Christian Post and other media sources have announced the April 6 launch of the Ron Paul Curriculum for home schoolers.  Fox News described the program as "libertarian-edged" but Paul's curriculum is being produced by Gary North, a leading Christian Reconstructionist, and  Thomas Woods, Jr., a self-described founder of The League of the South. This launch demonstrates Ron Paul's ongoing commitment to a worldview that is dramatically different from that of the libertarian label Paul usually receives, a worldview that has been described by Talk2action contributors as theocratic libertarianism. Those embracing this ideology prefer to call themselves "Constitutional conservatives."

There is some sad news to report today: On Friday, David Kuo died. He was only 44 and had been battling an aggressive brain tumor.

You might remember Kuo from the George W. Bush presidency. He came to Washington in 2001 as an idealistic conservative foot soldier hoping to help the poor through the "faith-based" initiative. Two years later, he left disillusioned, convinced that the initiative was little more than a partisan political stunt.

I'll admit it: I enjoy reading scathing reviews of books and films. Critics are called that for a reason. When it's time to be critical, some of them really know how to put it out there.

Consider Roger Ebert. The long-time movie reviewer for the Chicago Sun-Times didn't hold back when he was forced to sit through a bad film.

I was reminded today of this post from June 23, 2011. It seems as relevant today as it did then. -- FC

A few years ago, Talk to Action contributor Rev. Steven D. Martin, a Methodist minister, produced a documentary film called Elizabeth of Berlin, about a remarkable woman who called on her church to speak out against the Nazis on behalf of the Jews. I wrote an article about the film for Religion Dispatches at the time.

I was recently reminded about that article, the film, and what Steve said when I interviewed him.  Elizabeth of Berlin was his third film about the Church in the Nazi era, and so I asked him why he was so interested in this subject.  His answer has haunted me ever since, and helps to inform my thinking about many things, including the themes of this site.  

Religious Right leaders have complained a lot about President Barack Obama since he took office in January of 2009. Among their litany of gripes is that the president doesn't go to church very often. (This, of course, just feeds kooky right-wing conspiracy theories that Obama is secretly a Muslim.)

Well, Obama and his family went to church on Sunday for Easter services. And guess what, the Religious Right still isn't likely to be happy.

Christians will be "forced underground." - Pastor Jim Garlow

Legalizing gay marriage will spell "the death of capitalism." - Matthew Hagee

If the Supreme Court rules in favor of gay marriage it "will have lost its legitimacy in its entirety." - Matt Barber & Mat Staver

Marching against same-sex marriage felt like being involved in the "Civil Rights Movement." - Brian Brown


Gays and lesbians "hate God's law and therefore they do hate God." - Peter LaBarbera

If the above statements from members of the conservative evangelical Christian commentariat sound ludicrous yet chilling, outlandish yet eerily familiar, that is because over the years we have become quite familiar with their incessant anti-gay vitriol.  However, the more interesting aspect of this collection of off-the-wall commentary by Pastor Jim Garlow, Matthew Hagee, Liberty Counsel's Matt Barber and Mat Staver, who is also vice president of the Jerry Falwell-founded Liberty University, the National Organization for Marriage's president Brian Brown, and Peter LaBarbera of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, is their fear that the tide of public opinion has turned against them.

Author Nathan Lean has an important essay at Salon.com about the vulgar anti-Muslim words and views of  "New Atheist" figures Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris.  These prominent figures have, Lean reports, drifted off into views that are variously indistinguishable from those of the Christian Right, and even of contemporary neo-Nazis.  

Lean points out for example, that evolutionary biologist and Oxford Don Richard Dawkins has in his anti-Muslim fervor, reveled in ignorance and embraced European far-right leaders. This is not to say, of course, that those who agree with Dawkins and Harris (or anyone else) about some things, necessarily agree with them about all things, let alone these things.  

Lean's is a cautionary tale of what can go horribly wrong, off the deep end of anti-religionism generally and Islamophobia in particular.  Such things are bad enough, but they also have running implications for those of us whose values include religious pluralism and separation of church and state, and understanding the Religious Right and what to do about it.

Photos of Kathy Ainsworth reveal a charming girl-next- door figure.  Her good looks and winning personality were on display as she taught fifth grade students at a private school in Mississippi.  Her story is a fascinating account that links historical events in the late sixties.  Her legacy identifies religious connections with the hard right in the nation.  Her fame is still the topic of books and inter net  web sites.   She was a real American terrorist motivated by convictions with roots in religion   Kathy's life ended when she was slain with an accomplice seeking to bomb a Jewish home in Meridan, Mississippi.

Newly installed Pope Francis is on record regarding the Church and child abuse: Zero tolerance.   Whether his papacy has any credibility on the matter may depend on how he handles the situation of Bishop Robert Finn who heads the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri.

I was fortunate enough to snag a seat in the press gallery for the oral argument before the U.S. Supreme Court this morning in the Proposition 8 case, Hollingsworth v. Perry.

Prop. 8 was narrowly approved by California voters in 2008. It added a ban on same-sex marriage to the state constitution. Opponents are challenging it in court, asserting that it violates the rights of gays and lesbians who wish to marry.

After reading the recent report - aka "autopsy" - issued by the Republican National Committee, some conservative Christian leaders are wondering if the GOP is intentionally "throwing the party's social conservatives overboard."

When the Republican Party suffers a resounding electoral defeat, as it did in November, you can pretty much count on the mainstream media to re-up its flirtation with the notion that the Christian Right is dead. Anyone who has watched the growth, development and ebb and flow of this movement over the past four decades, knows that its demise has been grossly exaggerated. Regardless of whatever defeats it may encounter, its well-lubricated infrastructure remains pretty darned solid.  

That being said, however, after November's electoral defeat -- making it 5 of the last 6 national elections in which the GOP lost the popular vote -- Republican Party leaders appear to be distancing themselves from what was once its core constituency. Even more importantly, the GOP appears to be distancing itself from the decades old "culture wars."

This week's featured item on As The Right Turns is a tale of influential Christian Nationalist writer David Barton, whose distorted and politically opportunistic versions of history have become increasingly controversial. The Texas Freedom Network flags (with a hat tip to Right Wing Watch) Barton's explanation of why white settlers had to wipe out Native American tribes and why the plains buffalo needed to be exterminated.

And In Other News:   Following the goings on of the Religious Right from a critical perspective can be, among other things, time consuming.  However, to save you time, some of us who follow these things, can be followed on Twitter.  So if you find yourself on Twitter, you might follow as I do, these groups whose main focus is on the Religious Right:  Americans United for Separation of Church and State @americansunited  Political Research Associates @PRAEyesRight  Religious Right Watch @ReligiousRW  Right Wing Watch @RightWingWatch  Texas Freedom Network @TFN  And of course, you can follow me too @fredclarkson