The FundamentaList: This week in the religious right:

[Joanne98]

This week in the religious right: Evangelicals organize an ecumenical coalition against gay marriage in California, a "progressive" religious blog isn't progressive, and evangelicals mourn Solzhenitsyn.

Kathryn Joyce | August 6, 2008

1. Armageddon in California
People for the American Way reports (PDF) on a conference call between religious right leaders including evangelical luminary and Prison Fellowship head Chuck Colson, the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins, Ron Luce of the militaristic teen ministry Battle Cry and pastors gathered at more than 215 sites throughout California, Florida, and Arizona. The call was designed to organize the pastors and urge them to throw the weight of their congregations against same-sex marriages and behind California's Proposition 8 ballot initiative.

It's a coalition fit to wage battle in what Colson described as the "the Armageddon of the culture war," to be fought with prayer, fasting, voter identification and turnout programs, absentee ballots, and more rallies. The PFAW report notes that Lou Engle, founder of the charismatic youth movement The Call, "actually described a massive rally planned in Qualcomm stadium on November 1 as a 'blitzkrieg moment.'"

As is becoming typical of the religious right's activism, the coalition being amassed is deeply ecumenical. It happily reports that, in addition to its racial and ethnic diversity, it draws support from the diocese of San Diego. The bishop of San Diego has pledged to distribute organizational resources to his parishioners and to encourage them to be a part of the broader campaign in favor of Proposition 8 by writing letters to the editor, commenting on blogs, calling in to radio shows, and making themselves more visible as opponents to same sex marriage. Likewise, the coalition said it was further "blessed to have the full support of the LDS church" in targeting conservative voters in 21,000 precincts this month. Reason for optimism indeed.

2. Pray for Rain

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_fundamentalist_080608

I hate these people.