Kyle Mantyla's blog

On Sunday evening, Rick Santorum joined Family Research Council President for an event at Perkins' home church, Greenwell Springs Baptist Church, in Louisiana where Santorum and Perkins were seated on stage as Pastor Dennis Terry declared that America "was founded as a Christian nation" and those that disagree with him should "get out!":

I don't care what the liberals say, I don't care what the naysayers say, this nation was founded as a Christian nation, the God of Abraham, the God of Issac, and the God of Jacob, there's only one God. There's only one God and his name is Jesus.

I'm tired of people telling me that I can't say those words. I'm tired of people telling us, as Christians, that we can't voice our beliefs or we can no longer pray in public. Listen to me, if you don't love America and you don't like the way we do things, I got one thing to say: Get Out!

This outburst has, not surprisingly, generated a good bit of news and forced Santorum to try to distance himself from Terry. 

Yesterday, WBRZ news in Baton Rouge interviewed Terry about the controversy he has created and, of course, he responded by claiming that "people are misquoting" what he said and "twisted and edited" his words because all he meant was that "I love America":  

You will notice that Terry never explains how he had been misquoted or had his words twisted .... and that is probably because the original video of Terry telling liberals and all others who don't share his right-wing views that they should "get out" of the country clearly speaks for itself.

• Steve Benen @ Maddow Blog: Santorum doubles down on porn.
• Alan Colmes: Tea Party Leader Arrested For Kidnapping And Rape.
• Jeff Spross @ Think Progress LGBT: The Best Of Bob Vander Plaats’ Worst Moments.
• Andy Kroll @ Mother Jones: Santorum: 'I'm Praying' for Dan Savage Who 'Has Serious Issues.'
• Amanda Terkel @ Huffington Post: National Organization For Marriage (NOM) Backing Civil Unions Bill In New Hampshire.

• FRC weighs in on the verdict in the Tyler Clementi and uses it to attack "pro-homosexual activists [who] would exploit the personal tragedies of these families to promote a political agenda."
• Gary Bauer says President Obama is "deeply out of step and often speaks about America in a way that sounds like a fiction book."
• Chuck Colson says he has never engaged in gay-bashing ... then asserts that he rejects the notion that attacking homosexuality is gay-bashing.
• Scott Lively says it is his job as a pastor "to preach this truth without apology or hedging so that people who suffer with a homosexual 'orientation' can repent and be delivered from their bondage."
• Finally, Kirk Cameron claims that his interview with Piers Morgan has only helped to promote his new movie because "what some people mean for evil, God means for good."

Over the weekend, James Robison and Jay Richards took their promotional tour for their new book "Indivisible: Restoring Faith, Family, and Freedom Before It's Too Late" to Richard Land's weekly radio program.

During the interview, Robison warned that there is "a type of racism" growing in America against "free market capitalists" akin to the kind that they stood against along with Martin Luther King. 

Land then said that the next election was the most important since 1860, just as the 1980 election was the most important one regarding the survival of the Soviet Union, as Robison lamented that back in the 80s, the "enemy" was obvious to most people whereas "today the enemy is within":

Robison: Our economy is trembling, it's quaking. And we can correct it if we will come together and understand that the enemy is not the creator of wealth, it is not the free market capitalist crowd that do go out and create jobs, and opportunity, and investment. And we have really today biased the whole population against in them in a type of racism that is not only damaging but actually potentially very dangerous. There is an animosity and a hostility that you have to go all the way back to the horrible racism that you and I stood against along with Martin Luther King, that we detested. You have to look at that and see how dangerous it is.

Land: The 1980 election was the most important election for the Soviet Union, for the people of the Soviet Union, because it meant that they were going to be free. But the most important election for the United States since 1860 is this one because out future is at stake as America.

Robison: Right, and in 1980 you could see the enemy. It was quite obvious to most people we had a very serious threat. Today the enemy is within, it lurks in a very subtle and crafty way. And if we who know the truth do not point to the truth and stand for the truth and really get involved to turn back the tide, we are going to see in 3D the horrific collapse of the Untied States of America economically.

Last week, Randall Terry released a video demanding that we and others acknowlege his primary "victory" in Oklahoma over President Obama , which we gladly did. 

But now it seems that Terry is not particularly pleased with the coverage that his video received and so he is back with a new video, this one warning us, Jezebel, The Huffington Post, TPM Muckraker, and The Young Turks that he will testify against us all on the Day of Judgment because we promote murder while mocking God and His servants and are thus condemning ourselves to Hell:

It looks like Vision America's Rick Scarborough is launching a new prayer and fasting effort timed to coincide with the 2010 elections called "40 Days to Save America" which, he insists "is not a political effort" because "the political problems which beset us are symptoms of a deeper spiritual malaise:

Starting on September 24, and continuing through November 2, we are calling for a Great Religious Awakening through 40 DAYS of prayer, fasting and repentance ...The place to start isn’t with primaries, platforms and conventions, but rather through prayer, fasting and repentance.

• We are calling for pastors, priests and rabbis to open their churches and synagogues throughout America for 40 days for prayer and fasting, each person seeking their own level of unselfish sacrifice as we corporately and individually seek God for His intervention in our beloved nation.

