Why I Write About Crackpots Like Tony Perkins and Ted Cruz, et al

I was them once.

It's that simple.  I was a patriarchal asshole.  A person who looked at the world through black and white religious glasses.  Religious glasses that were backed up by religious thought and religious thought alone.  

If I had a question about any subject, religious, political, sexual, financial, anything, it didn't matter, I would go to Google or Altavista or Webcrawler and find what other Christians were saying about the matter.  Inevitably, I would happen across websites run by the Family Research Council, the American Family Association, Focus on the Family, Desiring God, Institute in Basic Life Principles, Vision Forum, etc.  It didn't matter.  If they claimed to be Christian, I ate them up.  Any written or spoken words that came from a pragmatic point of view or argued anything without a Scripture verse or two attached to it, I would move on. 

As a younger boy, I sat, mesmerized, watching and listening to Bill Gothard at his seminars and then read all of his materials that reached into every single area of your life - to get answers for things as trivial as the proper way to run a church service, or the proper way to pray (it was laying on your face, by the way, because, in the Bible, that god answered more prayers when people ate sand than when they stood - and that god never talked about being "on your knees").

I am not unique with respect to my above words.  There are thousands, nay, millions of people that only go to religious sources for their beliefs and they usually settle for either the loudest or the most well-funded organizations, the FRC among them.

And these people and organizations are convincing.

These folks parrot popular positions from the Religious Right, sprinkle it with a bit of the Bible, say "God" (extra points for "Jesus" because he's more popular), and then claim that they are "set apart" from the world, which obviously disagrees with them.

There is nothing more convincing than the idea that a Christian is holding to an unpopular position.  Jesus was killed for his.  Therefore how much more pious is a Christian for being ridiculed for their position.  Adversity means correctness in every respect.

This is how those people, like Ted Cruz, Tony Perkins, Ken Ham, JimBob Duggar, Franklin Graham, Pat Robertson, Strawberry Boy Driscoll, John Piper, and everyone else I have written about, gets into the heads of those that listen to them.

Finally, as much as I used to BE them, I was taught to think, and I STOPPED being them.  That, my friends, is why I write.  I am here to make people think, change minds, and maybe save blokes from a few unnecessary pop knots (thanks to Lewis Wells of Commandments of Men for that phrase) on their heads.

That is all.

Tony Perkins Says That Christians Shouldn't Give to The Poor...Or Not...Maybe

Tony Perkins, the President of the Family Research Council, recently went onto Janet Mefferd's radio program to talk about some article.  During the interview. Perkins had this to say:

Not only do we have a privilege in this nation to be involved in shaping our government because...it's a government of the people, for the people, and by the people, I think, as Christians, we'll be held responsible for the policies adopted by this government because...it's us!

This view isn't anything new to Tony Perkins, the FRC, and the rest of the Religious Right.  They believe that America was founded upon overt Christian principles, nay, Christianity itself, insomuch that the government is obligated to follow the laws of their god.  This is part of the doctrine of Dominionism, where Christians are to take possession of the earth.

To bring Tony's words into focus, he was speaking about the government helping the poor and the needy with respect to food support and other types of aid.  Thus, if we take the above quote by itself, it would seem that he was saying that all Christians have the privilege of showing the love of Jesus Christ by helping the poor through the government - because Christians ARE the government.

But sadly, this wasn't the case.  Prepare yourself for a mind twist.  It will hurt.  Tony Perkins, again:

Does the government have the responsibility to care for the poor?  That's not what the scripture says. Scripture hands that responsibility to you and I, as members of the faith - the followers of Jesus Christ. That's who he gave that to. Not to the civil government.

Wait.  What?  Hang on!  I thought you just said that Christians have the privilege of shaping government policy because "IT'S US!"  How then do you make the jump that the government is not you, but is just the government and somehow the Scriptures say something about the government not giving to the poor when it's a government that isn't you, when it really is you, so thus you should be giving to the poor through the government, even though you shouldn't because...

I guess I'm confused.  Tony Perkins continues:

He never said to the Romans, "Hey, you guys need to make sure that your taking out of one person's pocket to put into another." 

Huh?!  Where did that come from.  Okay, Tony.  Now you're just spouting Republican talking points.  In fact, Jesus DID say to "give to Caesar what is Caesar's" with respect to paying taxes.  So, these are taxes that you are paying and Caesar (the government, according to most interpretations) can do whatever he wants with them.  

But!  Thankfully, you live in America, land of a representative government, giving you the unique ability to control Caesar!  Yet you complain that this government, which you claim is in fact you, is somehow not supposed to do what you are supposed to be doing in the first place.  

Finally, Perkins proves that he has absolutely NO IDEA what his own Bible says:

[Jesus] said, "No, you sell all that you have and give to the poor. You take that responsibility."

Yeah.  A Bible story about a rich young ruler that asked Jesus what he must do to be saved.  Jesus told the bloke to sell everything and follow him after telling him to follow all the commandments.  This story had everything to do about a man and a mission that Jesus was giving him and absolutely NOTHING to do with a narrative on government distributing income to the poor in lieu of the rich young ruler doing so.  Nothing.

But, conveniently, the narrative can be extrapolated for the purposes of the FRC to try and beat their lousy interpretation of the Bible over the head of those who are supposedly supposed to follow what it says, even though it doesn't even say what they say it says.

But it doesn't really matter.  Tony Perkins doesn't give to the poor as Jesus told him to sell everything and give it away.  Neither does the Family Research Council, more interested in muddy politicking than anything worthwhile.  

So who does?  I'm not sure the right person to ask is Tony Perkins.  He's simply full of hot air.

Fox News Contributor, Todd Starnes is a Liar

As I have written here before, Todd Starnes has no credibility with his narrative that Christians are being persecuted out of existence under the current administration.  The evidence keeps piling up that he not only lies about events, but doesn't do his due diligence in reporting the facts, or even edits the facts to make them say something entirely different than reality.

His speech at this year's Family Research Council's Value Voters Summit didn't disappoint along that dishonest front.  

Take a listen to his latest lies and read Right Wing Watch's rebuttal.

Family Research Council Wants You to Drive a Horse and Buggy

The Family Research Council, a far right wing organization in the United States, against everything that disagrees with the Bible - with exception to genocide and killing homosexuals and disobedient children, god-sanctioned kidnapping and rape, forced silence of women, and..well, you get the point.  They pretend they believe in biblical morality but throw away the stuff they deem bad.

In the end, they look like fools.

Anyway, here is there latest petition, sent out on Valentine's Day, that they hoped everyone on their email list would send to their Congressman or Senator:

[Representative/Senator], as one of your constituents, I ask that you please use your influence to urge the Supreme Court to uphold the Keep Horses and Buggies Legal Act and state statutes banning the use of cars. The owner/horse relationship between a family and his animal is a universally accepted social tradition that transcends all cultures and predates any religion. It is essential for transportation and the stability of society - not to mention the reduction in potholes and fewer incidences of horse meat infused meat products. I respectfully request that you do all in your power to urge the Court to uphold traditional carriages. Thank you for your service to our country.

How sweet.  These people are so stuck in the past, they actually feel as if the Supreme Court must push to keep us from moving on with our newer knowledge and  technology and throw out our cars in lieu of horses and buggies.

I just have one question:  Who shovels all the horse apples?

Here is the original text if you care to read it.