« Mychal Massie
March 13, 2008
Be Careful How You Pray
From their start as the “Moral Majority” through their as the “Christian Coalition” and all the way up to the “Values Voters” who supposedly returned President Bush to office in 2004, Religious Right leaders has long claimed the exclusive right to speak for people of faith in the political arena. In order to bolster that claim, the Right has developed an entire repertoire of attacks against those who might dare to disagree: complaining about perceived anti-religious bigotry, warning that Christians are under constant attack, demonizing and disrespecting other faiths, and accusing Democrats of attempting to dupe faithful Americans into abandoning the only political party that represents a “truly biblical worldview.”
Normally, such attacks were directly solely against Democrats, but they started to get used against Mitt Romney and his Mormon faith when he showed up on the presidential scene. The Right, not knowing know how to react to a Republican candidate who did not subscribe to a faith with which they were comfortable and familiar, began to flail about, giving rise to all sorts of speculation about whether rank and file right-wing voters could ever support such a candidate, allegations that other candidates were exploiting the issue for political gain, worries that Romney’s unique beliefs would somehow hijack the Right’s traditional messaging … even allegations that a vote for Romney was “a vote for Satan.”
Eventually, Romney was compelled to deliver a speech reminding voters that a religious test for candidates and office holders was prohibited by the US Constitution and proclaiming that “no authorities of my church, or of any other church for that matter, will ever exert influence on presidential decisions. “
The speech didn’t accomplish much and Romney was eventually forced to drop out of the race – and now the Right has been able to get back to what it does best: attacking Democrats.
Amid the strong showing that Barack Obama continues to make in the Democratic primaries, we have begun to notice that Obama’s proudly declared strong personal faith appears to be rankling some on the Right who see his talk of faith as a threat to their perceived hegemony and have begun striking back by attacking not just his positions or policies, but the nature of his faith itself.
Routinely, right-wing commentators have been attacking Obama’s church and declaring that his “Christianity [is] woefully deficient.” Just last week, Rob Schenck did an entire segment on Obama’s faith, suggesting that he might really be a Muslim despite the fact that he identifies himself as a Christian and even questioning Obama’s claim that he “[prays] to Jesus every night, wondering why he would “pray to Jesus” rather than “pray to God in Jesus’ name.”
Apparently, the mechanics of Obama’s personal prayer and his understanding of the Trinity are of great concern to people like Schenck and Mychael Massie who seem to think it is now acceptable to encourage voters to oppose a candidate or office holder based solely on how he or she exercises their personal faith:
Suffice it to say that his comments are objectionable on many levels, not least of which is because the fundamental construct for prayer is given in Matthew 6:6-9, and nowhere in same does Jesus say to pray to "Him." In fact, nowhere in all of Scripture are we told to pray to anyone save God Almighty Himself.
In Philippians 2:9-11, Paul writes that while God has given Jesus a name above all names, and that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, and that every tongue should confess Him as Lord, this is done to the glory of God the Father. Paul, in verse six of the same chapter, writes that, "…in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known unto God." He doesn't say make them known unto Jesus.
Is it possible Obama doesn't understand the meaning and order of the prayer the Lord instructed us to pray in Matthew 6:6-9? Does Obama presume Paul didn't mean what he said? Or does he place his biblical literacy above him whom God inspired? Perhaps Obama just doesn't understand the true nature and order of the Triune God – allowing that is the case, then it is incumbent upon him to revisit the definition of devout.
Jesus Himself references God the Father as "His God" and "my God." At no time and in no place does Jesus say pray to Him, but rather in John 16:14-28, He instructs the exact opposite.
So word to the wise: if you consider yourself a Christian, you’d better bone up on the details of how to pray properly because otherwise the Right is going to accuse you of being a posturing, ignorant phony whose faith is fundamentally illegitimate.
Posted by Kyle at 10:13 AM | Permalink
April 18, 2007
Right-Wing Reaction to Don Imus
Some on the Right voiced criticism of radio host Don Imus, whose slur against the Rutgers women’s basketball team led to his firing from CBS radio and MSNBC. Jerry Falwell, who was frequently mocked on the show, called Imus’s comments “the most demeaning thing possible.” “He has built his career on saying outrageous, indecent, racist, even blasphemous things,” wrote Tom Minnery of Focus on the Family, adding that Imus also targeted Focus founder Dobson. Michael Steele, the former Senate candidate and new chairman of Newt Gingrich’s GOPAC, said Imus should be fired and criticized John McCain for supporting the talker.
But many right-wing commentators defended Imus or used the controversy to push their own agendas. Quite a few decided to attack Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton as “race hucksters” (columnist David Limbaugh) or “nappy-headed demagogues” (Yale Kramer for the American Spectator). Mychal Massie, a spokesman for the right-wing Project 21, described the firing of Imus as a “lynching” and accused Jackson, Sharpton, and other Imus critics as “race-baiters” who “are today fomenting unrest and belching racial bile.”
Others used the opportunity to change the subject to their own issues and suggested that Imus critics are hypocritical for not making the same connections. John Berlau of the Competitive Enterprise Institute charged that “Imus’s insensitive remarks pale especially in comparison to disparaging comments and cruel recommendations made time and again by leaders of environmental groups.” Alveda King, director of African-American outreach for Frank Pavone’s Priests for Life and a frequent religious-right speaker, declared in a press release, “Yes, Don Imus's apologies are necessary. But I demand the same from every public figure who has ever said that babies in the womb are not persons.”
