Women Should Not Be Political Leaders, According to Some Religious Right Figures

Right-wing voices have loudly opposed presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, but Religious Right figures are opposing her specifically because she is a woman. Several Religious Right commentators have either questioned the right of a woman to hold political office, or stated that female political leaders are a result of weak men who cannot lead. This rhetoric helps them justify their disdain for Hillary Clinton, but also reveals their insecurities about powerful women.

Kevin Swanson

Christian Patriarchy Movement enthusiast Kevin Swanson has used Hillary Clinton's campaign as an excuse to spout even more misogynist, paranoid drivel. During the July 31st edition of Generations Radio entitled "The Hillary Clinton Script: 20 Years of Cultural Programming", Kevin Swanson spouted bizarre conspiracy theories before implying that female political leaders lead to failure. According to Swanson, the effort to bring Hillary Clinton to power has been in the works for thirty years. The "Hillary Clinton propaganda machine" embedded in pop culture has produced television shows, gospel songs, and children's books inspired by Hillary Clinton and intended to prime voters to vote for her, he claimed. Pop culture leaders serve as "emissaries for principalities and powers" who have been preparing the public to vote for her through shows such as 24, Madam Secretary, The Good Wife, House of Cards, Supergirl, Scandal, and other shows, Swanson said.

The goal of all these alleged machinations, according to Swanson, is to promote a narrative of a wife winning a power struggle against her adulterous husband by becoming president. At the 22:33 mark, Swanson and his co-host Dave Buehner painted Hillary Clinton's campaign as an attempt by feminists to seize control over the land. Buehner strongly implied that Clinton was behaving like Eve, seeking to take the rightful place of man.

SWANSON: On the one hand, the nation embraces a sexual decadence. On the other hand, the feminists who themselves rather appreciate free love, sexual impurity and adultery, but they don’t appreciate the fact that a woman was taken advantage of. Therefore, in order for [Hillary Clinton] to be vindicated, she has got to prove herself by winning the power struggle over the highest office in the land. This is what defines America today.

BUEHNER: You know, it's interesting, because you go back to the Garden of Eden, and what's the desire of the woman? To take the man's place.

SWANSON. Yeah. And that's feminism's greatest victory. If they can achieve the ultimate zenith of power, this will become the final chapter, in a sense, of the present war that feminists have waged over this nation.

Swanson cited Isaiah 3:12 ("Children oppress my people; women rule over them"), before suggesting that female leaders bring about national failure at the 24:01 mark.

"It's interesting that the three Western nations, the three most powerful western nations will be lead by women if Hillary Clinton is elected as president of the United States. Think about Germany, England, and America. What were the three most powerful nations in the west during World War II? Germany, England, and America. Now, we find the three most powerful nations in the western world ... that are themselves birth imploding, thanks to the feminists and the pro-abortion crowd ... and developing an impressive debt-to-GDP ratio, and doing the best to destroy their entire socioeconomic systems, the three most powerful Western nations led by women, it’s interesting."

In other words, Swanson sees female politicians as not only destructive to entire nations, but as agents of some grand feminist power-grab. His crushing fear of independent women really shines through!

Bryan Fischer

Bryan Fischer is no stranger to misogyny, and in a recent show, he laid out his sexism for all to see. At the 45:50 mark of the August 12th edition of Focal Point, a caller named Jeremy asked Fischer, "What do you think would happen to a man if he went on national TV and said he was voting for Trump because Trump is a man?". Fischer argued that women holding political office is unbiblical. When women held power in the Bible, it was either reluctantly (in Deborah's case) or as a prelude to failure (in Jezebel and Athaliah's case), he insisted. (Hat tip to Right Wing Watch.)

"I think you could make a pretty good biblical case. That's what I happen to believe, you know. I'm not saying there's one verse in the Bible you could go to that says definitively that only men are supposed to hold political office, but that's always the pattern in the word of God. The kings were all males. When you had a departure from that with Jezebel and Athaliah, it was not a good thing. It did not work out well. Leadership in the church is reserved for men. Leadership in the home is reserved for men. In other words, in God's economy, he has designed leadership and authority in society, and in the church, and in the home to be exercised by men.

