economy

Earlier this year, Gov. Mitch Daniels came in for all sorts of criticism from the Religious Right for suggesting that truce might be needed in the culture wars so that the nation can focus on addressing economic and security issues.

If there is one thing the Religious Right hates, it is being told that their issues should be placed on a back burner or that they don't motivate voter turn out.  In fact, just yesterday we noted that the Religious Right was warning House Republicans not to ignore social issues as they lay out their issues and agenda, warning that it would be an "electorally costly mistake for the future for the GOP to write off" the anti-choice, anti-gay social conservatives who make up much of the grassroots base.

So I am guessing that this is not going to sit well with them:

Republican Governor's Association Chair Haley Barbour cautioned Republican candidates on Wednesday against bringing social issues into the campaign, arguing that any discussion beyond the economy would prove distracting and problematic to their election hopes.

In a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor, the Mississippi Republican was asked for his take on remarks made earlier in the year by Mitch Daniels, the Indiana Governor, who had urged social and fiscal conservatives to reach an informal truce for the purposes of 2010.

"I think what Mitch said is very similar to what I have responded to today," Barbour replied. "The voters have on their mind the economy, jobs, spending, debt and taxes and good campaigns are about the issues that are on the peoples minds.

"I'll put my bonafides up against anybody as a social conservative," he added, noting that as governor, Mississippi was voted the safest state in the country for an unborn child. "But that ain't going to change anybody's vote this year because people are concerned about job, the economy, growth and taxes... you are using up valuable time and resources that can be used to talk to people about what they care about."

You know, Mitch Daniels thought that it was his bonafides as a social conservative that gave him the standing and credibility to be able call for a truce in the culture wars, but that didn't stop him for getting raked over the coal ... so if Barbour thinks that the Religious Right is going to simply accept it when he tells them that they "are using up valuable time and resources" talking about issues nobody cares about, I think he is going to be in for a bit of a surprise.

Ever since Barack Obama started running for the White House, we've seen occasional pieces wondering if he was the Antichrist. In December 2008, Mat Staver of the Liberty Counsel said he did not think that Obama was, in fact, the Antichrist but that it was entirely understandable that people were worried that he was:

No wonder, then, that Obama triggers such fear in the hearts of America's millennialist Christians. Mat Staver, dean of Liberty University's law school, says he does not believe Obama is the Antichrist, but he can see how others might. Obama's own use of religious rhetoric belies his liberal positions on abortion and traditional marriage, Staver says, positions that "religious conservatives believe will threaten their freedom." The people who believe Obama is the Antichrist are perhaps jumping to conclusions, but they're not nuts: "They are expressing a concern and a fear that is widely shared," Staver says.

I wonder if Staver's views have changed since then because it sure sounds like he's convinced that Obama is out to make himself some sort of global dictator because today he and Matt Barber, LC's Director of Cultural Affairs, dedicated their radio program to explaining how Obama, from the very beginning, has been focused on systemically weakening America so that he could ultimately position himself to take over the entire world:

Staver: When President Barack Obama was running for president, when we became president, I've long since stated that his end game has and is not President of the United States of America; that he has a broader worldwide agenda. And that's why he's to go to places around the world and down the United States of America, because he thinks that's going to gain him popularity in some of the other foreign areas. And that's really where I think his eyes are focused, not on [being] President of the United States.

Barber: Now here's the scary thing, I believe that that is true, but in order to have a post-American world, you have to have a post-America. And that's why his policies are pushing us into a post-American world. He is destroying American exceptionalism and is trying to do away with our free market system here in the United States. He's trying to create the climate where we have a post-American world.

Staver: Well, because America is always going to be, or at least it has been up until now, world player. And for him to be on the world scene, he's going to have to bring America down to the level of some of the European and some other countries with regards to commonality. And America always had the exceptionalism and you can't really have worldwide influence if you've got the America exceptional nation because you're going to have to have them all basically on the same level.

So for him to go into this national, or global, leadership - which he wants to do - it's no wonder why he wants to make America's economy like the European economy; it's no wonder why he wants to downplay Christianity so he can up-play Islam.

This man does not respect America. He never has.

