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May 31, 2009, New York Times
A Rogue Industry
As the Senate prepares to vote on legislation to empower the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco products, its members would be wise to consult a recent appeals court decision. The decision makes it clear that the tobacco companies have engaged in deceitful and harmful behavior for many decades and cannot be trusted to reform on their own. Regulatory oversight is the best chance to rein them in.
The unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld major elements of a 2006 lower court decision that found big tobacco companies guilty of racketeering and fraud as part of a prolonged campaign to deceive and addict the public. That 1,742-page opinion, rendered by Judge Gladys Kessler, laid out in painstaking detail how the tobacco companies made false statements and suppressed evidence to deny or play down the addictive qualities and the adverse health effects of smoking.
Judge Kessler found that the companies manipulated the design of cigarettes to deliver addictive doses of nicotine, falsely denied that secondhand smoke caused disease and falsely represented that light and low-tar cigarettes presented fewer health risks.
The appeals court not only upheld her decision as legally sound, it seemed deeply impressed by the “volumes of evidence” and “countless examples of deliberately false statements” underlying many of Judge Kessler’s findings. It also upheld some but not all of the marketing restrictions and other requirements she imposed to prevent the companies from making future false claims and engaging in additional fraudulent activities.
The companies protested that they should not be subjected to such requirements because they had already agreed to numerous remedies under a settlement agreement with 46 states and the District of Columbia. The appeals panel was rightly unimpressed. It upheld the district court’s findings that after the settlement went into effect in 1998, the companies almost immediately began to evade and violate various prohibitions against joint activities and false statements.
The House has already voted to give the F.D.A. power to regulate tobacco. Senators, who are getting ready to vote on similar legislation, now have fair warning, if they needed any more, that this is a rogue industry. It can’t be trusted to behave responsibly or even adhere to agreements it has signed. It is time to grant the F.D.A. the power to regulate the content and marketing of tobacco products.

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June 01, 2009 in Health - Editorial, USA TODAY
FDA oversight is key missing piece in efforts to protect public health.
North Carolina, the nation's largest tobacco producer, just did what was once thought impossible. The state enacted one of the nation's strictest bans on smoking in public places, proving the battle against smoking has come a long way since a handful of California cities and counties passed the nation's first smoke-free laws in 1990.
Today, 27 states heavily restrict smoking in public places. A dozen have tax rates of $2 or more a pack in an effort to price this lethal habit beyond the budgets of many teenagers — the top target in anti-smoking efforts because the teen years are when nearly all smokers start. Even in erstwhile Marlboro Country, where legislators tend to be hostile to such moves, hundreds of cities and small towns have smoke-free laws. In Laramie, Wyo., and Plano, Texas, you can't light up in a bar or restaurant.
Yet for all that has changed, there's still one gaping hole in the nation's efforts to fight an addiction that kills 400,000 Americans a year: The federal government, which regulates everything from breakfast cereal to pet food, doesn't regulate tobacco.
For more than two decades, the tobacco companies and their political allies have beaten back efforts by public health advocates to fill that gap. Now, at last, that appears likely to change. The Senate is poised, as early as this week, to debate a measure that would give the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authority to regulate tobacco products. Among the key provisions:
• The FDA would have to approve claims of "reduced harm" by the industry, which is on the verge of introducing a new generation of supposedly less dangerous products.
• Companies would be required to reveal ingredients in tobacco products to the government — a big improvement over the current situation, where the public is in the dark.
• The FDA would require larger warning labels, curtail marketing to children, and ban the use of labels such as "light" and "mild."
The changed political landscape puts success within reach. The House passed the regulation by a huge margin, and the Senate is likely to follow. President Obama, who has waged a highly publicized battle to quit smoking, is expected to sign it.
The chief objection to the measure is that it would distract the FDA, already overloaded with food and drug issues. But the tobacco industry would be charged for any new regulatory costs.
The plan is far superior to alternatives that would eschew strong FDA regulation in favor of attempting to move cigarette smokers to smokeless products placed in the mouth, which have been linked to mouth cancers and other diseases.
Despite all the progress against smoking, the public remains vulnerable to an industry that turned deception into a fine art. New research suggests that the risk of getting lung cancer from smoking today in the USA is far higher than the risk to smokers 40 years ago. One possible reason, according to David Burns of the University of California-San Diego, is the design of cigarettes sold in the U.S. Regulation might enable the government to change that design.
Congress has an opportunity to add an important new weapon to attack the nation's No. 1 killer. More than 1,000 children get hooked on cigarettes each day. That's 1,000 new reasons to regulate this deadly product.

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For immediate Release. May 19, 2009
Christian Coalition of Alabama and Committee for Justice Join Together for Benefit Dinner to End Racial and Gender Preferences

Birmingham – The Christian Coalition of Alabama’s chairman, Dr. Randy Brinson, was joined tonight by keynote speaker Ward Connerly, founder and president of the American Civil Rights Institute, Curt Levey, executive director of the Committee for Justice (CFJ), and state Senator Scott Beason (R-Gardendale) at a benefit dinner supporting the end of racial and gender preferences and judicial activism.

Attendees of the dinner were addressed by Ward Connerly, the nation’s leading voice against racial preferences, on his successful efforts ending these practices in California, Michigan, Nebraska and Washington State. Mr Connerly has gained national attention as an outspoken advocate of equal opportunity for all Americans, regardless of race, sex, or ethnic background. 

“We are honored to have Mr. Connerly as the keynote speaker this evening as we work to add Alabama to the list of states that have already taken steps to end these preferences,” said Dr. Randy Brinson, chairman of the Christian Coalition of Alabama. “His commitment to this issue is evident through his presence tonight as we fight for important legislation that will protect all Alabamians constitutional rights.”

Previous measures to end these practices have included laws forbidding state and local governments from using racial or gender preferences in hiring, contracting and education. Legislation such as this will ensure that our state employees are hired because they are the most qualified candidate, students are accepted/declined admittance to state universities based on their academic achievements, and state contracts are fairly awarded to companies most deserving of them.

Kurt Levey and the Committee for Justice have long been committed to promoting constitutionalist judicial nominees to the federal courts and educating the public on the importance of judges in American life. The CFJ is a leading national voice on judicial issues utilizing many avenues of communication to inform the public about judicial confirmation controversies.

“I expect there to be a lot of confusion during the confirmation process that is already underway in Washington to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court,” said Senator Scott Beason. “As important a role as these individuals play in protecting the rights of our constitution and the freedoms we enjoy as Americans, we must ensure that each candidate in consideration represents the people of America’s interests rather than their own political agenda.”

The benefit dinner kicked off the Christian Coalition of Alabama and the Committee for Justice’s campaign to call for legislation that will end racial and gender preferences here in Alabama. In addition, the Christian Coalition of Alabama looks forward to working with the Committee for Justice during the Supreme Court confirmation process. The Christian Coalition of Alabama will work diligently to research each candidate in hopes that the information will be beneficial to Senator Jeff Sessions, Ranking Minority Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, others faced with making this selection. 

**To schedule an interview with the Christian Coalition of Alabama’s Chairman, Dr. Randy Brinson, please contact Collier Craft at 205-757-6927 or colliercraft@gmail.com .

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Founders Pam and Randy Brinson of Redeem the Vote with Gospel Music Producer Gary Chapman. more

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CCA Leadership Luncheon Photo Highlights. more
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Tuscaloosa lawmaker earns statesmanship award
Staff report
Published: Friday, April 3, 2009 at 3:30 a.m.
(Michael E. Palmer/Tuscaloosa News)

Robert Bentley speaks at the League of Women Voters breakfast held at the Sheraton Four Points in Tu scaloosa Thursday.

State Rep. Robert Bentley, R-Tuscaloosa, is the 2009 recipient of the Christian Coalition of Alabama’s Statesmanship Award.
 
Coalition chairman Randy Brinson presented the award to Bentley at a luncheon Wednesday in Montgomery, citing Bentley’s commitment to family issues and improving health care in Alabama.

“Robert Bentley has the passion and intellect to make good things happen,” Brinson said.
The coalition also presented awards at the luncheon to state Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, state Rep. David Grimes, R-Montgomery, and the Rev. Ed Nettles, pastor of the Free Will Missionary Baptist Church of Montgomery. Beason also received the Statesmanship Award, Grimes the Distinguished Service Award and Nettles the Servant Leadership Award.

“I’m honored to receive this award and humbled by the recognition from this organization of committed Alabama Christians,” Bentley said after the ceremony. “I am passionate about being a public servant, striving always to be guided by conservative family values.”

