Rev. Billy Graham, or rather his ministry, had a full page ad in the New York Times and other news papers around the country electioneering for god. In the ad, Graham asks people to “cast our ballots for candidates who base their decisions on biblical principles and support the nation of Israel.” Graham’s call crosses the line against churches electioneering for candidates.
The Freedom From Religion Foundation will be filing a complaint about the “coded” message:
A Google alert caught my eye on Sunday. It was to a post on a website called LifeNews.com and it was titled “Liberals Are Trying to Intimidate Your Church This Election”. So of course I had to read about this very important issue. The post basically was the standard conservative scare post. Naturally none of their information was correct. What I did find interesting was links to two voter guides. I didn’t know that a church was so concerned with obviously non-religious issues like energy, Voter ID, and Iran.
Ralph Reed former head of the right wing Christian Coalition, which continually violated federal election and tax laws during his leadership, is back with a new organization trying to link the religious right and the Republican party. The group called “Faith and Freedom Coalition” is holding a conference this weekend in Washington DC. This shows once again that religious right criminals never have to pay for their crimes.
The Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based Christian legal group, is looking for a fight.
It is has talked Christian ministers from 22 states to use their pulpits Sunday to deliver political sermons or endorse presidential candidates. Its goal is to take a test case to the US Supreme Court to overturn the 54 year old ban on churches and other tax exempt groups from getting directly involved in politics or endorsing specific candidates.
Saw an article on the blog Crooks and Liars, by Steve Benen, that talks about John McCain’s cozy relationship with a pastor that says crazy things. The press seems not to care about Pastor Rod Parsley and John McCain.
I had an e-mail land in my box today that could be one of the smoking guns that proves Rev. Russell Johnson of the Fairfield Christian Church and Ohio Restoration Project is electioneering for Ken Blackwell, who is running for Governor and hopes to be the Republican nominee this fall. It seems Johnson sent a link to a Blackwell campaign video to members of his church and his staff. His note infers that a vote for Blackwell will help “ministers and Christians in America… repent of cowardice in the face of the enemy by allowing our nation to be taken hostage to secular myths”.