Liberty Counsel is, of course, on of the main co-sponsors of the upcoming Values Voter Summit at which Staver is confirmed as a speaker, along with Rep. Michele Bachmann, Gov. Bob McDonnell, and Mike Huckabee (and it should be noted that Huck and Staver have a close personal relationship that goes back years.)

Last Friday we noted that Focus on the Family was facing another round of lay-offs, though it was unknown at the time just how many employees would lose their jobs

Today, it is being reported that another 110 employees have been let go, reducing the organization's size almost by half from it's peak in 2002:

Focus on the Family laid off 110 workers Friday, a 13 percent reduction in workforce.

While most of the positions eliminated were in service departments, more than 15 managerial jobs, including two senior executive positions, were also axed, Focus spokesman Gary Schneeberger said today.

With Friday's layoffs, Focus has let go 385 employees over the past two years. Since 2002, Focus' workforce has been trimmed almost in half, from 1,400 to 750.

"The economy continues to be in recession," said Schneeberger, explaining a reason for the layoffs. "And people who have given in the past are having financial difficulties of their own."

The ministry's fiscal 2010-11 budget is $105 million, a $27 million cut from last year's fiscal budget, Schneeberger said.

Focus' budget for fiscal 2008-09 was $160 million.

Cindy Jacobs reports that on July 17, God spoke to her and warned that America was on the verge of slipping into "another Great Depression" and the only hope of stopping it was for massive prayer, fasting, revival, support for Israel ... and, of course, proper voting: 

A few days ago as I watched the financial news, the Lord clearly spoke these words to me, "The nation is teetering!" I then had a vision of the economy of the United States, on what looked like a "scale of justice." He then went on to show me that we must fast, pray and cry out to the Lord for mercy and solutions that will balance righteousness and justice.

In praying to the Lord for wisdom about this word, I realized what must be done—it is time for the Church in America to stand up and take her place once again in the nation. I mulled over the fact that we have already lost so many of our liberties and this is what I heard, "If the Church doesn't fast and pray for a faster acceleration of revival and awakening, the iniquitous sin structures in the nation will tip the scale that is teetering and there will be another great depression."

Of course, this word shook me to the core of my being. Many of you may be aware that the Holy Spirit spoke to me almost a year before the September 2008 economic melt down, that there would be "no more business as usual."

The balance of the economy is fragile and depending on the way we fast, pray, and how we cast our votes in the next election will depend on which way the scale tips. We must pray and do. We must pray and act. We must awaken the Church to the state of the nation without fear of pleasing man or fear for our reputation.

God is watching to see which way the die will be cast. If we shift the nation to Biblical values in the arenas of righteousness and justice, the economy will follow. If we continue in our stance of support for Israel, the Stock Market will stabilize and prosper, and that which is fragile will become strong. Supernatural solutions will be sent from Heaven that our natural minds could never reason, nor grasp and they will heal the land.

If we do not heed in this hour there will be a tumbling of our economy and dark days will be ahead to such a degree that our nation will possibly never fully recover from and have the greatness as a nation that God has favored us with for generations.

God have mercy. God send an awakening. God send salvation.

Mike Huckabee has already weighed in on Gov. Mitch Daniels statement that there might need to be a "truce" in the culture wars so that we can focus on economic issues, saying that he "cannot" and "will not" ever accept such a truce.

That seemed pretty clear, but apparently Huckabee was not content to let this issue go and so he has released a second statement saying that, contrary to Daniels' assertion that social issues must be put aside in favor of economic ones, it is actually the morality at root of the social issue fights that can solve our economic problems: 

Sadly, Gov. Daniels is not alone in his way of thinking and it’s not a new concept. During the last presidential election – many reporters, Republicans and Democrats suggested the same moratorium on morality. The political winds began to whisper of stopping the discussion on morality and starting the discussion on the “important issues.”

Let me be clear – MORALITY AND THE ECONOMY are inextricably linked.

• The collapse of morality and ethical business practices preceded the collapse of Wall Street – unchecked greed caused the downfall;

• A decrease in morality preceded an increase in the prison population – state budgets via taxes, increase every year to pay for prisons; and,

• We don’t emphasize character in our public schools, and ignorance is expensive-- a national high school drop out rate of 1 in 3 students produces poverty – crippling our economy in countless ways.

