Battle Cry Campaign
Encyclopedia
The Battle Cry Campaign is an organizing initiative of a parachurch organization
known as Teen Mania Ministries
. This initiative, started in 2005 and headed by Teen Mania founder Ron Luce
, has an evangelical
Christian
orientation; it primarily seeks to influence American and Canadian social and political culture. Major backers include prominent evangelical leaders Joyce Meyer
, Chuck Colson, Pat Robertson
, Josh McDowell
, and Jack Hayford.
The urgency of this "Wake Up Call" is based on the assertion that current trends among teenagers will result in an inevitable decline in the number of "Bible-based believers:"
The fundamental goal of the campaign is the recruitment of 100,000 churches to implement a multifaceted campaign to promote youth commitment and involvement in church programs.
Other notable aspects of the Battle Cry Campaign involve other church and political leaders as "BattleCry Partners," the existing arena events and other programs offered by Teen Mania Ministries, the battlecry.com website, and a "legislative strategy engaging lawmakers to protect our teens."
" issues as matters of current and future concern:
The campaign focuses on corporations and media outlets for targeting young people with advertising and programming depicting content often labeled objectionable by evangelical leaders:
When interviewed at a Battle Cry event in 2007, Ron Luce condemned "purveyors of popular culture" as "the enemy," who according to Luce are "terrorists, virtue terrorists, that are destroying our kids... they're raping virgin teenage America on the sidewalk, and everybody's walking by and acting like everything's OK. And it's just not OK." Battle Cry materials contain charges that a "sexualized culture" is the product of "media people" who are the "virtue terrorists" responsible for sexual content, naming examples such as MTV
, "VH 1
, Desperate Housewives
, and movies like Broken Back Mountain
[ sic
] ."
Other encouraged tenets include submission to certain kinds of authority:
Extending from Biblical analogies and characters used as role models, the campaign has used narratives, metaphor and scripted staged presentations including images of weapons, pervasive use of a red pennant
, and terms from a war lexicon such as "God's Army", "enemy" and "battle." It has used current and former members of the U.S. armed forces prominently in the Battle Cry stadium events, encouraging young people to become "the warriors in this battle."
In "Battle Cry for a Generation," a book released at the start of the campaign, Ron Luce wrote, "This is war. And Jesus invites us to get into the action, telling us that the violent — the 'forceful' ones — will lay hold of the kingdom." At a Cleveland "Acquire the Fire" event, he said, "The devil hates us, and we gotta be ready to fight and not be these passive little lukewarm, namby-pamby, kum-ba-yah, thumb-sucking babies that call themselves Christians. Jesus? He got mad! ... I want an attacking church!"
Biblical passages reflecting this militarism that were often referenced in "Battle Cry" and "Acquire the Fire" events and promotional gatherings during the first year of the campaign included the following:
Lawrence goes on to point out that the "4 percent" statistic originated in a 2003 report by Christian statistician George Barna
, which is based on a very narrow definition of what defines an "evangelical" or "Bible-believing Christian." A Barna press release issued in December 2003 announced a study that "showed only 4% of adults have a biblical worldview as the basis of their decision-making." Lawrence takes issue with Barna's attempt to measure the number of teens who apply "biblical principles" to "every decision" they make:
Christian Smith, a professor of sociology at the University of Notre Dame and a specialist in the study of American evangelicals, says he is skeptical of the "4 percent" statistic and that that figure was inconsistent with research he had conducted and reviewed.
on March 24, 2006. In the cover letter, signed by Ron Luce and sent to registered participants in the stadium event, the significance of City Hall as the location where gay marriages had been held two years before was explicitly pointed out:
City Hall is significant to many San Francisco residents for a different reason: it was where the city’s first openly gay supervisor, Harvey Milk
, and Mayor George Moscone
, were assassinated in 1978. Ron Luce has said that, at the time of the rally, he was unaware of the historic and social relevance of the City Hall site.
Local activists organized a counter-demonstration of about 50 people to greet the Battle Cry participants. State Assemblyman Mark Leno
, D-San Francisco, addressed the counter-demonstrators, saying that while such "fundamentalists" may be small in number,
"they're loud, they're obnoxious, they're disgusting, and they should get out of San Francisco."
Teen Mania later prominently quoted Leno as part of a postcard sent to San Francisco churches to promote the 2007 Battle Cry stadium event.
Earlier that week, the city's Board of Supervisors
had passed a resolution "condemning upcoming rally to be held by anti-abortion groups in front of City Hall." The resolution called the rally an "act of provocation when a right-wing Christian fundamentalist group brings their anti-gay and anti-choice agenda of intolerance to the steps of San Francisco's City Hall" and that the presence of Battle Cry participants at City Hall "should be taken by no one as an official or semi-official sanctioning of their rally nor of their message by the elected officials of San Francisco."
