Google WWW 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




Your Assumptions Will Not Save Your Skin
By Mike DoughneyMon Jun 12, 2006 at 08:55:04 PM EST
topic: All Topics section:Diary printable version print this story

Cross-posted, with illustrations, at Biblical America Resistance Front (barf.org)

Strong title? Perhaps. But that's the kind of feeling I come away with when I read Talk to Action or much of what is written about Christianity in America today.

Why? If there's a root cause for my visceral, negative response to some of what I read, it probably comes from the fact that I don't identify with any particular institution or tradition. No, this is about saving my own skin.

You see, I'm queer. Not as a self-defining identity, but because that's how I'll be viewed should push ever come to shove: as a godless white male, who's lived with a woman for nearly a decade without having gone through the institutional ritual of marriage, who plans on having no children, and who's been outspoken, on the net and on the street, about his point of view. Just those things are enough to put me up aganist the proverbial wall should that time come.

So when I look at that little subtitle of this site - "reclaiming citizenship, history and faith" - sorry, I'm not down with that, and exactly why that is, I'll save for later, if ever.

---

You know what I think of sometimes when I read Talk to Action? I think of those pickled talking heads in jars that you see in the "Futurama" cartoon. All so neatly shoved into jars, put on a shelf, labeled and perhaps sorted. If you want to keep Dick Nixon at a safe distance away from you, that's easy, 'cause his head is just sitting on a shelf somewhere where you can see where he is and what he's doing. Being a head in a jar, he's probably not doing much.

So it is when I watch what goes on here, the lengthy 'exposes' of the IRD or Chalcedon, the lengthy analysis of the dead like Rushdoony, and the incessant labeling of people and phenomena as "dominionist," "theocratic," "Reconstructionist," or even "Christian right." The labeling of people with labels, that are not the labels those people give to themselves, if anything they would for the most part either look at you blankly if you labeled them that in person, or argue the point.

Along with that labeling is this notion that bounces around here and elsewhere, that somehow all this religious phenomena around us to which we object is somehow indicative of a "false Christianity." Or even, that it's not properly American.

I would reject both the bottling of people and organizations into such easily labeled containers, and the notion that what they are doing is somehow alien. Instead, I'd say that this is simply what Christianity looks like in America in the early twenty-first century: it's a huge, not easily defined organism, with millions of people and billions of dollars. It's the expression of, and it's supported by, common attitudes and assumptions that have both been held for decades if not over a century in this country, attitudes that have never been substantially challenged. Indeed there has been no compelling need to challenge those attitudes, in an environment where threats to existence are both easily defined and distant, while resources are plentiful, and war is cold.

We live in a time where those assumptions will soon crash against the cold hard rocks of reality. These are assumptions of American specialness and supremacy, of righteousness, of evangelical fervor, imposed upon others without others' consent. They're imposed via the missionary seeking individual conversion to Christianity with Bible in one hand and a bag of grain in the other, or a government seeking national conversion to "democracy" with the M-16 in one hand and a suitcase of dollars in the other. Preemptive action on both points, in both senses, that the godless or the undemocratic must change lest they be allowed to someday evolve into a threat, or so their imaginations, fueled by apocalyptic fervor, show them.

Both are completely different expressions of a basic impulse of the American collective psyche. And as long as the water is running, the power is on, and Starbucks and Panera are open for business, it's possible that some will cling to those impulses in perpetuity.

---

Have you ever driven by a church and seen posted on their sign, the phrase, "America Bless God?" In those three words are what, I think, is an often unspoken, core tenet of what Christianity has become: the promoter of the value of cold, hard, reciprocity. America must "bless" God, so that God will "bless" America. Or else.

Inherent in those three words, whether backwards or forwards, is the necessity of complete unanimity of all. One person not "blessing" God threatens the entire provision of God's "blessing" to America. Anyone off the program thus presents some kind of a threat to the basic existence and security of the nation. America, for them, is by definition a Christian nation that must "bless" God and behave accordingly. When they punctuate their agendas with repetitive references to 2 Chronicles 7:14, they are talking about everyone inside the borders of the United States. No exceptions.

