News Tidbits

Pew Research Center: Most states allow religious exemptions from child abuse and neglect laws

Associated Press: Racism and talk of religious war: Trump staff's online posts

Associated Press: South Carolina evangelicals ask Governor to guard them from trans folk

LGBTQ Nation: Target boycott organizer Sandy Rios: ‘We will not be able to go to the bathroom’

Pink News: NOM: Re-ban same-sex marriage because gays are more likely to beat their partners

Commentary Tidbits

Spiritual Sounding Board: Open Air Preacher Tony Miano’s Insensitive Tweets after Nepal Earthquake Disaster 

Strange Bedfellows: Ex-Mars Hill pastor Mark Driscoll is back on evangelical lecture circuit 

Religion Dispatches: No, Climate Change Deniers Aren’t Modern Day Galileos

Friendly Atheist: Disturbing Flyers at Wisconsin High School Tell Boys to “Protect Her Character” on Prom Night

The Washington Post: Republicans again appeal to theocracy

Edge Media Network: Duggar's Latest Money Beg For Anti-Gay Law

Huffington Post: Meet The People Trying To Seize The 'Last, Best Opportunity' To Stop Gay Marriage 

Alternet: 'I Don’t Believe This Anymore': What It's Like to Leave Behind Abusive, Right-Wing Religion

Vision Forum's History of America Mega-Conference: Messiah States and Mega-Houses

Part V in a series on Vision Forum's History of America Mega-Conference
Part I: First Impressions
Part II: Doug Phillips on God in History 
Part III: "Religious Liberalism" and Those Magnificent Mathers
Part IV: Kevin Swanson Is Tired of Losing  
Part V: Messiah States and Mega-Houses
Part VI: Doug Phillips Rages Against the 20th Century
Part VII: Christian Vikings, Godly Explorers, and Strange Bacon
Part VIII: Closing Thoughts  


On Friday, July 5th, I observed an afternoon workshop entitled "The Rise of the Messiah State: From Wilson to Johnson". Geoffrey Botkin of the Western Conservatory of the Arts and Sciences delivered a talk on the supposed ills of social safety nets and the evolution of the so-called "Messiah state". Botkin, a long-time ally of Vision Forum, has a controversial history with Great Commission Ministries, according to commentaries at Under Much Grace (see here and here).

At the start of his workshop, Botkin explained to his audience that a major challenge is to communicate how society should be organized to a culture unused to thinking theologically. "All history is theological," he insisted, echoing the sentiments of other speakers at the conference.

Botkin complained that the U.S. is comfortable with a "Messianic state" now. Quoting Christian Reconstructionist thinker Gary North, he claimed that the "welfare state" died when the Roman Empire fell in 400 AD, but reemerged in the 20th century. From 1913 to 1973 -- from the Wilson administration to the Johnson administration -- America's social order changed theologically to a "welfare-warfare state with fiscal and moral deficits of crushing ... consequences," Botkin claimed.

Botkin understood the state, church, and family to be God-created institutions, each with their own sphere of influence. However, the modern American state is so divorced from God's will that its power to do good has decreased, he said. Over the span of a few decades, "the power of the state to do evil" allegedly grew.

Botkin shared quotes from Christian Reconstructionist authors on the alleged evils of an overbearing state. One quote from Gary North claimed that the "welfare state" is defended as a network of social safety nets, in which business profits are seen as a tax base for the welfare state. Another quote from R. J. Rushdoony caricatured humanists as revering the state as their lord and savior. Revealingly, Botkin's presentation shared another quote from Rushdoony which accused society of succumbing to the "heresy of democracy". In Botkin's eyes, "statists" cannot revere God because they revere the state instead.

"Messianic statism", as Botkin defined it, is an organization of men who provide answers to all of humanity's problems through reorganization of society under the scientific/secular/socialist state, rather than Christ. The state, in effect, replaced God in people's minds, he explained. Changing, man-made laws result in society's "moral dissipation", he claimed, making the state a "maternalistic necessity". As a result of Messianic statism, men become "emasculated", unable to take responsibility in their lives, Botkins claimed. A cycle of dependency emerges, where the more men descend into moral dissipation, the more they need a "nanny" or "mommy" state to care for them.

Emasculation? "Maternalistic necessity"? Mommy states? Someone has masculinity issues, I thought.

Tastelessly, Botkins used natural disasters as an example of dependency on the state. When a hurricane causes devastation, everyone whines "Where is my Messianic state!?", he sneered. His utter callousness to the suffering of disaster victims and disdain for any safety net to help them recover startled me.

Botkins proceeded to caricature the policies of U.S. presidents from Woodrow Wilson to Lyndon B. Johnson. He reserved special animosity for income taxes, Social Security, the New Deal, Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, and public education, which he derided as "free babysitting".

His diatribe was peppered with fundamentalist commentary and disgust for real or perceived immorality. For instance, he described Woodrow Wilson as an agent of "totalitarian experimentation" who did not trust the authority of scripture. He defended Warren G. Harding as a president striving for normalcy in a country destabilized by jazz music, movies, and prostitution. He spoke approvingly of the Hays Code, claiming that it prevented entertainment from undermining society, as it allegedly does now. Tellingly, he painted women's organizations lobbying for pensions for mothers and widows during the Coolidge administration as "less productive" people seeking to exploit the system by looking for handouts.

