Elections

Earlier this year, Bob Vander Plaats made a run for the GOP nomination for Governor in Iowa. He did not win and so he has now turned his attention toward "convincing Iowans the three Iowa Supreme Court Justices up for a retention vote on the Nov. 2 ballot should be kicked off the bench."

To that end, he recently showed up on Bryan Fischer's radio program where they two discussed the supreme importance of this effort and Fischer revealed that the American Family Association has already dumped hundreds of thousands of dollars into the campaign:

Fischer: Well, I'm pleased and honored to bring with us on our Newsmaker line from the great state of Iowa, Bob Vander Plaats. Bob, a former candidate for Governor in the Hawkeye State and founding president of MVP Leadership, Bob welcome to Focal Point with Bryan Fischer.

Vander Plaats: Well, Bryan it's a thrill to be on your program. Thank you for everything that you do with AFA.

Fischer: Well Bob, I got to tell you, there are a lot of important elections that are coming up November 2; we are talking about an effort to change the leadership of this entire country by sending better people back to Washington that are going to care about fiscal restraint, who care about the Constitution. But for my money I think that it's possible that the single most important election this November 2 is going to take place in the state of Iowa. This is huge, it's important, you're leading the charge on this particular campaign, so tell us what's important about November 2 in the state of Iowa.

Vander Plaats: Well, first of all Bryan I couldn't agree with you more. I do believe the most important election will be happening right here in Iowa. What happened Bryan, just to give your listeners a little bit of background; on April 3, 2009 we had a Supreme Court that completely stepped outside of their jurisdiction, they made law from the bench, they governed from the bench, they attempted to amend the Constitution from the bench all in an effort to redefine the institution of marriage from one man-one woman, which we've been for 161 years to say "no, now we will be a same-sex marriage state." And I'm leading the effort to vote three of these Supreme Court justices off the bench - we have a retention process in Iowa - but we want to vote these three Supreme Court justices off the bench to hold them in check.

Fischer: Through our political arm, AFA Action, we are heavily invested in this campaign. I want our listeners to know that we are involved in this campaign, we want to see this thing go forward, we have put a couple of hundred thousand dollars into this campaign to stand for natural marriage and Bob Vander Plaats leading the cause there in Iowa.

Fischer and the AFA have long been among the most vigilant and vicious and anti-gay activists operating today, so it is no surprise to seem them get deeply involved in the Iowa fight, to such an extent that they appear to be essentially running the entire Iowa For Freedom operation:

I wonder if the people of Iowa realize that this campaign is being financed by a group that believes that gays should be banned from serving in public office, claims that gays are no different from murderers, liars, thieves, and slave traders, claims that gay sex is a form of "domestic terrorism" and that homosexuality ought to be criminalized, and that Hitler filled the Nazi ranks with gay soldiers because gays have no limits to their savagery and brutality?

One thing I find fascinating about the Religious Right is how seemingly every major new organization or effort that it launches is literally the same as every other organization or effort it has ever launched.

Just today I noted how yet another group was calling for 40 days of prayer heading into the mid-term elections, as if all the other calls to 40 days of prayer and fasting were not enough.

Similarly, it seems like every few weeks, some new Religious Right group is formed that does exactly the same thing all of the other Religious Right groups are doing.

And now we have Glenn Beck announcing the formation of his Black Robe Regiment:

Apparently, the idea began with Beck's favorite historian, David Barton. When Beck told Barton he wanted to "get religious leaders together," Barton suggested forming a Black Robe Regiment -- named after what Barton had said was a group of preachers who supported the American Revolution from their pulpits. Beck decided that was "exactly" what he was looking for because it was a movement supposedly like his that was "not about politics."

Beck then described the first meeting he held with "the largest evangelical leaders in the country" some of whom had been involved in the Christian Coalition. ... Beck elaborated on his call to "mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes," calling on his listeners to "tithe 10 percent" and encouraging them to "sacrifice our fortunes so our children don't have to pay for our lifestyle." Beck implored his listeners: "You must tithe because these people [the Black Robe Regiment] are going to be in trouble. They're going to come under attack."

