[note: for my previous (and related) stories concerning Vallejo and the candidacy of Pastor Anthony Summers, see story links at the end of this article]  

Imagine a fiendishly clever Republican and right-wing Christian plot to infiltrate and break up a traditional liberal coalition that has for decades elected Democratic Party politicians to office - by peeling off urban African-American churchgoers and alienating an increasingly important Party constituency, LGBT citizens and their supporters.

It's real.

[update: see end of article for related stories]

'Transformation' leader leads prayers for the destruction of California's labor unions

It is an astonishing story, but the facts are clear:

In an upcoming, deeply divisive November 5th, 2013 election for city council in Vallejo, CA -- across the Bay from LGBT rights-friendly San Francisco -- the Solano County Democratic Party has endorsed a candidate accused of working directly with virulently anti-gay groups and who participates in a local project called "Transformation Vallejo". But there's anti-union animosity in the mix as well:

"Transformation Vallejo" is one of numerous similar church-based political initiatives springing up in cities and towns across America under the guidance of internationally active evangelist Ed Silvoso, whose closest movement colleague has called upon her followers to pray for the destruction of California's biggest labor unions.

When George Truett, the famous pastor of First Baptist Dallas passed away, the entire city of Dallas shut down to mourn the deceased legend.  Truett's famous sermon, delivered on the steps of the nation's Capitol, was a landmark for the First Amendment interpretations in the nation.  He championed the Baptist doctrine of separation of church and state.  Dr. W. A. Criswell would chart a distinctly different channel in his influence upon Southern Baptists.  Both men held seats of influence by the facts they were leaders in the nation's largest protestant church.  The church was the flagship of the Southern Baptist Convention, by its size, fiancés and historic legacy.  Anyone who headed this congregation would be graced with invitations to seats of power and influence both in the religious and political community.    It would leave a stamp of influence on the lone star state.

This post was first published on October 10, 2006. The truths that it reveals about "Hell Houses" seem to be at least as true now as they were then. -- FC

Halloween approaches, a holiday traditionally celebrated with haunted house attractions that draw children and teenagers like moths to a jack o'lantern's flame.  

But over the last several years, an increasing number of churches have begun offering more than the customary chills and thrills. Instead of haunted house ghosts and goblins, these houses of worship invite children and teenagers to enter Hell House -- where they are treated to graphic depictions of the eternal damnation and torment that await them, should they stray from the straight and narrow path of "Christian" purity.

Are Americans becoming less religious? While church affiliation is probably declining, don't expect the atheist revolution anytime soon:

Over one half (63 percent, to be exact) of young Americans 18-29 years old now believe in the notion that invisible, non-corporeal entities called "demons" can take partial or total control of human beings, revealed an October 2012 Public Policy Polling survey that also showed this belief isn't declining among the American population generally; it's growing.

Louis Gohmert is a member of the large Baptist Church in Tyler known as Green Acres.  Steve Stockman claims identity with Sagemont Church in a Houston suburb.  Ted  Cruz is a member of Second Baptist in Houston. All three are regional Tea Party candidates.

When the Religious Right started to become a prominent force in American politics in the late 1970s, its advocates had a major impact on the country's largest Protestant denomination: the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).

Younger readers may be surprised to read that the SBC, which claims 16 million members, used to be fairly moderate on social issues. It strongly supported the separation of church and state, citing historical Baptist leaders like John Leland and Isaac Backus.

[update: see related stories at end of article]

Last Saturday at a heated local Democratic Party meeting near Vallejo, CA, Vallejo Independent editor Marc Garman addressed the local California Democratic Party's endorsement of pastor Summers,

"This is a human rights issue. Last year Anthony Summers made a movie with a guy named Ed Silvoso - who preaches that gay people are infested with demons, demons which need to be driven out... It's as simple as this - you have endorsed a candidate who has chosen to affiliate himself with a known hate group."

At the Religious Right's recent Values Voter Summit, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange talked about how far-right attorneys general can undermine progressive policies in the states and promote extreme conservatism.

Strange might want to consult with a guy name Phill Kline before going too far with that.

Pity the poor pundits who have staked their professional reputations on dominionism denial.  Like their analogues in the climate denial industry, and the media conveyor belts of denialist opinion, we have seen the likes of Ross Douthat, Lisa Miller, and Michael Gerson variously claim that dominionism is a myth; its significance is wildly exaggerated; or that those of us who write about it are trying to paint all evangelicals with a broad brush.  

The Centers for Disease Control may need to launch an epidemiological investigation should members of this august company become disoriented in the face of actual journalism.  Fortunately, we can save the CDC the taxpayer dimes it would take to learn what those in the throes of a contemporary strain of the vapors already know: One of their own, veteran religion writer and co-founder of BeliefNet Deborah Caldwell has authored a story at The Huffington Post that attributes the shutdown of the federal government (at least in part) to Christian Reconstructionism -- AKA dominionism.  

But before we discuss this remarkable development, let's do a quick look back:

[note: in response to criticism that accused me of proposing that neo-voucher schemes are bad simply because their conceptual lineage traces to racist privatization schemes of the 1950s, I have rewritten my story introduction (see footnote #1 for my original) and have also added substantial story material to illustrate that the politicized Christian right, which many neo-voucher funded Christian fundamentalist private schools are part of, arose in part from a pro-segregationist, racist backlash - anger over a Carter Administration decision to enforce a 1971 Supreme Court decision that withdrew the tax-exempt status of racially discriminatory private schools.]

On September 6, 2013, the Family Research Council (FRC) launched a petition to "Protect Sergeant Phillip Monk from Air Force Court Martial." Incredibly, just over a month later, on October 12, the very same organization paraded Sergeant Monk out at its Values Voter Summit, a political event in which the participation of an active duty service member is strictly prohibited by military regulations, the violation of which could subject Sergeant Monk to punishment by ... um ... court-martial.

If you're not familiar with the story of Phillip Monk, he's the Air Force Senior Master Sergeant who's become the poster boy for the fundamentalist Christians who are still throwing a hissy fit over the repeal of 'Don't ask, don't tell' -- a fit that has gotten even hissier since the overturning of DOMA.

In the two years since the repeal of DADT, none of the dire predictions pushed by the anti-gay fundamentalist crowd that this would be the end of civilization as we know it have come true, so they're now having to invent problems in order to be able to say "we told you so." So, what they're now claiming is that there is a "reverse don't ask, don't tell" in the military, with Christian service members having to be "in the closet." Seriously, this is what SMSgt. Monk said to Todd Starnes of Fox News: "Christians have to go into the closet. ... We are being robbed of our dignity and respect. We can't be who we are."