Josh Hawley Plans, Aborts Fundraiser With Preacher Who Compared Gays to Nazis [View all]

Josh Hawley, Missouri's buffest U.S. Senate candidate and a guy who doesn't know what a truck is, was scheduled to appear in Springfield today for a "Mid-Term Election Update for Evangelicals" featuring a legitimately crazy-pants pastor whose ideas range from putting Bibles in schools to opining about the similarities between homosexuality and Nazis. And no, we're not talking about Mike Pence. (That was yesterday.)

The event has since been cancelled, but the fact that Hawley was even considering making a public appearance with the pastor, David Barton, bears a moment of emphasis.

Barton operates WallBuilders, a Texas-based organization that, according to its website, is "dedicated to presenting America’s forgotten history and heroes," which is a nice way of describing the group's goal of making America Great Again for Christians. Barton has argued that the separation of church and state is "a myth" and spends his time promoting a sort of Christian nationalism that would probably make George Washington throw his fake teeth in rage.

Of course, Barton has ideas about LGBTQ folks. In the past, notes the Kansas City Star, the politically active pastor advanced the baseless claim that mortality and suicide rates prove homosexuality is a health crisis that should be regulated by the government. (Why the good pastor doesn't think the government should instead work to increase quality of life for gay people is a question worth asking.)

Read more: https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2018/10/10/josh-hawley-plans-aborts-fundraiser-with-preacher-who-compared-gays-to-nazis