the government of God! You are actually in the rebellion of Psalms 2! You will actually be held accountable for how you govern! We have to tremble in the voting booth. We should tremble in voting booths! You don’t choose a person because you feel good about him, or he feels like maybe he’s going to change the world, YOU VOTE ON THEIR STAND ON THE FOUNDATIONS OF BIBLICAL TRUTH! Because if you don’t, you’re actually handing the keys to people who have anti-Christ spirits! You are actually giving authority to someone who is in rebellion to God! … There is a higher government than the governments of men. We are a citizenship of heaven, and that citizenship of heaven influences everything we do, every decision in our lives. I want to stand before the Lord and say ‘When you gave me the government in America, I did what you wanted me to do.’ Because if I don’t, then we’ll hear those same words of Psalms 2, Therefore you kings be warned, Tremble you judges of the earth. Who are the kings?”

Perhaps the most telling moment occurs when Engle begins to rail against President Obama for recognizing families with "two fathers" on Father's Day, saying that such proclimations unleash demons from the spirit realm on our world and then stops and asks if that can be erased because he doesn't want it ending up on YouTube:

“Our president two days ago came out and said ‘We bless the fathers of families that have two fathers’! This is a decree, a blessing, called this month, LGBT pride month. When decrees come from high places, it actually opens doors! It is a key! It unlocks the spiritual realm for the fueling of the demonization of culture! Is this being taped?” [voice from bouncer/heavy off to the side interjects “We can erase it.”]

It seems the Engle is becoming aware of just how radical his views appear and is taking steps to censor himself and his record.  Of course, that was just one of the crazy things Engle said during the evening, so he has a long, long way to go. 

Read the entire thing.

An effort is underway in Arizona to extend the state's draconian anti-immigration laws even further by challenging the 14th Amendment's language "all persons born ... in the United States ... are citizens of the United States."

That would no longer be the case if Sen. Russell Pearce has his way: 

The author of Arizona’s controversial immigration law is considering a new proposal that would block the children of illegal immigrants from becoming citizens if they are born in the United States.

Critics of the bill Republican state Sen. Russell Pearce is weighing say it would fly in the face of the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which grants citizenship to anyone born within the country.

Pearce has been hinting for months that he may introduce legislation targeting so-called “anchor babies” but had not detailed his plan until an interview last week with Time magazine.

“This is an orchestrated effort by them to come here and have children to gain access to the great welfare state we've created,” Pearce said of Hispanic immigrants.

Pearce contended that the bill would not violate the 14th Amendment, saying only that “we would write it right.”

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer is already on board:

In an interview with KGUN9 News on the eve of the hearing, Governor Brewer's message was clear: if you're here illegally, go back home. Her answer does not change in the case of families who might be separated by deportation or repatriation. Brewer said, "It is illegal to trespass into our country. It has always been illegal. And people have determined they want to take that chance, that responsibility.... They made a decision. And you pay those consequences, unfortunately."

...

She told KGUN9 News, "It won't tear families apart. They can take their children back with them."

And so if the AFA's Bryan Fischer, who advocates deporting entire families if one of them is here illegally as a sign of "genuine compassion": 

Members of the pro-family movement must agree. We believe in the importance of the family in general and in the importance of intact families in particular. In the name of genuine compassion, we should oppose breaking up families in the enforcement of immigration law.

Thus our repatriation policy should be to send entire families back to their land of origin if any one of them is in criminal violation of our immigration law.

If a family has a member who is here legally, and the family decides to leave him (generic use) here while the rest return to their homeland, that's their decision. They, and not the U.S. government, would be breaking up their own family. We would not be doing it to them, they would be doing it to themselves.

Americans who support both the rule of law and the importance of the family will be happy to hear that Gov. Jan Brewer agrees with them. Good for her.

So if a child was born in the United States to parents who are here illegally, they ought to be deported right along with them, even though they are US citizens ... all in the name of compassion. 

