After the splinter group departed from the Baptist General Convention of Texas (BGCT), the organization began to sail in new directions in the vast sea of options. It became quickly evident they would navigate to uncharted waters - uncharted waters the group they had departed from had never traveled. What I have gleaned from their movement is limited to what I read from the paper they send out to Texas churches. Their editorial opinions and news emphasis tends to represent the group's leanings.

The first note of difference I see is evidenced by their ethical stances packaged and promoted by the group. Their luggage is not unlike most Religious Right ventures in the nation. For one, note they back Intelligent Design and its introduction into public education. Though most groups in the nation see this agenda as a backdoor pushing Creationism in public schools, the new Fundamentalist denomination - Southern Baptists of Texas - finds the idea inviting.1 Their predictable stance on the Terri Schiavo case is another footnote to the theorem. Articles announced that "Terri was sitting up in her lounge chair, dressed and looking alert and well . . . Terri's eyes widened and she was obviously very pleased." The article claimed the writer joked with Terri, and Terri tried to speak to the author. All the while, the article alleges, Terri's husband was going to kill her.2 Most other Baptist groups stayed away from such controversy which tended to end up with the autopsy refuting such claims contained in the story.

We are pleased to welcome Dan Quinn, Communications Director of the Texas Freedom Network as a Guest Front Pager. This piece is crossposted from TFN Insider. -- FC

Pope Urban II may have sparked the Crusades by calling European Christians to war against Islam in the Middle Ages. But now, in starkly warlike language, Texas Gov. Rick Perry is calling on Texas pastors to defeat “radical jihadists” who threaten our nation’s “Judeo Christian heritage.” The governor’s disturbing mix of faith and militancy comes in an invitation to conservative evangelical pastors to attend a Texas Restoration Project event in Austin next month.

The Interfaith Alliance -- has a brand new blog: State of Belief. Welcome to the blogosphere!

Street Prophets: Pastordan is not surprised that the Catholic wing of the Religious Right feels that Joe Biden in insufficiently Catholic to be Vice President.

Media Matters:  Major Media outlets continue to repeat the hoary lie of the Religious Right that Bob Casey Sr. was denied a speaking spot at the 1992 Democratic National Convention because he was prolife. What was the real reason? He refused to endorse the Clinton-Gore ticket.

TFN Insider: "Texas Gov. Rick Perry is calling on Texas pastors to defeat "radical jihadists" who threaten our nation's 'Judeo Christian heritage.'"

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After reading Douglas MacKinnon's post on Huffington post a few weeks ago about his latest release, The Apocalypse Directive, I had to read this book. I don't get a chance to read many novels. Almost all of my "leisure" reading over the last five years or so has been work related in one way or another (with the exception of Harry Potter). The Apocalypse Directive, however, immediately caught my attention because, although a work of fiction, it's based on the Pentagon's Christian Embassy, a real life group exposed a few years back by the organization I work for, the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF).

The Democratic National Convention kicked off yesterday, and I couldn't help but notice the opening invocation. Polly Baca, a former Colorado state senator, led off with a prayer that mentioned Jesus Christ and ended with her crossing herself "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."

That's how Roman Catholics pray. Others do things differently - and, of course, some people don't pray at all. It surprised me to see such a sectarian invocation before what was surely a very diverse audience.

The Catholic Right, Part Sixty-six
Michael Novak, George Weigel and other Catholic neoconservatives have been spinning a yarn for the last twenty-five years that their brand of laissez-faire capitalism is the brand sanctioned by the Vatican.  It has been around so long and become so ubiquitous and because it has been largely left unanswered, their narrative has almost become urban legend.

But there is an answer to this nonsense. The lifelong body of work of 20th century economist Monsignor John A. Ryan simultaneously refutes the mendacious claims of the Novakian theocons and makes a strong case for contemporary liberal economics.

Notorious smearmonger Jerome Corsi, of Swiftboart Veterans for Truth and most recently author of a widely panned, anti-Obama screed, has a long record of involvement with the farther precincts of the Religious Right via the Constitution Party and as a columnist for the World Net Daily.

Max Blumenthal fleshes out this dimension of the long strange story of Jerome Corsi in The Nation. Excerpts on the flip. The Nation

The Swedish Local reports on a controversial religious group:

A southern Swedish religious congregation based at a cowboy-themed conference centre has been accused of harbouring a violent and extreme religious sect.

