Pastor Rod Parsley: Christ-o-crat, Wingnut, Guy With Goofy Name
Here's a "news" item from Agape Press:
An Ohio pastor says Christians who are silent on the issue of homosexuality are not practicing Christ's love. In his new book, Silent No More, Rod Parsley tackles many issues facing concerned Christians, including the homosexual agenda.
Parsley, senior pastor of World Harvest Church in Columbus, Ohio, insists that Christians have a responsibility to address and confront homosexual activism. He says being tolerant toward homosexuals does not mean remaining silent while radical homosexual activists attempt to force their lifestyle on the rest of America.
"These people teach our children in public school, they are in places of business, they live in our communities," Parsley acknowledges, "but there's a difference in tolerance and forcing others to give credence to a lifestyle that we believe is abhorrent."
So, if I'm reading this right, the pastor acknowledges that homosexuals exist, but he finds it disturbing, because they not only are allowed to live in our communities, but they are also teaching our children in public school (but not, thank heavens, in private school, which is why it's so important to send your kids only to these institutions if you're not going to homeschool them). But the Pastor he would tolerate gays, if only they would stop being homosexual -- but since they insist on being abhorrent, he is tackling them for attempting to force America to give credence to their lifestyle (i.e., for asking to be treated like normal people).
According to God's Word, the homosexual lifestyle is not only sinful, Parsley asserts, but also deadly. .... "Even if you take Romans 1 out of the picture," the author of Silent No More notes, "I'm against homosexual marriage and I'm against the homosexual lifestyle because the average life expectancy of a homosexual and lesbian in the United States is 42 and 45, versus 75 and 79. These people are fighting for a lifestyle that is robbing them of half of their life expectancy."
And where did Rod gets those stats about average life expectancy? Yes, from our old friend Paul Cameron -- and that pretty much tells you all you need to know about Pastor Rod's commitment to that truth that will set you free.
But this book plug from Agape Press isn't all you need to know about Pastor Parsley. See, he isn't content to just write crappy books and preach intolerance from the pulpit. No, he wants to influence the political process so he can make sure that gays can never marry, women can never have abortions, judges are forced to acknowledge that Christian fundamentalism is our official state religion, and we are ruled by Republicans forever and ever.
Pastor Parsely was mentioned in the recent USA Today story "Shaping politics from the pulpits." Here are a few highlights:
Pastor Russell Johnson paces across the broad stage as he decries the "secular jihadists" who have "hijacked" America, accuses the public schools of neglecting to teach that Hitler was "an avid evolutionist" and links abortion to children who murder their parents.
Russell Johnson leads the Ohio Restoration Project, a network of nearly 1,000 "Patriot Pastors" from conservative churches across the state. ... Johnson leads the Ohio Restoration Project, an emergent network of nearly 1,000 "Patriot Pastors" from conservative churches across the state. Each has pledged to register 300 "values voters," adding hundreds of thousands of like-minded citizens to the electorate who "would be salt and light for America."
And, perhaps, help elect a fellow Christian conservative, Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell, as governor next year.
[...]
"I like to say I'm not a Republican or a Democrat, I'm a Christ-o-crat," declares Pastor Rod Parsley, a supporter of the Ohio Restoration Project and head of a similar venture called Ohio Reformation. His ministry, housed on a sprawling complex in Canal Winchester, includes the 12,000-member World Harvest Church and the non-profit Center for Moral Clarity.
Still, Parsley's book, Silent No More, features a laudatory blurb by Blackwell. (The book should "make values voters a force that politicians can no longer ignore," he says.) The tax-exempt organizations can register voters and advocate positions on issues. And the voters recruited by conservative churches are likely to support Republicans by overwhelming margins.
I think the reason our country is in such bad moral shape today is because the public schools don't say enough about how Hitler believed in evolution, and don't teach kids that there is evidence suggesting that most parents who get murdered are done in by the kids they aborted.
But as entertaining as Russell Johnson was as the Professor on "Gilligan's Island," it is kind of scary how he and Pastor Parsley are trying to use their positions as religious leaders for political purposes. If I lived in Ohio, I'd be concerned about Ken Blackwell (and not just because of his catty "Worst Dressed" lists), and would do my best to make sure he wasn't elected governor -- Blackwell deserves to be soundly defeated, for endorsing Parsley's book, if nothing else.
But here's more about Pastor Rod and his Ohio Reformation, courtesy of The Cleveland Jewish News:
The Rev. Rod Parsley, a wealthy TV evangelist and senior pastor of the World Harvest Church located outside Columbus ... has been speaking to the faithful across the country about gay marriage and abortion on his "Silent No More" tour.
