Bartholomew's Notes

The Patriarch of Moscow has been in Greece for a seven-day visit, which began with a meeting with the country’s president. According to the Russian Orthodox Church website:

President Papoulias conferred a high state award, the Grand Cross of the Order of Honour, upon His Holiness.

Patriarch Kirill thanked the President for the privilege and said: “We, the fraternal nations, are of the same faith, which is a solid basis for relations of Greece with the countries of historical Rus, including Russia, Ukraine, Moldova and Belarus. I believe that any problems on our relationship will be solved in a peaceful and fraternal manner for mutual benefit. I assure you in our prayers, support and openness to cooperation for the good of our Churches.”

…Discussed at the meeting were relationship between legislative and moral standards and the present moral crisis of humanity as a prime reason of the recent financial crisis in Europe.

I discussed Kirill’s links with Belarus here, and his views on the “moral crisis” here.

The visit also reunited Kirill with Ephraim, Abbot of the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos. According to Interfax, Ephraim

….praised Russia and called for global Orthodox unity.

“Even though it has been nearly a year and a half, our taking the Cincture of the Theotokos to Russia, the main relic of our monastery, is still fresh in our memory,” Ephraim said after a prayer service at Vatopedi on Thursday that he co-led with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill.

Nearly 4 million people, including top Russian leaders, came to see the cincture and partake of its supposed miraculous powers while it was shown in various Russian cities between October 20 and November 28, 2011. It had been brought to Russia by Father Ephraim.

The “Cincture of the Theotokos” is a belt which believers say was worn by the Virgin Mary; I wrote about its background, and the tour of Russia, at the time. Its “miraculous powers”, according to Ephraim, relate to fertility; Vladimir Putin opined that “if this helps to solve our demographic issue, it is most welcome”, and he added:

…our efforts certainly show the bonds between our nations and will strengthen them. This will undoubtedly give an impetus for further development of the relations between our countries. Thank you very much.

A short while afterwards, Ephraim ran into trouble with the Greek authorities over some financial dealings.

Closer links between Russia and Greece are not confined just to Kirill’s religious diplomacy; as Greece sells off its assets to meet its financial obligations, Gazprom and Sintez have put in offers for Greek gas companies, and Russia’s state railway company has an eye on acquiring the Thessaloniki Port Authority.

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As has been widely reported, last night saw the broadcast of BBC Panorama‘s investigation into “cash for questions” at the UK Parliament, in which Patrick Mercer MP was secretly filmed accepting funding from a journalist (Daniel Foggo) posing as lobbyist for Fiji. The main outline of the story has been known for several days now; as the Telegraph reported:

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An advert from Ron Phillips Ministries, of Hixson, TX:

Could the Phoenicians have been the ones who really discovered America? How is it possible that Native Americans share DNA markers with the Hebrew people? Could the gold of Ophir that was in Solomon’s temple have come from America?

…In the nearly hour long teaching on “The Hiram Code and Anointing,” Pastor Ron Phillips lays out biblical and historical evidence that the Phoenicians and Jews could have sailed to America to trade and bring back gold.  He also shows you the key of the Hiram Code and how it releases prosperity and blessing.

As we discover in this message, the Gentile Hiram was blessed by blessing Israel. You can bless Israel, too, when you purchase a tallit, made in the Holy Land. Your purchase of this prayer shawl not only brings business to the people of Israel, but it helps Pastor Ron to continue broadcasting on TV and the internet.

This may seem to be somewhat idiosyncratic and marginal, but I found the advert via a link from Charisma News, a popular news-site for conservative American Christians, particularly neo-Pentecostals. Charisma News is owned by Stephen Strang, who was described by Time magazine in 2005 as one of the “25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America”, and Strang’s Charisma House publishing outfit has published titles by Phillips that include An Essential Guide to Speaking in Tongues and Everyone’s Guide to Demons and Spiritual Warfare.

