More Examples of Religion and Politics Mixing--Poorly

Two items came to my e-mail over the last couple of days that reminded me how the intertwining of politics and religion is often to the detriment of both.


First, this item from Americans United for Separation of Church and State:


Americans United asserts that Bill Keller Ministries seems to have violated federal tax law when its online division, Liveprayer.com, ran articles warning readers that a vote for Romney is a vote for Satan.

“If you vote for Mitt Romney, you are voting for satan!” asserted the ministry in the May 11 “devotional” posted on Liveprayer.com. “This message today is not about Mitt Romney. Romney is an unashamed and proud member of the Mormon cult founded by a murdering polygamist pedophile named Joseph Smith nearly 200 years ago. The teachings of the Mormon cult are doctrinally and theologically in complete opposition to the Absolute Truth of God’s Word….This message is about the top Christian leaders in our nation who are supporting this cult members [sic] quest to become the next President of the United States.”



Keller apparently saw this report, writing this under the heading of devotional (what?!) dated June 2:


A real tool of satan, Barry Lynn who runs a group called the Americans United for Separation of Church and State, has called on the IRS to investigate Liveprayer for my comments about Mitt Romney. Since I highly doubt Lynn even knows who I am, it would be interesting to know if it was the Mormons who put him up to this.


Nice. Another reminder that when someone uses the phrase "Absolute Truth of God's Word" or anything akin to that they usually mean "The Truth According to Me Using Scripture to Justify It." These folks generally don't take criticism very well either. For what it's worth, I LOVE Rev. Lynn. I have seen him speak several times on television and have a great respect for his views and the effectiveness with which he presents them.

Personally, I don't think there's much chance I would vote for Mitt Romney for President, but it has nothing to do with the fact that he's a mormon. I'm not voting for Chief Pastor, I'm voting for Chief Executive. I wish anyone who makes a decision whether or not to vote for a political candidate based on their faith and not their political record and views could have their vote taken away from them.

Then this disturbing notice arrived in my e-mail from Wayne Besen's advocacy organization, Truth Wins Out:

Truth Wins Out announced its strong and committed opposition today to President George W. Bush’s nomination for U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. James W. Holsinger, after it was revealed that he started a church in Lexington, Kentucky that has a ministry to “cure” gay people.

“Holsinger is an ideologue whose medical views on gay and lesbian people resemble sorcery more than sound science,” said Truth Wins Out’s Executive Director Wayne Besen. “The last thing America needed was another deplorable nominee who isn’t up to the job, but this is exactly what Bush delivered.”

Holsinger’s nomination will go before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, chaired by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) Presidential candidates Sens. Barack Obama (D-IL), Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Christopher Dodd (D-CT) sit on this committee.

I'm way past the "you must be freakin' kidding me" reactions when Bush pulls something like this, jabbing a sharp stick in the eye of the GLBT and scientific communities yet again.

What I find particularly interesting here is the makeup of the Senate committee that will vote on this nomination. Senators Obama and Clinton have been making some ovetures to the GLBT community fishing for votes, but now it's their votes that will speak volumes about how much support they will actually give the gay and lesbian people they want to support them.