Bentley represents House District 63 in the Legislature. He was first elected in 2002 and re-elected in 2006. He and his wife, Dianne, have four sons and five granddaughters.
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Thursday, March 05, 2009 The Birmingham News. Alabama legislative panel delays bill backed by critics of evolution. more
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TimesDaily.com. Thursday March 12, 2009
PACT woes draw interest and criticism. more
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CCA Congratulates Todd Strange on his recent election as mayor of Montgomery! more
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The Divergent Legacy of Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin

Quietly and without much fanfare, February 12, 2009, passed without much of a pause other than the recurrent fascination of the media with comparisons of President Obama and President Lincoln, 200 years after his birth. Despite the recent holiday which pays homage to our most famous presidents, many of the citizens of our nation were unaware of the fact that Charles Darwin and Abraham Lincoln were born on the exact same date 200 years ago.

Yet, not only do these two men share the same birth date, but both shaped a significant but quite divergent legacy that is still being felt by students of history across America. President Abraham Lincoln, likely more than any other president in our history, was tested early in his presidency with the divisive issue of slavery, states rights, and the preservation of the Union during the American Civil War. Lincoln was extremely adept at using his spectacular oratory, laying out a compelling argument against the morally of slavery based on Biblical principles and the recognition of a divine creator that endowed people of all races with the inalienable right of self determination, rather than bondage.

Without the recognition of moral imperatives that were based in a deep abiding commitment to Biblical values, it is unlikely that President Lincoln would have been able to maintain with moral clarity the need to reunite the Union and persevere during the war. Lincoln’s perseverance and resolve was combined with a unique sense of humility that he continued to seek God’s guidance in his words and deeds, creating an enduring heritage and the admiration of generations of Americans.

In contrast, Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, spent a majority of his life dedicated to the understanding of the interrelationship between the species and the supposition that the increasing complexity of the species suggests a gradual evolution over billions of years. This evolutionary transformation was not directed by a divine creator, as Lincoln believed, but by a random collision of super heated gases and mass that contained the building blocks of life. Beginning as one celled organisms capable of self propagation, these cells over time commingled into more complex organisms and gradually moved from life in water to being able to grow, produce, and replicate on land as reptiles, mammals, and ultimately man himself.

Those that followed Darwin, championed this theory, partly based on their own scientific curiosity but also by an ideology fueled by the need to embrace humanism, the sufficiency of man and his ability to control his destiny. Despite the increasing wealth of scientific information that questions macroevolution, these ideologues express their embracement of Darwinism in a number of public policy positions, that are evident even today.

In fact, many of the cultural wars that have been waged across the country are really an outgrowth of these divergent and competing ideologies. Darwinism, which extols the supremacy of man as the termination of macroevolution, can control his destiny, provided that the good of man can be realized through reason and understanding. Man’s origins with the universe support the view of many humanists that man’s value is intrinsically tied to that of the planet itself.

In stark contrast, God’s supremacy, rather than man’s, as espoused by Lincoln, was based on he alone being the divine creator of the universe and the unique relationship of man to God due to his creation as a spiritual being, that has an eternal existence, unlike those that embrace evolution. Lincoln understood the depravity of man because of the fallen nature of man and his dependency on God for his understanding of boundaries of behavior and conformity to God’s commandments.

So, here we are, 200 years later, with this ongoing debate between those that recognize the submission of man to God and God’s moral absolutes contrasted to those who believe as Darwin, that man is in charge of his own destiny and moral relativism. This is manifest in the beliefs regarding abortion, homosexuality, gender, health care, education, environmentalism and even capitalism compared to socialism. Our country’s recent experimentation with this massive stimulus bill is based on a perilous assumption that man can correct his own excesses of greed and materialism, rather than the understanding of self restraint and responsibility as the most important factor in correcting our economic crisis.

It is our desire and commitment to continue to make the case for moral clarity as we seek to provide guidance and leadership with our elected officials to make Alabama a shining example of policies that are grounded in biblical principles.

Randy Brinson, MD
Chairman, Christian Coalition of Alabama
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For Immediate Release
February 25th, 2009  

MEDIA CONTACT:
Collier Craft
colliercraft@gmail.com
205-757-6927

Alabama’s Christian Coalition Outlines Legislative Priorities for 2009

Montgomery – Dr. Randy Brinson, chairman of the Christian Coalition of Alabama, held a press briefing on the front steps of the Alabama State House today to discuss upcoming legislation that the organization will be actively supporting in the 2009 legislative session. 

“There are important issues that need to be addressed right now to alleviate some of the hardships families all across Alabama are facing due to the current economic downturn,” said Dr. Randy Brinson, chairman of the Christian Coalition of Alabama. “These are issues that legislators on both sides of the isle should come together to resolve, putting politics aside for the betterment of their constituents,” Brinson stated. 

A top priority of Dr. Brinson and the Christian Coalition will be to see the elimination of the food tax. Tax on food is severely regressive and hurts the lowest income citizens of this state the most. By removing the tax from food essentials and produce, we can provide more affordable foods while encouraging a healthier diet.

The Christian Coalition will be reintroducing legislation from last session drafted by Representative Grimes to provide teachers and college professors with the ability to intellectually discuss scientific findings and flaws in previous scientific dogma. Teachers are sometimes limited in what they are able to discuss with their students involving evolution, specifically from a belief other than neo-Darwinism evolution theory. 

“Our priorities are very non-political, we feel,” says Brinson. “I think anyone interested in improving the lives of Christians, and really, improving the lives of all Alabamians will be open to these issues.”

Alabama’s Christian Coalition will also be working to curtail the payday loan industry in a way to offer protection to those in need of this service. Whether the business is involved in check cashing, payday loans, cash for title, or income tax loan advances, there is no reasonable defense for not capping the maximum usury fees that these industries charge. Georgia recently passed a comprehensive usury fee cap law and has seen no significant impairment on the short term loan industry but has dramatically improved the default rate on such loans. 

By supporting Alabama’s Educational Equality Act, the Christian Coalition’s will continue to advance educational opportunities for all Alabamians, but not at the expense of denying academic admission to our colleges, universities and professional schools to match a predetermined racial quota.

Reassessing taxpayer funded health care subsidies is also an important step that the Christian Coalition would like to see the legislature act on in the coming weeks. The Christian Coalition supports a comprehensive assessment of all expenditures for taxpayer funded health care by combining the resources of Medicaid, Medicare, and State Employees to look at best practice models and structuring payments for premiums based on health risk.
“We’re going to work very hard, as we have in the years past, to see that legislation meaningful to all Alabamians is passed in Montgomery,” said Dr. Brinson. “It’s imperative that these steps be taken immediately, such as removing the sales tax from food, to help protect our families here in Alabama during these rough economic times.”

**To schedule an interview with the Christian Coalition of Alabama’s Chairman, Dr. Randy Brinson, please contact Collier Craft at 205-757-6927 or colliercraft@gmail.com.

About the Christian Coalition of Alabama:
The Christian Coalition of Alabama is a 501c4 nonprofit organization committed to promoting and pursuing the application of Christian principles to public policy that is devoid of partisan politics and convey reasonable conservative solutions to issues that confront government at both the state and federal level. For more information, visit the Christian Coalition’s Web site at: www.ccalabama.org.
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Media Alert
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 3rd, 2008
Contact: Collier Craft
colliercraft@gmail.com
205-757-6927
 


Addressing gambling obsession
By Randy Brinson
Special to The Star
01-25-2009

The economic downturn has had a significant impact on tax revenues for Alabama's General Fund. As a result, legislators have been looking at revenue-enhancement measures in order to provide additional resources for cash-strapped state agencies and our educational programs.

In response, the Alabama Education Association has advocated taxing existing gambling operations in order to provide additional resources. These sources would offset tax receipts that typically support public education through the Education Trust Fund in lieu of raising taxes on individuals or businesses.

In order to stem legitimizing existing gambling operations, Gov. Bob Riley announced a new gambling task force to attempt to eradicate certain types of gambling across the state. This past month, Riley announced the formation of a gambling czar, a supernumerary district attorney to serve to locate and determine the validity of existing gambling operations, primarily those sites hosting electronic bingo operations.

Former Jefferson County District Attorney David Barber has been hired, justifying an alarming six-figure salary, to utilize the resources of the ABI and the Alcohol Beverage Control board officials and prosecute gambling operators that he independently deems illegal. This is independent of operations under the direction of Attorney General Troy King, who has a separate team dedicated to monitoring existing gambling operations.

For many organizations dedicated to fighting gambling, this has been seen as a symbolic victory. Christian Coalition of Alabama applauds all efforts that legitimately and effectively reduce gambling and their addictive social costs. However, we question the wisdom of the most recent approach.

The efforts on both sides of the gambling debate in Alabama have ultimately been waged by the gambling operators themselves, with Christian organizations being used as pawns in the debate. Worse, those same organizations were simultaneously being funded by out-of-state gambling interests such as the Choctaw Indians in Mississippi and the Mississippi Coast Casino Operators. This has been well documented in testimony before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and has led to criminal convictions to Jack Abramhoff and his associates, many of whom were tied to political operations in Alabama of both parties.

