'Christian-Right' lumped with ISIS, Boko Haram

Boko Haram

A human rights foundation that lists "homophobia and transphobia" as its first concern has released a "Manifesto for Secularism" that labels the "Christian-Right" as an example of a community based on "ethnicity, religion and culture" – alongside the violent Islamic jihadist groups ISIS and Boko Haram.

The Christians have been advocating for their right to exercise their faith, including opposition to homosexual behavior and abortion, while ISIS has been slaughtering Christians and others in Iraq and Boko Haram has been slaughtering mostly Christians in North Africa.

The online posting from the U.K.'s Peter Tatchell Foundation says secularism is "vital for the defense of democracy, equality and human rights."

"We call on people everywhere to stand with us to establish an international front against the religious-Right and for secularism."

It explains the movements that it opposes as: "The Islamic State (formerly ISIS), the Saudi regime, Hindutva (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) in India, the Christian-Right in the U.S. and Europe, Bodu Bala Sena in Sri Lanka, Haredim in Israel, AQMI and MUJAO in Mali, Boko Haram in Nigeria, the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic Salvation Front in Algeria."

The statement drew a terse response from Simon Calvert, spokesman for the Christian Institute.

"They're hijacking genuine concern about murderous terrorists to slander evangelicals," he said. "Clearly, holding traditional views about sexual ethics and having a pro-life stance is not remotely equivalent to the threat caused by groups such as those currently ravaging the Middle East and North Africa.'

Calvert said the U.K. is historically a Christian nation, and "it would be extremely harmful to let go of that heritage in response to hyped up claims from atheists and secularists who are jumping on a bandwagon."

"People need to recognize where the real threats are coming from and stop picking on Christians."

Tatchell, the foundation director, specifically targeted Christians in his statement that accompanied the manifesto.

"The launch of the Manifesto for Secularism is a challenge to the global rise of the Religious Right and its menacing values, which threaten women, LGBTs, atheists, minority faiths, apostates and many others," he said.

"Wherever religion has political power, human rights are attacked and restricted – as in Saudi Arabia and Iran. Even when religion has little or no formal political power, such as in the U.K. and U.S., the Religious Right has often sabotaged women's reproductive rights and equality for LGBT people," Tatchell said.

He said the manifesto is a result of a conference involving a few hundred people, mostly women.

The manifesto calls for secularism as a fundamental right, separation of religion from public policy, education, health care and science, the abolition of religious laws in family, civil and criminal codes, no discrimination against "LGBT, religious minorities, women, freethinkers, ex-Muslims" and others, and the "freedom to criticize religion."

The signatories included personalities such as Tunisian filmmaker Nadi El Fani, Nina Sankari, of the Atheist Coalition I Poland, Pakistani social activist Pervfez Hoodbhoy, Tatchell and Terry Sanderson of the National Secular Society.

But the Christian Institute said it already has warned that recent government proposals in the U.K. to crack down on "extremists" could be misused against Christians for nothing more than supporting traditional marriage or repeating the biblical message that salvation is through Christ alone.

WND has reported on multiple moves by the U.S. government to lump Christians with terrorists.

President Obama put conservatives in the bull's-eye in the early weeks of his administration.

At that time a newly unclassified Department of Homeland Security report warned of the possibility of violence by unnamed "right-wing extremists," including opponents of abortion.

The DHS report was followed days later by a report from the Missouri Information Analysis Center that warned law enforcement officials to watch out for individuals with "radical" ideologies based on Christianity.

Nevertheless, it was the Family Research Council, a Christian organization advocating for traditional marriage and opposition to abortion and homosexual practices, which was targeted by a confessed domestic terrorist.

That was when Floyd Corkins II armed himself, went into the FRC offices and tried to kill workers. He ended up injuring one. Corkins said he chose to attack FRC because the organization was listed as an "anti-gay" hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center on its website.

In a speech at a recent the Values Voter Summit 2013, Alveda King, a niece of Martin Luther King Jr., condemned the practice of labeling Christian organizations "hate" groups.

She said Corkins "came to FRC as a gunman, fueled by hate mongering from the Southern Poverty Law Center."

"The shooter admitted he was directed to FRC's location by the Southern Poverty Law Center's website. While SPLC claims to fight against hate, they have been saying hateful things about the Family Research Council and perhaps other groups who are represented here today," King said.

"Today the shooter is behind bars as the result of being convicted for domestic terrorism. But the SPLC and many others, who couch hate and anger in false claims of civil rights activism, still roam free to confuse the masses with their deceptions," said King.

The issue of viewing some conservatives and Christians possible terror threats is a recurring theme in the Obama administration.

At one point, the chief of the U.S. Army ordered that training for the military on "extremists" be halted until the program can be corrected and standardized to eliminate reported Christian-bashing.

During one such "training" course the material was reported to have labeled the pro-family American Family Association as a hate group.

Previously, a study at the West Point Military Academy asserted people who are part of the ideological right wing of American society constitute a danger to the nation.

The Department of Defense also was caught teaching that those who oppose abortion are "low-level terrorists."

A West Point study from the U.S. Military Academy's Combating Terrorism Center linked opposition to abortion and other "fundamental" positions to terrorism.