Mother Jones: Hobby Lobby and "Duck Dynasty" being used to mobilize over wedge issues?

[madfloridian]

That is not the exact title of the Mother Jones article, it is my paraphrasing. I did not realize these rallies were going on.

How the Christian Right Is Using Hobby Lobby and "Duck Dynasty" to Take Back America


Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson at NASCAR's Duck Commander 500 David Kent/TNS/ZUMA

Pundits may be declaring the culture wars over, but conservative Christians are donning their battle gear and rushing back to the front lines. In recent months, a coalition of conservative evangelical organizations has been pursuing an aggressive voter mobilization campaign that involves a combination of high-tech tools, briefings for pastors, and rallies simulcast to mega-churches around the country.

The goal of these gatherings is to drum up outrage over recent political skirmishes, including the Hobby Lobby lawsuit, and to persuade believers that their religious freedoms are under attack by ungodly forces. During one recent event, which was shown in churches across the nation, speakers likened the situation of US churchgoers to Christians beheaded by ISIS in Syria. "We see the struggle between good and evil, light and darkness, truth and lies," said David Benham, whose planned HGTV reality show was canceled after his fiercely anti-gay remarks came to light. "What's happening with swords over in the Middle East is happening with silence over here in America."

The campaign dates back to March, when United in Purpose, a nonprofit funded by wealthy evangelical Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, convened a Voter Mobilization Strategy Summit near Dallas. At the event, churches and conservative Christian political organizations forged a strategy to mobilize voters for the 2014 midterms. United in Purpose, a behind-the-scenes technology and communications group with deep dominionist ties, also shared a variety of tools including videos and voter mobilization apps. (One app allows pastors to compare their membership rosters with voter rolls, so they can better guide their flock to the polls.) The Family Research Council and Texas-based Vision America, which played a key role in the summit, then began hosting policy briefings for pastors and staging lavishly produced voter mobilization events that were broadcast live to churches and groups across the country.

In September, the two organizations hosted an event called Star Spangled Sunday, ostensibly to celebrate the 200th anniversary of our national anthem. A parade of prominent conservatives, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, took the stage to warn that Americans' religious freedoms were under siege. The faithful were also shown a video presentation from Hobby Lobby president Steve Green, who spoke about his successful legal battle against Obamacare's birth control coverage mandate. "Just a few years ago, I would never have imagined that we would have filed suit against our own government," he said. "There are struggles that people of faith are facing today that have never been faced before. So there's a great need for men and women of faith to stand up and let their vote be heard."

There was really a NASCAR Duck Commander 500?

[upaloopa]

2. Geez people who see that duck family as

something to emulate must be really screwed up. Reminds me of Deliverance

[madfloridian]

3. Hard to believe...more from the article.

"Perkins and his allies intend to keep hammering on the Christian-persecution theme as Election Day nears. The final simulcast, scheduled for Sunday, will feature speeches from the Benham brothers and Phil Robertson of A&E's Duck Dynasty—people the right holds up as victims of a conspiracy to silence Christians"

Getting ridiculous.