Donate to or support
Talk to Action








The Indian River Incident : What You Can Do

link > The "Stop the ACLU Coalition" Shaming Project
How you can help stop "Stop The ACLU" just by sending a few emails



 'Left Behind' video game imageThe Shaming Project

does the violence of "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" bother you ? If so, what can you do ? Well, to begin with you can email Jonathan Hutson's stories to people you know. That will help to bring more public scrutiny of the game. Public shaming really works ! Just click on the "email" icon and link at the top or bottom of the story and you'll be taken to a form that will allow you email the first story, The Purpose Driven Life Takers or the latest installment without leaving this site. Thanks. 'Left Behind' video game image




More churches stand up to Ohio dominionists!
By dogemperor Fri Jan 27, 2006 at 01:26:10 PM EST printable version print story
Two weeks ago, I reported on a major precedent in the fight against dominionists hijacking our country and hijacking Christianity.

31 pastors of Columbus area churches joined together to file formal legal complaint with the IRS against two dominionist churches--World Harvest Church and Fairfield Christian Church--at the heart of the "Ohio Restoration Movement" and similar moves to set up "Patriot Pastor" movements in other states (such as Texas).

And now the movement by these pastors--which I affectionately refer to as the "Ohio Rebellion" (in the Rebel Alliance or even Revolutionary sense, of course)...is snowballing.

topic: 'Patriot Pastors', IRS & Churches
Per the Columbus Dispatch (which has been the major newspaper covering this story) and a recent mirrored post on Dark Christianity:
Religious leaders who accused two evangelical pastors of illegally playing politics came forward yesterday and reaffirmed their decision to challenge the tax-exempt status of the pastors' churches.

Arrayed around the pulpit at the North Broadway United Methodist Church in Columbus, 22 of 31 pastors who originally filed the complaint with the Internal Revenue Service gathered for a news conference to defend their rare and explosive action. Yesterday, the ranks of signers grew to 33.

And the Rev. Eric Williams, senior pastor of the North Congregational United Church of Christ in Columbus, said at least two dozen more ministers from Ohio and across the nation have asked to have their names added to the complaint seeking an IRS investigation into the political activities of the Rev. Rod Parsley, of World Harvest Church in Columbus, and the Rev. Russell Johnson, of Fairfield Christian Church in Lancaster.

"We come from different traditions, we come perhaps from different theological points of view, we come from different experiences, but we all come together around this one single concern," Williams said, referring to the pastors representing nine Judeo-Christian denominations.

The pastors want the IRS to determine whether the two evangelical megachurches headed by Parsley and Johnson, along with three affiliated organizations, should lose their tax-exempt status for participating in partisan politics.


The original action--which I reported on here on Talk2Action--by these pastors is in itself historic; to the best of any researchers' knowledge, this is the first time a complaint against a church for electioneering has ever been filed by other members of the clergy.  

The fact that other clergymen, both in Ohio and nationwide, are now joining the Ohio Rebellion is most encouraging indeed.  (This is exactly the sort of action that is needed in mainstream churches, IMHO.)

True to form, the pastors of the dominionist churches have already begun demonising the Ohio Rebellion and the clergy behind it, calling them literally unholy:

Until yesterday, only about nine of the complaining pastors -- whom Johnson (of Fairfield Christian) labeled "an unholy alliance" -- had been identified. But they revealed themselves yesterday under pressure from the public and Parsley, who last week called them the "anonymous 31." The pastors said they acted as individuals and not on behalf of their churches.

The Rev. David W. Meredith of the United Methodist Church said "there was never any intention to keep our names secret" and it was difficult to assemble "very busy clergy" for a public event.

In a statement released last night, Parsley said, "I welcome the news that the liberal clergy members who filed these baseless allegations against us have decided to publicly identify themselves. We've been praying for these clergy since all this began and we look forward to the opportunity to pray for them by name."


(Although it may not seem like it to people outside the dominionist community, Parsley actually directly threatened the pastors making legal complaint.  In neopentecostal churches, especially those into "Third Wave" theology (of which World Harvest Church is an embracer thereof), "word-faith" movements and the "spiritual warfare" aspects of dominion theology, one extremely common method of specifically "cursing people in the name of Christ" is to get groups of people to pray over the names of "targets" for all manner of harm to come over them until they convert (and to will all manner of harm to come to them for the specific purpose of bending them to the dominionists' will).  I've detailed the specific process here.)

Needless to say, the dominionist pastors are trying to play "But if you'd just talked to us...", but the pastors behind the Ohio Rebellion are having none of it.  And, for the most part, their congregations are behind them:

Parsley said if the pastors had come to him personally, "rather than air their grievances in the media, we certainly would have quickly put their fears to rest."

