Being home to Mississippi State University, Starkville is struggling to position itself as a 'progressive' city in order to attract industry and young professionals. However, the 'old guard' still clings to the past and recently elected a city council that seems at odds with most of the younger and more liberal, or progressive, citizens.
This has been demonstrated recently in the firing of Chief Administrative Officer Lynn Spruill, who by all accounts was a very capable and dedicated public servant.
No reason was given for her firing, other than one given by alderman Ben Carver: (from the Starkville Dispatch) -- 'Aldermen neither went behind closed doors to discuss the personnel move, nor gave a public reason beyond Carver's admission that he "prayed about it" and "made his mind up years ago."

"This is what the Lord wants me to do," he said in the meeting. "We have the right under state law to craft and create ... the team we want to work with for the next four years. I hope as a community, we can move past this. You'll see great things in the next four years. The sky isn't falling."

Most comments from the public deride the excuse that 'the Lord wanted him to do it', with one editorial comparing Mr. Carver to Moses and the Burning Bush. Most people feel the board did not agree with Ms. Spruill's 'personal life'.

Starkville is struggling hard to get out from under the thumb of the 'hard religious right' that so dominates the Mississippi GOP. This unwarranted firing appears to be a step backwards.

http://www.cdispatch.com/news/article.asp?aid=25777

Earlier today, People for the American Way found out that Harry Jackson invited one of his compatriots in the New Apostolic Reformation to speak at his church.  And it was one of the looniest members of this out-and-out fascist offshoot of the religious right, Johnny Enlow.  Like most NAR leaders, Enlow has largely stayed under the radar until recently.  However, he has written extensively on the "Seven Mountains" strategy--the idea that Christians must take over the seven spheres that influence our society (Government, Media, Religion, Family, Education, Economy, Arts & Entertainment) in order to bring Jesus back.  His sermon largely touched on those themes, and argued that government and media should function the same way on Earth as they do in heaven.  Watch here--but be warned, this is seriously whack.

 

Enlow's 2008 book, "The Seven Mountain Prophecy," says a lot about him.  He actually wrote that God sent Hurricane Katrina to tell gays that he loves them.  Here's an excerpt, courtesy of PFAW from back in 2010.

A mass homosexual parade and celebration that was to bring many millions of dollars to New Orleans was scheduled the week Katrina hit the city. Baal was doubling up in the city by adding homosexual decadence to his existing active altar there. Hurricanes Wilma and Rita also each brought judgments on cities that were about to host major gay events - Key West and Cancun - thus seriously curtailing the celebration of gay acceptance. God loves homosexuals so much that he will spare no expense in making it clear that homosexuality is an abomination to Him and that he can deliver someone from it. The name Katrina even means "purity" - perhaps a message of God's intent for that hurricane. What looks like God's anger against homosexuals is really His passionate love working to spare them from greater judgment - lifetime in real hell.

Even by Jackson's standards--this is, after all, the guy who called for Christians to form a "fifth column" to resist anyone who might oppose them and suggested that God would strike down any black Christian who voted for Obama--the fact he invited a guy who could write such hateful bile says a lot about the kind of person he is.

Terry Jones, the jackass preacher who has moved to this county, is now planning another Koran-burning.

If you want to get an idea of the mentality driving the religious right, look no further than the reaction some fundies are having to a new show due to air this fall on Oxygen.

Preachers of L.A. delves into the lifestyles of five prominent Southern California preachers--Noel Jones, Deitrick Haddon,  Clarence McClendon, Wayne Chaney, Ron Gibson and Jay Haizlip.  Check out the trailer here.

The five pastors aren't the least bit shy about defending their opulent lifestyles.  Gibson, for instance, says that he has as much right to a mansion as Jay-Z.  

Well, a bunch of fundies aren't the least bit happy about it.  According to Charisma magazine, they're trying to get the show canceled.

A group that calls itself Christians Against Preachers of L.A. has launched a petition on change.org against the show, which highlights the luxurious lifestyles of the six Southern California megachurch pastors.