In his conclusion, Botkin likened the Messianic state to ancient god-kings and notions of divine kingship. He shared a quote from R. J. Rushdoony likening state worship to Moloch worship, calling both examples of "political religion". Like the ancient god Moloch, the Messianic state demands total sacrifice from its subjects, he warned the audience.

I don't think Botkin grasps the purpose of social services or a social safety net. Such measures are not the sinister tentacles of a "Messianic state", but a means by which governments and communities help people in need. The mark of a civilized society is its willingness to help its most vulnerable members gain self-sufficiency. Frankly, I do not want to return to a society where the downtrodden are without recourse. A country without a social safety net, with charities in the place of fair programs, would have a devastating impact on the populace, as S. E. Smith recently observed. The callousness with which Botkin demonized the U.S. social safety net struck me as cold-hearted.

I also found Botkins' workshop highly ironic. A man trumpeting Christ and scripture while ignoring Jesus' teachings on compassion left me shaking my head. Whatever happened to "For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me"? Whatever happened to "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me"? Matthew 25:31-46 is lost on such people.


*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

Later that afternoon, Vision Forum director Doug Phillips and Weir Capital Management founder Erik Weir spoke at a workshop entitled "How Architecture Helped to Shape the Character of the American Family". Phillips posited that a symbiotic relationship exists between architecture and the family, influencing each other in countless ways. This relationship isn't a function of income level, he insisted, but of vision, making it applicable for tents and palaces alike. Phillips listed three foundations -- aesthetics, design, and architecture -- for designing homes.

Phillips argued that modern-day architecture is diverging from the past, elevating form over function, often abandoning aesthetic principles, and neglecting to consider the family. He looked askance at the deconstructivist school of architecture, contrasting photos of eye-catching deconstructivist buildings with a photo of Monticello.

C'mon Doug. A little architectural experimentation is perfectly fine, I thought.

Phillips stressed the importance of bringing every aspect of the home into obedience to Christ. He asked aloud if a home is to be designed to unite families in common spaces, or to cocoon them in separate bedrooms. Colonial and frontier homes, he observed, were organized around a central hearth where the family interacted, for example.

Monticello held special appeal for Phillips, who praised it as a reflection of Thomas Jefferson's worldview. Monticello functioned as a place to entertain guests, a site of industry and production, a personal study, and a setting in which the new American spirit would be modeled. I noticed that Phillips conspicuously left out Monticello's underground slave areas, where unseen slaves produced food and sundries for Jefferson's guests. This, too, was a reflection of Jefferson's worldview (specifically, his acceptance of slavery), a stain that Phillips left out.

Phillips also praised Montpelier, the historic plantation of James Madison. He described Montpelier's central core, in which children were educated, parties hosted, heads of state entertained, and the family business operated. Montpelier, like other estates of the era, was built with the assumption that future generations would live there an exert an ongoing influence on the area.

Phillips contrasted the communal homes of the past with the homes of the present, which he likened to "flophouses". In the past, it was common for three or more generations to live under the same roof, either out of custom or necessity, he said. He contrasted such multigenerational homes to the dwellings of the "selfish generation" which segregates its elders. Today, families are getting smaller while houses are getting bigger, so families tend to share less space. By living and working near each other, families experienced less infidelity, closer ties existed between parents and children, and more economic incentives to perpetuate family life.

I chuckled to myself at Phillip's assumption about infidelity, as the reality was far less pleasant. Less infidelity? Hardly. Slave owners sexually abused slaves in that time period. Plenty of men patronized brothels in that time period. There was plenty of infidelity.

Phillips stressed the importance of generational thinking regarding architecture and the home. For example, he encouraged listeners to avoid faddishness and cheap quality in home decorations and furnishings in favor of long-term, durable furnishings that will last for many years. In choosing and designing homes, Phillips encouraged listeners to consider multiple considerations: geography, climate, space use, flow, and many others.

It occurred to me through the talk that Phillips' home advice, while well thought-out, would only be applicable for well-to-do families. If families are struggling economically, they won't be able to afford the durable, long-term furnishings. If families are limited in what kind of housing they can afford, they may not be at liberty to base home or apartment choices on a wide range of considerations. In an ideal world, everyone could consider furnishings, geography, and flow in their home choices, but we do not live in an idea world.

This realization grew stronger as I listened to Weir's part of the workshop. Weir's wealth was evident as he described his home, Magnolia Hall Plantation, inspired by the Oak Alley Plantation in Louisiana. His family chose a large property that would allow space for future growth, including a row of oak or magnolia trees and on-site housing for his children, he explained. Sharing photos of his home, he proudly pointed out the "manly" Doric columns they chose instead of "flutey" Corinthian columns. As photos from the inside of the home flashed on the screen, Weir explained that he wanted to create an inviting interior. (The foyer, while sleek and pristine, struck me as cold and a little too perfect, however.) Weir and his wife chose fine wood for their floors so that guests with children wouldn't have to worry about sullying a carpet with spills.

This is great, but ... how does this apply to middle and working class families? I thought. Most of the people in the audience probably can't afford to make these choices.

