Last weekend, the Family Research Council (FRC), one of the most politically active right-wing Christian lobbies in America, hosted the Value Voters Summit in Washington, D.C. FRC has kept virulent social issues on the agenda for the conservative movement, forcing candidates and Republican figures to triumph causes like forced pregnancies and opposing gay marriage.
Yesterday, NewsMax posted an interview with Tony Perkins, the leader of FRC and a frequent contributor to CNN. Asked why so many Americans question Obama’s Christian faith, Perkins said myths and conspiracy theories about the President’s faith are not his “problem.” Perkins then furthered the myth that Obama is a Muslim by saying that Obama “claims to be a Christian,” but is actually “advancing the idea of the Islamic religion”:
Q: What do you say to Americans who believe Obama is not Christian as he claims to be?
PERKINS: Well thats not up to me. I cannot convince people that they think the President by his actions is inconsistent with his claims. He claims to be a Christian but yet claims America is not a Christian nation. He seems to be advancing the idea of the Islamic religion. You know, that’s up to him. The White House has to deal with that problem, it’s not up to me.
Watch it:
FRC is a rising force within the right. While many pundits have credited the Tea Party Express with helping insurgent far right candidates win in GOP primaries this year, FRC has actually been one of the most powerful forces. FRC endorsed and campaigned for Joe Miller in Alaska and Christine O’Donnell in Delaware before many Tea Party groups gave much notice to their candidacies.
FRC, itself an extremist anti-gay and anti-Muslim organization, works with even more radical hate groups. FRC’s Value Voters Summit was cosponsored by the American Family Association, known for calling gay sex “domestic terrorism” and demanding a moratorium on the construction of mosques anywhere in America.