E.W. Jackson, a right-wing pastor who was the Republican Party’s nominee for Virginia lieutenant governor in 2013, told religious-right activists at the Family Research Council’s “Pray Vote Stand” conference Thursday that Marxism, socialism, “transgenderism,” homosexuality, and abortion are works of the devil, and that “God wants to intervene in the rotten here and now and bring us out of this mess that we are in.”
Jackson, whose radio show is broadcast on the American Family Association’s radio network, told attendees that “the problem that we have in America is ultimately not political and ultimately not cultural. It is spiritual.”
The United States, he said, is a “providential” nation and “a gift from Almighty God”:
Patriotism comes from the word “pater,” meaning love of or honor of the father. And it's not just about our Founding Fathers; it's about the Father God who gave us this nation. And if you really believe that this nation is the gift that God gave to you, to your children, and to your grandchildren, then you ought to be willing to say, “I'm not going to let some bunch of Marxists and socialists and communists take this nation away and rob my posterity of the great gift that God has given us.”
Jackson told activists that Christians have a responsibility “to destroy the works of the devil,” adding:
Marxism is a work of the devil! Socialism is a work of the devil! Transgenderism is a work of the devil! Homosexuality is a work of the devil! Abortion is the work of the devil! And we say, “Satan, we're going to tear your kingdom down!”
Jackson also denounced “critical race theory,” railing against the caricature of that academic field of study that right-wing groups have used to rile up and mobilize parents and activists, saying, “All of this racial division is the work of the devil.” He claimed that children as young as 3 months old are being taught that they are either an oppressor or the oppressed “based upon the complexion of your skin.”
“They used to tell me, ‘How can you as a Black man not support Barack Obama?’ I said, ‘It’s very easy—Barack Obama doesn’t support Jesus and I don’t support him,” he added.
Jackson ended up by telling the crowd that they should be confident of victory in America’s cultural and political struggles:
They can call us whatever they want. But we're gonna stand victorious before God because you can't defeat Jesus Christ, and you can't defeat God's word, and you can't defeat truth. … America’s not going down. God is going to do a work in our country to bring us out of this mess. Awakening is on the way. All you got to do is step up, stand up, speak up, and don’t back down! We read the back of the book and we win!
Early in his remarks, Jackson resorted to the “America—love it or leave it” trope, saying, “And for those who have nothing good to say about our country, I don’t mind telling them, ‘There are boats and planes leaving every day. Find where you want to go and go there!’” Perhaps he should talk to another "Pray Vote Stand" speaker, former Rep. Michele Bachmann, who recently told FRC’s Marjorie Jackson that we are living in “the absolute worst times" in American history.