So Beck's brilliant idea is to bring together a bunch of Religious Right leaders in an effort to motivate pastors to play a bigger role in politics and the culture?

Has Beck never heard of the Patriot Pastors?

Fellow pastor Russell Johnson lacks [Rod] Parsley's charisma, but he has mastered the art of organizing. His group, the Ohio Restoration Project (ORP), recruited nearly 1,800 churches with "Patriot Pastors" and deputized them to draft new "values voters."

The ministers signed 410,000 Ohio homes onto Johnson's mailing list, and the ORP can tap 100,000 prayer warriors through e-mail in a moment's notice. This is more than just a group of voters ready to punch some ballots. According to ORP outreach materials, it is a "mighty army" ready to do battle.

While Johnson reaches white evangelicals and fundamentalists, Parsley appeals to both African Americans and Pentecostals. Together, the two men have forged a political machine that aims to remake Ohio politics—and the nation.

Or what about the US Pastor Council?

The mission of the Houston Area Pastor Council and sister councils in USPC is to empower pastors and their congregations across racial and denominational lines to impact the culture and community through concerted prayer, to equip our congregations for effective citizenship and to provide a unified voice on spiritual, cultural, social and moral issues from a Biblical perspective. The AMERICA Plan was developed as a Purpose Statement of how pastors and churches can and must enage in godly citizenship.

HAPC has become a respected voice on front line cultural and political issues from a non-partisan perspective, holding elected officials of both major parties and non-partisan offices to a Biblical standard. The Pastors' Declaration of Godly Citizenship was developed to clarify the core values of this coalition.

HAPC has conducted numerous luncheons, workshops, rallies, elected official summits, Pastors' Day At the Capitol and many other activities bringing pastors together, proving top quality Biblical, historical, legal and public policy information as well as standing in the gap for our nation.

Or what about the Pulpit Initiative:

Historically, churches have emphatically, and with great passion, spoken Scriptural truth from the pulpit about government and culture. Historians have stated that America owes its independence in great degree to the moral force of the pulpit. Pastors have proclaimed Scriptural truth throughout history on great moral issues such as slavery, women’s suffrage, child labor and prostitution. Pastors have also spoken from the pulpit with great frequency for and against various candidates for government office ... It is time for the intimidation and threats to end. Churches and pastors have a constitutional right to speak freely and truthfully from the pulpit – even on candidates and voting – without fearing loss of their tax exemption.

Or the Watchmen on the Wall:

Watchmen on the Wall" is a powerful conference in the nation's capital especially designed for pastors and ministers, based on Isa. 62:6: "I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem. They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent..." FRC launched the Briefing in May 2004 to:

* Remind spiritual leaders of our nation's Judeo-Christian heritage.
* Inform them about the moral issues being debated in the public square.
* Ignite their passion to become watchmen who will sound the alarm.
* Inspire them to encourage their churches to engage the culture.

Our hope is that you will return home encouraged and educated about the issues of the day that affect faith and family and that you will be inspired to share with your congregations what they may do to take a more active role as salt and light in your community and government.

Or what about the Patriotic Pastors, or Pastors for Family Values, or even the Patriot Pastors’ T.E.A. Party?

And those are the groups I can think of just off the top of my head. 

Obviously, none of the previous efforts have accomplished their goals - if they had, there would be no need to keep launching new groups with the exact same mission over and over again. 

But apparently Beck believes that Beck thinks that he (with the help of the very Religious Right leaders behind all these other efforts) has finally found the key:  getting pastors more engaged in the political process. 

Gee, why has nobody ever thought of that before?  

Pray and ACT is calling for 40 days for prayer and fasting heading into the 2010 mid-term elections and so is Cindy Jacobs ... and now the National Religious Broadcasters is getting in on the act as well, announcing its own pre-election 40-day prayer effort:

In response to the unprecedented spiritual and moral decline in our nation, the NRB Executive Committee is issuing a call to God’s people to devote ourselves to 40 days of earnest, soul-searching prayer, beginning September 1, 2010 and ending October 10, 2010. The theme verse is 2 Chronicles 7:14, "If my people.” We must seek God for the revival of our souls and the life of our nation.