Unusually, Phillips is Charismatic Southern Baptist, despite the denomination’s wariness of Pentecostalism; he served as president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention in 1991, but he is also part of a wider neo-Pentecostal “scene”, and appears on TBN. Phillips’ advert is of wider interest as it encapsulates a number of trends within neo-Pentecostalism.

First, there’s the very idea of a “Hiram Code”: the title is obviously meant to tap into the same rich seam of public curiosity about ancient mysteries that has made Dan Brown a household name, but Phillips is also positioning himself as a pastor with special insight into supposedly hidden Bible teachings with practical application. In this, he is very much like Jonathan Cahn, who has over the past year or so (thanks to puffs from Strang and Joseph Farah) achieved phenomenal success with his claim that a Biblical template can be applied to the events of 9/11, and that the Bible shows that America must repent to avoid further disaster. Before he achieved fame, Cahn’s religious teachings emphasised his special understanding of “Hebrew mysteries”, such as the “the long-hidden, never before revealed, Mystery of the Temple Doors”.

Cahn’s doom-mongering is the flipside of Phillips’ “releasing prosperity” – God’s blessings and curses are mechanistic, and can be unleashed or held back by careful attention to aspects of Israelite history as recorded in the Bible, including details that appear to be obscure.

Second, we have the appropriation of Jewish religious culture in the idea that Christians ought to purchase a prayer shawl. This goes beyond acknowledging the Jewish context of Jesus and the New Testament,  and I noted and discussed the trend here and here; differences between Christianity and Judaism are elided (sometimes with eccentric results), and there is also a vicarious identification with modern Israel.

Most striking, however, are Phillips’ pseudo-historical and pseudo-scientific questions, which  appear to be derived from Mormon claims about ancient links between America and Israel. Of course, it’s possible to appropriate fringe historical theories without endorsing the theology that inspired them, but it’s unexpected for a Christian pastor to put such unusual ideas at the centre of his religious teaching. However, the Mormon narrative, which links Israelite history and Jesus to America, is doubtless attractive for some Americans who want a form of religious belief that also expresses their sense of nationalism, and it complements the interest in Jewish religious culture.

One wonders how far this might go: most Christians have historically regarded Mormon theology as being incompatible with Christian belief, but the barriers appear to be breaking down, perhaps in part due to Glen Beck and Mitt Romney. Christian Right figures David Barton and Jim Garlow have affirmed that Beck is “saved”, and John Hagee has led pastors in endorsing Beck as a religious revivalist; Romney’s presidential candidacy prompted neo-Pentecostal evangelist Rick Joyner, who is very close to Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin, to opine that the “White Horse Prophecy” was “maybe… one of those true prophecies”, and even the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association toned down its views on Mormonism as being a “cult”.

Judaism is now more or less accepted as valid by conservative Christians in the USA; this is not usually spelled out with theological coherence –  there is still the occasional announcement that Jews need to be evangelised, and qualms about a formal “Dual Covenant” theology – but the place of Jews and the modern State of Israel within a wider religious story has proven just too compelling not to incorporate positively into an evangelical interpretation of the world. It’s unlikely that Mormonism will come to be perceived in the same way – but individual Mormons and some Mormon ideas may be accepted, for similar narrative reasons.

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I’m a few days late with this – an interesting article from the Independent on Sunday:

An Independent on Sunday investigation has revealed that more than 2,000 websites promoting terrorism have been taken offline since 2010 by the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism internet referral unit. Experts are now bombarding extremist websites to create “counter-narrative” messages from survivors of terrorism. Former radicals also infiltrate forums to spread doubt and challenge the extremist rhetoric.

…A second group fighting to combat extremist propaganda, the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, implants messages of peace when people try to access radical websites. Ross Frenett, programme manager for the Against Violent Extremism (AVE) network, says the hope is to make potential extremists refrain from meeting radicalising influences in the real world. “We use survivors of terrorism and formers [those formerly radicalised]. People who have been personally touched by the violence are very difficult to dismiss: those who have lost a loved one or a limb. And someone who has been on the inside and come out the other side is very credible,” he said.

