Bachmann: Democrats Not "Normal American People" ... Hayes: Stability In Iraq Depends On Jesus

Because the majority of my work has to do with fighting the religious right in one way or another, the first thing that pops into my head when seeing the names Michele Bachmann and Robin Hayes is the Congressional Prayer Caucus, the prayer group founded by Congressman Randy Forbes (R-the not real part of Virginia), whose members, which include Bachmann and Hayes, typically fill the lists of co-sponsors of any legislation designed to demolish the wall of separation between church and state.

As someone who's been fighting the Christian nationalist revisionism of American history for years, I keep a close eye on the "Christian heritage" legislation introduced by members of Forbes's Prayer Caucus -- legislation typically packed with lies about history. And, since starting to work for the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), I've had another reason to watch this group. These are the folks who held up a defense authorization bill for weeks over language about chaplains praying in Jesus' name, and, for some reason, this group of forty-seven representatives has a disproportionate presence on the House Armed Services Committee -- roughly double their presence in the House as a whole. So, while Bachmann and Hayes might not have been familiar names to very many people before the revelation of their recent comments about which Americans are "real Americans" and which aren't, they were already quite familiar to me for these other reasons.

Robin Hayes's solution for Iraq -- "spreading the message of Jesus Christ"

Speaking at a Rotary Club meeting in his hometown of Concord, North Carolina in December 2006, Congressman Hayes pronounced that stability in Iraq ultimately depended on:

"spreading the message of Jesus Christ, the message of peace on earth, good will towards men. ...Everything depends on everyone learning about the birth of the Savior."

Hayes's outrageous remarks, published in the Concord Standard and Mount Pleasant Times, were immediately reported on the blog BlueNC, and the story quickly spread through the blogosphere. A few days later, a spokeswoman for Hayes, although telling the Charlotte Observer she had no reason to doubt the accuracy of the quotes, added, "It's interesting how these bloggers can distort the news." Then, Dale Cline, the editor and publisher of the Concord Standard, who had been at the Rotary Club meeting, appeared on MSNBC, saying that Hayes had told him he was "talking more about spreading Christian principles than spreading Christianity itself," but that Hayes wasn't backpedalling and was probably comfortable with his initial words.

Bachmann on Global "Warmism" -- Jesus already saved the planet

From an August 2008 interview with OneNewsNow, the "news" service of the American Family Association:

"[Pelosi] is committed to her global warming fanaticism to the point where she has said that she's just trying to save the planet. We all know that someone did that over 2,000 years ago, they saved the planet -- we didn't need Nancy Pelosi to do that."

From a speech before the Council for National Policy, delivered on the same night as Barack Obama's acceptance speech in Denver:

"Global warmism is not a scientific consensus; it is a belief system. And though it would dramatically impact 'every corner of the U.S. economy,' it was approached by the Democrat leadership as if it had been indisputably arrived at by a mathematical formula."

...

"The current Democrat leadership in Congress is serving the radical green religion."

Democratic Party not "normal American people"

Also from Bachmann's Council for National Policy speech:

"A Party that intentionally place Speaker Nancy Pelosi front and center before normal American people as its chairman with a nine percent approval rating is a party worthy of itself."

Obama an "anointed god?"

Naturally, because Bachmann's speech coincided with Obama's acceptance speech, she made plenty of references to the Greek column stage at Invesco Field, calling the event "a toga party at their recently erected Greek temple" and "Barack Obama's speech from Mount Olympus," culminating in this statement:

"Nor should we lay a laurel wreath on the head of an anointed god who can save us from the responsibility of paying for our own healthcare and retirement."

"Real" Americans don't like real American history

Michele Bachmann and Robin Hayes were two of the ninety-three co-sponsors of H. Res. 888, a resolution "Affirming the rich spiritual and religious history of our Nation's founding and subsequent history and expressing support for designation of the first week in May as 'American Religious History Week' for the appreciation of and education on America's history of religious faith," introduced by Randy Forbes in December 2007. This resolution, while purporting to promote "education on America's history of religious faith," was packed with the American history lies of Forbes's buddy, pseudo-historian David Barton. It listed a total of seventy-five "Whereases," leading up to four resolves, the third of which was that the U.S. House of Representatives "rejects, in the strongest possible terms, any effort to remove, obscure, or purposely omit such history from our Nation's public buildings and educational resources," a complete travesty, considering that most of the "history" listed in the resolution is not real! I'm not going to get into the specifics of the resolution's many historical lies here, but for those who are interested, I debunked a few dozen of them in a series of nine posts on Talk2Action between January 4 and March 11. I still had a bunch more to go, but by the middle of March I had been informed that the battle against this resolution had succeeded, and it was never going to get to the floor, so I moved on to other things.