Last month a handful of Religious Right leaders banded together and announced their support for a "just assimilation immigration policy" that contained a pathway to citizenship for those already in the country. 

The group, consisting of Mat Staver, Richard Land, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, Ken Blackwell, and Lou Engle, was trying to break away from the knee-jerk right-wing opposition to comprehensive immigration reform and the temptation to scream "AMNESTY!" any time a pathway to citizenship was proposed. 

Alan Colmes had Staver on his program to talk about this effort and, at one point, asked him why he was willing to show so much compassion for immigrants but so unwilling to show similar compassion to gays.  Staver responded that the immigration issue was complicated enough and didn't want to get into that conversation and go off track.  

Which is interesting, considering that today this same group of Religious Right activists issued a statement saying that any effort to cover "same-sex domestic partners" in immigration reform legislation "will cause religious conservatives to withdraw their support":

"A flawed immigration policy and the failure of the federal government to enforce existing immigration laws pose serious threats to our national security and domestic tranquility," said Mathew Staver, Founder & Chairman of Liberty Counsel. "Any potential consensus for key aspects of immigration may quickly be set back by partisan politics and special interests," Staver continued.

Senator Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) proposed immigration bill includes a provision for same-sex domestic partners. President Barack Obama supports the objective of this provision, despite the fact that inclusion of domestic partnerships will kill any immigration bill. The provision in Schumer’s bill, like the proposed Uniting American Families Act, will treat same-sex domestic partners like spouses in a marriage, thus making way for a foreign same-sex partner to become a legal citizen because of the relationship to a U.S. citizen. Despite the fact that homosexual groups estimate that the domestic partner provision will benefit only about 36,000 people, Sen. Schumer and President Obama still support the measure.

The undersigned question whether President Obama and Sen. Schumer are more interested in pandering to special interest groups than they are to the pressing needs of immigration. "Same-sex domestic partnerships will doom any effort for bipartisan support of immigration and will cause religious conservatives to withdraw their support," Staver warned. "If same-sex domestic partnerships are included, the immigration bill will have no chance of passing," Staver said. We call upon the President and Congress to secure our borders, enforce the law, and pass a Just Assimilation Immigration bill. We urge our elected leaders to put the interest of America first and stop the political posturing.

The following evangelical leaders affirm this statement on Immigration: Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference; Dr. Richard Land, President of The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention; Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel; Lou Engle, Co-founder, The Call to Conscience, and more.

Tomorrow, the National Evangelical Association will seek to rally support for comprehensive immigration reform by placing a full-page ad Roll Call that calls for reform that "establishes a path toward legal status and/or citizenship for those who qualify and who wish to become permanent residents." Among those reportedly slated to sign on to this effort are Mat Staver of Liberty Counsel and Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention.

But before the ad has run, Liberty Counsel issued its own lengthy statement calling on "Evangelical Leaders [to] Unite on Just Assimilation Immigration Policy" that is calls on anti-immigration activists to stop labeling any effort to grant a pathway to citizenship immigrants already in the country as "amnesty" and "to stop politicizing this debate needlessly and to honestly acknowledge the difference" - it is signed by the likes of Staver, Land, Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, Ken Blackwell, and Lou Engle:

Our national security and domestic tranquility depends on secure borders. We must first secure our borders before we can implement a broader just assimilation immigration policy. Secure borders are not closed borders. Violent criminals and drug traffickers take advantage of open borders. Such criminals are a threat to everyone in every community, including Latinos who are disproportionately victimized by them.

After securing our borders, we should allow the millions of undocumented and otherwise law-abiding persons living in our midst to come out of the shadows. The pathway for earned legal citizenship or temporary residency should involve a program of legalization for undocumented persons in the United States, subject to appropriate penalties, waiting periods, background checks, evidence of moral character, a commitment to full participation in American society through an understanding of the English language, the rights and duties of citizens and the structure of America’s government, and the embrace of American values.

