Three years ago, Religious Right phony historian David Barton published a ridiculous book called The Jefferson Lies that argued, in part, that Thomas Jefferson was a fundamentalist Christian who wanted Christianity to form the basis of the U.S. government.

The tome marked a turning point for Barton. His previous books had been self-produced, but The Jefferson Lies was issued by Thomas Nelson, a respectable publisher of evangelical works.

In a recent press release, Catholic League president Bill Donohue warned, "Pope Visits To U.S. Occasion Ugliness." Donohue then went on to describe the activities of several Catholic and non-Catholic Progressive leaning organizations during the last two papal visits. As is his wont, Donohue recklessly tarred dissent (by the Women's Ordination Conference, for example) as anti-Catholic behavior.  Donohue demagogically conflates progressive and liberal dissent with hate. There are important differences between hate and dissent, regardless of the source.

But with the ascendancy of the more open-minded Pope Francis, the Catholic League president all-too-conveniently overlooked much of the ugliness aimed at the pontiff from the Right.

Let's say some people at a company want to get together during lunch hour and hold a Bible study. It's totally voluntary, and they don't pressure anyone else to attend. This is not likely to cause any problems.

But let's say the boss organized the Bible study and attends it regularly. Now we might have a problem if subordinates are coerced to attend overtly or even subtly. (If, for example, those who attend get in good with the boss and are first in line for promotions, raises, etc.)

Kim Davis, the county official who refused to grant marriage licenses, fits the profile of a long line of civil disobedience from the South.  Kim's lack of respect for the ruling of the Supreme Court fits well with positions of her lawyer.  Her legal advisor hails from a school whose founder claimed the Supreme Court ruling against school segregation was a satanic plot.  Attorney Matt Staver advised Kim to refuse the order from the court.  Matt's alliance with Jerry Falwell's Liberty University helps set the stage for the controversy.

I recently posted a short excerpt here, from an interview I published with Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer, the new General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ.  I wanted to say a little more about this, and highlight a few more excerpts. -- FC

Eight years ago, John Dorhauer published an article describing the long term campaign  by conservative political, financial and religious interests to sew discord and disruption in mainline Protestant churches.  So called "renewal" groups, often affiliated with the neoconservative Institute on Religion and Democracy, wreaked considerable havoc.  (I have written a fair amount about this subject myself.) His work in this area led to the publication of book that was a turning point in the battle: Steeplejacking: How the Christian Right is Hijacking Mainstream Religion.

When Dorhauer assumed the office of General Minister and President of the historic, million member United Church of Christ this month, he knew what he is up against.

I realize that people may be tired of reading about the saga of Kim Davis, the Rowan County, Ky., clerk who is in jail because she ignored a federal court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. But on Friday I received a blast email from Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council (FRC), that is so littered with lies that it demands a reply.

Headlined "Help free Kim Davis from jail," the email takes the form of a petition to Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, demanding that he spring her from the Carter County Detention Center.

Kim Davis, the embattled Kentucky county clerk who sits in jail for defying a Federal Court order to issue marriage licenses to everyone who is eligible -- including LGBTQ people -- has been called many things.  She has been compared to leaders of the Civil Rights movement and to a Jew living in Nazi Germany for her stand.  Critics have answered that she is not the victim but the oppressor in these and similar analogies. And that may be so.

But one person she has not been compared to is John. F. Kennedy -- and with good reason.  Kennedy's situation as a Catholic elected official, and his views on religious conscience and the role of elected officials is actually the more apt comparison.  But Davis and her supporters would not dare to go there, because Jack Kennedy would have no sympathy for her situation, as he made clear in a landmark speech to the  Greater Houston Ministerial Association during the 1960 election.  

Real estate magnate Donald Trump says lots of outrageous stuff, but none of it seems to slow him down. His latest gaffe, however, ought to give some pause to his fans in the Religious Right.

Trump was asked by a reporter with Bloomberg News about his favorite book, which is allegedly the Bible. Asked to name his favorite verse from that tome, Trump stammered, "Well, I wouldn't want to get into it because to me that's very personal. You know, when I talk about the Bible it's very personal."

On my journey to the American Renewal Project in Austin, Texas, I listened to hard right talk radio out of Houston.  There was an ad about Christian Reconstruction leader, Dr. Steven Hotze, hosting a new natural health remedy program with Houston Second Baptist Pastor Ed Young.  The ad helped set the tone for the event.    The meeting was provided free of charge for interested pastors and other activists.  Each participant received a free two nights in a five star hotel along with free banquets.

A few years ago, I took part in a panel discussion on church-state issues at a Seventh-day Adventist church in Takoma Park, Md. During the question-and-answer session, an audience member asked why the Christian owner of a business should be expected to serve LGBT people.

One of my fellow panelists was a burly, bearded Adventist attorney. His answer was spot on. I don't remember the exact words, but he said something like this: "I'm left-handed. If I walked into a store and was told, `I'm sorry. We don't serve left-handed people,' my response to that would be simple: `Well, you do now.'"

Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer was a front pager here at Talk to Action years before he was elected General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ. The focus of his writing was the role of conservative groups in undermining the UCC and the rest of mainline Protestantism in the name of "renewal."  He took office on August 1st, and while he was in the process of moving from Phoenix to Cleveland, (where the UCC is headquartered) he generously took the time to do an interview with me for Religion Dispatches.  Titled, Racial Justice Will Be Top Priority for New Prez of the United Church of Christ.  

Here is an excerpt from a much longer and wide-ranging profile and interview:

Many misconceptions abound about the issue of prayer in schools, and some people persist in believing a lot of myths. One of the most common is that children all over America prayed in public schools until 1962 when the U.S. Supreme Court made them stop.

The issue arose recently because Rafael Cruz, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz's father, told the Austin American-Statesman, "Prior to 1962, everybody prayed before school started. In 1962, the Supreme Court banned prayer. In 1963, they banned the Bible from school. Prior to that, the Bible was the principal textbook in all schools."