A Full Quiver of Bad Advice
Speakers at the event were Huckabee, Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott's wife, Senator Ted Cruz's father, and historian David Barton. Abbott is leading in the polls in his race for governor. Other quest speakers at the Austin Hyatt Regency were there to warn Texas pastors about this evil threat. The man who welcomed us was also the main organizer of the Perry/Reliant Stadium event in Houston a few years ago. We were immediately told about the threat to military chaplains in the nation. Recently a rash of phone calls were made from constituents of legislators regarding this issue. Irate callers had gotten word Christian chaplains were being persecuted and forced to abandon their Christian convictions. I had read a recent report about Congress holding a special meeting with the chiefs of military chaplains to get to the bottom of this story. The chaplains assured the legislators that these concerns were based on unfounded rumors. A clear case of bad information. The chaplain story was just one of many cases I found with bad information shared with a gullible audience. Before the first session I listened to writer William Ferderer. Federer, a frequent John Birch Society speaker, once spoke to us at the Heritage Foundation. His convincing displays and CD about the international Muslim threat was well articulated. Further research on my part found his writings were prone to gross exaggerations. Another case of bad information. David Barton a man the Texas GOP once dedicated its platform to, was to prove to be yet another example of information lacking in accuracy. I spoke to his wife at his book display. She was selling books as fast as bar be que at a Texas County fair. I asked her about the book for sale about Thomas Jefferson that the publisher gave David "trouble" over. Nelson Books, a Christian book company pulled Barton's book off their catalogue list because of inaccurate portrayals of Jefferson. Barton's wife explained to me this was just a case that Nelson "could not handle the criticism." She explained they now had the rights to publication and Simon and Schuster were working up a contract with them. I captured a photo on my cell phone of a page in Barton's book on Black History. It is a cartoon of two white men holding guns to a shivering Black man's head. They were Democrats and telling the Black man how to vote. In the book the GOP is the avid champions of Civil Rights and Democrats are associated with the Klan. Lutheran pastor and right wing activist Lauren White, used the first Hitler comparison. He introduced former Black Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts. In J.C.'s last term in the U.S. House, he was connected with a national scandal. This was not mentioned. J.C. provided a moving speech and ended it with another case of bad info. He said one of our problems in the country is that God has been driven from the public square. Just exactly who it was that did this was not listed. I have often heard this fear from J.C. and his types. As of yet, I have not received any culprit names. Liberty University's Matt Staver gave the audience the first taste of the red meat to encourage pastors to become activists. He assured the crowd that the 501c3 tax policy forbidding ministers to endorse candidates was not enforceable. He advised us not to worry about it. He even said you could use the church stationary and the pastor's name to endorse candidates. Most legal groups who are active in this area would tell us this is not accurate legal advice. He claimed the famous anti-Clinton ad, taken out in USA Today, did not get the Pierce Creek Church into any trouble. There was no mention made of Ted Cruz's church in Houston that was taken to court over electioneering. Staver's newsletter boasted he was one of the first to file briefs against Obama care. He wrote that his mission was to defend the nation from big government and its socialist agenda. Favored historian David Barton told the conspiracy-minded audience about the new pro-gay law in nearby San Antonio. It had diastorous implications. Barton claimed that now if you are on the city council in this city and are found to be against the gay lifestyle, you are kicked out of office by the new law. People who are not pro-gay are by law not allowed to run for office here. The Texas Freedom Network found these accusations humorous not to mention lacking the facts. It reminded me of a statement I heard David make a few years back. He said American pastors can now be arrested for reading from the Book of Romans in the pulpit. I met and asked several San Antonio residents at the conference and asked them about these allegations. Each of them said they were not aware of this legal interpretation, but if Barton said it, that was good enough for them. Mick Huckabee led the morning session and reminded us the Obama administration is hostile to Israel. Total support for all Israeli demands is a litmus test for this crowd. Huckabee claims Obama is nicer to Iran than he is to Israel. Mike called upon us to be good examples in the public square. That translates to using the power of the vote to change America according to Huckabee's