As readers of RWW are well aware, Religious Right leaders have adopted a strategy of portraying just about any policy they disagree with as a dire threat to their religious freedom. And they love to portray President Barack Obama as a sinister enemy of religious liberty. Today’s frantic email from the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins is a model of both the Obama-is-evil paradigm and frothing-at-the-mouth alarmism about threats to religious freedom in America.
This money beg has it all: President Obama scheming to turn America into a godless, totalitarian wasteland; ridiculous claims that the administration wants to silence the religious expression of its critics; conspiracy theories about Common Core; and flat-out lies that the administration did nothing to secure the release of Meriam Ibrahim from the Sudanese prison where she had been unjustly held.
Coming from Perkins, none of this is terribly surprising. After all, this is the guy who responded to a Colorado baker being required to abide by the state’s anti-discrimination law by wondering, “When are they going to start rolling out the boxcars to start hauling off Christians?”
To avoid any accusations that we’ve taken Perkins out of context, here’s today’s fundraising letter in full:
January 27, 2015
Dear Peter,
As I wrote to you earlier this month, 2015 could very well be the most dangerous year for Christians in American history!
President Obama seems willing to do anything to further his radical agenda—even if it means violating the Constitution to take away your religious freedom.
This President has clearly placed the religious freedom of millions of Christians like you in his sights. Why? You are among the people who are standing in the gap against his radical plans to transform America into a godless, secular country where government reigns supreme.
In these evil days it is more important than ever that you stand your ground for religious freedom!
2015 could very well be a make-or-break year for the future of religious liberty in America. Between now and 2016, President Obama, who knows his time to “leave his mark on history” is growing short, will go all-out. He will use the unlimited resources at his disposal in a drive to attempt to . . .
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PUNISH Christians for opposing same-sex “marriage”;
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FORCE pro-life people to fund abortions through ObamaCare;
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INDOCTRINATE your children with the help of Common Core;
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BAN religious expression and free speech when it conflicts with federal speech regulations; and
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STOP Christian-owned businesses from doing business with the government because they will not embrace the homosexual agenda.
President Obama and his supporters wrongly believe that our rights as Christian citizens are granted by, and can therefore be repealed, by government. They do not believe, as you and I do, or even as our Founding Fathers did, that . . .
Our rights are inalienable because they come from God.
We will never compromise on that truth. And that’s why we can win so many of the showdowns. Truth has power when people of faith stand up for it. With God’s help and your faithful support, FRC has been able to . . .
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FREE persecuted overseas Christians, even when our own government would not—Christians such as Mariam Ibraheem who was imprisoned for her faith;
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DEFEND the religious liberty of the brave servicemen and women in the U.S. military who are persecuted and punished because they publicly affirm their Christian values;
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PROTECT employers and employees forced to leave their faith at the door when they enter public service;
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UPHOLD natural marriage while countering the pro-homosexual agenda which wants to silence Christians and their objections to same-sex “marriage”;
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PRESSURE Congress to officially protect religious freedom and oppose the President’s unconstitutional power grab; and
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EXPOSE the relentless assault on religious liberty that has largely been ignored by the mainstream media.
Thanks to champions of freedom like you . . . No organization has done more to preserve religious freedom in Washington, D.C., than FRC!
But there is still much, much more that must be done to stop the assault on religious freedom that threatens the very future of our nation. I won’t mince words: All of us must redouble our efforts to meet the incredible challenges ahead of us.
One of my heroes was 18th century conservative, Edmund Burke. In the British Parliament, he fought slavery and actually supported the American Revolution. A man of faith, he is credited with saying, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”
Today, I urge you to do something. Something great. Something lasting. Something having immediate yet ongoing impact. You achieve that when you financially stand with FRC. Thank you for refusing to sit by and “do nothing.”
Standing (Ephesians 6:13),
Tony Perkins
President
P.S. Please renew your support to help FRC start 2015 strongly. Thank you. God bless you.