You had one female judge. That was Deborah, and she only got sucked into that because the men were such wimps... I think you could make a good case that leadership in culture, society, politically as well as in the home, that that is something in God's economy that's reserved for men."

Sam Rohrer

During the August 3rd edition of Focus Today, American Pastors Network president Sam Rohrer told host Perry Atkinson that many Christians he knew were asking if Hillary Clinton was fit to lead as a woman. At the 0:52 mark, they had this to say. (Hat tip to Right Wing Watch.)

ATKINSON: Is it biblical for a woman to become president? Why are you taking this on? What's your interest here?

ROHRER: Well, we covered it on our program because a lot of folks, many Christians ... say 'You know what? Is Hillary Clinton fit to be president?' And I would answer that 'no', she's not for a lot of reasons, but then some would bring up and say, but is it because she is a woman? And because that issue is so seldom talked about ... The scripture does refer to it, Perry, so we did ...

The fact that they're even having this conversation in 2016 boggles the mind.

At the 1:47 mark, Rohrer argued that God calls up women to lead when men display gross incompetence and negligence. He saw nothing sexist about the assumption that men should be the default political leaders and that women can only serve as substitutes when men are weak.

"No, it's not unbiblical for a woman to be in a position of leadership in government, but I say that with a caveat, Perry, because God has an order for things, not because of superiority of one over the other, but because of order. We're told in ... Isaiah 3:8, it talks there when God is judging Israel, because the leadership actually had walked away, making good evil, declaring evil to be good, the protectors of God's law were letting it slip, they rejected all that God had said for them to do as a matter of civil government and God's moral government, and so bad things were happening to the country ... It was a mark of the lack of male leadership in positions to which God had called them. They rejected who God was, they departed, walking away from him, and I think we can draw the parallels to our country, obviously ... God said, 'And women shall be rulers over you.' And that's where a lot of the context comes from, that that's an anathema.

The point here was that God did raise up women. We know he raised up Deborah in the Old Testament when male leadership failed ... God does raise up women. There is no question about it, but the real condemnation is not the women in office. The condemnation is the disregard and the absolute inability for male leadership to perform as God intended it, and I believe that that's the application for us now."

Gary Dull

Gary Dull, head of the Pennsylvania Pastors Network and a member of the American Pastors Network's board, also sneers at female political leaders. During the July 28th edition of Stand in the Gap Today, Dull argued that women should not be in authority over men. Citing Isaiah 3:12, Dull argued that female leaders are either a symptom or a cause of a "spiritually rotten" culture at the 34:12 mark. (Hat tip to Right Wing Watch.)

"When you read down through the context of Isaiah chapter 3, you will find that God's judgment is being brought upon Jerusalem and the nation ... What we see is that the condition in that nation in that particular period of time was very, very spiritually rotten, and whether that was the cause for women leading them, or that itself brought on the wickedness within the nation is to be debated, but it certainly does at least imply that maybe women should not be in high political positions ... There are other places in the word of God where it appears that a woman is not to be having authority over man. That is not diminishing the position of the woman ...

In God's line of authority, chain of authority, it seems very clear in the scripture that a woman should not be in authority over man, which would limit a woman from being the president of the United States of America or even a queen of some other particular nation."

Hilariously, Stand in the Gap Today's male commentators had been falling over themselves just a few minutes earlier as they insisted that Christianity affirmed women's rights. "Wherever Christianity has gone, the rights of women have been championed. Women have always fared better in Christian countries where the teachings of Christ were honored," David New claimed.

When one remembers that both the Old and New Testaments are full of misogynist content, that early Christians had no qualms about enslaving both men and women, that countless church fathers held women in utter contempt, that Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant traditions barred women from leadership roles, that women frequently endured oppression under Christian regimes, and that modern Christian traditions are by no means immune to misogyny, one sees that New's claim is ridiculous. As if New's statement wasn't silly enough on its own, he made it during a show that seriously questioned whether a woman could be a political leader. The lack of self-awareness is astonishing.