...A show aired on Tuesday by public service broadcaster SVT contained interviews with former Kingdom Center members who accuse the group of being a sect, guilty of performing violent exorcism ceremonies and using child labour, Expressen reports.

The church is run by Pastor Christer Segerliv, who likes to be known as the "Sheriff of Lone Star", and it is linked to the American Cowboy Church movement. Segerliv is also under the spiritual "covering" of Sunday Adelaja, the Ukraine-based Nigerian mega-pastor who organised the "Syngergize" conference in Atlanta in January, which I discussed on Talk to Action here. I noted then that Adelaja is a close ally of the anti-gay Latvian preacher Alexey Ledyaev. Segerliv denies the claims of abusive practices, and in fairness it should be noted that there is often some hostility towards American-style Christian groups in Sweden.

Back in June I noted support for revivalist Todd Bentley from neo-Pentecostal leaders such as C. Peter Wagner, whose "World Prayer Center" is described by Charisma magazine as a kind of "spiritual Pentagon" where prayer warriors battle Satan and demons around the world. Wagner, who is not particularly modest, gushed:

I take the apostolic authority that God has given me and I decree to Todd Bentley, your power will increase, your authority will increase, your favor will increase, your influence will increase, your revelation will increase.

"I also decree that a new supernatural strength will flow through this ministry... Government will be established to set things in their proper order...New relationships will surface to open the gates to the future."

Wagner was partly right, as one "new relationship" did indeed "surface": unfortunately, however, it involved Bentley and a female staffer. Bentley has now withdrawn from public.

Republicans resurrecting Wright as campaign issue

In 1962, two years after losing the presidency to John F. Kennedy, Richard M. Nixon ran and lost the governor's race in California. At a post-election press conference, Nixon famously told reporters that they "won't have Richard Nixon to kick around any more, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference." It wasn't. He won the presidency in 1968, escalated the Vietnam War, shredded the constitution, was re-elected in 1972, and two years later he was forced to resign in disgrace over the Watergate Affair.

These days, one can easily imagine that the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the former Senior Pastor of the Trinity United Church of Christ (TUCC), a megachurch in Chicago with around 10,000 members, might wish - in his heart of hearts -- that the press, the cable news networks, conservative pundits, the headline writers and Republican Party operatives didn't have Jeremiah Wright "to kick around any more."  

Unfortunately for Wright, and for the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama, they do have Wright "to kick around"; and kick around they will: The story about the relationship between the Rev. Jeremiah Wright and Senator Obama will be with us through Election Day and beyond. Whether Obama wins or loses, there will be much post-election analysis about how much the Wright Affair hurt the campaign.

If you have not yet had a chance to hear Jeff Sharlet  discuss his book The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, you can listen to Francesca Rheannon's interview on her weekly show, Writer's Voice.

This show airs and streams at 5pm ET on 91.1 FM WMUA on Friday, August 22; on 103.3 FM Valley Free Radio on Thursday, August 28 at 8 am, and on NPR Talk Radio 640 AM WNNZ on Sunday, August 31 at 3 pm.

If you miss the show, it is also archived and podcast.

As a result of the exposure by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) of endorsements by Gen. Petraeus and Maj. Gen. Mark Hertling on the cover of Under Orders: A Spiritual Handbook for Military Personnel -- a book promoting Christianity and denigrating non-theists -- it appears that these endorsements are going to be removed from the book, and that the book's author, Army chaplain Lt. Col. William McCoy, is going to take the fall for the constitutionally impermissible conduct of the two generals. Here's what's happened in the few days since my initial post about Petraeus's endorsement of this book appeared.

UPDATE: Petraeus's endorsement of this book earned him the distinction of runner-up "Worst Person in the World" for August 21 on Countdown with Keith Olbermann. Watch video.

Crooks & Liars:  Ralph Reed has gone radioactive -- as a no-show at the fundraiser he was to host for McCain. McCain, who takes credit for exposing the fraudulent activities of Jack Abramoff took a lot of heat for accepting funds from one of Abramoff's top, albeit undicted, associates.

Crooks & Liars: In other news, the pro-Choice, cross dressing, pro-LGTB civil rights, serial adulter and former mayor of NYC Rudy Guiliani will be the keynote speaker at the Republican National Convention. Go figure. He also headlined fundraisers for the anti-abotion, anti-gay, former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed during his unsuccessful run for the GOP nomination for Lt. Governor of Georgia. Reed lost his primary in large part because of disclosure of his involvement with Casino Jack Abramoff, the biggest single issue in the campaign.  