In short, the workshop on architecture was a paradox, an example of intricate thought and little thought. On one hand, Phillips and Weir clearly spent time reflecting on aesthetic values and home functionality, demonstrating a level of forethought that I respected. On the other hand, they seemed oblivious to the fact that only well-off people could meaningfully apply these principles. Weir's home, while lovely and well-planned, is the home of a wealthy man. How relevant would Weir's description of his home be to a couple struggling to feed and clothe multiple children? After taking in Botkin, Phillips, and Weir that afternoon, I wondered how often they reflect on the middle and working class.


Stay tuned for more on the History of America Mega-Conference!

News Tidbits

Northwest Missourian: Intelligent design bill proposed

Times Ledger: Sandy Aid Measure Raises Church/State Separation

Pink News: Anti-gay evangelist Scott Lively claims to have found proof that Obama is gay

ABC News: Indiana Teacher Suspended Over Anti-Gay Remarks

Troy Patch: Rick Santorum Set to Speak at School Fundraiser in Troy

Commentary Tidbits

Slate: Trouble in Creationist Paradise

Reason Being: Post Hurricane Sandy: FEMA Not Providing Aid to Churches

Mother Jones: "We're Not Going to Be Pushed Around by the Antis"

Right Wing Watch: Tim Tebow to Address Anti-Gay, Anti-Catholic Megachurch

RH Reality Check: The Pope, Pregnant Children, and Violence Against Girls and Women

Salon: Pope Benedict XVI: His best of the worst

Washington Post: American Catholicism is at crossroads

Good As You: Springfield Bishop Says Pro-Equality Catholics "Harm the Common Good of Society"

Sin, Pride Apparently to Blame for Hurricane Sandy

In a prior post, Republic of Gilead highlighted several Religious Right reactions to Hurricane Sandy. As they do with most natural disasters, Religious Right voices blamed everything from gays to impiety to improper foreign policy as the culprit for the storm. More voices have weighed in, blaming sin, pride, and LGBTQ rights initiatives for Hurricane Sandy's onslaught.

First, during the October 31st Reformation Day gathering in Dallas, Texas, Dennis Lindsay of Christ for the Nations prayed for Sandy's victims. While his sorrow appeared sincere and heartfelt, his ideas about the storm's origins made me ill at ease. At the 42:42 mark of the rally video, he suggested that the "enemy" and sin were to blame for the hurricane.  

"Americans and internationals who live on the East Coast are suffering at the hands of the enemy. We know you are a good God. We know it didn't come from you, but it came from our sins, my sins, that came upon the land and hit part of our family. And so we pray for your angels to come and sovereignly meet the needs of those people who have lost everything."

Next, the Washington Blade reports that Pastor Luke Robinson of Quinn Chapel AME Church in Frederick, Maryland blamed support for LGBTQ equality for the storm. In an audio segment from an anti-Question 6 rally at Baker Park on November 4th, Robinson blamed several culprits for the hurricane: New York City's pride, Mayor Bloomberg's $250,000 donation to a same-sex marriage campaign, and the northeast's alleged rejection of truth.

"On October 28th, a storm hit New York, and one of the things that we have discussed and learned from New York is that New York is a proud city ... The Bible said this very clearly. Before a fall, pride cometh! And so here was the mayor of New York giving a quarter of a million dollars, coming down to Maryland discussing the matter. While he’s here, somebody whispers in the ear, you better go back home and protect your stock, because God is sending judgment ... God sent a storm that tore the place up, up in Massachusetts and all up in that lot because they have rejected the truth and the knowledge of God ... For all of your money you still can’t win if God says he’s on our side and we are on the side that can win and must win."

Later, Robinson claimed that this "mess" would not have happened if Christian pastors had been "on watch." It was unclear if the occurrence that would have never happened was Hurricane Sandy or an increasingly pro-LGBTQ cultural climate.

"To our shame, the church, where are they? To our shame, the pastors, where are they? This would have never happened if the pastors of this country had been on watch. But since they aren't on watch, we always got to play catch up ball. One day, you'll not be able to catch up because God will have had enough of this mess."

Every time a natural disaster devastates the land, I'm amazed at how quickly fundamentalists blame real or imagined human flaws. Some, like Lindsay, are well-meaning people whose theodicy leads them to unfortunate conclusions. Others are only too eager to blame groups they dislike for the devastation, relishing other's suffering and their own self-righteousness. Whatever their reasons, fundamentalists need to stop blaming disasters on human victims and alleged "sins".

News Tidbits

Washington Blade: Pastor: Sandy struck NYC after Bloomberg gave $250,000 to Maryland marriage campaign

Washington Blade: Clergy speak out against Maryland same-sex marriage law

NBC News: Pastors endorse candidates, thumbing noses at the IRS

France 24: France's Catholic Church weighs in against gay marriage

Buzzfeed: Ryan Warns Evangelicals: Obama Threatens “Judeo-Christian Values”

Hurricane Sandy Was Due to Gays, or Israel, or Something

On October 29th and 30th, Hurricane Sandy lashed the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., resulting in deaths, property damage, and flooding in New York and New Jersey, according to the Washington Post. The Weather Channel reports that parts of New York City are still coping with power outages, fuel shortages, and crime. As Sandy's victims struggle to recover from the devastation and service providers mobilize to help impacted communities, the Religious Right returned to its time-honored tactic of blaming the disaster on things they dislike.

