Is Glenn Beck mobilizing the religious right for November?

     Beck's vacuous but pious rally may have served to
     inaugurate a pre-election bid for power by the
     evangelical right

By Joe Conason

August 30, 2010

http://www.salon.com/news/politics/2010_elections/index.html?story=/opinion/conason/2010/08/30/pray

If Glenn Beck's Washington extravaganza seemed strangely
empty of political content, filled with vacuous pieties and
fetishes rather than protest, then perhaps it should be seen
as the opening act in a renewed campaign to assert the power
of the religious right. A series of four mass prayer events,
featuring many of the most prominent figures in the
Republican Party's theocratic wing, will occur between Labor
Day and Election Day, starting with an arena rally in
Sacramento, Calif., and ending with perfect symmetry on the
steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Behind these events, under the rubric "Pray and A.C.T.," is
Newt Gingrich's organization, Renewing American Leadership,
although the frontmen for this particular initiative are
former Watergate conspirator Charles Colson and evangelist
Jim Garlow, who now works for Gingrich. Endorsers include top
evangelical and political leaders such as Focus on the
Family's Jim Daly, who took over from James Dobson; Princeton
University professor Robert George; Fox News host and former
presidential candidate Mike Huckabee; Cindy Jacobs of the
Generals of Intercession; Southern Baptist leader Richard
Land, who attended the Lincoln Memorial rally at Beck's
invitation; Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council; and
Tim Wildmon, who is taking over the American Family
Association from his father, Don. Also among the endorsers of
Pray and A.C.T. or Renew America are Alveda King, the niece
of Martin Luther King Jr., who was featured at the Beck
rally, and David Barton, the pseudo-academic who argues that
America was founded as a "Christian nation" and is often
touted by Beck on television (and who headlined Beck's
"Divine Destiny" pre-rally Friday evening at the Kennedy
Center in Washington).

The tenets of Pray and A.C.T. are straightforward and
traditional: opposition to gay marriage and any manifestation
of tolerance for homosexuality; opposition to reproductive
rights for women, especially abortion; and opposition to
anything that violates "religious liberty" as defined by
Christian ultras (which evidently doesn't cover the right to
construct an Islamic center on Park Place in Manhattan).

According to the Pray and A.C.T. website, prayer is vital but
not sufficient to becoming "authentically Biblical," which
requires "voting in all elections only for candidates who
affirm the sanctity of life in all stages and conditions, the
integrity of marriage as the union of one man and one woman,
and religious liberty and respect for conscience ... The
foundational moral principles ... must become a guiding force
in every local, state and national election -- year after
year -- including this year's election."

If that isn't clear enough, the schedule for Pray and
A.C.T.'s pre-election crusade starts with a sports arena
prayer service, led by the radical theocrat Lou Engle, and
then moves on to a countdown event at a church in Washington
on Sept. 12, followed by an official launch event in
Washington on Sept. 19, concluding with the Lincoln Memorial
rally on Oct. 30 -- two days before Election Day.

Fred Clarkson places Pray and A.C.T. in recent historical
context on Talk2Action, discusses why it marks an important
moment in right-wing politics, and explains what may be
different this year:

     The Christian Right has often sought to stay the hand of
     God, angry with our failings as a nation, by 'standing
     in the gap' at large prayer rallies and pleading for
     mercy. They have made a special point of doing so in the
     run up to national elections since 1980, praying for
     godly government and righteous candidates, and this year
     is no exception. The beneficiaries are almost always
     Republicans and this year is probably no exception in
     that regard as well. But there is also an ominous
     element that mostly transcends parties and is on vivid
     display as we enter the fall campaign season.

     On Labor Day weekend, Lou Engle, head of the fiery neo-
     Pentecostal group, The Call, is leading a worship
     service in a sports arena in Sacramento, California and
     a "solemn assembly" at the state Capitol the next day.
     These events were initially billed as a tenth
     anniversary of The Call's first youth rally on the
     national capital mall which drew a claimed 400,000
     people. Since then, the Sacramento event has been
     repositioned as the kick- off of a major Christian Right
     fall political campaign initiative. Engle says it will
     be the "hinge of history" opening the door to "the
     greatest awakening" and "returning our nation to its
     righteous roots."

     There are several important dimensions of this effort.
     One is that this is an effort at reaching and mobilizing
     evangelical young people into Republican politics,
     particularly in California; another, is that it
     represents a new stage in the long term cooperation
     between conservative Catholics, fundamentalists and the
     neo- Pentecostals. And finally, the militant rhetoric of
     Engle's armies of activists is escalating, and their
     organizational infrastructure seems to be increasing,
     especially in cyberspace.

     ... The eminence grise of this initiative appears to be
     former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose organization
     Renewing American Leadership (ReAL) is apparently the
     force behind a series of Christian Right events being
     organized under the rubric of "Pray & Act." This is
     politically important, but as Gingrich's role becomes
     more public, it may also become morally dissonant, since
     Gingrich is well known (and has been recently
     highlighted in the news) as a thrice-married serial
     philanderer. This certainly makes him an unlikely guide
     for a religious political movement whose leaders believe
     that the fate of America hinges on the health of
     heterosexual marriage. (His recent conversion to
     Catholicism not withstanding.)

     ...At this writing, details are still emerging, but the
     list of Religious Right leaders involved is impressive,
     and their intention to lead people from a state of
     fervent prayer to acquiring state power is unambiguous.

     These events may fairly be seen in the context of the
     ongoing transition of the Religious Right as the
     founding generation of movement leaders passes from the
     scene. R.J. Rushdoony, Jerry Falwell, D. James Kennedy,
     Bill Bright, and John Giminez (among others) have died.
     Pat Robertson, Don Wildmon, James Dobson, and Beverly
     LaHaye are in varying stages of passing the torch; and
     each of their designees are coalescing via Pray & Act,
     which in turn is appealing to and seeking to register
     young people to vote.

Clarkson's analysis of the deeper Dominionist and Christian
Reconstructionist roots of this latest manifestation is
troubling, not least because Lou Engle, who is kicking off
the election-year festivities in Sacramento, has given tacit
support to the execution of homosexuals in Uganda, among
other extremist positions. The entire post is well worth
reading.

_____________________________________________

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