Like many members of Randy Forbes's Congressional Prayer Caucus, Michele Bachmann has strong ties to David Barton, and recently appeared on his WallBuilders LIVE! radio show. Barton, who, in addition to his work in creating an alternate Christian history of the United States, is a former co-chair of the Republican Party of Texas, and was named one of the 25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America by Time Magazine, endorsed and campaigned for Bachmann in her 2006 House race. In his introduction of Bachmann on his radio show, Barton said that "she's really good for our side," and explained that his association with her goes back to her days in the Minnesota Senate.

"I have known this lady for a number of years. She was a state senator up there and matter of fact I worked with her on history standards up there in Minnesota and doing some history legislation and making sure that they could not censor religious references from history books, so, she's a great lady and just a real class act and just a solid, committed -- not just Christian -- but a biblical Christian..."

By his work with Bachmann on Minnesota's "history standards," Barton was referring to Bachmann's 2005 introduction of legislation to allow the use of historical documents containing religious references in the state's public schools -- legislation that was completely unnecessary given that Minnesota already had a law on the books stating that, "Districts may not censor or restrain instruction in American or Minnesota state history or heritage based on religious references in documents, writing, speeches, proclamations, or records." That law, passed in 2001, was also considered by many legislators to be unnecessary, because nothing prohibited the use of these documents at that time either. Barton had testified before Minnesota's House Education Policy Committee on the 2001 bill, and was brought in as "an historian and consultant" in 2005 when Bachmann introduced her bill.

Bachmann, defending the need for her clearly unnecessary legislation, actually cited a story spread by Fox News and religious right organizations and websites that the Declaration of Independence had been banned in a California school because it contained references to a creator, a story that, of course, was not true. The real story turned out to be that there had been a complaint against one teacher who was deliberately singling out only the religious references in historical documents in supplemental materials he was handing out to his students in order to promote religion and the notion that American was founded a Christian nation, so the school principal began reviewing his lesson plans. Needless to say, no school would ever ban the Declaration of Independence, and it's simply mind boggling how many people, apparently including Bachmann, actually believed this story.

Here's some of what Bachmann had to say during her September 1, 2008 WallBuilders LIVE! interview, conducted by Barton's co-host Rick Green.

"It's important for your listeners to know that there are strong, believing members of Congress who get it about our nations heritage and we love and appreciate David Barton. I've probably been on four of his Spiritual Heritage tours at the Capitol, and the staff knows, whenever David's going to be in town doing one, if I can get over there, I want to go because I learn something new every time I'm going through one of his tours. He's a treasure for our nation."

...

"We didn't get and gain this prosperity that we have in this nation -- this level of freedom -- by our own hands. This has been God's gift, and only when we submit ourselves to him -- his will -- and act in accordance with his plans will we continue to be blessed as a nation. That's why I'm so honored to be able to be there and work hand in glove with you -- with WallBuilders ministry -- to make sure that we can maintain America's freedoms, because they will evaporate very, very quickly -- it will make our heads spin how quickly these freedoms will evaporate if we don't continue to be ever ready to make sure that we preserve them."

On June 17, 2008, in a last ditch effort to save Randy Forbes's H. Res. 888, or at least put on a good show for the "real" Americans, about twenty representatives, including Michele Bachmann and Robin Hayes, spent several hours on the House floor giving speeches on "Our Rich History of Faith."