“Biblical prosperity is not about wealth building. This is a poor representation of the Kingdom of God,” the petition states. “These preachers’ lifestyles are NOT promoting Christ ethos but rather their cars, homes, relationships, and their justification on why they want viewers to see them as having fleshly desires as everyone else does.”

The petition, which began last week in an effort to get the Oxygen Network to cancel Preachers of L.A., has garnered more than 60 signatures and is hoping for 100 total.

Oh, boo-hoo-hoo.  It would be one thing if the show was inaccurate, but to say it should be taken off the air because it portrays pastors negatively?  Your thin skin is showing.  And it says a lot about Charisma--the self-proclaimed mouthpiece of the charismatic movement--that they're highlighting this effort.  

You may have noticed that whenever someone puts together anything that's even the least bit critical of a fundie outfit, they wring their hands and scream, "You're oppressing us!"  If you'll remember, a few weeks ago Virginia lieutenant governor candidate E.W. Jackson declared that the media has no right to call him out on his wingnuttery because he was speaking as a pastor.

I've seen this first-hand.  Many of you know that back in my days at Carolina, I was tricked into joining a campus ministry affiliated with one of the more notorious dominionist/NAR groups, Every Nation.  Whenever I spoke out against them, the response I usually got from them wasn't that I was wrong.  No, no.  It was that I had no right to tear them down.  

If you've ever wondered why the religious right thinks we have no right to criticize them, this is why.

 

The school district in Springboro, Ohio--halfway between Cincy and Dayton--is planning to offer a summer course on the Constitution taught by David Barton.  Warren Throckmorton, one of the professors whose concerns about Barton's scholarship led Thomas Nelson to yank The Jefferson Lies last year, stumbled on this course on Monday.   He managed to obtain a brochure as well.

One name on that brochure that should jump out at you besides Barton is John Eidsmoe.  For those who don't remember, Eidsmoe is a leading Christian reconstructionist and one of Michele Bachmann's mentors when the Mad Minnesotan attended ORU.

The course is sponsored by the Institute on the Constitution, an outfit run by Michael Peroutka, the 2004 Constitution Party candidate.  Peroutka has documented ties to white supremacist groups.  According to the Human Rights Campaign, Peroutka is a prominent member of the League of the South, a neo-Confederate group that advocates having the South secede from the United States and calls white supremacy "healthy and Biblical."  Eidsmoe himself has frequently spoken to white supremacist groups.

Dutch Sheets recently penned a column for Charisma magazine that calls for his followers to use their God-given authority to rule their countries through prayer.

The question of who's in control is a governmental issue. We often think of government only in its civil sense, but Webster's defines govern as "to direct and control; to regulate by authority; to influence; to direct; to restrain; to steer or to regulate the course of; to exercise authority to maintain the superiority." To exercise authority is to govern.

Praying with authority, therefore, is "governmental intercession." So, in essence, this is an issue of government—not politics, but prayer! Politicians and government officials legislate through man-made laws and rulings. We legislate through spiritual laws, principles and activities. We legislate through prayer!

One of Scripture's primary themes is governmental authority. You were actually created with a nature to rule, to govern, to exercise authority. Using Webster's definition of governing, you were created "to direct and control; to maintain the superiority," not to be lorded over by other people, evil forces or even unfortunate circumstances. You're an overcomer, a conqueror.

Sheets is speaking in a code that his followers will readily understand.  Remember, the NAR believes they are the civil authority.  Their ultimate goal is to take over the world and sweep out all who dare to resist them so they can bring Jesus back.  Seen in this light, it's especially unnerving when Sheets says his followers need to really ramp up their prayers to defeat the "Hamans" in our society.  Haman, for those who don't know, was the guy who cooked up a scheme to kill all of the Jews living in Persia--only to be hanged himself when the plot was discovered.

 

 

I believe, however, that God has a response to America's Hamans, just as He did the Jews' destroyer. An apostolic, praying church is arising, one that will soon be offered the momentum of a third great awakening. Born for such a time as this, these kingdom warriors will be used to turn a nation back to its righteous roots and heavenly purpose.