Misogynist rhetoric like this is not only bigoted, but dangerous. Several Religious Right activists are actually arguing that women should not serve as leaders in the American political system. Some fundamentalist men genuinely believe that women's contributions to the political sphere are unnecessary or even harmful. They ignore the right of women as American citizens to participate in politics, both as voters and candidates. They ignore the many advances that female politicians have brought about, and the many female politicians who have served honorably.

We should not only condemn their sexism, but laugh at their insecurity. These men are clinging to a patriarchal belief system because they cannot cope with a world in which women are striving for equality. Their masculinity is so bound up in domination of women that they become defensive and dismissive when faced with the prospect of a female president. If Hillary Clinton wins the 2016 presidential election, expect their whining to be loud and petulant.

American Pastors Network's Sam Rohrer on Islam and the End Times

Sam Rohrer, president of the American Pastors Network and the Pennsylvania Pastors Network, appeared on a recent edition of Focus Today. Hosted by Perry Atkinson, Focus Today is a talk show offered by the Dove, a Christian media network. During their chat, Rohrer veered into talk of the End Times and called Islam a "counterfeit" religion born from the "lies of the Devil". Rohrer and Atkinson's strange conversation reminds us how fundamentalist religion can prevent observers from making sound observations about world events.

At the 1:02 mark, Rohrer complained that only a "remnant" of people still cling to Christian faith, and that world leaders have ignored "the authority of God".

All of those who I call part of the remnant, all of those still hold to the concept that there is God, that he is the creator, that there is such a thing as the fall and sin, and there is redemption through Jesus Christ, that is what I just said, a true biblical worldview.

For those who hold to a biblical world view, it's very clear that as a culture, that as a world, as the world leaders as we watch them, there is a marked departure from the authority of who God is, the reality of who God is, the fact that God is a judge, that there is, in fact, sin, and in fact, have embraced this--we call postmodern mindset ... It really is what Romans 1 talks about, people really having knowledge of God, have purposely denied it, rejected it, and in fact, done what the Devil himself did way back in the beginning, and that is they believe themselves to become little gods.

The discussion turned to global events and how developments in Russia, China, and Iran are "reflective" of Ezekiel 38 and 39. At the 2:49 mark, Rohrer and Atkinson wondered if current events were portents of the End Times.

ATKINSON: Part of [the problem that] ... Christians are wrestling with is the condition of the world now part, literally part of the End Times, which suggests that it's fulfilling Bible prophesy and Bible signs by everything going crazy, so why try to interrupt it? Why try to change it? Has that nullified us? Has that put us in neutral?

ROHRER: Well, you know what? I think that's a great question, Perry, because in reality, what we say is it's not possible to properly evaluate the circumstances of the day, and of the world, what's happening in the Middle East right now as we speak as an example--it's not possible to accurately look at these things without looking at it in light of biblical prophesy. At the end of the day, the whole history of mankind is about God's plan of redemption from the beginning in the Fall, working itself through ultimately when he comes back and he reigns physically in Jerusalem ... To not understand God's plan is to be ignorant ... It's not possible either to look at where we are without saying these are indicators of the End Days, but actually, the disciples thought they were in the End Days then ...

In true Christian fundamentalist fashion, Atkinson and Rohrer painted an ominous picture of Islam, ignoring millions of law-abiding Muslims and the complexity of Islamic religious tradition. At the 6:56 mark, the two men described Islam as "a religion that wants to dominate the world" and a "counterfeit" faith forged by the Devil.

ATKINSON: Before I take a break, I do want to come back to what's happening with terrorism and Paris and all this, but I heard something yesterday on a prominent talk show that just put me on tilt, and I'm going to paraphrase it. It basically says this. Maybe the world is waking up that there's a religion that wants to dominate the world that cannot be tolerated. Wow! What do we do with that one?

ROHRER: Well, the religion that cannot tolerate anything other is obviously Islam. Is it forcing change? Yes it is. There's no question about it. And does it specifically target Christians, the redeemed of the Lord, and Israel, God's people? Absolutely. We know it. Should that not awaken God's people to the reality of where we are? It should, but what do we know is that the truth of Jehovah God is more real and it is greater and it will prevail over the lies of the Devil, of which is a counterfeit such as Allah and Islam, which is taking people to hell ...

