Just in time for this fall's mid-term elections, the Christian Right has a new manifesto.
Not surprisingly, it's not very Christian nor very American.
After a long preamble stocked with fire and brimstone rhetoric, the "Values Voters' Contract With Congress" details what signatories specifically want from Congress, the president and the judiciary. Calling for what essentially would be a rewriting of the Constitution, it's a vision for a more religious, less free America.
That sounds great to Tom DeLay.
Speaking at a conference in Washington entitled "The War on Christians," DeLay presumed to speak for Jesus Christ and enlisted Him in the cause.
"Sides are being chosen, and the future of man hangs in the balance!" he warned. "The enemies of virtue may be on the march, but they have not won, and if we put our trust in Christ, they never will. . . . It is for us then to do as our heroes have always done and put our faith in the perfect redeeming love of Jesus Christ."
DeLay was introduced by Rick Scarborough, the organizer of the conference and one of the "founders" behind the new manifesto.
Scarborough, a Texas Baptist minister, is ready for battle, but, as the Washington Post's Dana Milbank asks, is there really an enemy to be fought?
This would seem to be an odd time to declare Christianity under siege. A Christian conservative president has just nominated two Supreme Court justices who take an expansive view of religious rights, and religious conservatives are ascendant in a Republican Party that controls both chambers of Congress.
But, as Scarborough knows, believers will be more motivated to go to the polls in November (and to contribute money to his group) if they feel threatened. And so his forum offered all sorts of books and pamphlets proclaiming dire warnings: "The Criminalization of Christianity," "Liberalism Kills Kids" and "Same-Sex Marriage: Putting Every Household at Risk."
Scarborough knows that very well.
I had a run-in with Scarborough in 2004 when I wrote a couple of newspaper columns critical of Scarborough's mentor, the Rev. Jerry Falwell. At the time, Scarborough was trying to sell tickets for an appearance by Falwell in Lufkin, Texas, the base of Scarborough's Vision America organization.
Scarborough took up the challenge. In response, he bought a full-page ad denouncing me and the newspaper; submitted an op-ed column, which we published; and, surprisingly, invited me to dinner with him, Falwell and a couple hundred other people gathered for the event.
Sitting between Falwell and Scarborough, I had the best seat in the house.
Falwell was pleasant company, but when he got up to speak, he was as wrong as ever.
But that night I also got a vibe from Falwell that perhaps he thought Scarborough — who has modeled his organization after Falwell's Moral Majority and Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition — was not ready for prime time. Falwell had been scheduled to appear next night at another Vision America event in nearby Nacogdoches, but he ended up canceling.
Scarborough, though, has kept up the fight, only taking it to a bigger stage.
Hopefully, the new attention will be enough to counter his and his allies' frightening vision for America.
(H/T's to The Pine Blog and Andrew Sullivan.)
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