As surprising as it may sound, another part of this "army" will be found in government roles. We must take back this part of our culture, for a righteous government alongside a kingdom-minded and spirit-empowered church is the vehicle through which God's righteous authority enters the earth: "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn" (Prov. 29:2, KJV).

Church, it's time to arise in God's governmental authority—to direct, control, regulate, influence, restrain, steer and regulate the future course of this great nation—to maintain the status of superiority that God has given to us.

That passage sent a chill down my spine, and should send a chill down the spine of any reality-based person.  Sheets doesn't need to say what the fate of these "Hamans" in the government will be--death.

We already know one thing about E.W. Jackson in the short term--his wingnutty statements have all but handed the Virginia lieutenant governor's chair to Ralph Northam on a silver platter.  But he may end up doing more damage in the long term.  He has all but admitted what those of us who have watched the religious right have already known--that fundies, not gays and lesbians, are the ones who want special rights.

If you'll remember, back on Monday, Jackson appeared on Bryan Fischer's radio show and wrung his hands about the evil, evil librul media calling him out on his laundry list of wingnuttery.  For those of you who missed it, watch here.

 

The crux of Jackson's argument is that the media has no right to call him out on his statements because he was speaking as a pastor.   His reasoning?  When you're questioning the statements of a pastor, you're imposing an unconstitutional religious test.  

This statement, more than any other I've seen from a fundie over the years, exposes a fundamental misunderstanding the religious right has about politics.  If you decide to run for office, you should expect to have your views put under the microscope.  Can't handle that?  Don't throw your hat in the ring.  Then again, you have to remember that much of the religious right's clientele lives in a bubble, so they aren't really used to having to defend their views.

More importantly, it all but demolishes the most common argument the religious right uses against gay rights supporters--"You're fighting for special rights!"  And yet, we're not supposed to subject your pastors to the same scrutiny we subject anyone else who runs for office?  Tell me again who wants special rights?  Ten to one if Mike Huckabee were to win the GOP nomination in 2016 and make a statement similar to Jackson's, it would pretty much guarantee a 40-state Democratic landslide.

Seems to me that Jackson didn't just hand us at least one elected office on a platter.  He also handed us a brand new talking point.

At the time his book, Nullification, appeared in 2010, I contacted author Thomas Woods, Jr., Ph.D. about the book.  Woods is as gracious as he is educated and he took the time to answer my questions in detail.  While Dr. Woods is a brilliant man, he is not a practicing lawyer and he did not see how ineffective nullification is as a legal theory.  

Despite (or perhaps because of) endorsements made by Gov. Phil Bryant (R) and other Republican state officials, voters in Mississippi elected a surprising number of Democrats in several hard fought mayors races.

cross-posted at dKos

Pat Robertson apparently knows that People for the American Way's Right Wing Watch project has frequently made him a target.  And he doesn't like it.  

Yesterday, Robertson led off the "Bring it On" segment of "The 700 Club" with a rant against an unnamed group that makes a habit of calling out wingnuts.  Robertson then threw down the gauntlet as only he can--he threatened "a full-scale exposé" of the group.  Watch here.

It's pretty obvious Robertson was referring to PFAW--he specifically referred to PFAW posting a clip from two weeks ago of him telling a woman concerned about her cheating husband to "give him honor instead of trying to worry about it."  Watch PFAW's clip here, then watch the full segment here.  Does anyone think PFAW yanked Robertson's words out of context?  I didn't think so.

What's the matter, Pat?  Can't handle sunshine?

 

The Chairwoman of Republican Liberty Caucus of Washington (the Ron Paul formation), is Sandi Brendale, wife of Philip Brendale–a featured speaker at the regional Anti-Indian Conference held in Bellingham on April 6. Sandi Brendale, by the way, is an Eagle Forum media expert. Phillip, a board member of Citizens Equal Rights Alliance -- the organization leading the national hate campaign against tribal governments -- funnels funds from industry through his anti-Indian consulting corporation.