Sound off, moderate Christians! (Ohio and Blackwell related)

[MelissaB]

Sound off, moderate Christians!

By Robyn Blumner
Sunday, February 12, 2006

With Samuel Alito on the Supreme Court, it is not just abortion rights that are endangered. Sandra Day O'Connor often joined the liberal wing of the court in keeping church and state separate. Alito won't.

...snip

And those voices need to be raised soon. Because the threat of fundamentalism directing government is growing, even as the bulwarks against it are weakening.

If you want to see the culmination of Jerry Falwell's and Pat Robertson's dream -- the church as party headquarters -- go to Ohio. There, two preachers, the Rev. Russell Johnson of Fairfield Christian Church and the Rev. Rod Parsley of World Harvest Church, are diligently working to build an army of conservative Christian voters who will dominate the Republican Party, then Ohio government, then Washington.

Johnson, who calls those to his left "secular jihadists" and condemns public schools for not teaching that Hitler was "an avid evolutionist," has founded the Ohio Restoration Project. Its mission is to sign up 2,000 religious leaders as "Patriot Pastors" who will sign up hundreds of thousands of new voters and mobilize an activist corps within their flocks.

Parsley, an Ohio televangelist with a megachurch of 10,000 weekly worshipers, has launched Reformation Ohio, an organization with similar goals.

While they expect their efforts to pay off with multiple election victories, in the short term Johnson and Parsley want to elect Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell governor in November. Blackwell is a black Christian conservative who led a successful ballot initiative in 2004 to ban same-sex marriage.

Johnson and Parsley say their institutions do not endorse candidates. But they have engaged in transparent electioneering on behalf of Blackwell, exclusively featuring him at events and in educational materials.


Much more: http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/opinion/columnists/guests/s_422729.html

[MelissaB]

1. Related LTTE

Ohio Restoration Project’s goal is to control state government from its pulpits
Saturday, February 11, 2006 “Blackwell urges Christians to be politically active” (Jan. 18) was another article on the radical religious-right organization called the Ohio Restoration Project and its support of Ken Blackwell for governor.

The article stated that this organization is mobilizing a plan to take back our country for Christ through its religious philosophy concerning marriage, abortion, school prayer, etc. After researching more about this organization, I’ve learned that its goal seems to be to take over all three branches of Ohio government and run them through its pulpits.

It is this organization that has made numerous unfounded rhetorical statements attacking democracy in our public schools. They blame public schools for banning the teachings of creationism, Bible reading and prayer. Didn’t the Supreme Court do this?

They say that the nation’s youth must be taught Christian religious-right values. What about teaching the democratic values of our nation, established by our Founding Fathers in our public schools regardless of religion? What about the rights of all religions in America that our U.S. Constitution guarantees?

More: http://www.cantonrep.com/index.php?ID=268721

[MelissaB]

2. Partisan churches

Partisan churches
What others say

From a Monday editorial in the Toledo Blade: Political candidates have for decades appeared at churches to try to convince the faithful - both partisan and religious - to vote for them. However, what a couple of central Ohio churches are doing is different.

They have unabashedly endorsed one Republican gubernatorial candidate, Secretary of State Ken Blackwell. Other denominations don't like the obvious electioneering and are right to complain to the Internal Revenue Service.

Indeed, it's no secret that pastors have long urged their flocks to be sure to vote on Election Day.


But nonpartisan involvement is not what the World Harvest Church of Columbus and the Fairfield Christian Church of Lancaster are up to. They and affiliated groups, the Center for Moral Clarity and Reformation Ohio, leave no doubt that they want to elect Blackwell as governor.

Asking the IRS to investigate is not petty or anti-faith. Rather, it's a stand against those who blatantly and openly favor a candidate or a slate of candidates without reservation and in violation of the tax code. Any group that wants to do that should have the integrity to give up its tax-exempt status.


More: http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060208/EDIT02/602080336/1090