Religion

CADC's Ten "Irrefutable Proofs" that Obama is not a Christian

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 12/8/2011 2:58 pm

Back in 2008, the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission released a series of videos attacking then-candidate Barack Obama's faith.  The entire operation was entitled "Seven Reasons Barack Obama is not a Christian" and consisted of various videos asserting that Obama "was not a Christian by any Biblical or historic measure."

Things such as his ties to Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his appreciation of some elements of Islam were held up as proof that Obama could not be considered a Christian, as was that fact that he was "an unabashed supporter of special privileges for homosexuals":

Now that the 2012 presidential election is beginning to heat up, the CADC has announced that it intends to resurrect the series - this time featuring ten reasons - and release a new video every month leading up to the election. 

Here are the CADC's "Ten New Irrefutable Proofs that Barack Obama is NOT a Christian!":

1.) Economics: Obama advocates for failed Marxist/socialist economic schemes that are based on envy and class warfare that divides the country and uses the government to steal from one group to give it to another.

2.) Marriage: Obama abdicated his sworn presidential duty to defend the laws of the United States by refusing to defend the Defense of Marriage Act and even actively worked to undermine the law.

3.) Religious Liberty: Obama signed "Hate Crimes" legislation that can result in prosecution for speaking against homosexuality. Even pastors who preach the biblical view of sexuality could face prosecution in certain situations.

4.) Abortion: Obama's policies have caused taxpayer funded abortions in other nations and fund of embryonic stem cell research that kills human embryos. He gave $50 million to UN population agency for promoting abortion and working with China's murderous "one child" policy. He eliminated federal funding for abstinence-only education and overturned the ban on funding abortions within Washington, D.C. During the 2011 budget debates, Obama refused to end funding for Planned Parenthood, almost causing the government to shut down.

5.) Homosexuality: Obama signed a bill repealing the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy which opened the door to open homosexuality in the military. Now military chaplains will be pressured to perform homosexual unions. Obama had militant homosexuals as part of his inaugural events and even hosted a reception in the White House celebrating the fortieth anniversary of the homosexual rights movement.

6.) Liberal / Marxist Liberation Theology: Obama sat under a radical, Marxist minister, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, for 20 years and has adopted all of his Marxist ideology. Obama denies Christ's atonement and mocks the Bible and rarely attends church, yet we are supposed to believe he's Christian. Many believe he's really a Muslim, and for some good reasons.

7.) National Christian Heritage: In a speech given in Turkey, Obama said, "we do NOT consider ourselves a Christian nation." Obama intentionally misquotes the Declaration of Independence omitting "our Creator" as the source of our unalienable rights.

8.) Supreme Court Appointments: Justice Elena Kagan is a hardcore liberal on abortion, gun rights and homosexual marriage and is suspected to be a lesbian. Kagan wrote a brief supporting Clinton's veto of a ban on partial birth abortion. While a Dean at Harvard, Kagan banned military recruiters from the campus. Kagan also opposed the Federal Defense of Marriage Act. Justice Sonia Sotomayor is a liberal and activist judge who believes courts should make policy not just interpret the constitution. Sotomayor argued for unlimited abortions for any reason throughout pregnancy and for taxpayer funding of abortions.

9.) Obama-care: Your tax dollars will pay for abortions and the older you get your life will be considered a liability and expendable. Some bureaucrat on a "DEATH PANEL" will ultimately decide if YOUR life is worth saving or not.

10.) Radical Czars: Kevin Jennings, Obama's Safe School "czar," is a militant, homosexual activist from Massachusetts. Radical pro-abortion advocate Kathleen Sebelius is Obama's Secretary of Health and Human Services. She took a quarter of a million dollars from George Tiller, the notorious late term abortionist. Chai Feldblum, a lesbian law professor was appointed to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Feldblum said in any conflict that might arise between religious liberty and homosexual "rights," she would have a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win.

