Religion

• Florida Independent: Florida Family Policy Council To Host Bachmann At Annual Policy Awards Dinner.

• Sarah Posner @ Religion Dispatches: How Breivik’s “Cultural Analysis” Is Drawn From The “Christian Worldview.”

• Tim Murphy @ Mother Jones: Rep. Allen West's (Very, Very) Stealth Jihad.

• Good-As-You: Maggie Not Even Faking It Anymore: NOM Is Essentially A Religious Group.

• Note: We will be attending an all staff retreat tomorrow afternoon (7/28) but will be back on Friday.

• Frank Graffney says the terrorist attacks in Norway demonstrates the urgency to fight…you guessed it, Sharia law.

• Live Prayer’s Bill Keller says that while a Christian who commits acts of violence is an apostate, “a Muslim commits acts of terror, killing innocent people, they are simply following the teachings of their false religion.”

• Conservatives defend Herman Cain for saying communities can ban mosques; claim states' rights trump freedom of religion.

• Meanwhile, Cain is skipping an interview with Stephen Colbert.

• Michael Brown, author of A Queer Thing Happened To America, gives his take on the Norway attacks: “Sadly, the atmosphere in our country has become so toxic that venerable ministries like Focus on the Family and the American Family Association have been branded as “hate groups” by the Southern Poverty Law Center, while People for the American Way sends out regular warnings about evangelical Christian leaders on its RightWingWatch website. And this will surely intensify in the days to come in the wake of the tragedy in Norway.”

PFAW: PFAW Celebrates Certification of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell Repeal

Sarah Posner @ Religion Dispatches: Excuses, Excuses: The Polite Regrets of Governors Bailing on Perry's Prayer Rally.

Igor Volsky @ Think Progress: GOProud: Gays Need Guns, Not Hate Crimes Legislation.

Alvin McEwen: Maggie Gallagher's Hypocritical Whine About Corruption

Adam Serwer @ The American Prospect: Stop Using Moozlem Words!

And now for a post from our we-couldn't-make-it-up-if-we-tried department.

In our last post, we noted how Bryan Fischer had taken his "gays = Nazis" allegations to their logical conclusion by declaring that Adolf Hitler himself was gay.

But in the segment directly preceding that, Fischer kicked off the program by stating that somewhere on the internet, someone had referred to him as a "Nazi gas bag" ... and claimed that when people start calling you a Nazi, it is proof that they do not have any legitimate arguments to make:

And by the way, ladies and gentlemen, this is a clear indication that the Left has lost the argument and the debate in public policy. Because name-calling is the first refuge of a man who does not have an argument. As soon as someone starts calling you names, then realize they're out of ammunition, they're out of arguments. They can't reason with you any longer, they don't have facts on their side, they don't have reason on their side, they don't have logic on their side, they don't have history on their side, they don't have research on their side, they don't have science on their side so they start calling you things like a "Nazi gas bag."

Here, ladies and gentlemen, is Bryan Fischer saying just two months ago that gays are Nazis:

The homosexual agenda is just like Islam: there is no room for dissent, there is no room to leave, once you're in, you can't leave. Muslims won't let you leave, homosexuals won't let you leave - if you leave, they claim you're faking it, so there's no way out. There's no freedom of choice, there's no freedom of religion - if you have religious views about homosexual behavior, you are squashed.

I mean, ladies and gentlemen, they are Nazis. Homosexual activists, when it comes to freedom of speech, are Nazis. When it comes to freedom of religion, they are Nazis. There is no room in their world dissent, there is no room in their world for disagreement, there is no room in their world for criticism. You criticize homosexual behavior, they tag you as a bigot and a homophobe and then they got to work to silence you just like the Roman Catholic Church did in the days of Galileo - it's no different; it's the Spanish Inquisition all over again.

Ladies and gentlemen, they are Nazis. Do not be under any illusions about what homosexual activists will do with your freedoms and your religion if they have the opportunity. They'll do the same thing to you that the Nazis did to their opponents in Nazi Germany.

Bryan Fischer is a lot of things ... but self-aware is not one of them.