This resolution was then cited by various commentators, including Fox News Channel's
Bill O'Reilly
and the city's leading newspaper, as evidence that the city itself was being intolerant of Christians or was attempting to silence the Battle Cry participants. Elizabeth Creely, a San Francisco activist with the Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights, explained the purpose of the resolution this way:
Noise complaints from nearby residents received by the city due to the early Saturday morning start time became an issue during the preparations for the return of the Battle Cry event to AT&T Park in March 2007. According to the minutes of the city Entertainment Commission hearing regarding Teen Mania's application for a required loudspeaker permit,
the director of event production for AT&T Park had advised Teen Mania in advance that noise had been an issue and "advised them to start any musical component after 10:00 A.M. due to complaints last year." The Commission approved the permit with the stipulation that amplified music not be used before 10:00 A.M. on Saturday. In a notice sent to Battle Cry participants, Teen Mania described this action as a "last minute noise ordinance" imposed by the city's Board of Supervisors, and while the notice began by saying "we want to
respect and honor our lawmakers" it offered a sample letter to be sent to the Board that included the following:
The event began Saturday morning as originally scheduled, without amplified music, through the use of radios throughout the crowd tuned to a broadcast of the event on a local Christian radio station.
writer Jen Gerson began her account of the event this way:
In an interview with a CBC Television
reporter, Bob Shantz, former University of Toronto
chaplain, commented on the militarism
inherent in Teen Mania's programs:
In an interview with Bob Garfield
on On the Media
, Jeff Sharlet
described a Battle Cry commercial in which replicated teens march off to war:
Mark Cox, a pastor at Bethel Christian Church in the Mission District of San Francisco, told a San Francisco Chronicle reporter that he attended one "Acquire the Fire" event and would never return, commenting:
Parachurch organization
Parachurch organizations are Christian faith-based organizations that work outside of and across denominations to engage in social welfare and evangelism, usually independent of church oversight. These bodies can be businesses, non-profit corporations, or private associations. Most parachurch...
known as Teen Mania Ministries
Teen Mania Ministries
Teen Mania Ministries is an Evangelical Christian youth organization located in Garden Valley, Texas. Teen Mania focuses primarily on four key programs, with a few additional smaller endeavours....
. This initiative, started in 2005 and headed by Teen Mania founder Ron Luce
Ron Luce
Ronald Allen “Ron” Luce is the co-founder and president of Teen Mania Ministries located in Garden Valley, Texas. Together with his wife Katie, Ron founded Teen Mania in 1986 in his van. The ministry has expanded greatly and has become influential within today's Christian youth culture...
, has an evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
orientation; it primarily seeks to influence American and Canadian social and political culture. Major backers include prominent evangelical leaders Joyce Meyer
Joyce Meyer
Joyce Meyer is a Charismatic Christian author and speaker. Meyer and her husband Dave have four grown children, and live outside St. Louis, Missouri. Her ministry is headquartered in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton, Missouri.-Early life:Meyer was born Pauline Joyce Hutchison in south St. Louis in...
, Chuck Colson, Pat Robertson
Pat Robertson
Marion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....
, Josh McDowell
Josh McDowell
Joslin "Josh" McDowell is a Christian apologist, evangelist, and writer. He is within the Evangelical tradition of Protestant Christianity, and is the author or co-author of some 77 books. His best-known book is Evidence That Demands a Verdict, which was ranked 13th in Christianity Today's list of...
, and Jack Hayford.
Purpose and goals
The basic purpose of the Battle Cry Campaign, as described in its promotional materials and events, is to ensure that Christianity survives in America by redefining society:- "Christianity in America won't survive another decade... unless we do something now."
- "Our nation is at a crossroads. The path America is currently headed towards is a devestating
[ sicSicSic—generally inside square brackets, [sic], and occasionally parentheses, —when added just after a quote or reprinted text, indicates the passage appears exactly as in the original source...] future where Christianity may not survive."
- "You are invited... to join in an effort to redirect the way America is headed.
The urgency of this "Wake Up Call" is based on the assertion that current trends among teenagers will result in an inevitable decline in the number of "Bible-based believers:"
- "The evidence shows that if current evangelism trends prevail, only 4 percent of them [American teenagers] will stand firm for Jesus by the time they become the decision makers of our nation."
The fundamental goal of the campaign is the recruitment of 100,000 churches to implement a multifaceted campaign to promote youth commitment and involvement in church programs.
- "The goal is 100,000 churches fully engaged in reaching this generation by doubling and discipling their youth group each year for the next 5 years."
Other notable aspects of the Battle Cry Campaign involve other church and political leaders as "BattleCry Partners," the existing arena events and other programs offered by Teen Mania Ministries, the battlecry.com website, and a "legislative strategy engaging lawmakers to protect our teens."
Major tenets
The Battle Cry Campaign maintains that "for the first time ever," "sexualized culture," "point and click pornography," and young people being "saturated with media influence" spell doom for Christianity in America. It also has cited gay marriage and other "culture warCulture war
The culture war in American usage is a metaphor used to claim that political conflict is based on sets of conflicting cultural values. The term frequently implies a conflict between those values considered traditionalist or conservative and those considered progressive or liberal...
