The Hold the Line Christian political activist conference, led by controversial conservative cult leader Sean Feucht, made its Colorado stop at The Road Church in Colorado Springs on Friday.

The event, which featured local politicians such as U.S. Representatives Doug Lamborn (R-CO) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO), El Paso County Commissioner Stan VanderWerf, and Colorado Springs City Councilman Dave Donelson , among other things, encouraged Christians to get more involved in politics. Feucht and conservative author Eric Metaxas used two well-known topics to motivate people on the benches: LGBTQ people and abortion.

Feucht, who has gained notoriety for his “Let Us Worship” events flouting COVID-19 restrictions and who has come under scrutiny for his alleged ties to far-right extremists, acknowledged the controversy. “They’re shocked when they come to our events, and they’re the most diverse thing there is,” he said. “They are shocked when they see person after person struggling with same-sex attraction being delivered. Person after person in transition therapy breaks free.

Feucht recently made headlines for staging protests against Disney, which he says directs LGBTQ content at children. “Disney came out and it was revealed that they were deliberately trying to pervert our kids and intentionally trying to manipulate, intentionally trying to seed LGBTQ stuff in their stuff and they’re going to record saying, ‘Yeah, we’re trying to indoctrinate your kids,” he told the crowd at The Road Church. “2022 is the year of parents.”

Feucht highlighted Colorado Springs’ history of evangelical activism during the height of Moral Majority and Focus on the Family. “It takes me to Colorado Springs in the 80s and 90s,” he said. “If Disney had tried to release this thing in the 80s and 90s, Colorado Springs would have shut down this thing. Emails would have come out of Focus on the Family. They would have mobilized a massive boycott and Disney would have flipped in one day. That’s the heritage of this city.

That legacy was part of an era when Colorado was branded a “hate state” after the passage of Focus on the Family-backed Amendment 2, a ballot initiative that barred local municipalities from enacting anti-discrimination laws. protecting gay, lesbian or bisexual people. . Amendment 2 was ultimately overturned in the 1996 Supreme Court decision Romer v. Evansbut not before a concerted boycott effort had cost the state millions.

Feucht also took a moment to celebrate the leaked Supreme Court draft decision that could potentially overturn Roe vs. Wade. “From 2016 to 2020, we see three Supreme Court justices in one term,” he said. “People say, ‘Oh, the church was tricked into voting for Trump.’ I’m like, ‘Really? Really, do you want to talk about it now? The proof is in the pudding. We’re standing on the precipice of the death decree of Roe vs. Wade be knocked down.’ … You have pastors apologizing that Christians are celebrating that you can’t murder babies anymore. It’s amazing to me. These are the seasons when God mobilizes and raises up a remnant.

Metaxas, which is also charged in former Dominion Voting Systems executive Eric Coomer’s libel lawsuit against Colorado conservatives Michelle Malkin and Joe Oltmann, urged the public to take a stand against LGBTQ issues. “If you avoid some of these things, folks, you’re guilty of letting them continue,” he said. “When a 14-year-old girl has her breasts cut off because you don’t want to sow discord, you clearly don’t love her. Jesus commanded you to love that girl, to tell the truth, for her, but you say, ‘No, I’m going to skip it because I don’t want to create division. I’m just going to preach the gospel, I don’t want to offend anyone who might have pro-LGBTQ trans views.

Metaxas despised the idea that religious institutions should stay out of politics. “A lot of people tell us that ‘if you don’t stay totally out of politics, you’re divisive if you take a stand,'” he said. “Another thing that’s important to say is what season are you in in history? If you say in 1985 you can be a Democrat, you can be a Republican, you can be this, you can be I would say there is something sensible about it, but what if the Democratic Party becomes the party of – you name it. It has become, quite recently, the party of Marxism cultural, and when I say “cultural Marxism,” I mean everything that goes with it — critical race theory, which is pure madness, it’s evil. Socialism. Communism. All those things, you know, Bill Clinton of the 90s, the weed-smoking crook, this guy was infinitely more conservative than anyone willing to open his mouth today in Congress or the Senate, with one small exception perhaps Joe Manchin.

Greg Locke, another controversial far-right religious figure, recently came under scrutiny for telling his congregation, “You can’t be a Christian and vote a Democrat in this country.” Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit that advocates for the separation of church and state, sent a letter to the IRS regarding Locke’s statements. The letter noted: “Although Locke said he was not a ‘full Republican,’ he clearly told his followers to vote against the Democrats, from the pulpit of his church. This violates the law and we demand an investigation into Locke’s conduct.

Metaxas, who is not a pastor at The Road Church, made similar, though arguably more nuanced, comments on Friday. “The left has changed,” he said. “It’s not the left of Paul Tsongas and Dick Gephart, and you plug in the Democrat. It is no longer this world. It is now a world that has indulged in some of the most monstrous ideas. The idea, that the other day they voted in the Senate and 49 senators, on the Democratic side, voted to have 100% abortion rights in every state. …There was a time when you could be a Christian [and] you could be a member of this party. The party has moved.

The IRS allows churches to engage in political activities on “matters of concern,” but requires that such activities be nonpartisan and do not endorse specific political candidates. Todd Hudd Hudnall, pastor of Radiant Church in Colorado Springs, noted that today’s pastors are often “accused of being ‘political’ when we are biblical.”

This story is part of a three-part series on the Hold the Line event.