That seems to be a good approach to the problem – honest engagement seeking to give a different perspective based on experience. More about the AVE Network can be seen here.

A slightly more spiky approach to challenging on-line extremism was discussed in a Wired article last year:

The program, called Viral Peace, seeks to occupy the virtual space that extremists fill, one thread or Twitter exchange at a time. Shahed Amanullah, a senior technology adviser to the State Department and Viral Peace’s creator, tells Danger Room he wants to use “logic, humor, satire, [and] religious arguments, not just to confront [extremists], but to undermine and demoralize them.”

…The U.S. has thought of several strategies for confronting the not-so-new wave of online extremism, from apparent DDoS attacks on extremist websites to infiltrating them using fake jihadi personas….

Amanullah has a different view. You don’t necessarily need to deface the forums if you can troll them to the point where their most malign influences are neutralized.

Given that infiltration via “fake jihadi personas” is a proven recipe for disaster, it’s good to see Amanullah suggesting something different.

Engaging with and challenging the users of extremist websites is important and urgent work – but I’d like to see some sort of serious discussion about it should be done ethically and sensibly. I’ve seen keyboard vigilantes and hucksters seek to incite extremists using sockpuppets, either to “expose” them or to play out weird power games; anyone who wants to be taken seriously needs to keep distance from that kind of thing.

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From the Daily Telegraph:

The Islamic Society at Greenwich University, where both the Woolwich suspects are thought to have studied, has hosted a series of radical Muslim speakers and distributed extremist literature, The Telegraph can disclose.

The group’s possible role in radicalising Michael Adebolajo, 28, and Michael Adebowale, 22, is coming under close scrutiny after it emerged that the society had promoted extremist views for years.

…The Telegraph has learnt that a pamphlet written by a preacher who was banned from entering Britain by the Home Secretary in 2010 was distributed during a freshers’ fair at Greenwich University in 2011. Dr Zakir Naik, the author, said in the booklet: “Every Muslim should be a terrorist.”

The paper notes that the society has also hosted Khalid Fikry, who claims that “Blind Sheikh” Omar Abdel-Rahman is the victim of a conspiracy, and that its Facebook page has promoted videos by Abu Usamah, who has expressed inflammatory anti-gay views and and expressed support for Osama bin Laden.

According to the Times Higher, Michael Adebolajo studied at Greenwich from 2003-05, although there are no records for Michael Adebowale.

Naik (last blogged by me here) is President of the Islamic Research Foundation, and a former student of the late Ahmed Deedat; Deedat was a prolific author of English-language tracts opposing other religions and attempting to prove the Koran through scientific arguments, and Naik follows the same method (here he is having a chat with Turkish creationist Harun Yahya and others). He’s also a 9/11 Truther.

Naik’s Wikipedia entry has a discussion of the “every Muslim should be a terrorist” comment, with links to original sources including a YouTube video where he discusses bin Laden:

If he is terrorizing America – the terrorist, biggest terrorist – I am with him. Every Muslim should be a terrorist. The thing is that if he is terrorizing the terrorist, he is following Islam. Whether he is or not, I don’t know.

Apparently he later claimed this had been taken out of context, and the quote from the leaflet noted by the Daily Telegraph appears to have a rather different meaning:

Every Muslim should be a terrorist. A terrorist is a person who causes terror. The moment a robber sees a policeman he is terrified. A policeman is a terrorist for the robber. Similarly every Muslim should be a terrorist for the antisocial elements of society, such as thieves, dacoits [bandits] and rapists. Whenever such an anti-social element sees a Muslim, he should be terrified. It is true that the word ‘terrorist’ is generally used for a person who causes terror among the common people. But a true Muslim should only be a terrorist to selective people, i.e. anti-social elements, and not to the common innocent people. In fact a Muslim should be a source of peace for innocent people. 