But the Rev. John Edgar, of the United Methodist Church, said, "It's not a conversation about whether or not we should have gone to Pastor Parsley ahead of time. It's about whether or not there's a violation of the IRS code . . . Clearly, there are significant violations. They knew it and the person they were helping (Blackwell) is someone who should have enforced the laws that were being broken."

Most of the pastors who assembled yesterday said they have told their congregations they signed the complaint and were overwhelmingly supported.

"When I told my congregation on Sunday during our worship service, there was a round of spontaneous applause," said the Rev. Kim Keethler Ball, of the American Baptist Church.

"As American Baptists, one of our core values, like the other traditions here, is that we value separation of church and state. For us, this issue falls in that realm and, precisely, (in the complaint) the issue is running a political campaign from church for a particular candidate."

The Rev. Lee Anne Reat, of the Episcopal Church, said she told her congregants she signed the complaint during her sermon Sunday.

"I talked about the need for a broader voice to be heard in the religious domain: a voice that takes into account the freedoms that we enjoy as Americans and the freedoms that we enjoy as people of faith -- freedoms that were an original gift from God. The response from my congregation was that there were a lot of tears, tears of pride. They are very much in support of the action that this group has taken. We stand proudly as people of faith, not an unholy alliance."


We need to see a lot more like this, but this is an encouraging start here. :3



Display:
Thought I'd re-post the link since it may have gotten buried in the previous thread. This news wasn't limited to Columbus. The New York Times (TimesSelect at this point) published a very decent article on the challenge - an exciting development since getting the news out to a wider audience is essential. Even if IRS doesn't do an audit, this kind of coverage will alert more people to the problem, help to educate them about the distinction between the Religious Right "Christians" and mainline clergy, and let the Right know that they no longer have the freedom to operate freely without fear of repercussions. Moderates and liberals tend to "turn the other cheek" and avoid fights. Doesn't work with this aggressive group.

by Psyche on Fri Jan 27, 2006 at 06:24:31 PM EST


WWW Talk To Action


The Fog is Lifting over Common Ground on Abortion
President Obama has made much about finding common ground on abortion, and Democratic oriented think tanks like Third Way and Faith in Public Life......
By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)
Short Takes
Examiner.com:  A few years ago, Talk to Action exposed the convert or die ideology of the video game based on Tim LaHaye's Left Behind......
By Frederick Clarkson (6 comments)
Sally Kern, Unpatriot: Why Does Oklahoma's Looney Lawmaker Hate America?
Everyone's favorite raging theocrat, Oklahoma House member Sally Kern, is at it again. Numerous reports indicate that Kern and her supporters plan to publicly......
By Rob Boston (3 comments)
Camp David Chaplain: "First we get the military, then we get the nation"
For a few hours today it seemed, according to a new Time Magazine story by Amy Sullivan, released Monday morning, that US President Barack......
By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
Obama's [Reported] New Pastor: "First we get the military, then we get the nation"
UPDATE: The White House has denied the report that Obama has chosen the chapel at Camp David as his church. This, however, does not......
By Chris Rodda (2 comments)
CBS's Go To (Rightwing) Catholic Guy
The go to guy at CBS News for all-things Catholic is one Father Thomas D. Williams.  Never heard of him?  Well, if you watch......
By Frank Cocozzelli (2 comments)
MRFF Demands DoD Revoke Authority of Chaplain Endorser Who Suggested Democrats Should Be Executed
As I wrote back in May, the antics of disgraced former Navy chaplain Gordon Klingenschmitt, and his retaliation against the Military Religious Freedom Foundation......
By Chris Rodda (4 comments)
Al Jazeera Special Report Covers Advance of Fundamentalism in US Military
A June 23, 2009 report from Al Jazeera (English) by Josh Rushing, "Fault Lines - Religion in the Military", expertly covers a topic the......
By Bruce Wilson (2 comments)
Ann Coulter Justifies The Tiller Assasination
Ann Coulter is skilled at saying what she really believes while building in a certain plausible deniability, and that is what she has repeatedly......
By Frederick Clarkson (5 comments)
More on the Pre-Netroots Nation Pie Fight
The other day, I reported about the pies launched in response to the description of one of the first sessions to be announced for......
By Frederick Clarkson (3 comments)
Ralph's Resurrection?: Former Christian Coalition Honcho Reed Seeks To Rise From The Crypt
Last month I wrote a story for Church & State speculating about possible new leaders for the Religious Right. I focused on Mike Huckabee,......
By Rob Boston (3 comments)
Liberty Learns A Lesson: Falwell School Accepts AU Advice On Political Clubs
Americans United for Separation of Church and State reacted quickly when word spread recently that officials at Liberty University had revoked university recognition of......
By Rob Boston (0 comments)
Defense Department-Certified Agency Newsletter Suggests Killing Democrats
"In 2008, Ammerman implied that four presidential candidates should be "arrested, quickly tried and hanged" for not voting to designate English America's official language,......
By Bruce Wilson (2 comments)
Col. Jim Ammerman, Apostle & New World Order Conspiracy Theorist
Part Two - Conspiracy as Prophecy New World Order Conspiracy is not disseminated by white supremacist groups alone. New World Order conspiracy is a......
By Ruth (2 comments)
Common Ground Sink Hole at RH Reality Check
There is an odd new section to the prochoice site, RH Reality Check devoted to discussion of common ground on abortion, and featuring some......
By Frederick Clarkson (3 comments)

