Image: Glen, Flickr

Friday was historic for LGBT Americans as President Obama signed into law a hate crimes bill that includes sexual orientation and gender identity. But some among Minnesota’s religious right didn’t receive the news warmly, saying the law will bring the wrath of God down on America, that Obama is an “anti-Christian radical” and that the bill was a plot by “homosexuals” to silence Christians.

Bradlee Dean of You Can Run But You Cannot Hide ministries in Annandale, a group that brings its message of Christianity and morality into public high schools, slammed the passing of the hate crimes bill on his Saturday radio show, the School of Hard Knocks Roxxs. “If you grab the bull, you are going to get the horns. I want you to listen to me carefully,” he said. “America, as this is being passed again against the majority, I guarantee you that judgments are going to increase in our country… When you begin to pass laws against what God’s words say, God promises to turn that nation into hell that forgets him and if you want to go ahead play the Lord on a national level… Folks, just sit back because it’s only beginning right now.”

Dean repeatedly called gays and lesbians criminals, a familiar theme on his show. The bill, he said, is “there to protect the homosexuals that are perpetrating crimes against the righteous, and you need to understand that Obama’s calling for the decriminalization of homosexuality and he is calling for the criminalization — without saying it — of you.”

On gay marriage, he said, “So the homosexual communities are asking the government for help legalizing that which is illegal. They are also asking for a health care plan to help cure their AIDS from that same government that said it’s okay go ahead and do it.”

He continued, “Rest assured those ignorant homosexuals out there are working overtime to silence the dissent. They want to shut you up.”

Meanwhile, Jan Markell of the Maple Grove–based Olive Tree Ministries, condemned the bill on her popular “end times” radio show on AM 980 KKMS.

“I think that Christians who dare to tell the truth — including this program — about the social, moral, spiritual and health consequences of illicit homosexual acts are accused of hate speech and intimated into silence with threats of fines or jail,” she said. “I think this: The fact that the hate bill had to be passed in such an unscrupulous and cynical manner — which means attaching it to the Defense Authorization Act — reveals the depth of President Obama’s commitment to a radical anti-Christian agenda. I think he will stop at nothing to undermine the will of the majority of Americans to pay back militant homosexual activists who raised millions of dollars for him.”

She continued, “It shows the level of contempt President Obama has for the majority of Americans who oppose the homosexualization of marriage, the military and public education… We really have our work cut out for us.”

Although it has spoken out against the bill in the past, the Minnesota Family Council has been uncharacteristically silent on the bill’s passage and did not reply to a request from the Minnesota Independent. The group’s website says the bill will impose “fines or jail time if you publicly speak out against homosexual activity — even on moral or religious grounds — and a court determines your message might arouse people to hate homosexuals.”

Nationally, religious right leaders were livid. “Public school curriculum could be built entirely on the idea of what is illegal hate in our culture,” said Craig Parshall, chief counsel for National Religious Broadcasters (NRB). “And our children could be indoctrinated [to believe that] if you criticize another religion or mention Jesus as being the only way, that’s hateful— [or] if you say that homosexuality is a sin, that’s hateful.”

Family Research Council president Tony Perkins said the bill is “part of a radical social agenda that could ultimately silence Christians and use the force of government to marginalize anyone whose faith is at odds with homosexuality.”

Of course, what the religious right doesn’t mention is that religion has been covered by federal hate crimes law since its inception in the 1960.

Photo: Collegewolf

Minneapolis pastor John Piper seems to have sprouted the idea that God sent a tornado to the Minneapolis Convention Center last Wednesday to express his displeasure that the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America was considering relaxing its teachings on LGBT issues. But his statement has blossomed among theologians and members of the religious right chiming in with their own answers to the question: Did God send the Minneapolis tornado because Lutherans were voting on gay issues?

WordAlone, a group opposed to a welcoming church for LGBT Lutherans, wrote:

A supporter of the social statement typified the storm as a mighty wind of the Holy Spirit and as a positive message. Some WordAlone Network members heard a different message, a warning of God’s anger at the ELCA in the wind. The storm near the Minneapolis Convention Center probably led local news reports Wednesday evening, not the votes of the day at the convention center.

Jan Markell of Maple Grove-based Olive Tree Ministries, an “end-times ministry” asked, “Was God in the whirlwind?”

At this year’s convention, a blatant pro-homosexual position validating “chaste” same-sex relationships was to be voted on. It was to be voted on at 2 PM on Wednesday, August 19. Then for the first time in decades, a tornado touched down in downtown Minneapolis at, you guessed it, 2 pm.