But their embrace of reciprocity is much more than that. It mandates an every-man-for-himself-ism, "if a man will not work, he shall not eat." Bankruptcy law, the gutting of welfare, the tying of assistance to faith-based institutions that then implement their own form of reciprocity, tying participation in church activities to assistance necessary for survival, are all examples of how they assume reciprocity must govern all human interaction.

Meanwhile, a consequence of this assumption of reciprocity is its corollary, a source of security and comfort for some, that everything happens for a reason. If things are not going well, then, it can't be because some things are out of your control, or that you don't and can't have the resources to cover all possibilities. There must be a reason. Thus, those who were drowned in New Orleans have only themselves to blame, or thousands died on September 11 because abortion and "homosexuality" exist. It's got to be somebody's fault, and far from simple scapegoating, this is a basic assumption made about how the universe ultimately works.

---

Lately much has been published on Teen Mania's "BattleCry" campaign. Lost in all the noise is any rational discussion of the basic question, of why something like Teen Mania even exists, why there are tens of thousands of people in their stadium events, and where they are coming from.

Teen Mania, for its own reasons, seldom clearly explains its purpose to the outside world, except to promote a sense of panic and dread over a completely manufactured from thin air "crisis" involving American teenagers. Into that vacuum enter people with active imaginations, like this one who insists the "BattleCry" campaign is some kind of subsitute for a military draft, a position for which zero evidence exists. (You'd think that this article, having been crudely illustrated with erect penii, would permanently retire that idea, but evidently not as this comment surfaced in the recent "BattleCry" thread here.)

The purpose of Teen Mania, and the "BattleCry" campaign, is actually quite simple. Baby boomers have been building churches, Christian institutions, parachurch ministries, and businesses over the past few decades, and they fear, correctly or not, that they face a period of decline and fall due to changing demographics. They see a need to aggressively set the conditions such that today's teenagers will become involved with this subculture and stay inside it for the rest of their lives. The desire to live and make a living inside this subculture full-time, interacting with the secular world only on their terms, may be one of the primary drivers of this movement. For this and other reasons we cannot expect it, like other industries past their prime, to go out of business and quietly fade away. (Much of this is evident in Teen Mania's own promotional materials aimed at churches, like this one.)

The potential hazard presented by something like Teen Mania stems from the Christian triumphalist assumption of victory - sometimes shortened to "we've read the end of the book, we know how it ends, we win" - and this notion of reciprocity. If they aren't winning, it must be someone's fault. They'll start by blaming themselves, which can be clearly heard when Ron Luce, and others, during the "BattleCry" events, apologize that his own generation has in some way failed to gain sufficient status and privilege for today's Christian teenagers, as evidenced by, among other things, their self-described failure to challenge secular culture. This was how Luce put it in Detroit:

We've had a whole generation now, no conviction, they've been in church for twenty, thirty, forty years, no conviction, no voice, no passion for God, and this is what happened. And it breaks my heart, I have to tell you the truth, though, you guys. Because my generation, the generation of your parents, did not speak up, they didn't have passion for God, they let the people who do not love God begin to dominate your culture, begin to make stuff that was absolutely unacceptable thirty or forty years ago. Begin to make toys and videos and television and stuff on the air that would have never been accepted, and now you guys are in the middle of a war zone because of a generation of passive Christians. ... On behalf of the older generation, the generation of your parents, we desperately need you to forgive us for not standing up for truth and letting those without faith dominate this culture. It is our fault.

What comes next, and what can be sometimes heard, is the naming of enemies on the outside, starting with the suggestion that secular Americans, by their very existence and by doing a few very simple things, are actively out to get them. This was made very clear when Franklin Graham, speaking at the Philadelphia "BattleCry" event, launched this attack:

But there's a war of culture out there. There are people in this world, they want to take God out of society. They want to take the name of Jesus Christ out of everything that we do. They don't want you to mention Jesus in school, they don't want you to mention Jesus on the street, they don't want you to mention Jesus anywhere. But it's okay to mention Jesus in your church, but don't you mention him outside your church. They want to strip the name of the Lord Jesus Christ out of Christmas. They want that "Happy Holidays," they don't want you to say "Merry Christmas." Why? Because Christ's name is in Christmas.