The above is from Naik’s Answers To Non Muslims:Common Questions About Islam. Of course, it doesn’t even begin to explain away Naik’s original statement about bin Laden, but does put a rather less sinister light on the detail reported in the Telegraph.

As for Abu Usamah, the Telegraph notes that he featured in the 2007 documentary Undercover Mosque; while being filmed covertly, Abu Usamah expressed hatred of the “kuffaar”, and explained that although he rejected the “methodology” bin Laden, he regarded bin Laden as worth “a million George Bushes” because he is a Muslim, and that all non-Muslims are “pathological liars”. Bizarrely, West Midlands Police subsequently threatened the programme-makers with prosecution for supposedly stirring up racial hatred by “distorting” their footage, and when they received legal advice that this would have no chance of success they followed up with a complaint to OFCOM; according to Newnight journalist Peter Marshall, the police regarded Abu Usamah as the “the last buffer before radicalised people fall off into the abyss” because of his supposed rejection of terrorism.

According to the Times Higher, Greenwich is now investigating:

David Maguire, the Greenwich vice-chancellor, said its investigation would look at what links the two men had with the university and whether there had been any “past or present” extremism on campus.

It’s not necessarily the case that a group can be defined by the worst thing ever said by a speaker or writer to whom it has given a platform, but it is reasonable to put pressure on an organisation to explain itself when a discreditable association is revealed.

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BBC Three has broadcast a documentary entitled Branded a Witch, in which young British mother of Congolese heritage named Kevani Kanda visited Congo to see the consequences of child-witch accusations in the country. The statistics are grim: 50,000 children held in churches for abusive “deliverance” sessions, and 20,000 living in the streets after being thrown out by relatives who believe that they are the cause of misfortune or ill-health. As the programme notes, the problem is the result of years of chaos and conflict in the country, which have led to the distortion of traditional beliefs.

The film included visits to two churches in Kinshasa where children are accused of witchcraft and subjected to “deliverance”; at the first, the pastor explained how he chooses which children are witches, and he introduced a teenage-aged girl – obviously traumatised and unable to speak – who he explained had eaten her mother:

These two children have bad works inside them. The Holy Spirit has revealed that these kids have been possessed by witchcraft. Others haven’t eaten anyone yet, but this one, she ate her mother. The Spirit is like the wind, it is not something you can see.

One boy at the church explained that deliverance had cured him of bed-wetting.

At another church, a five-year-old boy is subjected to a distressing ordeal to remove a “witchcraft telephone” from inside him, by which he supposedly communicates with other witches: the crying and terrified boy, standing before a group of women, is repeatedly smacked, force-fed hot palm oil, starved for three days, and given a palm-oil enema and then not allowed to relieve himself. According to the female pastor:

It’s going to be like that because when you are hitting him like this, his going to feel pain because the thing that has been placed in him is being removed and when it’s being removed he has to feel pain, because it’s a foreign object in his body. So of course he will cry. The Holy Spirit will look at him and see he really has witchcraft, that he has already started killing people and he has started drinking people’s blood.

Accusing a child in this way is actually illegal in Congo now, but the pastor is unconcerned:

I am not afraid of anything. I don’t think God would let someone come and arrest me.

Ten to twelve children are brought to the church for such treatment each week.

Neither church was identified in the programme, although both appeared to be small and ramshackle. Church members wore distinctive items of clothing; at the first, a while sash marked with red crosses, and at the second, white dresses with gold trimmings and blue head-scarves. There did not appear to be any connection to wider neo-Pentecostal networks, which was a subject I raised in relation to Congo here.

Kanda also spoke to the victims of witchcraft accusations: they included a teenage girl who had gone to primary school in London but had been sent back to Congo by relatives; two young children who had been badly burnt by a relative, and were now living in a hostel for accused children; and her own cousin, who had been cast out by her family – Kanda expressed frustration with her relatives’ deep belief in witchcraft and their willingness to disown an “infected” family member.