Atkinson and Rohrer remind us that fundamentalism makes it difficult to perform a sound analysis of world events. When events are filtered through End Times "prophesies" or attributed to supernatural entities, a reasonable analysis of facts and realities becomes impossible.

U-Turn Conference: Paul Blair on God and Government

To read about George Barna's talks at U-Turn, click here and here. To read about David Barton's talk, click here. To read about Sandy Rios and Mike Huckabee's messages, click here.

On March 19th, the Pennsylvania Pastors Network hosted U-Turn: A Conversation with Pastors on Society, Culture, and Leadership at Lancaster Bible College in Lancaster, PA. As mentioned in a prior post, I spent the morning observing U-Turn, where I listened to talks by David Barton of Wallbuilders, George Barna of the Barna Group, and others. With the exception of Sandy Rios, all the speakers were men, and with the exception of Joseph Green, overwhelmingly white.

A common theme among the talks was that the U.S. had fallen away from its founding biblical principles, and that fundamentalist Christians needed to reclaim the country for Christ once again. To achieve this goal, pastors were to become politically active and disciple their flocks toward conservative political ends. In essence, U-Turn was about rallying fundamentalist evangelical pastors to get their congregants politically active for conservative causes. With the 2016 election just twenty months away, U-Turn was well-timed.

Several hundred people were in attendance to hear speakers describe the alleged fallen state of our culture. I walked into the auditorium in the middle of an introductory talk by Sam Rohrer, president of the American Pastors Network. Rohrer claimed that God created civil government as an instrument of his authority, and that the Bible contains content relevant to government issues. Christians must speak the truth in the public square, he told the audience. God has raised people up, but if we want to accept God's blessing, we must do "God's will, God's way", he asserted.

Pastors and politicians are both leaders, even though politicians often see religious leaders as merely a "conduit" for votes in "nice territory", Rohrer said. While "jurisdictional difference" distinguishes pastors and politicians, both have similar duties as leaders. The message, it seemed, was that pastors must be prepared to guide their congregants into political matters.

*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

After a short video promoting the Pennsylvania Pastors Network, Paul Blair of Reclaiming America for Christ took the stage. I cringed at Blair's "machine gun" style of preaching, since he spoke so quickly and loudly that it was difficult to digest what he was saying.

In a talk entitled "The Pastor's Impact: A Biblical Perspective", Blair claimed that it's easy to see why America is in its current condition. Only 9% of born-again Christians espouse a "biblical worldview", while many other Christians have embraced a "postmodernist" worldview, he insisted. Americans have accepted "Platonic Greek" ideas that compel them to keep Jesus in church and outside of other areas of their lives, he argued.

"Civil liberty and religious liberty travel as a pair," Blair told listeners, warning them that to lose one is to lose both. Shortly after the birth of the Christian church in the Book of Acts, Christians experienced persecution throughout history, only enjoying full freedom in the United States, he claimed. Blair listed the Catholic Church as a historical force that oppressed Christians, and I found the fact that he did not consider Catholicism to be a form of Christianity revealing.

"Look back in biblical history. We see the birth of the church in Acts chapter 2, and by Acts 4, we see the church suffering persecution, first by the Sanhedrin, then by the pagan Roman Empire, then by the Holy Roman Catholic Empire during the dark ages, down throughout the centuries. Even around the world today, we're seeing Christians beheaded and impaled and crucified because of their faith. Only in America, and only for the last two-hundred years have we been able to enjoy both civil and religious liberty. We're not the rule. We're the exception to the rule."

In his haste to depict Christianity as an oppressed victim, Blair ignored instances throughout history when Christians (and yes, Catholics are Christians) were politically and socially dominant.

Blair painted a paranoid picture of the government, warning listeners that public education and Common Core were governmental means of controlling the population. He argued that for a dictatorship to take root, it must exercise iron-fisted control over education, media, and conscience. Is this a not-so-subtle jab at President Obama? I wondered.

