"A Christian Looks
At the Religious Right"
What the Religious Right Says About the Clintons
In Billy Graham's autobiography, JUST AS I AM, Graham described President Clinton as " . ..a man who has not always won the approval of his fellow Christians but who has in his heart a desire to serve God and do His will."(1)
The Religious Right has taken exception to Graham's appraisal of the President. Hillary Clinton complained on national TV that her husband suffered from a right wing conspiracy. I am not an expert on the "right" but have become familiar with the Religious Right. Most Americans would be amazed at what information is being printed by so called Christian publishing houses and published as American history. What makes these topics more confusing is that they are being promoted by agencies who claim the mantle of Christian.
Groups like Vital Issues Press and Jeremiah Films sell gossip and insinuations about the White House. They claim to have shocking information that the national press refuses to share.(2) Accuracy in Media, a so called Christian monitoring group of public education sells a comedy video demeaning Bill Clinton and his early years as a political figure.(3) Billy Hargis, the self proclaimed founder of the modern God and Country movement usually fills his "Christian Crusade" with attacks against the Clinton administration.
One recent fundraising letter read, "while a lovesick Johnny Chung sits staring at Hillary's photos as he pens $50,000 love notes."(4) In the January 1997 Issue of Billy's newspaper he quotes Religious Right Darling Bob Dornan as saying president Clinton is a man who "demeans the office with his silk girlie-girlie jogging pants showing those beautiful white doughboy thighs of his." (5) John Hagee the TV evangelists from San Antonio, advertises through TV his book on the end of times that reveals the secret love affair between Hillary and Vince Foster. One wonders how these groups came upon this information. The secular press has always been astounded at the way many Christian writers have attacked a fellow believer.
The fundamentalists takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention has resulted in national leadership who is hostile to fellow Southern Baptists Clinton and Gore. A brotherhood rally in Texas drew criticism for a comment by leader Richard Roberts who passed judgment on Bill Clinton and said, "... the dear man is not a Christian."(6) The Republican influence is so strong in the Convention "Oklahoma Observer" editor Frosty Troy said the Oklahoma Baptist newspaper was a wholly owned subsidiary of the Republican Party.(7) Southern Baptists' national ethics commission is headed by a harsh opponent of the Clinton administration by the name of Richard Land. Land made national headlines when he called the Republican Party on the carpet for not consummating the wedding with the Religious Right. Land's newsletter is filled with accusations against the President. Land accused the White House of advancing a secret homosexual agenda.(8) On top of attacking President Clinton's choices for cabinet and courts, Land praised a Texas Baptist evangelist on the front page of his mail out.
The Evangelist, named Russ Polsen, calls up Texas Baptist churches trying to get them to buy the film called "Obstruction of Justice."(9) The film accuses Bill Clinton of doing everything except kill 0. J. Simpson's wife. Polson suggests churches show the film during Sunday evening services. Believe it or not Land's proclamations are pale by comparison to Jerry Falwell. Falwell's monthly newspaper features peculiar conspiracy theories attacking the Clinton administration. National observers have wondered out loud how Falwell avoided libel suits from many of his articles. One article suggested Hillary was involved in the killing of government officials Ron Brown and Vince Foster.(10)
One advertisement covering one full page suggested men like Brown and Foster were like swatted mosquitoes who were dead and couldn't tell the truth.(11) "Church and State" claims Falwell even hired a person to pretend to be an investigative reporter in the film Falwell was peddling about the administration. Falwell's March 97 issue carried headlines on "Why Congress Must Impeach Bill Clinton."(12)
January 98 issue carried front page coverage of a story claiming Ron Brown's death was a conspiracy. The December 96 version of the paper claims Foster was involved in espionage activities.(13) Two other issues carried full page adds selling books attacking the President accusing him of all sorts of sordid activities.(14) Falwell also advertises books from the Conservative Book Club that provide right wing partisans with books about the Clinton administration.(15)
Texe Marrs of Austin, Texas, claims to have sold over 100,000 books about Hilary Clinton. The book, called BIG SISTER IS WATCHING YOU, takes conspiracy theories to new lows. Marrs claims that Hilary is secretly working with a lesbian plot to overthrow the government. Texe, who believes Joe McCarthy has been vindicated by history, writes that Hillary advocates the overthrow of Christianity.(16) At the last National Christian Coalition meeting I attended one of the booths was selling a book by Jennifer Flowers said to contain graphic details of Hillary's sexual preferences.
Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy both had to deal with right wing extremists who were operating under the name of Christian minister. Roosevelt used the courts to take on the Jayhawk Nazi named Charles Winrod. Kennedy used the FCC to deal with Billy Hargis. It will be interesting to see if any course of action will be taken against such elements.
ENDNOTES
1. Billy Graham, JUST AS I AM, Zondervan, San Francisco, 1997, pg. 656.
2. VITAL ISSUES PRESS CATALOG 1997, P. 0. Box 53788, Lafayette, La. 70505.
3. ACCURACY IN MEDIA 1995-1996 CATALOG, 4455 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, D.C.
4. 1998 Letter from Billy Hargis P.O. Box 279 Neosho, Missouri, 6 4 8 50 .
5. Keith Wilkerson, "Is This the End of Bl Bob Dornon?" CHRISTIAN CRUSADE, Jan. 1997, pg. 17.
6. Ken Camp, "Clinton Isn't a Christian, Roberts Claims", BAPTIST STANDARD, Sept. 11, 1996, pg. 2.
7. Frosty Troy, OKLAHOMA OBSERVER, May 1998, pg. 3.
8.Richard Land ed. "Clinton Administration", SALT, Vol. 3 No.6, 1993. pg. 2.
9.Russ Polson, Resource for Biblical Morality, P.O. Box 5626, Longview, Tx., 75608.
10.Jerry Falwell, ed. "Dead Men Tell No Lies, but Do They Point at Hilary?" NATIONAL LIBERTY JOURNAL, pg. 7.
11. NATIONAL LIBERTY JOURNAL, pg. 15.
12. William Dannemeyer, "Why Congress Must Impeach Bill Clinton" NATIONAL LIBERTY JOURNAL, Mar. 1997, pg. 6.
13. Jerry Falwell, ed. "Foster Involved in NSA Espionage Issues"NATIONAL LIBERTY JOURNAL, Dec. 1996, pg. 8.
14. NATIONAL LIBERTY JOURNAL, Nov. 1996, pg. 7.
15.NATIONAL LIBERTY JOURNAL, pg. 15.
16.Texe Marrs, BIG SISTER IS WATCHING YOU, Living Truth Publishers, Austin, Texas, 1993, pgs. 66, 181.