Also, the section of the Alabama Code that allows for the governor to name a supernumerary district attorney was to be used in situations where the administration itself was operating corruptly, without direct oversight, when there was clear evidence of potential criminal or civil wrongdoing by members of the law enforcement community. If the governor has deemed that the attorney general is corrupt or is under investigation, then naming a supernumery district attorney with the attendant costs would be relevant. To date, no such evidence has been brought forth.

The ultimate decision to limit or facilitate gambling within the state is vested in the Legislature and the people of our state. This is an excellent opportunity for local congregations to educate their members regarding the moral implications regarding gambling and allowing citizens to determine their own restrictions on gambling.

Unfortunately, too much time and resources have been used to manipulate the legislative process, rather than direct intervention within those families touched by gambling or making a moral case directly to the people to the social costs of gambling. In addition, churches and faith-based organizations need to broaden their public policy positions to include health care, lifestyle modifications, strengthening families and protecting women from domestic violence, instead of focusing and obsessing over gambling itself.

By not acting in the past, we are now faced with the prospect of even more gambling operations. It is clear that many communities do not want to have to deal with pawn shops, cash for title and other payday-loan operations blanketing their communities if more local amendments are interpreted as "green lights for gambling."

It is our prayer that local pastors, lay leaders and congregations will make limitation on gambling a priority and that they will join the Christian Coalition in supporting meaningful and well thought-out legislation that will tax, regulate and enforce gambling laws across the state and prevent its further expansion.

Christian Coalition gets it right. more


Christian Coalition of Alabama Releases "Faith and Value Survey" for Alabama's Political Races
 
Montgomery – The Christian Coalition of Alabama has recently released a "Faith and Value Survey" that asked Alabama's candidates two questions: How are biblical principles and your faith reflected in the issues, positions and priorities of your campaign, and how will they be reflected if you are elected? In your opinion, how does your response to question #1 distinguish you from your opponent?
 
With more than 10 races taking part and almost full participation from both the Republican and Democrat candidates, provided is a great overview of each candidate's faith and its role in their daily lives. Please visit http://ccalabama.org/html/newsletter_article11_20081030.html to view the entire survey, including each candidate's full response.
 
"I'm excited about the level of participation we've seen in this year's survey, it shows that candidates realize how voters hold them accountable for their beliefs on issues, particularly those related to the sanctity of marriage and protecting life, among other Christian beliefs," said Dr. Randy Brinson, chairman of the Christian Coalition of Alabama.
 
The Christian Coalition of Alabama's goal from the onset of creating the survey was to provide Alabamians with information that would be of interest to them when making a decision on Election Day.
 
"We work hard to protect the Christian principles that our country was founded upon, and in doing so, we have to carefully choose our government leaders," said Dr. Brinson. "If a candidate is elected to office with no moral compass, they're more than likely not going to help our country or Alabama prosper."
 
**To schedule an interview with Chairman of the Christian Coalition of Alabama, Dr. Randy Brinson, please contact Collier Craft at 205-757-6927 or colliercraft@gmail.com.
 
About the Christian Coalition of Alabama:
The Christian Coalition of Alabama is a 501c4 nonprofit organization committed to promoting and pursuing the application of Christian principles to public policy that is devoid of partisan politics and convey reasonable conservative solutions to issues that confront government at both the state and federal level. For more information, visit the Christian Coalition of Alabama's Web site at www.ccalabama.org.


Seeking common ground in politics and religion
Tuscaloosa News (subscription) - Tuscaloosa,AL,USA
Artur Davis and featuring Dr. Randy Brinson, the relatively new president of the Alabama Christian Coalition. Along with University of Alabama Law School ...
See all stories on this topic

Faith and Politics Summit Held at University of Alabama
CBS42 - Birmingham,AL,USA
Dr. Randy Brinson of the Christian Coalition of Alabama and US Representative Artur Davis hosted the unique political discussion. Davis says the interplay ...
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Democrat, Republican debate faith's political role
Tuscaloosa News (subscription) - Tuscaloosa,AL,USA
Artur Davis, D-Birmingham, and Dr. Randy Brinson, a Republican from Montgomery and president of the Alabama Christian Coalition, met to discuss health care. ...
See all stories on this topic

Democrat, Republican debate faith’s political role.
http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20081024/NEWS/810242997/1004/SPORTS

Christian Coalition of Alabama Strongly Condemns Gambling Influence 
 
The Christian Coalition of Alabama strongly condemns and today is calling for Las Vegas casino baron Sheldon Adelson's 527, Freedom's Watch, to stay out of Alabama politics. Freedom's Watch has been buying a number of television ads and sending emails to Alabama voters blatantly mischaracterizing candidate Bobby Bright's record and making light of the fact that he is an evangelical born-again Christian. Both men in this race are professing Christians and attend the same church. We are asking Rep Love to condemn these attacks as well and repudiate any funding from gambling interests such as Mr Adelson.
 
"Sheldon Adelson does not share our values as Alabamans, and Freedom's Watch's underhanded attack ads do nothing but cheapen the political discourse in this state," said Dr. Randy Brinson, President of the Alabama Christian Coalition. "Where Adelson has placed his treasure makes it quite clear where his heart is: in gambling and in backing the regime in China that persecutes Christians. He's done nothing to help the people of Alabama, and we are determined to take a stand and keep his dirty money from tainting this election." 
 
Adelson has made billions of dollars in the Las Vegas casino industry and through his investments in China. His casinos have been fined $1 million for rigging games; he is under investigation by the federal government for coercing employees into giving up health insurance; and he spearhead and funded the lobbying effort to secure the Olympics for China in the face of the public outcry over China's human rights record and persecution of Christian missionaries. 
 
"We're tired of the Abramoffs and Adelsons of this world using their ill-gotten gains to try to buy elections and influence, and it is especially insulting to Alabama voters when they smear the character of our leaders and make light of their born-again commitment to Christ. It's important that voters understand that those behind Freedom's Watch are merely wolves in sheep's clothing and that we make it clear that we want them to stay out of Alabama politics." 
 
The Christian Coalition has a long record of opposing the influence of the gambling industry in Alabama politics, and is asking its members to sign a petition asking television stations to stop running Freedom's Watch's ads and demanding that Adelson and his casino buddies stay out of Alabama politics.
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Freedom's Watch Starts Spending. more
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Dr. Randy Brinson and his wife Pamela, together with thirty senior evangelical leaders, will come together for an historic summit: "Pastors' Creation Care Covenant" on July 31st and August 1st at Airlie Center in Warrenton, VA. They will discuss church-focused, action-oriented organizational model that has recently propelled over 500 of America's cities and a similar number of colleges and universities to new levels of stewardship of the planet and its resources. 

July 10, 2008. Montgomery, Al. CCA interviews Senator Harri Anne Smith discussing her vision for Alabama and her pro-family pro-life agenda.
CCA Video Interview of Harri Anne Smith
Harri Anne Smith Health Care Strategy

Non-Partisan Cook Political Report Upgrades Mayor Bright's Race to "Toss Up" more

Christian Coalition lobbies for uninsured Group says it is expanding its focus. more

Christian Coalition addresses uninsured Alabamians. more

Senator seeks help in calling attention to lack of health-care coverage for Alabamians. more

Coalition acting more Christian. more

On the right side In our opinion. more

STEVE FLOWERS: Brinson steps forward as political player. more

ALABAMA VOICES: Teach relevant science. more

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August 19, 2008
Charlie Cook is one of the most respected political handicappers in the nations. Just last week our opponent's campaign was trying to dismiss poll numbers by saying "Charlie Cook says we still have an advantage." Now, officially no one has an "advantage," but we certainly have momentum on our side! In the 6 months since Mayor Bright announced his candidacy, this district has gone from "Safe Republican" to "Lean Republican" to "Toss Up."

Non-Partisan Cook Political Report Upgrades Mayor Bright's Race to "Toss Up"
Cook Report Change Shows Recognition of Bright's Lead in AL-02

Montgomery, Ala. – The Cook Political Report, an independent, non-partisan newsletter that analyzes campaigns, has upgraded the ranking of Mayor Bobby Bright's Congressional Race in Alabama's 2nd District to "Toss Up", showing that political insiders recognize Mayor Bright's strong support in the district. This change is especially significant given that Jay Love's campaign was touting a Cook Report analysis less than two weeks ago.

David Wasserman, House Editor of the Cook Political Report, wrote in an earlier analysis that "Bright is undoubtedly the only Democrat in the district who could conceivably make this general election close." Wasserman can be reached at (202) 739-8525 for additional comment on the race since the rating upgrade.

"Bobby Bright lives by the values he was raised with and connects with Alabama voters, which is why he has received strong support from people in the Second District," said David Mowery, Bright's Campaign Manager. "Mayor Bright will be an independent voice who will work to secure our border, cut taxes for middle class families, and lower gas prices. It's evident by this upgrade that the leading political forecasters recognize Bright's strength in this race."