We must return to a rational immigration policy that acknowledges that we are both a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws. It is our obligation to provide a just solution to those people who are currently undocumented under the present policy. That solution is neither amnesty nor mass deportation. A just, rational policy would put otherwise law-abiding undocumented persons on one of three paths: one path leads to pursuing earned legal citizenship or legal residency, one leads to acquiring legal guest-worker status, and one leads back across the border including a swift process for the deportation of undocumented felons.

America has an obligation to preserve within her borders the culture that has made her successful. Assimilation is both key to protecting that culture and to the immigrant’s chances of success. History has proven that Latinos are quite capable of rapid assimilation. As a group, they have strong moral convictions, a strong sense of family, and a strong work ethic.

A just assimilation immigration policy respects the traditions held by people of many backgrounds that make up America while recognizing the importance of a shared language, history and cultural values. Those who choose legal citizenship should have the opportunity to fully participate in the American dream by removing any barrier to achieving those dreams. America is not a nation divided. There should be no Black America, White America, Latino America, or Asian America. There is one America made up of many races and ethnicities with a common history, culture, and values. Although Americans may speak many different languages, they share English as their common language. The immigration process should provide a just assimilation by teaching English, the history and founding documents of America, and the common values of liberty and justice which are embodied in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. Naturalized citizens renounce all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, and declare allegiance to the United States. They pledge to defend America against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and they pledge to support the Constitution and the laws of the United States.

Let us be clear – an earned pathway to citizenship is not amnesty. We reject amnesty. And we ask those who label an earned pathway to citizenship as amnesty to stop politicizing this debate needlessly and to honestly acknowledge the difference.

Last week, the American Family Association's Bryan Fischer followed-up his call from last year to purge all Muslims from the US military with a call to purge all Muslims from the United States in general.

Today, Fischer has returned to defend his call for all Muslims in the United States to be deported immediately by claiming that every Muslim has a "solemn, sacred obligation to kill as many of their hosts as possible" and it is therefore "a form of suicidal insanity" to allow them to stay in the US .

Fischer admits that while not every single Muslim is out to destroy the US, since we can't know which ones are ahead of time, it only makes sense to view "every new Muslim immigrant [as a] potential threat to the safety and security of the United States" and to treat all Muslims citizens as traitors: 

Bottom line: every Muslim who enters the United States carries within his bosom the seeds of sedition. It is dangerously foolish for the United States to invite folks inside our borders whose god orders them, through his holy prophet, to murder American infidels. According to the latest Easter polling data, infidels comprise about 80 percent of our population, the 80 percent who believe that Jesus is the Son of God, came to earth to die for our sins, and rose from the grave. Each of these beliefs is regarded in Islam as a heresy which ultimately merits the death penalty.

And if the government won't impose this death penalty on the infidels, the Muslims themselves will be happy to impose it on their own initiative, as 9/11 and Fort Hood amply illustrate.

If we separate ourselves for a moment from the rampant and mindless political correctness and multiculturalism which controls the thinking of the elites, and the ordinary Americans who allow the elite to do their thinking for them, it is obviously and plainly nuts to throw out the welcome mat to those who have a religious obligation to obliterate us. It is beyond comprehension that we have become so brain-addled that we regard it a positive virtue to blindly embrace our own destroyers.

Muslims who have become naturalized citizens, of course, would need to commit an act of treason to forfeit their citizenship and become eligible for repatriation. Based on the Constitution's definition of treason in Article III Section 3 ["adhering to (the) Enemies (of the United States), (or) giving them Aid and Comfort"] treasonous acts are likely committed on virtually a weekly basis here in the U.S. in many mosques and Islamic organizations.

Fischer concludes that the goal of every Muslim is to "establish a virtual Islamic homeland in our midst" and that instead of spending money on eventually incarcerating them, we should use that money to deport them:

Is this xenophobia? Nope, just common sense and a love of the United States and its exceptionalism. In fact, what we must protect ourselves from are Amerophobes, those who hate us because of who we are and what we believe. It's time for a wake-up call.