Sanders To Speak At Liberty University

Sanders has issued a statement:

“Liberty University was kind enough to invite me to address a convocation and I decided to accept. It goes without saying that my views on many issues — women’s rights, gay rights, education and many other issues — are very different from the opinions of some in the Liberty University community. I think it is important, however, to see if we can reach consensus regarding the grotesque level of income and wealth inequality in our country, about the collapse of the middle class, about the high level of childhood poverty, about climate change and other issues. It is very easy for a candidate to speak to people who hold the same views. It’s harder but important to reach out to others who look at the world differently. I look forward to meeting with the students and faculty of Liberty University.”

Yeah, so this will be interesting.

Where Liberty University Gets Its Money

Via the Washington Post:

Liberty University is not just your average school down the road. The once small Christian college founded in 1971 by the Rev. Jerry Falwell now has the largest student body of any private nonprofit university in the country. With over 70,000 students, the university has become a destination for political candidates seeking the GOP’s more conservative favor. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) kicked off his campaign during a convocation at Liberty. In May, former Florida governor Jeb Bush (R) followed in the footsteps of John McCain and Mitt Romney by giving Liberty’s commencement address. The irony: The exponential growth of Liberty University has been fueled by billions in federal student aid made possible by President Obama and congressional Democrats. In the late 1990s, Liberty students received less than $20 million in aid. Students now receive over $800 million dollars a year in federal aid. As with any federal financial aid, the grants and loans are awarded to students, not the university. Liberty does not receive any other federal funds, but its growth has come by attracting Christian students who qualify for aid.

About 75% of Liberty University's students are "distance learners" who take online courses. (Tipped by JMG reader BKMN)

Court To Liberty University: Your Liability Insurance Doesn't Cover Kidnapping Children From Their Gay Parents

On the same day in 2012 that a preacher was found guilty of abetting the kidnapping of her daughter to Nicaragua, lesbian mom Janet Jenkins filed a RICO lawsuit against many of the parties suspected of conspiring in the crime, including Liberty University, the parent of the vile anti-gay hate group Liberty Counsel, whose president Mat Staver is specifically named in the suit. Today the ACLU reports that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a lower court's ruling that Liberty University's liability insurance policy covers such lawsuits. Read the ruling. (Tipped by JMG reader BK)

Jeb Bush At Liberty University: The Bible Provides America's Moral Vocabulary

“It is not only untrue, but also a little ungrateful, to dismiss the Christian faith as some obstacle to enlightened thought, some ancient, irrelevant creed wearing out its welcome in the modern world. Whether or not we acknowledge the source, Hebrew Scripture and the New Testament still provide the moral vocabulary we all use in America – and may it always be so. As usual, the present administration is supporting the use of coercive federal power. What should be easy calls, in favor of religious freedom, have instead become an aggressive stance against it. Somebody here is being small-minded and intolerant, and it sure isn’t the nuns, ministers, and laymen and women who ask only to live and practice their faith. Federal authorities are demanding obedience, in complete disregard of religious conscience – and in a free society, the answer is no." - Jeb Bush, delivering a commencement address yesterday at Liberty University.

LIVE VIDEO: Ted Cruz Makes It Official

Mat Staver Leaves Liberty University

There's some interesting news about Liberty Counsel chairman Mat Staver:

Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. announced the resignation of Dean Mathew Staver Monday. Staver has been an integral part of the law school since its inception a decade ago. Staver says the decision will allow him to spend more time with his wife, who is receiving specialized medical attention in Florida after a car accident over a year ago. He will continue to serve as a consultant and advisor to the law school and to President Falwell.

You might that in 2012, Staver and Liberty University were named in a RICO lawsuit filed by the lesbian mother of a child who was kidnapped to Central America rather than share custody. (Tipped by JMG reader Scott)

Liberty University Fires Bob McDonnell

Even Liberty University has its limits.

Ex-Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell has lost his teaching gig at Liberty University. The Christian college announced on Friday they had ditched the disgraced politician after he was convicted on multiple federal corruption charges. Liberty President Jerry Falwell had called the former governor “a longtime friend of the university” in April, when McDonnell was appointed a visiting professor in government. McDonnell and his estranged wife Maureen were found guilty of public corruption on September 4. A jury found the couple accepted gifts and loans from former Star Scientific CEO Jonnie Williams in exchange for using the governor’s office to promote his products. The McDonnells will be sentenced in January and could face 20 years in prison.

Liberty Counsel's Mat Staver: Gay Marriage Will Destroy All Of Western Civilization

Via Brent Bozell's CNS News:

Mathew D. Staver, dean of the Liberty University School of Law, said that efforts to change the definition of marriage to include same-sex “marriage” would be like trying to re-define the law of gravity, adding that, if it were tried, it would mark “the beginning of the end of Western civilization.” “We’ve never been in this situation before,” Staver said in a speech at the American Decency Association 2014 Summer Conference in Grand Rapids, Mich. “We will not be able to escape the coercive nature of this issue. It is cataclysmic in its change-effect. It is, I believe, ultimately the beginning of the end of Western civilization, if we adopt this as a country.” Staver, who is also the founder and chairman of the international litigation group Liberty Counsel, made his remarks during a speech entitled “Living in the Shade of Vesuvius.”