NRB is requesting that you join us in calling upon God's people to commit to these 40 days of prayer. God will hear our prayers and heal our land only after we humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn from our wicked ways.

Specifically, we are asking:

• Stations to air 30- and/60-second PSA’s, encouraging Christians to take part in the “If My People” prayer initiative. To assist you, previously recorded PSA’s are available here.
• Ministries to include the NRB call to prayer in their September programming. This would remind and encourage audiences to participate beginning September 1 for 40 days.

As Peter said, judgment begins with the house of God. Now is the time when we must be transparent before the Lord to let Him change us, so that through the power of the Holy Spirit we might change the world.

And if 2 Chronicles 7:14 sounds familiar, that is because it has become the passage around which just about every Religious Right events has been organized including Janet Porter's May Day 2010 Prayer Rally, the Global Day of Prayer, the National Day of Prayer, and the FRC's Call 2 Fall event.  In fact, even the fast at the center of Pray and ACT mission is explicitly linked to this passage:

The fast will begin at 7:14am (based on 2 Chronicles 7:14), on Sept 20 and end at 7:14am, Oct 30, 2010. Although many will follow only a liquid diet, persons can fast as God directs them during this 40 day span.

Ever since President Obama was elected, 2 Chronicles 7:14 has become the verse around which the Religious Right has mobilized ... and that should give you a pretty good understanding of their mindset at the moment:

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Americans for Prosperity, the “grassroots” Tea Party organization funded by anti-government billionaires, is one of several right-wing groups that glommed on to Glenn Beck’s decision to bring the Tea Party crowd to Washington, D.C. With help from the Koch family, AFP has grown rapidly. In the words of Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, AFP has grown in a few years from “an idea in a New York apartment” into a network with 32 chapter and more than a million activists. AFP’s Tim Phillips told the 2500 activists (their number) at the “Defending the American Dream Summit” on Friday that “we’re going to take back Washington for two days and we’re going to take back our country over the next few years.” 

Just yesterday I noted that Mike Huckabee had joined Tony Perkins, Mat Staver, Pat Roberston and others in recording a message urging activists to attend the upcoming "The Call" prayer rally with Lou Engle in Sacramento, CA. 

And one of the points I have been trying to emphasize in my posts about the rise of these self-proclaimed "apostles" and "prophets" like Engle within the Religious Right movement is that when they claim to be battling Satanic and demonic forces, they mean that quite literally.

And, just to demonstrate that point, here is Engle explaining that events like The Call are so important because they unleash spiritual movements in America that can break Satan's control over our government, though which He is enacting His evil agenda: 

Engle believes the anniversary meeting, which thousands are expected to attend, has the potential to turn the nation toward biblical values, as participants pray for "righteous" leaders to emerge from the midterm elections and for God to "shift the whole political system in America and the seven spheres of society."

"There is a hill above Capitol Hill," Engle said. "It's God's praying church who actually begins to influence the governments of the earth through their prayers."

Engle makes no apologies for his political advocacy. He believes if Christians don't influence politics, Satan will.

Prayer and preaching the gospel are the church's primary calling, he said. "But to say don't get involved in those high places [of government] is actually allowing our archenemy Satan to put his own people in those high places, where spiritual powers can actually control societies and release laws that actually legalize systemic evil," Engle added.

Why is it that when Ralph Reed is involved, nothing can ever just be what it is? 

For instance, his new Faith and Freedom Coalition is not just a new Religious Right group, but rather the "Christian Coalition on Steroids."

And Reed is not just another Religious Right operative, but the Religious Right's Steve Jobs.

And Reed's works is not just standard voter mobilization, but rather guerilla warfare and saturation bombing.

And so, of course, his upcoming Faith and Freedom Coalition Summit is not just a political conference, but "the political equivalent of NFL minicamp":

The Faith & Freedom Coalition will hold its first national Conference and Strategy Briefing with top grassroots leaders, pastors, and activists in Washington, DC, on September 9-11. The Faith & Freedom Coalition, founded by Ralph Reed, will inform and train its state and chapter leaders, activists, and supporters in preparation for the 2010 elections.