To view the upgraded ranking of the AL-02 race, visit:
http://www.cookpolitical.com/ 



June 23, 2008
Alabama Voices: Change health care strategy
By Randy Brinson

On the waning days of the legislative session, Democrats and Republicans sent the governor a bill that will increase the deductibility of health care premiums paid by employers and employees. It is unfortunate that they did not heed the emerging economic catastrophe of former Gov. Mitt Romney's health care "masterpiece" in Massachusetts.
While this Alabama bill would not require every citizen to buy into the system as in Massachusetts, it will fuel runaway health care costs by merely increasing coverage without incentives to improve health and reducing utilization, with the harmful economic consequences now unfolding in Massachusetts.
In an eye-opening May 21 article, the Wall Street Journal belatedly alerted the nation: "Mitt Romney's presidential run is history, but it looks as if the taxpayers of Massachusetts will be paying for it for years to come. The former governor had hoped to ride his grand state 'universal' health-care reform of 2006 to the White House, but his state's residents are now having to live with what he and the state's Democratic Legislature passed."
The media has been exceptionally kind to Romney, neglecting to investigate carefully his economic and social policies. But the truth is leaking out on Commonwealth Care, the universal health care program that is pejoratively called "RomneyCare."
For years, dating back to the 1950s, health care expenditures have been made tax-deductible to encourage employers to incorporate health care into their compensation of employees. This, of course, is in lieu of paying additional wages with an increased tax burden.
Over the past 20 years, however, the broad application of health care coverage and the associated inflation of health care spending has caused both governmental and businesses alike to question the wisdom of open-ended health care coverage. The marked increase in utilization of health care procedures and skyrocketing costs have led many businesses to shift the burden back to employees or to abandon coverage altogether.
In Alabama -- while health care coverage is far from universal -- raising the deductibility of health insurance costs alone will do little to increase coverage. What small business, during these lean economic times, is going to increase spending on insurance coverage by an average of $500-$600 a month in premiums per employee to get 7.5 percent of that back?
That's why when the Legislature was debating how to improve coverage, a broader and more comprehensive evaluation of health care inequities was needed.
Our costs are skyrocketing partly because of overall health of our citizens is relatively poor. Alabama ranks in the top tier in rate of obesity, which leads to chronic conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, heart disease and kidney failure. A responsible and health care strategy for Alabama must focus on reversing these trends rather than expanding care as Mitt Romney did, so disastrously in Massachusetts.
The Christian Coalition of Alabama supported four vital reforms that would improve health care spending and shore up the wellness of Alabama citizens:
• Create a scaled premium structure that rewards healthy behavior (weight loss, exercise, and refraining from smoking and alcohol use). It is truly unjust that Alabamians who practice healthy living and avoid habits that harm their own or their children's bodies must, nevertheless pay for those who practice destructive habits. Around the world healthcare systems based on such principles reward have failed. They reward and increase unhealthy, irresponsible habits. They lower the standard of living for everyone. And they can bankrupt an entire economy.
• Structure the tax-deductibility of premiums so as to reward healthy living.
• Use health care savings plans to discourage excessive utilization of services
• Provide state income tax credits up to $1,500 for physicians and providers that give nonreimbursed care to the poor mandated by federal laws.
These reforms would give Alabamians more access to health care but also reduce unnecessary utilization that is driving up costs for everyone. We all want every family to have adequate coverage, but as with auto and other insurance, premiums must be scaled by risk and discourage unhealthy behaviors.
Otherwise, the unavoidable result will be that children and others who have health care problems due to no fault of their own, will suffer more, rather than less, as is the case in many poorly designed health care systems.
The Legislature's quick-fix -- increased tax deductions to health care plans that are already unaffordable for small business in a competitive world -- will do little to improve health care coverage for our citizens.
If Alabama follows the path laid by Romney and the Massachusetts legislature, we will find that we have done little if anything to improve the health of our citizens and instead, will have increased the utilization of an underfunded, overtaxed health care system. Eventually, that approach will lead to a government subsidized health care system which would be much more draconian and lead to less efficient and rationed care.
Dr. Randy Brinson, a Montgomery gastroenterologist, also leads the Christian Coalition of Alabama.
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'Uniformity' on state gambling is needed
Sunday, May 04, 2008 By RANDY BRINSON
Special to the Press-Register

In a recent article in the Alabama Baptist, managing editor Jennifer Rash reports that the Christian Coalition of Alabama supports the expansion of gambling in the state.

She bases this assumption on an isolated interview with Dan Ireland, executive director of the Alabama Citizens Action Program, in which Mr. Ireland made a series of outlandish statements and frank untruths regarding the positions of the Christian Coalition.

As a result, the Alabama Baptist has further confused an already very complicated issue when it comes to attempts by reasonable people, lobbyists and legislators to find solutions to the spread of illegal gambling in the state and the social costs to our communities.

First of all, HB 577 was drafted in response to an opinion piece I wrote in 2006, saying that the regulation of gambling should be a function of the Legislature and not the courts.

Mr. Ireland and his allies have continued to insist that the Alabama Supreme Court should ultimately decide the fate of gambling in the state, which is not the primary function of the court and would not result in any lasting solution to gambling in our state.

More troubling is the fact that for the past 40 years, Christians have decried the fact that the court system is systematically usurping the rights of the people and the laws passed by their elected officials, such as abolition of school prayer, the posting of the Ten Commandments, etc., which were clearly in violation of the will of the people.

It is totally misguided to try to elect a court system that will bend to the mandates of certain entities rather than interpret the laws of the state of Alabama.

Secondly, failing to legislatively resolve the scope and extend of gambling in the state only empowers those who want to expand gambling in our state, such as the Poarch Creek Indians and out-of-state casino operators, who have lobbied and aligned with Mr. Ireland since the days of the lottery fight in the late 1990s.

This alliance was conveniently used by Ralph Reed and lobbyist Jack Abram to funnel millions of dollars to the previous leaders of the Christian Coalition from gambling interests, which has been well documented.

The only problem is that Mr. Ireland has failed to tell Baptist pastors that these relationships with the Indian casino lobbyists continue, allowing further manipulation of the Legislature to their own ultimate benefit.

As a result, casino operations in nearby Atmore have continued to expand at breakneck speed without any intervention, and without any significant contribution in tax receipts from their operation.

In addition, as a result of the inaction on gambling legislation to regulate and limit its scope, new gambling operations have expanded in Walker County in north Alabama and Houston County, pitting elected officials and their citizens over the legality of these operations.

This is only the start of the problem, since 16 other counties have enabling legislation that will allow for video gambling. These questions would have been clearly resolved with the passage of HB 577, which would have outlawed these operations.

Furthermore, district attorneys have reported to Christian Coalition that the degree of intervention is limited due to the fact that, at present, illegal gambling carries only a misdemeanor penalty a slap on the wrist. HB 577 would have made possession of an illegal gambling machine a felony.

Other inaccuracies include the mention of only $55 million being produced by this legislation, which is untrue. The legislative fiscal office has reported that it would generate more than $172 million to the federal matching dollars for the exclusive use of these funds for Medicaid services.

Medicaid is expected to have a $400 million budget deficit this fiscal year, which would have to be replaced by new taxes on the citizens of Alabama.

Gov. Bob Riley does not have any plan at present to replace the budget deficits for Medicaid. In fact, Mac McArthur, executive director of the State Employees Association, aptly testified to the Legislature that there is no more money to beg, borrow or steal from to make up these budgetary deficits.

The passage of HB 577 would do nothing to expand gambling except to make the level of gambling uniform at all the dog tracks, and then it would tax the proceeds significantly.

The importance of having a uniform gambling policy in the state cannot be overly stressed.

In 2006, Gov. Bob Riley and Attorney General Troy King took a proper approach to try to control gambling, by proposing a restriction of gambling to only dog racing at the dog tracks. This would have successfully provided uniformity to gambling in the state.
However, it failed to gain any attention in the Legislature and no other proposals have been given serious consideration until the present proposal.

If the Legislature defines gambling in a comprehensive way, then the state will be able to seriously constrain the expansion of Indian gambling as well. However, if the Legislature fails to perform this duty, the state will have no legal standing in controlling unregulated, untaxed gambling activity at the Indian casinos.

This is exactly why the Indian casinos and their lobbyists are working with Mr. Ireland and ALCAP: in order to protect their gambling empire.

Most distressing is that the Alabama Baptist paper and Mr. Ireland, because of their intellectual dishonesty, would then attack the Christian Coalition and try to accuse us of expanding gambling and being guilty of some kind of moral turpitude.

The real moral question for Alabama Baptists and their congregations is whether they want to continue to fund this kind of activity with tax-deductible money received from the offering plates each Sunday.

The Christian Coalition, Focus on the Family, the Family Research Council and numerous other Christian-based politically active organizations clearly separate funding for their political activity, and these donations are not tax deductible.

However, churches that are supporting ALCAP are giving tax-exempt offering receipts that are then used for lobbying activity, which according to the IRS is not tax-exempt.

If that's the case, then this clearly would be a violation of the IRS tax code regarding 501c3 organizations such as the local churches, and could endanger their tax exempt status.