Just keep this in mind the next time you hear anyone from the Religious Right complaining that the media and/or liberals are bigotedly attacking the faith of the Republican presidential candidates.

ACT! Demands Donations To Fight Imaginary Sharia Invasion

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Thursday, 10/27/2011 10:54 am

Brigitte Gabriel of ACT! for America (formerly American Congress for Truth) today sent members a video message urging them to become “Patriot Partners” by making monthly donations to her anti-Muslim group. She said that the funding will go towards efforts to pass laws banning the supposed use of Sharia law in courts, such as the one struck down by a federal judge in Oklahoma. Gabriel called her rivals “unhinged” and “fronts” of the Muslim Brotherhood who intend to “smear” and use “legal assaults” against anti-Sharia legislation.

Of course, Gabriel’s legislative fix is still in need of a problem, as there is simply no evidence that Sharia law or Sharia courts are permeating the American justice system. But don’t let that stop you from giving Gabriel your money!

The Establishment Of Secular Humanism

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Wednesday, 10/26/2011 12:56 pm

Today's installment of the "Faith and Freedom" radio program was dedicated to the discussion of "American Exceptionalism & How the Religion of Secular Humanism Has Been Imposed Upon Americans by Liberals Hostile to the Christian Faith!"

And, as the title suggests, one of the central points that Matt Barber and Mat Staver made was that  "secular humanism ... is a religion with no God" which has become the established religion of the United States, in direct violation of the Constitution:

Right Wing Round-Up

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 10/25/2011 5:49 pm

Rep. Ted Poe: Obama Administration Is "Anti-Religious"

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Tuesday, 10/25/2011 3:00 pm

Speaking with Family Research Council president Tony Perkins on Washington Watch last week, Texas Republican Rep. Ted Poe accused President Obama and his administration of promoting policies that are “anti-religious.” Poe and Perkins were discussing with the manufactured controversy over a Texas veteran’s cemetery that prohibits a volunteer group from holding religious services at a funeral if the family does not request it. The New York Times points out that this rule was created in 2007 by the Bush administration, but according to Poe, the policy is actually all Obama’s fault.

As Kyle noted, “To the Religious Right, preventing outside groups from attending funerals and offering prayers at services where they are not wanted or requested is a violation of the religious freedom of the volunteers.” Last month, Poe attacked the cemetery director as “anti-Christian, anti-religion and anti-veteran” and introduced legislation that he said would end the supposed “religious censorship.”

In his conversation with Poe last week, Perkins claimed that “this is symptomatic of a much larger problem that we’re seeing in this administration where this type of hostility, I would describe it as, toward traditional, orthodox religious views is being unleashed.” Poe said that he agreed with Perkins’ assessment and went on to blame the Obama administration for having an “anti-religious” bias.

Perkins: This is symptomatic of a much larger problem that we’re seeing in this administration where this type of hostility, I would describe it as, toward traditional, orthodox religious views is being unleashed. We won this battle but the war is far from over, so you’ve got legislation that will say, ‘hey, nowhere in this country will veterans be denied their rights nor their families to the right to these religious services in federal cemeteries,’ so where does that legislation stand?

Poe: The legislation has been filed and it is before the Veterans Affairs Committee in the House of Representatives. As soon as they get a hearing we’ll get it to the floor as soon as we can and get a vote on it, and I see no reason why it wouldn’t pass. What you say Tony is exactly correct. It is my opinion that the administration—this problem is systematic throughout the administration in areas that it’s just almost anti-religious, non-religious and anti-religious in areas such as this. We’re calling them out on this to stop this nonsense.

Perkins Agrees With Jeffress That Voters Should Prefer Christian Leaders

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Monday, 10/24/2011 4:55 pm

Coverage of the Family Research Council’s Values Voter Summit this year was dominated by stories of Robert Jeffress’ criticism of the Mormon faith; Bryan Fischer’s unabashed bigotry; and the infighting that rose to the surface when Bill Bennett rebuked Jeffress and Mitt Romney, tepidly and not by name, denounced Fischer. The press coverage of the Religious Right conference was so completely focused on Jeffress and Fischer that the FRC even asked members to pray that the media will stop reporting on the story.