Religious Right activist and unsuccessful Republican congressional candidate Star Parker has a new column today lamenting that African Americans have yet to embrace her ultraconservative ideology. The outspoken anti-choice and anti-gay activist bemoans that African Americans are still predominantly Democrats since they don’t watch Fox News and because “too many blacks still don’t want to be free” despite advances in civil rights. Parker, who received just 23% of the vote in her failed bid for Congress, writes:

The message that massive government spending and borrowing does not grow the economy has not reached blacks. Rather, like our president, they seem to believe that the problem is we just haven't yet dug the fiscal hole deep enough.

Is this a racial thing? Whites will jump off the ship run by a black captain in a minute while blacks will ride it out until it hits the iceberg?

No, I don't think so. I think it's both a liberal information thing and a moral thing.

The liberal information thing is that blacks overwhelmingly get their information from liberal sources.

Blacks watch CNN and MSNBC, not Fox. They listen to urban black radio.

…

But I think more corrosive is the moral thing.

Almost a half century since the passage of the Civil Rights Act, too many blacks still don't want to be free and accept the responsibilities that go with it. Too many blacks still believe that the condition of their lives is caused by what someone else does or has.

It is sad that this is true despite the fact that blacks go to church more often, pray more often, and say religion plays a central part in their life more than any other ethnic group in the nation.

Why does a people so inclined to turn to God so readily violate the Tenth Commandment's prohibition on covetousness and measure themselves in terms of what others have? And then use this sin to justify violating the Eighth Commandment and give government license to steal what others have in order to redistribute?

Perhaps most fundamentally, how can a church-going people buy into the materialism of socialism?

There is a reason why Bryan Fischer really likes the candidacy of Herman Cain, and it is because Cain and Fischer hold many of the same bigoted views.

Over the weekend, Cain reinforced this fact when he told Chris Wallace of Fox News that communities ought to be able to ban the construction of mosques:

WALLACE: But couldn’t any community then say they don’t want a mosque in our community?

CAIN: They could say that. Chris, lets go back to the fundamental issue that the people are basically saying they’re objecting to. They’re objecting to the fact Islam is both a religion and a set of laws, Sharia law. That’s the difference between any one of our other traditional religions where it’s just about religious purposes. The people in the community know best, and I happen to side with the people in Murfreesboro.

WALLACE: You’re saying any community, if they want to ban a mosque?

CAIN: Yes. They have a right to do that. That’s not discriminating based upon religion.

Fischer, of course, loved it precisely because he has been calling on communities to ban the building of mosques for a year now.

In addition, Cain and Fischer both share a view that Muslims ought to be banned from serving in any presidential administration; a position Fischer reiterated on his program last Friday:

So good for Herman Cain. He started off strong when it came to the Muslim deal - will not have a Muslim in my cabinet, he tried to finesse that, walk it back; shouldn't have done it, should have held firm.

I mean, there's no way a Muslim should be in anybody's cabinet in the United States of America because their ultimate devotion is not to the Constitution, it is to sharia law. That's what their God, their holy book and their prophet tell them is the highest law in the land. That's where their ultimate allegiance is going to be. It's impossible for them to take an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States and to be able to do that with any sort of a clear conscience.

It is of concern to anyone else that a Republican presidential candidate holds views that are exactly the same as those espoused by the Religous Right's most notorious bigot? 

It ought to be.

• Andy Birkey @ Minnesota Independent: Religious right rushes to Bachmann’s defense following ‘ex-gay’ reports.
• Justin Elliott @ Salon: Rick Perry's Confederate past.
• Sarah Posner @ Religion Dispatches: Neo-Confederates and the Revival of “Theological War” for the “Christian Nation.”
• Warren Throckmorton: The strange bedfellows involved in Rick Perry’s prayer meeting.
• Towleroad: Mitt Romney Rejects Conservative Iowa Group's 'Marriage Vow', Calls It 'Undignified and Inappropriate.'
• Igor Volsky @ Think Progress LGBT: Pawlenty Won’t Sign FAMiLY LEADER’s Pledge After Courting Group’s Endorsement.