If Reed's involvement with Casino Jack Abramoff was a problem for McCain, could it also be a problem for Guiliani?

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In light of the recent appearance by John McCain and Barack Obama on the Rick Warren Show, this recent post seems to be timely once again. I will have more to say about this soon. -- FC

One of the buzz notions is the idea of the newly moderate evangelical. A close corollary is that the Religious Right is moderating, because the agenda is expanding.

Now of course, there have always been truly moderate evangelicals, both theologically and politically speaking.  (Some have even been Democratic presidents of the United States.) And it is also true, and interesting, that various white evangelical leaders, organizations and denominations are no longer in rabid denial about the reality and consequences of climate change and the spread of HIV/AIDS, and other matters. Of course other religious constituencies (for example, mainline Protestantism and Reform Judaism) have been at or near the forefront of responsible concern and action on these matters for a very long time, but get far less credit or attention for their good work.

The question will become whether the approaches taken by the nouveaux moderates are as helpful as they, and certain of the media, make them out to be. Has the Religious Right converted, or merely adapted to the new environment after the fashion of candidates who make miraculous campaign conversions on key issues?

For decades I have heard 501c3 reminders about what is legal to do in a church.  Groups like Americans United for Separation, the ACLU, Rick Scarbrough and etc. have all laid out what is legal for a church to engage in regarding politics.  I have often been reminded that it is perfectly legal for a church to have a forum for potential candidates.  Most of us who work on church calendars would not consider such a proposal.  If we were willing to take a risk of promoting such a program, we would have enough sense to make sure the minister was not the one who controlled the format and the questions.

Andrew Sullivan picked up on this post I did reacting to the recent forced display of Presidential piety.

The bottom line is that evangelicals and traditional Catholics define "Christianity" fairly narrowly according to its orthodox doctrines. How many times have we heard evangelicals (and some Catholics) say "Mormons are not Christians" even though Mormons claim to be Christian.

When we last caught up with Ralph Reed, former Christian Coalition director and disgraced lobbyist, he was flogging his first novel, a political thriller called Dark Horse.

The book is not exactly a runaway best-seller. Publisher's Weekly ran a small (and not terribly positive) blurb and the Buffalo News seemed to like it, but I have not been able to locate many other reviews. Suffice to say, The New York Review of Books isn't knocking down Reed's door. Most of the reviewers on Amazon are enthusiastic, but some appear to have not actually read the book, and one is under the impression it was written by George Will.

BeliefNet:  In the wake of his much ballyhooed Civic Forum with candidates McCain and Obama --Religious Right leader Rick Warren doesn't think Obama and the Dems have much of a chance of making inroads among white evangelicals. His reason? Because prochoice Americans and candidates for public office are like Holocaust deniers...  

For many evangelicals, of course, if they believe that life begins at conception, that's a deal breaker for a lot of people. If they think that life begins at conception, then that means that there are 40 million Americans who are not here [because they were aborted] that could have voted. They would call that a holocaust and for them it would like if I'm Jewish and a Holocaust denier is running for office. I don't care how right he is on everything else, it's a deal breaker for me. I'm not going to vote for a Holocaust denier...

Daily Kos -- DemfromCT reports that the Religious Right and the hard right economic conservatives in the GOP are a feudin'.

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From Arutz Sheva:

Baptist preacher and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee soon will be accompanied by religious Jewish New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind on a two-day visit to Jerusalem's Western Wall (Kotel) and the rocket-battered southern town of Sderot...During their visit to the Western Wall, where Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama recently toured, Huckabee and Hikind will be escorted by leaders of Ateret Kohanim Yeshiva, located in the Old Jewish Quarter of the Old City, now populated predominantly by Arabs...Huckabee, who was introduced by Hikind at the Jerusalem Reclamation Project dinner in June, has visited Israel nine times.

Ateret Kohanim is a militant Israeli settler movement: its chief backer, an American businessman named Irwin Moskowitz, has reportedly defended Baruch Goldstein (perpetrator of the 1994 Hebron massacre) and there are claims that he is sympathetic to the assassin of Yitzhak Rabin. In 2000 it was reported that a website registered to the name of his wife contained a game which featured then-prime minister Ehud Barak exploding. Moskowitz's son-in-law, Aryeh King, co-ordinates Ateret Kohanim and other settler groups working in Palestinian areas of Jerusalem through an organisation called the "Jerusalem Forum", which also includes groups planning to build the "Third Temple".