Today FRC president Tony Perkins used his radio alert today to defend Jeffress, who made it clear that Romney’s Mormon faith was a reason he endorsed his chief rival, Rick Perry. “His rational; all else being equal a Christian leader is to be preferred over a non-Christian,” Perkins said, “I whole heartedly agree.”

Listen:

Do you have the freedom to choose between Christian and a non-Christian candidate? Hello, this is Tony Perkins with the Family Research Council in Washington. Texas pastor Robert Jeffress created a firestorm when he declared at the Values Voter Summit he was voting for Rick Perry because he was a Christian. His rational; all else being equal a Christian leader is to be preferred over a non-Christian. I whole heartedly agree. So did the first justice of the Supreme Court John Jay who said it was in the "interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers." Many so-called journalists have gone apoplectic claiming such a bigoted position violates article 6 of the Constitution, how absurd. The article reads, “Congress may not require religious tests for an office." The Constitution restricts what the government can require, not what individuals can consider. If voters can consider a candidate's party and that party's platform, they can consider a candidate’s religion and the tenets of that faith. We should prefer mature, qualified Christians for public office over those who reject the orthodox teachings of scripture.

This prompts the question: how would Tony Perkins feel about the competence of a Jewish leader over a Christian one? Perkins and the Religious Right always talk about their Judeo-Christian coalition and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, who is Jewish, addressed the Values Voter Summit and is seen as a rising star in GOP circles. So much for that.

And would it impact Perkins’ decision in the Republican primary? During the Jeffress spat, Perkins told CNN’s John King that he does not consider Mormons to be Christians: “Well, let me say this, John. I do not see Mormonism as the same as Christianity. Now, whether it’s defined as a cult, I don’t know. I would say it’s not Christianity the way evangelicals view Christianity. There’s a distinction. There’s no question there’s a theological distinction between Mormonism and Christianity.”

If Perkins thinks that Christians should be given preference over non-Christians, and that Mormons are not Christians, is there any difference between his view and Jeffress’ view on Romney’s candidacy?

Right Wing Round-Up

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Friday, 10/21/2011 5:32 pm

Pat Buchanan Reminisces About The Segregation Era

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Friday, 10/21/2011 11:00 am

In an interview yesterday with Janet Mefferd to promote his book Suicide of a Superpower, Pat Buchanan reminisced about the national unity and common culture that existed…during segregation. Buchanan warned that America will soon look like California, where he claims religious faith is obsolete, gangs roam and the English language is marginalized. Buchanan added that America was “created” by whites and lamented that “we will have a country in 2041 that will consist of entirely of minorities.” He went on to say that while segregation was “wrong,” African Americans and whites shared a “common culture” during the segregation era that is now nonexistent.

Listen:

Buchanan: It’s going to be 2041 when white Americans of European descent will be a minority in the country their ancestors created, and what will that mean? I tried to, the article in The Atlantic celebrated it as I said and I tried to take a look at it and I’m more apprehensive because the things that held us all together, even though we’ve had conflicts, racial conflicts and others, were you know a common faith, a common culture, a common history we all loved, literature and poetry, all these things we learned in schools, all of us in the public and parochial schools. This doesn’t exist anymore, all these things are breaking down and we will have a country in 2041 that will consist of entirely of minorities.

And if you take a look at the state of California, for example, where that already exists, you see a state that is de-Christianized, or perhaps the most de-Christianized of the American states, you find that a situation where there’s a black-brown war among the underclass among these gangs which are proliferating and in the prisons. You find a state that is bankrupt or not exactly bankrupt but whose bond-rating is the worst in the United States, who was issuing script. You have something like 23% of the folks there are illiterate and you have half the people in Los Angeles County speaking a language other than English in their own homes. All of America is going to look like this in 2041 and my question is, what holds us together? How do we survive as one nation and one people if we can’t even understand each other?

