Trump and Pence to Address Anti-LGBT Christian Evangelical Group

While a significant number of LGBT Virginians foolishly, in my view, denounce Ralph Northam and Mark Herring, the two strongest allies they have ever had and risk that an anti-gay, anti-black Republican could be governor, Donald Trump and Mike Pence are reminding us who are real enemies are: Republicans and evangelical Christian extremists.  The idiocy of these elements in the LGBT community is mirrored by the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus and black pastors who are being cynically manipulated by The Family Foundation, a hate group with antecedents in the white supremacists behind Massive Resistance, likewise seem blind to what a governor Cox would mean for black Virginians. 

The Democrat quest for lifetime unblemished purity where no infraction will ever be forgiven will be the death of progress on LGBT and minority rights in Virginia. The GOP could not win the 2017 statewide elections, but are now on the verge of having Democrats rescind their victories. The political blindness to the GOP long game is mind numbing.  

But back to Trump/Pence who will be addressing the "National Prayer Breakfast" sponsored by the secretive fundamentalist, anti-LGBT organization is known as "The Family" or "The Fellowship Foundation"  that will embrace representatives of anti-gay hate groups and evangelical Christian extremists.  The New Civil Rights Movement looks at the up coming gathering of covens of anti-gay hate. Here are excerpts: 

Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will address attendees at the National Prayer Breakfast once again, early Thursday morning. The annual event attended by many presidents is hosted by a secretive Christian evangelical organization, allegedly with ties to Ugandan politicians who worked to enact the "Kill the Gays" bill. That secretive fundamentalist anti-LGBT organization is known as "The Family" or "The Fellowship Foundation." More than three thousand are expected to attend, including representatives of anti-gay hate groups and evangelical Christian extremists.

In December it was revealed admitted Russian agent Maria Butina used the 2017 National Prayer Breakfast as a networking opportunity to get prominent Russians to meet top members of the Trump administration. Butina has since pleaded guilty to felony charges and is cooperating with federal prosecutors. Her NRA-tied boyfriend was indicted on 11 felony and fraud charges Wednesday.

Bloomberg News reported in December that Butina chose 10 influential Russians to attend the 2017 National Prayer breakfast.

On Wednesday The Washington Post reported Trump will speak at the Breakfast and "is likely to play on white evangelicals' fears."

Obama Snubs Gays and Attends Hate Group Backed "Prayer Breakfast"

In what seems like a case of deja vu following Barack Obama's election in 2008, Obama is back fraternizing with some of the nastiest elements of the Christofascist far right.  As if anything the man could do other than perhaps die would ever make the Christofascists like him.  The latest example of Obama's batshitery on this front is his attendance at the National Prayer Breakfast sponsored by The Family - an ominous Christofascist group that has ties to and has funded many of the anti-gay extremists in Africa not to mention allegiances with hate groups like Family Research Council.  Not surprisingly, many progressives are NOT happy with Mr. Obama and his latest self-prostitution to the forces of hate and extremism.  You simply cannot have it both ways Mr. Obama.  Here are excerpts from a Huffington Post piece:

President Barack Obama's National Prayer Breakfast has offended some gay rights activists, who took issue with the event's sponsor -- a conservative religious group with ties to anti-gay agendas.

Thursday's Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., is an annual event hosted by the Fellowship Foundation, otherwise known as "the Family." According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Family is a conservative Christian group that has supported anti-gay legislation around the world and has ties with Ugandan official David Bahati, whose infamous "Kill the Gays" bill could impose the death penalty for those in same-sex relationships.

Gay rights activists have opposed Obama's appearance at the event.  “We would love for the President to come out and join us at the 'Breakfast without Bigotry,'” Michael Dixon, a member of LGBT rights group GetEqualDC, told CNN at the 2011 Prayer Breakfast, where GetEqual and 30 other demonstrators said prayers for Ugandan gay activist David Kato, who was brutally bludgeoned to death in 2011.

“The values the Family is actually espousing could not be further from what Jesus would actually support," Dixon previously told CNN. "We feel that persecuting people because of the way that they were born, trying to have them imprisoned for life, trying to execute them, is not Christian and it’s not a family value in any sense of the word.”

Obama's attending the Prayer Breakfast on Thursday, therefore, seemed to juxtapose his support for equality, a stance he historically backed at his second inauguration ceremony last month.

"I confess that I haven't focused on this," [White House Press Secretary] Carney told reporters of the the Family's anti-gay links, according to Metro Weekly. "The president, as his predecessors have, participates in this. He's not responsible for the views of every organization or person who participates. His views on these issues, as you just noted in your question, are quite clear."

Gay rights groups also opposed the National Prayer Breakfast in 2010, when Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked for congressional leaders to boycott the event. Gay rights groups responded with their own prayer events in 17 cities across the nation, according to Time.

Ugandan Presidential Politics Behind "Kill Gays" Law?