As a fellow Southern Baptist, lay minister, youth worker, and former member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Mobile, I respectfully ask that the leadership of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions and local pastors search their hearts and take serious action to rectify the actions of The Alabama Baptist and ALCAP.

Furthermore, it is my prayer that the citizens of Alabama will be better informed on this issue and urge the Legislature to act to limit and confine gambling in our state.

CCA Commends Representative Grimes on Fighting for Faith
 
Randy Brinson
Chairman, CCA

Legislation introduced last week by Representative David Grimes (R-Montgomery) will provide protection to all science educators, including those who happen to be Christians, from being discriminated against if they teach students about both the scientific strengths and weaknesses of evolution.
This legislation will provide a safe, comfortable environment for all educators in Alabama, even those who discuss dissenting scientific views from neo-Darwinian evolution because it protects the rights of teachers to teach about scientific problems with Darwin's theory.
Representative Grimes has shown great leadership in protecting the rights of teachers to teach the scientific truth about the weaknesses of evolution in the classroom, and for opening an important dialogue that has been missing in the classroom. Christians who support Academic Freedom make up the majority of our nation's population, especially here in Alabama, yet Big Science's relentless suppression of Academic Freedom continues to be accepted. Representative Grimes' legislation is an important first step in seeing that a fair discussion surrounding evolution theory is made possible for all educators.
A recently released Ben Stein documentary film titled, "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" explores Academic Freedom, or the lack thereof, in our nation's classrooms. In the film, Ben Stein meets with many world-renowned scientists, philosophers, and educators who describe the discrimination they have faced because they are scientifically critical of Darwinian evolution. Many have been intimidated, denied tenure and even fired by Big Science for questioning aspects of neo-Darwinism.
I would encourage everyone to see this movie. It's important for us to better understand why we believe what we believe, rather than just go through the motions without any real meaning. Many of the issues raised in this movie would be prevented, at least here in Alabama, with the passage of Representative Grimes' bill. I would also encourage you show your support for Academic Freedom by signing the Academic Freedom Petition at www.AcademicFreedomPetition.com. Signing this petition will help show that thousands of people in Alabama, and other states, support the rights of teachers to discuss scientific dissent from Darwinism without having to fear losing their jobs.
The Christian Coalition of Alabama is proud to support legislators like Representative Grimes who protect our rights as Christians, and the rights of all teachers to teach the scientific truth in the classroom. With leaders like him, we will continue to make progress in a way that allows our beliefs to be a part of the critical dialogue over Darwinian evolution in our classrooms, a theory that is considered unbelievable and unproven by many scientists.
In his service,
 
Randy Brinson, MD
Chairman, Christian Coalition of Alabama
________________________________________

Quotes from Joseph Hollis:
Joseph Hollis, is a member of the board of Christian Coalition of Alabama
and member of Fresh Anointing Church, in Montgomery Al
Regarding: Christian Coalition of Alabama
The absolutely NEW Christian Coalition (of Alabama) has begun the business of breaking stereotypes and solidifying the tone for the conducting of business in Alabama. As walls are broken, real Christians will emerge with a single, real voice that will permeate culture and motivate social revival and renewal.
Regarding: Dr. Randy Brinson
Dr. Randy Brinson has accepted the call to guide the winds of change in the State of Alabama. His practical display of the gospel of Jesus Christ through public policy will revolutionize American thinking and challenge all Americans to live both righteous and just lives.


March 26, 2008, The Brewton Standard
Preference vote good for Alabama
The decision to move our presidential preference primary up to Feb. 5 has been considered by most observers to have been good for our state. Leaders of both political parties have hailed it as a success and well worth the cost. It was a public relations plus in two ways. It shed a positive image and gave us deference from the candidates for the first time in modern history. In addition, it gave us a relevant say in the nominating process. In short, we became players in the presidential race.
An Alabama physician has quietly become a player himself, not only in Alabama politics but nationally in this year's presidential contest. Dr. Randy Brinson, a Montgomery physician, recently became Chairman of the Christian Coalition of Alabama. Brinson quickly gave the organization renewed confidence and credibility it had lost after it was revealed that they were the conduits for a massive amount of money from out-of-state Indian gambling interests.
Brinson moved into the national political picture early this year. Brinson and his wife, Pam, founded Redeem the Vote during the 2004 Presidential Campaign to register faith oriented young people to vote. The organization is bipartisan and it is estimated that they registered 100,000 new voters in 2004. That number has doubled this year.
Brinson and his wife leased a red, black and gold bus and traveled throughout the country stopping at university campuses to register young voters and educate them on the process and issues. In Alabama the Redeem the Vote bus stopped at Alabama State, Auburn and the University of Alabama.
Brinson has received national publicity for his efforts. In fact, the Washington Post credits him with helping start Mike Huckabee's roll, momentum and ultimate victory in Iowa. Huckabee got involved with Brinson when he began his Redeem the Vote effort.
However, Brinson's power nationally is derived from another source. Brinson is the keeper of the most massive email list of Christian voters in America. Dr. Brinson used his list to guide Huckabee to victory in every evangelical state in America, including Iowa, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, West Virginia, and Kansas. Brinson's list includes 70 million contacts, with 25 million identified as being between “25 and 45, upwardly mobile, right of center, conservative households.”
How did Dr. Brinson build this impressive, massive and target rich list which has made him such an important figure? In February of 2004 Brinson was at a meeting of national religious broadcasters when he met a group of people doing the early marketing efforts for Mel Gibson's film, “The Passion of the Christ.” Brinson, who has been involved in politics for much of his life, had been searching for ideas about how to build a list to reach the Christian community. In conversations with producers of the movie a trust was formed. Their bond began the production of the list. However, it was not until Jim Caviezel, the actor who played Jesus in the film, taped a promotion for Redeem the Vote that the list really took off.
Brinson has become an important mastermind in presidential politics. His counsel, and more importantly his list, will be very much sought after in years to come. Dr. Randy Brinson may not be a household name in Alabama politics, but if I were running for a statewide office in Alabama he would be the first visit I would make and hope I made a friend.
Steve Flowers served 16 years in the State Legislature. He may be reached at www.steveflowers.us

Local Christian Leaders Gather to Protest Bingo

Posted: March 13, 2008 08:09 PM CDT WSFA Channel 12
Updated: March 13, 2008 08:09 PM CDT
 
Dothan, Al (WSFA) -- New controversy over the Country Crossings entertainment district announcement in Houston County.
Local religious and business leaders along with the Alabama Christian Coalition rallied expressing their concern over projects proposed charitable bingo.
Rev. Tom Anderson is concerned. He's fighting bingo but not for himself.
"So I got a cause, I got a cause. I believe this for my grandchildren and the people of the this community," said Anderson.
Anderson and others meet on the steps of the Houston County courthouse to hear Christian Coalition chairmen for Alabama Dr. Randy Brinson.
They rallied in protest of bingo machines being at Country Crossings. Dr. Brinson told the crowd, they need the help of politicians to make a difference.
"In order to stop this we must have a legislative solution to this," said Dr. Brinson.
Their issue is with bingo. They support the project, it's just the fact that it would have bingo at the site. That's what they have a problem with.
"I believe it needs to be modified and I believe gambling needs to be left out," said Rev. Anderson.
County Commissioners say they are aware of the communities concerns. They want to stress, that bingo is just a tiny part of a greater whole.
"It's about entertainment, it's about an amusement park, and an RV park, it's a huge complex," said Houston County Commission chairman Mark Culver.
The commission has been assured that $2 million dollars will go to charities every year.
The first phase of Country Crossings is expected to open July of 2009.
Reporter: Daniel Curtis

Christian Coalition Of Alabama Visits Houston County

Posted: 7:12 PM Mar 13, 2008, WTVY Channel 4
Last Updated: 10:27 AM Mar 14, 2008
Reporter: Rhiana Huckins
Email Address: rhiana@wtvy.com
http://www.wtvynews4.com/home/headlines/16660206.html 
 
Officials with the Christian Coalition of Alabama drove from Birmingham and Montgomery to stage the protest against electronic charity bingo, which is slated to be part of the multi-million dollar Country Crossing project.
The Christian Coalition of Alabama made phone calls to residents in the Wiregrass area asking them to attend the protest Thursday.

