The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Jeri Hird Dutcher
Juan Ciscomani is a candidate for
the U.S. Congress from Arizona’s Sixth Congressional District.
Though he presents himself as a family man with strong community values, the reality is much darker and more dangerous.
Among his other extremist associations, Ciscomani founded the Arizona Chapter of a Christian Nationalist group called the Patriot Academy, and he has spent most of his adult life on its board of directors.
The far-right Patriot Academy as an organization:
- Believes the United States is on the brink of “Godless communism,” and the only way to save the country is to rewrite the Constitution to establish a Christian nation.
- Is teaching its supporters how to defend themselves with a handgun, “just in case.” It has provided firearms training for children as young as 11 years, specifically teaching how to fire two shots into “vital areas” of the human body in under two seconds.
- Aims to ban same-sex marriage, calling it “scripturally sinful.” Further, the academy states that churches supporting equality are being attacked by the Devil.
- Opposes all abortions, even in cases of rape and incest, and claims that Planned Parenthood is “in the business of harvesting murdered baby body parts for sale.” Patriot Academy founder Rick Green has compared abortion to the holocaust.
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“I can wholeheartedly say that nothing in my life has given me a clearer direction for my life than Patriot Academy,” Ciscomani has said.
Ciscomani and the Patriot Academy are part of the extremist right who with former President Donald Trump plan to dictate the personal lives of United States citizens. Their actions and intentions are not the desired direction for the lives of those of us in the Sixth Congressional District who believe in:
- The separation of church and
- state as a safeguard for religious
- freedom, guaranteed by the First Amendment of the United States
- Constitution.
- Ways of communicating that do not include the use of firearms against other human beings and particularly in the hands of children.
- The freedom to love and marry
- as we please, as guaranteed by the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in 2015.
- A woman’s right to comprehensive healthcare, including the choices of pregnancy and childbirth.
If you agree with these values rather than the fear- and control-based tenets of Ciscomani and the Patriot Academy, please cast your vote for Kirsten Engel in the Sixth Congressional District on November 5.
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Jeri Hird Dutcher is a retired journalist and marketing professional and a volunteer for Kirsten Engel’s campaign for Congress.
