Gord's Notebook : Uganda's " Kill The Gays Bill" Supported By American Christian Taliban & Banning Abortion By Defunding Planned Parenthood

Rachel Maddow
Uganda Kill Gay bill- spraying protesters with pink liquid

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It seems Newt Gingrich and other politicians on the right support such efforts in African countries and eventually in America. Newt Gingrich and others are either sincere in their hatred of Gays or are merely using this to broaden or deepen their base with the Religious Right, the GOP and the Tea Party gang.

" Gingrich Received Blessing From Preacher Linked to Uganda Kill-the-Gays Bill *This post originally appeared at Right Wing Watch." by Kyle at Right Wing Watch via Alternet.org, May 12, 2011

Editor's note: In earlier reporting, Right Wing Watch observed that at a Uganda rally convened by Lou Engle's group, The Call, speakers endorsed Uganda's "Kill the Gays" bill. While Engle himself attempted to distance himself from the bill, he neither explicitly condemned nor endorsed it

The Los Angeles Times reports that Newt Gingrich intends to make appealing to the Religious Right a key part of his presidential campaign ... and while that is not particularly surprising, the article did contain one piece of information of which we weren't aware - that David Barton sits on the board of Gingrich's "Renewing American Leadership" group:

[I]n recent years, the former speaker has made gains among evangelical leaders — the result of aggressively cultivating relationships with influential national figures and local pastors in key nominating states.

Gingrich, who was raised a Lutheran and became a Southern Baptist when he entered politics, converted two years ago to the Roman Catholic faith of his third wife, Callista — an experience that he said shaped his new focus on faith. Since then, he created a nonprofit organization aimed at religious conservatives, called Renewing American Leadership, or ReAL, appointing to the board evangelical leaders such as Jim Garlow of Skyline Church in La Mesa, Calif., and David Barton of the Texas-based WallBuilders

Rachel Maddow South Dagota's Ban on Abortion

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GOP and the Religious Right aka Christian Taliban are once again trying to ban abortion by passing ant-abortion bills in state legislatures while attacking the funding of pro-choice groups such as Planned parenthood or going after health insurance funding for abortion.

The Christian Right Extremists Behind the GOP's War on Women: Religious zealotry plays an equal if not more significant role in Tea Party politics than its obsession with budget deficits and government spending. by Sarah Posner The American Prospect Via Alternet.org ,April 27, 2011 |

Last fall, when then-Congressman Alan Grayson of Florida aired a campaign ad calling his Republican opponent Daniel Webster "Taliban Dan," a collective, dismissive groan rumbled from the political commentariat. "Has Alan Grayson gone too far?" pondered Politico. But the question, despite the ad's shortcomings, should have been: Is Dan Webster, an evangelical Christian and staunch social conservative, too radical for the United States Congress?

Whatever the wisdom of using the term "Taliban Dan," Grayson was onto something that should have, if properly examined, provided clues to the Republican-controlled Congress' fixation with cutting off funding to Planned Parenthood. That such a question doesn't get asked is a function of how Congress has already gone too far -- and not in Grayson's direction. The Webster campaign should have given ample evidence that the Tea Party was full of religious zealots bent on undermining the rights of women. By failing to fully interrogate so-called social conservatism and understand its religious motivations, the press and pundits continue to provide cover for candidates with an extreme agenda, which they're far from finished carrying out

Despite how commonly November's elections were cast as the Tea Party's first electoral victory, they actually represented the dominance not just of Christian-right activists in the Republican base but of Christian-right candidates. Religious zealotry plays an equal if not more significant role in Tea Party politics than its obsession with budget deficits and government spending. After all, an October 2010 survey found that more than 80 percent of Tea Party activists identified as Christian, and 57 percent of those "also consider themselves part of the conservative Christian movement."

Although Webster hasn't, as a freshman, put himself in the forefront of the anti-Planned Parenthood crusade, the treatment of the "Taliban Dan" ad is emblematic of how the press and political watchdogs have been duped into whitewashing the religious zealotry that underlies the GOP's legislative goals. Without a full understanding of those religious beliefs -- and how those beliefs define women and their role as wives and mothers -- we have only a surface understanding of the motivation behind the anti-Planned Parenthood efforts. It is not solely about shutting down Planned Parenthood's federal funding because the organization provides abortion services (indeed federal funding of abortion is already banned by the Hyde Amendment). It's about shutting down Planned Parenthood because it provides contraceptives. That is a target because, as Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota has put it, "an arrogant corrupt Washington elite" has "declared war on marriage, on families, on fertility, and on faith." (Emphasis added.)