First, John McTernan, founder of Defend and Proclaim the Faith Ministries and author of As America Has Done to Israel, made the old, tired correlation between natural disasters and gays. In an October 30th commentary entitled "When God Judges a Nation for Homosexuality", McTernan linked Hurricane Sandy and advances in LGBTQ rights. While he emphasized that he was not attributing the hurricane to the "homosexual act," he did claim that the "judgment" was for "the government promoting homosexual "marriage" as an ordinance." He also attributed this divine judgment to abortion and "pressuring Israel to divide God's covenant land". 

"America has not repented of promoting the homosexual agenda so the judgments will not stop. You can be angry with me, but it does not change that America has fallen under the judgment hand of the Holy God of Israel. God will not tolerate homosexual “marriage”. It is the end of the line with sin ... By promoting homosexuality, America has become like the ancient pagan Amorites and has now come under the judgment of God."

Other Religious Right voices blame U.S. policy regarding Israel as a possible culprit. An October 28th column at World Net Daily quotes right-wing author William Koenig on Hurricane Sandy. Koenig claims that natural disasters that have devasted the U.S. may be linked to its "God-defying attempts to divide the land of Israel." Koenig listed several hurricanes and severe weather events that supposedly coincided with Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Koenig blasted Israeli land concession talks, insisting that "From a biblical perspective, the land isn’t to be divided, parceled out or negotiated away ... No earthly leader has the right to partition Israel, because that was God’s gift to Abraham and his descendants." (Hat tip to Religion Dispatches and SPLC Hatewatch.)

Some commentators suggested that the hurricane was a warning to non-Christians. During the October 30th edition of Focal Point, Bryan Fischer of the American Family Association spoke with Calvin Beisner of the anti-environmentalist Cornwall Alliance. At the 6:06 mark, Beisner claimed that the devastation may have been a divine warning of the eternal suffering that awaits the impious.  (Hat tip to Right Wing Watch.)

"When we hear of Hurricane Sandy as perhaps judgment, I think that may very well be true, but the biggest thing that we need to learn from it is here is perhaps a little intrusion of the future, of the eternal future into the present. By the grace of God, God sends his son and his rain on the just and the unjust. But for those who are never reconciled to him, who never repent of their sin and trust in Jesus Christ, there's an eternity of suffering ahead. And for God to give them a little taste of that in advance so they are brouight to their senses and moved to repentance is itself a matter of grace."

Insinuating that disasters are warnings to the insufficiently pious is an ancient tactic, and a tasteless one to boot. I couldn't think of a more insensitive comment to make to all those who have lost homes, communities, and loved ones in Sandy's wake.

One Religious Right voice did not blame scapegoat groups outright for Hurricane Sandy, but rather used the hurricane as a metaphor for impending judgment and social upheaval. In an October 31st commentary at Charisma Magazine, Joseph Mattera used Hurricane Sandy as a metaphor for the current spiritual state of America. While a destructive storm raged on the horizon, many people were distracted by entertainment, he claimed.  Mattera warned readers about the metaphorical "storm of divine judgment" fast approaching because of abortion and same-sex marriage, as well as the "storms" of class warfare, racial strife, radical Islam, and an allegedly weakened church.

Of course, it's not just right-wing Christians blaming the hurricane on groups they dislike. Rabbi Noson Leiter, founder of of Torah Jews for Decency, appeared on the October 30th edition of Crosstalk. Leiter told host Vic Eliason of the "tremendous theological implications" of Hurricane Sandy, claiming that both Hurricane Sandy and the Great Flood were trigger by gays. At the 3:06 mark of the show, he had this to say. (Hat tip to Right Wing Watch.)

"We believe that the Great Flood in the time of Noah occured, triggered by the recognition of same-gender marriages ... I was actually personally told by a leading rabbi, and I know that a number of leading rabbis believe that there are messages in this particular storm for us, and the idea that the storm brought so much unexpected flooding is certainly I think an allusion towards the fact that flood destroyed the world. The Lord will not bring another flood to destroy the entire world, but he could punish particular areas with that flood, and if we look at the same-gender marriage recognition movement that's occurring, that certainly is a message for us to learn. Not just the bad people but the good people have to learn that the Lord does watch what we do, and if we don't face up, he will deliver divine justice."

Leiter's statements about Hurricane Sandy were part of a longer tirade against LGBTQ equality. At the 6:50 mark, Leiter accused LGBTQ persons of malice toward the rights of "Bible-believers", depicting the LGBTQ community as a sinister movement opposed to religious persons.

"The LGBT radical homosexualist movement is really the avant garde of Bible-haters of all different types, not just limited to the left. The advance towards homosexual rights and so-called marriage is not predicated on getting rights, and just thereby stepping on the rights of Bible believers. The purpose is to bash Bible-believers using their so-called rights as a pretext do so and that’s why it is so critical to oppose them, because they’re not after something that they think is theirs. They’re after us."

Especially offensive was Leiter's false correlation between homosexuality and child abuse perpetration. At the 47:47 mark, Leiter claimed that LGBTQ advocates seek to give people "a license to victimize," claiming without evidence that a disproportionate number of child abusers are supposedly gay.

