We already know the religious right has a dangerously warped view of the Constitution--the First Amendment in particular. But earlier today, one of its leading voices revealed that it has a fundamentally warped view of the Fifth Amendment as well.
Earlier today, Lois Lerner was called before the House Oversight Committee to testify on the IRS' targeting of tea party groups. When Darrell Issa asked about her role, Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to testify against herself. Well, when Bryan Fischer got wind of it, he declared on today's edition of Focal Point that Lerner had essentially admitted she was guilty. Watch here.
Fischer claimed that when Lerner pleaded the Fifth, she was tacitly admitting that "her testimony would be condemning, her testimony would be damning, her testimony would make her guilty under the law." That explanation would get you laughed out of any civics classroom. Let's say it all together as a group--the Fifth Amendment protects you from giving any testimony that could put you in real danger of facing criminal charges. It is not an admission of guilt.
What makes this even more dangerous is that the great majority of Fischer's audience lives in a cocoon. Most people in that cocoon rely on American Family Radio and other fundie sources for their news. And ten to one, this misinformation is being peddled in Christian schools and Christianist homeschooling curricula. Anyone want to take any bets on whether a cop or a prosecutor who's among Fischer's listeners will try this on someone who's charged with a crime?