Lynne Torgerson. Photo: Facebook
Lynne Torgerson. Photo: Facebook

End-times preacher and Bachmann friend defends Lynne Torgerson’s anti-Islam statements

Jan Markell questions Keith Ellison's 'associations' with Muslim groups
By Andy Birkey
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 10:43 am

Jan Markell, an end-times preacher and longtime friend of Michele Bachmann, defended anti-Islam statements by Lynne Torgerson, Rep. Keith Ellison’s first announced challenger for the 2012 election. In late-June, Torgerson launched her campaign at Tea Party Nation by calling Ellison a “radical Islamist” who “fails to oppose banning Islamic Sharia law in the United States.” Ellison responded by accusing her of running a campaign “based on hate, division, and fear.” In an interview on Friday, Markell defended Torgerson.

She said that Ellison’s faith has made Minnesota conservatives uncomfortable.

“And it stems from his association with Islamic groups that are questionable, including organizations like [the] Council on American-Islamic Relations,” Markell told OneNewsNow. “But Torgerson has been asking Keith Ellison to make a bold statement that the U.S. Constitution trumps Sharia Law.”

In 2006, Ellison became the first Muslim elected to the U.S. House.

“I guess I wouldn’t say I’m not particularly proud of that, but I’m certainly not going to go to war over it either,” Markell said of Ellison’s accomplishment. “But Torgerson has every right to question Keith Ellison and not be charged with intolerance.”

The media outlet Markell spoke with, OneNewsNow, is run by the American Family Association, an organization the Southern Poverty Law Center has named a hate group.

Markell raised concerns in 2008 when a talking Mattel doll appeared to be spouting pro-Islam messages in its prerecorded babbling. Mattel insisted that the babbling was simply that — sounds that a baby might make.

Markell is not a stranger to bringing her end-times message to the political world. Bachmann has been a frequent guest on her radio show, including a 2009 appearance when she and Markell joked that conservative Christians had become the new Taliban.

Bachmann appeared on Markell’s radio many times in 2004 and 2005 to speak out against gays and lesbians, a theme that Markell has frequently discussed in addition to anti-Islam commentary.

Markell insinuated — as did many other conservative Christian leaders — that a tornado hit downtown Minneapolis in August 2009 because Lutherans had voted to allow gay and lesbian clergy in the church.

Torgerson ran against Ellison in 2010, garnering 3 percent to Ellison’s 69 percent.

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Comments

15 Comments

Steve
Comment posted July 12, 2011 @ 12:05 pm

Markell seems like a kook! But i would ask if everything Conservatives say is dismissed as radical or irrelevant, why are views and statements by someone like Ellison outside the limits of scrutiny? I see a lot of “moral relativism” going on here!


Rextrek
Comment posted July 12, 2011 @ 12:27 pm

I thought Kate DUMPED John…..and that stupid hairstyle? LOL


bill.e.goat
Comment posted July 12, 2011 @ 12:33 pm

Lynne Torgerson isn’t fit to hold a candle for Mr. Ellison, this lady is INSANE! I had the extreme displeasure of meeting her and hearing her regurgitate the same old Republican talking points. (This was before she jumped on the Tea Bag.) Lynne will once again get a lesson at the school of hard knocks come 2012. Rep. Ellison makes me proud to call myself and American.


bill.e.goat
Comment posted July 12, 2011 @ 12:34 pm

*AN American.


bill.e.goat
Comment posted July 12, 2011 @ 12:57 pm

@Rextrek – Well played sir! Well played.


Joan Malueg
Comment posted July 12, 2011 @ 1:33 pm

Since when is intolerance a crime? We have GOT to get over the idea that having an opinion different from others is “intolerance”. I’m not politically correct by any means, and proud of it.


Charles
Comment posted July 12, 2011 @ 2:57 pm

Joan, I’m a little unclear, whose intolerance is supposed to be a OK?


Scott
Comment posted July 12, 2011 @ 4:13 pm

Charles,
Silly, It’s those of us in the “reality based” world that need to be more tolerant of those who get their information directly from “god”.

Joan,
There is nothing wrong with a difference of opinion. There is a great deal wrong with the way that Torgerson and Markell talk about all Muslims being terrorists. Having tortured myself with Markell’s program for years, Markell is almost to to the part of the spectrum that believes that “that the only good Muslim is a dead Muslim”. KKMS am 980am should be nicknamed the “Muslims, Gays and Commies are out to git us” station.

The United States is a religiously pluralistic country. People like Markel and Torgerson are still living in another century.


Eric
Comment posted July 12, 2011 @ 4:54 pm

The most holy altar of the Christian right isn’t devoted to Christ, it’s devoted to human ignorance and stupidity.

Many Christian conservatives will seemingly swallow any cup of swill handed to them. For example:

“Coral Ridge Ministries…founded by D. James Kennedy, has “discovered” a couple of former workers willing to testify about the evil practices of Planned Parenthood.

“They have an abortion budget and they have a certain number of patients that you have to perform abortions on every month, and there’s a dollar amount attached to each woman.”

Everett’s business plan included outreach in schools with talks given to break down children’s natural modesty and promote Everett and her clinic associates as trusted authorities for all things sexual.

Everett wanted students to “come to us with their sexual questions so we could put them on a low dose birth control pill we knew they’d get pregnant on. Of course we passed out condoms but we never passed out high quality condoms; we always used seconds or defective condoms. Our goal was to get the kids pregnant.”

The target, Everett says, was “three to five abortions between the ages of 13 and 18 from every girl we could find.”"
http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/04/no_lie_too_low.php

Or, did you know that Jews are destroying Christianity?
http://www.realjewnews.com/

There’s no end to this b.s. This is the swamp in which the religious right exists. And now they have a candidate for president.


mandinka
Comment posted July 12, 2011 @ 6:21 pm

Eilison is a KOOK and is anti american, time for him to GO


Eric
Comment posted July 12, 2011 @ 6:58 pm

mandinka,

How do you define “anti American”, and why is Ellison anti-American?


Saad
Comment posted July 12, 2011 @ 9:18 pm

I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.

Mohandas Gandhi.


panola
Comment posted July 13, 2011 @ 2:55 am

Keith Ellison was a member of the Nation of Islam hate group and authored several racist hate articles. In at least one paper he proposed the creation of separate states for African Americans.


John I
Comment posted July 13, 2011 @ 9:59 am

A little off target here, but does any one know if Lynne is married? I haven’t seen any mention of her being married and a review of her as a criminal lawyer kept stating “Ms. Torgerson”. Don’t get me wrong here, her personal life is of no concern to me, but I am beginning to think we may have a Larry Craig style republican on our hands. I have no evidence, just a sneaking suspicion.

mandinka…

What do you mean by “KOOK”??


Scott
Comment posted July 13, 2011 @ 9:38 pm

Panola,
Do you have a source for your allegations? Website reference?


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