Yesterday I was mocking Glenn Beck's new "Black Robe Regiment," noting that is seems to be nothing more than a duplication of a dozen other already existing Religious Right efforts to get pastors and religious leaders to take a stand on political and cultural issues.
But it turns out that even the name of Beck's group is redundant, because such an organization already exists:
The “Black Regiment” was a group of patriot-preachers from virtually every protestant denomination located throughout Colonial America at the time of America’s fight for independence who courageously preached the Biblical principles of liberty and independence. The moniker stems from the tendency of these patriot-preachers to wear long, black robes in their pulpits.
The inspiration for this directory comes from the scores of people throughout America who have contacted me asking if I knew of “Black Regiment” pastors in their respective cities. This directory is an attempt to help the many hundreds and thousands of Christians across America who desire to fellowship and worship with a courageous pastor who knows what is going on and is not afraid to preach truth to power. Men who are not enamored with political correctness or political parties. Men who love America’s Christian history and heritage. Men who support and defend the U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence. Men who preach the Bible and are not owned by committees. Men who do not grovel before the wealthy and affluent. These are the kinds of men who comprise the “Black Regiment.”
The organizer of this group is none other than Chuck Baldwin, the 2008 Presidential nominee of the Christian Reconstructionist Constitution Party.
And you know who has signed up to be a member of Baldwin's "Black Regiment"? Well, in addition to Wiley Drake, we find this name:
Perhaps you recall Mr. Anderson from when he made news last year for declaring that God commands you to kill gays:
You want to know who the biggest hypocrite in the world is? The biggest hypocrite in the world is the person who believes in the death penalty for murderers and not for homosexuals. Hypocrite. The same God who instituted the death penalty for murderers is the same God who instituted the death penalty for rapists and for homosexuals - sodomites, queers! That's what it was instituted for, okay? That's God, he hasn't changed. Oh, God doesn't feel that way in the New Testament ... God never "felt" anything about it, he commanded it and said they should be taken out and killed.
So not only is the mission of Beck's new effort redundant, it shares its name with an already existing group containing activists who openly call for gays to be put to death.
You know, maybe Beck should just go back to organizing Tea Party events and uncovering convoluted conspiracy theories on his chalk board.