" issues as matters of current and future concern:
- "Our current society with 35% baby boomers as bible-based believers: increasingly perverted TV, film, music and video games, proliferation of Internet pornography, rise of activist government officials promoting gay marriage, attempts to remove the Ten Commandments from public buildings and attempts to remove God from the Pledge of Allegiance."
- "What does a nation with 4% evangelical Christians look like? Netherlands legalized euthanasia, Nudity in newspapers in England, Scotland's consenting age is 14 years old, Pastor arrested for preaching biblical perspective on homosexuality."
The campaign focuses on corporations and media outlets for targeting young people with advertising and programming depicting content often labeled objectionable by evangelical leaders:
- "A stealthy enemy has infiltrated our country and is preying upon the hearts and minds of 33 million American teens. Corporations, media conglomerates and purveyors of popular culture have spent billions to seduce and enslave our youth."
- "This generation views 16 to 17 hours of television each week and sees on average 14,000 sexual scenes and references each year. That's more than 38 references every day."
- "This generation spends three hours a day online and is the first to grow up with point-and-click pornography. Almost 90 percent of teens have viewed pornography online at one of the 300,000 adult websites, most while doing homework."
- "More than 25 percent of teen-targeted radio segments contain sexual content; 42 percent of the top selling CDs contain sexual content"
When interviewed at a Battle Cry event in 2007, Ron Luce condemned "purveyors of popular culture" as "the enemy," who according to Luce are "terrorists, virtue terrorists, that are destroying our kids... they're raping virgin teenage America on the sidewalk, and everybody's walking by and acting like everything's OK. And it's just not OK." Battle Cry materials contain charges that a "sexualized culture" is the product of "media people" who are the "virtue terrorists" responsible for sexual content, naming examples such as MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, "VH 1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
, Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
, and movies like Broken Back Mountain
Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain is a 2005 romantic drama film directed by Ang Lee. It is a film adaptation of the 1997 short story of the same name by Annie Proulx with the screenplay written by Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry...
Sic
Sic—generally inside square brackets, [sic], and occasionally parentheses, —when added just after a quote or reprinted text, indicates the passage appears exactly as in the original source...
Other encouraged tenets include submission to certain kinds of authority:
- "We will respect the authorities placed in our lives, even though some may not live as honorably as they should."
- "We refuse to be led by those who are morally bankrupt."
Extending from Biblical analogies and characters used as role models, the campaign has used narratives, metaphor and scripted staged presentations including images of weapons, pervasive use of a red pennant
Pennon
A pennon was one of the principal three varieties of flags carried during the Middle Ages . Pennoncells and streamers or pendants are considered as minor varieties of this style of flag. The pennon is a flag resembling the guidon in shape, but only half the size...
, and terms from a war lexicon such as "God's Army", "enemy" and "battle." It has used current and former members of the U.S. armed forces prominently in the Battle Cry stadium events, encouraging young people to become "the warriors in this battle."
In "Battle Cry for a Generation," a book released at the start of the campaign, Ron Luce wrote, "This is war. And Jesus invites us to get into the action, telling us that the violent — the 'forceful' ones — will lay hold of the kingdom." At a Cleveland "Acquire the Fire" event, he said, "The devil hates us, and we gotta be ready to fight and not be these passive little lukewarm, namby-pamby, kum-ba-yah, thumb-sucking babies that call themselves Christians. Jesus? He got mad! ... I want an attacking church!"
Biblical passages reflecting this militarism that were often referenced in "Battle Cry" and "Acquire the Fire" events and promotional gatherings during the first year of the campaign included the following:
- "Praise be to the LORD my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.": "Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.": "Fight the good fight of the faith.": "Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes." "From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.", the stories known as "The Levite and His Concubine" and "Israel’s War with Benjamin."
Programs, activities and methods
- Mass events in stadiums and arenas. "Battle Cry" stadium event locations in 2006 included San Francisco at AT&T ParkAT&T ParkAT&T Park is a ballpark located in the South Beach neighborhood of San Francisco, California. Located at 24 Willie Mays Plaza, at the corner of Third and King Streets, it has served as the home of the San Francisco Giants of Major League Baseball since 2000....
, Detroit at Ford FieldFord FieldFord Field is an indoor American football stadium located in Detroit, Michigan, USA, that is the current home field of the NFL's Detroit Lions. It is owned by the Detroit/Wayne County Stadium Authority. It regularly seats 65,000, though it is expandable up to 70,000 for football and 80,000 for...
, and Philadelphia at Wachovia SpectrumWachovia SpectrumThe Spectrum, formerly known as the CoreStates Spectrum , First Union Spectrum , and Wachovia Spectrum was an indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
arena. In 2007, the "Battle Cry" event returned to San Francisco in March, and to Detroit in April. A third event, originally scheduled for the M&T Bank StadiumM&T Bank StadiumM&T Bank Stadium is a multi-purpose football stadium located in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the home of the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League. The stadium is immediately adjacent to Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the home of the Baltimore Orioles. Served by the Hamburg Street station of...
in BaltimoreBaltimoreBaltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
, was held at the Nissan PavilionNissan PavilionJiffy Lube Live in Bristow, Virginia, is an outdoor live performance amphitheater in suburban Prince William County, about 35 miles west of Washington, DC...
in Bristow, VirginiaBristow, VirginiaBristow is an unincorporated town in Prince William County, Virginia, United States. The population was 8,910 in the 2000 census, and the 2009 estimate was 15,137....
in May 2007. The 2008 events, titled "BattleCry Recreate," were held in East Rutherford, New JerseyEast Rutherford, New JerseyEast Rutherford is a borough in Bergen County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough population was 8,913. It is an inner-ring suburb of New York City, located west of Midtown Manhattan....
