Parental Rights

Last month we noted that Rena Lindevaldsen, the attorney for Lisa Miller, had written a book all about Miller's saga ... or, at least most of it, since there is barely any mention of the fact that Miller ultimately kidnapped her daughter and fled the country, which is odd considering that Lindevaldsen is reportedly teaching young lawyers at Liberty University to recommend just this sort of "civil disobedience" to clients they believe are being ordered to violate "God's law."

The book itself was predictable and, frankly, rather dull but that didn't stop Mat Staver, Wendy Wright, Mike Huckabee, and Peter Sprigg from glowingly endorsing it ... and now we can add Tony Perkins to the list of those endorsing the book:

Every parent's nightmare is losing a child--and Lisa Miller couldn't face the prospect of losing hers. Hello, I'm Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. Lisa Miller's child wasn't at risk from a dreaded disease. Or from violence. Or even from kidnapping. No, believe it or not, Lisa faced the prospect of losing her biological daughter because the courts ordered her to turn the child over to another woman. Why? Because she and the other woman were lesbian partners in Vermont when Lisa's daughter was born. The women are no longer together, and their civil union was dissolved. In fact, Lisa's now an ex-lesbian, who's renounced homosexuality and accepted Christ. So instead of giving up her daughter, she disappeared. Rena Lindevaldsen of Liberty Counsel was Lisa's lawyer through all the court battles--but she also became her friend. She's telling Lisa's story in a new book called, Only One Mommy. Anyone concerned about parental rights, the homosexual agenda, and religious liberty should read this book--Only One Mommy, available on Amazon.com.

It is amazing that Perkins says that it is every parent's nightmare to lose a child and then actually mentions the threat of kidnapping in an effort to portray Miller as the victim when it was Miller who literally kidnapped her daughter and fled the country in order to defy multiple court orders and escape law enforcement. 

I guess we probably should not hold our breath waiting for any Religious Right leader to actually step up and suggest that maybe Miller ought to have obeyed the law or, at this point, turn herself in to authorities.

Following the successful passage of marriage equality in New York, Mission America’s Linda Harvey was sure to speak out. In a ranting essay for WorldNetDaily against equal marriage rights, hate crime laws, pride parades, and anti-bullying initiatives, Harvey yet again makes clear her antipathy towards gay and lesbian Americans and their families, lamenting that Americans “are selling ourselves into bondage” by supporting LGBT equality:

New York now has "gay" marriage. The back-slaps and celebration will go on for weeks. The day before this historic vote ( a.k.a., "day of infamy"), Barack Obama spoke to a Democratic Party/homosexual donor dinner and shared his insights about social justice and the American way.

Obama said he looks forward to the day "when every single American, gay or straight or lesbian or bisexual or transgender, is free to live and love as they see fit [sic]."

The president stopped short of giving a thumbs up to same-sex marriage, although everyone knew he would be fine with that, and I'm sure he's congratulating New Yorkers right now. Besides, with the above comment, he has given us so much more.

…

This "freedom" will include much more than a perpetual pansexual pagan party. It will, and already does, include libel, slander, intimidation, corruption of youth, revolt in congregations, suppression of parental rights, revision of language, disease, loss of employment and loss of life.

Oh, and did I mention public sex, the porn explosion and public nudity?

Welcome to entitlement sex.

…

But is the debt already too large? Have we already reached a tipping point where only catastrophe can bring renewal? The sages among us – those "haters" and "bigots" who keep trying to sound the alarm – need to stay focused and not lose hope. We must keep educating others that this is not a civil-rights issue, that we have not gained freedom, but instead are selling ourselves into bondage.

Most of all, we must not give up the fight, because only God knows the outcome.

The right-wing group Save California is apoplectic over the recent enactment of a day to honor Harvey Milk, the openly gay San Francisco politician and civil rights activist who was assassinated in 1978. Led by Randy Thomasson, Save California has urged parents to pull their children out of public schools to protest efforts to recognize the role of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people in California history. During an interview with the American Family Association’s OneNewsNow, Thomasson attacked the looming “tsunami of perversity” approaching schools and charged that openly gay Senator Mark Leno “sees children as little homosexuals-in-waiting”:

Randy Thomasson, president of SaveCalifornia.com, tells OneNewsNow that parental rights and decency are "meaningless" in public schools.

