My post titled The Forces of Righteousness (TTA 10/18/06) had some erroneous information.

Well, James Dobson's finally doing what, apparently, all self-respecting Republican talk show hacks must do eventually--invite Anne Coulter on to the Monday edition of his Focus on the Family radio program.

Since the Foley scandal in which top GOP House leaders covered up the pedophilic activities of Rep.Mark Foley (R-FL), the Christian Right has been trying to change the subejct. And like the Vatican, when faced with a similar situation a few years ago, they are trying to blame it on homosexuality, and shift the focus away from those those who evidently enabled and covered-up for those who abused children under their care. This is of a piece with the Family Research Council's screechingly anti-gay Liberty Sunday event as detailed by Chip Berlet here at Talk to Action.

The Los Angeles Times has a story about the calls for a "pink purge" of gay GOP congressional staffers.

Read the incredible list of scary items that "liberals" would bring to the democratic table if they win big in November.

In a flagrant abuse of the IRS rules proscribing electioneering by non-profit tax-exempt organizations, the pastor of a Minnesota megachurch endorsed a Republican candidate for Congress during a worship service on Sunday.  Andy Birkey, writing at the blog site, Minnesota Monitor, details how Pastor Mac Hammond endorsed Republican congressional candidate Michelle Bachmann during a service at Living Word Christian Center, immediately followed by an appearance by the candidate. (there is video of the event.)

Pastor Mac Hammond: Amen. Now be seated again for a moment please. I have somebody special I want to introduce you to tonight. State Senator Michele Bachmann is with us and I'm going to ask her to come in in just a moment, and of course many of you know Michele, know of her pursuit of the United States Senate seat vacated by Mark Kennedy or Congressional seat vacated by Mark Kennedy's run for a United States Senate seat. Keeping all this straight gets to be challenging. But ya know we can't publicly endorse as a church and would not for any candidate but I can tell you personally that I'm going to vote for Michele Bachmann, because I've come to know her, what she stands for, and I want her to share her testimony with you tonight. Would you give her a warm welcome as she comes to share? Thank you Michele.

Bachman then proceeds to talk about her campaign or Congress.

Hammond's statement that a church cannot endorse is not the point. Birkey points to an IRS brochure on the point that states:

For their organizations to remain tax exempt under IRC section 501(c)(3), religious leaders cannot make partisan comments in official organization publications or at official church functions.

What is particularly remarkable about Bachmann's participation in this episode is that she is a tax attorney and should know better.

William Bennett visited the Focus on the Family studio this morning for a congenial chat and liberal bashing session with James Dobson.

Bill Bennett, who has a new American "history" book out: "America: The Last Best Hope (Volume I): From the Age of Discovery to a World at War" offered up a new, and bizarre defense of Bush's disastrous execution of the Iraq War...

Elijah House is an international "ministry" active not only in Canada and the US, but in Australia, New Zealand, Austria, and Finland. (Oddly, the Canada branch isn't included on their list of international operations -- I found it in one of their newsletters (PDF file).

Stephen Baldwin, of the Baldwin acting clan and a protege of mega evangelist Luis Palau, is a rising star. Baldwin is doing outreach to young people, and unfortunately, like many before him, his version of Christianity is laced with a pugnacious variety of rightist politics. He is also a cultural advisor to president Bush and his book is reportedly doing very well. In it, he writes:

"God has called me to go and make disciples of the youth of America. That is what I am going to try to do, and if you try to stop me I am going to break your face."

Even as the likes of Rick Warren are putting a mellower face on conservative evangelicalism, showing concern for victims of AIDS and concerning himself with such matters as poverty and global warming, Baldwin is clearly headed in another direction altogether.

Lauren Sandler reports in Salon.com:

On October 9, JewsOnFirst reported on the growth of "Good News Clubs" sponsored by the Child Evangelism Fellowship and dedicated to "evangeliz[ing] boys and girls with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and [establishing] them in the Word of God and in a local church for Christian living":

(I had hoped my first diary at Talk2Action would be more informative, rather than a rant.  But I just can't help myself anymore.  Such is life...)

The Predatorgate meltdown currently impacting the GOP will undoubtedly take time to sort out.  But one thing is clear: it has dramatically underscored the radical disconnect between the Christian rhetoric and the actual actions of the "religious right."

Whether the Democrats can do anything significant in the longterm as a result of this revelation is doubtful, unless folks outside the party give them a major assist.  While our longterm goal should be much larger than partisan politics, we cannot afford to ignore that realm, either, since the "religious right" has made partisan politics a key focus of its attention.

Is it, then, a mere coincidence that the GOP's symbol is the elephant (a sacred beast for Hindus, not Christians) while the Democrat's symbol is the donkey, on which Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday?  Or is it, rather, a sign from God?

I've been learning more and more just how badly the short time I spent in the AG church had damaged my spirit, and how much they'd been playing mind games with me before that (when I was a young teen).   I hope that what I have written will be of help to others, in seeing the evil that is being perpetrated upon innocent lives, and hopefully help some people to healing.