I grew up in Washington, D.C. when it was 400,000 black folks and 400,000 white folks and segregation was wrong and that existed there, but we had a common religion, a common culture, we read all the same newspapers, we listened to the same radio, we cheered the same ball teams, we read the same history, we celebrated Christmas, Easter, Columbus Day, all the rest of it. And all these things are going out and the problem is once this common ground where you rise above, if you will, diversity that has always been a problem, if you a rise above that to the common ground upon which we can all agree and stand, that’s where you achieve the unity.

Right Wing Round-Up

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 10/20/2011 5:48 pm

Bryan Fischer And The "American Association of Religious Bigots"

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 10/20/2011 2:46 pm

A few weeks ago, a New Jersey public school teacher named Viki Knox objected to a display honoring Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender History Month by posting a message on her Facebook page calling homosexuality a "perverted spirit" and a sin that "breeds like cancer" and wanting to know why gays think they can "parade your unnatural immoral behaviors before the rest of us?"

Needless to say, this set off a huge controversy and yesterday, when New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was asked about it, he said he was concerned about it and found the comments "disturbing."

In response to Christie's comments, Bryan Fischer announced the creation of something he is calling the "American Association of Religious Bigots" and declared Gov. Christie its "charter member":

I announce today the formation of the American Association of Religious Bigots, the AARB for short.

The AARB will consist of individuals and groups in America who demonstrate that they are Christophobic bigots and hatemongers by their opposition to the free exercise of religion, speech, press or association for followers of Christianity, a religion the Founders were specifically protecting by the First Amendment.

Our charter member is New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who yesterday publicly criticized a New Jersey teacher who criticized her public school’s promotion of sexually aberrant behavior. She exercised both her freedom of religion and speech by posting her comments on her own Facebook page.

This Christian teacher expressed her opposition to the school’s celebration of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender history by correctly labeling such behaviors as “perverted.” That may sound harsh, but consider the dictionary definition of “perverted:” “Characterized by sexually abnormal and unacceptable practices or tendencies.” So her assessment is not harsh, it’s just true.

...

Well, governor, consider me concerned about the “kinds of statements” you’re making. You are the chief executive officer of your state, and for you to use the power of your office as an instrument of religious bigotry is unacceptable.

So Gov. Christie is joining with those calling for her head by saying her comments are “disturbing.” That makes Gov. Chris Christie a religious bigot, someone who wants this teacher punished for expressing her sincerely held religious views. Thus the governor becomes the officially certified charter member of the AARB, officially certified by yours truly and the Focal Point radio program.

Fischer is, of course, trying to be sarcastic ... which is sadly ironic because if there really was an American Association of Religious Bigots, Fischer himself would be its charter member:

As we have said several times before: Bryan Fischer is a lot of things, but self-aware is not one of them.

Stemberger Warns Of America's Imminent Collapse If The Church Doesn't "Rise Up"

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Thursday, 10/20/2011 2:45 pm

John Stemberger earlier this week appeared on a conference call for Champion the Vote and warned that the future of the country relies on the Religious Right. Stemberger, the head of the Florida Family Policy Council and the past chairman of the campaign to have a constitutional amendment banning marriage equality in Florida, was promoting the One Nation Under God event with Newt Gingrich, David Barton, James Dobson, Sam Rodriguez and Lila Rose which focuses on boosting right-wing activism and learning about “God’s fingerprint all over the founding of our country”:

