Feeling like Daniel in the lions' den, I attended the "Christian" Coalition's annual "Road to Victory" conference held in Washington DC, September 18-19, 1998. I experienced first hand the hungry jaws and the mighty roars of the lions. I felt the impending death of America as we know it if we don't start taking action to keep the hungry pack of mankind eaters from consuming America.

Politics is the name, and hypocrisy is the game. To claim that they are a religious organization is not only a lie, it is insulting to well meaning Christians that don't buy into the hate-filled rhetoric. In fact, throughout the whole conference, the "Christian" Coalition mentioned Ronald Reagan many more times than Jesus. A common irony running through all the discussions was that Liberals (read Democrats) are out to destroy American Values, it seems to me they are the ones working to destroy the values I cherish, compassion, diversity, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, pluralism, and public education to mention a few.

The only time I heard the word compassion, is when Newt Gingrich urged people to pray and send postcards of support to right wing Republican House Representative Henry Hyde, who had just been exposed as having a "youthful dalliance" with a married woman at the age of 40something. This stood out in stark contrast to the incessant calls for impeachment of President Clinton, and the constant barrage of humiliating jokes at our President's expense.

As I sat and listened to speaker after speaker call for Bill Clinton's resignation while praising Ronald Reagan for his integrity and uplifting the work of Pat Robertson to make America a "Christian" nation, I felt trapped.

Republican right wingers from Congress and those running in the next Republican Presidential Primary took the podium, passed out stickers, shook hands, and held receptions. At one point in time, one of the speakers even named the list of Democrats in Congress who they need to work to get rid of.

The legislative program was just as obvious as their electoral agenda, as speaker after speaker called for abortion to be outlawed, and "special rights" be denied to homosexuals. Defunding the National Endowment of the Arts, passing voucher bills, and building more bombs and missiles also make it high on the list of "Christian" Coalition priorities.

Pat Robertson, founder of the "Christian" Coalition, tied all these things into his brand of Christianity and the need for America to get back to being a "Christian" nation during his diatribes that can only be described as classic Pat Robertson, rambling, confusing, and fill with self- righteousness and "moral indignation". I guess this was the religious part of the agenda.

As I liberal, I felt really left out, especially when I found out that no one ever sent me the memo telling me that the National Endowment of the Arts has always promoted the sexual revolution, and that liberals funded the sexual revolution through the NEA. Bob Knight of the Family Research Council, who seemed to claim so much knowledge about the liberal point of view, took additional potshots claiming that liberals love the NEA because it "validates pornography and attacks American values". His logic was that the liberals need the NEA because liberals know that the church and the family are blocks to their power. It must have been obvious to everyone else that in order for liberals to be in power, the NEA is a tool liberals need to destroy the family and the church. Next time, I hope someone sends the memo to me instead of Bob Knight.

Carmen Pate, of Concerned Women for America, made the assertion that "apparently, children/adult sexual relations are not considered bad by the majority of homosexuals". I went up afterwards and asked for references. She could not give me any, but told me about the North American Man/Boy Love Association, as if it were the "norm" of the gay community. It would be like telling someone to look at Fred Phelps and http://www.godhatesfags.com/ as the "norm" for Christianity.

As I wandered around the exhibit halls and picked up literature from various right wing organizations, including the The Freedom Alliance and the Voice of the Martyrs, I was suddenly struck by the irony of it all. These groups want to take away my freedom and my voice, I was trapped in the lions' den. And if we don't starting fighting back, they will silence our voice in America too, just as I couldn't speak out at the conference. But we must not be silent, we must speak out, we must vote, before it is too late. If we don't, the liberals will not have anyone to blame but ourselves, and we will truely be at the mercy of the lions.

MORE INFORMATION about the Road to Victory Conference