, Dallas, TexasDallas, TexasDallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
, and Winston-Salem, North CarolinaWinston-Salem, North CarolinaWinston-Salem is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina, with a 2010 population of 229,617. Winston-Salem is the county seat and largest city of Forsyth County and the fourth-largest city in the state. Winston-Salem is the second largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region and is home to...
, in February and March.
- Pre-event rallies at places symbolic of governmental power. These smaller rallies in 2006, each with a few hundred participants, included San Francisco City HallSan Francisco City HallSan Francisco City Hall, re-opened in 1915, in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomized the high-minded American Renaissance of the 1880s to 1917. The structure's dome is the fifth largest in the world...
, Detroit City Hall, and Independence Visitor CenterIndependence National Historical ParkIndependence National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in Philadelphia that preserves several sites associated with the American Revolution and the nation's founding history. Administered by the National Park Service, the park comprises much of the downtown historic...
, in the area of historic sites associated with the American RevolutionAmerican RevolutionThe American Revolution was the political upheaval during the last half of the 18th century in which thirteen colonies in North America joined together to break free from the British Empire, combining to become the United States of America...
in Philadelphia. In following years, rallies were held again at San Francisco City Hall in March 2007 and in Times SquareTimes SquareTimes Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
on February 8, 2008.
- Battle Cry Leadership Summits. Advertised as the "Wake Up Call," these meetings, featuring Ron Luce and a guest speaker, were scheduled for 44 cities in the United States and CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
through the fall of 2006. Scheduled guest speakers in that tour included Blaine Bartel (15 cities), Ted HaggardTed HaggardTed Arthur Haggard is an American evangelical pastor. Known as Pastor Ted to the congregation he served, he was the founder and former pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado; a founder of the Association of Life-Giving Churches; and was leader of the National Association of...
(10 cities), Tommy Barnett (7 cities), Jack Hayford, Jerry FalwellJerry FalwellJerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...
and Wellington BooneWellington BooneWellington Boone is an American evangelical Christian leader, church planter, and author.-History:Boone was ordained into ministry in 1973 where began his ministry with Word of Faith seminars, and soon established churches in Ettrick and Richmond, Virginia, that had a strong outreach to student...
. Materials distributed at these meetings presented the Battle Cry Campaign plan, recruited churches and individuals to the campaign, and promoted other Teen Mania Ministries programs.
- Lobbying and gatherings intended to influence legislation and governmental policy. The initial legislative strategy of the Battle Cry Campaign is "to inform lawmakers of the plight of this generation and lobby them to pass legislation that protects our teens from the dangers they face while online and from advertising and other electronic media."
- "Operation Truth," a rally co-sponsored by Battle Cry and the Christian Action Alliance, was announced for August 6, 2006, at the California State CapitolCalifornia State CapitolThe California State Capitol is home to the government of California. The building houses the bicameral state legislature and the office of the governor....
. One of the announced objectives of this event was "to publicly let legislators know that Christians will not stand idly by while being bombarded with legislation that attacks the core values of believers." Examples of the legislation that motivated the organizers to protest, according to the flyer announcing the rally, included Senate Bill 1437 and Assembly Bill 606 of the 2005–2006 legislative session. These bills were intended to prohibit discrimination in California public schools on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation, and to prohibit school activities and instructional content that reflects adversely on persons on the basis of their sexual orientation. Joel Johnson, a frequent co-host of Teen Mania's "Acquire the Fire" arena events, had been announced as an "Operation Truth" speaker. (Similar bills were eventually signed into law by Governor SchwarzeneggerArnold SchwarzeneggerArnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
in October 2007.) - Letter to Presidential Candidates. In a letter to U.S. Presidential Candidates released to the press on February 1, 2008, Ron Luce invited candidates to participate in or to address the pre-event rally in Times SquareTimes SquareTimes Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
on February 8. The letter asks that candidates consider the priorities of "Teen Mania teens," that "they are looking to you to carry their priorities forward to Washington and the White House." Enclosed with the letter was a "Top 8 Teen Concerns in '08" which through the posing of eight leading questions proposes governmental action against media content, abortion and sex education. - Rally in support of California Proposition 8California Proposition 8 (2008)Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
. Ron Luce was one of the leaders of a youth rally, "The Fine Line," held in support of California Proposition 8California Proposition 8 (2008)Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
on October 1, 2008 at Rock Church in San Diego. Proposition 8 is an initiative that would constitutionally prohibit same-sex marriage in California. Luce presented the "8 for 8" action plan at the conclusion of the event. - Message encouraging support of California Proposition 8California Proposition 8 (2008)Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
. On October 30, 2008, Teen Mania distributed an e-mail message to supporters reminding readers of the Battle Cry rallies in San Francisco, "when a culture war was stirred up right there on the street in front of City Hall," casting those Battle Cry and similar events as the reason why "important issues are coming to the forefront and being decided right now." The featured battle "still being fought at the highest levels of California's government" centered on the definition of marriage contained in Proposition 8California Proposition 8 (2008)Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
. The message included this quote from San Diego pastor Jim Garlow: "The definition of marriage is one of these 'tipping points.' No single social issue has threatened to forever muzzle Bible believing Christians like this contest. One person has astutely observed that 'we cannot win the culture war merely on Prop 8, but we can lose it on Prop 8.'" Readers were asked "to continue to get involved however possible to protect the Biblical view of marriage in America" and were directed to iprotectmarriage.com, a website that is part of the youth outreach of the "Yes on 8" campaign. The e-mail was signed by Kevin Benson, "Director of the BattleCry Campaign."