To date confirmed speakers include former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former White House senior advisor and Fox News contributor Karl Rove, Governor Bob McDonnell of Virginia, former RNC Chairman Ed Gillespie, Congressmen Randy Forbes, Tom Price, and Lynn Westmoreland, among many others.

Hundreds of grassroots activists will gather for training, workshops and breakout sessions on voter registration, Get-Out-the-Vote tactics, and how to utilize Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites to build a volunteer network. Among scheduled panels: "Mama Grizzly" candidates who are making 2010 the "Year of the Conservative Woman," and leading Tea Party organizers, including Jenny Beth Martin with Tea Party Patriots.

"This is not just a conference or a retreat," said Ralph Reed. "This is the political equivalent of NFL minicamp. We will train and equip our activists on how to block and tackle in the churches and precincts as we prepare for the most important election of our lifetimes."

Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church, was a key leader in the effort to pass Proposition 8 and earlier this year explained how he brought Lou Engle in to lead their prayer and fasting effort; an effort which paid off where somewhere between 4:20-4:50 pm on November 1 during TheCall rally in San Diego they felt that "something had snapped in the Heavenlies" and "we knew God had moved":

Garlow's Prop 8 success led Newt Gingrich to tap to him to head his new Renewing American Leadership organization ... and so it is not particularly surprising to see Garlow (and Engle) reacting with alarm to the court decision striking down their handiwork:

"The next court case could conceivably say that if three people wanted to marry or four people or five people or if someone wanted to marry their dog or their horse, they have a right to that because no longer do we have a right to ‘discriminate' based on equal protection," Garlow said.

Proposition 8 advocates argue that same-sex marriage is not ideal for child rearing, but they say it also has serious implications on religious freedom.

"It's a chilling moment," said TheCall founder Lou Engle, who organized a prayer rally in support of Proposition 8 in September 2008. "Democracy is crumbling, and I believe, again, we're going to see the persecution of the church. ... Across the board, religious freedom now is being trumped by gender freedom."

Garlow said in several areas where gay marriage has been legalized, Christians have lost personal and religious liberties. He points to Swedish pastor Ake Green, who was jailed after preaching that homosexuality is a sin, and to a Christian camp in Ocean Grove, N.J., that lost a discrimination lawsuit filed after it refused to allow a lesbian couple to hold a commitment ceremony at its facility.

"If we lose on this one, we lose the capacity to be able to proclaim the gospel as we know it," Garlow said.

And, as we've noted before, Garlow and Engle are planning to dust off their Prop 8 playbook heading into the 2010 midterm elections: 

The case could take years to reach the Supreme Court, but conservative observers believe Wednesday's ruling could impact the upcoming midterm election. Garlow said voters with conservative moral values "are going to rise up and say enough is enough."

He and Engle are encouraging that kind of activism through Pray & Act, an initiative calling for 40 days of prayer and fasting in the run up to Nov. 2. The effort begins Sept. 20 and ends with a webcast event at the Lincoln Memorial Oct. 30.

Garlow said he believes there is a 27-month window to "turn" the nation toward biblical values. "I'm not trying to deadline God, but my sensing is we have a short window left after which it will be too late to see America ever return to any sense of God-honoring truths," he said. "That being the case, prayer and fasting is critical."

Engle, too, is urging prayer and political activism. He believes the timing of TheCall Sacramento, being held Sept. 3-4, is strategic.

"God, in times of crisis, calls for solemn assemblies when there is no hope and there's no remedy," Engle said. "I think this is an incredible opportunity for people to gather from all over America to say: ‘God, we have no recourse ... We are coming to You for help in the time of trouble, to ask forgiveness for treating so lightly marriage in the church.'

"We [will] come together and ask God for some kind of sovereign intervention," he added. "We need to pray for a great awakening."

A few weeks back, I wrote a post about Rick Joyner and The Oak Initiative, one of the "prophetic intercessor" groups that, like Lou Engle and The Call and Cindy Jacobs and General International, are becoming increasingly active within the more "mainstream" Religious Right.