They don't want you to say "Happy Easter" to somebody, they want to have bunny rabbits at Easter. They don't want the cross at Easter. They don't want you to talk about Jesus Christ comin' up out of the grave, and how he rose, and how God breathed life into his nostrils and brought him back to life and that he's in heaven, he's at the right hand of God. They don't want you to talk about that.

They hate the name of Jesus Christ and they are warring against every standard that God has ever created, not only are they against Christ but every standard of almighty God.

Bunny rabbits of the vast secular conspiracy threaten Frankin Graham. You heard it here first.

---

So now the development of the "Left Behind" video game is the focus of discussion. For those of us who've watched what Teen Mania has been up to these past few years, though, we've seen similar depictions in their "Acquire the Fire" program over the years, in particular the staging of a full-blown firefight with military weapons against unnamed and unpictured foes in which the ficticious daughter of slain missionaries is depicted in the starring role. It was said to be a dream, but a dream in the context of ambiguity, that reflected a "real" conflict against forces the Christian teenager is supposed to view as a threat.

Another way to view Teen Mania, its programs and its "BattleCry" campaign, is as a barometer of what is going on in the thousands of churches that send people into their programs. They would not send people if they didn't believe that the content was acceptable, or necessary if it isn't; further, they are there because these programs are marketed with the promise of helping perpetuate their churches, with the aim of producing young people who, as Teen Mania used to say, are "on fire" and "plugged in for life" with respect to church and the Christian sub culture. Observing Teen Mania thus provides a window into some of what is normative in those churches, and what churches and the Christian subculture will look like in the future.

In that context, such a video game is inevitable, in fact, it's arriving right on time in relation to what Teen Mania's "BattleCry" campaign presents.

It's from that context that I take issue with Jonathan Huston's comment:

This is religious indoctrination that forms children's identities and teaches that they must be prepared to do a deadly deed to defend their creed. That message is unAmerican and unChristian; patriots and Christians alike should oppose this game.

There's nothing un-Christian about Christians defending their faith. What is normative right now is the use of role models from the Bible - in their view, actual historical figures such as David, Josiah and others including the genocidal tribal warriors of ancient Israel - and the exhortation that contemporary teens are to emulate those role models who have destroyed and killed in the furtherance of "God's kingdom." In that context there is again, nothing new here.

I would further strongly disagree that there's something un-American here. In fact, what has America been modeling to its own citizens? The killing of masses of people on the basis of the flimsiest of pretenses, to advance "democracy." This game - or at least, the game as it's been reported thus far - is completely consistent with how much of contemporary America views itself, and if you're hoping to use some claim that this game is something less American than apple pie, I don't expect you to get very far.

Meanwhile, the "indoctrination" that makes this game acceptable happens elsewhere - in churches. It's those churches that should be examined, along with the parachurch ministries, networks and publishers that shape what is acceptable, and what is not. Young adults, long accustomed to this kind of imagery and language taught in church, may be the most likely buyers of this game - not children.

---

In the end always comes the question, what can be done? I often begin by pointing out, opposition can make things worse. In the case of Teen Mania, what we've seen over the past few months is a clueless opposition, devoid of a strategy focused on defusing a potentially volatile situation, that often serves Teen Mania's purposes because it's led by those who seek to parasitically spark their own movement and revolution.

While some may insist that all participants are somehow in complete agreement with the leadership, this is not the case, and here there is work to be done. But it can't be done through labeling them, it can't be done with enormous wordy propagandistic interpretations of what they're doing. It has to be done by addressing what they've actually doing and saying in the context of their self-image, of pulling out what's actually said, word for word, in the context of large events and services, so that when, late one evening, when someone comes to a website of what they think is the opposition, looking for a target to pray over, they are faced with what they earlier heard, but in the quiet of their room, away from the pressure and groupthink of a mass event.




