BornAgainAmerican.org: Co-Opting Christianity For Political Gain

I started to let this go by without posting on it, but the longer I thought about it the angrier I became. This afternoon, I received an email from a friend who suggested I go to a website and view a video. It was a forwarded email that had comments from several different people included so I had to scroll a while to get to get to the actual link. All of the comments were very complimentary of the video so by the time I got to the link, I was excited to find that the link was http://www.bornagainamerican.org and I thought the video was probably something combining God and Country in such a way that I could post it as a motivational video here on the MeridianTeaParty.com website.

We’ve never pushed our religious beliefs on anyone here; however, we have freely acknowledged that our Founding Fathers had extremely high levels of faith and often included the words God or Creator in their writings. These writings and beliefs have served this country well and as Ronald Reagan once wrote, the First Amendment guarantees freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion. Therefore, I was hoping for a video that might support these concepts of faith, liberty and freedom.

I clicked play and watched the video in its entirenty, therefore, before I comment further, I want to give you the same opportunity.

The music and lyrics immediately reminded me of the old populist, folk songs of the sixties, think Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, or Bob Dylan. It has a good melody and an every man quality, but the lyrics caught my attention and my enthusiasm for the song began to fade. In fact, here’s the full lyrics to the song (the emphasis added by me):

Just a workin’ man without a job
It got shipped off to China via Washington, D.C.
And I know I’m nothin’ special, there are plenty more like me
Just the same
I thought I knew the rules of the game

I stood up for this country that I love
I came back from the desert to a wife and kids to feed
I’m not sayin’ Uncle Sam should give me what I need
My offer stands
I’ll pull my weight you give me half a chance

I went up to a congressman and said to him “you know
Our government is letting people down”
He said he’d need a lot of help to buck the status-quo
I said there was a bunch of us around

I’m a Born Again American, conceived in Liberty
My Bible and the Bill of Rights, my creed’s equality
I’m a Born Again American, my country ‘tis of me
And everyone who shares the dream from sea to shining sea

My brother’s welding chassis at the plant
He’s earning what our granddad did in 1948
While CEOs count bonuses behind the castle gates
How can they see
When all they care about’s the do re mi

It’s getting where there’s nowhere left to turn
Not since the crash of twenty-nine have things been so unfair
So many of our citizens are living in despair
The time has come
To reaffirm that hope’s not just for some

The promise of America’s surrendering to greed
The rule is just look out for number one
But brace yourself ‘cause some of us have sown a different seed
A harvest of the spirit has begun

I’m a Born Again American conceived in liberty
My Bible and The Bill Of Rights
My creed’s equality
A Born Again American, my country ‘tis of me
And everyone who shares the dream from sea to shining sea

It’s clear my country’s soul is on the line
She’s hungering for something that she lost along the way
The principle the framers called upon us to obey
That in this land
The people’s will must have the upper hand

I felt the calling once before and took a sacred vow
And faithful to that vow I have remained
I hear the calling once again, my country needs me now
And to her cause I have been re-ordained

I’m a Born Again American conceived in liberty
My Bible and the Bill Of Rights, all people living free
A Born Again American, my country ‘tis of me
And everyone who shares the dream
From sea to shining sea
And everyone who shares the dream
From sea to shining sea
A M E R I C A

By the time the song was over, I was really wanting to know who was behind this website, so I clicked on the ‘About Us‘ page and discovered among the “snapshots” of America that the founder of BornAgainAmerican.org is none other than Norman Lear and the songwriter is Keith Carradine. I’ll get back to Norman Lear in a moment, but first I want you to see the original version of Born Again American as sung by Carradine the way it was written. Pay particular attention around the 1:30 mark.

In case you missed it, the lyric as shown on the website is, “My Bible and the Bill of Rights,” but for some reason Carradine sings it as “My Bible IS the Bill of Rights” which is a completely different meaning than what the professional version of the video and the published lyrics imply. This was just one more red flag for me, but what really put things in focus was the fact that I really couldn’t find any references on the website or in the songs to faith. Sure, the professional version of the video includes a couple of different choirs, but they don’t sing anything about God or faith.

So what is going on here? Is there more than meets the eye? Could it be possible that the “Born Again” part of this website and video is misleading? How about we take a look at what Norman Lear has to say about the video in his introduction to the release of the video coincided with the inauguration of Obama.

Note that in his statement, he criticizes religious leaders for stating that there might be good or bad politics for Christians to support. He describes his decision to become more politically active as his “born again American” moment. Norman Lear if you don’t remember was the creator and producer of such shows as All In The Family, Maude, Sanford And Son, The Jeffersons, Good Times, and One Day At A Time. Although primarily comedies, these shows dealt with topics such as the Vietnam War, birth control, abortion, racism, and divorce before it was normal television fare. In the early seventies, Lear was President of the American Civil Liberties Union in Southern California.  

