Religious Right

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.

• FRC continues its crusade against NBC for dropping "under God" from the pledge with the help of members of Congress ... and so NBC has apologized again, which I am sure will still not satisfy FRC.
• Rep. Ron Paul will not seek re-election.
• I am sure that Laura Fotusky will soon embark upon her new career as a Religious Right hero.
• Of course, had Liberty Counsel not won this case, they could have just encouraged their client to kidnap her child and flee the country.
• This video is from last year, but it is still interesting watching David Barton explain to the skeptical host that while Glenn Beck considers himself to be a Mormon, Barton considers him to be a Christian.

A few months ago, a post appeared on the American Family Association's blog criticizing the Religious Right for aligning itself with "false prophets" like Cindy Jacobs, Rick Joyner and Lou Engle.

The post was, not surprisingly, immediatedly removed because the inclusion of these self-proclaimed prophets and apostles and the dominionist Seven Mountains theology they promote has largely become accepted and embraced within the movement to such an extent that leaders like David Barton are openly promoting it.

The same can now be said for the AFA itself, which featured Seven Mountains proponent Os Hillman on a recent broadcast of "Today's Issues," one of its flagship programs, where nearly the entire discussion was dedicated to the Seven Mountains concept. 

Hillman explained that success of the gay rights movement is a result of the fact that a small percentage of people control the media mountain and the arts and entertainment mountain and have systematically used them to promote acceptance on this issue.  Hillman went on to assert that this success is merely a "symptom of a greater problem" within the family mountain and that if Christians lose control of this mountain "we lose all the other ones": 

• Tony Perkins wants it known that, contrary to reports, he was not on the Religious Right's Rick Perry conference call.
• It is apparently unfair for Rep. Keith Ellison to point out that his opponent is an intolerant anti-Islam right wing activist.
• I never fails to amuse me when Religious Right groups best known for hating gays decide to speak out on foreign policy issues.
• It looks like Sally Kern will be promoting her new book on AFA Radio and with Concerned Women for America, so we have that to look forward to.
• Finally, Peter LaBarbera says "Christians and all defenders of sexual normalcy ... no other choice but to fight back against the emerging liberal homo-fascism."

Mission America’s Linda Harvey is back with new anti-gay rants, hitting both the Republican National Committee and the National Education Association for allegedly supporting “the promotion of homosexuality.” The RNC came under fire from Religious Right activists when a member of the Log Cabin Republicans joined their finance committee, and Harvey is now calling on listeners to withhold donations to the RNC “until the sodomy lobby is shown the door”:

Harvey: Here’s my suggestion: True conservatives who are sickened and rightfully concerned about the promotion of homosexuality at every level in our culture need to send a clear message to the GOP national headquarters. We need to say no to donations from the Republican National Committee, when they call we need to tell them why. Until the sodomy lobby is shown the door, don’t give the RNC itself one dime.

Harvey is also incensed the National Education Association endorsed anti-bullying initiatives that protect children from bullying based on sexual orientation. According to Harvey, Americans should sue the NEA to prevent the burgeoning “gaystapo” from enacting anti-bullying programs:

NEA’s anti-bullying campaign will include a strand on creating safe work environments to include: 1) support plans within the organization for members bullied, harassed, or exposed to hate language; 2) student discipline plans that stop bullying, harassment, and use of hate language; 3) contract language that secures safe work environments for all our members.

The "hate language" policy is bad enough. Will this result in even more "gay"stapo efforts to silence Christians and conservatives? Or to position students and fellow staff who dare to express traditional moral beliefs as speaking "hate language"?

But.... "Contract language"?? In other words, parents, get ready. Teachers are going to transform the local school into an even more ideological monolith as they negotiate away your rights to not have your child propagandized, in order that they, the teachers, feel "safe" from certain viewpoints. It's the control freak tendency of the tolerant left,once again.

Where are the anti-discrimination class action suits against the NEA when we need them?

Perhaps taxpayers can "contract" to have public sector unions become a relic of the past.

• Gary Cass of DefendChristians.org clearly does not understand how Ron Paul supporters operate.
• Religious Right groups are teaming up to try and pressure NBC to cancel "The Playboy Club" from its fall line-up.
• Looks like Herman Cain's campaign is struggling.
• David Barton is apparently writing a book about Thomas Jefferson. That ought to be good.
• John Hagee's trip to England is not being welcomed with open arms.

As Brian mentioned in the last post, the Religious Right is none-too-pleased about the passage of a bill that would make sure textbooks recognize the contributions of prominent LGBT figures in California history.

So it was no surprise that it was a topic of discussion on today's broadcast of the AFA Report where Ed Vitagliano said that gay men are "abusing the nature of the design of the human body" while Jeremy Wiggins was outraged that they would allow such things into school before comparing gay sex to using a screwdriver to open paint cans:

Vitagliano: Our perspective here at AFA has been not only a biblical one, we've made this point numerous times, but it is also a physiological, a biological, a natural law perspective. And that perceptive is humankind is divided into male and female and the male and female have different - you know, I don't want to make this a biology lesson - but different organs that are designed for, well, intercourse. And so the fact of the matter is homosexuals can only imitate that and this is the primary reason why the sexually transmitted disease rates and infection rates are so high in, especially, the gay male community. They are abusing their body and they are abusing the nature of the design of the human body.