Display:
Guess I'd have to agree with some of the things you've said (and which seem to be self-evident to anyone who's conscious). However, your message tends to get buried in an overabundance of words and a rather hostile and condescending attitude.

Having waded through the whole post, I'm not sure, at the end, that you are proposing a clear and realistic strategy for addressing the problems that ail the right and you seem to be accusing people on this site of doing things that you do yourself - such as "labeling" and "enormous wordy propagandistic interpretations" of what we're doing.

If we're dealing with a sizable group of people who are insecure, anxious, and alienated (which I think they are), who are desperately trying to protect their "self-image" and defend themselves against the onslaught of cultural change, it seems rather naive to think that we can reach them simply by reflecting their own thoughts and words back to them in a different context. Of course there's also the small problem that the purpose of this site isn't to convert such people who happen to drop by to pray over us. I hope we're here to learn from each other - and those who drop by and would like to contribute to the conversation. Can't say that accusatory tirades move us toward that goal.

by Psyche on Tue Jun 13, 2006 at 03:31:17 AM EST


Instead of mass hysteria to "fight" the mass hysteria that promoted by the mega churches. We should instead be going to these rallies, mega-churces, etc and taking notes and then refuting the propaganda that it out there with the facts that are known so far?


by FFL on Mon Jun 12, 2006 at 11:33:38 PM EST
There are multiple audiences to be addressed, beginning with the participants in these churches and events themselves, followed by the outside world and others who might offer support or encouragement to these churches.  

In dealing with the participants themselves, above all, their self-image needs to be knowledgably addressed. This means both that they - the participants in these churches and events - must be addressed with not our jargon but their jargon, and the confrontation must accurately deal with what they've actually been told, and with their self-image.

For example, telling them they're naive or brainwashed, and to think for themselves, as we've seen in the street counter-demonstrations leading up to the "BattleCry" events, doesn't work. They already think they're not naive and they already believe they're thinking. In fact, exactly those actions by counter-demonstrators directed at "BattleCry" participants were recorded by Teen Mania's camera crew and played back on the big screens inside the events, as examples of how out of touch their opposition is with who they are and what they're doing.

I sometimes talk about "recieve, read-back and reject" as a method, as many of them apparently believe that, if only they could adequately explain what it is that they believe, that we'd all just convert and go along with them.  We need to explain, that, yes, we heard exactly what they and/or their leaders are saying - in fact, let me read it back to you word-for-word - and we still reject it.

In any case, being able to speak accuratelyabout what's being said by church leaders - and to explain what's wrong with what they said, in the context of a broad, secular counterargument free from the usual issue-based points of contention they've developed apologetics for - is essential, no matter who the audience is. Repetitive, game-of-telephone babbling by a few people who are only putting forward their incorrect, agenda-based interpretations, without being able to back it up - as has been happening rather spectacularly in much of what's been written about the "Battle Cry" events thus far - guarantees failure.
--
Acquire the Evidence: on Ron Luce, Teen Mania Ministries and the "BattleCry" campaign. acquiretheevidence.com

by Mike Doughney on Tue Jun 13, 2006 at 12:38:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Given that assumptions are rarely spoken, how can you be sure you know what those are in the first place ?

Sometimes this can be a simple exercise in logic, but often the field of possibility is too vast.

But if the threat is indeed so dire, wouldn't it stand to reason that coalition politics would be the only viable route ?

by Bruce Wilson on Tue Jun 13, 2006 at 01:09:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]


Mike,
There is much in this post that is useful.
 
"I sometimes talk about "recieve, read-back and reject" as a method, as many of them apparently believe that, if only they could adequately explain what it is that they believe, that we'd all just convert and go along with them.  We need to explain, that, yes, we heard exactly what they and/or their leaders are saying - in fact, let me read it back to you word-for-word - and we still reject it."
 
