Word comes to our new home office in sunny Maynard, Minnesota, via People for the American Way's Rightwing Watch, that Minnesotans Michele Bachman and Bradlee Dean will be taking part in the Awakening 2013 this weekend in Oviedo, Florida. The annual event is organized by the Liberty University-affiliated Liberty Counsel.
The theme? Fighting for the Soul of America. Food trucks are available on site on Saturday.
In Michele Bachmann to Headline Conference with 9/11 & Sandy Hook Truther, Birthers and Anti-Gay Activists, Brian Tashman writes:
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) will be joining some of the most extreme right-wing activists in the country at the upcoming Awakening 2013 conference, which is organized by the Liberty University-affiliated Liberty Counsel. Along with Bachmann, Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) and Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar are scheduled to take part in the Religious Right gathering.
Just how radical are the conference’s leaders?
The fact that it is hosted by Liberty Counsel, the anti-gay group led by Mat Staver and Matt Barber that has been implicated in the Lisa Miller kidnapping case, is the first clue to the Awakening’s far-right bent. On top of that, the event includes 9/11 and Sandy Hook truther Bradlee Dean, self-proclaimed prophet Cindy Jacobs and convicted domestic abuser and anti-women’s rights activist Timothy Johnson.
On the program, we learn that Bachmann's keynote address is "America at a Crossroad: Pressing Forward to Victory," while Dean will be a presenter in two breakout sessions.
The first, "Families Under Attack: Pornography & Sexual Promiscuity and How to Fight Back," teams the toxic metal preacher with Bishop Harry Jackson and Patrick Trueman. Judith Reisman will moderate.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Jackson, a black Pentecostal leader, believes that African-Americans are more innate promiscious and religious than white people:
High Impact begins by pushing Jackson and Barna's own "research," purportedly based on 100,000 personal interviews conducted over the last 20 years, which uncovered "areas in which whites and blacks are clearly divergent." One of those areas, according to Jackson and Barna, is sexual temptation. Black people, they allege, are far more prone to it, and specifically to "physical intimacy with a nonspouse or enjoyment of pornographic materials."
In spite of this allegedly innate promiscuity — a quality that most white supremacist "race scientists" and hate groups also claim is an intrinsic characteristic of black people — Jackson and Barna conclude that African Americans are spiritually superior to white Christians, in that their faith is more "integrated" into their everyday life. Since black Christians spend more time in church than white ones, the book argues, black God-fearers are more observing of the Sabbath, while "this concept was lost more than a quarter century ago in white America" – just one more "sign that the spiritual focus remains paramount among blacks."
Right Wing Watch notes:
Jackson has played a leading role in campaigns against marriage equality in Washington, D.C. and Maryland, fights he described as a spiritual battle against Satanic forces. He said that a demon called the Queen of Heaven is behind the push for same-sex marriage, which he warned “corrupts, perverts and pollutes” society. Jackson has also called marriage equality “a Satanic plot to destroy our seed” and warned that gay rights advocates “want to recruit your kids” and are targeting young people “just like during the times of Hitler.”
Patrick Trueman is a lawyer who serves as president of Morality in Media, which placed Attorney General Eric Holder at the head of its "Dirty Dozen" list, The Hill reported on April 1. Holder was joined on the list by Comcast, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, Barnes and Noble and the Department of Defense.
Reisman should be familiar to Bluestem readers as the much debunked debunker of Kinsey whom Glenn Gruenhagen cited when he called for the destruction of Kinsey's research. Right Wing Watch has more:
Reisman, a visiting Liberty University professor who is fighting to criminalize pornography, has claimed that schools are brainwashing children into becoming gay and that gay rights advocates are emulated the Nazis. She also said that the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s Gay-Straight Alliances are modeled after the Hitler Youth and promote pedophilia.
Oh, good.
Dean's second break out session aims to help his fellow travelers connect with the youth, The Millennial Generation: What are They Thinking and How Can We Communicate? Led by Thomas Hall, the panel pairs Dean with Carlos Campo and Doug Giles. Carlos Campo is president of Regent University. A radio host and pastor, Giles is known for his controversial remarks.
Dean appears to be touring Florida, as his merry band appealed to the youth at the Villages Tea Party on Monday April 15. To live in most sections of The Villages, a household must include at least one person over age 55, while no one under age 19 may dwell there without a waiver. As a consequence, Dean probably didn't communicate with the youth, judging by the community's demographics:
Age ranges in the population were 0.3% under the age of 18, 0.3% from 18 to 24, 1.5% from 25 to 44, 40.4% from 45 to 64, and 57.5% 65 years of age or older. The median age was 66 years.
Photo: Bachmann and Dean.
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Lets all get down on our knees, and.... Pray them away, pray them away, pray them away, pray them away, pray them away, pray them away, pray them away......................................
Posted by: Barry W. Tungseth | Apr 18, 2013 at 07:42 AM