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From the Columbus Dispatch
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Ohio’s Crusade
Conservative Christians try to reshape Ohio through the church
and the Capitol
Sunday, July 23, 2006
By Steve Myers
The flock at World Harvest Church opened 2006 with a revival,
marked by countdowns to blessing and visions of a beast-riding
whore.
The Rev. Tommy Bates, a Pentecostal preacher from Kentucky, described the beast rising out of the sea: a horned, multi-headed creature with the body of a leopard, paws of a bear and mouth of a lion -- just like in the Book of Revelation.
This, Bates said, was the political system of Babylon, the evil kingdom in the Bible that was opposed to God and his people.
But there to stop the beast was the Rev. Rod Parsley -- the overseer of a worldwide ministry headquartered at World Harvest in southeastern Columbus, an outspoken critic of popular culture and a nationally known Republican ally.
"The Lord spoke to me and said, 'I chose Rod Parsley to push this beast back for a season,' " Bates said. "He said it was Pastor Rod Parsley who I chose to alter the election, the presidential election. Not a Democrat, not a Republican situation, but the spirit of the Antichrist ... that came walking in America."
Now, Bates said, that creature was returning, with "a great whore riding on the beast's back. ... She is identified with a city, a political city called Babylon which is going to usher in the Antichrist."
Rev. Rod Parsley
Parsley, one of the most prominent leaders of a movement of conservative
Christian evangelicals in Ohio, has consulted with the Bush administration
on legislation and U.S. Supreme Court appointees, donated to
the president, and publicly prayed for him.
He helped turn out social conservatives in 2004 who voted to re-elect Bush and ban gay marriage in the state. Now, the pastor and his allies are driving to reshape Ohio through the Republican Party.
They have created organizations to promote their goals and sponsor events, groups with names like Reformation Ohio, Ohio Restoration Project and the Center for Moral Clarity. They host events called Citizenship Sunday and Marriage Protection Sunday. They have collected names, signed up "Patriot Pastors" and mailed Christian newspapers and voter guides to over 300,000 homes.
They hope the energy that filled World Harvest in January will spill over to every day of the week, including Nov. 7 when Ohio voters select a new governor.
Voters will choose between Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, the favorite of many Christian conservatives, and Democratic U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland, an ordained Methodist minister. In the Republican primary, Blackwell defeated Attorney General Jim Petro, who was the preferred candidate of establishment Republicans who feared Blackwell was too conservative.
For the state of Ohio, which Bush carried by a thin margin in 2004, the stakes this year are tremendous. The leaders of the conservative movement, who see themselves as warriors against mainstream secular culture, advocate making abortion illegal in all cases, teaching creationism in public schools and fighting efforts to include homosexuals in anti-discrimination laws.
Rev. Russell Johnson
"We believe that we're at the beaches of spiritual Normandy,
and we're looking at the secular pillboxes up on the hillside,
and we're going to take that hill just like they did at Normandy,"
said Pastor Russell Johnson, pastor of Fairfield Christian Church
in Lancaster and the other prominent leader of the movement.
For the Ohio Republican Party, which is beset by political scandals that have ensnared Gov. Bob Taft and several others in his administration, the push by right-wing conservatives could bring fresh energy and droves of devoted supporters. But some worry that a close alliance could alienate the party from historically moderate Ohio voters, ending a long period of dominance.
The benefits for conservative Christians are clear: the opportunity to promote policies and laws in accordance with their beliefs. But they, too, must be mindful of not being seen as political campaign committees or jeopardizing their tax-exempt status.
Earlier this year, a counter-movement emerged, made up of rabbis and pastors who disagree with the conservative pastors' views and activism. A similar group has complained to the Internal Revenue Service that Johnson's and Parsley's churches and nonprofit organizations have violated prohibitions against overtly campaigning for candidates. The pastors have denied breaking the law.
