Virginia

Pat Robertson recently sat down with The Virginian-Pilot to reflect back upon CBN's 50 years of operation and was asked if the criticism and mockery he receives whenever he makes an outrageous statement still bothers him. 

Robertson said that "of course it hurt" ... and then proceeded to stand by his recent assertion regarding Haiti:

Q. Speaking of working out, you caught flack from skeptics in 2008 for saying you did a leg press of 2,000 pounds. Through the years, you've been criticized for your remarks about God sparing Virginia Beach from hurricanes, Haiti inviting an earthquake by entering into a pact with the devil, and suggesting the assassination of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez would be cheaper than starting a war. Does such criticism hurt?

A. "Of course it hurts. I do have sensitivity. I'm not dead, you know. It's so easy to make jokes. I don't focus on the jokes or the things that the bloggers write when they go after me. I don't read that junk. As for Haiti, the truth is that the country has given itself over to voodoo. Regarding the leg press, some people tried to make it a big deal. But I did do it. One time."

Of course, nobody was disputing Haiti's ties to voodoo; they were mocking Robertson's assertion that God caused the earthquake because Haiti "swore a pact to the Devil."

Fortunately for us, Robertson says that even though he is 80 years old, he expects to be around for a long time ... after all, "Moses was just getting warmed up when he was 80."

Bishop E.W. Jackson is, even by right-wing standards, something of a fringe figure. He seems to have some ties to Rick Scarborough and appeared on Janet Porter's radio program not too long ago.

He is also Founder of Exodus Faith Ministries and last year founded something called Staying True to America's National Destiny [S.T.A.N.D] and was among the participants at the right-wing anti-hate crimes rally last year, where he railed against the legislation as the result of a "virulent strain of anti-Christian bigotry and hatred."

But today, Jackson announced his most grandiose plan yet with the formation of the STAND AMERICA PAC though which he is "declaring political war on the Democrat Party and the liberal Congressional Black Caucus" as part of an effort to end the deception that is causing the black community to support the "Coalition of the godless": 

Bishop E.W. Jackson Sr., retired attorney and Harvard Law graduate, is declaring political war on the Democrat Party and the liberal Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). Bishop Jackson, having fought for pro-life and pro-family causes for 25 years, has entered fully into the political arena by forming a political action committee. The top priority of STAND AMERICA PAC, formed on April 1, 2010, is to recruit and support conservative black candidates to run against liberals in Congressional Black Caucus districts.

Says Bishop Jackson, "The black community has been deceived into voting for liberal black leadership which does not reflect their values." Jackson's strategy is to have black voters register as independents and vote their Christian values. He argues that the black voter is a conservative church going person. "This was shown by the large black vote for Proposition 8 to ban homosexual marriage in California. The black legislative leaders supported it, but the black voters did not. What does that tell us? These leaders are out of touch with the people. It is time to vote them out."

According to Bishop Jackson, CBC members insult the black community by "conflating the black struggle for civil rights with the demands of radical homosexuals for marriage and other special rights." He calls it "one of the most preposterous frauds ever perpetrated on a people." In a recent speech before a black Christian men's group in Williamsburg, Virginia, Bishop Jackson said, "Homosexuals have no history of slavery, Jim Crow, lynching or being legally defined as 2/3 of a person. I have known people who have been delivered from homosexuality. I have never known anyone to be delivered from being black. The Democrat Party's commitment to abortion, homosexuality and moral relativism is an affront to the values of the black Christian community. It is a 'Coalition of the godless.' Black Christians do not belong in a 'coalition of the godless,' and should not vote for those who are."

Bishop Jackson says the time has ended when getting elected to Congress in the black community requires no more than being a Democrat and play the race card. He says, "We must demand that representatives of the black community start respecting the values of the people who elect them. STAND AMERICA PAC has been formed to make sure that happens."

Whenever the issue of achieving full equality for gays and lesbians in America comes up, especially as it relates to marriage equality, someone from the Right inevitably plays the "Homosexual marriage is not a civil rights issue" card:

Defining marriage as the union of a man and a woman would not deny homosexuals the basic civil rights accorded other citizens. Nowhere in the Bill of Rights or in any legislation proceeding from it are homosexuals excluded from the rights enjoyed by all citizens--including the right to marry. However, no citizen has the unrestricted right to marry whomever they want. A person cannot marry a child, a close blood relative, two or more spouses, or the husband or wife of another person. Such restrictions are based upon the accumulated wisdom not only of Western civilization but also of societies and cultures around the world for millennia.

But you know what is apparently so much like the civil rights movement that is warrants it own reenactment?  Abortion:

The pro-life movement is all about freedom. That’s why Priests for Life, with the leadership of our Pastoral Associate Dr. Alveda King, is launching “Freedom Rides” for the unborn to galvanize pro-life activity across the country.

During the Civil Rights movement, the “Freedom Rides” constituted a distinctive moment of resolve and unity. The Supreme Court, in its 1960 decision Boynton vs. Virginia, had outlawed segregation in bus terminals and restaurants serving interstate travelers. So the following spring, thirteen people – seven African-Americans and six whites – decided to travel by bus from Washington DC to New Orleans to test the enforcement of that Supreme Court decision.