In Paris, Kandy met with the sister of Kristy Bamu, who had been tortured and murdered by another sister and her partner in London, and she concludes:

If we don’t do more to promote the idea that calling a child a witch is totally unacceptable, we may well end up with another case like Kristy Bamu, murdered in the bath on Christmas Day.

I’ve expressed the same sentiment, in relation to child-witch accusation in Nigeria; some pastors who promote the belief in “child witches” claim that their deliverance sessions are mild and beneficial, but to make such an accusation is always abusive –  and the concept is always going to lead to pointless tragedies.

The programme also mentioned other cases in the UK, and the problem of child-witch stigmatisation in Britain was highlighted by a Channel 4 documentary in 2010. There was also a reference to “Adam”, the  boy whose dismembered torso was found by the Thames in 2001. However, as noted previously, this murder is a different issue which ought not to be conflated with “child witches”.

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From the website of the Orthodox Church of Moldova:

His Eminence Metropolitan Vladimir addressed a message to General Mayor of Chisinau, Mr. Dorin Chirtoaca, pleading that the authorities do not allow the organization of a gay pride planned for the 19th of May.

It is mentioned in the message: “The Metropolis of Chisinau and All Moldova continues to believe that this is a defying initiative, conflicting with moral values and decency. At the same time, a potential march of sexual minorities on the streets of Chisinau will be nothing else but a strong provocation with severe consequences, taking into account general repulsion of the population towards the deviant behavior of homosexuals and lesbians…”

The event to which Vladimir objects is a Gay Pride march to mark the end of a week-long “Rainbow Over the Dniester” festival.

After apparently blaming gay people for any violence against them, Vladimir goes on to argue that the march  comes shortly after the UN’s International Day of Families, and will clash with the day on which the Orthodox Church commemorates the Myrrh-bearing Women (the women who came to the tomb of Christ and found it to be empty).

Vladimir’s call has been echoed by Vasile Filat (var. Vasily Filat), a Baptist pastor with the Good News Church in Chisinau.

Also on board is “Moldova Mea”, a “civil society” organisation:

The public association “Moldova Mea” called on all the people of the country to come together in the Great National Assembly Square in Chisinau on May 19 to protest against the march that the sexual minorities intend to stage that day.

The aim of the protest is to “prevent” the march, and Vladimir has been asked to address and bless the crowd. According to the above report, Vladimir was asked to become involved by Mihail Garbuz, President of the pro-Russian Patriots of Moldova Party (var. Moldova’s Patriots Party, Patriotii Moldovei).

Moldova Mea is headed by Fiodor Ghelici, a businessman and anti-corruption activist; he has called for a law to be passed to ban “the propagation of homosexuality”, and he claims to have the support of former president Vladimir Voronin. In 2008, Voronin received an award from the late Patriarch of Moscow, Alexy II.

Moldova Mea is also part of a wider group of NGOs, called “The Civil Society Congress of Moldova”.

(H/T Interfax Religion)

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Right Wing Watch has the latest from Judith Reisman, as the anti-Kinsey obsessive returns to the subject of her recent visit to Croatia. In conversation with anti-Illuminati conspiracy theorist Rick Wiles, Reisman explained that funding from George Soros has “brought in pedophiles from around the world” to Croatia, as part of a plot to establish Communist tyranny in the country.

Reisman visited Croatia in January, as I discussed here, and she afterwards gave an account on Michael Coren‘s TV programme Arena. Her trip was in support of Karolina Vidovic Kristo, a television journalist who was removed from her position after her TV show The Image of Croatia aired a segment on sex education in Croatia under the headline “Pedophilia as the foundation of sexual education?” Kristo was was subsequently received by the Archbishop of Zagreb, Cardinal Josip Bozanic, and in March she was nominated to receive a “Global Leadership Award” from Morton Blackwell’s Leadership Institute, which holds a yearly conflab at Wellington College in Berkshire, UK (I wrote about last year’s event here; Kristo’s nomination came via the World Congress of Families).