In an effort to combat the Religious Right, Lear founded People For The American Way (PFAW) in 1981 which “monitors” the “right-wing” groups and opposes the growing influence of the religious right. In 2002, People For The American Way issued a report claiming President George Bush’s nominee for the First Circuit Court Of Appeals, Charles Pickering was a racist. PFAW claimed Bush’s election over Gore in 2000 was illegitimate and they favor full amnesty for illegal aliens. PFAW is funded in part by George Soros’s Open Society Institute.

DiscoverTheNetworks.org states:

In a 2002 interview on PBS, Lear was asked by host Bill Moyers, “Did your heart leap with joy last week when the Federal Court in California said that the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional because that phrase ‘one nation, Under God’ violates the separation of church and state?”  Lear responded: “I won’t say that I was pleased; [but] I wasn’t upset.”

Lear’s contempt for any mention of a deity in school was evident when he told another reporter, “I grew up with prayer in schools. It was a joke. We also pledged allegiance to the flag…. So prayer in school was a joke.”

So, based upon Norman Lear’s well-publicized aversion to anything resembling religion being combined with government or politics, are we to assume that it was an accident that he chose “Born Again American” as the name? Are we to believe that this left-wing radical didn’t know the generally accepted use of the term “Born Again” by Christians? Are we to believe that this is all an innocent attempt to bring in youth and encourage people’s involvement in politics?

Norman Lear is not a stupid man, nor should he believe that we are stupid. This is a blatant attempt to co-opt Christian words to further his left-wing goals. The sad part is that this video and website are being sent around the world and less informed people are being misled into believing that this is a honest appeal to their hearts and spirits.

We are in a fight for the hearts and minds of people and our enemy has no moral standard to guide their actions. These people will say anything and do anything to win. The old saying is “If you stand for nothing, you’ll fall for anything” and that is exactly what people like Norman Lear are counting on.

BornAgainAmerican.org is an insidious lie disguised as a Christian political movement and the people behind it are wolves in sheep’s clothing.

PS: Earlier in this post, I mentioned Ronald Reagan’s comment regarding the First Amendment. In case you were wondering, Reagan wrote this in a letter responding to a letter he received from Norman Lear regarding Lear’s concern that Reagan was invoking the name of God too much in his speeches and Lear wanted Reagan to reassure him that Reagan did not embrace the “Christian Nation” movement. Here’s Reagan’s letter in its entirety:

May 22, 1984

Dear Norman:
I appreciate your writing (May 7) and giving me a chance to set some things straight.  First let me say that until I read your letter I was unaware of any Christian Nation movement, and I certainly do not support the notion that any group of citizens is to be accorded special standing “because it practices any religion.”

I do believe the First Amendment is being somewhat distorted or misinterpreted by some who would, by government decree, make freedom of religion into freedom from religion.  The First Amendment plainly ensures that in this nation there shall be no official state church.  The amendment says the government shall not establish religion, but it also just as plainly says the government shall not interfere in the practice of religion.

But isn’t the government doing the latter when it decrees that a child cannot ask a blessing before lunch in the school cafeteria—particularly when we remember that the child is compelled by law to attend school?

It is true I’ve addressed a number of religious groups—always by their invitation.  Some have been Protestant, some Catholic, some Jewish.  Some have been conferences or conventions of representatives of all religions.  Usually I’ve expressed my views on matters ranging from the right of a child to pray in school—if the child wants to do this—to tuition tax credits to correct the injustice of a parent supporting two school systems while using only one, to my belief that abortion on demand is the taking of a human life unless and until someone can prove that an unborn child is not a living being.

Norman, maybe we’re coming to the same concern from opposite viewpoints, namely the threat to individual freedom.  I believe that Madalyn  Murray O’Hair, who brought about the anti-school-prayer decision, was imposing her atheism on those of us who believe in God.  The goal of our nation must always be [to achieve] the ultimate in individual freedom consistent with an orderly society.

Now, having said this, let me also say that I approve of the references to God in the Declaration of Independence and of the inscription “In God We Trust” on our coins and engraved on the wall of the Capitol.  I believe history shows that every great civilization that has ended up in history’s dustbin did so after forsaking its god or gods.  At the same time, I believe in every American’s right to worship whatever god or gods he or she chooses, or no god at all.  I also believe, however, that the God of Moses and his Son admonished us to go into the world and spread their word.  But those who hear must decide for themselves whether to accept that word.

Well, I’ve gone on long enough, but let me just close by saying that I believe I have a responsibility to speak out for decency and the basic moralities without which there can be no civilization or personal freedom.

Sincerely,
Ronald Reagan

God bless Ronald Reagan!