Parsley
and Blackwell toured the state to campaign for the 2004 gay marriage
ban. In Parsley's book, Silent No More, he referred to that constitutional
amendment and similar ones that passed in 10 other states that
year.
"November 2, 2004, wasn't the end of our fight for a more moral culture. It was the beginning," he wrote. "We asked for this moment, and now the spotlight of America's attention is turned toward us."
In an endorsement printed at the beginning of the book, Blackwell wrote that it "should inspire men and women of faith to build on those victories and make 'values voters' a force that politicians can no longer ignore."
Parsley entitled the prologue, "It's Showtime."
ORGANIZING THE FAITHFUL
In services earlier this year, Parsley often used that phrase in preaching that blessings would follow if followers adhere to his teaching and tithe to the church.
Yet as he and Johnson take their message of salvation and socially conservative ideals around the state, the message could be directed at the entire state of Ohio. Both inside and outside the church, pastors are recruiting and organizing followers in much the same way as political parties.
The goal is twofold: spread the message and expand the base.
Parsley's two organizations, the Center for Moral Clarity and Reformation Ohio, have sponsored seminars, revivals and voter registration. Johnson's Ohio Restoration Project has held rallies and created its own network around the state.
In March, Parsley hosted a breakfast meeting to make the case against gay marriage to pastors and other community leaders.
Debbie Stacy, the head of the organization, discussed Marriage Protection Sunday, which was to occur at the beginning of June, just before the U.S. Senate was to debate a constitutional amendment similar to Ohio's.
Stacy urged the pastors to preach against gay marriage and said she hoped like-minded people would overwhelm senators with calls to pass the amendment. The pastors received sample sermons that included the number for the Senate switchboard.
She also described Citizenship Sunday, which was her group's drive to register voters during church services before the primary elections.
One of the pastors who signed up to register his congregation was the Rev. David Forbes Jr., pastor of Columbus Christian Center, a mostly black church in Columbus with about 1,800 weekly attendees.
A Republican, Forbes actively worked for Bush's reelection and is on the board of directors of Parsley's Reformation Ohio group.
On Citizenship Sunday, Forbes told his congregants that Christians must ensure that their elected leaders share their opposition to gay marriage and abortion. Those issues are the common denominator between churchgoing conservatives and the GOP, but he said he didn't care which party people belonged to.
After the service, a church volunteer stood in the lobby with a box of voter registration forms. In the box was a stack of pamphlets from the Center for Moral Clarity entitled Marriage in America: For Better or For Worse? which described why the federal Marriage Protection Amendment should be passed.
It's unclear how many Christians were reached through Citizenship Sunday because a spokesman for World Harvest said there weren't any figures on how many churches participated or how many people registered. At Forbes' church, he said about 40 people registered or updated their addresses.
Similar events are planned before the November election.
Blackwell, who has become the favored son of conservative evangelicals, called Forbes "perhaps the pastor closest to me in my civic, political and spiritual life in the central Ohio area." Forbes said he leads Bible studies on political issues and has preached against gay marriage for years.
The pastor said he believes most people at Columbus Christian Center agree with his stances on abortion and gay marriage, but "not necessarily because I say it. I think I say the things that people instinctively feel. I think I bring forth the expression in issues that people inherently have on the inside of them."
Forbes' sermon was a textbook example of how pastors walk the line of proclaiming beliefs on political issues without exactly telling people which candidates are righteous. Though not new, the practice has come under scrutiny.
Read more here about what pastors can say from the pulpit
and the debate over whether they have crossed the line.
Parsley already has a network of 1,000 churches, a television
ministry and a local congregation of 12,000, but he is driving
to enlarge his fold even more. Over four years, he has set a
goal of preaching the gospel to 1 million people, converting
100,000 of them to Christianity and registering 400,000 voters.
At revivals around Ohio, Parsley evangelizes crowds packed under hot tents. They're like any other small-town revival, except that the pastor is not only tallying how many souls are saved, but how many voters are registered.
