August 01, 2012

Dear Inspector General,

As you may know, information has recently come to light that raises serious questions about the impact on the federal government’s legislative policies and activities that appear to be a result of influence operations conducted by individuals and organizations associated with the Christian Right.

Given that the US Government has established in Federal Court that “The state has no legitimate interest in protecting any or all religions from views distasteful to them,” (1968, Epperson v. Arkansas 393 US 97), and given that the United States Senate ratified and rendered “the law of the land” the Treaty of Tripoli, which states, “The Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian Religion,” and given that the Christian Right’s mission in the United States is to “influence all aspects of policy with Christian principles” — a practice many Christians call “cultural mandate” — we believe that the apparent involvement of those with ties to the Christian Right raises serious public policy concerns that warrant your urgent attention.

We deem it imperative that your office also conduct an investigation of the extent to which such influence operations may have contributed to a fundamental misunderstanding of the Christian Right by US officials — which could, in turn, have contributed to the policy community’s susceptibility to subversion at the hands of the Christian Right and their allies. In this regard, we note that the National Association of Evangelicals, (one of many powerful religious lobbying groups influencing policymakers), has openly called for resistance to government which does not reflect “God’s justice and His laws.”

As noted in an intelligence report delivered to the Federal Bureau of Investigation by the Southern Poverty Law Center, of particular concern is the 3rd most active Christian Right lobbying organization, the Family Research Council. The SPLC says:

“The term ‘Christian Right’ is an umbrella term for a variety of movements, in the case of the Family Research Council, a very hetero-normative group, largely Evangelical Christian, which has promoted violence, hate speech, and decried both women’s autonomy and LGBT individuals as a perversion of God’s intentions. They have pursued social ends, from restricting women’s rights to denying LGBT rights, including religious creationism in public school curriculum, et cetera… In other countries, there are other chapters or missions of the Christian Right, with an overarching agenda of proselytization of “God’s Law.”

The question exists, to what extent do these Christian Right groups direct the decision making processes of representatives in the secular government? Has the approach of US lawmakers toward organizations — abroad or at home — that are associated with the Christian Right been shaped by the financial necessity of engaging that group to win elections, a necessity that appears to stem from the tax exempt status and non-disclosure allowances that allow the Christian Right to penetrate and subvert the American Government as part of its “cultural mandate”?

These sorts of activities strike us as deeply problematic with respect to the national interest and tranquillity, and are within the scope of your duties “to conduct and supervise audits and investigations relating to the programs and operations of the [United States Congress] and… to provide a means for keeping the head of the establishment and the Congress fully and currently informed about problems and deficiencies relating to the administration of such programs and operations and the necessity for and progress of corrective action.”

Accordingly, we request that your office conduct a formal investigation or evaluation of the extent to which Christian Right-tied individuals and entities were involved in any of the above-mentioned activities, have helped achieve the adoption of the above-mentioned policies and initiatives, or are otherwise involved in the execution of these policies and initiatives.

In your report, we ask that you also answer the following questions:

(1) Within the programs and operations of the United States government, has the Christian Right — or any individual associated with the Christian Right, directly or indirectly — ever renounced the “cultural mandate” objective of the Christian Right in North America?

(2) How is the Christian Right active in the “programs and operations” of drafting policy and legislation — (a) through what specific individual and organizational agents, (b) whether or not the specified individuals involved, (e.g. Michele Bachmann, known Dominionist), are aware of their moderate and non-Christian constituents’ rights, and ( c) what is its/their relationship with the Christian Right?

(3) In light of the statutory duty of Inspectors General “to provide a means for keeping the head of the establishment and the Congress fully and currently informed about the problems and deficiencies relating to the administration of such programs and operations and the necessity for and progress of corrective action,” we request that you recommend in your report “corrective action” consistent with the Constitution and laws of the United States, to ensure that no Christian Right-associated entity is permitted to promote or enact policy that imposes religious principles on moderate or non-Christian citizens of the United States of America.

Please forward your recommended “corrective action,” including a discussion of its consistency with the Constitution and the laws of the United States, together with your other findings, to the undersigned in unclassified and, if necessary, classified form within 90 days of your receipt of this letter.

Sincerely,

Bichele Machmann

Member of Congress

You can read Michele Bachmann’s original letter, in which she demands an investigation into the infiltration of the US government by the Muslim Brotherhood, here.