In all, about 40 people showed up to listen to the chairman of the organization. The leaders of the protest were not from Houston County. In fact, they made the trip from Montgomery and Birmingham.
Houston County residents have been receiving phone calls and seeing advertisements to support Country Crossings and electronic bingo, or not to support?
Thursday, several citizens attended a protest outside the Houston County Courthouse opposing electronic bingo.
The Christian Coalition of Alabama organized the rally, and one local organization wants it to be known they were not involved.
Jerry Grandstaff, director of Missions, CBA, said, "It’s not only what we oppose that is important to me, it’s how we oppose it. I want Columbia Baptist to be sure that our name is respected, and when we do take opposition stance to moral issues, I want people to know we do it the right way and friendly way."
Dr. Randy Brinson, chairman of the Christian Coalition of Alabama spoke about the dangers he feels may come from having electronic bingo in Houston County.
"Chairman Mark Culver publicly stated that the regulations were necessary to provide for ‘more stringent regulation to prevent the expansion of gambling’; unfortunately, the regulations do just the opposite. They allow for a Class C operator to own and conduct bingo through the same type of high speed machines and gambling that goes through Victory Land and Green Track," Dr. Brinson said.
Dr. Brinson also spoke about proposed House Bill 577 and how it would put an end to the spread of gambling in Alabama.
Houston County Commission Chairman Mark Culver said, "The issue I have with them pushing the bill is that they're saying charitable bingo isn’t good in our part of the state, but it authorizes it in two other parts of the state. So to me, that’s a mixed message."
The bill would allow Mobile County and Birmingham to keep bingo legal on approved sites.
Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright was also in attendance Thursday afternoon, supporting the Christian Coalition’s position.

March 19, 2008, MyFox, Birmingham
Bingo Protestors Gather at Walker County Courthouse
The chairman of the Christian Coalition of Alabama and other supporters gathered at the steps of the Walker County Courthouse to protest bingo operations. Dr. Randy Brinson said most places with bingo operations have an increase in crime. The protestors were joined by some bingo supporters.
Video: http://www.myfoxal.com/myfox/MyFox/pages/sidebar_video.jsp?contentId=6078401&version=1&locale=EN-US

Bingo opponents rally in Jasper
Christian Coalition calls for clarity in gambling laws
Thursday, March 20, 2008
KENT FAULK
News staff writer

JASPER - A group of about 50 pastors and others opposed to electronic bingo operations in Walker County gathered Wednesday for an anti-gambling rally led by the head of the Christian Coalition of Alabama.
A half dozen people who support the electronic bingo halls remaining open also attended the event.
Randy Brinson, chairman of the coalition, said the electronic bingo halls that have sprung up in that county have opened through loopholes in state laws originally enacted to allow charities to play limited times each week with paper cards. In Walker County, multiple charities have banded together to form cooperatives to run the electronic bingo halls.
"There's a vast amount of illegal gambling going on in Walker County due to a lack of clarity in the laws that govern gambling in our state," Brinson said.
The social costs of gambling, including crime and family debt, take a toll on communities, Brinson said at the rally at the front steps to the Walker County Courthouse. "It's a net losing proposition for counties," he said.
Brinson has taken a controversial stand among Christian groups opposed to gambling by supporting a bill in the Alabama House of Representatives that would allow electronic bingo at existing racetracks, including Birmingham, but shut down the bingo halls in Walker County and elsewhere. That would confine the gambling to certain areas, he said.
"If people have to travel somewhere, they are less likely to spend all their paycheck on that, versus an impulse gambler in Walker County who can walk down the street and gamble it away," Brinson said.
Brinson held a similar rally last week in Dothan in front of the courthouse in Houston County, which also has electronic charity bingo.
Several of the supporters of electronic bingo at Wednesday's rally work for one of the bingo halls, Charity Bingo of Walker County on U.S. 78. Several held signs, including one that said "Stop Religious Persecution, Support Charity Bingo."
"I'm here to save my job," said Roosevelt Holiday, who wore a T-shirt with lettering that read "I Support Charity Bingo of Walker County."
Several supporters of the electronic charity bingo said the operations in Walker County are legal under the local constitutional amendment. They questioned why Brinson supported allowing the electronic bingo at the racetracks while wanting to terminate jobs in Walker County at bingo halls that also provide money to local charities.
E-mail: kfaulk@bhamnews.com 
 

Anti-gambling rally draws small crowd
 Thursday, Mar 13, 2008 - 05:54 PM Updated: 06:56 PM
 By Debbie Ingram
Christian Coalition leader Randy Brinson brought an anti-gambling message to Houston County on a sunny day, saying the area will not look like the Branson, Mo. which Country Crossing developers are painting it as with its clean, wholesome, family entertainment.
“You are going to look like Biloxi,” he said. “It will change the town you know and love.”
Brinson addressed about 50 people, many of them supporters, gathered for a Thursday afternoon rally at the doors of the Houston County Courthouse, and urged residents to ask legislators to close loopholes in the law to stop the expansion of electronic bingo.
He also asked that residents ask county commissioners to rescind their bingo resolution.
“You can’t remain silent,” Brinson said. “We’re all for economic development but it has to be the right kind. Not the type that takes from the poor.”
Brinson said he favors state bingo legislation which would limit large-scale gambling in the form of bingo and dog racing in Macon, Greene, Jefferson and Mobile counties. That legislation, however, would give those communities more of a monopoly.
“It would protect all areas where there is no gaming,” Brinson said. “Gambling would be confined only to those areas. People have to travel. It makes a difference — impulse gambling versus destination gambling.”
He said the laws would also help protect the Poarch Creek Indians’ gambling interests.
Brinson acknowledged that county commissioners acted within the law in promulgating bingo laws on Feb. 25, but he said it was never the intent of charitable bingo proceeds to “go to developers’ pockets and make them rich.”
He called the 1,500-machine bingo center developer Ronnie Gilley plans to open at Country Crossing, a “glorified gambling hall.” And even though Country Crossing developers have pledged an annual allocation of $2 million to charities and education, Brinson wants to know how much will go to the developers.
As Brinson took questions from the media, the driver of a car traveling on Oates Street sounded the horn, and someone yelled out, “Bingo!”
But those attending the rally were strictly anti-gambling. Several times during Brinson’s speech, members of the crowd applauded.
“Bingo has been brought in undercover as something innocent when it is not,” said Tara Messer of Houston County. “They are not giving much thought to what will happen (to our area).”
Imogene Johnson, a member of Memphis Baptist Church, said Christians have to stand up for their beliefs. “Christians don’t approve of the lottery and gambling,” she said.
Dothan resident John Anderson said he is not against the project but thinks the main focus should not be gambling.
“It will increase crime and bring morals down,” he said.
Brinson was accompanied by Montgomery Mayor Bobby Bright who is running for Terry Everett’s Second Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Jerry Grandstaff of the Columbia Baptist Association in Dothan said his organization was not affiliated with the rally in any way.
 