Radio host: We're only united through Christianity
Most of you in Indiana may know about Peter Heck, who hosts a daily radio show in Kokomo and puts out a column that appears in several newspapers across the state and in OneNewsNow.......
By Christian Dem in NC (1 comment)
Cindy Jacobs--the new leader of the NAR
You may remember that Lou Engle has made moves of late to position himself as the new power in the religious right.  He's a member of the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders, a group......
By Christian Dem in NC (1 comment)
James F. Linzey Espouses anti-Semitic, White Racialist Conspiracy Theory
James F. Linzey is a prominent, active duty chaplain in the United States military. Linzey has stated that he was the command chaplain for the Operation Iraqi Freedom troop mobilization prior to the US......
By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
White Supremacist named as Holocaust Museum Shooter
An 89 year old, vehemently antiSemitic  Ron Paul supporter has been named by police as the gunman who opened fire in the Holocaust Museum shortly after noon today: Gunman, guard shot at Holocaust museum......
By CynthiaGee (0 comments)
From Focus On The Family to La Familia Michoacana
I didn't think my work on the religous right would converge with what I'm doing on the narcoguerra in Mexico...but here it is: the Faith-Based Cartel. ......
By julydogs (1 comment)
A Pagan Among the Mainstream Churches in Boise
The participation by an "out" Pagan in the Idaho Hunger Relief Task Force proves that some religions will accept and welcome help from all quarters, in recognition that we are all human.  The glaring......
By Chiawana (0 comments)
Clarkson on CounterSpin
Hear me discuss the Tiller assasination this week on the nationally syndicated radio program CounterSpin, the progressive media criticism show produced by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR).  You can also listen via Mp3......
By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)
Liberty Counsel tries to SLAPP Americans United
In what can charitably be described as an act of desperation, Liberty Counsel is asking the IRS to investigate Americans United's tax-exempt status.  This comes only days after AU asked the IRS to investigate......
By Christian Dem in NC (0 comments)
Strange how things bring the nutcases out
I read today that Westboro Baptist staged a protest at a vigil held for Dr. Tiller in Wichita.   I'm not surprised, but what did surprise me was that they had 20 people there......
By ArchaeoBob (0 comments)
Southern Baptists may be abandoning public schools
Via OneNewsNow, I discovered a story by former Southern Baptist Convention president Morris Chapman that appears to call for SBC churches to begin setting up Christian schools. I now wonder if our focus in......
By Christian Dem in NC (0 comments)
Footnote about Ammerman / Palin / Wagner Linkage
Colonel "Jim" Ammerman was listed as being an apostle in C. Peter Wagner's International Coalition of Apostles [see ICA prospectus] from the organization's inception in 2001 through to December 2008. The ICA is one......
By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
The Singapore Struggle, after AWARE
An introductory post on steeplejacking in Singapore after the attempted takeover of a woman's NGO and a summary of recent updates. ......
By Sniper (2 comments)
What Does Bobby Jindal Really Want to Do To Louisiana Higher Education?
In recent weeks, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has stood back and watched while both the Louisiana House and Senate wrestled with his original budget proposal to cut $219 million from Louisiana public higher education.......
By ulyankee (3 comments)
Yank Dominionists are considering taking over....New Zealand?????
No, it's not a plot for a bad sci-fi movie, it's.... "The Three Greatest Issues Facing the Men of New Zealand" ....and the first wave of the "invasion" has already hit the island, just......
By CynthiaGee (1 comment)
The AWARE steeplejackers and their deep connections to Joel's Army and American dominionists
Thanks to a few Singaporean friends (who shall remain anonymous), I had become aware of a disturbing development--an attempted hijack of a major women's NGO. Through those same folks and Fred Clarkson's post on......
By dogemperor (0 comments)
Common Enemies: LGBT, Abortion Share Foes
by Pam Chamberlain [On The Issues Magazine] When I was in college, a group of radical women dressed as witches ran around major U.S. cities doing zap actions, placing hexes on male-dominated institutions like......
By On The Issues Magazine (0 comments)
Florida Theocrats at it again.