Bachmann's contribution to this litany of Christian nationalism and fake American history was about the Declaration of Independence, which she stated "is a Declaration that we are first and foremost a religious country," ending her remarks, "Today, we recommit ourselves and our country to these all-important religious foundational principles. Today, we recommit ourselves to being free." Robin Hayes actually concocted a bogus George Washington quote worthy of David Barton, claiming that Washington's "most famous acclamation was his prayer at Valley Forge," and saying this prayer was, "Bless O Lord the whole race of mankind, and let the world be filled with the knowledge of Thee and Thy son Jesus. Of all dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens.'" What Hayes did here to create this "prayer at Valley Forge" was to take a few lines from Washington's 1796 farewell address, and attach a sentence mentioning Jesus at the beginning, a sentence which is from a prayer journal claimed by the history revisionists to have been written by Washington in the 1750s, but long ago determined to be a fake.

Robin Hayes, in addition to co-sponsoring Randy Forbes's H. Res. 888, co-sponsored H. Res. 598, a resolution "Supporting the goals of the Ten Commandments Commission and congratulating such Commission and its supporters for their key role in promoting and ensuring recognition of the Ten Commandments as the cornerstone of Western law," introduced in August 2007 by Rep. Todd Akin (R-MO), another member of Forbes's Prayer Caucus. That resolution, which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, had 32 co-sponsors, including Prayer Caucus member Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), who some may remember as the congressman who was unable to actually name the ten commandments when asked by Stephen Colbert on the Colbert Report.

So what, exactly, are the goals of the Ten Commandments Commission (TCC) -- the goals that H. Res. 598 resolved to support? Well, one is to "restore the supremacy of the tenants [sic], precepts and principles contained in and established by the Ten Commandments." But, the goals of the TCC encompass quite a bit more than just promoting the ten commandments and making them the supreme law, as if that's not bad enough.

According to the organization's website:

"TCC will become Watchmen for curricula being disseminated throughout American public high schools and colleges, specifically regarding the history of the Middle East and the current conflict that is biased toward Islamic interest...."

...

"With secular humanists waging their attacks at home, and the looming threat from the international radical Islam - people of faith become the line of defense - this is the 'Wall of Jerusalem,' and we are the watchman God has placed there."

Among the TCC's "who's who" of Christian leaders are founding member John Hagee, advisory board members James Dobson, Pat Robertson, and Rod Parsley, and ex-Judge Roy Moore. The TCC also includes in its ranks a number of prominent Jewish leaders, including its founder, Ron Wexler. In a video message, Wexler described the TCC as "a grassroots movement to make a stop to radical Islam and to bring back the word of God, the foundation to the wall of Jerusalem," and said that by getting five million people become TCC supporters they "can change that trend that is going to destroy America. You see," Wexler explained, "America is about to be destroyed by secular humanism and radical Islam."

Michele Bachmann would seem to agree:

http://theuptake.org/...

Comments

[bootspur]

I am not a religious person, although as a child was allowed by my parents to attend my friend's Church's and make up my own mind, and I really tried to become a believer, and wanted to be part of a religion, but my sensibilities always forced me to question things... Anyway, i do not see how anyone could be a Christian in the United States based on how we (the Christian Nation-per Republican's) reach for the military option so easily, was not Jesus opposed to that kind of thing, and to be a Christian mean's that you are a New Testament student, and follower of Jesus the teacher of the New Testament, Jesus makes no WAR exception.. . .

Then, I want to know how these so called 'Christian's' can sleep at night? By any objective measure American's are 'Christian' in NAME ONLY! Jesus would have nothing to do with these self styled Christian's!

[steveward14]

Don't these people understand THEY are the threat? The rest of us are minding our own business, living our lives, staying out of other peoples' business. The only ones trying to impose doctrine and ideology are these religious right fanatics. It scares me that so many of them have found their way into positions of authority and power. Thank goodness we have people like Chris Rodda to keep an eye on them.

[Chris Rodda - Huffpost Blogger]

I met Bachmann's friend David Barton tonight, and gave him a copy of my book, "Liars For Jesus: The Religious Right's Alternate Version of American History," much of which is about him.

Barton was appearing at a church about ten miles from me, and I just couldn't resist going to see him in person. I brought along a copy of my book, hoping for an opportunity to give it to him personally, and inscribed the copy, "To the person who, more than anyone else, inspired me to write this book."