Who Would Jesus Vote For?
by Bob Moser
The Nation (NY) 3-24-2008
Find this article here: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080324/moser
On the late-January Sunday before this state's decisive Republican primary, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee got praised and blessed and prayed over during morning services at one of the biggest conservative megachurches in the political swing region of Central Florida, Orlando's 14,000-member First Baptist. In a time when the much-ballyhooed evangelical political machine shows unmistakable signs of flying apart and scattering in uncertain directions, here was a momentary return to the old order. Here was Pastor David Uth doing just what an evangelical megaminister is supposed to do--anointing the nearest thing to a theocratic candidate as the more or less official choice of his church, while simultaneously sending the not so subtle signal that has issued forth from the nation's pulpits for three decades now: Christians vote Republican.
But while Uth was reinforcing that well-worn commandment, his encomium of Huckabee had something fresh about it. Rather than emphasize the governor's Dark Age convictions on culture-war issues, or his wild-eyed pledge to amend the Constitution in the Lord's image, Uth told a story dating from the civil rights era. His father had tried to integrate his Baptist flock in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and, to make a long story short, the Uths got run out of town by the Klan. But the elder Pastor Uth was followed in the Pine Bluff pulpit by a young Mike Huckabee, who successfully "broke the race barrier." His admiration for the candidate, Uth said, stems from their common conviction that if the church "isn't for everybody, it isn't for anybody."
If this wasn't exactly revolutionary talk--and if Huckabee hadn't exactly run the kind of inclusive campaign Uth's anecdote suggests--the change in tone is characteristic of the sharp, surprising turn evangelical politics is taking. Even if you're endorsing Huckabee, it seems, you're duty-bound in 2008 to find a broad-minded rationale for doing it.
Just four years ago, when unprecedented turnout by born-again "values voters" was credited with ensuring George W. Bush's re-election, the political face of evangelicalism was Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, screeching red-faced to football-sized crowds about gay marriage as "the Waterloo," "Gettysburg" and a force that "will destroy the earth." Now the Moral Majority generation of Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Phyllis Schlafly, the folks who fired up politically apathetic born-again Christians in the 1970s by declaring war on public schools, abortion rights, gay rights and "liberalism," has lost its grip on the movement--partly by refusing to expand their agendas to suit a rising generation of younger evangelicals who care more about global warming than winning elections for corporate Republicans, more about combating poverty than denouncing homosexuality. With one-quarter of Americans identifying themselves as evangelicals--about 4 percent more than those who say they're mainline Protestants--the political stakes could hardly be higher. But the political upshot could hardly be murkier.
Twenty miles up the road, deep in the suburbs of Seminole County, a more thoroughgoing departure from Moral Majority-style politics is on display that same Sunday at Northland, Central Florida's cutting-edge megachurch. More than 12,000 folks--mostly middle-class, mostly white--praise Him here at four elaborately choreographed services each weekend. They're drawn not only by the rock-concert atmospherics and full-service approach (preschool, childcare, coffee bar) but also by the genial magnetism and post-religious-right message of the Rev. Joel Hunter.
And what, pray tell, does "post-religious-right" mean, exactly? In Northland's case, on this critical political Sunday, it means that almost nothing is said about politics. During his opening announcements, director of student ministries Sean Cooper, a lanky 34-year-old in slim-fitting prewashed jeans, encourages first-time voters to "believe in the process that God has called this country to." That's as political as it gets. Cooper segues into the four-piece house band, which ably thumps its way through two trippy tunes of U2-inspired praise rock, both tied to Hunter's equally trippy theme for the day: "Beautiful Collision." The concept comes from liberal theologian N.T. Wright, who observed that the purpose of Jesus' work was to bring heaven to earth, resulting in inevitable "explosions." Materializing onstage, Hunter kicks off his message by proclaiming: "They say at the birth of the universe, there was a big bang. I can believe it!"
It's impossible to imagine Jerry Falwell opening an election week sermon quite like this--and with an implicit embrace of a scientific fundamental, for goodness' sakes. But, then, Hunter's chief aim is to crack open the closed minds of his fellow conservatives. "He's the only evangelical pastor I've ever heard call on his congregation to donate during an NPR pledge drive," says Mark Pinsky, the Orlando Sentinel's religion writer, who has followed Hunter's ascendancy for more than a decade. "Certainly the only one who references Foreign Affairs in his sermons--I mean, I don't read Foreign Affairs."
Hunter clearly relishes kicking against his parishioners' limits, intellectually, spiritually and politically. On election Sunday, his sermon is chock-full of reminders that this is not your grandfather's evangelicalism. He makes a playful break from hidebound literalism: "There were twelve apostles," he says at one point, interrupting himself to add, "maybe a few more than that. Maybe a hundred." He distances himself from the feel-good Christianity of prosperity preachers: "A lot of times life doesn't get better" when a person accepts Christ, he says. "It's hard. Things become not clearer but more complicated." And he embraces mainstream culture, informing the folks that he's agreed to an interview on The Colbert Report. "Anybody can be on a religion channel," he says. "But when Christians are on the news channel, on the Comedy Channel, we're out there where God is.... What we're interested in is taking the Bible out of these rooms."
Like Purpose-Driven Life author and pastor Rick Warren and the Rev. Bill Hybels, who heads the 12,000-church Willow Creek network, the 59-year-old Hunter has vaulted to national prominence as a frontman for the new wave of evangelicalism--a fast-spreading movement intent on expanding the scope of Christian politics beyond the Falwell/Dobson generation's obsessions. "You've gotta go back to the re-engagement of Christian activism in the '70s," Hunter tells me later, to understand how the movement took the form it did. "All of these new things had started happening with the cultural shift and the free sex, and abortion, and taking prayer out of the schools.... There arose some real reaction, and it was really negative, very protectionistic." The political push for "moral values," he says, "wasn't bad. But I think there was a fixation on a very narrow agenda, a very self-centered agenda.... It was a very kind of paranoid language and still is to this day, partly because that's the easiest way to mobilize people and raise money." But it's not the end of the story, Hunter said. "You start tilting toward, 'Wait a minute. Are we just against stuff, or are we actually for something? Can we really build something good instead of just being against something bad?'"
What this "something good" might add up to, particularly when it comes to politics, is anybody's guess. At Northland on this election Sunday, the clues are decidedly mixed. When he finally gets to politics, Hunter asks the congregation to consider signing the petition for a statewide referendum on gay marriage. And then, having reverted momentarily to classic Christian-right politics (though not of the red-faced variety), Hunter offers one last reminder of how things are evolving. Go vote on Tuesday, he says. But don't expect your pastor to tell you how, or for whom. "I don't care who you vote for," Hunter says, shrugging theatrically. "Vote your values. Vote what you think Jesus' values would be." He laughs. "As close as you can get!"
In the grim days after the 2004 elections, when the religious right was basking in the credit for an unlikely Republican triumph, I asked the Rev. Mel White, a former ghostwriter and filmmaker for Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson and Billy Graham who now leads the LGBT rights group Soulforce, what progressives and Democrats could do to reach out to evangelical voters. It has to involve a message that emphasizes what the two sides have in common, White said: "We forget that Jesus was intent on liberating us from materialism--while fundamentalists are all about materialism. Jesus' message was: 'Sell everything you have; give your money to the poor; take up your cross and follow me.' The real Jesus calls us to justice and mercy." But while "the Republican Party has framed all the issues in moral terms, the Democrats have framed the issues mostly in economic terms," said liberal evangelist Tony Campolo. They haven't been asking voters to see "moral values" in social terms, rather than those of personal morality.
The social gospel has been taken up in this campaign by Barack Obama and John Edwards, who have spoken often about the deep influence their personal faith has on shaping their progressive politics. But, as White cautioned me then, there is only so much that the Democrats can do about changing evangelicals' minds and hearts. "Only people of faith can take on people of faith who've gone nuts," White said.
None of the rising generation of evangelical leaders have been more outspoken, and for longer, than Joel Hunter. In 1988, when Northland was still meeting in a skating rink, he became alarmed by Pat Robertson's campaign for President and penned a warning tract called Right Wing, Wrong Bird, observing rather bracingly that "Christians have this image of just being raving lunatics; and in some respects, it is well-deserved." Hunter exhorted evangelicals to think for themselves, to look past the culture-war issues that had come to define Christian politics.
At the time, Hunter's dissenting voice was drowned out by the media-amplified cacophony of the Falwells, Dobsons and Robertsons. But by 2006, when Hunter mounted his most audacious challenge to the religious-right hierarchy, new voices were being heard. There was the Rev. Jim Wallis, whose book tour for God's Politics turned into a Christian left mini-revival. There was Gregory Boyd, losing 1,000 congregants in his St. Paul megachurch after delivering a series of six "Cross and the Sword" sermons decrying Christian-right imperialism in the frankest terms: "Never in history have we had a Christian theocracy where it wasn't bloody and barbaric," Boyd said. "I am sorry to tell you that America is not the light of the world and the hope of the world. The light of the world and hope of the world is Jesus Christ." There was former rock guitarist Rob Bell, "revolutionary" leader of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, preaching a Bible-centered social gospel for young evangelicals while poking the Christian right in its tenderest spot: "Religious people killed Jesus because he threatened their system. So what they say is faith is actually fear...it is fear that is rooted in ignorance and, actually, a lack of faith."
Hunter took a flying leap of faith in 2006, when he signed on to the unlikely challenge of reviving the debt-plagued, internally divided Christian Coalition. The episode made headlines when he resigned before officially assuming the post. He says he made clear his intention to refocus the coalition toward "compassion issues," but once rank-and-file coalition stalwarts got wind of Hunter's blunt opinions about religious-right excesses, his opposition to the death penalty and support for a two-state solution in Israel-Palestine, his backing withered. Hunter now wonders, "Man, what was I thinking?" But, he says, "I was curious as to whether or not any of the traditional hard-right organizations could really expand the agenda."