VIRGINIA: Male Liberty University Student Killed By Campus Cops At Female Dorm

Virginia's WDBJ reports:

A Liberty University student is dead after an altercation with a Liberty University Emergency Services Officer on Tuesday morning at an off-campus residence hall. According to the school, a Liberty University Emergency Services Officer was attacked by a male student in the lobby of Residential Annex II. The student was shot and killed. The officer was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital for treatment. Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. issued the following statement: “The Liberty University community is deeply saddened by this tragic event and is prayerfully supporting all those impacted." Some of the students we talked with complained about a lack of communication from the university about what was happening. They didn't receive any official notification about the incident.

More from Christianity Today:

A Liberty University student was shot and killed during an early morning altercation with a campus officer at an off-campus dormitory for women, according to local police. Police have yet to release the male student's name. Like many Christian colleges without coed dorms, Liberty policies state that "males are not allowed in female residence halls," including the Annex II where the shooting took place at approximately 4:15 a.m. Tuesday morning. Religion News Service points out that Liberty recently approved the carrying of concealed weapons on campus. "It appeared from the discussion that the board felt that allowing guns would increase safety on campus," school attorney David Corry told The Liberty Champion in April.

(Tipped by JMG reader Jake)

Federal Court Tosses Liberty Counsel's Suit Against Obamacare Mandate

 A federal appeals court yesterday threw out Liberty University's lawsuit against the Obamacare contraception mandate. The suit was brought by Liberty Counsel, the school's legal arm and one of the nation's major anti-gay hate groups.

A three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the employer mandate, which the Obama administration last week postponed until 2015, is constitutional. They said that neither the individual nor the employer mandates violate the school’s religious freedom. The panel rejected the contraception challenge on a technicality — not on the merits — because Liberty did not include that aspect in its first court filings in 2010 and a lower court never heard it. Dozens of court cases nationwide are testing whether employers who object to covering contraception on religious grounds can be required to do so.

Liberty Counsel head Mat Staver says he will take the case to the Supreme Court. Of course.

VA Pastor Sentenced To Prison For Aiding Kidnapping Of Child Of Lesbian Mom

Pastor Kenneth Miller has been sentenced to 27 months in prison for his role in the kidnapping of the child of a lesbian mom whose former partner "renounced homosexuality" and fled with their child to Nicaragua in violation of a court-ordered custody sharing arrangement. Miller spent 30 days in jail for contempt earlier this year after refusing to name his accomplices, telling the court, "If I were to bring testimony against a fellow member of Christ’s kingdom, for honoring Christ’s kingdom’s laws, I would be disloyal to his kingdom and to Christ."

Mr. Miller was convicted last fall for helping to arrange the covert flight to Nicaragua of Lisa A. Miller with her daughter, Isabella Miller-Jenkins, in 2009.  Ms. Miller, who is not related to the pastor, had won support in conservative Christian circles for refusing to permit court-mandated visits with Isabella by her other legal mother, Janet Jenkins, Ms. Miller’s former partner in a civil union in Vermont. After the couple split up, Ms. Miller moved to Virginia, said she was a born-again Christian and denounced her former lesbianism as a sin. In 2009, as an exasperated family court judge threatened to transfer primary custody to Ms. Jenkins, Ms. Miller and her daughter, then 7, disappeared and a warrant was issued for Ms. Miller’s arrest.

The pastor remains free as his attorneys plan an appeal.  You may recall that the case also involves Liberty University and law professor Mat Staver, the head of the virulently anti-gay Liberty Counsel, whose secretary is alleged to have assisted in the kidnapping. In August 2012 Liberty Counsel and numerous other parties were named in a civil suit filed by Janet Jenkins.  The suit notes that the named parties have signed the infamous Manhattan Declaration, whose supporters vow to disobey laws that protect LGBT people.  At the time the suit was filed, Staver threatened to retaliate and sue Jenkins for defamation, but it's not known if he ever did. The whereabouts of Lisa Miller and the child remain unknown. (Tipped by JMG reader Blair)

The Matt Barber "Story"

Truth In Action Ministries (formerly Coral Ridge Ministries) profiles hate group spokesman Matt Barber with this notation: "Conspicuous by her absence is Sarah Barber, Matt's wife. Note what one of our VOs says in the feature: Our TV crew asked Matt if we could videotape his family, but he declined — because of the constant death threats he receives from the forces of 'tolerance'."

RELATED: Regarding Barber's claim to have been fired for writing an anti-gay article, Urban Legends provides a statement from Allstate: "Allstate would not terminate an employee for expressing personal religious views on his or her own time. Any allegation suggesting otherwise is false."