While Champion the Vote is technically nonpartisan, Stemberger warned that America is being “fundamentally transformed into a different type of culture, a different country” and that “we will lose this beautiful thing we call America.” According to Stemberger, only Christians are capable of creating a free society. “As only the Christian presuppositions of theology created this country,” Stemberger said, “only Christians can save it and unless the church rises up, we’re done.” He went on to say that without the resurgence of the church, “our country’s going to slip away into something we don’t even recognize”:

Stemberger went on to say that Christian conservatives are facing extreme “hostility” in American society and warned that their opponents want their anti-gay views “expunged from the marketplace”:

Once Upon A Time, Barber Called For The "Repeal Of All State And Federal Hate-Crimes Laws"

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 10/20/2011 11:42 am

Back in 2009, when Congress was working on legislation to expand hate crimes laws to include protections for sexual orientation, the Religious Right pitched a fit and mobilized to try and stop it. 

They failed, but Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel was among the leaders of the movement, going so far as to not only oppose adding sexual orientation to the law but calling for all hate crimes laws to be repealed:

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle — in Washington and around the country — should not only reject S. 909, but should also begin working toward repeal of all state and federal hate-crimes laws.

All violent crimes are "hate crimes." Ever known anyone cracked upside the head in love? There may have been a time when hate-crimes laws were temporarily necessary, but that time has come and gone. When the 1968 federal hate-crimes bill passed, there were multiple and verifiable cases of local prosecutors refusing to indict whites for violent crimes committed against blacks. This was the justification for the law at the time.

We've moved well beyond those days, and FBI statistics bear out that reality. In today's America, every citizen, without fail, is both guaranteed and granted equal protection of the law regardless of race, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, dominant hand, favorite color or "American Idol" pick. This renders all extraneous hate-crimes laws woefully obsolete and fatally discriminatory.

...

Rather than continuing down the wrong path and creating new hate-crimes laws that unfairly favor whichever boutique special-interest group screams the loudest, we should move toward inclusion and equality for all Americans. We should look to the future instead of the past. We should both reject S. 909 and repeal all outdated and discriminatory hate-crimes laws.

After it was signed into law, Barber even participated in a rally protesting the new legislation as unconstitutional ... which is interesting, since today he will be participating in a press conference along with Peter LaBarbera to demand that the act of vandalism against the site hosting their anti-gay training session be treated as a hate crime:

A coalition of ministers and pro-family advocates is questioning the double-standard on "hate crimes" in the wake of an attack Saturday against Christian Liberty Academy (CLA) -- which was threatened with more violence if it continues to host conservative groups like Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH).

...

Americans For Truth President Peter LaBarbera said, "Some in the media are calling this terrorist act 'vandalism,' which we doubt they would do if the situation were reversed and right-wing extremists threw two large bricks through the glass doors of a gay church."

"As conservatives we oppose the concept of 'hate crimes,' but since hate crimes laws are on the books they must be enforced even-handedly," LaBarbera said. “It is scandalous that a left-wing website post taking credit for this act of domestic terrorism -- and threatening more violence -- is still up and running."

Matt Barber of Liberty Counsel said hard-left groups like Gay Liberation Network create a "climate of hate" against Christians by demonizing them with vicious lies that equate the defense of Judeo-Christian morality with "hate."

"We will not compromise on God's truth. Neither will we be terrorized into silence," Barber said.

Liberty Counsel Floats Boycott Against "Pro-Homosexual" Starbucks

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Wednesday, 10/19/2011 12:00 pm

Liberty Counsel Chairman Mathew Staver floated a boycott of Starbucks today on Freedom’s Call, Staver’s daily news alert. Staver was addressing the controversy over Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz’s cancelled appearance at the Global Leadership Summit at Willow Creek church, which in the past had ties to the ex-gay group Exodus International.

Staver alleges that Schultz was “intimidated” by “homosexual activists” into withdrawing from the conference, falsely arguing that the petition to Schultz was about the church’s view on marriage while it was actually regarding Willow Creek’s connections to the ex-gay ministry. In fact, marriage is nowhere mentioned in the petition. Staver also claimed that “Schultz and Starbucks have routinely been pro-abortion in their policies and actions” and that Schultz is beholden to “his homosexual constituency.”