I'm looking forward to using this technique in the next conversation with the several people I know who have fallen into the hands of dominionists. 
 
One thing I found missing was an awareness of the audience talke2action addresses.  My audience is not within the dominionist body.  The groups I address are mainline Christian groups who are really confused about what the Dominionist right is and how it is attempting to infiltrate mainline Christian denominations. This is closer to the purpose of the site than the purpose you describe.
 
All that being said, I don't see a problem with a group inside talk2action actually taking on the youth contingent of the Dominionist Right.  It just hasn't been our target group to date.
 
The other aspect of the post that I take issue with is your insistance on using language that leaves a listener or reader with that impression that all Christian denominations have some kind of similarity to the Dominionist Right.  This confusion provides space for progressive secular humanists, agnostics, and atheists to miss those points at which progressive Christians (as well as other people of faith) are their logical and natural allies. 


by tikkun on Fri Jun 23, 2006 at 11:55:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]



are included with the copy of this article hosted at Biblical America Resistance Front (barf.org).
--
Acquire the Evidence: on Ron Luce, Teen Mania Ministries and the "BattleCry" campaign. acquiretheevidence.com

by Mike Doughney on Tue Jun 13, 2006 at 12:40:27 AM EST

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)

The Real Issue Behind Jindal's Religious Beliefs
One of the names being floated as a possible running mate for John McCain is Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. With that in mind, I......
By Frank Cocozzelli (3 comments)
Interview with the Author of The Family -- Part 1
Jeff Sharlet's ground breaking, forthcoming book: The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, will be published on May 20th by......
By Frederick Clarkson (1 comment)
Goading Churches into Defying Federal Tax Laws
The Religious Right has long made abuse of the priviledge of federal tax-exemption for churches and other non-profit organizations a political tool. While most......
By Frederick Clarkson (5 comments)
Mai Tai Dogs: Bush Administration, McCain-Endorser Hagee Caught Schmoozing at Chinese Restaurant
The year was 2004. It was summer, July. The 12th. Occasion ? Pappy Bush's 80th, and after pappy floated down from the sky, parachuted......
By Bruce Wilson (5 comments)
With the Founding Fathers as Our Press Gang
Jill Lepore has a wise and erudite article in The New Yorker about four recent books about the Founding Fathers and their approach to......
By Frederick Clarkson (1 comment)
Evangelical Angst: `Moderate' Evangelicals Worry About The Movement's Image
How do you react when people tell you they're evangelicals? Do you think that they simply want to share their faith - or do......
By Rob Boston (3 comments)
Ex-prez Bush hosts cult leader at Texas A&M!
Jeremiah Wright? Come on. The Moonies have just trumpeted the latest delegation of their dreaded leader, Sun Myung Moon, to the Bush presidential......
By John Gorenfeld (1 comment)
What the Hardcore RR Thinks about McCain
I first ran across Texe Marrs through a book circulating in my Senior Adult department in church. Texe had published a book he claims......
By wilkyjr (4 comments)
Clinton Compares Catholics and Jews, White Supremacists and Jihadists
It was as if Barry Lynn or some ACLU imp had temporarily seized control of Hillary Clinton's brain and vocal cords, causing her to......
By Bruce Wilson (2 comments)
Creationists and Christian Zionists to Hold Conference in California
WND touts the upcoming "Southern California Strategic Perspectives Conference": WND founder Joseph Farah joins "Left Behind" author Tim LaHaye, former terrorist Walid Shoebat, evangelist......
By Richard Bartholomew (3 comments)
A Sacrament Abused
The Catholic Right, Part Fifty-six On Tuesday I read the news that Cardinal Edward Egan (Archdiocese of New York) criticized former Mayor Rudy Giuliani......
By Frank Cocozzelli (2 comments)
Speaking Up for Those Silenced by the Religious Right -- UPDATED
How far will the Catholic hierarchy go in silencing dissidents in the U.S.? We are familiar (as Frank Cocozzelli has reported) with the very......
By Frederick Clarkson (2 comments)
Moon over Africa