Kristo’s programme reportedly included extracts from Kinsey’s Paedophiles, a documentary which was aired in the UK as part of Channel 4’s Secret History strand in 1998. The programme had been made by British journalist Timothy Tate, and he joined Reisman in Croatia. Tate is himself a controversial figure, having played a role in popularizing Satanic panic in the 1980s; Philip Jenkins’ book Intimate Enemies: Moral Panics in Contemporary Great Britain (Aldine De Gruyter, 1992, page 161) has further details:

In 1987, [Tate] began to encounter American allegations about satanic rings, including charges of infanticide and ritual cannibalism. He presented these views in a controversial book, which apparently uncritically accepted as fact the charges brought against supposed witches and diabolists in the historical witch trials… Tate was also significant because he worked as a researcher for Central Television’s “Cook Report,” which in 1989 presented a sensational (and influential) documentary entitled The Devil’s Work. Tate wrote extensively on the topic of ritual abuse, and acted in an advisory capacity in the Nottingham investigation.

I gave an overview of the “Satanic Panic” saga here.

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Sermon followed visit by key Newt Gingrich ally Pastor Jim Garlow

From Gaystarnews:

A Singaporean pastor has delivered a sermon titled God’s Pattern for Marriage in front of 3,000 people in which he called the LGBT movement ‘diabolical’.

‘I believe that God has awakened to face one of the greatest attacks on the family by the evil one,’ said Lawrence Khong.

Khong also called the LGBT rights movement the ‘onslaught of the evil one’.

Khong leads a megachurch, Faith Community Baptist Church, and such views are what we would expect. He describes himself as an “Apostle”, having been commissioned by none other than “Third Wave” neo-Pentecostal leader and theorist C. Peter Wagner. As noted previously, Wagner sees Christians as engaged in spiritual warfare against countervailing demonic powers that seek to control aspects of society; eventually, Christians will take dominion, and certain leaders will have their authority confirmed through supernatural abilities. In March, Khong attended an international  conference in Bogota, where he shared the stage with Cindy Jacobs (who was last blogged by me here).

However, in the context of Singapore, Khong’s stance means support for existing legislation by which homosexual activity between consenting men is punished by up to two years in prison; in January, his church was visited by former Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong, and he marked the occasion with a welcoming statement which included the following:

We affirm that the family unit comprises a man as Father, a woman as Mother, and Children. This is the basic building block of society, a value foundational for a secure future, a premise fundamental to nation-building.

We see a looming threat to this basic building block by homosexual activists seeking to repeal Section 377A of the Penal Code.

Examples from around the world have shown that the repeal of similar laws have led to negative social changes, especially the breakdown of the family as a basic building block and foundation of the society. It takes away the rights of parents over what their children are taught in schools, especially sex education. It attacks religious freedom and eventually denies free speech to those who, because of their moral convictions, uphold a different view from that championed by increasingly aggressive homosexual activists.

We love our nation. We sincerely pray for and look to the Government to provide moral leadership in preserving this basic building block and foundation of our society. And with that, to robustly protect our constitutional rights to free speech and religious liberty; so as to ensure that social cohesion and religious harmony are maintained in Singapore.

Khong’s new sermon on the subject – which can be seen here – came in the wake of an event organized by Khong entitled “Momentum 2013”, with the tag-line “”Family Foundation Future”. According to the event’s blurb:

The Family, the basic building block of society, is under attack… We see a well-organised, well-funded global campaign with a political agenda to redefine Marriage and Family. What kind of Singapore will future generations inherit? Will homosexuality become the accepted norm?…

Singapore is unique. We are a society with conservative roots. We have a pro-Family Government. We must stand firm and support the efforts of our national leaders to preserve our core values. We are a small nation with a big Antioch call. Whatever happens to Singapore will affect Asia. Hasn’t God raised us up for such a time as this? To defend Singapore. To deliver Asia. To lift up the standard of the Lord against the global push toward mainstreaming homosexuality and legalising same-sex marriage!