Along the way, particularly in Alabama, they encountered opposition and violence from those who did not want desegregation. But having been brutally attacked, and some lying with wounds in hospital beds, the “Freedom Riders” vowed that the journey would continue. That’s when others joined in, and the initial Freedom Ride became 60 rides across Southern states in the summer of 1961, with some 450 riders participating. And by the fall of that same year, the government issued orders for the enforcement of desegregation at the bus terminals.

The Civil Rights movement and the Pro-Life movement have the same heart and soul: a longing for equal justice for everyone, based on the inherent dignity of every human life. That’s why, when Dr. Alveda King first walked with me at the annual March for Life and I asked her, “Does this remind you of the marches in the civil rights movement?” she declared, “Fr. Frank, this is the civil rights movement!” Both movements are movements of freedom.

It is therefore time for Freedom Rides for the unborn. The pro-life movement is more ready than ever to proclaim freedom…

Freedom from the lies and the deceit that allow abortion to continue…
Freedom from the fear of speaking up and taking action for the unborn…
Freedom from the shame and guilt of past involvement in abortion, so that those called to speak up and share their testimonies may do so as people who are “Silent No More”…
Freedom from the political oppression that tramples on human rights and denies equality before the law…
Freedom from violence and death itself.

People will be invited to participate in the Freedom Rides themselves. The bus rides are a symbol of the journey we are on, of the fellowship we share with each other, and of the fact that we are a movement. Major events in cities along the bus routes will be held, in which all the different facets of the pro-life movement will be invited to participate.

Among the scheduled participants are Alveda King, Frank Pavone, Clennard Childress, and Day Gardner.

As Sarah Posner notes, last night's opening session of the Freedom Federation's "The Awakening" Conference was pretty much a bust:

The Freedom Federation Summit taking place April 15-16 at Jerry Falwell's Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia was billed as the next Great Awakening, the inaugural gathering of "a new movement [that] is forming in America comprised of people of all races, ethnicities and generations." With the mobilizing power of dozens of religious right organizations behind it, why was the first night attended by only a few hundred people?

I'm not sure what the organizers were thinking, but kicking off this thing on tax day, knowing that tea parties were mobilizing around the country, was obvious poor planning. Last night's activities took place inside Thomas Road Baptist Church, which seats several thousand, but only drew a few hundred spectators, and when I first arrived there were only a few dozen. This could not have made many of the first night's top speakers -- including the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins, the Southern Baptist Convention's Richard Land, and Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli -- very happy. Some of today's activities are slated to take place in the University's basketball arena, which seats 10,000, and it would be remarkable if Liberty and/or Thomas Road aren't able to send out an ABP to get some more warm bodies in the place.

In fact, the only interesting speaker was Cindy Jacobs, who was part of a panel on "Politics and People of Faith" with Richard Land, Samuel Rodriguez, and Arnold Culbreath during which she declared that "the Bible is the government of the people, by the people, for the people" and got so excited about the coming national awakening that all Culbreath could say when she finished was "wow":

When we talk about God, politics, and people of faith, you have to say that politics is not neutral. Many times we think that it is a neutral thing, but it is not ideologically neutral ever. And if the people of faith don't engage, then someone will engage.

But the point is, we have to say this: does the Creator have a right to say how nations are governed? Of course he does. I think it's John Wycliffe, I know it is, in 1382 that said "the Bible is the government of the people, by the people, for the people." And many of us don't even understand that in the United States today our roots, everything we are, is based upon the Manufacturer's handbook. That we took our law from English common law and that what we have and who we are works because the Creator put it into a constitution and then put it into a people that would cause righteousness and justice to come to the land.

And so I believe this is why we are here. We're here for a great awakening to understand that politics are simply the ideological vessel that God has allowed to be in society today that will determine what happens in the soul of the nation. So we cannot be idle and we cannot be silent.

I was thinking where would we be today without a [William] Wilberforce that had said people of faith have to do something when they see something is unjust. There would be slavery still today, or these things.

I want to tell you, and I believe, that we are on a verge of the greatest awakening, not only what we would say just in the church, but we are on the verge of the greatest awakening that we have ever seen in our history as a nation ... I want to say something radical: it's not the faith of our founders that is going to heal this nation; it is a people who will rise up and understand that the Bible is the government of the people, by the people, and for the people. And I believe there is an awakening that is not going to begin, but has already begun that will do just that.

Jacobs' panel was then immediately followed by a speech from Ken Cuccinelli, Virginia's Attorney General.

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• Finally, poor WorldNetDaily gets no respect despite the fact that they consider themselves a valid news organization: "I think it’s a slight to both Les [Kinsolving] and WND. He’s treated like a pariah in the association. He’s treated like a pariah by his colleagues at every briefing. Half the time he’s standing there with his hand up, and the guy from the AP will just close down the briefing. He’s treated with disrespect by journalists. It’s really sad because it’s not uniform, or universal, that they disrespect elder statesmen of the press corp, because Helen Thomas is treated like a queen. She asks questions that are just as bizarre as Les, but because her ideological leaning is to the port side, she’s treated like a queen. And Les Kinsolving, who is not much of an ideologue, to be honest with you, but his association with World Net Daily pigeon holes him, and he’s treated with disrespect."

