Ex-Evangelical Lib: Catholic Church Speaking on Sexual Morality ‘Is Like Being Lectured by the KKK on Race Relations’

Frank Schaeffer (son of theologian and author Francis Schaeffer) is, perhaps, the nation's most critical ex-evangelical commentators, as he seeks to insult, debunk and take aim at conservative Christianity on a near-daily basis. Over the past year, The Blaze has documented some of his intense rhetoric. In a blog post published Tuesday, Schaeffer lambasted the Catholic Church and "evangelical Taliban" who he sees as villains in the current debate about religious freedom here in America.

Predictably, the piece dismisses Catholic angst over the Obama administration's contraceptive mandate and goes on to predominately target Robert George, a Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University. Schaeffer writes:

The bishops have been led to attack the President by Republican operative/Professor/anti-abortion activist Robert George of Princeton University. He has achieved this through his close association with Charles Colson, evangelical far right leader and Watergate felon. They laid their deliberate trap for the President by writing something called the Manhattan Declaration, an anti-Obama document (that never mentions the president by name) signed by hundreds of evangelical leaders and the Roman Catholic bishops. Non-Evangelicals with political agendas like Robert George have cashed in on the Evangelicals’ willingness to lend their numbers and influence to one moral crusade after another, or rather I should say, to one political crusade after another masquerading as moral crusades.

Throughout the piece, the ex-evangelical critic referred to those accepting George's Manhattan Declaration as "extremists." Schaeffer's attack on George, a Roman Catholic, devolved into a critique of the Catholic Church that is sure to infuriate many Christians. While arguing in his blog post that it is inappropriate for individuals to cast judgements on others' sex lives, Schaeffer said that this sentiment was specifically true for "the international pedophile ring otherwise known as the Roman Catholic Church." He continued:

When it comes to pointing the finger over sexual “sin,” the worldwide Christian community—from the halls of the Vatican and many a Greek, Russian, or Arab Orthodox bishop’s palace, to an Evangelical “home church” established in somebody’s basement two minutes ago—is in the morally compromised position of a violent habitual rapist criticizing a shoplifter for stealing a candy bar.

But he wasn't done there. He also claimed that seeing Catholic bishops stand up and make proclamations about sexual morality "is like being lectured by the KKK on race relations." To corroborate this point, he went on to highlight cases of abuse that, in his view, apparently define the Catholic Church as a whole. Schaeffer was apparently very proud of these comments, as he also tweeted about the KKK and the Catholic Church following the publication of his blog post:

He concluded the piece by dismissing the contraceptive mandate and alluding to the fact that it isn't a religious liberty issue. Instead, he called it "the right to deny women choice and even contraceptives." Then, he called GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum a clone of George. On Tuesday evening, Schaeffer was also invited to appear on the Rev. Al Sharpton's "PoliticsNation" on MSNBC, where he spoke about the GOP and its purported misuse and abuse of the contraceptive mandate. Additionally, he commented about the purportedly calculated "attack" on Obama's faith. "This is a well-orchestrated campaign by the religious right that has infultrated the Republican Party," he said. During this interview he also targeted George and, once again, said that the Manhattan Declaration laid the groundwork for what he dubbed a "well-laid trap." "This whole religious freedom cry that's going up now didn't just suddenly happen," Schaeffer proclaimed. "They have been on a fishing expedition, trying to label this president first as a Muslim, then as a communist, then as a non-Christian, then as a secularist, and now all of the sudden he's anti-religious, because he's telling people that have insurance policies in this country that they have to give women contraceptives." Watch the appearance, below:

Despite overtly harsh commentary about Catholics and evangelicals, alike, MSNBC continues to invite the critic on-air to share his views. According to his Twitter feed, Schaeffer will appear on the "Martin Bashir" show today. Read his entire column for yourself.

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