One of those events was held in Chillicothe the weekend before the primary, when Blackwell and his opponent were crisscrossing the state to win votes. Parsley wore a "Born 2 Raze Hell" T-shirt and challenged people to give themselves to Jesus.
In a series of emotional conversions, people climbed onto the stage and renounced their lives of despair, drug use and alcohol. Later, Parsley urged the crowd fill out forms so he could pray for them.
The next morning, Parsley reported to his congregants that 612 people were saved and 200 registered to vote.
Meanwhile, Johnson said he's more than halfway to his goal of recruiting 2,000 "Patriot Pastors." Each of those pastors must commit to sign up 200 volunteers, 100 people to pray on various issues and 300 newly registered voters.
That would result in several hundred thousand new voters "to shine a light for Godly candidates in the 2006 election cycle," as stated on the Ohio Restoration Project Web site.
"If they can live up to their goals, they'll revitalize the movement and keep it going on for a few more years," said John Green, director of the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics at the University of Akron who specializes in religion and politics.
Groups with similar interests are pursuing their own campaigns, too. Though a ballot initiative to ban gay adoption hasn't materialized, a group in Cincinnati circulated a petition to allow voters to remove sexual orientation from the city's list of protected classes. The group, Citizens for Community Values, has a history of fighting pornography and adult businesses and pushed for the gay marriage ban.
When talking about the influence of his group and its allies across the state, Johnson is fond of noting the 3.3 million Ohioans who approved that ban. He often follows that comment by adding:
"And by the way, they went six to one for the president."
To the revival crowd in Chillicothe, Parsley said, "to be morally consistent, you must be politically unpredictable. Sometimes you've got to tell the left, 'You got it wrong.' Sometimes you got to tell the right, 'You got it wrong.'
"The only way to get it right," he said, "is to stand right in the middle on the Judeo-Christian authority of Biblical authority."
Yet the pastor's Cadillac sport-utility vehicle carries a sticker that reads, "W -- Still the President."
This year, Blackwell is the candidate who stands to benefit from the pastors' activism.
He emerged as the standard-bearer for social conservatives by campaigning for the gay marriage amendment. He has cultivated the relationship since, to the extent that Parsley was identified as "Pastor Rod" when he called Blackwell just before the primary.
Blackwell campaigns in Ashland during the primary
Blackwell's campaign slogan, "Courage in the Public Square,"
echoes the sentiment of some conservative Christians that God
has been driven from the public square.
During the spring campaign, Blackwell contrasted his longstanding opposition to abortion and gay marriage to that of his opponent Petro, who didn't support the gay marriage ban and until several years ago supported abortion rights.
"I tell him lovingly that with me, he's still on probation," Blackwell said at a March speech in Dayton.
Blackwell didn't hold many public rallies during the primary campaign compared with Petro or Strickland, instead opting for fundraisers and private meetings. Throughout the campaign, he said in an interview, he has continued to appear in churches. He said that has been "an integral part of my speaking to my constituents for over 30 years."
As a black with a platform of both fiscal and religious conservative positions, Blackwell could take middle-class and churchgoing black voters from Democratic candidate Strickland, a congressman from southeast Ohio.
Blackwell said he expects to do well among blacks. Earlier this year, he met with a group of black pastors in the Cleveland area. He said he recently spoke at Omega Baptist Church, a black church in Dayton.
Forbes said the secretary of state has spoken at his church, too, and his wife sang. "Ken might be one of those people that maybe if it weren't for politics, he would probably be a preacher of some type," Forbes said.
In March, Blackwell gave a sermon of sorts to supporters of Cherry Street Mission Ministries, a homeless shelter in Toledo. The candidate held up a Bible and referred to the Book of Nehemiah, which describes how the people of Jerusalem rebuilt the walls around their city. The book is a favorite of some in the conservative Christian movement, such as David Barton, the founder of WallBuilders.