Kansas Legislature Votes To Take Title X Money From Planned Parenthood, Give It to Pregnancy Centers by Robin Marty, RH Reality Check May 13, 2011 -

The Kansas legislature has passed a bill meant to defund Planned Parenthood by removing $334,000 in Title X funding meant to help low income women access reproductive health screenings and birth control. The measure, as well as a full ban on any abortion coverage in any insurance policies in the state, continue to establish Kansas as one of the most anti-women's health states in the country.

Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri responded to the attack on women with this statement, via The Hill:

"It is outrageous that Gov. [Sam] Brownback will sign a budget bill that will undermine women's health and deny Planned Parenthood from providing preventive health care through the Title X program," President and CEO Peter Brownlie said in a statement. "Thousands of Kansans are now at risk of losing access to basic, preventive health care."

South Dakota Banning Abortion Without Banning Abortion? by Amanda Marcotte, RH Reality Check May 9, 2011

Texas Senate Passes Mandatory Ultrasound Bill by Robin Marty, RH Reality Check, May 3, 2011

Texas senate has finally passed their much debated mandatory ultrasound law, which will also have the added effect of pushing a longer waiting period for many women seeking abortions in the state.

Via Dallas News:

The bill mandates sonograms for women seeking abortions, and makes clear they can view the image and hear the fetal heart beat. If she o not to see the sonogram, a doctor must give her a detailed description of the fetus from what can be seen on a sonogram.

Also, in the vast majority of cases - unless the woman lives 100 miles away from an abortion clinic - she must have the sonogram and hear the description one day and return to have the abortion on the next day.

Republican Governor Rick Perry, an anti-abortion politician, is expected to sign the bill into law.

Defund It All, Let God Sort It Out by Robin Marty, RH Reality Check
May 2, 2011 -

As the tale is told, during the crusades, a monk was asked how soldiers could separate the Catholics from their enemy. The monk infamously replied, "Kill them all. For the Lord knows them that are His,” the anecdotal origins of the phrase “Kill them all, let God sort it out.”

We’re in the midst of a new crusade, just as religious, and growing to be just as dangerous – the crusade against sexuality, fertility and human rights. Sex, our newly empowered conservative leaders seem to believe, is something that should only happen for procreation, should never involve people who aren’t either married or willing to be married should they get pregnant, and should definitely never occur for the sake of pleasure and intimacy.

To push their agenda, they’ve replaced their swords with the newest and sharpest weapons they own – their tax dollars. Their new rallying cry is to defund: Defund Planned Parenthood! Defund Sex Ed! Defund Websites! Defund Prenatal Care! Defund WIC! Anything that in any way is associated with the sex or procreation with which they disagree should be defunded, disbanned and eliminated.

Why The Right Is Turning Extreme On Contraception by Amanda Marcotte, RH Reality Check ,May 1, 2011

For anyone who had a whiff of doubt that the conservative movement has been completely hijacked by extremists, last week should have laid to rest all doubt. It’s not just a ridiculous conspiracy theory that President Obama was somehow not born in the U.S. was touted so much on Fox News that Obama finally had to get special dispensation to release his long form birth certificate. It’s also that the war on contraception---which 99 percent of women who’ve had sex with men have used at some point in their lives---has become not just a lark in service of federal budget negotiations, but a major priority on the right.

Friday afternoon this became clear when Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana, who had previously claimed he wanted a “truce” in the culture war, signed into a law a bill cutting off all federal funding for reproductive health services to Indiana. There was a lot of lip-smacking about abortion from Indiana Republicans, as usual, but as with the previous fight over funding of family planning, this has nothing to do with abortion. The funds were already not going to abortion services. These funds were for contraception, STD testing and treatment, and cancer screening. The explicit target of this attack is Planned Parenthood, but the move will likely mean that all federal funds to the state will be cut off, which suits the anti-choice movement behind this just fine. After all, this has never been about fetal life or even just one organization, but about an ideological opposition to the idea that sexually active women should get to have their health. “Close your legs” has gone from a crude joke to the Republican party’s favored policy stance, even though such a view is the political equivalent of opposing the cuteness of puppies. How did this happen? How did a handful of far right extremists manage to get not just the conservative movement but the Republican party marching in lockstep behind their anti-contraception views?