"Wake up, parents. Public schools are no longer for the public," he says. "They're government institutions that think that you're children are their children -- and they are going to turn them into homosexual, bisexual, transsexual political activists."

…

"Just wait now until Harvey Milk is on a weekday next year, and it's going to be what? Anything goes," Thomasson laments. "It could be gay pride parades on campus; it could be mock gay weddings on campus; it could be essays, mandatory homework saying why Harvey Milk, a bad guy, was a great guy. I mean, this is in-your-face stuff."

The family advocate adds that children in California's public schools are being hit with a "tsunami of perversity" and homosexual indoctrination. He cites another example in which first-graders were read a homosexual book in honor of Milk.

…

Around 40 elementary schools students in San Francisco were read author Eric Ross' new children's book My Uncle's Wedding as part of Harvey Milk Day. California adopted an official holiday honoring Milk, who was the first openly homosexual elected into office in the state.

Thomasson argues Harvey Milk Day is being used to push the homosexual agenda in public schools -- just like the Day of Silence. "Now Harvey Milk Day is taking hold, and again, first-graders who don't even know about sexuality [are] being taught unnatural sexuality."

Openly homosexual State Senator Mark Leno visited Ross during the launch of My Uncle's Wedding and spoke briefly on S.B. 48, a bill the lawmaker is trying to push which would require textbooks in California to include information about lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and "gay" individuals. Thomasson laments that Leno will promote the bill wherever he can.

"He sees children as little homosexuals-in-waiting," he contends. "And he wants to tell them they're homosexual, tell them they're bisexual, tell them they're transsexual -- not tell them that transexuality is irreversible and it's obviously a choice; not tell them that bisexuality is obviously unnatural and obviously a choice; not telling them that the gay gene has never been found."

If you need any more proof that "strategic level spiritual warfare" is makings its way from the outward fringes into the heart of the Religious Right movement, look no further than this new Family Research Council prayer update calling upon its activists to "tear down the spiritual strongholds" of Planned Parenthood by holding prayer rallies outside the offices of their members of Congress this Friday: 

Planned Parenthood's activities are an affront to our faith, our understanding of what is right and wrong, the dignity of every human being -- born and unborn, Biblical morality as it applies to human sexuality, our God-given parental rights and the sacred jurisdiction and integrity of every family and its God-given responsibility to protect its young, and much, much more. Moreover they are an affront to our Heavenly Father who has conferred on each of us the right to life from the moment of our conception in the womb, especially since we are made in His image and likeness.

Planned Parenthood's lies have been embraced by many decent Americans, including leaders in our federal government. They have an army of dedicated activists who support them, who march, make calls to Congress, and who support candidates who advocate abortion.

This is not just a matter of philosophical, religious, moral education. Spiritual strongholds prevent many hearts from being moved by plain truth regarding abortion and its impact upon the unborn, individuals, families and society.

Only prayer can tear down the spiritual strongholds that have made Planned Parenthood's deadly achievements possible and their acceptance by large numbers of the American people. Only prayer can pull down the strongholds that motivated once pro-life politicians to compromise their faith in God and moral truth, and to abandon any tender compassion for human life -- all for the sake of political ambition.

Tony is asking pro-life churches, prayer groups, and individuals to help turn the tide by extraordinary prayer over the next few days during this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He is asking pro-life Christians across America to take just one hour to pray outside their Congressman or one of their Senators' state offices this Friday. Tony asks that you simply go onsite and to stand vigil in unobtrusive prayer from Noon until 1 PM. Go in a group or go pray alone but go! Help us make sure that there is prayer outside every Representative and Senator's office this Friday. No protest, no signs, no controversy -- just heartfelt prayer.