Blackwell reminded the audience that Jesus "told us not to put our light under a bushel but to put it on a candlestick" and told them that human rights came from God, not government.
At a public forum on the role of religion in politics around the same time, Johnson said Blackwell was the kind of leader he wanted in office.
Johnson's Ohio Restoration Project has held several events across the state since August 2005. All have featured Blackwell in some way, and for that reason some have said that proves the group is merely a front for the candidate. Johnson says Blackwell was invited each time because he was the only public official who backed the 2004 marriage amendment.
"We call that courageous leadership," Johnson said. "We never said, 'I want you to look at a future governor' ... He is an elected official. We invited every official who was for life and for marriage and for Issue 1."
But those activities could jeopardize the tax-exempt status of the group, according to a Washington, D.C. lawyer who helped draft the IRS complaint against Johnson and Parsley's churches. Marcus Owens, who used to run the tax-exempt section at the IRS, said a group can violate the law by featuring a lone candidate.
There is other evidence that the groups are working on behalf of Blackwell.
Before the primary, Johnson's group handled the distribution of a special issue of Citizen USA, a Christian newspaper that endorsed Blackwell in the previous issue.
The group provided the content for one section of the paper and helped distribute almost 400,000 copies, compared to a typical circulation of about 100,000, according to Rick Snyder, co-owner of the paper.
That issue of Citizen USA also carried the Christian Coalition's voter guide, as well as a front-page story about an online voter guide created by Citizens for Community Values. The online voter guide, called Ohio Election Central, reported the results of various questions important to the group and showed that Blackwell was more conservative on abortion than his opponent.
Citizens for Community Values also provided a sample church bulletin on its site promoting its voter guide.
Parsley also mentioned the Citizens for Community Values online voter guide during services the Sunday before the primary election, noting there was a link on the Center for Moral Clarity website to the guide.
The Restoration Project initially planned to air a series of radio ads, called "Ohio for Jesus," featuring Blackwell. But they never aired. Though Johnson said money was the issue, Blackwell said he thinks Johnson was advised against running the ads, which Blackwell described as just an idea.
Instead, the Restoration Project mailed a few hundred thousand brochures that outlined its goals and included a photo of Blackwell receiving an award at the group's first rally.
Johnson also forwarded an e-mail from the Blackwell campaign to some of his supporters, which prompted another complaint to the IRS.
THE BATTLE
Though the conservative pastors argue that they're speaking for mainstream Ohioans, a group of self-described moderate and liberal religious leaders has sprung up to say their faith has been misappropriated.
The organization, called We Believe, seeks to challenge the notion that only conservatives are "values voters," instead arguing that Christians can share a variety of viewpoints on social issues. Rather than focusing on divisive issues such as abortion and homosexuality, they say Christians should speak out on poverty, health care and education.
The Rev. Tim Ahrens speaks at the announcement of the We Believe
group
"We felt we have been silent and silenced ... for too long
as people of faith," said the Rev. Tim Ahrens, senior minister
of First Congregational Church United Church of Christ Downtown.
Referring to the title of Parsley's book, Ahrens said, "Maybe we should call it 'Silent No More, Volume Two.' But we refuse to be silent."
A sister group has been created in Cleveland, and religious leaders in Akron, Dayton and Cincinnati are interested as well, he said.
Susan Orlos, a seminarian at Methodist Theological School in Delaware, attended We Believe's first news conference in downtown Columbus. Orlos, a lesbian, said her 30-year-old son's picture of religion "is not from his own tradition, but what he hears on the radio and on television, and basically a very rabid, divisive voice from a very conservative wing of the church.
"I mean, my son doesn't want to go to church. Why? Because
he doesn't believe in Rev. Parsley."
We Believe was founded not long after the IRS complaints were
filed against Parsley and Johnson. The complaints accuse the
preachers of violating the electioneering ban by campaigning
for Blackwell, leading partisan-oriented voter registration drives
and distributing biased voter education material.
