Calling up the Christian Soldiers

by digby

Appearing on a webcast hosted by the conservative Family Research Council, Walker Nickless, the Bishop of Diocese of Sioux City, Iowa, warned the Obama administration’s new contraception policy is the work of “the devil,” who “wants to silence the [Catholic] Church’s voice.” During the interview, first flagged by Right Wing Watch, Nickless said, “The power of evil, the devil, is certainly looking everywhere where the power of evil can make a difference.” “And that’s why we’ve got to stand up and violently oppose this,” he added, “we cannot let darkness overshadow us.”

Ok, maybe he was just being rhetorical when he says “violently oppose”. But let’s just say it’s a very bad idea for religious leaders to be imprecise in this way. After all, if there’s one group in America who’s been willing to put their muscle, as it were, behind such threats it’s the anti-abortion movement. Considering the amount if disinformation out there about contraception being an “abortifascient”, it doesn’t seem unlikely that one of their more energetic true believers might take this as a call to arms.

Recall:

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