"Understand that for any tyrannical dictator to enforce his tyrannical control over your person, he must first assume control over your mind. So in order for a dictatorship to be established, first thing they're going to do is nationalize education. Folks, the Bible says its up to the parents to train up their children in the way they should go, but the government seeks to nationalize education. Hello? Common Core? The next thing [is that] they have to control the media, so they can control the flow of information into what you believe the truth is that's out there. And then, finally, you also gave to remove any religious liberty. You cannot have freedom of conscience. Because you cannot have the ability to disagree with the government. Whatever the government chooses to do must be right."

Blair listed two variations of government tyranny: "atheistic communism", in which the government bestows rights and determines what is right and wrong, and theocracy, in which disagreeing with leaders is condemned as both heresy and treason. To escape from such tyranny in the form of a state church, the Pilgrims came to America on board the Mayflower, he noted. The Pilgrims sought civil and religious liberty and understood that God established home, church, and civil government, he argued.

The United States was established with a "biblical worldview" in mind, Blair claimed, listing three biblical principles on which America was supposedly founded. First, the purpose of the government is to ensure the good of the people. Quoting Romans 13:1-4, he argued that the purpose of government is to punish evil and protect good, not to oppress. Next, a written constitution laying out the law for everyone is vital, he said. Rule with the consent of the governed is a godly principle, he added. Finally, Blair emphasized that an absolute standard of truth exists as defined by the will of God. While humans are free to legislate laws, no human law should contradict the will of God as set out in scripture, he insisted. According to Blair, same-sex marriage laws contradict God's will.

"Is there anywhere in the Bible from Genesis 1 to Revelations 22 that tells you what the speed limit on Broadway should be? No, no. So that area is free for man to legislate and determine what is a safe yet effective speed for driving down Broadway. However, what is the definition of a marriage? One man, one woman. Who said so? God did!" [Audience applauds]

I sighed at Blair's tired and familiar arguments. The Religious Right's insistence that America is a Christian nation founded on biblical principles ignores the fact that Enlightenment ideas, not biblical ones, shaped the formation of the U.S. Cherished American rights such as freedom of religion did not spring from the Bible, a fact Blair ignores.

While discussing the history of the Constitution, Blair ranted against the Supreme Court, same-sex marriage, the federal government, and public schools in an effort to defend state rights. The federal government is supposed to be bound by rule of law, but it doesn't honor its boundaries because the people are now "sheep" now. "Judge Roy Moore is a hero!" he proclaimed.

"What happens if the federal government tries to assume more power than what the Constitution gives them? Oh, I know what we've been taught in school. We're supposed to go and pray and beg before the Supreme Court that they will rule 5 to 4 in hopes of allowing the states to continue to determine what natural marriage is. Folks, that is not what the Constitution says... The states are supposed to hold the federal government accountable. We're the ones that created the federal government, not the other way around! Ladies and gentlemen, understand we are not three hundred and eighteen million people ruled by a little dictator in Washington D.C. and nine attorneys in black robes. We are a union of sovereign states that delegated by compact few and designed responsibilities to the general government to take care of the general welfare of the whole. They don't have the right to exceed the limited powers that we gave them ... We have been trained in our government-controlled schools to worship at the altar of the federal government."

On screen, Blair had prepared a "summary of 2014", listing alleged signs of governmental failure, including national debt, NSA spying, Obamacare, Common Core, "discrimination" against the Tea Party, "discrimination" against Christians on military bases, abortion, and same-sex marriage. Blair raged against same-sex marriage, warning the audience that their ability to practice job discrimination against gays was in imminent danger.

"If the court rules that homosexual marriage is natural and normal, and you have to support it, then they will be putting your choice of sexuality, which is behavior, on the same plane as your gender, which you're born [with], or your race, which you're born [with]. And as a Baptist minister, for example, I can discriminate in my hiring practices. For example, I don't have to hire anybody who's a non-Baptist because I am a Baptist minister. However, it would be illegal for me to say, 'I'm only going to hire white Baptists.' That would be discrimination, would it not? And it would be. But if they legitimize homosexual marriage and put it on the same plane as race, then I also won't be able to discriminate against hiring only heterosexual Baptists. Gentlemen, this is the camel's nose underneath the tent. This line cannot be crossed."

