Religious right 'wish list' under Trump moves America dangerously to theocracy

Tony Perkins and his group want to give churches more political power. That would be a disaster.

Via a recent fundraising email, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins laid out what he claims are the three issues which will "make or break religious liberty."

In reality, these issues are geared to giving conservative right-wing evangelicals an enormous amount of power in electing government officials  as well as curtailing the rights of the lgbtq community.

Perkins details and describes these issues as follows:

REPEAL THE JOHNSON AMENDMENT.  

President Trump's executive order directs the IRS not to enforce guidelines on the Johnson Amendment, which has been used not only to block speech about candidates but about political issues that directly impact the free exercise of religious faith. But clearer guidelines are not enough. This amendment needs to be gutted by law if churches are to be free of government retribution for following God's Word.  

PROTECT CHURCHES AND PASTORS WITH A FREE SPEECH FAIRNESS ACT.  

In conjunction with the EO clarification of IRS guidelines on the Johnson Amendment, the Free Speech Fairness Act must pass in order to "allow charitable organizations [including churches] to make statements relating to political campaigns if such statements are made in the ordinary course of carrying out its tax-exempt purpose." In other words, pastors would not be prohibited from speaking out about candidates who support such things as abortion...special privileges based on sexual preference and gender identity...and banning Christian clubs from meeting in public school buildings. 

 BOLSTER THE CONSTITUTIONAL FREEDOM OF RELIGION WITH A FIRST AMENDMENT DEFENSE ACT. 

Simply put, such an act would prevent the federal government from discriminating against those who follow biblical teachings that marriage is between one man and one woman. It would defend people such as Aaron and Melissa Klein and Barronelle Stutzman who are being prosecuted for declining to participate in same-sex weddings because of their Christian beliefs.

Don't let Perkins fool you with the claims that these issues have anything to do with liberty or freedom.

Trump's lawyer proves that homophobia, whining about so-called anti-Christian 'persecution' is very, very lucrative

Jay Sekulow

One of Donald Trump's attorney, Jay Sekulow, (and his organization, the American Center for Law and Justice) has a long history of homophobia and whining about the so-called persecution of Christians.

And it very, VERY lucrative to him and his family.


What Made Trump Hire Religious Right Lawyer Jay Sekulow?

 Sekulow and the  ACLJ have been active in the U.S. and overseas in opposing legal equality for LGBTQ people. Sekulow has said that the state has a “compelling interest to ban the act of homosexuality” and the ACLJ argued on behalf of state laws criminalizing gay sex that were overturned by the Supreme Court in 2003. Sekulow said the Supreme Court overturning the Defense of Marriage Act meant that “we’re now living in a monarchy.”

The ACLJ and its international affiliates engage in anti-LGBTQ and anti-choice culture wars in the U.S., Africa, Europe and Russia. In Africa, it worked to shape constitutional language in Zimbabwe, where it has fought to maintain criminalization of homosexuality, and Kenya, where it lobbied to eliminate an exemption to an abortion ban to save a woman’s life. Both the European Center for Jaw and Justice and the Slavic Center for Law and Justice supported Russia’s notorious anti-gay “propaganda” law, which has been used against journalists and gay rights activists.

Trump’s new conservative Christian lawyer Jay Sekulow is just another right-wing grifter

The ACLJ reported more than $19 million in contributions and grants for 2015, according to IRS filings, which also showed that Sekulow received no salary from the organization that year.

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But the group transferred more than $5 million to the Washington law firm Constitutional Litigation and Advocacy Group, in which Sekulow owns a 50-percent stake, Bloomberg reported.

Sekulow also serves as president of the Georgia-based nonprofit Christian Advocates Serving Evangelism, or CASE, which raised more than $52 million in 2015, according to IRS records.

Four of Sekulow’s family members — including his wife, Pam, and Gary Sekulow — serve as the board of directors for CASE, which transferred nearly $16 million to ACLJ and paid almost $1.2 million to businesses owned by Jay Sekulow.

An analysis by The Tennesseean newspaper found ACLJ and CASE had paid out more than $33 million between 1998 and 2011 to members of Sekulow’s family or to businesses they own.

I wonder how much Franklin Graham, Pat Robertson, and the rest pull in.  Oh to be "persecuted" like that!