While we have no final word from God as to whether He sent the tornado, we can observe how God treated rebellious people and nations throughout the Old Testament who would not turn away from sin. If God didn’t send the whirlwind, He did allow it. A holy God never approves of sanctioning sin and lifestyles that are destructive.

Monica Stutsman, a former ELCA member from Vergas, Minn., wrote in the Fergus Falls Journal:

The article on the website dismissed the wind saying it “did only minor damage” and “injured no one.” But don’t you wonder at the timing? It happened exactly when the discussions were going on. Surely God wouldn’t show His displeasure at the Assembly by using wind. Or would He?

Julia Duin, an ELCA delegate blogging for Christianity Today, pondered:

If God was speaking in downtown Minneapolis through the twister, no one was listening. In fact, proponents of ordaining openly gay clergy could have seen the exact two-thirds total as a vindication of their point of view. And, if God had wanted to get through to the assembly, why didn’t he send the tornado a day earlier so word would have gotten through to everyone?

Is it possible that God already knew the Lutherans were going to vote, so he ripped off the cross from the nearest ELCA to show what he thought? Or does he simply not leave his calling card in such dramatic ways? If last week’s events do not constitute God’s warning — or judgment — what does?

Matt Kaufman, a blogger for Focus on the Family, says he can’t be sure that Piper was right when he said God sent the tornado — but he probably wasn’t wrong.

I wouldn’t use the word “conclusion” — not because I think Piper’s wrong about this tornado, but because I don’t know that he’s right. That said, there’s no doubt we need the turn-from-sin warning Piper lays out. So let’s put it this way: God may have chosen an unusually dramatic means to convey it this time. But He certainly conveys it all the time in His Word.

But at least one pastor disagrees with the idea that God sent the tornado. Marty Duren, a Southern Baptist pastor in Georgia, took issue with Piper’s conclusion.

I have no trouble at all ascribing responsibility for the storm to God (even insurance companies did so for decades, though some now opt to term them “natural disasters”). I’m simply demonstrating the danger and seriousness with which those who claim in some capacity to speak for God, better be sure when assigning motives to Him. These types of attributions (including the wild claims of Pat Robertson over the years) open the doors for skeptics to point out the rightful contradictions in the way that we interpret events (”If a tornado bloweth upon the Lutherans, it is God; but, if a tree falleth on our house, it is an attack of Satan”). This inconsistency is a greater tool of the Evil One than any believer would care to admit.

Despite the weather, the social statement relaxing church teaching on homosexuality passed by exactly one vote. Two days later, under a sunny sky, the ELCA approved a measure to allow gay and lesbian clergy in committed relationships to serve the church.

Image: Glen, Flickr

The religious right is ramping up its campaign against health care reform, even joining with the “tea party” movement to encourage conservative Christians to swamp town hall meetings. Minnesota’s religious right leaders say that the health care reform package is against God’s plan for health care and that Christians should go to community forums and “read them the riot act.”

Jan Markell of Maple Grove–based Olive Tree Ministries called on her radio listeners to attend congressional town hall meetings in August. “Here’s what you can do, your congressmen and senators are coming home for much of August,” she said on last week’s program. “They are going to have town hall meetings all over the place. You need to go there and give them an earful. The ideal thing to do is to go to their town hall and read them the riot act — in Christian love — but read them the riot act on this issue of health care.”

But she implied Rep. Michele Bachmann should be spared, heaping praises upon her: “[Michele Bachmann] is one of my favorite people. She is doing just an outstanding job in Congress standing up for what is right. She’s got a target on her back. You need to pray for her and her family.”

The Minnesota Family Council says that Obama’s plan for health care reform is against God’s design.

“Some may ask what does God have to do with our health care system,” wrote Minnesota Family Council president Tom Prichard. “For one, He’s created the government as an institution in society to do certain things. When we reject His design for government, in a sense, we’re rejecting Him.”

Prichard continues, “In Obama’s worldview, our trust is in government not in God. A denial of how God designed and created our economic and social systems to actually work in the real world. The result? The abysmal failure of government control of health care in socialist models. From the USSR which takeover [sic] everything, including health care, to our neighbors to the north, Canada and European countries such as the UK where rationing and massive waiting periods are the order of the day.”

In the national context, the largest and most well-known religious right groups are employing some bizarre tactics. The Christian Coalition of America is pitting seniors against immigrants. Health care reform would “provide healthcare to illegal aliens, while rationing care to elderly and disabled American citizens.”