Can the New Apostles and Prophets Seize Dominion by Political Intermarriage? April 12, 2011 by pjmiller at Sola Dei Gloria

On April 12-13 there is scheduled “The Government Transformation Summit for Visionary Leaders” in San Antonio. It is also called “Justice at the Gate.” Some of the leading speakers introduced to us are: Ed Silvoso, considered by many as the father of the Nation Transforming Movement, and Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Church in San Diego, the one tapped by Newt Gingrich to be the Chairman of Gingrich’s Renewing American Leadership committed to freedom, faith and free markets. The introduction continues:

“Expand your vision to a movement [notice not the church, ed.] forging an intersection of worship, reconciliation [the new meaning of the term, ed.] Governance Systems and Nation-Changing transformation [notice the bringing together of transformation and Dominionism, ed.].”

The Dominionists are now hitting the political big-time. There was a conference scheduled at Liberty University on April 8-9 sponsored by Freedom Federation called Awakening 2011. Broadcast on C-Span for the first time, it included 60 nationally known political operatives and many Dominionist personalities.

The politicos included: Newt Gingrich, Rep. Mike Spence, Gary Bauer, Frank Gaffney, Marco Rubio and Michele Bachmann.

The Dominionist Clergy included Rick Joyner, Lou Engle, Cindy Jacobs and David Barton.

Then, just recently on March 25-26, the Iowa Renewal Project “Rediscovering God in America” was held. This political event included pure politicians and Dominionist/Tea Party clergy. Included were George Barna, evangelical pollster and Jesuit trained. Barna in his 2009 book Master Leaders: Revealing Conversations with 30 Leadership Greats extolled as leadership greats New Age sympathizers Ken Blanchard, Laurie Beth Jones, and emergent futurist Erwin McManus. Also as speaker was Mike Huckabee, Southern Baptist presidential candidate anointed by apostle Lou Engle’s apostolic hands. Also speaking was well known politico Newt Gingrich, a presidential candidate and a lapsed Baptist and recent Catholic convert and serial adulterer. Other speakers included Minnesota’s own Michele Bachmann, the Oral Roberts trained Word/Faith Congresswomen.

Mike Huckabee has previously accepted an endorsement by and spoken at a “Watchmen on the Walls” convention. Watchmen on the Walls is a Joel’s Army radical Dominionist group active in Ex-USSR countries but with a major presence among Russian and Slavic emigrants.

I have in the last year written about the convergence of the New Apostolic Reformation and the Christian Right. Some articles on the net include: “The Coalescing of the Christian Right with Apostolic Dominionism,” “R&R Revival and Revolt: The Tea Party’s Strange Bedfellows and What They Believe,” and “Mary Glazier: Wagner’s NAR Chief Prophetess In Alaska.”

Some months have passed and now these political apostles no longer feel any need to hide their political intentions and associations.

Those promoting God’s absolute rule upon the earth have become bedfellows with national politicians and are calling for the Kingdom of God to be politically instituted first in America and then around the world. This is a convergence that goes well beyond elections cycles. It is a union of national politicians and clergy who share not only political views but also share a vision for a Christian political domination for the whole world, in order to bring Jesus back to the earth. They no longer wait for a King from heaven but are straining to establish a political kingdom of God upon the earth before The King can return. Their goals are like hidden leaven within American politics, disguising their real agenda from unsuspecting voters.

Rachael Tabachnick, in her report, “The Rise of Charismatic Dominionism,” explained:

“These Christian warriors would no longer be constrained by having to wait for a future Rapture. The battle against evil to bring about the millennial utopia would not wait for divine intervention, but be initiated by human hands – an army of Christian warriors bringing about the Kingdom, now.”

This is a major shift. Twenty-five years ago Pentecostals and evangelicals were all awaiting the Rapture. Now many, if not most, are on board looking to gain control of society and government, postponing the Rapture till the earth is one huge Christian caliphate. Tabachnick observed, “A newer and potent movement has emerged like a phoenix from the ashes of Darby’s Dispensationalism.”

The Coalescing of the Christian Right with Apostolic Dominionism It is not about FREEDOM, it is about DOMINION at Herescope, April 8, 2010

The first edition of the Discernment Newsletter, published in May 1990 began chronicling the activities of a group of men calling themselves "prophets" and "apostles," claiming to have extra-biblical revelation and calling to build an elite army to take over the Earth. This obscure cult infiltrated Pentecostal circles with its doctrines, but it wasn't until these "Kansas City Prophets," as they were called, connected with C. Peter Wagner from Fuller Theological Seminary, that they gained great momentum and helped to form the basis of what Wagner calls "The New Apostolic Reformation" (NAR). By 1991, in a little booklet titled Joel's Army by Jewel Grewe, she warned about the extreme Dominionist doctrines of these men. The heresies of this movement continued to gain momentum, especially through the evangelical television media. Nevertheless, most of the leaders were not readily recognized in the mainstream evangelical world.