And a few commentators and activists have suggested that critics of Imus are ignoring “anti-Christian” references in the media. Catholic League President Bill Donohue complained about the lack of interest in his campaign against a Manhattan boutique hotel’s display of a “chocolate Jesus” sculpture and concluded, “In other words, Catholic bashing is humorous and an exercise in liberty. Racism is awful. Bigotry, then, is neither good nor bad—it just depends who the target is.” Syndicated columnist Cal Thomas also decried a supposed “double standard”:
Why aren't these keepers of the First Amendment flame coming to the defense of Don Imus? It's because they have a double standard. Evangelical Christians, practicing Roman Catholics, politically conservative Republicans, home-schoolers and others not in favor among the liberal elite are frequent targets for the left. Anything may be said about them, and frequently is. But if someone insults the left's "protected classes," be they African-Americans, homosexuals or to a lesser extent, adherents to the religion of "global warming," they must be silenced and punished.
According to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, “The message of the ongoing Imus scandal is simple: verbal offenses against anyone other than conservatives or Christians or Jews, will be treated as crimes, and Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are the judge and jury.” And Star Parker, author of “Uncle Sam’s Plantation,” warned that Congress is considering extending violent-hate-crimes protections to gays and wrote, “With the passage of this so-called hate-crime bill, pastors will be intimidated to condemn homosexual behavior from their pulpits. Is this the freedom we want?”
Finally, a few right-wing commentators tried to make Imus a symbol of white-male victimhood. MSNBC’s Pat Buchanan decried the “Imus Lynch Party,” writing, “The issue here is not the word Imus used. The issue is who Imus is -- a white man, who used a term about black women only black folks are permitted to use with impunity and immunity.” In a Human Events column, Mac Johnson declared that “Apologizing to Al Sharpton Was Imus’s True Racist Act” and speculated,
Now think about how stupid and racist all this is. Were Chris Rock, in the heat of a comedic diatribe, to call someone, say, a “limp-haired slut” what would he do next? Would he ask to go on David Duke’s radio show so that Duke could accept an apology on behalf of all “white people” and then issue a suitable penance? (“Donate to my charity, Chris! You don’t look sorry enough yet.”) Somehow, I don’t think so.
And Rebecca Hagelin, vice president of the Heritage Foundation, attacked “the tentacles of radical feminist thought” that she claims are “poisoning the image” of white males through the media and Title IX sports programs. “The white, Anglo-Saxon male, the young teenage guy, is probably the most discriminated against kid on the face of the earth right now,” she declared on “The O’Reilly Factor.”
See comments on the Imus controversy by People For the American Way Foundation staff and by founder Norman Lear here.
Posted by Ezra at 8:50 AM | Permalink
February 21, 2007
Right-Wing Front Group Spokesman: Affirmative Action 'Hitlerian'
In lashing out at affirmative action programs in college admissions, Mychal Massie of “Project 21” warns of “the harm done to minority students who have repeatedly been told the world is out to get them after they drop out or flunk out of schools they weren't qualified to attend to start with.” According to Massie, “diversity” is “Hitlerian”:
I have repeatedly argued that the level of bigotry inherent in diversity should be glaringly obvious. It is a perverse form of Hitlerian motivations vis-à-vis attempted social engineering for no other reason than to have a color-coded campus matrix.
Massie is the host of an Internet radio show and a frequent spokesman for right-wing causes through his involvement with “Project 21,” a front group for the National Center for Public Policy Research designed to market a “new leadership for Black America.” NCPPR is perhaps most famous for allegedly laundering money between corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. “Only a Rip Van Winkle, asleep for the past 50 years, would mistake Massie and his colleagues for civil rights leaders,” as a PFAW report put it.
Nevertheless, occasionally Massie’s self-promotion pays off. Earlier this month, an Associated Press story on the debate in the Virginia legislature over apologizing for slavery used Massie as a prominent source:
Moreover, an apology won't cure community ills, said Mychal Massie, with the National Leadership Network of Black Conservatives.
That will come from blacks emphasizing two-parent homes, education over fast money and personal responsibility for life choices, Mr. Massie said.
"A willing disregard for responsibility, a willing disrespect for education, ad nauseam, is not attributable in any way to slavery," said Mr. Massie, who considers an apology redundant.
"We see black leaders on every level," he said. "America has apologized."
(“National Leadership Network of Black Conservatives” is the tagline on the “Project 21” website, apparently used by mistake.)
Posted by Ezra at 9:44 AM | Permalink
February 8, 2007
National Black Pro-Life Union Event Draws Familiar Religious-Right Faces
BOND’s Jesse Lee Peterson, Star Parker, Mychal Massie, ex-Bush advisor Claude Allen – plus Brownback. Meanwhile: “Black Genocide” speaker attacks Obama.
Posted by Ezra at 11:59 PM | Permalink
January 9, 2007
Spokesman for Right-Wing Civil Rights Front Group on MLK Day: 'We Have Overcame'
Project 21’s Massie attacks civil rights leaders for “dissociative falsities.” More on this laughable attempt to redefine civil rights.
Posted by Ezra at 11:59 PM | Permalink
December 19, 2006
Right-Wing Black Front Group Attacks Obama
‘Project 21’ calls senator “extreme socialist liberal version” of Dan Quayle. More on this laughable group.
Posted by Ezra at 6:38 PM | Permalink