Steven L. Anderson is a lucky man

As the Obama administration continues on its path to walk government back into compliance with the Constitution, some level of resistance is only to be expected. Equally inevitable, it would seem, are situations where thoroughly despicable people manage to get away scot free.

Such a person is Steven L. Anderson, a self-proclaimed pastor currently associated with the Faithful Word Baptist Church, which describes itself as: "an old-fashioned, independent, fundamental, King James Bible only, separated Baptist church and not ashamed to say so."

The Church's Doctrinal Statement (written by Pastor Anderson) includes opposition to: "worldliness, modernism, formalism, and liberalism,” and features the declaration "We believe that homosexuality is a sin and an abomination which God punishes with the death penalty."

In the church's website, Pastor Anderson proudly states he does not have any grounding in theology or Biblical scholarship.

"Pastor Anderson holds no college degree but has well over 100 chapters of the Bible committed to memory, including almost half of the New Testament."

His Vocation is described thusly:

Originally from Sacramento, CA, Brother Anderson was a member of Regency Baptist Church. On November 12, 2005, Brother Anderson sought counsel from his pastor, Stephen Nichols, about starting a church in Phoenix, AZ. They discussed and prayed about it and decided that Brother Anderson would move to Phoenix immediately to start the church. The next day, on November 13, 2005, Pastor Nichols called him up on the platform of Regency Baptist Church in the Sunday morning service and had the church pray for Brother Anderson as he would be going out to start this new church. Faithful Word Baptist Church began 6 weeks later as an independent, autonomous Baptist church.

So here we have a person who takes great pride in a memorization accomplishment (which he credits, in large part, to a diet that relies heavily on bananas, avocados, and nuts) that would be considered "meets standards" by any second year student in virtually any Seminary, Bible College, Yeshiva, or Center for Islamic Studies in any university.

[Digression] While I write this, it occurs to me that my paternal grandmother (a Seventh-Day Adventist) probably passed the hundred chapter mark when she was a very young lady. So she could have decided she was a Pastor and started her own church? I make this suggestion only in the faith that her sense of humor is the only reason I have yet to be hit with a lightening bolt.

So Pastor Anderson preaches (and publishes) sermons calling for the death of the entire GLBT community, sermons "demonstrating" why In-Vitro Fertilization is an abomination unto the Most High, and sermons calling upon G-d to smite an impressive list of people. In his off time, he likes to drive up to Border Patrol checkpoints with the windows of his vehicle rolled up, refuse to produce his driver's license (or any other documentation), refuse to allow a search of his vehicle, and generally shout about how he has a right, as a Free American, to pass through such places unhindered.

Pastor Anderson is currently suing the U.S. Border Patrol and the Arizona Department of Public Safety over an incident in April of this year where a drug dog alerted on his car while he was going through his "you can't get to me" anthem. Following 40 minutes of standoff, the law enforcement officers, following procedure, broke the windows of the vehicle, pulled him out, overcame his attempts to escape, and handcuffed him. He claims he was repeatedly tasered, thoroughly beaten, and otherwise brutalized in a manner that should have been reserved for gays and illegal aliens. The case doesn't have a lot of hope. Legality of checkpoints and the obligation to co-operate was a settled thing in 1978. But he has a chance to rant on a YouTube video that is getting tens of thousands of hits per day.

There is also a YouTube video of what has become Pastor Anderson's most popular sermon "Why I Hate Obama." You can hear this supposed man of faith pray for the death of the President in a number of ways. When a parishoner named Chris Broughton brought an assault rifle and a handgun to an event where President Obama was in attendance, he had come from hearing that sermon. Yes, Pastor Anderson is a lucky man.

Before I discuss why Pastor Anderson is a lucky man, consider this: in 2004, a pastor who told his flock "before you vote, search your consciences," was questioned by the Secret Service, investigated by the IRS, and found his church's tax-free status suspended. When a Catholic Priest (again in 2004) told his parishoners that he could not discuss the election in church because he was not able to be objective and did not want to cross the line between church and state, a member of his parish called the local Homeland Security Agency office, and the priest was questioned about his "unpatriotic" remark. Dozens of clergymen, in fact, were questioned, and had their finances audited, during that election, for nothing more than not giving the incumbent President their endorsement.

But the Imperial Presidency that has occupied 20 of the past 30 years in this land is no more. We now have a President who is trying to return government to the rules set down in the Constitution. So, even though Pastor Anderson clearly called for the murder of the President of the United States, and, in other sermons, called for the overthrow of the government by force and violence, in clear violation of 18 USC § 871, "Threats against the President" he is still at large.

Less than two years after the Conservative Movement (as they like to be called) sorted through over two thousand hours of sermons by Reverend Wright to get 26 minutes of what could be presented as "hate speech" we now have a nation where a clergyman whose sermons are, by the standards laid down by the SCOTUS in United States v. Phillips, 42 MJ 127 (1995), Rogers v. United States, 422 U.S. 35, 47 (1975) and Ragansky v. United States, 253 F. 643, 645 (7th Cir. 1918),et al., the Government is choosing to lean toward a broader interpretation of the First Amendment. To see how thin a line Pastor Anderson is deliberately treading, and to see just how much latitude the Administration is giving to dissent, I would direct you to US v. Ogren (US Appellate Court for the Armed Forces).

There is, indeed, a new spirit abroad in the land, but it is the essence of that spirit of tolerance that the voices of violence and hatred are allowed to flourish. In the beginning, we are told, was Hashem: the Word. But how long did that word exist unopposed? That, Mammash, is for another time. What we can do now, perhaps all we can do if we want to avoid dropping into that mire where the hatemongers dwell, is to practice patience, and do what we can to allow the rhetoric of hate to burn itself out, feeding on itself. There are signs of that day coming. Despite millions of dollars being spent on ersatz "grassroots" demonstrations, and vitriol getting more air time than veracity, there are fewer people listening each week. As trends go, that's encouraging.