After Barton got done spewing his usual Christian nation crap, and telling the audience to vote "Christian," he took a seat near the side of the stage. As the band was playing a song to close the service, I figured it might be my only chance to approach Barton, so I did. A friends caught that with my video camera as she was walking out a door into the bookstore part of the church. I then went out to get my camera, and started to walk back in, but didn't get more than a foot past the door before being spotted by a formidable looking guy sitting behind Barton, who came towards me, asking if there was anything he could help me with. I said no, to which he replied, "Anything I could pray for you about?" Looked like I wasn't getting back in, so I left.

The video is on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JtVosVMxVE

[willr]

Dear Ms. Rodda,

Keep up the good work.

This nonsense about no seperation betwen church and state must stop. To think I was educated that one of the reasons this country was formed was to provide a religous-free government only to have some quack like Barton try and trash 200+ years of our national history to suit his form of extreme Christianity is beyond belief.

How far we seem to have fallen. Washington, Jefferson and Madison as well as many other Founding Fathers are rolling in their graves right now.

[EllaMcC]

Bachmann seems especially talented at saying things that sound insane. In the debate on the recent "rescue" (bailout) package, she said (paraphrasing here) that [the same thing is going to happen to the Latinos that happened to the Blacks] -- not sure exactly what she was so upset about or how that had a thing to do with giving vast amounts of money to bail out Wall Street from its own greed, but she managed to toss it in there. It was the first time I'd noticed her apart from her McCain surrogacy, and I was appalled. I wish someone would grab that debate from C-SPAN -- it happened on the day they voted, in the afternoon, and it shocked me. I wish I could see the bit again, to figure out what she meant, but given all of her ridiculous behavior, I doubt I could infer anything better than I did the first time round.

[OdaNobunaga]

Global warmism is not a scientific consensus; it is a belief system. And though it would dramatically impact 'every corner of the U.S. economy,' it was approached by the Democrat leadership as if it had been indisputably arrived at by a mathematical formula."

With a little editing I can make this a factual statement.

CHRISTIANITY is not a scientific consensus; it is a belief system. And though it would dramatically impact 'every corner of the U.S.,' it was approached by the REPUBLICAN leadership as if it had been indisputably arrived at by a mathematical formula."

[violetfire]

nice!

[jinxed]

It seems to me that if the religious right, which has hijacked the Republican Party from the rich, should be allowed to keep it. The Republican conservatives and moderates that do not believe what the religious right preaches should organize their own party. They could name it the American Conservative Party and focus on conservative issues without having to deal with the far right.

The Green Party and the Constitution Party believe we need more than a two party system. This solution would make four parties with the Democratic Party bring it to five. Maybe such a solution would solve the divisions our country has endured since the rise to power of the Republican Party and its "my way or no way" attitude. It might even be very healthy for our politics.

I have long believed that the two party system disenfranchises too many people leaving no room for compromise on issues. Once the Party decides on its issues that is that. The two party system also consolidates too much money and power into one organization.

[booksnmore4you]

Jesus said in Luke 6:45:

"The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart."

http://bible.cc/luke/6-45.htm

[moongal6]

OMG!
She sounded just like Peggy Hill, I mean Sarah Palin.
This is so frightening.

[HST]

Ladies and gentleman I give you exhibit "A" for the government to take away tax exempt status away from churches who spread politcal ideology from the pulpit.


If only the government would enforce the constitution -you know that thing they swear to uphold upon taking office?

[BGDiNLV]

Amen. What happened to seperation of church and state Even that punk James Dobson is running his mouth now. They all know they are targets when all the dust settles. Lets start pulling some 5013c's.

[Justplainmad]

Repubs only like to like constitutional rights when its in there favor

[lw1899]

How in the world did this woman get elected into office? She's ignorant and hopelessly clueless. Our taxpayer dollars are going towards her salary and I, for one, feel ripped off that our money is being wasted on someone like her.

[lalalalilly127]

Wow. I LOVE how "global warmism" is based on belief, and not math or science. However.......... the fact that god created the earth 6,000 years ago is stone-hard fact, mathematically proven. I don't even have words for what I feel right now. The fact that she got elected... makes me think maybe America is not the right place for me. I am terrified....

[usreporter]

what scares me is how mainstream these people are. a congressional prayer caucus?!
Take it from me, if the secular humanists win out these people will be advocating terror attacks and jihads of their own. religious fanaticism is always scary.

[Logic325]

I feel like you are speaking for me. When I hear more and more examples like this, the fear sets in even more, and I wonder about my future here. It's scary.