Americans for Truth say that the public option would go to pay for sexual reassignment surgery for transgendered people. “Will ObamaCare Turn into Taxpayer-funded ‘Tranny-Care’?” asks their latest email alert. The Family Research Council is pushing Republican talking points — verbatim.

And the majority of these groups are tagging along with the tea party movement to swarm congressional town hall meetings. Focus on the Family is urging its members to attend such meetings and “demand that abortion funding be explicitly excluded from any reform bill.”

The Family Research Council want its members armed with video cameras. “Please make a point of going to the forums near you and share–in a respectable manner–your thoughts with your congressman,” an email from the group instructs. “While you’re at it, why not bring your video camera?”

And the American Family Association tells its members to keep the pressure on: “Don’t let the liberal left silence you! The future of our country and our children and grandchildren is at stake. The ugly name calling shows that your voices are being heard. Please keep it up!”

“It isn’t that they don’t want to use the word ‘terrorism,’ it’s who they’re using this word against,” Bachmann told Markell last Tuesday, in reference to a Homeland Security report on rightwing extremism. “And as you had stated correctly, in this report — which I have read, it’s about a nine-page report I believe, if I recall correctly — the right-wing extremists report, they include people who believe in end-time prophecies, pro-life. It is appalling the people that they named.”

She continued, “People who don’t want government to be so large, they are on the list of potential terrorists… People need to realize that, truly, our freedoms are more at risk than they have been at any other time in recent history.”

The show description sarcastically refers to Christians as “the new Taliban”:

“Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) and others, weigh in about the efforts to marginalize, silence and even persecute Christians by the new administration… Christians are clearly the new Taliban. What can we do to fight back? We are deemed ‘right-wing extremists’ while ‘left-wing extremists’ glorified.”

Hat tip: Dump Bachmann

The Minnesota Family Council asked on its blog last week, “Are you pro-life, veteran, gun owner, anti-tax, pro-marriage? If so, you are fertile ground for becoming a right wing extremist and even terrorist.”

Televangelist Pat Robertson speculated that gays and lesbians were behind the report. On the 700 Club, he said, “It shows somebody down in the bowels of that organization is either a convinced left winger or somebody whose sexual orientation is somewhat in question. But it’s that kind of thing, somebody who doesn’t think that we should have abortion on demand, is labeled a terrorist! It’s outrageous!”

The American Center for Law and Justice, a conservative legal think tank, sent this message to supporters: “The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has labeled you, a member of the pro-life community, THE MOST DANGEROUS DOMESTIC TERRORIST.”

Janice Crouse of Concerned Women for America, said that the report was a direct attack on what Jesus stood for. “[It's] a direct assault on the basic principles of religious beliefs that have been here since the time of Christ,” she told OneNewsNow, a Christian news service. “These are the things that Christ died on the cross for.”

Jan Markell, of Maple Grove, Minnesota-based Olive Tree Ministries, said that conservative Christians are now terrorists:

Are you a student of Bible prophecy who has discovered that the Bible teaches the planet will soon be under the control of the one-world government of the Antichrist before Jesus comes and institutes His one-world government? Do you believe the Bible teaches murdering our children is wrong and homosexuality destroys lives and that we should speak out against them? Do you feel the increasing immorality is fueling increasing crime, and wish to defend your children with a firearm? Do you love America and want to see it obey its own Constitution limiting federal power and enforcing its own immigration laws? Are you a military veteran who has bled for the freedom of your country?

If you can answer “yes” to just one of these, then you are now considered by America’s own Department of Homeland Security, to be a “domestic rightwing terrorist.”

As for Christians who believe in God’s moral law and students of Bible prophecy, being seen as terrorists is a chilling thought. Christians only have to look at other large democracies like India to see that democracy doesn’t protect its Christian citizens when the government would rather not have them around.

When did such a transition take place in the United States, that our “apple pie” Americans who love God and country such as myself would be seen as the enemy? The answer coincides when the values of the Bible were ejected from our society. A free and truly democratic society that values life and liberty cannot survive without those who hold to God’s moral law. True freedom requires Jesus Christ, the Bible, and a foundation that rests firmly on what God calls right and wrong.

“It does seem to be saying, ‘Islam is the light.’ I don’t think too many people would argue with that, so I think they’re being a little disingenuous,” Markell told OneNewsNow. “And this is not a healthy thing to be putting out in the marketplace when we’re in a war on terror, and little children are so susceptible to the messages they hear — even from a doll — then to take them into the school and talk about them. So yeah, this is a serious thing.”

