Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan was invited to give a greeting from the House of Representatives to yesterday’s Watchmen at the Wall conference, an event for conservative pastors hosted by the Family Research Council. Walberg, himself a former pastor, used the opportunity to preach about how Americans are becoming “slaves” to such things as “sexual perversion,” “humanism,” “government” and “sports.”

The Michigan Republican told the story of the Israelites who returned to Jerusalem where they “read from the book of the law of the LORD” and collectively confessed their sins. Walberg quoted from the book of Nehemiah: “Behold, we are slaves today, and as to the land that you gave to our fathers to eat of its fruit and its bounty, behold we are slaves in it.”

“Does that bring to mind any other great nation in your frame of reference?” he asked.

“Just to jog your thoughts about that possible other nation that this could be a reference to: Slaves to materialism. Slaves to violence. Slaves to pornography. Slaves to debt. Slaves to sexual perversion. Slaves to gluttony. Slaves to drugs and drunkenness. Slaves to pleasure. Slaves to recreation. Slaves to sports. Slaves to selfishness. Slaves to laziness. Slaves to humanism. Slaves to government.”

Just in case the audience didn’t which country he was referring to, he added that he was talking about Americans.