close friend, Barton. A more militant note was struck by cowboy church pastor Jason Taylor. He noted that at times a cowboy has to rope his horse and drag him on his side behind a pickup. The culture needed to be dealt with accordingly. Jason said if our governor got out of line we needed to "kick him in the butt." The preacher said we needed to forget about doctrine and get in the real battle. As he ended his dramatic presentation men blew Jewish horns at the ends of the arena. These were sounding devices ancient Israel used to call the men to war. Being manly was a theme from several preachers that morning. David Barton next lamented the fact that M.L. King cannot be called "Reverend" in American history books. Just how accurate this claims is puzzled me. Some of his other works lack verification. He next stated the 1963, Supreme Court ruling on school prayer was solely based on the argument that the Bible is psychologically harmful to children. David claims the Bible teaches against a Progressive Income Tax. The super rich and dirt poor are thus to pay the same percentage according to the writer. The Supreme Court was a frequent target at the gathering. Barton told us only about 9% of Christians believe the Bible and seldom half of evangelical voters vote the right way. I found it ironic he was pushing the Standup Sunday movement. This is the effort to get out the vote in churches. I found this strange since he said most of them don't vote right! More disinformation came from David's claim that chaplains can't pray in Jesus' name. Another footnote to inaccurate claims disputed by the heads of military chaplains. Barton boasted he was due credit for saving chaplains from having to preform gay marriages in the military. One booth told me Christian ministers by law are now forced to preform gay marriages. There is no basis for this charge according to legal experts. Ted Cruz's father, Rafuel, substituted for the vacant son. Ted had to be at Fort Hood after the shooting incident. We were told before the speech that Ted was right to lead the Senate filibuster to stop Obama care. Rafuel will lead nearly 40 conferences this year for pastors. He said pastors must wake up and "take the country back." He boasted he was an original member of the Moral Majority and Religious Roundtable. The Roundtable, through prayer, defeated Jimmy Carter and brought us the greatest President in the last 150 years, Ronald Reagan, the preacher declared. Cruz said 501c3 is a mere tool to cause pastors to hide from their responsibilities. Separation of church and state is not in the Constitution, the one time Cuban immigrant said. Jefferson's wall is one way, he noted. That is to protect the church from the state and not vice versa. He bemoaned the fact that prayer was taken out of the schools and the church remained silent. Today the church is known by its silence he said. The father of our Senator came across as harsh and judgmental. He praised Barton and said preachers must stop hiding behind the pulpit. He said fearing God means limited government. His advice was to elect Godly men and quit electing "village idiots." He claims our current leadership in the nation is socialist. He declared he is a strong advocate for capitalism. This seemed strange from a man who went to prison in Cuba for seeking to help Communist Castro take the nation. Strange fanatic claims are not limited to the meeting in Austin. The Southern Poverty Law Center noted in its Intelligence Report the beliefs of a couple of more Texas GOP leaders. Representative Louie Gohmert suggested the President is using the Affordable Care Act as a cover to set up a secret security force. Representative Steve Stockman says there is a U.N arms treaty to practice gun control on a global scale. Southern Baptist leaders are now promoting Arkansas pastor Ronnie Floyd as the next SBC president. Floyd shocked may when he endorsed George W. Bush from his pulpit on regional TV. Liberty U., Barton and the Alliance Defense Fund will be providing their backing for Floyd and his endorsements. In conclusion, I will always remember meeting members of Dan Cummin's small church. Dan is hosting a national web cast with Louie Gohmert and several other Religious Right figures. His booth admitted to me that Dan tore up the church he was pastor of with this activism. Younger church families were offended with his political preoccupation. It reminded me of right wing pastor Rick Scarborough. He admits he leaves behind divided congregations with the loss of members over his antics. I wondered if these gullible pastors and their families realized the risk involved in following the advice of Cruz, Barton and Staver? Who will pick of the pieces of divided congregations or provide help for pastors in trouble with their community? I am no lawyer but understand ignorance of the law is no excuse to break it. Pastors who follow this bad advice will not be able to blame the Texas Renewal Project. We are still libel under the law, even if we followed bad advice.
A Full Quiver of Bad Advice | 8 comments (8 topical, 0 hidden)
A Full Quiver of Bad Advice | 8 comments (8 topical, 0 hidden)
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