- "Operation Truth," a rally co-sponsored by Battle Cry and the Christian Action Alliance, was announced for August 6, 2006, at the California State Capitol
- Coalition activities. Teen Mania Ministries, initiator of the campaign, participates in a number of coalitions or networks, both formal and informal.
- Battle Cry Coalition. Teen Mania's own coalition includes, or has included, prominent Christian RightChristian rightChristian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
leaders Jerry FalwellJerry FalwellJerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...
, Pat RobertsonPat RobertsonMarion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....
, Ted HaggardTed HaggardTed Arthur Haggard is an American evangelical pastor. Known as Pastor Ted to the congregation he served, he was the founder and former pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado; a founder of the Association of Life-Giving Churches; and was leader of the National Association of...
, Chuck Colson, and Joyce MeyerJoyce MeyerJoyce Meyer is a Charismatic Christian author and speaker. Meyer and her husband Dave have four grown children, and live outside St. Louis, Missouri. Her ministry is headquartered in the St. Louis suburb of Fenton, Missouri.-Early life:Meyer was born Pauline Joyce Hutchison in south St. Louis in...
, and other personalities such as Jack Hayford, Kay ArthurKay ArthurKay Arthur is an international Bible teacher, four-time ECPA Christian Book Award winning author, and co-founder of Precept Ministries International. Kay’s exciting, practical approach to the Scriptures has drawn thousands to the knowledge of Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior...
, Jack GrahamPrestonwood Baptist ChurchPrestonwood Baptist Church, in Plano, Texas, is one of the largest megachurches in North America and one of America's 50 Most Influential Churches according to a 2007 survey of church leaders...
, Greg LaurieGreg LaurieGreg Laurie serves as the Senior Pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California.-Ministry:Laurie, who was born in Long Beach, California, became a Christian under the ministry of Pentecostal evangelist Lonnie Frisbee...
, Josh McDowellJosh McDowellJoslin "Josh" McDowell is a Christian apologist, evangelist, and writer. He is within the Evangelical tradition of Protestant Christianity, and is the author or co-author of some 77 books. His best-known book is Evidence That Demands a Verdict, which was ranked 13th in Christianity Today's list of...
, Tommy Barnett, Bob ReccordNorth American Mission BoardThe North American Mission Board is the domestic missions agency of the Southern Baptist Convention. It exists to assist Southern Baptists in their task of fulfilling the Great Commission in the United States, Canada, and their territories through a national strategy for sharing Christ, starting...
, Kirk FranklinKirk FranklinKirk Dwayne Franklin is an American Gospel music musician, choir director, and author, and is most notably known for leading urban contemporary gospel choirs such as The Family, God's Property and One Nation Crew .- Early years :...
and John MaxwellJohn C. MaxwellJohn Calvin Maxwell is an evangelical Christian author, speaker, and pastor who has written more than 60 books, primarily focusing on leadership. Titles include The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader: Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow...
. Coalition members participate in Teen Mania's events and programs and also assist in promotion of the Battle Cry Campaign. - The Arlington Group. Teen Mania is a member of the Arlington GroupArlington GroupThe Arlington Group is a coalition which unites the leaders of prominent Christian conservative organizations in the United States. Founded in 2002 principally through the efforts of American Family Association President Donald Wildmon and Free Congress Foundation Chairman Paul Weyrich, the group...
, a coalition which unites the leaders of almost all of the most prominent Christian RightChristian rightChristian right is a term used predominantly in the United States to describe "right-wing" Christian political groups that are characterized by their strong support of socially conservative policies...
organizations in the United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Arlington Group members have prominently appeared in Battle Cry materials and events, including Battle Cry Coalition member Pat RobertsonPat RobertsonMarion Gordon "Pat" Robertson is a media mogul, television evangelist, ex-Baptist minister and businessman who is politically aligned with the Christian Right in the United States....
and former members Jerry FalwellJerry FalwellJerry Lamon Falwell, Sr. was an evangelical fundamentalist Southern Baptist pastor, televangelist, and a conservative commentator from the United States. He was the founding pastor of the Thomas Road Baptist Church, a megachurch in Lynchburg, Virginia...
and Ted HaggardTed HaggardTed Arthur Haggard is an American evangelical pastor. Known as Pastor Ted to the congregation he served, he was the founder and former pastor of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado; a founder of the Association of Life-Giving Churches; and was leader of the National Association of...
