Phil Robertson spoke at the Houston Hate Rally #IStandSunday last night, warning Christians they’re headed for jail for being Christian.
Sunday night at the Houston Hate Rally I Stand Sunday, the Duck Dynasty dad, Phil Robertson, warned the audience of several thousand that they are headed for jail because they are Christian.
The rally, which of course became a fundraising event, was hosted by the anti-gay hate group Family Research Council, to show support for Houston’s pastors after Mayor Annise Parker subpoenaed sermons and emails related to their attempts to attack the city’s non-discrimination ordinance.
Robertson opened with an ugly “joke” about HERO, the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance, which the religious right calls a “bathroom bill” for its inclusion of transgender people.Â
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“For all you ladies, in Texas,” the Duck Dynasty patriarch quipped, “trust me when I tell you this. When you’re seated in your restroom, putting on your Maybelline, when I need to take a leak I’m not going there.”
The crowd laughed, cheered, and applauded.
Robertson then told his captive audience, “America, America, it cannot be said too strongly or too often that this great nation was not founded by religionists, but by Christians. Not on religions but on the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
He attributed the quote to Patrick Henry. Of course, Patrick Henry did not say that, but conservatives and the religious right have been wrongly attributing comments to the Founding Fathers for years to “prove” their points.
Robertson the spent nearly seven minutes on Biblical passages about the Apostle Paul, and used them to warn his audience they are headed for jail, “chains,” because they are Christians, feeding directly into the false meme the entire hate rally was based upon.
The religious right had seized upon the subpoenas issued by Houston as “evidence” of a secular agenda trampling on the first Amendment. Of course, pastors are not exempt from ordinary inquiries like subpoenas, but facts are irrelevant to the religious right.
He read to the audience from the Bible, the story of a man converted to Jesus Christ who was imprisoned.
“They arrested him and locked him up,” Robertson said. “You say, ‘Is America headed that way Phil?’ We’re headed that way,” he warned.
“It has been granted to you, you lucky Texans. When you walk around with the love of God in you and the power of the holy spirit in you, a lot can happen,” Robertson promised.
Watch:
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Image via YouTube