Intercessors for America, a group that wants to make the Trump administration the most prayed-for in history, welcomed anti-Muslim activists Frank Gaffney and Philip Haney to their monthly prayer call last Friday. It ended with a return visit from Rep. Mike Bost (R-IL), who led prayers about divisions in the U.S., seemingly oblivious to the fact that the rest of the call had been devoted to inflaming those divisions. The call was joined by nearly 2,000 prayer warriors, according to IFA’s Dave Kubal.
Before Gaffney even spoke, Kubal attacked Reps. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), two Muslim women who were elected to Congress in November. Kubal charged that by choosing to use a Quran rather than a Bible for their ceremonial swearing in, the two representatives were “putting their allegiance to the Quran over the Constitution.”
Gaffney declared that the problem the U.S. is facing in confronting “Sharia supremacism” is a form of “spiritual warfare.” In response to a question about Tlaib and Omar speaking at a congressional reception hosted by the Center for American Islamic Relations (CAIR), which Kubal called a “terrorist-linked organization,” Gaffney said that’s only part of the problem:
What makes congresswomen like Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar, and for that matter Congressman André Carson--who is not a freshman, he is senior member of the House Intelligence Committee—so dangerous is that they are not simply talking to an outfit that I think is properly described as Hamas doing business as CAIR, but that they fully share the Muslim Brotherhood’s ideology and ambitions to achieve the triumph of Sharia in our country too.
Citing the (very real) persecution of Christians in some Muslim-majority countries, Gaffney warned that religious liberty and other freedoms are at risk in the U.S. as well. “It is a moment for prayer and for action against this kind of Sharia-supremacist spiritual warfare on the most urgent of scales.”
“The persecution for following Jesus Christ is taking place on a scale that dwarfs the predations of Pol Pot and Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin and Mao Tse-tung combined,” said Gaffney. “Now think about that.”
In the U.S., Gaffney warned, “stealthy, subversive, seditious” forms of “civilization jihad” are “every bit as dangerous” as the violent kind “in a society like ours” because Americans do not respond to them the way they would to violent attacks. He warned that “interfaith dialogue” or “bridge building” between Muslims, Christians and Jews is “the single most insidious line of attack,” equating it to recruiting pastors, priests and rabbis to act as “human shields” by standing up for the right of Muslims to practice their faith and pursue Sharia.
Kubal led the group in prayer that God would “amplify” Gaffney’s voice.
After Gaffney left, Haney warned that Muslims use ecumenical efforts as “preemptive insulation,” which he described as creating a positive first impression of Muslims that would serve as a distraction from their real goals. He warned that “Satan comes as an angel of light,” and said that “without the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we are open for massive deception and delusion.”
Kubal and Haney discussed biblical prophecy about the time when there will be an end to violence in Israel. Haney said that between the day of the IFA call and the day when that prophetic vision comes true is “where we come in.” Said Haney:
What kindness and grace. The Lord gives us an opportunity to participate in the events of eternity by recognizing what his plan is, what his goal is, why Israel exists, and what the role of the called-out ones, the ekklesia, have in the fulfillment of that prophetic vision.
The ekkesia is a term used by dominionists to refer to the church as God’s legislative or governing authority on earth.
In conjunction with the call, IFA distributed a two-page document warning about the increasing number of Muslims elected to public office. The flyer is headlined “Islam: Danger for Christians in our own Nation?” Underneath the headline appears an exhortation:
Pray about the increasing number of observant Muslims becoming involved in all levels of government in the U.S. Pray that motives, allegiances, and true intentions would be revealed. Pray that all who favor Sharia would be defeated.
It features photographs of Reps. Omar and Tlaib along with explanations of “how the Islamic faith of these leaders is a liability to our nation.”
The flyer encourages people who want to find out more about “the fundamental problems with the growth of Islam in our nation” to read a longer IFA report on “Islam and its influence, infiltration, and effects.”
Gaffney and Haney used the call to promote their new organization, Saving the Persecuted Christians.
Gaffney is a conspiracy theorist whose charges about supposed Muslim Brotherhood infiltration of the conservative movement got him kicked out of the Conservative Political Action Conference for a while, though in the Trump era he has seemingly been fully welcomed back into the fold. He met with Trump and White House aides during the recent meeting organized by right-wing activist Ginni Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Gaffney’s Center for Security Policy has been designated an anti-Muslim hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Haney, a former Department of Homeland Security employee who once hosted Sean Hannity’s show, is an IFA “regular,” according to Kubal. On an IFA call in October, Haney talked about being in Minnesota on “special assignment” from God to try to derail former Rep. Keith Ellison’s campaign for state attorney general. Haney smeared Ellison as the Sharia-promoting “face of Hamas,” but did not prevent his election.
Kubal ended the call with conversation and prayer with Bost, who joined an IFA call in October to pray for the midterm elections, which he portrayed as a struggle between those who love Jesus and those who follow Satan.
On Friday’s call, Bost said people of faith should not be overcome with anger; things were bad in Christ’s time too, he said, when Rome had taken over and there was corruption, homosexuality, and slavery, but Christ was able to love people regardless. Kubal asked Bost to lead a prayer that men and women of faith “would be used by the power of God to break down this divisiveness in this day.”
Bost and his wife collect notes of encouragement from evangelicals and deliver them to Trump. He told IFA activists that the White House lets them know that the notes are encouraging, and he urged people to “keep them coming.”
Kubal thanked those who had just finished a 21-day fast and encouraged people to fast because it would “supercharge” their prayers. He said that IFA’s “prayer team” would be in D.C. this week for the National Prayer Breakfast and encouraged people to use IFA’s resources to learn how to pray effectively for Trump, noting that “our modern-day Cyrus is in his third year.”