There are two news articles in today's Ledger that are of concern. http://www.theledger.com/article/20090424/NEWS/904259979/1003/NEW S00?Title=Jesus-License-Plate-Could-Come The new license plates come up for a vote this year. http://www.theledger.com/article/20090423/NEWS/904235098/1005/NEW S02?Title=Bill-Would-Strengthen-Voucher-Program This bill, also possibly up for a......
By ArchaeoBob (4 comments)
Is Humanism Arrogant?
Much to the dismay of theocratic Christians, humanists claim that ethics can be understood without resorting to the supernatural or alleged divine authority from religious texts.  Christian theocrats say this is hubris. ......
By TMurray (8 comments)
Terry Schaivo back in the news
http://www.theledger.com/article/20090330/NEWS/903305040/1003/NEW S00?Title=Schiavo-Anniversary-Mass-Planned Another move by the religious right- rather than letting Terry go (after an autopsy PROVED that she had severe and irreversible brain damage), they're dragging her up again. ......
By ArchaeoBob (5 comments)
no ark no temple
how can you build a new temple in jerusalem if there is no ark of the covanent to put in it? book of jerimiah states that the ark will not be reconstructed. what does......
By keyknow (5 comments)
WND.com Cashes In on "Birther" Conspiracy Theories
WorldNetDaily has been spinning ridiculous yarns about Barack Obama since last year's presidential campaign, particularly about the idea that he's a foreign-born usurper to the Oval Office. Now you can own a peice of......
By Scoutstr295 (0 comments)
Did you know NC's constitution bars atheists from holding office?
When I found out that an Arkansas state rep is trying to repeal a provision in his state constitution that bars atheists from holding office, I remembered that, sadly, North Carolina's constitution has a......
By Christian Dem in NC (2 comments)
AP helping religious right again--this time in Arkansas
I'm starting to wonder if the American Family Association has a moleat the Associated Press. That's the only plausible explanation for an AP story about a possible referendum about removing constitutional restrictions on atheists......
By Christian Dem in NC (1 comment)
Creationists' new angle--it's in the name of academic freedom
(cross-posted at dKos) Looks like the creationist crowd is trying a new tack to try and get a toe in the evolution debate. Apparently shutting out discussion of creation amounts to a denial of......
By Christian Dem in NC (2 comments)
Religious right threatens lawsuit over provision of stimulus bill
cross-posted at dKos The American Center for Law and Justice is threatening a lawsuit over the stimulus package. At issue? A provision that it claims may force colleges receiving funds to renovate their facilities......
By Christian Dem in NC (3 comments)
Fundies raising stink about prospective gay appointment
cross-posted at dKosI had a funny feeling the religious right would find something about Obama to get worked up about, and wouldn't you know, it looks like they have.  Apparently the prospect of Obama--horrors!--appointing......
By Christian Dem in NC (1 comment)
The Churches may need Redefining
       John Aravosis www.americablog.com/ has reported that Archbishop Rino Fisichella is commenting on the arrogance of newly elected President Obama as someone who is opening the door to abortion and thus the......
By tangodaddy (1 comment)
Blackwater: Guns for Hire or Trojan Horsemen?
The Los Angeles Times reports this morning that  Blackwater security may be forced out of Iraq: "Blackwater Worldwide,the security firm that allegedly used excessive force to protect U.S. diplomats in Iraq, will soon be......
By CynthiaGee (0 comments)
If Abortion is Murder what do you do with the Killers?
This is a video I found today of a guy who interviewed pro-life activists at an anti-abortion rally. The interviewer asked the question, "What do you do with all of the women who commit......
By inlikeflint (0 comments)
Boston Globe Notes Warren's Hitler Cites, Misses "Africa Problem"
As a new Boston Globe article, "Effort to surmount polarizing debates backfires on pastor", by Michael Paulson, noticed, "The Huffington Post, noting that Warren has cited the success Hitler, Lenin and Mao had at......
By Bruce Wilson (4 comments)

More Diaries...


Donate to or support
Talk to Action

Left Behind: Eternal Forces: Installments of Jonathan Hutson's Talk To Action expose series on the "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game have been viewed by up to 1/2 million people. See our site section featuring Over 35 original articles covering the controversial "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game that has provoked a boycott by a coalition of religious groups and a letter writing campaign urging Walmart to stop selling the game. Media inquiries click here
(image: detail from Francoise Dubois' rendition of the Bartholomew's Day Massacre reveals the actual nature of religious warfare)