I just received this email from [www.defconamerica.org DefConAmerica]:
In late September of this year, the who's who of the religious right will descend upon Washington for a conference they are billing the "Washington Briefing"??
This "Values Voter Summit" will include such religious right heroes as Focus on the Family President James Dobson, right-wing news commentator and demagogue Ann Coulter, right-wing pundit Bill Bennett, Former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO), and many more. ??The Family Research Council -- the D.C.-based lobbying arm of the religious right -- has hailed the event as "your chance to help America focus on the issues that matter most -- life, marriage, faith, and family. From September 22nd through the 24th we'll remind Congress that we elected leaders who would not only respect our values -- but work to protect them."
In asking that their constituents heavily involve their churches, the F.R.C. has posted the following:
Our goal is to have as many churches represented at the event as possible -- not only to mobilize the community of Christ, but also to give you a chance to meet with other spiritual leaders. There is power in partnership! We pray that you will bring a number of your congregation to the event as well as work to inform others. Without ministers of the gospel who will stand with courage and conviction, there is little hope that the fight to protect our Biblical heritage, the institution of marriage, and our religious freedom will prevail.
How nice...
The event will be held from September 22-24 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington D.C.
Apparently, they must be freaked out by the NPR poll released yesterday showing that their hold on the religious conservative base they so cherish is slipping. Take for example:
Then there are undecided voters like Peggy Beekler, a retired social worker who lives in the 3rd District of Kentucky, represented by Ann Northup.
"Well, I'm rather disappointed in the Republicans," Beekler says. "I think they've made a mess of things, even though I've been a Republican."
Beekler is not happy about the war, but she's also unhappy about the so-called values issues that Republicans have counted on to get their voters to the polls.
"I think to do an amendment on burning the flag would be totally ridiculous," Beekler says. "I also think when Bush vetoed the stem-cell research ... I feel like that's ridiculous because they're just going to destroy all those embryos anyway, so even though I am for life, I think that shouldn't have been vetoed. I think that was a really bad thing."
Beekler represents one of our most surprising findings: On the question of which party would do a better job on "values issues," like stem-cell research, flag-burning and gay marriage, Democrats prevailed by their biggest margin in the entire poll: 51 percent to 37 percent.
Guess it's time for the Religious Right to rally the troops out of sheer panic.
I think, since I will be down there for work during that week, I may just go spy and report back on what a Fundamentalist tent revival looks like...anyone interested?