• Raise up an army of praying believers through whom You can pull down the spiritual strongholds and end taxpayer subsidies for this death-dealing industry. May believers gather at the workplaces of our Representatives and Senators in all 50 states. Turn our Senators' hearts and cause them to vote aright. Orchestrate a Concert of Prayer through that Friday noon hour that will please your heart and undo the dark spiritual forces that have prevailed until now. In Jesus name we pray, Amen

I admit that I find the Religious Right's commingling of prayer with politics endlessly fascinating, especially the way they formulate specific political goals as prayer targets, which is why I keep posting them.

The targets set out by Cindy Jacobs and Generals International are particularly revealing, as she has been providing specific day-by-day prayers heading into the election.

Her latest prayer update focuses mainly on reclaiming the "education mountain," and seeks to remove "unrighteous leadership" for the nation's public school system so that the "light of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the fear of the Lord" can be spread by educators. 

In addition, Jacobs declares that "progressive politics" and "multiculturalism" must be stripped from the nation's textbooks because they are "denigrating the importance of Christianity in American culture" and asks God to "break unholy conspiracies and expose for public scrutiny those who are advancing pro-Islamic textbooks and school curriculums under the rhetoric of diversity, rights, tolerance and democracy."

And, of course, Jacobs urges activists to pray to end "Homosexuality and Sexual Perversion in our Children's Schools" and calls the "blood-covered justice and judgments of God" down upon those who seek to "destroy the family unit through the advancement of the homosexual agenda":

· Pray for exposure to public scrutiny those who are covertly working to advance the homosexual indoctrination of our children through the educational system.

· Pray that God would raise up righteous leaders to successfully contend against the encroachments of the homosexual activists upon our nation's educational system.

· Pray that defenders of family and protectors of our children's welfare remain strong and courageous and true to their calling.

· Pray for protection of our children's minds and hearts as they sit in school, college and university classrooms.

Father, we come before you humbly crying out for mercy upon America's civic and household leaders for allowing the minority homosexual community to make such deep inroads into our nation's educational system. In Jesus' Name, we pray that You would awaken believers to the critical importance of being involved in preserving Biblical principals for living as the foundation of our children's education. Father, raise up Christians across America who will vote in leaders that will strongly oppose the encroachments of the homosexual activists upon our nation's educational system and diligently protect our children from being subjected to lessons in sexual perversion, deviance and decadence in their school classrooms and libraries. We ask You would expose to public scrutiny those who, under a cloak of "equality" that is devoid of Judeo-Christian values, are working to undermine parental rights in education and indoctrinate our impressionable school children in an effort to change public attitudes toward homosexuality. We release into our children the knowledge and wisdom of God and the boldness to stand up for what is true, holy and pure. We release strength, boldness and divine strategies to the faithful defenders of Your precepts for the instruction of our children and declare that they will not compromise their standards or cave to the abhorrent demands of the homosexual community even in the face of great opposition and threats. We release the blood-covered justice and judgments of God upon those forces that are trying to subjugate American education and thereby, destroy the family unit through the advancement of the homosexual agenda.

It looks like Rep. Steve King is starting to find significant GOP support for his anti-gay crusade to fire Kevin Jennings:

Fifty-three House Republicans have written President Barack Obama asking him to remove "safe schools czar" Kevin Jennings from that position.

The lawmakers accused Jennings of "pushing a pro-homosexual agenda" and said that Jennings's past writings exhibit a record that makes him unfit for the position.

"We respectfully request that you remove Kevin Jennings, the Assistant Deputy Secretary for the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools, from your Administration," the Republicans wrote. "It is clear that Mr. Jennings lacks the appropriate qualifications and ethical standards to serve in this capacity."

...

The letter was primarily assembled by Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), and was joined by 53 Republican colleagues, including two members of leadership: House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (Ind.) and House Republican Conference Vice Chairwoman Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.).

As Greg Sargent points out, King continues to recklessly and unapologetically spread allegations that he knows to be false:

Rep Steve King, who’s been leading the charge against top Obama education adviser Kevin Jennings, today called for Jennings to be fired for allegedly “ignoring the sex abuse of a child” when he was a young schoolteacher.

But guess what: King’s office was informed at least a week ago that even Fox News, a lead tormentor of Jennings, corrected these allegations and acknowledged that the “child” was actually of legal consent age. I know, because I informed his office of this, in the course of seeking comment on an earlier story I was doing about the whole mess.

