With Mike Johnson winning his election to Congress, Bossier Parish must fill the now vacant seat in the Louisiana House of Representatives. Republicans Raymond Crews, Robbie Gatti, Michael “Duke” Lowrie and Patrick J. Harrington started the race to represent the highly conservative District 8. Harrington and Lowrie already folded their campaigns, leaving Gatti and Crews fighting to represent the district. Gatti, Lowrie, and now Crews have fallen victim to scandals that have shown how uninformed and reprehensible the field has been.

Robbie Gatti is attempting to downplay photos of him wearing blackface at a First Baptist Church in Bossier function, dressing up as “Tiger Woods”. Michael “Duke” Lowrie had refused to back down from 2015 Facebook posts where he called for a boycott of all U.S. businesses owned by Muslims or any business that employs followers of the Islamic faith.

Now it seems that Raymond Crews is fighting to join their ranks after responding to an email from Michael Chisum, community activist and 2016 Northwest Louisiana Prism Award honoree, regarding comments made by the wife of Retired Justice Roy Moore of Mississippi concerning Col. Kristin E. Goodwin receiving a promotion from Barksdale Airforce Base to the Pentagon.

Michael’s letter:

Candidate Crews,

This week in an open letter of protest well known Christian leader and Conservative Retired Justice Roy Moore of Mississippi regarding the promotion of now Brigadier General Goodwin to Commandant of the Air Force Academy wrote

“The person responsible for the education of cadets at the academy is a role model and an exemplar of proper deportment and conduct. Col. Goodwin, as a lesbian who is ‘married’ to another woman, not only demeans the institution of marriage but contradicts the divine basis for marriage revealed in Scripture and evident in nature.”

He reiterated.
“Because homosexual relationships are unnatural, they are incompatible with the basic structure of civil society and the historic antecedents of military order and discipline. By nominating an open lesbian who proclaims that she is married to another woman, the Department of Defense states its disregard for the fundamental moral order established by God, thus breaking trust with the millions of Christians who voted for the new president in hope that the ungodly policies of the previous administration would be repudiated.”

Having had the pleasure of meeting Colonel Goodwin, her wife, and family while she served as Commander of Barksdale Air Force Base, she holds a special place in my heart and a special connection to this area. I’m quite proud know her. As a follower of Christ, I don’t share Judge Moore’s opinion.

As a combat veteran, I was wondering if you shared Justice Moore’s conservative view of now Brigadier General Goodwin’s promotion? As a Christian leader do you agree with Judge Moore?

Thank you for taking your time to consider this.

MC

Chisum posted the response he received from Raymond Crews:

Susan (and Michael Chisum),
“Promoting an officer on the basis of their sexual preference, or celebrating that preference instead of their accomplishments, or even in addition to those accomplishments, denigrates that person, and uses them as a tool for an agenda, rather than recognizing them as an example of someone created in God’s image. We should allrecognize, that sinful as we are, God can use us for His glory. When we use the gifts He has given us to satisfy our desires ahead of His, we perform idol worship – we make idols of ourselves and our desires.

Promoting the homosexual agenda equates to the establishment of a religion, that of humanism, something prohibited by the Constitution.

Married military members receive additional financial support from tax revenue. In effect, taxpayers are forced to pay for the establishment of a religion.
All of this is to say that although BG Goodwin may be extremely capable and a wonderfully nice person, she is being used to promote an agenda that is, at it’s core, contrary to the anti-establishment clause.

Homosexuality is, of course, “natural” in the sense that we all have an inclination to do things that are harmful to us and are in violation to God’s will. That includes theft, gluttony, adultery, and a long list of others. Recognizing that, we should extend compassion to one another while continuing to seek holiness.”

-Raymond Crews

Harrington and Lowrie already folded their campaigns, leaving Gatti and Crews as the two candidates for the seat leaving voters with a Sophie’s Choice of candidates.As one commenter noted, “Given that he is running in a district that is marketing itself as innovative and trying to attract millennials with advanced degrees to work at some of their large employers, this statement of intolerance works against his community’s main focus right now.”