Bryan Fischer Fired, but Jews Still Lack First Amendment Rights, Says AFA

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So what does a world without the American Family Association’s Director of Issue Analysis, Bryan Fischer look like? It looks a lot like this:

Let us repeat:

• “America was founded by Christians for the glory of God and the Christian faith”
• “We were established as a Christian nation in the name of God and for the advancement of the Christian faith”

Yes, it looks a lot like Religious Right political operative and head of the so-called American Renewal Project, David Lane. The man behind Bobby Jindal’s prayer rally. The man who says separation of church and state is a “fabricated whopper.” Who spews the same poisonous rhetoric as Bryan Fischer – only a lot less publicly.

Of course, we don’t exactly have a world without Bryan Fischer. He still has a show. It’s just that he is not analyzing issues in an official capacity any longer. He is still spewing ignorance and hate, however.

Rachel Maddow examined the circumstances of Fischer’s “firing” the other day, and the details of the RNC’s paid-for-by-the-AFA (whose Bryan Fischer oh by the way says Jews don’t have First Amendment Rights in the US) trip to Israel:

Funny that they fired him over his remarks about Hitler. And not about saying Jews lack First Amendment rights in the US. You know, because it was founded as a Christian nation – for Christians. Not Jews. Meaning according to the AFA, Jews really do NOT have First Amendment rights.

As Right Wing Watch says, the AFA cannot so easily wash its hands of Fischer’s bigotry by stripping him of his title. After all, Fischer may have been flapping his mouth but it is Lane who is behind the trip to Israel, not Fischer.

Judge for yourself; see RWW’s extensive list of his beyond-the-pale claims. He has been saying this stuff for years without being fired. AFA stood by him. Only now, for saying things he has said many times before, do they “fire” him.

To top it all off, Sandy Rios, the American Family Association’s director of governmental affairs, doubled down on the ignorance, trying to defend the AFA’s stance vis-à-vis Israel, saying, in essence, that though Jews have no First Amendment rights in the US, Israel itself “could not have a better ally” than the AFA.

EVEN THOUGH mind you, God does not approve of Israel’s secular government or atheist Jews occupying land there (!)

“It is His land and I believe He will reclaim it in time,” she warned.

Take a listen:

Well that’s very biblical of her. It’s a shame she’s a woman lecturing men, in violation of Paul’s precepts in the New Testament. You know, the one with Jesus.

In terms of our teachings and our biblical understanding there could not be any more strong support for Israel than you find among people who understand and believe in the Bible and believe that God’s hand is on Israel, in spite of what’s happening there, in spite of its government.

As Right Wing Watch tells us,

Rios has a history making such statements about American Jews. She has argued that “powerful Jewish forces” use groups like the ACLU to destroy America, claimed “Jewish leftists in this country are eager to embrace Islam,” lamented that “the Jewish vote in this country is so confused, so many of the Jews in this country are atheist and their hearts are with this President,” and warned that “Jewish atheists” are among “the worst enemies of the country.”

Tell us again how Republicans are Israel’s best friend: If Bobby Jindal were elected, and Bobby Jindal stuck to the AFA’s narrative, Jews in the US would find themselves with a president who does not believe Jews have First Amendment rights in the US, and with a president who does not approve of Israel’s secular government or of atheist Jews occupying land there.

So how this works according to the AFA is that Jewish voters aren’t all that bright to begin with, and that if you’re not the right kind of Jew – the matter to be adjudicated by the AFA – you are not really a Jew. Just like if you’re not the right kind of Christian you’re not really a Christian and if you’re not Christian you certainly don’t get to pretend you’ve got First Amendment rights, despite the First Amendment saying you do.

And Rios is not alone in the AFA in attacking Jews, as Right Wing Watch reports:

AFA president Tim Wildmon has agreed with her assessment: “Most of the Jews in this country, unfortunately, are far-left.”

And this is pro-Israel how?

Israel exists in the Religious Right mind as a place that is of use to Christians in that it functions as a placeholder for God’s eventual return to smite the rest of us into ashes. They (the Jews) have got to be there so God can kill most of them and force the rest to convert to Christianity. The Religious Right cares nothing for Israel or for Jews in and of themselves. And those “real” Jews? They get smote too in the end, unless they become Christians. Some reward! Progressive Christians may not like hearing this, but this is what is in their Bible’s too.

And the Religious Right and the AFA have been pretty open about it, as this episode proves. Swatting down Fischer, to the extent he was swatted down at all, changes none of that. David Lane, the Religious Right’s version of Martin Bormann (left) to whom he bears a more than eerie resemblance, is the spider in the web.

Rachel Maddow asked how the RNC will get out of this self-made mess. The botched trip to Israel – and we have no assurances that it will not go forward as planned – is a minor glitch in the Religious Right’s march to theocracy.

Until and unless there is a major outcry from Jewish groups in Israel or in the US, nothing is going to change. The mainstream media here will not report news unfavorable to the RNC if it can avoid it, and it has shown so far that it is very dedicated to the avoidance of facts.

Hrafnkell Haraldsson

Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.