He got his answer. But the story made great copy, and it turned Hunter into a symbol of the generational clash in evangelical politics. In 2007 the National Association of Evangelicals asked him to star in a thirty-second "Creation Care" commercial promoting its Evangelical Climate Initiative. "Did you know that evangelical leaders are telling us that global warming must be stopped because it will bring more devastating floods, droughts and disease?" Hunter asks in the spot. It sounded meek enough, but it set off a major fuss among traditionalists--Dobson, Gary Bauer et al.--who sent the NAE a strongly worded letter of objection, clearly fearing an ignominious retreat toward the gentle social gospel of mainline Protestantism. Hunter, who'd gotten death threats after publicly supporting an independent Palestine, was still surprised at the blowback against Creation Care. "It was, 'You're un-American. You hate America because you believe America ought to do things.'"
Which is precisely the point of the new politics, he told me the week before the Florida primaries: doing things. Redeem the Vote, an evangelical and ostensibly nonpartisan effort to register young voters, had come to Seminole County in the form of a bus full of registration forms, Cokes and doughnuts, and Hunter was holding forth in the breezy chill outside with some college-aged kids from Northland. There is now, Hunter said, "this whole younger generation of evangelicals who say, 'You know? I'm not so sure that I'm mad at anybody. But I care about the earth. I care about poor people. I care about those who have been exploited by the system. So I don't care what's conservative or liberal; I care about getting stuff done.'"
Jeremiah Shaw, a student at nearby Rollins College, comes as near as anybody to exemplifying that generation. He's a registered independent and still undecided about a candidate even after Hunter's seminar on the presidential candidates the week before. (The main topic, he said, was Obama.) An international affairs major, Shaw said he's "heavily involved in Africa, working with villages with orphaned children." When I asked him about "moral issues"--like the controversy over prochoice Obama speaking at Rick Warren's conference on global AIDS--Shaw pshawed. "I don't find that controversial, actually. The more people are educated about the pandemic, the better off we are."
Under-30 evangelicals like Shaw hold the keys to a new political kingdom. They are less likely to be weekly churchgoers, less likely to be biblical literalists and they believe that the government should do more to protect the environment. On the core culture-war issue of gay marriage, they increasingly stray from the fold, with fewer than half favoring a gay-marriage ban. While they remain overwhelmingly antiabortion, a large majority would like a civil cease-fire in the abortion wars. And they are all too vividly aware of the unflattering reputation given to the name "Christian" by many of their evangelical elders. When I asked Shaw if people ever assume he's going to be narrow-minded and hateful when they find out he's a Christian, he laughed. "All the time, man. And I always find myself kind of saying, 'I'm a Christian, but...' I try to model my life on Jesus' life, not on that other kind of Christianity. And I'm going to try and vote the same way." All of which would have made his pastor proud. Except that Hunter was busy at the moment, across the street at the elections office, casting an early vote for Huckabee.
For students at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama, on the brisk, blowy Friday morning before Super Tuesday, there is no missing the Redeem the Vote bus. Pumping Christian rock from exterior speakers, it has parked smack dab in front of the campus union. All morning students pass by, eyeing the spectacle somewhat suspiciously as local TV cameras and a reporter from Sweden mill around on the sidewalk and chat with Redeem the Vote's three-person staff. When they venture close, the students are seized upon by a lanky, balding, high-octane fellow asking rapid-fire questions: "Are you registered? Are you planning to vote? Good. Absentee? Well, look, you're going to need to know what the law is for absentee voting in the state where you're from. We have all kinds of information inside the bus..."
With his wife, Pam, Randy Brinson, a successful gastroenterologist in Montgomery, founded Redeem the Vote in 2003. This vigorous, seat-of-the-pants push to register young voters became an unlikely smash in 2004, with estimates of newly Redeemed voters ranging from 78,000 to nearly 100,000. The effort was boosted by PSAs featuring Passion of the Christ star Jim Caviezel, which aired for free on some 2,500 Christian radio stations and flashed on Jumbotrons at Christian concerts and festivals. "USA Today called us the most influential group in the 2004 elections," Brinson says. This year, the bus--a new twist--has pulled onto twenty college campuses and countless church parking lots during early primaries. In Iowa, Redeem the Vote set up tables at rallies for both Democratic and Republican candidates, while offering the Brinsons' e-mail database--which they claim is to be the largest in the country--to candidates of both parties. The only one to make extensive use of the database, which US News & World Report deemed "God's black book," was Huckabee, who won the state. The only candidate besides the Arkansan to accept Redeem the Vote's invitation to pray was Senator Obama, the other winner there. The group was credited with helping increase voter turnout among "faith voters" and under-30s.
But who is Redeem the Vote bringing to caucuses and primaries? Jeff Sharlet, an editor of therevealer.org, which reviews religion and the press, has called it a "thinly-veiled GOP vote machine." After all, with the focus on Christian colleges and concerts, those being reached are going to come, overwhelmingly, from Republican homes. But Brinson insists there's nothing partisan in Redeem the Vote's pitch. "Just because we're from the faith community, we're not antagonistic toward the Democratic Party," he says. "And just because we're interested in issues like healthcare and poverty, we're also not hostile to the Republican Party."
This even-handedness sounds like a bit of a stretch to some, especially given that Brinson is chair of the Christian Coalition of Alabama (much weakened after financial scandals and a mass right-wing defection, but hardly "nonpartisan"). Sharlet also noted that the effort in 2004 was heavily staffed by students of the religious-right Patrick Henry College and that the Redeem the Vote board--of which Huckabee was briefly chair before he ran for President--is overwhelmingly Republican despite the inclusion of evangelical Democrats. Though this year's edition includes at least one Democratic staffer, with whom I spoke, Redeem the Vote's "partners" still include Fox News and Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network.
But the point of Redeem the Vote, Brinson says, is not to multiply Republicanism but to disperse evangelicals' political power across the spectrum. "Evangelicals in their voting blocs were supposed to be like sheep," he tells me. His mission, like that of Hunter and Warren and Bell, is to combat that sheeplike behavior. By the time the bus pulls out of Birmingham, about 100 Samford students have registered and solemnly promised to vote. (The day before, the Redeemers made successful stops at two public universities, signing up about 200 new voters at traditionally black Alabama State in Montgomery, and upward of 100 at Auburn University.) What clearly interests Brinson more than the numbers is what happens when he can lure an audience into the bus. Around 11 am, he is perched in the middle of its comfy lounge area, surrounded by a Samford journalism class, doing his darnedest to make them think.
In the course of ten minutes, Brinson plunges into all sorts of uncomfortable territory: gay "lifestyles" ("everybody is a unique creation of God"), abortion ("if a woman has ended up in a situation where she feels compelled to make that decision, we're not going to condemn her for that") and, finally--eyeing his mostly female audience--something that really wakes them up. "There is a strong connection between domestic abuse and the traditional idea of male supremacy and wifely submission to husbands in the church," he says. "The gay community puts more resources into this issue, into fighting domestic abuse and violence, than anybody!" he thundered.
The students seem a bit dumbstruck by it all. Eventually Brinson dials back his voice. "Can I pray with you?" The students nod yes, yes, a little nervously. "Lord," he says rather tenderly, "I just pray that you light them up."
Whatever the short-term partisan effect of efforts like Redeem the Vote, there's no question that the rising generation of evangelicals are looking at politics from very different angles. While they voted overwhelmingly for Bush in 2004, there is good reason to believe that the GOP's edge will soften, perhaps considerably, over time. Among other moderating influences, younger Bible believers see the role of government in a vastly different way from older evangelicals; 60 percent believe that government should work to redistribute wealth more evenly. Their elders generally believed--in sync with Reaganism--that government should be small and people should fend for themselves with the Lord's assistance. When the most popular magazine for young evangelicals, Relevant, asked readers recently to characterize their "political views on social issues (healthcare, poverty)," the largest portion, 44 percent, called themselves "liberal." Asked, "Who do you think was a better president?" 55 percent picked Clinton over Bush. Asked the most crucial question of all, "Who would Jesus vote for?" the most popular answer was a Democrat, Barack Obama, at 29 percent.
"Obama holds the youth card," says Samford student Caroline Bell. She has friends on campus working on his campaign, and that's OK with her, even though she is working for John McCain and the local GOP. "I'm not one to play the Christian card. We want to move away from that, to no longer be thinking, 'Is this the Christian view? Is this the Christian candidate?' It's a whole lot more about policies now."
"It's almost shocking," says Rob Howell, Samford's student government president, "that abortion and gay marriage were so important before, and now those issues have disappeared." Instead, "People are talking about healthcare and social reform. The economy is talked about more than anything. There's a lot of focus on the war and on the morality of our foreign policy. One of the main objections I hear is our insistence on being an occupying force in a foreign country." It all cuts the Democrats' way, he says, except that the perception of the party as "anti-religion" lingers. "It's not as prevalent as it used to be," Howell says, "but it's still there beneath the surface."
The trend away from slavish evangelical loyalty to the GOP clearly constitutes a gathering storm for the party; Republicans stand to lose not only millions of voters but also their "faith-based" edge in grassroots organizing and voter mobilization. Meanwhile, as Time magazine's "Nation" editor Amy Sullivan, author of The Party Faithful: How and Why Democrats Are Closing the God Gap, has written, "this is a better moment for Democrats to pick up support from religious moderates"--a group that includes 40 percent of evangelicals--"than any other time in the past few decades. That's because evangelicals themselves are the ones who are broadening the faith agenda." This broadening is overdue, when you consider that 40 percent of Bush's evangelical voters in 2004 also considered themselves "liberals" on economic issues. Fewer than half--most of them over 45--say Dobson or Robertson speaks for them politically. In 2008, says Mark Pinsky, "Democrats can peel away 15 to 25 percent of white evangelicals, as Carter and Clinton did."
But in the long run, the direction of evangelical politics is about as clear as the Book of Revelation. Even when former religious-right leaders like Frank Schaeffer endorse Obama, as he did recently on The Huffington Post, they are hardly calling for a mass defection to the Democratic Party. "In 2000, we elected a president who claimed he believed God created the earth," Schaeffer wrote, echoing a widespread view, "and who, as president, put car manufacturers and oil companies' interests ahead of caring for that creation. We elected a prolife Republican Congress that did nothing to actually care for pregnant women and babies. And they took their sincere evangelical followers for granted, and played them for suckers."
Evangelical moderates and progressives are increasingly making one thing clear: they won't be suckered again. Which will make them as much of a challenge, going forward, for Democrats and progressives as for Republicans and conservatives. "We don't think Jesus is a Democrat," cautioned Tony Campolo, "any more than we think he's a Republican."

 

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