Markell is a prominent Minnesota Christian radio host having had right-wing politicians, including Rep. Michele Bachmann, as regular guests on her show.

Mattel says the doll only says the word “mama” and the rest is baby babble, but they plan to reconfigure the babble sounds to ensure there are no misunderstandings.

Update: Here’s a few YouTube videos that include the offending audio:

The "Common Word" movement began as a conversation between scholars of every branch of Islam and Pope Benedict XVI to "open intellectual exchange and mutual understanding" between two of the world’s largest faiths. The movement expanded that dialogue to include more than 138 Islamic scholars and some 500 Christian leaders. As part of the mutual understanding, Muslim and Christian leaders are encouraged to educate their communities about each other’s faith — without condescending or proselytizing.

One such educational event –"A Common Word Between You and Us," held at in Washington, D.C. last week — included Rev. Anderson, pastor of the Eden Prairie church Gov. Tim Pawlenty attends.

“What we need are words that are turned into deeds — the actions of love,” Anderson said of the conference. He said he attended to "engage in what is clearly a major issue in our world today, Christian-Muslim relationships."

"Our differences are deep and real," he said. "But I have been especially impressed this week with the comfortable candor with which Muslims and Christians have clearly stated their own doctrines to one another."

But Markell, a radio show host and friend of Rep. Michele Bachmann, in addition to leading Maple Grove-based Olive Tree Ministries, offered scathing comments on the conference and the movement in general.

"Something is very wrong with this picture," she wrote in an e-mail to supporters. "In attendance and in agreement, sadly, were both the head of the National Association of Evangelicals and the World Evangelical Alliance."

She continued: "Don’t these evangelical leaders know that deception is part and parcel of the Muslim religion when they deal with ‘infidels’? Do they really think American mosques are going to start heralding Christianity once a year and really mean it? Don’t they know that many American mosques — certainly not all — are the breeding ground for calling for the destruction of America and its takeover by Islam?"

She concluded, "Forgive my cynicism but I think the Muslims are laughing all the way to Mecca."

It would seem that Markell missed the point of the dialogue completely.

Jan Markell, a nationally syndicated talk-show host and founder of Olive Tree Ministries, an end-times ministry in Maple Grove, took issue with Rambachan’s appointment. “How can Christ be at the center when Professor Rambachan states that he is trying to ‘give my students an understanding of what it means to see the world through Hindu eyes?’” wrote Markell in an email to supporters. “It is likely that many parents of these Lutheran-rooted students did not send them to St. Olaf to learn ‘religion’ from a Hindu no matter what his credentials are and no matter how sincere he may be.”

In addition, WorldNetDaily, a popular conservative Christian website, took issue with an interview Rambachan gave to St. Olaf in May. Rambuchan said: 

“Last year we met in Rome in a joint consultation with the World Council of Churches to discuss conversion. This was the first meeting of a three-year project to study the issue and to develop an acceptable code of conduct. Certain forms of Christian proselytization have given rise to tension and even violence between some religious communities… Our discussion was frank and at times difficult, but we agreed that while everyone has a right to invite others to an understanding of their faith, no one has the right to violate others’ rights and religious sensibilities. At the same time, all should heal themselves from the obsession of converting others.”

The WorldNetDaily article is critical of Rambachan’s stance on conversion and raises concerns about a Hindu teaching Christian theology. St. Olaf denies that the professor’s faith will have an impact on students’ ability to learn Christian theology, that the purpose of learning is cognitive — not spiritual. “Studying religion at St. Olaf … must be centrally a cognitive, not a spiritual, exercise: indeed, in the words of the St. Olaf mission statement, the academic study of religion cultivates ‘theological literacy,’” Charles Wilson, a professor of religion at St. Olaf, said in a statement released by the school.

While most mainline Christian groups have remained silent on the appointment, the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities said St. Olaf could not gain membership. “We have this expectation that they have to hire as full-time faculty and administrators only persons who profess faith in Christ,” said Nate Mouttet, assistant vice president for marketing and communication of Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.

While some website forums and blogs attacked Rambachan and St. Olaf, Dan Wright, a Catholic deacon in Austin, Texas,  wrote:

“Personally, I am not bothered at all to see a Hindu heading a religion department at a Christian university.  Undoubtedly, being open to understanding one another’s religious diversity is key to building peace and lasting respect.  It does trouble me is that often I find a closed-minded attitude on the Internet — even on Catholic blogs.”