I’m not saying Wall Street, prisons and poverty are not the only influences on our economy – there are countless others – nor am I saying morality solves every economic crisis we face. But I am saying strong moral fiber would prevent many of our nation’s economic disasters.

Should we focus on the economy and the staggering and crippling debt? Absolutely! But I fear that talk of a “truce” means that we are making excuses for compromise on moral issues, and there is no need to separate economic issues from the social issues. We can and must focus on both.

Now is not the time to shift focus from moral issues we need to shift focus toward moral issues.

The idea that there is a "connection between traditional social issues like abortion and gay marriage and the economy" has been the Religious Right's standard response ever since the economy tanked back in 2008 ...and apparently it is one that they are sticking with. 

To say that we do not have very much in common with VCY America or its flagship radio program "Crosstalk" would be something of an understatement:

Crosstalk covers the issues that affect our world, our nation, our families and the Christian church from a perspective centered in the Word of God. Whether we discuss the economy, the political scene, the continuing moral collapse of our nation, legislation that affects the family, or the state of evangelicalism, our authority is found in the unchanging standard of the Holy Scriptures.

But one thing that we do have in common is a concern about Dominon Theology and its increasing prevalence within the Religious Right movement, especially as it pertains to Janet Porter and her sphere of activists.

As we noted earlier, Porter used her WorldNetDaily column to lash out at Discernment Ministries and its blog, Herescope, which was instrumental in covering Porter's May Day rally and its ties to Dominion Theology.  This coverage ultimately lead VCY America to sever its ties with Porter's radio program which, in turn, has rendered Porter's organization almost non-existent.

In the wake of this decision, Crosstalk hosted a special program last month with Herescope's Sarah Leslie to expose the dangers of Dominionism ... and today Crosstalk hosted another program with Leslie to respond to Porter's attacks during which both Leslie and host Ingrid Schlueter marveled at Porter's viciousness ... to which I say, "welcome to our world."

I will post a link to the entire program once VCY makes it available on their website (UPDATE: here is the link to the program) but for now I'm going to post two clips that I recorded myself.

In this first clip, Schlueter says that she does not have enough time to debunk all of the lies in Porter's column, but that she, like many others, is horrified by the cultural collapse in this country. But the collapse of our culture is not the result of Christians not caring, but rather Christians (like Porter) who are abandoning the Gospel in favor of false teachers (like Cindy Jacobs) who spread lies and theologies that are not supported by Biblical truth.  Leslie then recounts her long history as a Religious Right activist, especially as the head of Iowa Right to Life in the 1980s when she knew Jack Kemp and Pat Robertson on a first name basis and regularly received death threats because of her activism:

In this second clip, Leslie delivers an concise and informative explanation of New Apostolic Reformation/Dominionism/7 Mountains Theology movements where she explains that this is not your typical "get out the vote" type of activism, but rather a concerted effort to literally take over all aspects of our culture so as to bring about the Kingdom of God here on Earth. At the end, Leslie finally says "I don't know how to say it any other way: they're wacky.  If you go and look at YouTube, they are barking like dogs and laughing like hyenas":

Last week, Rush Limbaugh said the eruption of the volcano in Iceland was "God speaking" in response to the passage of health care reform.

But John Hagee has a different explanation, saying it was God's response to the decision by Britain's Advertising Standards Authority that the Western Wall could not appear in tourism ads:

Television and radio evangelist Pastor John Hagee believes the recent eruption of the volcano in Iceland stems from Britain breaking God's covenant.

The day after Britain's Advertising Standards Authority said the Western Wall in Jerusalem could not be used in Israeli tourism ads in Britain because it is considered occupied territory, Hagee said, the volcano erupted, shutting down Britain's economy in one day.

"That's coincidence, like the flood was a coincidence. That's coincidence, like the Red Sea was coincidence. That's coincidence, like the earthquake and the Resurrection was coincidence," Hagee told about 3,200 people at Lancaster County Convention Center on Thursday night as part of John Hagee Ministries' Rally and Prophecy Seminar.

Hagee went on to warn President Obama for his treatment of Israel, saying "any country who tries to change [God's covenant with Abraham] will get the judgment of God. It's like sticking your finger in the eye of God."