The solution to America's problems will not come from trusting politicians, he argued. Christians must be informed, and pastors must disciple their flocks. Pastors are to make sure their flocks hear the gospel, equip them to share the gospel, and educate them in a "biblical worldview", he emphasized. To this end, Blair encouraged listeners to watch videos from the Truth Project and plugged several fundamentalist apologetics websites, including Answers in Genesis.

Blair's "Nehemiah Strategy" was a vision in which the church would reclaim the community, communities would reclaim the city, cities would reclaim the states, and states would reclaim the nation. "Let's reclaim America for Jesus Christ," he concluded.

Blair's hypocrisy was breathtaking. While cultivating the myth of Christian persecution in America, he saw nothing wrong with oppressing gays. While raging against a supposedly tyrannical government, he saw nothing wrong with government encroachment on LGBTQ rights or reproductive rights. The federal government, LGBTQ community, and educational system were cast as scapegoats in his narrative, reduced to boogeymen who stifle believers.

Paul Blair, like many Religious Right commentators, seemed outraged that the U.S. government fails to obey the will of fundamentalist Christians. Blair envisioned an America by and for fundamentalist evangelicals, with little thought for millions of progressive or mainline Protestants, Catholics, or non-Christians. The spirit of democracy, in which all citizens have a voice and everyone's basic rights are to be protected, was lost on him.

The essence of Blair's talk seemed to be that fundamentalist Christians should be outraged by the current state of their country and politically "reclaim" the land. However, fundamentalists share that land with others groups, and those groups will not be silent.


Stay tuned for more posts on talks by David Barton and George Barna! To read additional commentary, visit the following link.

Right Wing Watch: Pastors Network: America Going Down the Tubes, Needs Pastors To Call Down Fire

Making a "U-Turn" in Pennsylvania

On March 19th, the Pennsylvania Pastors Network will host U-Turn: A Conversation with Pastors on Society, Culture and Leadership at Lancaster Bible College in Lancaster, PA. "It’s time for a course correction in America," the conference website argues, "and our success hinges on re-embracing the proven roadmap that the Bible provides." According to the event website, the conference has several goals for the day.

• Identify the Biblical model for triggering a U-turn in a society.
• Explore the top cultural issues that will confront your church in the next 5 years.
• Learn how pastors can be empowered to speak on political issues without politicizing their pulpits.
• Learn how prayer effectively lays the foundation for spiritual renewal in our nation.

Among U-Turn's scheduled speakers are David Barton (founder and president of Wallbuilders and the author of several Religious Right "history" books), George Barna (founder of the Barna Group), Jeff Mateer (general counsel of the Liberty Institute), and Sandy Rios (director of governmental affairs for the American Family Association and host of the Sandy Rios in the Morning radio show). Former governor Mike Huckabee was scheduled to speak at the event, but his name no longer appears on the conference website or promotional materials.

The Pennsylvania Pastors Network website had much to say about the relationship between religion and government when announcing U-Turn. "Today’s society works hard to separate faith and government, but the Pennsylvania Pastors Network ... believes exactly the opposite should be true," the website states.

"PPN believes that those in the pulpit are "Ministers of God," called by Him to preach the Word and speak truth in the public square. Likewise, those elected to office are not just "politicians" but occupy an equally ordained position as "Ministers of God," with the clear job description of servants of God and God’s servants to the people ... The powerful one-day "U-Turn" conference is open to pastors, leaders and laypeople and is specifically designed to answer questions about society, culture and leadership, with a focus on how cultural trends can be strategically impacted with the truths of God’s Word."

American Pastors Network president Sam Rohrer told OneNewsNow that "the pulpits of America have been silent for far too long" and that "Christian people have felt that being involved in matters of culture can be left to somebody else". Because of this alleged Christian apathy, "evil is advancing in this land", a situation that the U-Turn conference hopes to address.

