GOP hijacking more black pastors into its bible-based Taliban takeover
NY Congressman Major Owens knows the deep sh*t that the Dems are in regarding this issue. Televangelist Frederick K.C. Price of L.A.'s Crenshaw Christian Center backs Bush and is taking part in a 100-minister summit opposing same-sex civil marriage.
As I've been noting here and here, the Democratic Party is allowing the religious Right and the slimy Bush admin to siphon off black pastors (and with them, black votes) by stirring up the pot of "values" and tossing them faith-based initiative cash. This LA Times story gets to the heart of why this needs to be taken seriously. The black religious wingnuts are emerging, organizing and planning to take control of the agenda and the spin with the help (and funding) of the Repugs and the evangelical fringe.
The GOP even plans to enlist these new "friends" in the PR war against Social Security. WAKE UP PEOPLE. They are not going to let go of the gay bogeyman, as long as it can be used to rile up people, regardless of whether the Dem establishment knows it is a red herring. (LA Times):
... The effort will be visible today at the Crenshaw Christian Center, one of Los Angeles' biggest black churches, headed by televangelist Frederick K.C. Price. More than 100 African American ministers are to gather in the first of several regional summits to build support for banning same-sex marriage — a signature issue that drew socially conservative blacks to the Republican column last year.
Before the meeting, one prominent minister plans to unveil a "Black Contract With America on Moral Values," a call for Bible-based action by government and churches to promote conservative priorities. It is patterned loosely on the "Contract With America" that former House Speaker Newt Gingrich used 10 years ago to inaugurate an era of GOP dominance in Congress. A separate group with ties to Gingrich will announce a similar "Mayflower Compact for Black America" later this month in Washington, which includes plans to organize in key states ahead of the 2006 and 2008 elections. And at the end of the month, the Heritage Foundation will cosponsor a gathering of black conservatives in Washington designed to counter dominance of the "America-hating black liberal leadership" and to focus African American voters on moral issues.
Those events all enjoy support from the Republican Party and its allies in the philanthropic and religious worlds. The meetings have a common goal: to foster a political realignment that, if successful, would challenge the Democrats' decades-long lock on the loyalty of black voters.
..."I am frightened by what is happening," said Rep. Major R. Owens, an 11-term Democratic congressman from New York who has been conferring with colleagues in the Congressional Black Caucus. "Our party is in grave danger. This Republican movement is going to expand exponentially unless we do something."
Bishop Harry R. Jackson Jr. has gotten into political bed with Ken Mehlman and the GOP and will unveil the The Black Contract With America.
...The Black Contract With America will be unveiled by Bishop Harry R. Jackson Jr., a registered Democrat from suburban Washington who backed Bush in 2004 after voting against him four years earlier. He was drawn, he said, to the GOP's social conservatism that he thought reflected the true values of black churches.
... In addition to such conservative GOP priorities as allowing workers to create private Social Security (news - web sites) accounts and banning same-sex marriage, the Jackson contract deals with some potentially dicey issues for Republicans — such as restoring rights to former felons. The contract, Jackson said, combines the Bible-based elements of the traditionally Republican and Democratic platforms.
...Jackson's enthusiasm for working with Washington's Republican power structure is shared by the party's leading strategists. Today's Los Angeles meeting is sponsored in part by the Traditional Values Coalition, headed by the Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, a white evangelical Christian with close ties to White House political strategist Karl Rove, Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman and other senior Bush administration officials. Mehlman said Monday that he was in close contact with the organizers of each group and was coordinating with Gingrich and other party leaders.
In my earlier Blend post on Mel Watt and framing gay rights for this population, the Dems have a roadmap, if they only would get some balls and stop being afraid of mentioning the word G-A-Y.
Other new Bush colored friends of faith (the House Blend's running list):
Bishop Sedgwick Daniels of Milwaukee's Holy Redeemer Church of God in Christ buys into Bush's faith-based initiatives and "values." Homophobe Rev. Dwight McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, TX is on board with the Bush American Taliban agenda, and Philadelphia's Rev. Herb Lusk, pastor of the Greater Exodus Baptist Church has had his coffers filled with a cool million to run faith-based initiatives by the Administration.
1 Comments:
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Its a sad state of affairs, one in which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., would be ashamed of, when dark skinned american leaders who preach diversity cannot celebrate the diversity of political views without criticism. King's dream of white men, black men, jews and gentiles, etc. holding hands singing a black negroe spiritual appears to be an oblivious nightmare as segregationist dark skinned Americans continue to divide the races in America all for sake of what? Not unity. Definitely not diversity. Tolerance for biblical beliefs are not on the agenda. We cannot stand together divided. We must, as American's come to grips with true diversity with respect for one another's political differences. It is not that the dark skinned American preacher has turned its back on Dems. These are people, American's, not blacks, who disagree with Dems on social, political and economic issues and want to allign themselves with people closest to their values. The men you speak of are no less a leader than Jesse Jackson. Jesse has the right to believe in what he's doing, though I personally believe that his political views are more alligned with
By , at 8:18 AM
the former Gov. Wallace of Alabama, before his conversion to civil rights. Still I respect his leadership position as well as his political views in society. But Americans need to come together on common ground and live King's "Free at Last" vision where we see each other as not black and white, but as Americans. The days of black and white, honky and nigger, slave and free are part of Amercan history. Let's keep it that way and celebrate the accomplishments of American's, no matter their ethnic race. Let's celebrate Condoleezza Rice's appointment as Secretary of State. Let's celebrate Gonzalez's appointment as Attorney General. And let's celebrate Ron Brown who led as Secretary of Commerce. Let's look at the ideals we have in common and build respect for differences today as not black, yellow or white, but as Americans. Thank you.
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