American Evangelical Extremist Lou Engle is making waves again. Readers may remember Engle as the fringe pastor behind TheCall Rally in California supporting Proposition 8, where he called homosexuality a "spirit of lawlessness" and called for "martyrs" to become "God's Avengers of Blood" to stop the "homosexual agenda" at all cost.
He also recently held another TheCall Prayer Event in Uganda where he praised the country's "courage" and "righteousness" in promoting the horrific Anti-Homosexuality "Kill the Gays" Bill. The bill calls for gays to be executed, says "known Ugandan homosexuals" abroad should be extradited back to Uganda for "punishment", and that people in Uganda must report anybody known to have committed a homosexual act within 24 hours, among other horrific provisions.
Now Lou Engle is back in America and causing a major headache for Republican Senator Sam Brownback in the Kansas gubernatorial race. It seems people aren't taking too kindly to Engle and Brownback being so close, including being former roommates and "soldiers for salvation" together. Brownback even appeared at a TheCall Rally as a special guest of Engle.
Right Wing Watch has a some great video of Lou Engle describing the close relationship between himself and Brownback:
In fact, it was prophesized to me that I would be connected with a man named Senator Sam Brownback from Kansas. But I forgot about the prophecy, so when I rented a condo in DC to mobilize for TheCall, a week later I received a phone call from the owner of the condo and he said "there's a man named Senator Sam Brownback. His condo just burnt down, he wants to know if he could stay in your condo." I became the room mate of Senator Brownback for 7 months. We began to get dreams that he would be the president of the United States and right now, who knows? We are praying.
That close connection is starting to get a closer look after Engle's recent activities in Uganda, where he was universally condemned for inflaming violence against gays and lesbians with overheated, extreme rhetoric against LGBT people in a country where American Evangelicalism has already caused such discord and fear.
The Kansas Democratic Party is jumping in and asking people to sign a petition demanding that Sam Brownback denounce and distance himself from Engle and his extreme and violent views:
"This is the type of behavior one would expect from Fred Phelps - not from someone who has the ear of Kansas' most ambitious politician. We are calling on Senator Brownback to denounce Lou Engle for his hateful rhetoric and extreme agenda," said Kenny Johnston, Executive Director of the Kansas Democratic Party, "If this is the sort of company Brownback keeps, it speaks volumes about the kind of Governor he would be."
They created a video documenting Engle's shockingly extreme views and Brownback's deep connections to him.
It is disturbing to watch Engle calling for people to "worship the God of Blood" and call for violence. More disturbing is that he has such close ties to a man who would be governor and perhaps President.
Brownback isn't the only politician with strong ties to Engle. Lou Engle is deeply immersed in right-wing culture and politics. He travels with familiar figures like Newt Gingrich, Mike Huckabee, and Oliver North. He is the go-to religious leader for many of the "luminaries" of the right.
These connections are important. Brownback and his cohorts don't get a free pass when "palling around" with dangerous men like Engle, whose mission is to sow seeds of hatred, violence, and bloodshed for their own twisted view of Christianity.
Sign the petition to force the issue with Brownback. Let's make him, and others like him, explain how he can support and aid a man like Engle and the message he preaches.