. While campaigning for a U.S. SenateUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
seat, group member Keith Butler delivered the opening invocation at the Battle Cry stadium event in Detroit on April 8, 2006. One of the first "Battle Cry Leadership Summits" was held at the church headed by Arlington Group member Harry Jackson in November, 2005. Ron Luce has spoken before at least two political conferences organized by Arlington Group members in 2006: Vision America'sVision AmericaVision America is a conservative American Christian organization founded in 1994 by Baptist pastor Rick Scarborough, which describes itself as formed to "inform, encourage and mobilize pastors and their congregations to be proactive in restoring Judeo-Christian values to the moral and civic...
"War on Christians" conference, and Family Research Council Action's "Values Voters Summit". - National Network of Youth Ministries. Teen Mania is a member of the Cooperating Ministries of the National Network of Youth Ministries. Other prominent members of this network include Assemblies of GodAssemblies of GodThe Assemblies of God , officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 140 autonomous but loosely-associated national groupings of churches which together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination...
, Campus Crusade for ChristCampus Crusade for ChristCampus Crusade for Christ is an interdenominational Christian organization that promotes evangelism and discipleship in more than 190 countries...
, Church of the NazareneChurch of the NazareneThe Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the...
, Fellowship of Christian AthletesFellowship of Christian AthletesThe Fellowship of Christian Athletes is a non-profit interdenominational Christian organization founded in 1954 and that has been based in Kansas City, Missouri since 1956. It falls within the tradition of Muscular Christianity. Although established by evangelical Protestants, the concept has...
, Focus on the FamilyFocus on the FamilyFocus on the Family is an American evangelical Christian tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1977 by psychologist James Dobson, and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s...
, The Salvation ArmyThe Salvation ArmyThe Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
, Young LifeYoung LifeYoungLife is a worldwide, non-profit, Evangelical Christian organization. YoungLife consists of many branches of ministry , but most commonly the name "YoungLife" refers to the outreach arm of the organization directed toward high school students...
and Youth With A MissionYouth With A MissionYouth With A Mission is an international, inter-denominational, non-profit Christian missionary organization...
. - GOD TV. Teen Mania's television program, "atf.tv," and exclusive live broadcasts of Acquire the Fire events are featured on GOD TVGOD TVGOD TV is an international Christian television broadcaster that transmits the GOD Channel from Jerusalem.The network’s Free-to-air signal is carried via multiple satellites 24-hours-a-day providing programming at no charge to viewers. This ranges from Bible teaching to motivational seminars,...
, an international Christian television broadcaster. This channel is available in the United States on the DirecTVDirecTVDirecTV is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider and broadcaster based in El Segundo, California. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America, and the Anglophone Caribbean. ...
satellite system. The U.S. version of this channel features a number of personalities and programs connected with the Apostolic-Prophetic MovementApostolic-Prophetic MovementThe Apostolic-Prophetic Movement in Charismatic Christianity is seen by its participants as a restoration of the neglected elements of the Five-Fold Ministry described in the New Testament book of Ephesians, "some apostles, and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; for...
of Christianity, including Rick JoynerRick JoynerRick Joyner heads MorningStar Ministries , which he cofounded with his wife Julie Joyner in 1985...
, Cindy Jacobs, Mike Bickle, Rodney Howard-BrowneRodney Howard-BrowneRodney Howard-Browne is a charismatic Christian preacher and evangelist. He is pastor of The River at Tampa Bay, a church which he and his wife founded in 1996, and heads Revival Ministries International...
, Steve Hill, Francis FrangipaneFrancis FrangipaneFrancis Frangipane is a Christian evangelical minister and author. He is the founding pastor of River of Life Ministries in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States. In 2002, he also launched an international, online school called In Christ's Image Training . This training lays a foundation of truth...
, Patricia King, and the "Elijah ListElijah ListThe Elijah List is a non-denominational Christian prophetic website created by Steve Shultz in 1997 with 127,000 subscribers as of March 2006. The name of the site comes from the Old Testament prophet, Elijah...
" program hosted by Steve Shultz. - Other supporters. In presentations of the Campaign to churches and ministry groups, a number of additional individuals and organizations have been named as supporters, including: Senator Sam BrownbackSam BrownbackSamuel Dale "Sam" Brownback is the 46th and current Governor of Kansas. A member of the Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Kansas from 1996 to 2011, and as a U.S. Representative for Kansas's 2nd congressional district from 1995 to 1996...
, Senator Rick SantorumRick SantorumRichard John "Rick" Santorum is a lawyer and a former United States Senator from the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Santorum was the chairman of the Senate Republican Conference -making him the third-ranking Senate Republican from 2001 until his leave in 2007. Santorum is considered both a social...