"There are so many things that people could point out about the negatives aspects of the homosexual lifestyle that's being touted as being this wonderful ideal that the media doesn’t talk about, and we’re talking about victimization that goes on under the rubric of protecting people’s rights. They’re not interested in protecting people’s rights. They’re interested in giving people a license to victimize, particularly victimize children, and we pick up the pieces on some of that. We know how hard this is hitting society. The crisis of child molestation is not independent of the intentional proliferation of unfettered homosexuality. They are definitely connected. It doesn’t meant that every molester is homosexual, but many of them are. There is a disproportionate number that are homosexual males, and they are in some cases being given a certain degree of diplomatic immunity because of their favored status centered around a common vice."

Discredited myths like this are dangerous. Not only do such myths demonize LGBTQ persons, but they distract people from the real roots of child abuse, thereby doing a grave disservice to victims.

In short, the Religious Right wasted no time in using Sandy as a excuse to lambaste gays, abortion, people whose positions on Israel they disagree with, and the general impious masses. We've heard this kind of rhetoric before after disasters, and it should give some indication of where Religious Right priorities lie.

Commentary Tidbits

Huffington Post: This Gay Is Exhausted From Causing Hurricane Sandy

Right Wing Watch: Todd Akin Sought to Narrow the Definition of Child Abuse

Baltimore Sun: Rape and the mind of God

Religion Dispatches: Monster God

Daily Kos: Mike Huckabee says vote for Republicans or else

Women's eNews: Unmarried Sex Fears Stalk Twilight Vampire Series

Commentary Tidbits

Prairie Nymph: I Left Fundamentalism for Moral Reasons

The New Civil Rights Movement: Hurricane Sandy: Minister Blames Gays and "Pro-Homosexual" Romney and Obama

Hot for Jesus Former Fundie: Behold! A Virgin Shall Conceive: The Christian Tradition of Legitimizing Rape

Daily Kos: The Whore With the White Coat

Green Eagle: Conservative Cant Explained

(Hat tip to Infidel753 for several of these links)

OneThing 2011: Lou Engle on Dreams, Tornadoes, and Abortion

To read about Mike Bickle's talk at OneThing 2011, click here. To read about Corey Russell's comment on the "unequally yoked," click here.

The International House of Prayer's 2011 OneThing conference took place on December 28-31, 2011 at the Kansas City Convention Center. IHOP has since posted videos and MP3 files of the event at www[dot]ihop[dot]org/onething/. I would be remiss if I did not post on Lou Engle's December 31st talk, which contained familiar messages about dreams, prophesy, and abortion.

The MP3 recording began with Engle praising the Bound 4 Life anti-abortion ministry. Engle insisted that "seed" was being sown that night, and that years from now, audience members would be winning souls and working with orphans and adoption services.

Engle described his Christian anthropology to the audience, claiming that God forms the seat of human emotion and creates humans so that they long for their creator. Quoting Psalm 139:13 -- "you knit me together in my mother's womb" -- he celebrated how God shapes humans just as he shaped Adam in the Genesis creation story. "The womb is God's art studio," Engle said. "It's his secret laboratory where he creates those who bear his very image. You are a piece of artwork, not just a piece of work." Using a metaphor from his Firestorm 2011 talk, Engle told listeners that God wrote a novel about each of their lives, and that God doesn't writing boring novels.

Engle stressed at length the spiritual importance of dreams, which are one medium through which the divine speaks to believers. At the 17:00, he had this to say.

"We trivialize the prophetic. We trivialize our night visions and just say, 'Well, I just had a dream. It was only a dream.' Only a dream!? The Bible says in the last days, your old men will dream dreams and see visions. The language of the last days is revelatory, audible, hearing and seeing, and you say it's just a dream? Many people see the burning bush and don't even go toward it."

Engle described how Brian Kim's dream led to the creation of Bound 4 Life, an anti-abortion ministry in which members demonstrate with red tape over their mouths with "LIFE" written on it. The first such demonstration received media attention in Washington D.C., Engle said, claiming that the media is subject to prophetic ministry at the 27:13 mark.

"What I didn't realize is that the media would fall in love with the image, and they would blast that image all over the world. While standing out there, it was prophesy that was going on. The media was prophesying life, life, life, life. The media comes under the prophetic ministry of the church. The media doesn't have the last word in America. The prophetic praying church has the last word."

Engle spoke of life bands, the anti-abortion wrist bands distributed by Bound 4 Life. He described another man's dream in which a life band sat alongside David's slingshot and Samson's jawbone-bludgeon in Heaven's weapon hall of fame. He spoke at length about miraculous happenings and anti-abortion activism, attributing it to God's influence.

At the 32:27 mark, Engle spoke of sex trafficking in the same breath as abortion, claiming that God wants to make war on "the destruction of women's lives." This is not the first time Engle has suggested a moral equivalency between sex trafficking and reproductive freedom, nor is it the first time that an anti-abortion figure has suggested that abortion harms women.

"I tell you, I believe we are heading into a moment when God wants to make war on sex trafficking. He wants to make war on the abortion of babies and the destruction of women's lives, and a people that are hearing the prophetic voice are not playing games."