• We are calling for Christian and Jewish voters to make informed choices, voting not as Republicans or Democrats, but as followers of the living God.

• We are calling for our leaders to have the wisdom and discernment to act according to His will and not based on personal or partisan considerations.

In a video announcing the project, Scarborough says the goal is the recruit 40,000 religious leaders who will lead the congregations in forty days of prayer and fasting for the nation leading up to the election because "this is a time of national tragedy where he must have God help us [because] it is almost as if He is sounding the alarm": 

• Towleroad: Rachel Maddow Throws Down with Senator Inhofe About His Ties to Anti-Gay Evangelism in Africa.
• Rachel Tabachnick @ Talk To Action: Inhofe To Maddow: Never Heard of Uganda's "Kill the Gays" Bill Author David Bahati.
• Steve Benen @ Maddow Blog: Santorum would target porn if elected.
• Bill Morlin @ Hatewatch: ‘God Hates Fags’ Church Preparing Ad for Limbaugh Show.
• John M. Becker @ Truth Wins Out: President Obama Goes on Record Opposing Marriage Discrimination in NC.
• Tommy Christopher @ Mediaite: James O’Keefe ‘Accomplice’ Nadia Naffe To Tell All.

• Ralph Reed's Faith and Freedom Coalition aims to register 115,000 voters in Virginia for the November election.
• James Robison says "there is no question we are living in the end times."
• Bradlee Dean is no fan of the SPLC, saying the organization makes money "while working hand in glove with the mainstream media to attack America’s foundation using a Communist/Marxist agenda."
• Quote of the day from an unnamed conservative operative who does not think very highly of the Council for National Policy: "They’re always behind, always late to the game and not relevant. It’s one of these self-validating echo chambers where they sit around four times a year and tell each other how great and important they are, and believe their own press."
• Finally, the Star-Spangled Fish allows you to show the world just how much you love America and Jesus at the same time.

Earlier this week, Randall Terry demanded that we acknowledge his "victory" over Barack Obama, our "baby-killing president," in Oklahoma's Democratic primary.

So we guess that we are also obligated to take note of the fact that, despite his "victory," Terry will not actually receive any delegates because his "campaign" failed to file the proper paperwork:

Anti-abortion activist Randall Terry said Friday he's been told he will not be allocated any delegates from the Oklahoma Democratic primary because his campaign did not file the proper paperwork and because the national party does not recognize him as a legitimate candidate.

"This action is 'political insider trading,' " Terry said in a release. "It's stealing in broad daylight. It shows the power and the corruption of the (Democratic) Party."

State party rules say candidates must file a delegate slate ahead of the primary, which party leaders said Terry did not do.

As we noted last month, every Friday David Barton and Rick Green host "Good News Friday" on their "Wallbuilders Live" radio program during which they discuss "good news from around the nation the media doesn't report."

These programs are particularly interesting because they typically feature stories that Barton has plucked from the media which, he believes, demonstrate that the Religious Right is racking up victories all over the country.

The problem with these stories, as with so much else that he does, is that Barton has a tendency to over-simplify and misrepresent just what is taking place.

He did it a few weeks ago when he falsely claimed that an Eastern Michigan University had won a lawsuit against the school after being thrown out of her program for refusing to "affirm a client’s homosexual behavior," citing religious objections. 

The court had merely ruled that the student had a right to sue and did not rule on the merits of the case itself, but Barton nonetheless proclaimed it to be a "huge, huge victory [that is] going to be cited across the nation for all sorts of other kids that are facing the same kind of discrimination."

And he did it again today when he asserted that study shows that teens who remain abstinent earn $370,000 more in the lifetimes:

If a teenager wants to earn $370,000 more in their lifetime than all their neighbors, you know what they need to do? A study now shows that if you are not sexually active as a teenage, you do earn $370,000 more in your lifetime than others.

Now explain that ... it just shows God's ways work.

If that claim sounds familiar, it is probably because Amber Haskew, Coordinator of the Day of Purity, made it earlier this year and, as we pointed out then, the figure comes from a 2005 Heritage Foundation report that didn't actually provide any data to support this assertion, but simply predicted that students who abstain are also likely to do better in school and therefore have higher lifetime earnings:

Teens who abstain are likely to have greater future orientation, greater impulse control, greater perseverance, greater resistance to peer pressure, and more respect for parental and societal values. These traits are likely to contribute to higher academic achievement. In short, teen virgins are more likely to possess character traits that lead to success in life. Moreover, the practice of abstinence is likely to foster positive character traits that, in turn, will contribute to academic performance ... In our society, greater educational attainment leads, on average, to higher lifetime incomes. Because they are more successful in school, teen virgins can expect to have, on average, incomes that will be 16 percent higher than sexually active teens from identical socio-economic backgrounds. This will mean an average increase of $370,000 in income over a lifetime.

Obviously, the study did not show that those who abstain early nearly $400K more, but merely estimated that those who did so would demonstrate "greater educational attainment" and therefore earn more, on average, over their lifetimes.

But that is not what Barton reported at all and this demonstrates a central point about Barton and his work:  if he cannot be trusted to accurately report on contemporary issues that are easily verifiable to anyone with internet access, how can he be trusted to accurately report on the things that he plucks out of centuries-old documents squirreled away in his private library that very few others ever get to see or examine?