Last July, Parsley formed the Center for Moral Clarity, "a Christ-centered voice and force in the United States to help raise the standard of moral excellence and protect the Judeo-Christian values upon which our nation was founded," according to the organization's website.
Hey, World o' Crap is also a force in the United States to help raise the standard of moral excellence. We try to raise the moral excellence standard by making fun of wingnuts, because we think stupidity, hypocrisy, and intolerance are immoral. We also endeavor to protect the values upon which our nation was founded by gently mocking people like Pastor Parsley.
So, support Wo'C and help us to bring moral clarity to America once again. Become a Founder member of Wo'C with your gift of $1000 and receive a numbered, collector's edition hand-drawn stick figure representing Ann Coulter - a beautiful reminder of your commitment to defend America's freedoms. And although the Center For Moral Clarity will also give you a DVD that "reveals our nation's Christian heritage," we'll give you a DVD of Manos, the Hands of Fate, which reveals our nation's MST and crappy movie heritage. So, I think you'll admit that Wo'C represents a much better moral clarity value for the money.
But back to the Jewish News:
Among the political and cultural issues the center hopes to tackle are abortion, bioethics, judicial tyranny and religious liberties. The center also instructs pastors and individuals in how to arrange church voter registration drives, legislative contacts, and petition initiatives. It provides legal guidelines and boundaries for ministers under section 501C-3 (the IRS category for tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations).
Several months ago, Parsley's church hosted the third annual gathering of Christian pastors. Its goal: galvanize the Christian leadership to get involved in politics through the ORP. About 1,100 ministers from 80 of Ohio's 88 counties listened to Parsley and guest speaker Roy Moore, former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice ousted over his refusal to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the courthouse rotunda.
Sadly, it seems that Ohio is following Kansas down the wingnutty path to theocracy. Move now while you have the chance.
Oh, and Roy Moore isn't the only celebrity who has spoken at one of Pastor Rod's events. Here's part of a very informative (and entertaining ) piece from the Ohio Free Press:
The spring of 2005 has been a banner for Columbus' tele-revivialist cum spiritual adviser to the Republican Party, Rod Parsley, Pastor of World Harvest Church in Canal. ... And, of course, the launch of his 12-city Silent No More book tour at World Harvest on April 16 which brought to town rightwing writer and TV starlet Ann Coulter, Christian insult comedian Brad Stine, and another old friend, former UN Ambassador, presidential candidate, and recreational mosher Allen Keyes.
[...]
Coulter gave a restrained (for her) and unevangelical performance, with only a small tip of the hat to the public role of the church in politics at the very end. In fact, there was a niggling feeling (or maybe it was just me) that she actually held her hosts in contempt. After all, anybody who shacks with Bob Guccione, Jr. and Bill Maher, who hates to miss the drag queen's Halloween parade in the Village, and who says she lives on cigarettes and Chardonnay can't be all that theocratically inclined. If some of her more far-out friends actually got control and tried to put her in a knee-length skirt, she'd be the first to hit the Canadian border.
Coulter spent the majority of her time attacking Democrats and liberals in general, the "liberal media," in particular, conservative "pundit" Tucker Carlson (apparently for his criticism of the Iraq War), MSNBC (which fired her and "needs to go off the air") and even Fox News, claiming it "isn't always that great." Coulter martyrized: "If Roger Ailes goes, we're finished." She advised everybody to go to Hollywood and make movies.
[...]
The hilarious highlight came, though, in questions 6 and 7 during the Q&A period. In question 6, a woman introducing herself as a mother who weirdly sees Coulter as a "wonderful role model for my children," asked if a woman would ever become president. Coulter replied: "But they [Democrats] just want to randomly choose some nitwit like Barbara Boxer, for instance. Or Hillary. How about that for a role model? Hillary. Get ahead by who you're married to. That's a good role model for girls."
This was followed by Question 7, from a female college student asking advice on how to take back universities from liberals.
Coulter replied: "That's very simple - especially with a pretty girl like you asking the question. You must join College Republicans. I promise you a lot of men will join. And since you're in college, I gotta give you a tip. It's a great way to meet heterosexual men " And there are a lot of pretty girls in College Republicans, which is why my male friends like going to my college speeches with me. "
Who says Republicans don't do irony?
Ann is right! Girls shouldn't be like Hillary, and try to make it in politics by marrying a powerful man. No, they should try to make it in politics by sleeping with a lot of College Republican men.
This thought was brought to you by Pastor Rod Parsley and his Center for Moral Clarity.
3:42:27 AM 
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