This coming month all is about to change. These NAR leaders are having a great big "coming out party" on May Day in Washington, D.C. These New Order of the Latter Rain cult leaders are going to be standing prominently alongside Christian Right and Republican Right leaders in a great convergence that positions them front and center stage. Their esoteric Dominionist doctrines are rapidly becoming integrated into the entire purpose of this event, albeit cloaked in the rhetoric of "saving America" patriotism. And herein lies the problem. For under the guise of moral causes, these men intend to change more than the declining culture of America. They intend to build the Kingdom of God on Earth, "sphere" by "sphere," nation by nation.

DeVos family which created Amway have been financing various right wing organizations and causes over the last thirty years or so.

Alternet.org
The DeVos Family: Meet the Super-Wealthy Right-Wingers Working With the Religious Right to Kill Public Education Alternet.org May 6, 2011

By now you've surely heard of the Kochs. Meanwhile, the powerful, wealthy DeVos family has remained largely under the radar, while leading a stealth assault on America's schools.

Since the 2010 elections, voucher bills have popped up in legislatures around the nation. From Pennsylvania to Indiana to Florida, state governments across the country have introduced bills that would take money from public schools and use it to send students to private and religious institutions.

Vouchers have always been a staple of the right-wing agenda. Like previous efforts, this most recent push for vouchers is led by a network of conservative think tanks, PACs, Religious Right groups and wealthy conservative donors. But "school choice," as they euphemistically paint vouchers, is merely a means to an end. Their ultimate goal is the total elimination of our public education system.

The decades-long campaign to end public education is propelled by the super-wealthy, right-wing DeVos family. Betsy Prince DeVos is the sister of Erik Prince, founder of the notorious private military contractor Blackwater USA (now Xe), and wife of Dick DeVos, son of the co-founder of Amway, the multi-tiered home products business.

Right-Wing Privatization Forces

The conservative policy institutes founded beginning in the 1970s get hundreds of millions of dollars from wealthy families and foundations to develop and promote free market fundamentalism. More specifically, their goals include privatizing social security, reducing government regulations, thwarting environmental policy, dismantling unions -- and eliminating public schools.

Whatever they may say about giving poor students a leg up, their real priority is nothing short of the total dismantling of our public educational institutions, and they've admitted as much. Cato Institute founder Ed Crane and other conservative think tank leaders have signed the Public Proclamation to Separate School and State, which reads in part that signing on, "Announces to the world your commitment to end involvement by local, state, and federal government from education."

But Americans don't want their schools dismantled. So privatization advocates have recognized that it's not politically viable to openly push for full privatization and have resigned themselves to incrementally dismantling public school systems. The think tanks’ weapon of choice is school vouchers.

(the voucher system does not make for better educated students)

The longest running voucher program in the country is the 20-year-old Milwaukee School Choice Program. Standardized testing shows that the voucher students in private schools perform below the level of Milwaukee’s public school students, and even when socioeconomic status is factored in, the voucher students still score at or below the level of the students who remain in Milwaukee’s public schools. Cleveland’s voucher program has produced similar results. Private schools in the voucher program range from excellent to very poor. In some, less than 20 percent of students reach basic proficiency levels in math and reading.

Most Americans do not want their tax dollars to fund private and sectarian schools. Since 1966, 24 of 25 voucher initiatives have been defeated by voters, most by huge margins. Nevertheless, the pro-privatization battle continues, organized by an array of 527s, 501(c)(3)s, 501(c)(4)s, and political action committees. At the helm of this interconnected network is Betsy DeVos, the four-star general of the pro-voucher movement.

...Like DeVos, several free-market think tanks have also issued warnings that vouchers appear to be an “elitist” plan. There's reason for their concern, given the long and racially charged history of vouchers.

School vouchers drew little public interest until Brown v. Board of Education and the court-ordered desegregation of public schools. Southern states devised voucher schemes for students to leave public schools and take the public funding with them.

Author Kevin Michael Kreuse explains how this plan was supposed to work in White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism. “At the heart of the plan to defend school segregation, for instance, stood a revolutionary scheme called the ‘private-school plan.’ In 1953, a full year before Brown, Governor Talmadge advanced a constitutional amendment giving the General Assembly the power to privatize the state’s entire system of public education. In the event of court-ordered desegregation, school buildings would be closed, and students would receive grants to attend private, segregated schools.”

Given the racist origins of vouchers, advocates of privatization have had to do two things: obscure the fact that the pro-privatization movement is backed primarily by white conservatives, and emphasize the support of African American and Democratic lawmakers where it exists.