Former Texas legislator, Bob McEwen, convened the meeting by telling the press if they were there in the audience to "get out." This was because the press misrepresents the group the leader explained. McEwen said we were there to get out the vote. He said we have religious persecution in our country - yet 60 million evangelicals live here, but half of them don't even vote. In spite of this historic fact, he said America was birthed by the pulpits of the nation.

Huckabee and good buddy David Barton were up next, and between sessions provided photo opts for admiring pastors. Huckabee said this was a spiritual, not a political meeting, and he preached to the crowd. In spite of the get out the vote drive and lamenting of the false concept of separation of church and state, the mixture of pulpit and ballot continued. One of the guests at my table had his photo taken with Barton. He greatly admired the speaker and told me he had been to D.C. on a tour with David. He explained to me that Barton was so smart, yet the government did not appreciate him. He then explained that Barton was having a hard time convincing Congress of his views because, "It is hard to cure stupidity." I had the same idea several times sitting there in the audience myself.

Governor Perry, up next, said it was sad that the churches helped out in the Hurricane Ike disaster, but were not allowed to delve into more serious issues in the state. Perry next took a jab at 501(c)(3), saying that pastors ought to be able to instruct the flock on elections. Former Texas Aggie Perry made some comments about separation of church and state which drew a huge hiss from the crowd. This was not unlike the response Texas Aggie crowds give at football games when they do not agree with the referee's call.

Huckabee introduced his friend David Barton as a man God raised up for the moment. Mike knew of no other man in the country having such a great impact on the land.

Next, Barton did his Christian-nation thing and stated the Bible had something to say about minimum wage and estate taxes. Evidently, that meant the text was against them both. A common religious right position in voter guides is that minimum wage is immoral. Barton told several stories of heroic Revolutionary War pastors who left the pulpit and led the men of the church into killing English troops. He lamented that this is what is needed today to restore the nation: That is, motivated and active pastors who lead out. Barton then said that separation of church and state, which he stated - is not in the Constitution - and only applies to the state interference in the church - a common religious right position.

One musician stated that things are so bad in the nation that when he went by Baylor University recently, a Baptist school, had affirming words about Jeremiah Wright on one wall and another statement said, "Muslims rule." Just exactly where this official position at Waco was stated was not listed, much like many other claims.

In the morning session, Barton again told the press to get out if they were there. I could understand why Perry and Huckabee did not want some of this information out in the public. John Green, a Baptist pastor from Lufkin, Texas, led the opening invocation. He was given a praising introduction by Barton. Green affirmed what Barton had stated earlier that divine intervention led to the creation of the Declaration of Independence. Green incidentally comes from the same town that sent out an apology letter from city officials for ever having Barton in to speak. Green is a member of the fundamentalist Baptist convention in the state that claims to believe in separation. This fundamentalist Baptist convention head has spoken at another Texas Restoration meeting in the past.

Barton threw out some red meat to the crowd, warning the preachers that now the nation can officially arrest them if they read certain portions from the book of Romans in the church. The obvious connection is that hate crimes legislation meant they could not read Paul's view of homosexuals in the Bible. Barton went on to say that now churches cannot refuse to hire gays in New Jersey because of legislation. Such accusations seem peculiar to D.C. insiders who have refuted such claims - but people like Rick Scarborough and others continue to pass this information on to churches.

Voter guides from Barton's organization were placed at the tables where we sat. There was a sign-up sheet to list name, email and church information. Morning speakers reminded us that the glory of God has been lost in the nation, and the Bible and prayer have been expelled from schools. The key question was what the church would do about these things. Barton proceeded to defend his position that the two key issues of the election centered around abortion and gay rights. He said the Bible taught that these were the key priority issues and poverty, environment, justice, civil rights and the prospect of an unjust war all sat as minor ethical issues compared to the other two. He explained that in the past few elections, laws have been enacted by Christians to limit abortions. That was - he admitted - until the 2006 elections. He conceded pro-life forces lost ground. His conclusion was that a get out the vote effort in 2008 could reverse this. David stated that what a person believed about abortion defined how one would vote regarding all other legislative issues. Barton reminded the group that judicial appointments will define our culture. He then explained to the pastors that for the past 50 years government has told pastors what to say in the pulpit. The Texan then complained that the government did a terribly inefficient job of helping the poor. It would better for the churches to hand out this money and do drug and prison rehab. He restated, "The church has got to be involved in the election."  

Recently, I received a letter from a hard right pastor from Nebraska who openly admitted the Constitution is a humanistic document, and he asked Christians to rise up and overthrow it. Barton and crowd take another view. They see the government documents accommodating the Christian faith as the official faith of the nation.

It was clear from the meeting that the pastors were to go back to their congregations and fire them up about the coming election. It was also clear that the pastors were to lead the charge, much like the ones in the American Revolution. As to who was paying for the hotel accommodations was not so clear. Just the expense for 500 hotel rooms assured someone was counting on these preachers to produce.

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