[LightningJoe]

It's turning... There'll be an Obama landslide, that'll let the new prexy do things pretty much the way he wants -- since there'll also be Dem majorities in the House and Senate.

This is good two ways at least. One is the obvious: maybe we can get something done for the country, and for the hurting citizen, without being blocked by Republican filibusters.

The other good is that with such a mandate, and America not, after all, turning into a socialist dystopia under Obama, At least some of the programmed Reich minions will be forced to admit that they were in an absolute cultural panic about -- nothing at all.

[anniegirl9]

I graduated from WMU's Education College, and I don't think many people know how much the neo-cons are involved in pushing agendas in our classrooms.

In English, there are two debates that resonate with neocons - Whole language vs. phonics and English Only education. They hate Whole language because it allows for Reader Response, the idea that the reader's interpretation is valid. Imagine what that would mean if applied to the Bible. The second is, in my own estimate, a racial bias. Students who speak English as a second language are forced further and further behind in English Only education in the areas of math and science especially.

The debates in science are well known. They include creationism vs. evolution, environmental science, and reproductive education.

In history, even the well debunked idea that Columbus discovered America is a hot button for neo-cons. Their biggest fear in this area is devaluing historical figures - like examining Jefferson’s relationship with his slaves. It also highlights the atrocities of our country - something neo-cons hate lingering over. There was a court case in Mississippi over a history text book that had been rejected by a school system due to a photo it contained of a lynching. The super said that he was afraid it would incite anger. The judge asked, "But these things did happen, didn't they." The superintendent’s response, "Well yes, but that was such a long time ago." Well, it was a history book.

[damnadamson]

I love the doe eyed look in her eyes ... just like most Repugnuts they appear to be brain dead when they speak. I can't wait to see them defeated in 11 days. Go out and vote and drag some friends with you just to make sure.

[sail]

So Barton calls his radio show, Wallbuilders. How very accurate and completely out of character for a member of the "Conservative" party. LOL Guess he missed the Orwell training.

[movingtoengland]

The biggest threat to America is not terrorists, its these right wing lugnuts. We need to send a msg to them all...we must stop them in their tracks. They pull aside elected officials and insist on their agenda or threaten them with backing their opponent with tons of money so they have their own puppet in office. Happens all the time. Support the democratic ticket all the way. Its the only way at this juncture to take back our country.

[davkaman]

Amen. One starts to wonder how many other individuals like them are "serving" in the House of Representatives. Bachmann's ignorance would be appalling even if she auto mechanic. The fact that she is a position of power with control over the destiny of others is absolutely terrifying.

[Chris Rodda - Huffpost Blogger]

How many? Well, you can start with the Prayer Caucus members, but that's just the House...

Congressman J. Randy Forbes, Founder & Chairman
Congressman Todd Akin
Congressman Robert Aderholt
Congresswoman Michele Bachman
Congressman Gresham Barrett
Congressman Roscoe Bartlett
Congressman Paul Broun
Congressman John Boozman
Congressman Eric Cantor
Congressman John Carter
Congressman Emanuel Cleaver
Congressman Mike Conaway
Congressman David Davis
Congressman Geoff Davis
Congressman Vernon Ehlers
Congresswoman Jo Ann Emerson
Congressman Luis Fortuno
Congresswoman Virginia Foxx
Congressman Trent Franks
Congressman Scott Garrett
Congressman Louie Gohmert
Congressman Robin Hayes
Congressman Pete Hoekstra
Congressman Sam Johnson
Congressman Walter Jones
Congressman Jim Jordan
Congressman Steve King
Congressman John Kline
Congressman Doug Lamborn
Congressman Daniel Lipinski
Congressman Donald Manzullo
Congressman Thaddeus McCotter
Congressman Mike McIntyre
Congressman Jeff Miller
Congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave
Congressman Randy Neugebauer
Congressman Steve Pearce
Congressman Mike Pence
Congressman Joseph R. Pitts
Congressman Peter Roskam
Congressman Paul Ryan
Congressman Heath Shuler
Congressman Adrian Smith
Congressman Lamar Smith
Congressman Michael Turner
Congressman Tim Walberg
Congressman Robert Wittman
Congressman Frank Wolf