There is also a description of the “Equipping Team”:

An alliance of local pastors, bible scholars, thought leaders, writers, ministry founders, ministry specialists and life-changing story-tellers. ALSO FEATURING Dr Jim Garlow: Best-selling author, communicator, commentator, historian, cultural analyst and Senior Pastor of Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, California. A leading evangelical leader in the USA, Jim founded and led the California Pastors Rapid Response Team, uniting several thousand pastors across the denominations in a victorious campaign to preserve the natural, biblical definition of Marriage. As a result, the California Constitution was amended to include this provision that only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognised in California.

I discussed Jim Garlow just yesterday; he and close associate named Pastor Dan Cummins are currently organising a “Washington – A Man of Prayer” event on Capitol Hill, at which Michele Bachmann and Newt Gingrich will be among the speakers.

Khong’s assessment of Momentum 2013 can be found on Facebook; he writes:

Momentum 2013 was certainly a defining moment for Singapore, with more than 5,000 pastors, leaders and members of churches gathered for one resolve: To defend marriage and family in Singapore to be between a male as father, a female as mother with their children. We are fully convinced the Biblical foundation for the family is founded upon the marriage of a man and a woman

…The Bible begins with a marriage in the Garden of Eden and ends with the marriage of the Lamb – between Christ and the Church at the end of the world. This Marriage is the ultimate marriage, and can only be illustrated through the mystical union between a man and a woman in a lifelong monogamous relationship. This piece of truth was brought to us at Momentum 2013 by Dr Jim Garlow of Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego. He was also one of the key leaders who rallied the pastors of California together in defence of Proposition 8, which states that only a marriage between a man and a woman will be valid or recognised in California.

As I noted just yesterday, Garlow also heads Renewing American Leadership (ReAL), which was created to promote Newt Gingrich’s religious credentials ahead of the 2012 presidential election. Of course, Gingrich is not the first name that comes to mind when one ponders “the mystical union between a man and a woman in a lifelong monogamous relationship”.

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From the Bullard (TX) Banner News:

Pastor Dan Cummins of Bridlewood Church in Bullard, and founder of “Come Pray with Me,” has, for the second consecutive year, been granted use of Statuary Hall in the nation’s capitol as the venue for “Washington A Man of Prayer 2013” by Speaker of the House, John Boehner.

This is only the second time in over 100 years that a private Christian organization has been granted this privilege, both times to Pastor Cummins.

…This year’s keynote address will be given by Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.

Mwanwhile, Jonathan Cahn writes on Facebook that:

I need to ask you for your prayers and intercession On Wednesday night, May 8, there will be a special gathering held for Members of Congress. Newt Gingrich will be one of the speakers, Michele Bachmann, Tony Perkins, and a few others. To help close the event, I have been asked to speak.

Cahn’s rise to the Christian Right A-list has been rapid and unexpected; up until relatively recently, his religious teaching was somewhat esoteric, and based on claims to special insight into supposed Biblical “Hebrew mysteries”; however, he hit the big-time with the Harbinger, which links the failure of God to prevent the 9/11 attacks to the USA’s sins; Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson famously expressed the same sentiments back in 2001, but Cahn has constructed an apocalyptic narrative which fits 9/11 into a Biblical template designed to appeal to alienated conservative Christians in Obama-era America. His book has become a Christian bestseller, promoted by Joseph Farah at WND and by Stephen Strang at Charisma (Strang has explained that the book came about “as a result of prophecy”).

Cummins’ first “Washington – A Man of Prayer” event was held last year, and was sponsored by Louie Gohmert. Cummins is the Director of Church Relations for Jim Garlow’s Renewing American Leadership (ReAL) organization, and Garlow is involved with the event; as I noted previously, ReAL was created to facilitate the ludicrous spectacle of Gingrich’s incorporation into the Christian Right ahead of his 2012 presidential election bid. Cummins is also the author of He Shall Confirm the Covenant: Keys to Unlocking Daniel’s 70th Week, which promises “the most significant key in unlocking the timing of the events” of the Book of Revelation.

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