U-Turn seems intended to encourage conservative religious leaders to talk about political and social issues from the pulpit. This puzzles me, since American religious leaders have been anything but quiet on these issues. Conservative pastors and priests have never been timid about discussing abortion, same-sex marriage, or legislation from the pulpit. As initiatives such as Pulpit Freedom Sunday demonstrate, some members of the clergy have no qualms about endorsing political candidates from the pulpit, in violation of IRS policy. In light of America's extremely vocal conservative clergy, Rohrer's assertions about passive, quiet churches ring hollow. Perhaps his words are another example of Religious Right victim-rhetoric, which depicts the Christian Right as a silenced, shoved-aside victim that must assert itself now that "evil is advancing in this land".

I expect that U-Turn will encourage religious leaders to continue speaking out from the pulpit on political and social issues. What remains to be seen, however, is where church-state separation and IRS policy will fit into U-Turn's conversation. I plan to attend U-Turn, and I'm eager to learn what speakers will have to say.

News Tidbits

Wall Street Journal: Anti-Gay Americans Preach in Downtown Sochi

Philadelphia Gay News: Pennsylvania Pastors Network forms antigay coalition

The Lancet: Ghana's mental health patients confined to prayer camps

Jerusalem Post: ‘Kerry has declared a war on God,’ write hard-line rabbis in letter

Reuters: French conservatives march against government 'family-phobia'

Edge Boston: Mormon Church to Weigh in on Gay Marriage Ban

On Top Magazine: Michigan RNC Candidate Promotes Bible Passage Calling For Gays To Be Put To Death

South Bend Tribune: Vouchers, creationism raise questions

Gay Star News: Singapore anti-gay pastor behind petition targeting health ministry

Pennsylvania's Religious Right Responds to AG's Refusal to Defend Same-Sex Marriage Ban

Earlier this month, nearly two dozen plaintiffs represented by the American Civil Liberties Union and the law firm of Hangley, Aronchick, Segal, Pudlin and Schiller filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn Pennsylvania's same-sex marriage ban, according to NBC 10 Philadelphia. On Thursday, July 11th, Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane announced that she will not defend Pennsylvania's ban on same-sex marriage against the legal challenge. By refusing to defend the same-sex marriage ban, Kane passes the task to Gov. Tom Corbett, according to ABC 6.

The news was applauded by supporters of the suit but frowned upon by others. Pennsylvania General Counsel James Schultz expressed surprise at Kane's decision, according to Pennlive. "We are surprised that the attorney general, contrary to her constitutional duty under the Commonwealth Attorneys Act, has decided not to defend a Pennsylvania statute lawfully enacted by the General Assembly, merely because of her personal beliefs,” Schultz said.

As you can imagine, Kane's move did not go over well with Pennsylvania's Religious Right, who wasted no time in slamming her decision.

First, the Pennsylvania Family Institute blasted Attorney General Kane's refusal to defend the ban. In a July 15th commentary, PFI complained that Kane allegedly "cannot be trusted to be impartial, and not politically motivated."

"Rather than rightfully fulfilling her responsibilities to enforce and defend duly-enacted laws in Pennsylvania, Attorney General Kane has appointed herself “judge” over our Defense of Marriage Act, stating “Pennsylvania’s DOMA has no legitimate purpose other than to disparage and injure same-sex couples by placing them in a less respected position than others.”

Really?  Promoting an institution (marriage between one man and one woman) where children have both a mother and a father isn’t a legitimate purpose?  The legislature certainly thinks it is – the General Assembly passed the DOMA with fewer than 20 voting no."

The right-wing Pennsylvania Pastors Network was also unhappy with Attorney General Kane's decision. On Tuesday, July 16th, the organization released a statement claiming that Kane's decision "encourages lawlessness" and constitutes a "dereliction of duty". 

“This activist decision by AG Kane is an example of the type of lawless action by government officials encouraged by the Obama administration’s Executive Branch with its unlawful refusal to defend DOMA, and the US Supreme Court’s illegitimate ruling against DOMA and California’s Prop 8. The refusal to fulfill constitutional obligations and duties that comprise the very underpinnings of the constitutional oath of office is the very essence of tyranny and must be opposed by all those who love liberty. When our highest elected governmental officials declare themselves to be above the law they do not just tarnish their own integrity, they actually cultivate the spirit of lawlessness among the citizens. I urge those in office to understand the gravity of their actions and for the sake of liberty, to uphold the law.”

