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EVANGELICAL LEADER WARNS THAT "HISTORY WILL STAND IN JUDGMENT" OF THOSE WHO VOTE FOR OBAMA.
At a press conference this afternoon, organizers and supporters of The Call, the massive anti-abortion, anti-gay rally scheduled to take place on the National Mall tomorrow, claimed that abortion remains a "foundational issue" for young evangelicals, and challenged John McCain to pick an anti-choice, evangelical running mate lest he lose their support in November. The tenor of the event was clear: this intensely conservative wing of the evangelical movement is afraid, very afraid, of Barack Obama attracting the votes of the young voters in its ranks.
The Call's organizer, Lou Engle, who had endorsed Mike Huckabee during the primaries, was joined by Huckabee, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins and High Impact Leadership Coalition president Harry Jackson, neither of whom got behind Huckabee when it mattered most to the conservative evangelical rank and file. Today, both Perkins and Jackson issued ultimatums to McCain about his prospective running mate. Jackson warned that "if Sen. McCain chooses a pro-abortion running mate, he will give the election to Obama . . . . [It] would be tantamount to political suicide." Perkins was a little less direct, but did say that choosing a pro-life, evangelical running mate would generate the necessary enthusiasm and excitement necessary to get evangelical voters to the polls. (Neither Perkins nor Jackson mentioned Huckabee, and Huckabee denied, again, wanting to be McCain's pick, and emphasized that he's supporting McCain in any event.)
Engle and the others all insisted that The Call is not about the election but about the spiritual awakening they hope it incites. “The main objective,” said Engle, “is not to get a candidate elected . . . . [we have an] allegiance to a higher government than the United States government.”
While “theocrat” is often a qualifier attached to Perkins, Jackson, and Huckabee, Engle surely is the ultimate theocrat, as he claims not to seek to influence the political process, but to create an alternate universe (well, for him, it would be the only universe) in which the Bible commands all human activity and people are accountable only to God. When he says that "evangelicals better understand that they will be held accountable for being a prophetic voice," he's talking about that kind of accountability, and he's talking about his followers' fervent desire to end all abortion, comparing his mission to Martin Luther King Jr.'s quest to end segregation and racial injustice and William Wilberforce's campaign to end slavery. The comparison of abortion to slavery and segregation is a powerful rhetorical tool relentlessly invoked in some evangelical circles -- particularly in the charismatic circles in which Engle travels, especially because the charismatic movement is far more racially diverse than the media's fixation with white evangelicals might suggest.
All four men wanted the press not to believe all those stories you hear about younger evangelicals being interested in issues other than abortion. They insisted, especially Engle, who works directly with young people through the network International House of Prayer (which engages in 24/7 prayer and fasting), that young evangelicals are even more fervently opposed to abortion than their parents are. As far as their support for Obama, Engle warned that because Obama supports abortion rights, "history will stand in judgment of those who refuse to stand up on the foundational truth of God’s word."
It will be a busy weekend in the evangelical world, with Engle's event on the Mall, the Rev. Rick Warren's presidential forum at his California megachurch, and religious right attempts to undercut Warren's rising star. I'll have much more in The FundamentaList next week, including excerpts of an interview I did with Engle today. He's not a household name, but watching him and the religious right's promotion of him over the past year or so, he's an increasingly important figure rallying the troops to their cause.
--Sarah Posner
COMMENTS (4)
"anti-abortion, anti-gay rally"
While the sentiments of that statement are there, that is not the purpose of the event.
The purpose of the event is to call this nation back to the Lord as sovereign, and to repent for the sins of the nation.
And this has nothing to do with Mr. Obama either; if he gets elected, then we continue to pray and continue to intercede for whomever is called to be president. McCain, Obama, or someone else ... yes I don't feel that the mentioned candidate is the best for this nation, but I'm not scared ... I'm praying for the best for this nation.
Part of repenting for the sins of our nation does involve repenting from abortion and homosexuality along with lots of other things. That is true.
This isn't just a small event, people (like myself) are tuned in throughout the world on god.tv and DirectTV ...
So stop making conclusions before seeing or attending the event.
Posted by: Rick | August 16, 2008 9:42 PM
I inadvertently stumbled into The Call rally yesterday, while in the process of saying farewell to the city I lived in for a few years before I head back west. Had no idea it was a scheduled event, so my observations, though informed by my beliefs and political affiliations contrary to the event (to say the least), could possibly bear the weight of being called "not jaded." Not until I was halfway through the crowd, anyway.
Massive? No. Large, sure, but I've been to anti-war rallies on the mall easily four times the size. Young? There were young people, but they were outnumbered by middle-agers in canvas camp-chairs loathe to stand even when directed to do so by the hoarse-voiced, quasi-heavy-metal-backed speakers (rappers? howlers?) at the dais. The energy was ugly, for the most part - lots of insularity, judgment of others, and sporadic conflict between those attending on purpose, and the rest of us just trying to see a museum or two before summer ends.
Ultimately, it seemed to be a rally not for faith, but for being shouted into line: love God as we do, and get set to watch the nonbelievers burn. I didn't see Jesus there at all, in person or in spirit. Frankly, I suspect if he showed, he'd head straight for the National Conservatory, find a quiet spot in the medicinal plant exhibit, and wait for the false prophets to clear the hell off. That's what I did.
Posted by: Ripley | August 18, 2008 1:18 AM
As the "Good Book" says
"Judge not, lest ye be judged"
Aren't there more important Christian issues to spend there time and energy on; things like starving children and poverty, right here in the USA.
It appears to me that these "righteous" leaders are VERY concerned with those not yet born but care very little once they are born. Why else are the issues of poverty, the homeless and the sick never mentioned. I also wonder what their reaction would be to a yet to be born child, if they KNEW it was going to be homosexual.
It appears they feel they have to give their "flock"
someone or something to hate to get them motivated. Jesus would be disappointed in their methods.
Sounds like, at the very least, the organizers of this "event" are someday due some judgment of their own.
I was going to say "The sooner the better", but I won't.
To All, Have a good one!
Posted by: Steve L | August 18, 2008 9:29 AM
quote: As the "Good Book" says
"Judge not, lest ye be judged"
It also says, "Judgment begins in the house of the Lord."
This is why these people are not pointing the finger at others, but starting with themselves, and repenting for their own sins, and instead of protesting with signs, are praying for their brothers and sisters to also seek mercy from the Lord.
It is not their judgment that is coming to America, it is God's, and that is much, much more scary.
Posted by: David G | August 18, 2008 7:33 PM