, Sean HannitySean HannitySean Hannity is an American radio and television host, author, and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Sean Hannity Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks. Hannity also hosts a cable news show, Hannity,...
, Benny HinnBenny HinnToufik Benedictus "Benny" Hinn הין; born December 3, 1952) is a televangelist, best known for his regular "Miracle Crusades" – revival meeting/faith healing summits that are usually held in large stadiums in major cities, which are later broadcast worldwide on his television program, This Is Your...
, Gary BauerGary BauerGary Lee Bauer is an American politician notable for his ties to several evangelical Christian groups and campaigns.-Biography:...
, Hank HanegraaffHank HanegraaffHendrik "Hank" Hanegraaff also known as the Bible Answer Man is an American author, radio talk-show host and advocate of evangelical Christianity. He was born in the Netherlands and raised in the United States since childhood. He is married with 12 children...
, Dennis Rainey, American Family AssociationAmerican Family AssociationThe American Family Association is a 501 non-profit organization that promotes conservative Christian values, such as opposition to same-sex marriage, pornography, and abortion, as well as other public policy goals such as deregulation of the oil industry and lobbying against the Employee Free...
, Trinity Broadcasting NetworkTrinity Broadcasting NetworkThe Trinity Broadcasting Network is a major American Christian television network. TBN is based in Costa Mesa, California, with auxiliary studio facilities in Irving, Texas; Hendersonville, Tennessee; Gadsden, Alabama; Decatur, Georgia; Miami, Florida; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Orlando, Florida; and New...
, Family Research CouncilFamily Research CouncilThe Family Research Council is a conservative or right-wing Christian group and lobbying organization formed in the United States in 1981 by James Dobson. It was fully incorporated in 1983...
and the Traditional Values CoalitionTraditional Values CoalitionThe Traditional Values Coalition is a conservative Christian organization that represents, by its estimate, over 43,000 Christian churches throughout the United States of America...
.
- Battle Cry Coalition. Teen Mania's own coalition includes, or has included, prominent Christian Right
- Battle Cry 33 Affiliated Partner Churches. As of December 2006, 1077 churches and ministries were listed on the battlecry.com website as partner churches of the Battle Cry Campaign. "33" refers to 33 million American teens.
- Promotion of other Teen Mania Ministries programs:
- Global Expeditions mission trips, which have taken more than 50,000 young people on short term mission trips since 1987.
- The Honor Academy, a character and leadership development internship program run at Teen Mania Ministries' headquarters in Garden Valley Texas.
- Extreme Camps summer camps, which feature bands, sports, well-known speakers, adventure courses and paintball.
- Center For Creative Media Production school ran by TeenMania that offers three courses; Production, Acting, and Production Management.
- Marketing program. Battle Cry was marketed as a brand by TocquignyTocquigny- History :Founded in 1980 by Yvonne Tocquigny, initially the agency was more of a small design studio. As the agency grew, it began to pick up larger clients. Dell was one of the first blue chip companies to work with Tocquigny, starting the relationship in the early 1990s...
, an advertising and marketing agency in Austin, Texas. "Tocquigny will help the organization re-launch its Battle Cry brand with the goal of spreading its message to 31 million teens across America." Teen Mania paid Tocquigny $451,397 for consulting services during the first full year of the Battle Cry Campaign. - "Christian alternative to Myspace", battlecry.com ("Let MySpace be His space")
The "4 percent panic attack"
Some critics maintain that the statistics used by Teen Mania to support its cause are suspect and exaggerated. Rick Lawrence, who for the past 18 years has edited Group Magazine, a publication for youth pastors, coined the label "4 percent panic attack" as the title of an editorial in his magazine in which he outright calls this statistic a "lie:"Lawrence goes on to point out that the "4 percent" statistic originated in a 2003 report by Christian statistician George Barna
George Barna
George Barna is the founder of The Barna Group, a market research firm specializing in studying the religious beliefs and behavior of Americans, and the intersection of faith and culture...
, which is based on a very narrow definition of what defines an "evangelical" or "Bible-believing Christian." A Barna press release issued in December 2003 announced a study that "showed only 4% of adults have a biblical worldview as the basis of their decision-making." Lawrence takes issue with Barna's attempt to measure the number of teens who apply "biblical principles" to "every decision" they make:
Christian Smith, a professor of sociology at the University of Notre Dame and a specialist in the study of American evangelicals, says he is skeptical of the "4 percent" statistic and that that figure was inconsistent with research he had conducted and reviewed.