Liberty Counsel: The Government Should Treat Gay People Like Drug Addicts

Right Wing Watch points out the above charming message posted today to Liberty Counsel's Facebook page. (I zipped over to ask them about that RICO Act lawsuit filed against them for abetting in the kidnapping of a young girl, but they'll surely delete that.)

SCOTUS Orders Lower Court To Reopen Liberty Counsel's Obamacare Suit

Today the Supreme Court ordered the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to take another look at Liberty University's anti-Obamacare lawsuit.

The Supreme Court responded to a request from Liberty University, one of the groups that sued over the health care law’s individual mandate in 2010. When the court ruled in June that the mandate was constitutional, it dismissed Liberty’s entire lawsuit. Over the summer, the school asked the Supreme Court to reopen its arguments against the employer mandate and the contraceptive coverage mandate, which it said were not addressed by the court's ruling this summer. The court on Monday agreed to the request and told the Fourth Circuit to hear arguments on the two pieces. The Fourth Circuit, which traditionally moves quickly, could hear oral arguments in the case next spring. The school's lawyers have told POLITICO that they hope to eventually bring the suit back before the Supreme Court.

Quote Of The Day - Jerry Falwell Jr.

"Donald Trump has publicly expressed his support for our university’s mission to preserve the founding values of our nation. In the wake of the greatest expansion of government since FDR, Mr. Trump stepped right into the bull’s-eye and used his platform to fight for the preservation of capitalism, the free market, and limited government. He did numerous speeches, called out the president and congress by name, and was willing to say publicly what many conservatives were only saying privately.

"Trump is one of the nation‘s foremost proponent’s of fiscal conservatism, a value upon which this university, and our Schools of Law, Business, and Government, are staunchly committed, and have always been committed. A proponent of these values is a friend of Liberty University." - Jerry Falwell Jr, announcing that Trump will speak at his school. Presumably Trump won't mention being thrice-married.

Headline Of The Day

This is how Christianist media is spinning the Lisa Miller case.

Lesbian Mom Of Kidnapped Daughter Files Organized Crime Suit Against Multiple Christian Organizations

On the same day that a preacher was found guilty of abetting the kidnapping of her daughter to Nicaragua, Janet Jenkins filed a RICO lawsuit against many of the parties suspected of conspiring in the crime, including Liberty University, the parent of the vile anti-gay hate group Liberty Counsel, whose president Mat Staver is specifically named in the suit.

Hoo-motherfucking-RAY!

The RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) provides for civil lawsuits against ongoing criminal enterprises involving multiple parties. Right Wing Wing excerpts the suit:

Unbeknownst to Plaintiff Janet Jenkins, in 2009 Victoria Zodhiates (now Hyden) was an employee of Response Unlimited, Inc., and also a "student worker" at Liberty University School of Law. On information and belief, Victoria Zodhiates sent an email during this time period to her co-workers at the law school requesting donations for supplies to send to Lisa Miller to enable her to remain outside the country. Lisa Miller's attorney, Matthew Staver was the Dean of the Law School and Ms. Zodhiates's boss. Matthew Staver and Philip Zodhiates were also personal acquaintances at this time. On September 20, 2009, both Philip Zodhiates and Victoria Hyden called Lisa Miller's father, Terry Miller in Tennessee to assist in arranging her and Isabella's transportation from a Walmart parking lot in Lynchburg, Virginia, to Waynesboro, Virginia, from whence they would depart for Canada and Nicaragua the next day.

We will follow this suit VERY closely as it proceeds! Now let's see if the feds file some actual criminal charges for all parties. Liberty Counsel spokesdouche Matt Barber is spinning the lawsuit as an honor.

Mitt Romney Denounces Gay Marriage During Speech To Young Fascists

"The American culture promotes personal responsibility, the dignity of work, the value of education, the merit of service, devotion to a purpose greater than self, and, at the foundation, the pre-eminence of the family. The power of these values is evidenced by a Brookings Institution study that Senator Rick Santorum brought to my attention. For those who graduate from high school, get a full-time job, and marry before they have their first child, the probability that they will be poor is 2%. But, if those things are absent, 76% will be poor. Culture matters.

"As fundamental as these principles are, they may become topics of democratic debate. So it is today with the enduring institution of marriage. Marriage is a relationship between one man and one woman. The protection of religious freedom has also become a matter of debate. It strikes me as odd that the free exercise of religious faith is sometimes treated as a problem, something America is stuck with instead of blessed with. Perhaps religious conscience upsets the designs of those who feel that the highest wisdom and authority comes from government." - Mitt Romney, speaking at today's commencement at Dead Dead Dead Jerry Falwell's Liberty University.

Radical Homosexualist Mitt Romney Should Not Address Liberty University

So sez Rabbi Yehuda Levin.

Rick Perry Addresses Student Body At Dead Jerry Falwell's Liberty University