View the original letter of complaint and a list of the clergy who signed it. Two follow-up letters can be viewed here and here.
Johnson said the complaint was a "temper tantrum" filed by the "religious left."
"They can't win an election," he said, "so they go and try to intimidate people" through the IRS complaint.
Though not included in the complaint, one of Johnson's sermons
from 2004 is similar to a case that has been actively pursued
by the IRS. Read more about those two sermons.
Strickland, the Democratic candidate for governor, echoes We
Believe's contention that Christianity must not be connected
the conservative political agenda.
He recently attacked Blackwell for saying, "Democrats still believe that government is God." Strickland, a former Methodist minister, said his opponent is "intolerant" and "self-righteous."
"I will be a governor who celebrates the diversity of our faith," Strickland said in a news release, "not one who cheapens the faith of millions."
And while Blackwell has been the one touting his Christian credentials, Strickland recently started promoting his own.
In an ad on Christian radio stations, Strickland says that he will govern with the "same Biblical principles which have guided and instructed me in the past."
In response, Blackwell's campaign distributed a document attacking Strickland for not being conservative enough on gay marriage, abortion and government-sponsored expressions of religion.
Ohio’s Crusade
Nationally, many conservative evangelical Christians have increasingly waged war on secular culture and the concept of separation of church and state. They question why schools can't teach creationism, campaign relentlessly against abortion, and are becoming providers of government-funded social services.
For these conservative Christians, those are not issues of public policy, but part of the fundamental battle between good and evil.
Conservative Christians contend that secular humanism, which emphasizes human progress through reason and secular institutions, is a religion, not a philosophy. And they argue that it has taken an unholy dominance in modern culture.
Something as mundane as recycling can symbolize the divide.
"Now, you know what recycling is, right?" Rabbi Daniel Lapin asked the crowd of about 500 at the Citizens for Community Values banquet, held in Cincinnati in March. "Recycling is the sacred sacrament of secularism."
The crowd laughed, and Lapin smiled. Though his positions are not reflective of the general Jewish community, this was a sympathetic crowd for the conservative rabbi, whom The Washington Post profiled in an article entitled, "The Republicans' Rabbi-in-Arms."
"Really, it is part of the doctrine of shortage," Lapin said. "I don't believe in a world of shortage. I believe in a world of plenty, a world of blessing, a world in which God cares for his children."
And while his city "would never dream of sending over to my house a Koran ... they send little altars," he said. "One is labeled 'newspaper,' one is labeled 'glass,' one is labeled ‘plastic,' and every day I have to prostrate myself."
His talk wasn't really about separating paper and plastic. It was about the irreconcilable differences between the right and the left, which he framed as a conflict between two "religio-moral worldviews" – essentially, those who believe in God and those who don't.
"And here we have two parts of America," Lapin said, "that votes differently, that raises its children differently, that views family entirely differently, and has created two completely incompatible political visions for America."
Conservative leaders condemn what they perceive as the de-Christianization of America, such as sex education, court rulings against organized prayer in schools and the lack of focus on Jesus at Christmas. Yet they also say they are not trying to create a theocracy, a nation in which Christianity will be favored over other religions.
[Hear Parsley explain why he does not want to impose his religion on America]
In a mass mailing sent by Johnson's organization before the May primary, the minister wrote that while his group does not want to create a theocracy or state church, "it is clear that God's word speaks specifically to every issue facing our society today. The sacred trust of freedom has been purchased for a purpose. … This is the hour for families of faith to shine a light to a dark world."
Blackwell has sounded a similar message. To the homeless shelter supporters, he talked about building a "God-centered community."
But where the conservative evangelicals see a battle between religious viewpoints, others see an attack on the separation of church and state.
"They're tipping their hat to democracy," said Linda Mercadante, a theology professor at Methodist Theological School in Delaware.
