Senator Inhofe did missionary work for the Doug Coe and the Fellowship on Senate trips

[karynnj]

- while there on the public dime.

Now, it has led to him supporting Gbagbo, who lost the election but refuses to leave office. Senator Inhofe supports Ghagdo, thinks the election was fradulent and wants hearings in the SFRC. Calling himself the Senate's leading expert on Africa, he wrote Hillary Clinton saying that Ghagdo won. Ghagdo, like Inhofe, is an evangelical Christian. His experience with Africa is because he does missionary work there - for Doug Coe of the Fellowship.

Inhofe has been traveling to Africa regularly since the late 1990s and, while the trips are paid for by the taxpayer and typically involve some official business, the senator also engages in missionary work. He has been to Ivory Coast nine times and knows Gbagbo personally. That’s why, early on in the post-election crisis, when the State Department was frantically looking for intermediaries to reach out to Gbagbo to try to convince him to leave the country peacefully, the Obama administration asked Inhofe to talk to Gbagbo. But, according to a source familiar with the situation, Inhofe declined to do so…

The other wrinkle in all this is that Inhofe and Gbagbo share a connection to the Fellowship. Inhofe has said that he began taking his missionary trips to Africa at the request of Doug Coe, the so-called “stealthy Billy Graham” who leads the Fellowship. Ivory Coast has long been one of a handful of African countries that is “of special interest” to the Fellowship, according to Jeff Sharlet’s book about the group.

Inhofe’s director of African affairs, who accompanies the senator on his trips to the continent, is also a missionary. And the senator has spoken of visiting presidents of countries including Ivory Coast in order “to meet in the spirit of Jesus.” That religious relationship may help explain Inhofe’s support for Gbagbo in the current crisis.

http://www.undispatch.com/why-is-senator-inhofe-supporting-laurent-gbagbo

Here is another article on Inhofe's views. http://jenkinsear.com/2011/04/04/james-inhofe-exploits-massacre-doubles-down-on-gbagbo-support/ (Where they refer to Inhofe as a senior member of the SFRC - which I guess he is although he joined in 2009 and never seems to attend meetings. The scary thing is that this is a Christian/Muslim split.

Senator Kerry, who issued a statement taking the opposite position a few days ago - http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gsVq_I0wm5noyrUPEBih-e15WsoQ?docId=CNG.bcf74a4d0a9bb29afe4e98cfe57a8c2d.e91 - had a closed meeting of the SFRC with Ban Ki Moon today.

There was a press conference afterward where Ban Ki Moon reiterated that it was Gbagdo's "last chance". There was no info on whether Inhofe was there.

(photo of Moon and Senator Kerry at the Press conference)


http://www.undispatch.com/ban-ki-moon-to-laurent-gbagbo-this-is-your-last-chance


Ignoring any questions on Cote D'Ivorie, there is something extremely wrong with US Senators, on Senate trips, doing missionary work. This sends really bad mixed messages - and may lead to many leaders thinking that for the US winning people to Christianity is part of our policy. It is simply wrong.

edited to correct a grammar error.

[LiberalFighter]

1. absolutely wrong

The job does not include converting heathens. It could be considered ghost employment for them to do what they are doing.

[karynnj]

2. The link says missionary work - I'm not saying they were good at it!

Don't you think it a problem that they are doing both - on the same trip? (I would actually have a problem with Senator X representing the US - and then coming back on a mission.

Not to mention, no one other than Le Pen in France and Gbagbo and his people think Gbagbo won. (There are likely more people in the world (or even just in the US) who think Gore really won. )