The Freedom Federation’s “Awakening” conference convened at Liberty University on April 15 and 16  with the ambitious goal of transforming America by touching off the greatest religious revival that America or the world has ever known.   Short of that, the gathering was all about rebranding the Religious Right political movement as a “multiracial, multi-ethnic, transgenerational” movement that cares about social justice (sorry, Glenn Beck). In short, the conference was meant to send a message to young and non-white evangelicals: this ain’t your father’s Religious Right.

• Tyranny! Red Alert! America is in big trouble. Freedom is under attack by President Obama and his allies in Congress. And since Obama is no friend of Israel, we’re in trouble with God.
• Fight! Big threats mean we have to be ready to fight, fight fight. The tea party movement was invoked favorably and, given the turnout, a bit wistfully.
• Unify. A major theme of the event was the need to ignore major theological differences among speakers and focus on common values such as ending abortion and the Obama administration.
• Diversify. The conference made a major effort to showcase the Freedom Federation’s claims to be a multiracial, multiethnic, multigenerational movement. 
• Seek Social Justice. Watch out, Glenn Beck, these right-wingers are eager to portray themselves as a social justice movement.
• Millennial Generation, saving America is your job.

This June, Lou Engle will be pairing with other prophetic intercessors such as Ron Luce, Jim Garlow,* and Dutch Sheets for 5 days of Call-like prayer and fasting on a ranch near Poplar Bluff, Missouri called "Wilderness Outcry":

In September of 2009 Lou Engle (founder and leader of TheCall) and I stood on this property praying about the possibility of using it for just such a purpose. It is very hard to describe the feeling that overtakes a person as he or she steps onto this beautiful land—God’s presence is truly there. As Lou and I prayed, dreaming of thousands of people gathering there before the Lord, Lou, knowing nothing about Jerry’s prayers, suddenly began to exclaim, "this is Isaiah 44:4!"

God is indeed coming to Poplar Bluff, Missouri this summer to fulfill Isaiah 44:3-5, “I will pour out water on the thirsty…I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring…they will spring up like poplars by streams…one will say, ‘I am the Lord’s’…and another will write on his hand, ‘Belonging to the Lord’…” I truly believe this has the potential to help launch the Third Great Awakening in America. Be a part of God recapturing His dream for America. I assure you this is His idea—and He will come! It’s not a camp, it’s a consecration!

Organizer Dutch Sheets explains that the nation must come together in prayer and repentance to ask God to forgive us for having elected President Obama and the Democrats ... and even then, "our only hope [is] for a reduced sentence. Judgment cannot be fully averted but it can be lessened":

If God brought corrective but serious judgment to Israel, we are horribly deceived if we think it will not happen to us. If something doesn’t happen to lessen this judgment—and it can be lessened–we are headed for very difficult times. The economy is going to be devastated. The stock market will go well below where it went a few months back—a crash is coming, and soon. More terrorism and violence will occur in our land, perhaps even war. In my spirit I’ve seen buildings crumbling and cities burning. Devastating natural disasters will take place. In general, hard times will be prevalent. Why is this so? Because we have turned from God and His ways. Consider the true condition of America. This assessment is bleak but accurate.

1) Our government is in decay. The current leaders of Congress promote homosexuality, abortion and socialism, while arrogantly ignoring God and the wishes of the people. They are proud, power-hungry, self- serving, career politicians, not the statesmen/women we so desperately need. Our President fits the same description. Along with the above, while honoring—in the White House—the Muslim day of prayer, homosexual activists and a coalition of atheists, he refused to honor the time-honored traditions surrounding the National Day of Prayer. And along with Congress and the President, we have many Judges with no regard for God’s word, the Constitution or our true history. The predictable verdict is in: America is in a moral and spiritual crisis of such magnitude that it is almost unbelievable.

...

It is not too late for America. Together we can release the transforming effect of a Third Great Awakening. If Woodstock 40 years ago could change a nation, what could thousands of believers crying out to God for several days accomplish?!

* UPDATE: Jim Garlow has informed us that he was in no way involved with this event.  Our apologies for mistakenly asserting that he was.