...

At least a week ago, after Rep. King attacked Jennings over the incident, I emailed his spokesman, letting him know that Fox had corrected the record. The spokesman replied, but I ended up not writing ... [The new letter] states as outright fact that this was “child abuse” and the “sexual abuse of a child.” King’s office knows this is false, and yet is repeating it, anyway.

UPDATE: FRC weighs in to praise those members of Congress who signed on to this letter:

Today, Family Research Council praised fifty-three House Republicans for calling on President Obama to fire Kevin Jennings, a homosexual activist who heads the Education Department's Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools.

...

"We applaud these fifty-three House members for seeking to uphold basic ethical standards within the Department of Education. We urge President Obama to heed the growing calls from Congress and the American people that he immediately remove Kevin Jennings as 'safe schools' czar. No Administration official is more deserving of removal than Kevin Jennings.

"Kevin Jennings has shown a disregard for parental rights and for our children's well being. The record shows that Kevin Jennings has neither the temperament nor the ethical standards needed for public service. "

• Rick Santorum teams up with the National Organization for Marriage.
• The Parental Rights Amendment now has 110 co-sponsors.
• The Apostolic and Prophetic Conference is scheduled for Oct. 8 to 10 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. Rod Parsley will be there.
• The Christian Defense Coalition congratulates itself for forcing a ribbon-cutting ceremony featuring First Lady Michelle Obama to move indoors after it showed up with a bullhorn.
• Colleen Raezler of the Culture and Media Institute is not happy with all the gays on TV, saying it is part of an effort "to sell viewers on the idea of accepting homosexuality ... They don't talk about the high rates of sexually transmitted diseases within the gay community ... They don't talk about the fact that their lifestyles are much more unstable; ...they don't have the commitment that married couples have or anything like that. Nor do the programs acknowledge that homosexuals tend to live shorter lives, as statistics point out."

Is it just me or does it seem like every other week there is a new Religious Right organization launched in order to save America from its descent into godlessly immoral socialism?

In March we saw that birth of The Faith and Freedom Institute, founded to "lead America back to the knowledge of God in order to save the nation from the judgment of God."

That was followed by Newt Gingrich's Renewing American Leadership effort, which has ties to David Barton and Don Wildmon, and is designed to bring together economic conservatives and social conservatives for the common good.

Those were followed by the creation of the American Principles Project, led by Robert P. George, the Princeton professor who is also Chairman of the Board of the National Organization for Marriage, which proclaimed itself the vehicle through which "millions of American voices raised in unison in defense of political liberty and economic freedom, the sanctity of human life and the integrity of marriage and the family, and the sovereignty and security of our nation" would be turned into political action.

These efforts continued in June, with Lou Engle's Call to Action, which aims to "redefine voting" for the next generation as a "prophetic act" and train them that they don't vote Democrat or Republican but vote "moral absolute truths," creating a mass army of young, motivated Christian voters who will pledge never to vote for a candidate who is not anti-choice, thereby creating a "spiritual revolution [and] training a generation to seize technology and turn the tide."

That was then followed by The Faith and Freedom Coalition, through which Ralph Reed aims to reclaim the Religious Right's former glory by starting launching an organization "committed to educating, equipping, and mobilizing people of faith and like-minded individuals to be effective citizens. Together we will influence public policy and enact legislation that strengthens families, promotes time-honored values, protects the dignity of life and marriage, lowers the tax burden on small business and families, and requires government to tighten its belt and live within its means."

Just a week after Reed's effort was made public, a coalition of Religious Right groups announced the formation of The Freedom Federation, an effort to re-brand the movement and over its "image problem"  while remaining "committed to defending and extending core values expressed in the Declaration of American Values, the organization's founding document. These include the right to life, the institution of marriage, parental rights, religious liberty, an environment free of pornography and indecency, the right to property, freedom from excessive taxation, and national sovereignty."