And so you don't even have to be a Christian or an orthodox Jew or a Muslim to argue against the unnaturalness of homosexual activity. We're not saying that people should be beaten up because they're gay or persecuted because they're homosexual, we're just simply saying that our society should not develop as a worldview that this is a natural and normal and healthy activity, because it's not.

Wiggins: When you look at the standards for the paste or the crayons that go into a classroom, how stringent the government is on the materials that a child can use because of health and safety regulations, but they want to teach a child that it's okay to be gay even though you can catch something that will kill you in a most horrific way that I wouldn't wish on anyone.

And also, when you use something - just to piggyback off of Ed - when you use something that it's not designed for, bad things happen. Why do you think they tell you don't use your screwdriver to open up paint can lids? It wasn't designed for that. It could break. And that's what we're seeing. You go against the unnatural [sic] state of things and things break down.

In 2009, Janet Porter of Faith 2 Action organized a right-wing conference in St. Louis called "How To Take Back America" that was co-sponsored by the likes of WorldNetDaily, The American Family Association, Vision America, Liberty Counsel, and WallBuilders.  The keynote speakers at the conference were Mike Huckabee and Rep. Michele Bachmann.

The line-up at this conference was so radical that we put together a report on the participants which gave special attention to the truly fringe views espouse by Porter: 

It is probably impossible to overstate the extremism and lunacy of Janet Porter, whose radio program and Faith2Action.org website gives her a platform for promoting the most unhinged of conspiracy theories.

Porter is Mike Huckabee's biggest fan. She first fell in love when she organized the 2007 Values Voter Debate to which she had personally invited a gospel choir to sing "Why Should God Bless America?" and after which Porter (then Folger) declared that Huckabee had been revealed as the answer to Christians' prayers for a presidential candidate who shared their views, proclaiming him to be the "David among Jesse's sons." During the presidential primaries, she started a front group to attack Huckabee's arch nemesis Mitt Romney and wrote columns claiming that only Huckabee could prevent Hillary Clinton from throwing all Christians into prison and save her fantasy world from this "evil queen and her dragon of slaughter."

She has since claimed that God has cursed America for voting for Obama, that anyone who voted for him is bound for hell , and that anyone who has ever voted for a pro-choice candidate is also living under a curse. She has actively pushed the Birther conspiracies and even alleged that Obama's presidency was the culmination of a decade-long Communist conspiracy twenty years in the making. After the election, but before the inauguration, she called on God to prevent Obama from taking office, while warning that "AN EARTH-SHATTERING CALAMITY IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN" to this nation because we deserve God's judgment.

Among other fears she has recently been stoking: the Obama administration is creating internment camps for conservatives and building mass evacuation buses to take them there, while warning that the H1N1 flu vaccine is really a nefarious plot by the government to kill millions of Americans. She helped to create and inflate the Right's false claims that a Department of Homeland Security report was equating conservatives and veterans with terrorists; as noted above, she's now pushing comparisons between the Obama administration and the rise of Nazism.

Porter has written a book called "The Criminalization of Christianity" and claims that hate crimes legislation will lead to Christians being thrown in jail. More recently she's joined the chorus of extremists falsely claiming that the bill would "give heightened protection to pedophiles." As part of her campaign against hate crimes legislation, Porter has repeatedly invited on to her radio show Ted Pike, a rabid anti-Semite who claims hate crimes laws are part of a Jewish plot for world domination.

Of course, the radical views held by Porter and the others in no way dissuaded Bachmann from attending.  In fact, Bachmann appeared on Porter's radio program ahead of the event and used it as an opportunity to praiser her and endorse the May Day at the Lincoln Memorial prayer event Porter was planning for the following spring:

That May Day event ended up being so infused with Seven Mountains Dominion Theology that Porter lost her radio program and almost ended her career at a Religious Right activist, until she showed up in Ohio earlier this year where she began scheduling fetuses to "testify" on behalf of her extremist anti-choice "Heartbeat Bill."  In her downtime, she was busy praying for God to give Christians control over the media and every level of government.

But none of that seemed to bother Bachmann, who joined Porter, Joseph Farah, and others in promoting Porter's "Pink Slip" campaign to warn members of Congress that they would lose their jobs if they voted for legislation opposed by the Right:

In 2008, Porter was a key supporter of Mike Huckabee.  But with Huckabee declining to run for President this time around, Porter's endorsement is still up in the air. 

But given the already existing ties between Bachmann and Porter (and judging by the poll Porter is currently running on her website) it seems increasingly like that Bachmann could wind up being her candidate of choice.

• Sarah Huckabee has been hired by Tim Pawlenty's presidential campaign.
• Peter LaBarbera complains that those who "practice sodomy ... get to jump to the head of the line in immigration."
• If you are going to write a long profile of TVC's Lou Sheldon, can you please mention that he's the head of an anti-gay hate group?
• I imagine that if some pilots had refused to fly Christian banners, the response from the Religious Right would have been universal outrage.
• Finally, Bryan Fischer is on vacation ... but that isn't going to stop him from continuing his "gays commit hate crimes" crusade.