It has been reported that James Robison has been gathering Religious Right leaders and mobilizing them to defeat President Obama in 2012.  While some reports that have suggested that Robison is seeking to rally them behind Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Robison himself is making it clear that he is less interested in "who" the candidate is than he is in laying out "what" needs to be done to save America:

I am declaring to everyone with ears to hear: Now is the time to return to God. Stand up like a mighty army! Pierce the darkness, storm the gates of hell, set captives free, correct our course, reclaim the land, make God the “who” in our personal and national life, and point people to the “what.” We will never find the right “who” until we know the right “what.” When the population understands the “what to do,” we can find the “who” to help lead and insist that every “who” does the right “what.” 

To that end, Robison is laying out just "what" needs to be done so that Christians can decide on "who" will be the best candidate to support: 

• As the Pledge of Allegiance states, we are a nation under God; and as our currency proclaims, our trust is in God—not “gov.” If national leaders do not acknowledge what America’s founders understood concerning the importance of divine providence, there will be no recovery.
• All life must be protected and seen as precious with unlimited potential however unexpected or planned for. Remember, we can clearly learn from Nazi Germany that something can be legal but also very evil (i.e., the horrific extermination of the Jews and others considered less than perfect or unimportant).
• America must stand in the best interests of Israel against the evil forces calling for its destruction.
• Marriage is between a man and a woman and must be viewed as sacred. The strength of our nation depends on strong families, and national policy must protect marriage.
• There are moral absolutes. No person’s failure reduces or redefines the standards carved in stone by the finger of God and revealed in His Word. We must find a way to stop judges and courts from misinterpreting the Constitution and writing their own laws.
• Success and prosperity may be mishandled by some, but the potential for success that produces opportunity for all and prosperity at different levels is not the problem. Those we elect must keep the free market free, healthy and under the influence of people who understand the importance of personal responsibility.
• There are forces of good and evil, and they must be wisely and rightly defined, discerned and resisted. A strong national defense is critical. Radical Islam and terrorism are serious threats. Extreme environmental activism is, also.
• Depending on the federal government as our source is idolatry. We must control it, or it will control us. Stop the madness! Hitler believed that Germany needed a government over the people, not of the people. God deliver us from this kind of insanity.
• Out-of-control spending, mismanagement of the people’s money and excessive, intrusive regulation is as wrong and immoral as stealing. Spending must be brought under control now, at whatever sacrifice. This does not include foolishly giving the government more of the people’s money to waste or mismanage.
• “We the people” must be understood to mean that we all have a “dog in the show.” We are all responsible. We can’t just lay the load and responsibility on others, no matter how many twisted thinkers try to play the blame game. The opportunities and possibilities to succeed is not the problem. Don’t blame opportunity, begin inspiring and teaching responsibility. We must find a way for every citizen to help in some way shoulder the load. This can be accomplished without being unfair and riding on anyone’s back.
• Deal with excessive, foolish taxation and revamp the tax code along with the IRS so we can rejoice together because it will stimulate economic growth. This would create jobs and ultimately enable us to better assist the suffering, the weak, helpless and poor—not with just a handout, but with compassionate hands extended. The church can and must set the example.
• Let the people go. Turn them loose and behold the miracle made possible when people are truly free to be productive while assuming personal responsibility. Nehemiah rebuilt the wall in 52 days. Impossible? Not with God!
• The church must be delivered from the spirit of religion and filled with the Holy Spirit, leading us to the supernatural unity that produces holy harmony. National leaders must rise above partisanship and reason together, seeking effective solutions to serious challenges.

• Mary Tuma @ Washington Independent: What Perry and the nonprofit AFA can’t say at next month’s prayer event.
• Julie Ingersoll @ Religion Dispatches: Who Would Jesus Starve?
• Dan @ TFN Insider: Barbara Cargill: Some Things Never Change.
• Andy Birkey @ Iowa Independent: Bachmann first to sign Vander Plaats’ social pledge.
• Alan Pyke @ Political Correction: Rep. Bachmann's Far-Right Family Pledge Argues Black Kids Were Better Off In 1860.
• Susan Crabtree @ TPM: Rep. Ryan Tastes The Grapes Of Wrath.