With six news Religious Right groups formed in the last several months, all with very similar missions, you'd think there wouldn't really be much room left for any more new groups to form ... but you'd be wrong:

Bishop E.W. Jackson Sr., former spokesperson and a top leader for the Christian Coalition, has launched a new organization -- S.T.A.N.D. [Staying True to America's National Destiny] -- to unify Christians and other conservatives around social and economic issues. However, Bishop Jackson is taking a different approach. "We are mainly interested in impacting the culture," says the Bishop. "Political victories can be reversed, but cultural change is lasting."

Their first major initiative is to make January "AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH". Says Bishop Jackson, "One of the reasons we lack unity in America is that the Judeo-Christian heritage and values which our Founding Fathers bequeathed us are under attack. Our heritage is lied about, suppressed and ignored in the push toward secularism and relativism. It is being done in Universities, public schools and even by President Obama."

STAND's American History Month will celebrate the nobility of American history and our Founders and rebut the lie that America is born of racism, exploitation and capitalistic greed. American History Month will highlight the heroic sacrifice, bold initiative, pioneering spirit, selfless cooperation and faith in God that made America possible. STAND believes that this President is denigrating America's contribution to the world, denying the role of Christianity in our country, and falsely claiming that Islam is a major contributor to America's success. "What history books is the President reading?" asks Jackson.

STAND considers Obama to be symptomatic of the ideological and anti-Christian bias in the teaching of American history. Bishop Jackson asks, "How many people know that one of our war cries during the Revolutionary War was 'No King but Jesus'? Precious few, and apparently not the President."

STAND is also opposing Obama's healthcare reform, which it calls "a veiled government takeover of healthcare." Bishop Jackson argues, "If the government takes over healthcare, everything will be rationed except abortion. The conscience objection will be eliminated, and abortion will increase like a plague upon the land." STAND wants to end abortion in America. It is also against Cap & Trade as "an insane burden" on an already crippled economy. Its members are contacting their Senators to make their sentiments known on these issues.

Interestingly, the need to unite the Right has been the one constant theme of every new group that has emerged and, for several of them, it is their central mission and reason for existing.

But the fact that different people keep launching entirely separate groups - all with the same purpose - suggests that their individual efforts to bring unity to the movement do not seem to be working particularly well.

Despite all of the predictions that the Religious Right was on its deathbed, they sure do seem to be extremely active of late.

Of course, they don't seem to have any new ideas or desire to change their agenda in any way, but in last few months have seen a flurry of new groups popping up designed to fill some unseen void that has been apparently responsible for their current predicament.

In the last few months we seen the arrival of the Faith and Freedom Institute, which was followed by Ralph Reed's Faith and Freedom Coalition, while Newt Gingrich was unveiling his Renewing American Leadership effort, and Lou Engle was announcing his Call to Action.

And now we come to find out via Pam that pretty much every Religious Right group has joined together under the umbrella of something called The Freedom Federation, incuding Renewing American Leadership and Call to Action, which were just recently created - so now you have two new groups created specifically to fill this void joining a new coalition effort ... designed to fill this very same void:

Press Conference to discuss the formation of the Freedom Federation and its purpose.

The Freedom Federation is a new and unique federation of some of the largest multi-ethnic and transgenerational faith-based organizations in the country committed to plan, strategize, and work together on common interests within the Judeo-Christian tradition to mobilize their grassroots constituencies and to communicate faith and values to the religious, social, cultural, and policymaking institutions.

-- American Association of Christian Counselors
-- American Family Association
-- Americans for Prosperity
-- Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny (BOND)
-- Campaign for Working Families
-- Catholic Online
-- Concerned Women for America
-- Conservative Action Project
-- Eagle Forum
-- Exodus International
-- Faith and Action
-- Family Research Council
-- High Impact Leadership
-- Liberty Alliance Action
-- Liberty Counsel
-- Liberty University
-- Life Education and Resource Network (LEARN)
-- Marc Nuttle
-- Morning Star Ministries
-- National Clergy Council
-- National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference
-- Renewing American Leadership
-- Strang Communications
-- Teen Mania
-- The Call to Action
-- Traditional Values Coalition
-- Vision America

Wow - did they put this coalition together by going through our list of right-wing organizations and simply inviting all the groups and individuals we write about most frequently to join?  Sorry,  Christian Anti-Defamation Commission  - if only we had written about you a few more times, maybe you would have been deemed worthy of inclusion in this ground-breaking new effort by the Religious Right ... to do whatever it is this new organization is going to do.

Honestly, what purpose can this possibly serve?  Are the Council for National Policy and the Arlington Group somehow lacking and so these groups decided that what they really needed was yet another coalition to carry out the same work?

Anyway, this effort seems to be organized by Rick Scarborough ... or at least he is the first to send out a press release trying to take credit for it:

Today, representatives of some of America's largest faith-based groups gathered in the nation's capital to announce that they will organize and mobilize their grassroots constituencies in a common cause.

At the National Press Club, Vision America President Pastor Rick Scarborough joined other conservative leaders, including Mat Staver, dean of Liberty University Law School and the Federation's convener, to formally announce the formation of the Freedom Federation.

The Federation encompasses individuals of different races, faiths and backgrounds who are committed to the preservation of freedom and American values, founded on the Judeo-Christian tradition. The Freedom Federation is not a separate organization, but an association of like-minded national organizations with large and unique religious and political constituencies.

...

Scarborough commented: "These organizations represent some of the nation's largest constituencies of youth, Hispanics, African-Americans, women, pastors and churches, who are uniting to defend a tradition increasingly under attack."

The Freedom Federation is committed to defending and extending core values expressed in the Declaration of American Values, the organization's founding document. These include the right to life, the institution of marriage, parental rights, religious liberty, an environment free of pornography and indecency, the right to property, freedom from excessive taxation, and national sovereignty. The statement is posted on the Vision America website at www.visionamerica.us.

And here is their Declaration of American Values, which they vow to protect with their lives:

We the people of the United States of America, at this crucial time in history, do hereby affirm the core consensus values which form the basis of America’s greatness, that all men and women from every race and ethnicity are created equal and are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. We adhere to the rule of law embodied in the Constitution of the United States and to the principles of liberty on which America was founded. In order to maintain the blessings of liberty and justice for ourselves and our posterity, and recognizing that personal responsibility is the basis of our self-governing Nation, we declare our allegiance –

1. To secure the sanctity of human life by affirming the dignity of and right to life for the disabled, the ill, the aged, the poor, the disadvantaged, and for the unborn from the moment of conception. Every person is made in the image of God, and it is the responsibility and duty of all individuals and communities of faith to extend the hand of loving compassion to care for those in poverty and distress.

2. To secure our national interest in the institution of marriage and family by embracing the union of one man and one woman as the sole form of legitimate marriage and the proper basis of family.

3. To secure the fundamental rights of parents to the care, custody, and control of their children regarding their upbringing and education.

4. To secure the free exercise of religion for all people, including the freedom to acknowledge God through our public institutions and other modes of public expression and the freedom of religious conscience without coercion by penalty or force of law.

5. To secure the moral dignity of each person, acknowledging that obscenity, pornography, and indecency debase our communities, harm our families, and undermine morality and respect. Therefore, we promote enactment and enforcement of laws to protect decency and morality.

6. To secure the right to own, possess and manage private property without arbitrary interference from government, while acknowledging the necessity of maintaining a proper and balanced care and stewardship of the environment and natural resources for the health and safety of our families.

7. To secure the individual right to own, possess, and use firearms as central to the preservation of peace and liberty.

8. To secure a system of checks and balances between the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches within both state and federal governments, so that no one branch – particularly the judiciary – usurps the authority of the other two, and to maintain the constitutional principles of federalism which divide power between the state and federal governments.

9. To secure our national sovereignty and domestic tranquility by maintaining a strong military; establishing and maintaining secure national borders; participating in international and diplomatic affairs without ceding authority to foreign powers that diminish or interfere with our unalienable rights; and being mindful of our history as a nation of immigrants, promoting immigration policies that observe the rule of law and are just, fair, swift, and foster national unity.

10. To secure a system of fair taxes that are not punitive against the institution of marriage or family and are not progressive in nature, and within a limited government framework, to encourage economic opportunity, free enterprise, and free market competition.

We hereby pledge our Names, our Lives and our Sacred Honor to this Declaration of American Values.