Like The Call and Generals International, The Oak Initative is a member of the Religious Right "supergroup" known as The Freedom Federation and Joyner, along with Engle and Jacobs, participated in the group's "Awakening" conference earlier this year, sitting on a panel on "Pastors and Political Activity" with Rick Scarborough and Richard Land.

Later this month, The Oak Initiative will be hosting its first ever Oak Convention in South Carolina which is scheduled to include Joyner, Samuel Rodriguez, Lance Wallnau, Jerry Boykin, Cindy Jacob, and others where they will discuss methods for gaining influence over their version of the 7 Mountains: 

At this time it is important to establish a leadership forum that focuses on the current major areas of dominant influence and crisis, including:

1. Spiritual and moral
2. Government and politics
3. Media
4. Economic
5. Social Issues
6. Environmental
7. Education

To do this we want to establish a leader and a council to address each of these spheres. Organizing this will be one of the major goals of the August Oak Convention. We will be establishing each of these with a Chairman, Asst. Chairman, and a staff devoted to both Research and Communications. The purpose of these councils will be to provide an accurate assessment of the great issues of the times, and to propose answers and solutions to them.

And among the ways they hope to do this is by creating their own "Christian Intelligence Service" and building their own media empires [PDF]: 

The formation of a Christian Intelligence Service

This is for training an army of “watchmen” who are skilled in discerning important issues or events as they unfold, and can gather basic information about it that is accurate and trustworthy.

One of the number one issues that seems uniform across nations and cultures at this time is a deteriorating trust in the media for accurate reporting and information. Most of the people on earth have never had government information sources that they trusted to be accurate, but in recent times even the most trusted governments have had a significant collapse of integrity and trust. If this void is not filled with truth and accurate information, the level of deception of the people will continue to grow. We believe this is a basic call of Christians who are supposed to be a light in their times, which is more than just preaching the gospel, but it is also exposing what is hidden in darkness with the truth that will set people free. We believe fundamentally that all men were created to be free, and that the basis of all freedom is truth.

The formation of media outlets with the highest standards of integrity and accuracy

We intend to build a world-class media outlet that is built more on trust and integrity than just style and technology, though we intend to be good at these too. The body of Christ has the people resources to quickly become a great light that shines in this darkness with truth. We have the ability to almost immediately reach virtually every major nation, and most of the world’s population with news and information for less than the cost that is now paid to a single executive at present media outlets.

And of course the aim of all of this is decidely political, as demonstrated by this new ad The Oak Initiative has posted on its YouTube page which declares that America regrets electing President Obama and the Democrats because they are a threat to this nation and so "we're coming after you" and "now you will pay" in 2010: 

Update: Apparently this video has been around for a while and is not an original Oak Initiative ad.

Last week, Cindy Jacobs issued "a serious warning and a call for urgent prayer," warning that God had told her that unless the nation turned to massive prayer, fasting, and revival - along with support for Israel and proper voting, of course - our economy was going to be destroyed.

Since then, Jacobs has had a bit more time to convene with God and so now she is back with a new video message reporting that God has told her that whether the US receives His blessing or His judgment depends entirely on how we vote in November:

The next elections, 2010, are so critical. We know that they'll take place November 2, so this is what I feel from the Lord: we must declare a forty day fast leading up to the elections. We must have a situation where we have a movement called "Fast America," meaning every single day thousands, hopefully tens of thousands, of Americans will fast and pray for God to give wisdom for these next elections, for His candidate that are His choice - pro-life, pro-Biblical definition of marriage - that will be put in office . It is not only critical but it is imperative that we do so.

This is not something that will be easily turned. It will not be turned without a battle, a battle both through our prayers, a battle on our knees, but a battle with our feet. We must vote with our feet for righteousness, for these pro-life, pro-Biblical values candidates. We must engage as we have never engaged before.

But I know that if we will do this, that God is going to have mercy upon the nation.

There is actually a lot more in the original video, as Jacobs explains how their intercession capped the BP oil well and turned away the hurricane that was threatening the Gulf and also assures us that the Word she received from God has been endorsed by the "other major prophets in the Aposotilc Council of Prophetic Elders," so you know that you can trust that it is totally legit: