[update: I've been revisting the subject of the religious right and the birth of anti-environmentalism, and came across this essay I wrote back in 2007. I think it has held up well, and would add little except to mention this recent story of mine : A Majority of Americans 18-29 Years Old Now Believe in Demon Possession, Shows Survey - BruceW]

Last October [2006], I listened to United States Senator James Inhofe as he described, before an audience of perhaps one thousand people, his belief that Global Warming was a hoax foisted on Americans by a conspiracy to create a satanic one-world order....

In the end, faith in science is just that - faith. Have you ever seen a nuclear blast ? I haven't, so how do we know nuclear weapons exist ? We take that on faith in the same way we assume that there's a scientific reason our microwave ovens heat up our cups of coffee ; how do we know microwave ovens aren't driven by magic, from elaborate incantations laid on microwave ovens at the factory in which they are made ? How do we know there's a factory at all ?

Most of the coverage of Billy Graham's 95th birthday was headlined with the participation of Sarah Palin, Donald Trump, Rupert Murdoch, and Ricky Skaggs, and a reminder of the trajectory that Graham's ministry has taken since Franklin Graham took control. It was also a reminder of the diminishing ability of mainstream evangelicalism to ward off the wave of the charismatic and theatrical New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). Sarah Palin's role with the NAR has been covered in detail here at Talk2action.org since 2008, including the numerous prophecies about her vice presidential campaign. But it was an NAR event featuring Ricky Skaggs in 2007 (photo at right) that should have removed all doubt that something very different was taking place in evangelicalism. It featured Skaggs leading 300 men blowing rams' horns, in a video you must see to believe. (Video follows.)

I am republishing this post from 2006 because it provides some context for what might have been one of the most interesting and significant GOP primary contests of 2014. Christian Right activist David Barton was urged by broadcaster Glenn Beck and Texas Tea Party groups to challenge incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) for the GOP nomination in 2014. Barton said he was awaiting a word from the Lord. But apparently it never came. Barton's letter announcing his decision is posted on the Draft David Barton for Senate Facebook page. Even though he is not a candidate himself, he continues to play an active role in Christian Right voter mobilization. -- FC

Military leaders are so disgusted with President Barack Obama that they'd like to launch a coup d'état to get rid of him, but that pesky U.S. Constitution keeps getting in the way, says a retired Army general who now works for the Family Research Council.

"People I've spoken to would like to see the military `fulfill their constitutional duty and take out the president,'" William G. "Jerry" Boykin told WorldNetDaily last week. "Our Constitution puts a civilian in charge of the military and as a result a coup would not be constitutional. You're not going to see a coup in the military."

"I am a positive voice for Vallejo and support Vallejo business expansion. I will find businesses to come to Vallejo! We are a "Destination" and great for tourism. I supported Solano 360 for the many jobs it can bring. Specifically, I'm currently engaging developers and county supervisors to bring a life size Noah's Ark project there" --- Solano County Democratic Party and local AFL/CIO-endorsed candidate for Vallejo City Council Anthony Summers, interview with the Vallejo Times Herald, October 29, 2013

"I was totally shocked when I met Mr. Summers yesterday at the Farmer's Market.  He stated that he was not behind the actual Solano 360 but wanted a "Noah's Ark" development at the Fairgrounds.  In addition, he wanted a "Nazareth scene" for the project.  I was appalled." -- Solano County Sierra Club member Joseph Feller, from the Vallejo Independent, November 3, 2013

In one of the more noteworthy and even historic developments in recent California Democratic Party political history, the Solano County branch of the Democratic Party and a local AFL-CIO have each endorsed a Vallejo pastor, currently running for Vallejo City Council, who a few days ago disclosed that he is negotiating with unnamed developers to bring a life-sized replica of Noah's Ark to Vallejo, California - an economically troubled city only a short commute by boat across the Bay from San Francisco.

The watchdog group the Institute for Research & Education On Human Rights is reporting that the National Socialist Movement is planning a rally in the Kansas City area on November 9. According to IREHR, "Most of the chatter about the would-be rally place it in downtown Kansas City, Missouri; although the NSM leaflet advertising this event places it in Kansas City, Kansas."

Why has the NSM chosen to rally on November 9?

Earlier this year, I published a report in The Public Eye about the historic convergence in the politics of the protestant evangelical Christian Right and the Roman Catholic Bishops.  This convergence, decades in the making, fully emerged in the publication of the 2009 manifesto, The Manhattan Declaration, in which more than 50 Catholic Bishops and such familiar Christian Right figures as Tony Perkins, James Dobson and Samuel Rodriguez expressed solidarity to the point of civil disobedience on three interrelated matters: life, marriage, and religious liberty. In that order.

Simon Brown, writing in the November 2013 issue of Church & State magazine, has picked-up on this theme. He observes that far from the Religious Right being dead (as has been so frequently declared by people who really ought to know better) is "alive and kicking" and epitomized by this regenerative alliance.  

Here are a few excerpts.

It's Halloween and time to recall apostle and demon-buster Kimberly Daniels' 2009 warning that "candy sold during this season has been dedicated and prayed over by witches."  The article, originally published in Charisma magazine, was so outrageous that it was scrubbed from Christian Broadcast Network's website due to complaints. But that, and her other demon-busting activities, didn't stop Daniels from being elected to the city council of Jacksonville Florida two years later - as a Democrat.  Charisma republished Daniel's article on the magazine's website on October 30 with the title "Why Celebrating Halloween is Dangerous," but this time with a caveat from the editors.

[note: for my previous (and related) stories concerning Vallejo and the candidacy of Pastor Anthony Summers, see story links at the end of this article]  

Imagine a fiendishly clever Republican and right-wing Christian plot to infiltrate and break up a traditional liberal coalition that has for decades elected Democratic Party politicians to office - by peeling off urban African-American churchgoers and alienating an increasingly important Party constituency, LGBT citizens and their supporters.

It's real.

[update: see end of article for related stories]

'Transformation' leader leads prayers for the destruction of California's labor unions

It is an astonishing story, but the facts are clear:

In an upcoming, deeply divisive November 5th, 2013 election for city council in Vallejo, CA -- across the Bay from LGBT rights-friendly San Francisco -- the Solano County Democratic Party has endorsed a candidate accused of working directly with virulently anti-gay groups and who participates in a local project called "Transformation Vallejo". But there's anti-union animosity in the mix as well:

"Transformation Vallejo" is one of numerous similar church-based political initiatives springing up in cities and towns across America under the guidance of internationally active evangelist Ed Silvoso, whose closest movement colleague has called upon her followers to pray for the destruction of California's biggest labor unions.

When George Truett, the famous pastor of First Baptist Dallas passed away, the entire city of Dallas shut down to mourn the deceased legend.  Truett's famous sermon, delivered on the steps of the nation's Capitol, was a landmark for the First Amendment interpretations in the nation.  He championed the Baptist doctrine of separation of church and state.  Dr. W. A. Criswell would chart a distinctly different channel in his influence upon Southern Baptists.  Both men held seats of influence by the facts they were leaders in the nation's largest protestant church.  The church was the flagship of the Southern Baptist Convention, by its size, fiancés and historic legacy.  Anyone who headed this congregation would be graced with invitations to seats of power and influence both in the religious and political community.    It would leave a stamp of influence on the lone star state.

This post was first published on October 10, 2006. The truths that it reveals about "Hell Houses" seem to be at least as true now as they were then. -- FC

Halloween approaches, a holiday traditionally celebrated with haunted house attractions that draw children and teenagers like moths to a jack o'lantern's flame.  

But over the last several years, an increasing number of churches have begun offering more than the customary chills and thrills. Instead of haunted house ghosts and goblins, these houses of worship invite children and teenagers to enter Hell House -- where they are treated to graphic depictions of the eternal damnation and torment that await them, should they stray from the straight and narrow path of "Christian" purity.