Engle claimed that the devastating tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri in 2011 was a sign of God's judgment upon abortion. At the 40:46, he said this.

"The Joplin tornado came last year, three tornadoes in one, rumbling through the land. I said right after that to my friends, 'This is the beginning of God's redemptive judgments for the shedding of innocent blood of the unborn. This is a sign.' God's separating the nation on the issue of abortion, just like he did when the Missouri Compromise. Out of Missouri, again, something's going on."

Engle recited a story he shared at a June 2011 gathering in Kansas City, in which a pastor dreamed that he urged President Obama to end abortion, and the pastor's daughter dreamed about President Lincon and the numerical code 52911 (the date that President Obama visited Joplin). As he has many times before, Engle spoke of racial justice and the ending of abortion in the same breath at the 44:49 mark.

"I believe as Lincoln was a president who presided over a nation that was under the judgment of the shedding of innocent blood because of the blood of the slaves, so too now President Obama is presiding over a nation that is under the judgments of God for the shedding of innocent blood of the unborn. But wouldn't it be like God that a man from Illinois could release an Emancipation Proclamation to let the blacks go free so that a black man could be president to let the unborn go free."

To read additional commentary, visit the following link.

Right Wing Watch: Lou Engle has Prophecy of Looming Natural Disasters and Economic Wreckage Because of Legal Abortion

Bachmann and Beck Attribute Hurricane Irene to God

It was only a matter of time, I suppose. Since Religious Right voices have a habit of attributing disasters to God, it comes as no surprise that Glenn Beck and Michele Bachmann did the same with Hurricane Irene last week.

First, Media Matters reported that on the August 26th edition of The Glenn Beck Program, Beck urged followers to store food in preparation for crises, insisting that Hurricane Irene was a message from God. An article from the Washington Post suggests that Beck was promoting the LDS virtue of food storage as a form of self-reliance.

"How many warnings do you think you're going to get, and how many warnings do you deserve? This hurricane that is coming through in the east coast, for anyone who's in the east coast and has been listening to me say, 'Food storage. Be prepared. Be somebody who can help others.' You've heard me say this for years ... I've been telling you, don't be in a panic situation. If you've waited, this hurricane is a blessing. It is a blessing. It is God reminding you, as was the earthquake last week, it's God reminding you you're not in control. Things can happen. Be prepared, and be someone who can help others, so when disaster strikes, God forbid, you're not panicking."

Beck seems to have realized that his comment created controversy. In a YouTube video attributed to Beck's recent talk at High Point Church in Arlington, TX, he gave the quote additional context. At the 4:29 mark of the video below, he had this to say.

"I got in trouble today, that I said--I don't even know where I was when I said it--but I said, 'This hurricane is a blessing." Yeah! Yeah, it is. Everything in our life is a blessing. My alcoholism was a blessing. Everything that went wrong in my life was a blessing. If it wasn't for all the bad that happened to me, and what I did with it, I wouldn't be standing here today. There is no bad that God--there is no lemon that God can't make into lemonade."

The merits of food storage notwithstanding, I do not believe that Glenn Beck knows the mind of God, nor do I think it's constructive to attribute divine causes to natural disasters. To boot, I doubt that everyone who lost homes, communities, and loved ones in the hurricane would call Irene a "blessing." This, alas, is yet another example of Glenn Beck being Glenn Beck.

Michele Bachmann also attributed Hurricane Irene to God, and like Beck, suggested that it was God trying to get people's attention. According to an August 29th article in the St. Petersburg Times, Bachmann told a Sarasota audience that she didn't know what else God had to do in order to get politicians' attention. She framed the East Coast earthquake and Hurricane Irene as God's attempts to get politicians to listen to the American people. Bachmann campaign spokeswoman Alice Stewart later told Talking Points Memo that the statement was "in jest."

Frankly, I don't know what disturbs me more: the idea that Bachmann may genuinely believe that God sent the hurricane, or that she would joke about it. Dozens of people died during Hurricane Irene, and countless more saw their homes and communities damaged. If Bachmann was indeed joking about God sending the hurricane to get politicians' attention, she showed startling insensitivity to Irene's victims.

What is at the root of this compulsion to see the divine hand in disasters? Is it a way of finding meaning in seemingly meaningless catastrophes? Is it a primal response to the sheer power and magnitude of natural disasters? More cynically, is it a means by which Religious Right voices can transform God into a sock puppet for their views? Perhaps all of the above are in play.


For additional news and commentary, visit the following links.

CNN: Glenn Beck: Hurricane Irene is a 'Blessing'

Washington Post: Mormon Glenn Beck: Hurricane Irene and East Coast Earthquake a 'Blessing' from God

Talking Points Memo: Michele Bachmann: Earthquake, Irene Were a Wake Up Call from God for Politicians 

Commentary Tidbits

Cognitive Discopants: Tips on Not Getting Duped Again, Part I and II

Colorlines: The Definitive Guide to Bigotry in the 2012 Republican Primaries (So Far)

Peterson Toscano's A Musing: Love in Action shuts down residential program

Talk to Action: Prayer Cures AIDS, Claims Uganda Health Minister Tied To New Apostolic Reformation

Politicus USA: From The Inside: Scammed by the Family Values Money Machine

Media Matters: Pat Robertson Suggests Viewer Leave Episcopal Church Over Gay Priest

The Advocate: The Culture of Satanic Panic 

Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Barber’s Bigoted Psychological Projection

Right Wing Watch: We Are Seeing Natural Disasters "Because Sin Has Reached Biblical Proportions"

The Cosmic Significance of the Mid-Atlantic Earthquake

On August 23rd, a magnitude 5.9 earthquake shook the mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. The epicenter was believed to have been near Fredericksburg, VA, and the quake could be felt several states away. The earthquake damaged historical structures in Washington D.C., including the Washington Monument and the National Cathedral.