Last month, we posted a video of Janet Porter speaking at the Convergence 2010 conference during which she prayed that God would had control of the media over to Christians so that they could take dominion over the nation:

She followed that up a few days later by explaining that this was part of an effort to "to take dominion in every area" in order to "occupy until Jesus comes."

When Porter says that it is her goal to "take dominion" over every aspect of American culture, she is entirely serious, as this is a key part of a movement to capture the "7 Mountains" and is going to be a central feature of her upcoming May Day prayer rally:

7:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. - Every hour will generally feature times of prayer and proclamation, including words from the Constitutions of all 50 States, as well as a number of our Presidents and American patriots. Prayer times will include both corporate and personal silent prayer. Prayers of repentance will be offered about each of the "Seven Mountains of Culture," which are: (1) Business; (2) Government; (3) Media; (4) Arts and Entertainment; (5) Education; (6) Family; and (7) Religion. A number of leaders have been asked to offer prayers of repentance in each of these areas and subcategories, such as the military and our court system.

This 7 Mountains theology was started by Bill Bright, Loren Cunningham, and Francis Schaeffer back in 1975 and aims at quite literally having Christains defeat "the enemines of the Gospel" in order to  gain complete control over every aspect of American life:

When it comes to government, the goal of the movement is to install a "virtual theocracy" overseen by "true apostles" who will fight Satan and his Antichrist agenda: 

All governments suffer from corruption, a built-in sabotage that guarantees their eventual implosion. The only government that will never have any corruption is the theocratic Kingdom of God. Here on earth, there will always be something less than a perfect government. We can (and should), however, insist on high ideals, principles, and individual character—people who can help manifest a form of government that is a blessing to a nation. We cannot instill a theocracy in a human government because theocracy is transcendent to humanity. The Kingdom of God can be superimposed on people through influence, but only God Himself can be “theo.” Therefore, any attempt to establish a physical theocracy is ill-conceived unless it is reinterpreted as something other than what it actually means. (-cracy—government, theo—of God). A government can potentially function as a virtual theocracy, but only as the individuals in power allow themselves to be puppets (i.e. servants) of the theocracy (God’s rule and reign). The goal is to bring the influence of heaven to bear on whatever political machinery that exists

...

One of the primary roles of future government leaders will be to instruct in righteousness. The more God’s judgments are poured out on earth, the more explicitly will they be able to give that instruction

...

We need to fill the entire mountain with children of the Kingdom who know why they are there: to allow the Lord’s house to be exalted. This mountain has many niches and grooves and many ways to approach it. Some may be called to go after unjust laws as their arena of action. Others may be called to formulate foreign policy or push for budget reform. The more significant the repercussions of those laws and policies, the higher the mountain level represented. However high we go, enough grace will be provided because this is our Promised Land

...

A new model of national leadership will develop as God exalts His mountain above all other mountains. There will be Joseph-type presidents of nations who will carry great spiritual authority and great civil authority. At various times, these presidents will need to step back and forth between those roles and address the concerns of each. There will be times to address the nation and say, “I will now speak to you outside of my civil authority but in my capacity as a minister and servant of God.” One can then address the moral and righteousness issues of the nation and speak out of the spiritual authority God has given him or her.

Among those listed as participating in Porter's May Day prayer rally are dozens of Religious Right leaders including James Dobson, Rick Scarborough, Mat Staver, Wendy Wright, Harry Jackson, and David Barton, as well as several Republican members of Congress: 

Congressman
Randy Forbes (Virginia)

Congressman
Trent Franks (Arizona)

Congressman
Louie Gohmert (Texas)

Congressman
Steve King (Iowa)

Congressman
Cliff Stearns (Florida)

Back in 2008, I wrote a post entitled "Welcome to the Neighborhood, Crazy Right-Wing Pharmacy" about the opening of "full life pharmacy" in my neighborhood in Virginia that refused to sell birth-control pills, condoms, cigarettes or pornographic magazines.

I no longer live in that neighborhood, which is why I was unaware that it has now gone out of business until I saw this article over at Pam's House Blend:

DMC Pharmacy, a pro-life Catholic pharmacy that opened with much fanfare in Chantilly, Va., in October 2008, closed last month because of lack of funds.

"We could not make it work financially," said Robert Laird, executive director for the pharmacy, whose letters stood for Divine Mercy Care. "We could never get that big push to make it viable and finally the board of directors said enough was enough."

By the time the store closed March 4, it was losing in the tens of thousands of dollars per month ... Situated next to a Catholic bookstore, the founders hoped to attract clientele from St. Timothy and St. Veronica, two nearby Catholic parishes totaling 20,000 members. Within five miles were four other booming churches with 30,000 Catholics. And it was situated in the fast-growing Diocese of Arlington with 428,417 adherents.

But regular customers never materialized in great numbers.

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