All Politics is Loco: The Butler Did It

I have always strongly believed that those who preach the loudest and with the most vigor, probably have the most to hide.
Triangle Pride PAC recently unveiled a Web site detailing many months of research into Keith Butler and his Word of Faith religious empire. Many people know Keith Butler as the outspoken conservative African-American minister who once served on the Detroit City Council. Others know him as the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. Still others know him as the man who runs a worldwide broadcasting and religious empire that looks more like a bizarre religious sect, than a ministry.
Triangle Foundation and Triangle Pride PAC are just two miles away from the enormous religious industrial complex on Nine Mile Road and Evergreen called the Word of Faith International Christian Center. So for us, the issue is close to home. At my place of work we respond to people who have been victimized by discrimination and violence – and the ideologies of Keith Butler, his church and his followers.
Visitors to www.KeithButlerExposed.com# will have more than 30 pages of background information on the religious zealot who has been front and center in the debate on homosexuality. Butler prides himself in being the leading African-American religious voice in opposition to equal rights for the GLBT community. He has fashioned himself as a moral crusader claiming that GLBT people and our rights are a threat to the traditional Christian family.
Butler supports teaching "intelligent design" in public school science classes, even though it is not a scientific theorty. Intelligent Design is a new and improved version of creationism. By attacking the theory of evolution and forcing a merging of church and state, Butler has shown that his agenda is to govern from the pulpit not from the secular seat of government designed by our Founding Fathers.
More shocking though is his unholy alliance with the Republican Party. He was recently quoted in the Detroit Free Press as saying, "I don't meet the 'heartless Republican' standard." It is refreshing that he acknowledges that the party he has chosen to align himself with, opposes affirmative action, raising the minimum wage, investing in educational opportunities for urban youth, social safety net programs that most notably help African Americans, and gutted social services spending just months after botching the Hurricane Katrina response in New Orleans.
A closer look at Bishop Butler shows that his Word of Faith religious sect is very problematic and unique in its views. Most interesting is that Butler anointed himself Bishop and appointed his own family members as ministers and leaders within the Church. He also runs the operation like a business, using every opportunity to sell his tapes and videos and classes. The church has been scolded by watchdog groups for not being open with the church finances. Churches are exempt from having to report how the money is raised and spent, as long as they follow federal law. But if Butler is so secretive about something as innocent as his ministry, can we expect him to be honest and upfront about his campaign expenditures?
His own post-baccalaureate degrees came from unaccredited colleges and the teachings of his church are equally suspect. Word of Faith leaders have been quoted as saying that God is on the same level as mankind and that God can do nothing on Earth without the permission of man. They believe it is a sin to be poor and that the more money you tithe to their church the more wealth you will have in Heaven. Sound fishy to you too.
Keith Butler has a lot in his closet, and even if he doesn't make it through the Republican Primary for U.S. Senate on August 8th, he may still be considered for a place on the ballot at the Michigan Republican Convention later this month. Either way, he is planning to be a pain in the side of the GLBT community for years to come. If he gets a statewide platform, we can all expect more right-wing religious attacks on our families. For more information on the primary elections go to http://www.trianglepridepac.org.