Ahmad Tejan Kabbah is a former President of Sierra Leone, and a long-serving UN official. A few days ago he gave the keynote address......
By Richard Bartholomew (0 comments)
McCain Endorser Pastor Hagee's 'Thrilling' Scenario Includes Nuclear Strike on US Coasts
The initial controversy over Pastor John Hagee's highly public endorsement of Senator John McCain's presidential bid, at a nationally televised press conference viewed potentially......
By Bruce Wilson (6 comments)
McCain Backer Hagee: Abortions Easier To Get In Public School Than Aspirin
In a sermon given at his San Antonio, Texas Cornerstone megachurch that was telecast and available in up to ninety million homes worldwide, controversial......
By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
PBS "Carrier": A Mixed Blessing
Watching the PBS miniseries "Carrier" was a revelation, but not always a pleasant one... ......
By bughouse square (0 comments)
Will We Ever Learn?
Ever looked at something or did something which at the time seemed good and beneficial only to learn that it was not what you thought?  If we could all have the opportunity to live......
By truthngrace (0 comments)
McCain-Endorser's Church Casts Out "Demon of Anal Fissures", Teaches Vomiting Evil Spirits
[NOTE: for a related story, see Mai Tai Dogs: Pics Show Bush Administration, McCain-Endorser Hagee Schmoozing at Chinese Restaurant] I have to admit, on one level it sounds more entertaining than a church full......
By Bruce Wilson (2 comments)
Bush 41 salutes Sun Myung Moon's effort to subdue the planet.
Sun Myung Moon's end time political front, the Universal Peace Federation had a summit from April 28 to May 2 in Washington DC. The participants took a tour of the Moon owned Washington Times......
By Lou (2 comments)
Advancing The Kingdom
Over the past four years, I've researched the darkest regions of the Christian right for the non-fiction film Silhouette City. The film tracks the movement of apocalyptic Christian nationalism from the margins of American......
By MichaelWWilson (2 comments)
Newspaper Profiles Army of God Spokeman
We have written a great deal about the anti-abortion terror organization, Army of God. One recent post prompted God Tube to take down videos posted by the proprietor of the Army of God web......
By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)
Judicial Council Chief James Holsinger and $20 million of UMC Money
Dr. James Holsinger, a leader in the IRD-linked Methodist renewal movement has, until now, been best known for his crack-pot anti-gay views. - FC Dr. James Holsinger, the Bush nominee for Surgeon General  and......
By AJWEAVER (0 comments)
No Constitution Party home for Keyes
Well, that didn't take long.  All the speculation about Alan Keyes finding a home with the rabidly right-wing Constitution Party has quickly come to naught as the CP convention picks radio talk show host,......
By tacitus (0 comments)
Florida Christian License Plate
Well, Florida is at it again. They're considering a "Christian" license plate.  It's supposed to have a cross and a stained glass window on it with the words "I Believe!" More below the break!......
By ArchaeoBob (3 comments)
The Alleged 'Atheist Delusion'
John Gray's ample Saturday Review column in the March 15th edition of London's  Guardian newpaper diagnosed the current climate surrounding religion as one of `moral panic'.  This is true only of the irrational fear......
By TMurray (0 comments)
A Real GI Bill of Rights
As much as I admire Jim Webb and Chuck Hagel for their efforts to reform the military, I respectfully submit that their proposed bill doesn't go far enough... ......
By bughouse square (2 comments)
Mikey's War
There comes a time when ordinary citizens need to step up and openly challenge the perverse Christianization of our national instutions, particularly the military. What follows is an introduction to someone who is doing......
By bughouse square (1 comment)
For McCain, Silence on Religion is Golden
Just one day before lambasting Barack Obama over his recent comments about religion, John McCain was a no-show at Sunday's CNN Compassion Forum on faith.  That's because when it comes to discussing his own......
By Jon Perr (0 comments)
Christian Right Flees Randall Balmer's Challenge On Torture
At the Daily Kos website, I have written what so far is a four part series [1, 2, 3, 4] on the Bush Administration and torture. My series covers the structure of the National......
