Tony Perkins’ Mouth is Moving, So He’s Lying

It pretty much goes without saying that, if Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council (FRC) is talking, he is mostly likely telling a lie. There may be no other group that spends more time perfecting the art of lying for Jesus than the FRC.

Having lost the marriage-equality fight, they need a new demon to keep the dollars flowing in (grifters gotta grift), so Perkins is now after Muslims. Before I get to the specifics about that, let’s be clear about Perkins’ background and the beginnings of the Family Research Council. Working as a campaign aid to some politician in Louisiana, Perkins illegally (and yes, he was convicted) purchased a mailing list, using campaign funds, of white supremacists from KKK Grand Dragon, David Duke. That mailing list was the mailing list used to start the FRC. In addition, Perkins, in the past, was a frequent speaker at meetings of white supremacists groups. So, I think that makes it pretty clear where he stands on people of races who are not “white.” (This is also the same group that gave Josh Duggar a high profile position.)

He’s had to jump on the bandwagon lately of Ben Carson, Presidential Candidate, Idiot, and religious bigot. Carson has recently claimed that Muslims can’t be President, because somehow, despite our Constitution stating specifically that there should be no religious test to hold office, Islam is not compatible with the Constitution. According to Perkins, in his follow-on to the idiocy coming from Carson, he claims that Muslims don’t deserve religious freedom because Islam somehow isn’t protected under the United States Constitution.

Of course, according to Perkins, anyone who doesn’t agree with his version of Christianity isn’t protected under the Constitution either. Back in 2014 a group of North Carolina ministers and same-sex couples, along with the United Church of Christ denomination, filed a lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. The clergy argue that because of a law that made it a misdemeanor for a member of the clergy to perform a marriage ceremony without a state license, the same-sex marriage ban violated the religious rights of clergy who wish to perform such ceremonies. When a caller on Monday’s edition of “Washington Watch” asked Perkins about his views on the case, Perkins replied that the ministers don’t have the same religious rights as others because they aren’t real Christians and therefore aren’t protected by the “true religious freedoms” given to Christians.

But what excuse does Perkins come up with to justify his claim about Muslims? According to Perkins, “Religious freedom and our liberty is ordered liberty under the Constitution. And as Dr. Carson pointed out, and I know this is driving the left crazy, that Islam is not just a religion, Islam is an economic system, it is a judicial system, it is a compressive system which is incompatible with the Constitution. That’s what Dr. Carson said and he happens to be correct.” So, Islam isn’t a religion by his definition, which we’ve already seen above means only his version of religion. (For the record, that’s now what is driving me crazy…what is driving me crazy is that Perkins thinks its OK to lie for Jesus.)

So, let’s take a look at this Bible. You know, the one they hold wholly inerrant and literal (except when it doesn’t suit their purposes). In the Old Testament alone, there are 618 laws or Commandments (give or take a few depending on precisely how you count them). These deal with legal matters, dietary matters, marriage laws, and yes economic matters. In fact, according to the Bible, you aren’t supposed to charge interest, but Tony’s a big supporter of capitalism and the big banks. Now, that’s just in the Old Testament alone. There are some laws/commandments in the New Testament also. Some things like loving one another, and treating others as you want to be treated, and caring for the poor and feeding the hungry, etc. In fact, Jesus’ ministry was about organizing communities in economic ways to care for one another.

And don’t get me started on how the krazy kristian kooks like Perkins love to try to write their religious beliefs into the law of the United States, and claim our country was founded on Christian Principles. See, that makes it a political system right there. So, I’ll surrender the argument to him…no Constitutional protections for any religious belief system that includes anything legal, political or economic. Great, now his particular brand of Christianity just lost its protected status.

How have we become so intellectually lazy that people like this getaway with the absolute bullshit they get away with? It boggles the mind.