My point is simple. The agenda is global. Your right wing theocrats have become "catholic" in their strategies and in their outreach. While some stop confronting them at international borders, they are learning from the "parent" of Western Christianity - and observing the failures inherent in the jurisdictional dichotomy of Eastern Christianity.

Name the subject of contention. Name the players.
They are active in my native Canada, as well as in the USA. Funds earned on either side of the border are used to further their agenda and the secular neocons who enable them.

As a priest and bishop, I have worked and preached in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese in both hemispheres - as well as in the UK.

In the last thirty years, we have seen the simultaneous erosion of the mainstream Reformation- Continental or English - along with the political centre.

In Canada, the Progressive Conservative party was hijacked by the Reform/Alliance neo-conservatives. In true fashion, they adopted the name "Conservative Party of Canada" in order to make legitimate their newly-found honour and dignity.

In the USA, both major political parties have either been controlled by the neocon-theocratic alliance, or have been controlled by centrists unwilling to engage due to complicity with powerful economic interests they share.

It has always been difficult to divorce the economic from the political from the religious causations of history. Ecclesial history is no different. In fact, and in this case, it makes the point.

Our challenge, alluded to earlier, is equally simple. Engage them. "Out" them. Redefine them. Define ourselves. Oh yes, talk first and then act. (grin).

by LIBERAL CROZIER on Thu Dec 01, 2005 at 02:46:49 AM EST

Their primary interest in Jews, and in Israel, were not as a people, but largely as objects, and their main interests focused in four areas:

a) Israel's formation as a "trigger event" for the Last Days (of course, in their worldview, they'd be Raptured Up, they would get to watch the whole Tribulation thing from a front-row seat in heaven (they talked about how they would laugh as the world was tortured), then come back down to Israel to fight the Final Battle and then get to have another frontrow seat as all the non-dominionists (including the non-messianic Jews) literally burned in nuclear hellfire

(In the AoG circles where I grew up, this was generally combined witha peculiar view that Russia was going to invade Israel and that Russia was home of the Antichrist.  They have actually kept this up a full ten years after the fall of the USSR, first claiming Russia was faking the fall of communism, then claiming that Iraq was being used as a stalking horse (and seeing as a lot of the President's advisors are in the same AoG circles that were promoting this nonsense, you now know where  the whole idea for invading Iraq came from) and now claiming Russia secretly controls the UN and European Community.  Some sectors are now calling China the home of the Antichrist, but it's still largely more anti-European (probably because a lot of the dominionist churches and orgs are defined by law as hate groups through much of Europe).)

b) A rather bizarre form of idolatry regarding Israel and Jewish people in general--it was quite literally considered blasphemy if one criticized Israel's foreign policy (this was when Israel was expansionist, before they started making concessions).  I remember being explicitly told growing up by both family and by members of my church "You better support Israel even if they commit genocide against the entire Palestinian community" (my emphasis).

They've become more critical of some of the government concessions, and now the Palestinians have become the Antichrist's Stalking Horse in some worldviews (yes, many dominionists literally believe the Palestinians--ironically, the home of some of the Christian community in the area--are agents of the devil himself).  Many dominionists are actively supporting the settler groups refusing to move, which is part of Israel's concern.

c) The hope that the Israelis could finally run the Moslems out of the country, destroy the Dome of the Rock, and build the Third Temple.  (The very group I walked away from has supported groups both here and in Israel for which this is an explicit goal.)

d) Conversion of Jews to what they euphemistically refer to as "Messianic Jews" or "Completed Jews" and what I not-so-euphemistically refer to as "kosher pentecostals".  (The AoG is the second largest denomination that has as an explicit goal conversion of Jews to "Messianic Judaism" and actually has the longest history at it (approximately since Jews for Jesus has been around; nearly all of the "Messianic Jew" groups besides Jews for Jesus are explicitly tied to the AoG in some form or another).  This includes explicitly targeting Jews within Israel itself.)

No, I don't apologise for calling them "kosher pentecostals", as they are essentially AoG members who keep kashrut laws.  (There was a "Messianic Jew" division in the church I walked away from, and I grew up with several of them in my Sunday school.)  Some AoGers have even gone the route of adopting kashrut laws, only calling themselves "Hebrew Christians" (and still being essentially pentecostals that keep kosher and celebrate Rosh Hashanah).

In the case of the particular AoG church I am a walkaway from, a good deal of their effort has been expended on both attempts to convert Jews and promotion of "Israel Idolatry" within the dominionist community.  The shortwave religiocasting empire that the church runs is part of this; they operate High Adventure Ministries as one of their front groups as well.

High Adventure Ministries not only promotes "Bible Tours" targeted at pentecostal/charismatic dominionists and "Christian Zionist" groups, but also broadcasts radio programs specifically targeting Israel itself including promotion of "messianic Judaism".  High Adventure essentially also operates as the shortwave operations of the dominionist group I walked away from.  They also operate a TV station on Sky Angel/Dominion Satellite, a dominionist-operated "Christian DBS service" that was also the original point of broadcast for both of the Justice Sunday broadcasts.

by dogemperor on Thu Dec 01, 2005 at 08:35:30 AM EST