“Since Starbucks is so pro-homosexual,” Staver said, “probably the people that buy Starbucks ought to consider patronizing another place”:

Liberty Counsel previously endorsed a boycott against McDonalds for allegedly working with “militant homosexual activists” and pressure campaigns against schools that permit students to participate in the “Day of Silence,” which protests anti-gay bullying.

Staver’s weighing of a Starbucks boycott is especially ironic because his deputy at Liberty Counsel, Matt Barber, accused gay rights advocates of “economic terrorism” for protesting companies that were part of the CGBG, a commercial group that allowed customers to grant proceeds to the Family Research Council, Focus on the Family, and Liberty Counsel.

But for Religious Right groups, pressure campaigns are only tolerated when they are the ones organizing them.

Richard Land's Bizarre Anti-Mormon Media Conspiracy Theory

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Tuesday, 10/18/2011 12:08 pm

While Robert Jeffress is running around telling anyone who will listen that "the Southern Baptist Convention has labeled Mormonism as a cult" and that Mitt Romney is a member of the cult, the Southern Baptist Convention's Richard Land is trying to do some damage control and suggesting that all Jeffress was really saying is that Mormonism is "a new religion, separate and distinct from the historic Christian faith."

And, according to Land, since conservative Southern Baptists and other Evangelicals have already been inoculated against Mormonism by their own pastors and therefore would have no problem voting for a Mormon for President, the media will have to try to turn off Independents by highlighting the tenets of the Mormon faith in an effort to make voters uncomfortable with Romney so as to help President Obama win re-election:

[T]he vast majority of the 40 percent or so of the American public who identify themselves as “Independents” (and who decide every American presidential election) have only the most cursory understanding of the truth claims or belief system of the Mormon faith. If, and when, Gov. Romney becomes the Republican nominee, the major broadcast networks, all of whom but Fox have abandoned any semblance of objectivity on political matters will be airing specials going into great detail on the beliefs of Mormons. While they will say they are doing this in the public interest, informing voters about Mormonism in light of the nation’s first Mormon nominee for president, their real reason will be much different. Since they are so invested philosophically and emotionally in the re-election of President Obama, they will be hoping that Mormonism’s beliefs will be exotically new and different enough to Independent voters that many of them will conclude that they sufficiently question the judgment of someone who believes such things that they will not entrust that candidate with the presidency.

Rick Perry Grovels To Bill Donohue, Rejects Robert Jeffress' Anti-Catholicism

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Friday, 10/14/2011 10:37 am

So when Robert Jeffress is running around telling anyone who will listen that Mormonism is a cult, Rick Perry just kind of shrugs his shoulders and says he is not going to tell Jeffress what he can and can't say.

But when Jeffress says that the Catholic faith is a counterfeit "Babylonian mystery religion" that represents "the genius of Satan" and ends up angering the Catholic League's resident squeaky wheel/blowhard Bill Donohue, well then Perry just can't apologize fast enough, as Dononhe reports that Perry called him personally last night to distance himself from Jeffress' anti-Catholicism:

Last night, I discussed the flap over Rev. Robert Jeffress with Chris Matthews on “Hardball." While I made it clear that the anti-Catholic comments made by Jeffress must be roundly condemned, I also stated that I was not blaming Gov. Rick Perry for what the pastor said. One of the reasons I said this was because I was assured by my friend, Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, that Perry would never countenance any scurrilous remarks about the Catholic Church.

When I got home, I received a phone call from Gov. Perry. Catholic activist Deal Hudson, who has a history of forging good relationships between Catholics and evangelicals, intervened in this matter and arranged for the phone call. Perry and I spoke candidly about the Jeffress incident, and about religion, in general. He spoke sincerely: nothing that Jeffress said about Catholicism represents his views.