By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
Just *what* is "The Family" so desperate to hide?
Over the past few days, I've done some writing expressing concern regarding some revelations that Jeff Sharlet will be discussing extensively in his new book "The Family"--including information regarding apparently widespread and systemic use......
By dogemperor (7 comments)
The *other* members of Hillary's "Family" cell
On Friday, news reports started coming out to the effect that Hillary Clinton may be a member of a cell-church group run by the secretive "Family" nee "Fellowship" org; as the import of this......
By dogemperor (1 comment)
Hagee donating 6 Million dollars to Irael
Today it was reported in the local paper that John Hagee has donated 6 million dollars to Israel.  http://www.theledger.com/article/20080406/API/804062669 It appears to be a big publicity stunt.  The article says that "Hagee... brought hundreds......
By ArchaeoBob (0 comments)
"The Family" and its use of cells, explained
A few days ago, I wrote a post expressing concern re Hillary Clinton's reported involvement in a cell-church group operated by the longest-running political dominionist group in existence--some folks considered this a wee bit......
By dogemperor (1 comment)
The Politico's Half-Story on McCain's Religion
[bumped from diaries - ed]In the Politico this morning, Jonathan Martin offers what the New Republic deemed a "smart piece" about John McCain's religious beliefs.  But in describing McCain's reluctance to speak publicly about......
By Jon Perr (1 comment)
The Fellowship, cell churches, and coercive tactics
There's been a lot of good writing recently in regards to what is probably the oldest continuously running political dominionist group in the US today--a secretive org called "The Fellowship" or "The Family", and......
By dogemperor (1 comment)
Dobson at it again
As most of you may know, Dobson has a history of misusing (and distorting) scientific research to further his own nefarious goals.  Well, he's done it again- this time claiming that "Anthropologists agree on......
By ArchaeoBob (0 comments)
The "Walid Shoebat Foundation" Con Game--Exposed!
Over the past few days, we've had a lot of people (including Bruce Wilson) writing about a con game being promoted by the Walid Shoebat Foundation--namely, the claim that they are supposedly ex-PLO terrorists......
By dogemperor (0 comments)
Open Letter to Hillary, Obama, McCain and News Editors TV, Radio and Print
"Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all...and passionate attachments for others should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should......
By eileen fleming (0 comments)
Of Gideons, Public Sidewalks, and Missing the Point
Gideons have been handing out Bibles in school or adjacent to schools for longer than I have been alive.  Does the fact that they now stand on public sidewalks really mitigate the legality of......
By Irrevelations (0 comments)
Happy Birthday Israel: Company is Coming and they are Carrying UN Flags!
[Israel Palestine] As Hagee's man, candidate McCain pandered to militants and fundamentalists during his trip to Jerusalem, giving firm "support for Israel's military response"...Ziad Abu Ein, a senior Fatah operative and Deputy Minister for......
By eileen fleming (0 comments)
Florida Bills for funding Focus on the Family
There are two bills before the Florida Legislature that need to be stopped. Florida House bill 707 and Florida Senate bill 630 both provide for Florida's Department of Transportation to solicit $1 contributions from......
By ArchaeoBob (2 comments)
Rare Washington Times dinner disaster video (1997)
A special treat awaits after the jump. So the big story out of Rev. Moon's Washington Times is that the new editor, John Solomon of the AP, will supposedly be remaking it into......
By John Gorenfeld (0 comments)
Possible national Assemblies support of "Watchmen" leaders?
As one of my continuing "side series" (along with the Gothard research), I've been writing up on the virulently anti-LGBT "Joel's Army" group "Watchmen At The Walls"--a group linked with no less than one......
By dogemperor (2 comments)
Jeb Bush and Colin Powell to appear at Assemblies of God "University"
A news article today in the Lakeland Ledger reports that Jeb Bush and Colin Powell are going to attend a "National Leadership Seminar" being held at the local Assemblies of God "University".    The......
By ArchaeoBob (3 comments)

More Diaries...