San Francisco demonstrations, city resolution and noise issue
Two weeks before the first Battle Cry stadium event in San Francisco, Teen Mania announced a pre-event rally to be held on the steps of City HallSan Francisco City Hall
San Francisco City Hall, re-opened in 1915, in its open space area in the city's Civic Center, is a Beaux-Arts monument to the City Beautiful movement that epitomized the high-minded American Renaissance of the 1880s to 1917. The structure's dome is the fifth largest in the world...
on March 24, 2006. In the cover letter, signed by Ron Luce and sent to registered participants in the stadium event, the significance of City Hall as the location where gay marriages had been held two years before was explicitly pointed out:
City Hall is significant to many San Francisco residents for a different reason: it was where the city’s first openly gay supervisor, Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk
Harvey Bernard Milk was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
, and Mayor George Moscone
George Moscone
George Richard Moscone was an American attorney and Democratic politician. He was the 37th mayor of San Francisco, California, US from January 1976 until his assassination in November 1978. Moscone served in the California State Senate from 1967 until becoming Mayor. In the Senate, he served as...
, were assassinated in 1978. Ron Luce has said that, at the time of the rally, he was unaware of the historic and social relevance of the City Hall site.
Local activists organized a counter-demonstration of about 50 people to greet the Battle Cry participants. State Assemblyman Mark Leno
Mark Leno
Mark Leno is an American politician, representing California's 3rd Senate district, which includes parts of San Francisco and Sonoma County, as well as the entirety of Marin County. He was elected in 2008 and is the first openly gay man to serve in the Senate...
, D-San Francisco, addressed the counter-demonstrators, saying that while such "fundamentalists" may be small in number,
"they're loud, they're obnoxious, they're disgusting, and they should get out of San Francisco."
Teen Mania later prominently quoted Leno as part of a postcard sent to San Francisco churches to promote the 2007 Battle Cry stadium event.
Earlier that week, the city's Board of Supervisors
San Francisco Board of Supervisors
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is the legislative body within the government of the City and County of San Francisco, California, United States.-Government and politics:...
had passed a resolution "condemning upcoming rally to be held by anti-abortion groups in front of City Hall." The resolution called the rally an "act of provocation when a right-wing Christian fundamentalist group brings their anti-gay and anti-choice agenda of intolerance to the steps of San Francisco's City Hall" and that the presence of Battle Cry participants at City Hall "should be taken by no one as an official or semi-official sanctioning of their rally nor of their message by the elected officials of San Francisco."
This resolution was then cited by various commentators, including Fox News Channel's
Fox News Channel
Fox News Channel , often called Fox News, is a cable and satellite television news channel owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a subsidiary of News Corporation...
Bill O'Reilly
Bill O'Reilly (commentator)
William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television...
and the city's leading newspaper, as evidence that the city itself was being intolerant of Christians or was attempting to silence the Battle Cry participants. Elizabeth Creely, a San Francisco activist with the Bay Area Coalition for Our Reproductive Rights, explained the purpose of the resolution this way:
Noise complaints from nearby residents received by the city due to the early Saturday morning start time became an issue during the preparations for the return of the Battle Cry event to AT&T Park in March 2007. According to the minutes of the city Entertainment Commission hearing regarding Teen Mania's application for a required loudspeaker permit,
the director of event production for AT&T Park had advised Teen Mania in advance that noise had been an issue and "advised them to start any musical component after 10:00 A.M. due to complaints last year." The Commission approved the permit with the stipulation that amplified music not be used before 10:00 A.M. on Saturday. In a notice sent to Battle Cry participants, Teen Mania described this action as a "last minute noise ordinance" imposed by the city's Board of Supervisors, and while the notice began by saying "we want to
respect and honor our lawmakers" it offered a sample letter to be sent to the Board that included the following:
The event began Saturday morning as originally scheduled, without amplified music, through the use of radios throughout the crowd tuned to a broadcast of the event on a local Christian radio station.
Other criticism
The Hamilton, Ontario "Acquire the Fire" event in October 2006 prompted some commentary on Teen Mania's methods and message in the region's media. Toronto StarToronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
writer Jen Gerson began her account of the event this way:
In an interview with a CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
reporter, Bob Shantz, former University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
chaplain, commented on the militarism
Militarism
Militarism is defined as: the belief or desire of a government or people that a country should maintain a strong military capability and be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests....
inherent in Teen Mania's programs:
In an interview with Bob Garfield
Bob Garfield
Bob Garfield writes the "Ad Review" TV-commercial criticism feature in Advertising Age. He is also the co-host of the On the Media show on National Public Radio. Before that, he was a frequent contributor to All Things Considered. He is the advertising analyst for ABC News...
on On the Media
On the Media
On the Media is an hour-long weekly radio program, hosted by Bob Garfield and Brooke Gladstone, covering journalism, technology, and First Amendment issues. It is produced by WNYC in New York City...
, Jeff Sharlet
Jeff Sharlet
Jeff Sharlet is an American journalist, bestselling author, and academic best known for writing about religious subcultures in the United States. He is a contributing editor for Harper's and Rolling Stone...
described a Battle Cry commercial in which replicated teens march off to war:
Mark Cox, a pastor at Bethel Christian Church in the Mission District of San Francisco, told a San Francisco Chronicle reporter that he attended one "Acquire the Fire" event and would never return, commenting:
External links
- Battle Cry web site
- Teen Mania Ministries corporate website
- Teen Mania Canada
- Acquire the Evidence - Website "responding to Teen Mania's 'BattleCry' Campaign"