Rick Scarborough Rides Again

We haven’t heard from the president of the far-right, Texas-based group Vision America for a long time. But today Pastor Rick Scarborough sent out an email blast blaming the nation’s debt on immorality and promoting Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s Saturday prayer rally in Houston as a step toward solving the problem:

“Billions of dollars are required every year to assist in paying for the lack of responsible behavior in our nation, whether it is in fighting various sexually transmitted diseases, welfare, various assistance programs for those in poverty, etc. I lay the blame at the feet of both the politicians and the preachers, for their unwillingness to address the moral disintegration of our nation. Add to these indisputable facts that our courts have declared war on God. Seldom has a day passed in recent years that someone, somewhere, does not file a lawsuit seeking to ban any mention of the God who gave us our freedoms from the public square. Tragically, few if any, even among Christians, truly fight to end this madness.

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The Right’s New Hate Campaign

Of course, it’s not all that new. We’ve been watching this fester over the last decade. But the venom of the growing anti-Muslim hate campaign — and the willingness to disregard basic religious and civil liberties for American Muslims — should be a shocking development in a nation that has championed religious freedom for more than two centuries. Consider, for example, recent comments by Tennessee’s lieutenant governor, Ron Ramsey:

At a recent event in Hamilton County, Ramsey was asked by a man in the audience about the “threat that’s invading our country from the Muslims.” Ramsey proclaimed his support for the Constitution and the whole “Congress shall make no law” thing when it comes to religion. But he also said that Islam, arguably, is less a faith than it is a “cult.”

“Now, you could even argue whether being a Muslim is actually a religion, or is it a nationality, way of life, cult whatever you want to call it,” Ramsey said. “Now certainly we do protect our religions, but at the same time this is something we are going to have to face.”

This kind of religious bigotry has been growing in prominence in Texas as well. Shortly after the 2006 elections, David Barton of the far-right group WallBuilders wrote that Americans were justifiably concerned that Minnesotans had elected a Muslim, Keith Ellison, to Congress:

“After all, America and Americans are currently the target of attacks by members of the same Islamic faith that Ellison professes; and while Ellison may not hold the same specific beliefs as America’s enemies, he nevertheless holds the same religion. . . . Ellison may not have the same beliefs as the Muslims who openly decry and even attack America; nevertheless, their behavior reflects on him. It is therefore understandable that citizens outside his district are highly concerned.”

Who Are the Real ‘Judicial Activists’ Here?

Critics of so-called “judicial activism” — examples of which are often court decisions they simply don’t like — loudly argue for a strict interpretation of the Constitution when judges interpret laws. So we find it hypocritical, to say the least, when those same critics later decide that the Constitution isn’t a sufficient basis for interpreting laws after all. Pastor Rick Scarborough, head of the Texas-based, far-right group Vision America, provided a good example of this kind of hypocrisy in an e-mail to supporters last week blasting U.S. Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan.

Rick Scarborough: Birther Extremist

Maybe Rick Scarborough should run for chair of the Texas Republican Party of Texas. After all, we’re beginning to think the head of the far-right group Vision America (based in Lufkin) could be even more extreme than the Texas GOP’s current chair, Cathie Adams. (See here and here for examples of Adams’ extremism.)

In a fundraising e-mail today, Pastor Scarborough once again aligned himself with the fringe right-wingers who run around claiming that President Obama wasn’t born in the United States and thus isn’t eligible to be president. Never mind that such nonsense has been debunked definitively and repeatedly, including here. Scarborough has money to raise.

So today Pastor Scarborough’s e-mail notes “two marching evils.” First:

“Out of control spending that will bankrupt the nation if not stopped and reversed, driven by a man who may not even be legally qualified to be our President.”

Off the Cliff

The bizarre (and long discredited) claims that President Obama isn’t a U.S. citizen keep coming from the far right. So is Texas-based Vision America, a religious-right organization headed by Rick Scarborough in Lufkin, now jumping off the crazy cliff? Seems that way.

In an e-mail — signed by Scarborough — to supporters today, the organization charges that the president is trying to keep the truth from the American people:

To date, though numerous requests have been made, the President has not provided proof of his citizenship. The Constitutionality of the current President of the United States is brought into question, and this simply cannot remain unchallenged.

Religious Right Rallies Against Sotomayor

This was so completely predictable, wasn’t it? The religious right is exploding in expected fury at President Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the U.S. Supreme Court. Nevermind that the first President Bush appointed Sotomayor as a federal disrict judge. The religious right was determined to oppose any Obama nomination, whomever he chose (although Republicans have some difficult choices ahead).

Rick Scarborough, head of Texas-based Vision America, is one of the first religious-right pooh-bahs to jump on the war wagon:

At age 54, Sotomayor could be a member of the United States Supreme Court for the next 20 years — or longer. As a dedicated liberal, we know her views on abortion, gay marriage and reverse- discrimination — whether or not she’s ruled directly on these issues.

That much power simply can’t be bestowed by a compliant Senate. This nomination must be stopped dead in its tracks. Sonia Sotomayor isn’t a ‘centrist,’ she’s a disaster at every level.

We’ll keep an eye on what other other Texas religious-righters have to say about the nomination. But there is little doubt that we’ll see an avalanche of righteous indignation intended to stir up the base (and open wallets for donations).