Some Religious Right figures are prone to attributing cosmic significance to natural disasters, even to the point of blaming disasters victims for their misfortune. As if on cue, several Religious Right voices claimed that this particular quake was a sign from God or a warning to America.

First, Pat Robertson claimed that the earthquake damage to the Washington Monument was "symbolic", much like the tear that appeared in the temple curtain when Jesus was crucified. On the August 25th edition of The 700 Club, Robertson had this to say at the 5:23 mark.

"Ladies and gentlemen I don’t want to get weird on this, so please take it for what it’s worth, but it seems to me the Washington Monument is a symbol of America’s power. It has been the symbol of our great nation. We look at that monument and we say this is one nation under God. Now there’s a crack in it, there’s a crack in it and it’s closed up. Is that a sign from the Lord? Is that something that has significance, or is it just result of an earthquake? You judge, but I just want to bring that to your attention. It seems to me symbolic. You know, when Jesus was crucified and when he died the curtain in the Temple was rent from top to bottom ... and there was a tear and it was extremely symbolic. Is this symbolic? You judge."

Second, New Apostolic Reformation preachers Mike and Cindy Jacobs created a video for Generals International on the significance of the earthquake. (Click here if you're having trouble viewing the video.)


08-24-2011 GI News from Generals International on Vimeo.


Mike and Cindy Jacobs talked about prophesy, prayer, and natural disasters as a message about God's will. At the 3:21 mark, Cindy Jacobs claims that God sends earthquakes to warn humanity, and that the damage of quakes can be mitigated through prayer.

"God is shaking, but why is he shaking? He's shaking not--you know, he doesn't want things to be destroyed. In fact, he tells us and he warns us through the prophets so that we can pray. What does prayer do? Prayer stops ... people really being hurt, or damaged. It mitigates against it, sometimes incompletely stop it, but does lessen what can happen."

I find the implications of this statement disturbing. How are people and structures not destroyed in natural disasters? Plenty of people pray during earthquakes, but fatalities still occur. Is this to say that structural damage and fatalities occur because of a lack of prayer?

Lou Engle Uses the Joplin Disaster in Anti-Abortion Speech

Right Wing Watch recently brought attention to a June 27th talk by Lou Engle in Kansas City, MO. In the talk, Engle claimed that the tornadoes that devastated Joplin, MO were a sign from God regarding abortion. (Click here if you're having trouble viewing the video.)


Lou Engle - June 27, 2011 from Bound4LIFE on Vimeo.

As hypnotic music played in the background, Engle preached feverishly about abortion. At the 0:57 mark, Engle claimed that the Joplin disaster was a divine sign regarding abortion.

"I believe that God is beginning to center his plan for a major strike against abortion. Out of the heartland of America, Missouri and Kansas. It was that way in the slavery movement. It was the Missouri Compromise and it was Bloody Kansas. I believe that the Lord is doing something in these days. Concerning Misourri, after the Joplin tornadoes hit -- this is just my perspective -- I began to share with my friends that I believe that Joplin was a sign that God's rependptive judgments are now beginning to be manifest concerning the issue of the shedding of innocent blood and abortion."

Engle then recited the story of a pastor who dreamed that he was golfing with President Obama. In the dream, when the pastor arrived at the tee, he was overcome by the spirit of the Lord and spontaneously sang lines from "America the Beautiful." Some time later, the pastor's daughter had a dream in which she saw a paper with President Abraham Lincoln's face on it. On the other side of the paper was a numerical code: 52911. This, Engle claimed, coincided with President Obama's visit to Joplin, MO on May 29th, 2011. At the gathering, when the crowd began singing "America the Beautiful," the pastor saw this as a sign to approach the president and urge him to end abortion.

Just as Abraham Lincoln had an epiphany about slavery, Engle argued, so too does President Obama need to have a spiritual epiphany about abortion. At the 8:44 mark, Engle begged God to visit dreams upon the Obama family and haunt the president until he opposes abortion.

"And we ask you to come and begin to invade President Obama's life, God. Give Michelle Obama dreams like Pilate's wife. Let the children get dreams. Send the prophets to our president ... We would ask that a black man would end abortion in America, Lord ... I pray that word will live in his mind day and night. Haunt him with the prophetic word like Nebuchadnezzar. Don't let him sleep at night. Let the babies' cries be heard, and let him arise, God, and fulfill a calling that no one would have expected."

Anti-abortion rhetoric in the U.S. has long compared abortion to race-related horrors such as the Holocaust and the enslavement of blacks. Likewise, at the 7:47 mark, Engle spoke of abortion in the same breath as racial injustice toward blacks and Native Americans.