David Mixner has a very interesting and intriguing post on his blog that has a different take on what may be ultimately behind the Uganda "kill the gays" legislation pending in the Ugandan Parliament. We it true, it would still fit hand in glove with the efforts of American anti-gay Christianists, including nutcase, Scott Lively. What it might be? The goal of keeping the current pro-Christian conservative president of Uganda in office. It would make a kind of sick sense. The Christianist allies of Republicans - who love to depict campaign opponents as possibly gay - in effect helping set the stage to discredit or criminalize a potential presidential opposition candidate. You see, President Museveni is worried about the return of Olara Otunnu to possibly head up the opposition in the next election. Olara Otunnu is is single and with no children,and we all know what that might mean! Indeed, it sounds like something Karl Rove would dream up. I will reserve judgment for now, but here are some highlights from David's post:
*
Could it be that the upcoming Ugandan presidential election is one of the main reasons behind the "kill the gays" legislation before the Ugandan Parliament? President Museveni must be very concerned about the return of renowned and honored statesman Olara Otunnu to possibly head up the opposition in the next election. Otunnu is single and with no children and the presidential allies have been spreading rumors about his private life far and wide. You can fill in the spaces.
*
Most importantly, Mr. Otunna (photograph) brings an astounding resume back to Uganda after a more or less self imposed exile from the country since 1986. Likely to be the nominee of the Uganda People's Congress, Otunna would be a bright light in a nation that increasingly is becoming a dark place including the anti-gay legislation. Rarely has a more distinguished person sought the presidency of Uganda. Oxford and Harvard educated, Otunna has been viewed as the conscience of his countrymen.
*
Clearly the return of this international human rights activist and hero has been perceived as a threat to President Musevenia and recently the opposition leader was the victim of a highly suspicious traffic accident.
*
According to NewVision in Uganda, the Otunna escaped unhurt after his automobilie was hit by a jeep of the Presidential Guard Brigade. The ruling party explained it as a simple accident while Otunna and his entourage have a different view.
*
Not only does the LGBT community have a stake in this next presidential election in Uganda but so do the children of the world, the people of Uganda and believers in the future of Africa.

*

On her show tonight, Rachel Maddow interviewed a spokesman for the secret Christianist organization, The Family. Interestingly enough, he referenced "private" communications to have President Musevenia kill the anti-gay legislation. With many Ugandans whipped into a an anti-gay frenzy, could it perhaps be that the legislation can now be allowed die and Otunnu could still be damaged by the atmosphere deliberately manufactured to help Musevenia?

Hillary's Nasty Pastorate

I find some amusement in the fact that Hillary Clinton’s campaign started the race baiting which in turn lead to the controversy over Rev. Jeremiah Wright – with whom Bill and Hillary Clinton also have ties as reported by AmericaBlog (http://www.americablog.com/2008/03/did-hillary-sit-next-to-rev-wright-at.html) – and now onto some of Hillary’s unsavory but not widely known Christianist ties. The moral is that when you start flinging mud, you best be careful because it may come back to hit you in the face. In respect to this later aspect, the Huffington Post has an article (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbara-ehrenreich/hillarys-nasty-pastorate_b_92361.html) about Hillary’s involvement in “The Family,” which involves some very far right characters and which is not at all in keeping with her allegedly progressive religious views. Here are some story highlights:

There's a reason why Hillary Clinton has remained relatively silent during the flap over intemperate remarks by Barack Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright. When it comes to unsavory religious affiliations, she's a lot more vulnerable than Obama.

You can find all about it in a widely under-read article in the September 2007 issue of Mother Jones, in which Kathryn Joyce and Jeff Sharlet reported that "through all of her years in Washington, Clinton has been an active participant in conservative Bible study and prayer circles that are part of a secretive Capitol Hill group known as the "Fellowship," aka The Family. But it won't be a secret much longer. Jeff Sharlet's shocking exposé, The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power will be published in May.

The Family's most visible activity is its blandly innocuous National Prayer Breakfast, held every February in Washington. But almost all its real work goes on behind the scenes -- knitting together international networks of rightwing leaders, most of them ostensibly Christian. In the 1940s, The Family reached out to former and not-so-former Nazis, and its fascination with that exemplary leader, Adolph Hitler, has continued, along with ties to a whole bestiary of murderous thugs.

At the heart of the Family's American branch is a collection of powerful rightwing politicos, who include, or have included, Sam Brownback, Ed Meese, John Ashcroft, James Inhofe, and Rick Santorum. They get to use the Family's spacious estate on the Potomac, the Cedars, which is maintained by young men in Family group homes and where meals are served by the Family's young women's group. And, at the Family's frequent prayer gatherings, they get powerful jolts of spiritual refreshment, tailored to the already-powerful.

Clinton fell in with the Family in 1993, when she joined a Bible study group composed of wives of conservative leaders like Jack Kemp and James Baker. When she ascended to the senate, she was promoted to what Sharlet calls the Family's "most elite cell," the weekly Senate Prayer Breakfast, which included, until his downfall, Virginia's notoriously racist Senator George Allen. This has not been a casual connection for Clinton. She has written of Doug Coe, the Family's publicity-averse leader, that he is "a unique presence in Washington: a genuinely loving spiritual mentor and guide to anyone, regardless of party or faith, who wants to deepen his or her relationship with God."

Sharlet generously attributes Clinton's involvement to the underappreciated depth of her religiosity, but he himself struggles to define the Family's theological underpinnings. The Family avoids the word Christian but worship Jesus, though not the Jesus who promised the earth to the "meek." They believe that, in mass societies, it's only the elites who matter, the political leaders who can build God's "dominion" on earth. Insofar as the Family has a consistent philosophy, it's all about power -- cultivating it, building it, and networking it together into ever-stronger units, or "cells." "We work with power where we can," Doug Coe has said, and "build new power where we can't."

Obama has given a beautiful speech on race and his affiliation with the Trinity Unity Church of Christ. Now it's up to Clinton to explain -- or, better yet, renounce -- her longstanding connection with the fascist-leaning Family.