I very much appreciate Gov. Perry’s interest in getting this issue behind him in a responsible manner. He succeeded. Case closed.

Right Wing Round-Up

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Thursday, 10/13/2011 5:45 pm

Fischer: "If Anybody Is Out There Saying Something Is A Cult, It's The LDS Church!"

Submitted by Kyle Mantyla on Thursday, 10/13/2011 3:55 pm

It is becoming abundantly clear that we could never parody Bryan Fischer if we tried because he is constantly dreaming up absurd claims that we couldn't even begin to match in our wildest imagination.

On his radio program yesterday, Fischer was discussing his view that every voter must have a religious test for candidates running for office, which was prompted by the dust-up over Mitt Romney's Mormon faith at last week's Values Voter Summit.

During the discussion, Fischer defended Robert Jeffress' right to his "sincerely held religious belief" that Mormonism is a cult ... which then somehow morphed into an assertion by Fischer that Christians are really the victim here because it is the Mormon church which believes that Christians are a cult: 

If somebody is true to their Mormon faith - I mean, if they're devout - Mormonism, they believe, restored the church of Jesus Christ. It was gone, it disappeared, all the church was corrupt, there was no representation of the Gospel of Christ. This was Joseph Smith, he said "I talked to God about it. He said 'don't join any churches; they're all corrupt, they're all gone; my church is not here on planet Earth; you and you alone can restore my original church.'"

So, as far as devout Mormons are concerned, the entire history of Christianity, the entire church is one big ginormous cult, if they're going to be honest about their own faith and about their own religion. So if anybody's out there saying something is a cult, it's the LDS Church!

Jeffress Denies Provocative Statements About Catholicism, Mormonism

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Thursday, 10/13/2011 3:45 pm

Robert Jeffress appeared on The Alan Colmes Show last night to explain his inflammatory statements about Catholicism, Mormonism and other non-Protestant religions. During the interview, Colmes asked Jeffress, who has said that Christian voters should vote for Rick Perry over his Mormon opponent Mitt Romney, about his view that the Roman Catholic faith represents “the genius of Satan” and that the Mormon religion is a “cult” that is “from the pit of Hell.”

Jeffress appeared to deny his past statements about Catholicism and Mormonism, but defended the content of the statements he claims he didn’t make:

Colmes cited Right Wing Watch, which first reported Jeffress’ claims. We are happy to remind Jeffress that he did in fact contend in a sermon last year that Catholicism originated from a “Babylonian mystery religion” and is tied to Satan:

Moreover, Jeffress said in a Trinity Broadcasting Network interview last year that Mormonism, along with Islam, is a “heresy from the pit of hell”:

Listen to Colmes’ entire interview with Jeffress here.

Right Wing Author Claims Seth MacFarlane ‚"Hates" God

Submitted by Brian Tashman on Thursday, 10/13/2011 2:55 pm

Washington Times columnist Marybeth Hicks appeared on Eagle Forum Live on Tuesday to promote her new book Don't Let the Kids Drink the Kool-Aid: Confronting the Left's Assault on Our Families, Faith, and Freedom, which is about how progressives are using media and schools to literally “brainwash our kids.” Speaking with host Bill Borst, Hicks criticized the media and the show “Glee” for supposedly negatively portraying Christians.

But Hicks reserved her harshest attacks for “Family Guy” and its creator Seth MacFarlane. Hicks said that MacFarlane, a People For the American Way board member, put God and Jesus “in blasphemous humor situations” and said that she thinks MacFarlane “does believe in God but he hates him”:

Borst: Do you think part of this problem is because they’ve chased God out of our curriculum? They’ve chased him out of our society and in the naked marketplace now?