"By the kinds of very stringent restrictions they want to vote in, they are imposing their values on others," Mercadante said. "From a fundamentalist Christian point of view, if you're right and you have the truth, the best thing you can do is impose your views on everyone else, and they'll benefit from your agenda."
Johnson said he doesn't know anyone in the movement who doesn't believe in the separation of church and state. Instead, like other Christian conservatives, he contends the doctrine has been applied too broadly.
However, at the Citizens for Community Values banquet, which Blackwell attended, the rabbi Lapin boldly stated "that wall is a total myth." The crowd applauded enthusiastically.
A CHANGED OHIO?
If conservative pastors and their allies are successful in pushing their broader goals in the "culture war," Ohioans could see changes far beyond the marriage ban.
The state may outlaw abortion, including when it could save the mother's life. Discrimination against homosexuals could be legal. The state may further restrict adult businesses and pornography. Schools may curtail sex education and start teaching the creationism of "intelligent design." And parents could use their tax dollars to send their children to private schools, such as those run by Johnson and Parsley.
Government would hand more social services over to religious groups. People could choose "covenant marriages" that would make divorce more difficult, and churches would provide the required premarital counseling.
"If Blackwell got elected and if we had this conversation two and a half years from now, and none of those things happened, I would be very surprised," said Green, the University of Akron professor.
Johnson described his goals this spring in a prayer at the same Citizens for Community Values banquet.
"God, I pray for a new chapter, not only in Ohio, but God, I pray for a new chapter in America," he said. "I pray, God, for a chapter in our history where our children can sing ‘Silent Night' and the Pledge of Allegiance. I pray for a time in our history where our children can read the Ten Commandments in our schools again. God, I pray for a new chapter, a fresh page that only you can bring."
Blackwell has said that he supports a ban on abortion with no exceptions. He has campaigned on expanding school vouchers programs. He opposes protecting homosexuals under existing civil rights laws and said he supports keeping homosexuality out of Cincinnati's anti-discrimination code.
He said in an interview that intelligent design should be taught in schools as an elective, though not in science class. The Christian Coalition voter guide stated, however, that he supported teaching intelligent design "alongside evolution in public schools."
Regardless of who wins the governor's race, Christian conservatives are far from controlling the Statehouse. Last month, a bill that would completely ban abortion – in some ways, the Holy Grail of the movement – received a public hearing, but the bill wasn't expected to have much support. Earlier in the year, a bill to ban adoption by gays didn't go anywhere. And a bill to create statewide limitations on adult businesses was changed so much that it was unacceptable to its advocates.
Blackwell's religious pronouncements appeared to work during the primary – both for and against him. People around Columbus interviewed on Primary Day said they cast their votes partly based on his religious beliefs.
Ellen Wristen said she had voted for Petro because she didn't like Blackwell's church entanglements or his proposal to limit state spending. She described herself as "churched," yet said she believed Blackwell would force legislation that mirrors "his very conservative fundamental philosophy."
Two people who attend Grove City Church of the Nazarene, where they said Blackwell spoke, said they supported him because of his stands on religious issues.
That social conservatism has some Republicans like lobbyist Neil Clark worried about Blackwell's fate in November. Clark said he was supporting Blackwell, but not because of his support from the far right of the party.
Asked on the day of the primary when Blackwell's ties with religious conservatives would become a liability, he answered, "Tomorrow."
Most people, Clark said, don't count themselves as conservative Christians, and they will see that the issues that those groups focus on, such as abortion and pornography and covenant marriages, don't have anything to do with their daily lives.
Since the primary, Clark said, Blackwell has struck a more moderate tone without compromising his beliefs. Despite the perception that Blackwell was tied closely to conservative Christians, Clark said Blackwell "certainly hasn't aligned himself with a particular far-right faction."
At stake is not only Blackwell's political future, but the state Republican Party's, and to an extent the national party. Ohio Republicans face the difficult task of convincing voters concerned about scandal and the economy that the GOP should remain in control.