As enlightened Pennsylvania's advocate for same-sex marriage, right-wing voices in the Keystone State will undoubtedly continue to resist LGBTQ equality.

Pennsylvania Pastors Network Criticizes Boy Scouts Decision on Gay Youth

As mentioned in a prior post, the Boy Scouts of America recently decided to allow gay youth (but not gay adult leaders) as members of the organization. The decision drew fire from several Religious Right organizations, including a conservative pastors group in Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania Pastors Network, a project of Let Freedom Ring, describes itself as "a network of Biblically-faithful clergy and church liaisons whose objective is to build a permanent infrastructure of like-minded clergy." The groups' events and programs are co-sponsored by the anti-abortion Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation, the right-wing Pennsylvania Family Institute, and the Urban Family Council.

The organization's website encourages clergy to affirm scriptural authority, engage social issues, and examine policy matters "without politicizing  their pulpits." The PPN "About" page outlines church leaders' views of society and pastoral duties.

"As you are well aware, in today’s cultural climate, it is a daunting task to be that church leader, and to maintain the resources to assist families struggling against such issues as deteriorating traditional marriage, pornography, rampant sexual permissiveness, the undermining of a Biblical worldview in our public schools, abortion and other evils that seek to destroy the core teachings of our Christian faith."

The PPN recently came out against the Boy Scout's decision on gay youth as members. In an article at WGAL 8, Dale Armstrong of Church of the Word in Landisvile, PA spoke for the PPN, claiming that the Boy Scouts of America was "flaunting their beliefs in the face of the Christian biblical worldview." The article states that the PPN is encouraging Christian parents to pull their sons out of Boy Scouts following its decision to include gay youth.

A June 4th press release at the PPN website alleges that the Boy Scouts "capitulated to strong-arm tactics from special-interest groups" in their decision. PPN complains that the decision will expose scouts to "an opposing view of morality and masculinity" while putting "innocent young boy" in danger of "sexual experimentation" with "openly confused" youth. As with other anti-LGBTQ voices, the statement associates gays with immorality, sexual confusion, and predation. (See www[dot]papastors[dot]net/news/read/1471)

"The Pennsylvania Pastor’s Network ... has condemned this decision as irresponsible and damaging to the innocence of youth and the Scout’s long-standing tradition of teaching boys to embrace the principles of God, Country, Flag, and Morality. Boys, instead of being offered a view of morality consistent with a biblical worldview that honors marriage and masculinity, will now be exposed to an opposing view of morality and masculinity. In addition, it will introduce innocent young boys to possible sexual experimentation by other boys who are openly confused and struggling with cultural messages regarding their sexual identity. Parents who would never dream of forcing young boys and girls to share a tent together, will now be forced to allow boys with sexual attractions to other boys to share sleeping accommodations, as well as locker rooms and other close quarters."

The statement strongly suggests that identifying as gay or bisexual is somehow incompatible with real masculinity.

"As a result of this policy change of the Boy Scouts, boys will be taught that there is no absolute when it comes to masculine identity. Instead of being encouraged to embrace the time-honored principles of strength, leadership, protector, and provider, boys will instead be confronted with a message that abandons traditional moral norms."

For starters, there is no absolute when it comes to masculinity and femininity, which are social constructs that vary according to culture and era. We should strive to construct models of masculinity that encourage wholeness and humanity in young men. Second, why should teaching healthy masculinity be somehow incompatible with treating gay and bisexual youth as human beings? Inclusion and respect for others should be a component of healthy masculinity, and the Boy Scouts have taken a small step toward this goal. Accepting gay and bisexual leaders in the organization would be a bigger, more comprehensive step, but accepting gay youth is a step in the right direction.

Once again, anti-LGBTQ voices conflate acceptance of LGBTQ people with immorality, threats to "masculinity", and sexual danger. The Pennsylvania Pastors Network not only does a disservice to LGBTQ youth, but it embraces a narrow vision of masculinity that limits all boys.

For more information on the Pennsylvania Pastors Network, visit www[dot]papastors[dot]net