I'm not Jesus, but I play him on TV

Actor Jim Caviezel aims to be the Dr. Greg Cynaumon of the Bush campaign:

Evangelicals endeavor to redeem the vote



By Bill Sammon

THE WASHINGTON TIMES



President Bush's re-election campaign is getting a boost from powerful Christian groups, which are enlisting entertainers such as actor Jim Caviezel of "The Passion of the Christ" to cajole millions of evangelicals into voting.



One of the newest groups is Redeem the Vote, the religious community's answer to MTV's secular Rock the Vote. The group is touring battleground states with Christian rock groups and voter-registration drives that organizers say are putting the fear of God into Sen. John Kerry's supporters.



"This is really scaring Democrats," said Redeem the Vote founder Randy Brinson. "This is major, major news that the major media have ignored because we're not liberal."



Mr. Brinson persuaded Mr. Caviezel, the actor who portrayed Jesus in Mel Gibson's hit film, to appear in a Webcast imploring Christians to vote. Although Mr. Caviezel never explicitly endorses the president, his message is designed to remind Christians that Mr. Bush shares their opposition to abortion, judicial activism and homosexual "marriage."



"In this election year, Americans are faced with some of the most important issues in the history of our country," he said. "In order to preserve the God-given freedoms we each hold dear, it's important that we let our voices be heard."

Note: In looking for links for the ubiquitous "Dr. Greg" of those relentlessly irritating CortiSlim ads -- you know, the ones which imply that 100,000 people reordering CortiSlim is the same as if the entire population of Green Bay did -- I found out some interesting things that make the use of his name in this thread not just gratuitous snarkiness, but even somewhat tangentially related to the idea that an actor playing Jesus supporting Bush means somehow that the real one would too. For not only is Cynaumon a snake oil salesman, he's also "respected" in Christian circles. He sells himself as a marriage and family therapist who has appeared on -- why am I not surprised -- Focus on the Family radio, an Evangelical Christian author, a Christian parenting expert, career counseling executive, and talk show host. If he's the second coming of anything, it's of Frank Abagnale, the professional imposter made famous by Leonardo DiCaprio's portrayal of him in last year's film Catch Me If You Can. If you detest those fucking CortiSlim ads as much as I do, and if they're interfering with your enjoyment of Air America Radio as much as they are with mine, you might enjoy finding out just what a true sleazeball this guy really is.



Praise the Lord, and pass the lucre.