"We ask forgiveness for the breaking of our covenants, Lord, with the Native peoples, the black Americans, the unborn, the offspring of our own womb. We stand before you God."

Engle's use of racially-charged language to oppose abortion is nothing new, as he and other anti-abortion advocates have done so before (see here and here). In doing so, such speakers try to equate abortion with the horrors of racism and oppression, or even try to pain abortion as an alleged eugenics tool.

Furthermore, Engle's use of a natural disaster to undergird a religious message is nothing new either, as other fundamentalist preachers have attributed natural disasters to God's wrath (see here). While he did not blame the residents of Joplin per se for God's wrath, he suggested that the Joplin tornadoes were a message from God to America regarding abortion. This struck me as tasteless and insensitive to Joplin's many victims, who deserve compassion and should not have their sorrow marketed for political ends.

Reflections on Fukushima and Three Mile Island



Protest sign at this year's TMI vigil

 Today marks the 32nd anniversary of the Three Mile Island disaster in Middletown, PA. On this date in 1979, a partial nuclear core meltdown occurred in TMI's Unit 2 reactor, resulting in the greatest nuclear plant disaster in U.S. history.

Early this morning, I attended a vigil near the Three Mile Island facility sponsored by No Nukes PA, Three Mile Island Alert, and Academics for a Nuclear Free Future (ANUFF). Vigil attendees mourned the TMI disaster, called for an end to nuclear power, and expressed solidarity with the people of Japan amidst the nuclear crisis in Fukushima. Demonstrators held candles and anti-nuclear signs, while votive candles, flowers, and origami cranes sat on the ground at our feet. At 3:53 a.m. (the approximate time when the crisis began on March 28th, 1979), vigil attendees held a moment of silence. A video of local news coverage is below. (Click here if you're having trouble viewing the video.)



Others around the world are marking the TMI disaster alongside Fukushima crisis as well. South Korean environmental activists also staged a rally today to mark the 32nd anniversary of the TMI disaster. Speaking events comparing TMI and Fukushima are scheduled for tonight as well.

What motivates these anti-nuclear is the belief that societies can learn from past mistakes and prevent future nuclear catastrophes. In other words, a belief in human responsibility lies at the core of these efforts. People would not speak out against the potential dangers of nuclear power unless they believed that society could move away from nuclear power and toward safer, renewable sources of energy. Good decisions by leaders, energy industry professionals, and citizens can prevent future disasters and cultivate a safer world.

Thus, it disappoints me when some fundamentalists blame Japan's catastrophes on God's wrath over alleged impious behavior, divine withdrawal of protection, or associate them with demonic influences (as this YouTube video does, assuming it is not a Poe). When we blame problems on supernatural causes, we erase our own responsibility to prevent those problems through concrete measures. The Fukushima crisis will not be solved through superstition, but through the dedication, sacrifice, and ingenuity of everyone working on the crisis. Future nuclear crises will not be prevented through superstition, but through practical human efforts.

On the 32nd anniversary of TMI, as the crisis in Fukushima rages, let's honor those who are working diligently to bring the disaster under control. Let's also honor those who are striving for a safer future beyond nuclear power.

When Disaster Strikes, the Blame Game Begins (UPDATED)

Recently, I was struck by several articles involving religion and natural disasters. First, in her commentary at Religion Dispatches, Anthea Bulter reflects on religious conversations via Twitter that attribute the 8.9 earthquake in Japan to God's wrath. Second, Right Wing Watch reports that Chuck Pierce described Japan as a "stronghold of spiritism" and its recent earthquake as a message from God. KVIA 7 reports that El PAso city council candidate Malcolm McGregor III said the Japanese earthquake was a possible curse from God. Generals International preacher Cindy Jacobs claimed that God is using the earthquake to pierce the "darkness" surrounding the Japanese people, according to Truth Wins Out. Finally, Pink Paper reports that an American church is preaching that the New Zealand Christchurch quake is God's retribution against gays and lesbians. In the face of disasters, why is it that some observers respond with compassion, while others respond with victim-blaming?

I've noticed that some high-profile fundamentalist Christians have reacted to tragedies by blaming either the victims or a despised group for inciting God's fury. No introduction is needed for the Westboro Baptist Church, whose members cite everything from military casualties to private horrors as evidence of God's disgust with America's alleged immorality. However, other high-profile fundamentalists have blamed victims or despised groups for tragedies, earning them endless controversy.

For example, shortly after the September 11th attacks, Jerry Falwell appeared on The 700 Club and insisted that the ACLU, feminists, pagans, abortion providers, and gays helped the tragedy happen. 700 Club host Pat Robertson concurred. Falwell later backtracked on this statement.




Pat Robertson himself has made controversial statements about disaster victims as well. Following the 7.0 earthquake that devastated Haiti in January 2010, Robertson attributed Haiti's misfortune to a supposed "pact to the devil" that their ancestors made.

"They were under the heel of the French, you know Napoleon the third and whatever. And they got together and swore a pact to the devil. They said 'We will serve you if you will get us free from the prince.' True story. And so the devil said, 'Ok it's a deal.' And they kicked the French out. The Haitians revolted and got something themselves free. But ever since they have been cursed by one thing after another."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs called Robertson's comments "stupid."