Hicks: That’s a big chapter in the book, ‘The Left’s Assault Against God,’ and the fight to keep our kids from understanding that first of all the purpose of this nation in large measure is for religious freedom, not to be free of religion, and so that’s a message that they’re trying to hammer home to kids. And here’s how it’s working and this is kind of my point is that all the points of entry into the hearts and minds of our children are really working so strong to send that message. So for example, kids who watch shows on TV like Glee for example, the show Glee that popular show about, you know, the glee club in the school and what not, and on that show there’s a Christian character but she’s often the judgmental, mean one who cuts people off emotionally. Then there’s this show Family Guy, big popular cartoon show, supposed to be an adult cartoon but millions and millions of kids watch the show, and on that show God and Jesus are recurring characters that are put in blasphemous humor situations, God is put in sexual situations. And the creator of that show Seth MacFarlane is not just an atheist he’s an anti-theist and he has said so very openly in media interviews and such. I think he does believe in God but he hates him.

New Religious Right Video: Secularism Means Doom For America

Submitted by Peter Montgomery on Thursday, 10/13/2011 10:53 am

One of the sessions at the recent Values Voter Summit featured a showing of a new half-hour video produced by the American Family Association called “Divorcing God: Secularism and the Republic.” (Back in the summer it was being promoted as "Divorcing God: Secularism, Sexual Anarchy, and the Future of the Republic.") The video features an array of Religious Right leaders and academics, whose argument can be summarized this way:  America, whose greatness is decaying because the country has turned its back on the God who inspired the founding fathers, is doomed if it continues to allow secularists to push religion into the closet.  It's time for Christians to fight back.

And just to be clear, the God in “one nation under God” isn’t any old generic God, but the same Christian God who made western civilization possible.  It’s familiar to anyone who has followed the Religious Right’s “Christian nation” rhetoric, filled with founders’ quotes about religion and  attacks on the Supreme Court’s rulings on church-state separation.

Among the stars of the video is Princeton University’s Robert George, the Religious Right’s favorite intellectual. George, a leader of the National Organization for Marriage, is one of the authors of the Manhattan Declaration, whose signers fancy themselves potential martyrs for opposing abortion and LGBT equality in America. Others include Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute; Michael Farris, homeschooling advocate and chancellor of Patrick Henry College; and Matthew Spalding, of the Heritage Foundation. The founders clearly believed that God punishes nations, says Dacus, and when countries allow their societies to become amoral, there’s a price to be paid, not just by those individuals but society as a whole.  The video suggests that the current fight between secularists and those who want to preserve the country’s divine foundation is the last stand for the future of freedom on planet earth.

Another DVD being handed out at the Values Voter Summit hit similar themes about the importance of the nation’s foundation on biblical principles.  It features a 2010 “State of the Nation” speech delivered by Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis at the Creation Museum in Kentucky.  Ham argues that the nation is threatened by the teaching of evolution and by the Supreme Court. “There really is no such thing as separation of church and state,” says Ham, who warns that “Christianity in this nation is becoming outlawed more and more in various quarters.”  Ham blames the decline more on church leaders than on secularists.  The Bible is the “absolute authority,” he says, but too many Christians have undermined the authority of scripture by compromising on the truth of the 6,000 year-old earth and great flood described in Genesis.  And that means quoting the Bible in policy debates on abortion and gay marriage has lost its effectiveness.

Meanwhile, French scholar Denis Lacorne has just published Religion in America: A Political History (Columbia University Press, 2011), in which he examines two competing narratives about American identity.  One derives from the secular values of the Enlightenment and reflects a desire to preserve liberty by freeing it from the power of an established church.  The second ties American identity to the Puritans and Protestantism.  These two narratives are reflected in competing notions of church-state separation evident today in our politics and on our Supreme Court.  At a presentation at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. this week, Lacorne suggested that what he calls the neopuritan narrative was developed in the first half of the 19th century by historians who wanted to resurrect the influence of the Puritans, who he says were generally ignored by the founding fathers in their debates over religious liberty and whether or not to make the Constitution an explicitly Christian document.  (They chose not to.)

 

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