Pennsylvania Republican state Rep. Rick Saccone held a rally in Harrisburg earlier this week where he announced that he intends to run for the U.S. Senate against Democratic Sen. Bob Casey Jr. next year. Religious Right pseudo-historian David Barton and Sam Rohrer of the American Pastors Network joined Saccone at his rally, and yesterday Saccone appeared on Rohrer’s “Stand In The Gap” radio program where he explained that he is launching this bid for higher office because God wants Christians “who will rule with the fear of God in them to rule over us.”

In the radio interview, Saccone said that if Christians “don’t get involved in government, the government will get involved in you, and you won’t like the results. The government will run over you and you won’t have any say it. So Christians have to stand up and make sure that they have a say in their government and that they’re protecting their rights and our religious liberties which are being trampled on every day across this nation. If we don’t speak out, those liberties will be taken away. You can see it day after day, case after case.”

“God has set out a plan for us,” he continued. “He wants godly men and women in all aspects of life. He wants people who will rule with the fear of God in them to rule over us. And if they don’t, then the evil side will take over and the government will control and run over the good people and so they have to stand up, that’s just part of it. If you don’t have good people in government, then you’ll have bad people in government—and when bad people are reigning over us, the people will not be happy.”