As is often the case here at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), while in the course of investigating one report of constitutionally questionable activity within our armed forces, we stumble into something else that's just as bad or worse. It happened again this week. One of the thousands of MRFF supporters worldwide -- the indispensable "eyes and ears" who alert us to everything from the most egregious of constitutional violations to articles we might be interested in -- emailed MRFF founder and president Mikey Weinstein an interview with Air Force Chief of Chaplains Maj. Gen. Cecil Richardson from the August 11 print edition of the Air Force Times. Richardson, as many will remember, caused quite a stir back in 2005 when he was quoted by the New York Times as saying that Air Force chaplains "reserve the right to evangelize the unchurched." I'll get back to Richardson's Air Force Times interview in a minute, but first, here's what else this interview led MRFF to discover.

WorldNetDaily offers up one of its more absurd "exclusives": a puff-piece for a book entitled Temple at the Center of Time: Newton's Bible Codex Deciphered and the Year 2012. The author, David Flynn, argues that the relative distances of various cities from the site of the Jerusalem Temple is a key to history. Prepare to be mind-numbed:

Babylon fell to the Medes and Persians on the 16th day of Tishri of the Jewish calendar, which correlates to Oct. 12, 539 B.C. Curiously, the number 539 is also the distance in statute miles between the temple of Jerusalem's foundation stone to the palace of Balthazar, as confirmed by modern satellite measurement.

...In the 17th century, Christopher Wren was able to observe the foundations of the London Stone underneath Cannon Street during the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire. With this information, it is possible to extend a measuring line from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem to the exact center of ancient London, and by fixing a point on the site of the temple mount, a measuring line extended over Jerusalem to the center of London produces 1,948.40 nautical miles...Israel became a nation again May 14th, 1948...

And so on. This might seem too preposterous for Talk to Action to bother with - even in August - but it's worth noting that part of Flynn's worldview also includes the same kind of paranoid and destructive conspiracy-mongering for which John Hagee and others are notorious. WND's promotion of Flynn is an interesting convergence of the Christian Zionist right with "New Agey" mythmaking.

I am indebted to a late missions' director for a story about an East Texas lad who decides he wants to attend Texas A&M. The youth submits his request to his father for financial help. The father replies he does not have the extra money and suggests the boy raise his own funds. A diligent effort persists that summer with the boy working two jobs to raise the funds. He goes off to College Station for instruction but unfortunately falls in with the wrong crowd. As the parable of the prodigal reminds us, riotous living is expensive. He depletes his resources. Together with his apartment room mate, they devise a scheme. He calls his father with a proposal. He reminds dad about camping trips he takes for weeks at a time with just he and Ole Blue his hunting dog. The son advises his father that there is a new course at A&M for $500 that teaches dogs to talk, and the prospect of the dog and owner being able to communicate together on such occasions would make for a more fulfilling hunting adventure. The father takes the bait and in a few days a parcel post package arrives with breathing holes and a check attached. The debauchery night life resumes as the good times role. The money depletes itself again and a further contact is made. The father is told the dog is doing so well the professors want the dog to be enrolled in a graduate course. Again, the father replies and the scenario of late night excursions resumes. It is now time for the semester break and Christmas holiday recess. The boy loads up some dirty laundry, Ole Blue and his backpack and journeys toward home. He realizes his parent is awaiting a finished and polished project - which he does not possess. Stopping half way home, he finds a young family with children on a family farm and gives them the dog as a pet. Arriving home, he honks the horn while driving up the driveway. The door swings open as the father rushes out from the porch toward the pickup. The lad opens his arms for an apparent embrace, but the father strides right past him asking where is his hunting dog?

The student explains, "Dad, Ole Blue was quite articulate. He and I were talking up a storm on the ride here. We talked about the football team, the weather and what we were going to get for Christmas. Then the dog started saying things that bothered me: He told me that you and him did not go on week long hunting trips, but instead got some six-packs, a couple of girls and checked into a motel room in town. I cannot stand a lying dog, especially one that would lie about my own daddy. So I stopped about half way home, pulled out my shotgun and killed Ole Blue."

His father replied, "Son, are you good and sure you killed him?"