Green said there are some similarities between Blackwell and President Bush's campaigns. One thing Bush did, Green said, was pull together a diverse group of conservatives. "In some ways Ken Blackwell is trying to do the same thing in Ohio except maybe a notch to the right."
On primary night, as Citizens for Community Values lobbyist Barry Sheets waited for the returns at Blackwell's party, he said he was confident that the candidate wouldn't moderate on social issues.
"It's hard to draw somebody out of who they are," Sheets said. "And that's the point with Ken Blackwell. What he's saying, and the faith he's expressing publicly, he's not doing that because of political calculation."
As to how Blackwell would deal with potential fallout among moderates, Sheets suggested that the campaign simply make up for the loss with conservatives and independents "who believe life is sacred, who believe that their taxes are too high, who believe government is over-regulating their small businesses to death."
In his GOP primary victory speech, Blackwell tells his opponent,
Democratic U.S. Rep Ted Strickland, that "We're coming right
at you."
That night, the newly victorious Republican nominee opened his
speech with a big smile and a simple declaration: "You wouldn't
know that the real Ken Blackwell wasn't standing here if he didn't
first say, all the glory is God's."
INCOMING…OUTGOING
The Sunday after the primary, Parsley appeared to be in a good mood. He didn't say anything about gay marriage, abortion or the liberals' failed War on Poverty. He didn't mention Blackwell or the election at all.
Instead he told several stories linked by the theme of narrowly defeating Satan. The wife of a church elder had discovered several men in her home. She screamed for Jesus, he said, and the men scattered. And Parsley himself had been checked into the hospital with some kind of excruciating medical condition.
But in each case, he said, the Lord had prevailed, and evil had been beaten back.
While some preachers talk about brotherly love, Parsley frequently speaks of war. Christianity, he said at a January service, "infuses itself into every aspect of society and is by nature a fight."
Parsley then recalled the first Gulf War, when Saddam Hussein threatened to use his Scud missiles against U.S. troops. But, Parsley noted, the United States had Patriot missiles, which he likened to the anointed stones that flew from David's slingshot and struck Goliath. The U.S. military has said the missiles weren't nearly as effective as they originally reported, but that wasn't part of the service.
The IRS complaint against Parsley had been announced a couple days before. "I've had some incoming," he said.
He recalled the vision of the Rev. Tommy Bates, who in the sanctuary couple of weeks earlier had predicted that the beast of the Antichrist would return.
"Send out some outgoing," Parsley told the crowd. "Send those Patriot missiles of your words out into the atmosphere. … Because when there's incoming, there's got to be some outgoing."
Steve Myers spent six months working on this multimedia project during a fellowship at the Kiplinger Program in Public Affairs Journalism at Ohio State University. A government reporter for the Mobile Register, Myers is a 1997 graduate of the University of Notre Dame and previously worked for The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C.
Contact him at myers.312@osu.edu
Send a letter to the editor about this article
Blackwell’s Un-American
Scheme:
Under the Guise of “Character
and Civic
Renewal” Ohio State Foists a Religious
Moral Code upon Its Citizens
by Katherine Yurica
J. Kenneth Blackwell has stepped
to the
forefront of the American culture wars. He has
posted his official endorsement of a 20-point
religious moral code claimed to be “a shared
vocabulary of character-building ethics” on Ohio’s
official Secretary of State web site. Blackwell
wrote, “Character is the cornerstone of American
citizenship. And good citizenship is the foundation
of community. But to a lot of people, civic renewal
means the opportunity to not only religionize our
government, but, as we shall see, to create a new
religion that is decidedly not Christianity. Instead,
it is an opportunity to convert our citizens into docile
followers of
a new authoritarian rule.
(Includes a linked glossary of
definitions of terms
plus parallel columns
that compare the text.)
See Battle for Ohio:
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