As a former Republican, I continually shake my head in disbelief at the lunacy that is becoming more and more a hallmark of today's GOP. Moreover, elected Republican officials increasingly act as if they have undergone some sort of "Stepford Wife" treatment that has turned them into robots for the nuttiest of the Christianists. A case in point is Congressman Randy Forbes (at right) from nearby Chesapeake, Virginia. I have know Randy since the days the two of us were classmates in law school. Never in my wildest dreams back then would I have ever believed that Randy would have become a Christo-fascist who has no regard for the Constitution's guarantee of freedom of religion for all. Yet, he is increasing in bed with the worse elements of the lunatic far Christian Right. I can help but wonder what the Hell happened to him. Here are some highlights from Alternet on the gather of GOP members of Congress with nutcase, Lou Engle:*
Last night's segment of the Rachel Maddow show provided footage, which first appeared at Talk To Action, of a Christian evangelist who is quite influential but also little known to secular Americans: Lou Engle, founder of TheCall. The Maddow segment highlighted an event noted a few days ago by RightWingWatch, an anti-health care reform "Prayercast," held by the Family Research Council, led by emergent, highly militant leaders of the Christian right such as Lou Engle and also by Republican senators Brownback and DeMint, and GOP Representatives Bachmann and Forbes.
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The GOP fab-four has scored a trifecta - Lou Engle is opposed to health care reform and legal abortion, and his organization TheCall played a major, if little noticed, role in passing California's Proposition 8.
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Is the GOP becoming the party of violent Christian martyrdom ? Apparently, Jim DeMint, Sam Brownback, Michelle Bachmann and Randy Forbes weren't deterred by the fact that Lou Engle has publicly made statements which resemble rhetoric deployed during the 1990's, by leaders of the anti-abortion movement, that helped incite domestic terrorism. But they weren't alone:
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Engle, who has publicly called for acts of Christian martyrdom, could be found last summer blessing and anointing Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee at a Virginia Beach megachurch. Engle represents a religious right tendency that had become so dominant that known potentates such as James Dobson and Tony Perkins travel to Engle's TheCall events
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Engle's religious movement has also played a significant role in inspiring, and even organizing, legislators who pushed the pending, draconian anti-gay legislation in Uganda that some have described as a "kill the gays" bill.
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Last night's segment of the Rachel Maddow show provided footage, which first appeared at Talk To Action, of a Christian evangelist who is quite influential but also little known to secular Americans: Lou Engle, founder of TheCall. The Maddow segment highlighted an event noted a few days ago by RightWingWatch, an anti-health care reform "Prayercast," held by the Family Research Council, led by emergent, highly militant leaders of the Christian right such as Lou Engle and also by Republican senators Brownback and DeMint, and GOP Representatives Bachmann and Forbes.
*
The GOP fab-four has scored a trifecta - Lou Engle is opposed to health care reform and legal abortion, and his organization TheCall played a major, if little noticed, role in passing California's Proposition 8.
*
Is the GOP becoming the party of violent Christian martyrdom ? Apparently, Jim DeMint, Sam Brownback, Michelle Bachmann and Randy Forbes weren't deterred by the fact that Lou Engle has publicly made statements which resemble rhetoric deployed during the 1990's, by leaders of the anti-abortion movement, that helped incite domestic terrorism. But they weren't alone:
*
Engle, who has publicly called for acts of Christian martyrdom, could be found last summer blessing and anointing Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee at a Virginia Beach megachurch. Engle represents a religious right tendency that had become so dominant that known potentates such as James Dobson and Tony Perkins travel to Engle's TheCall events
*
Engle's religious movement has also played a significant role in inspiring, and even organizing, legislators who pushed the pending, draconian anti-gay legislation in Uganda that some have described as a "kill the gays" bill.
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I sincerely hope that some of Randy Forbes' constituents start to wake up and demand an explanation why Forbes is hanging out with those in favor of domestic terrorism.
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