The Bakke Plot To "Infiltrate" Secular Institutions
Bruce Wilson printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Wed Nov 30, 2016 at 11:38:00 AM EST
Back in 2012-2014 I did a lot of writing and research on The Gathering, the yearly meeting of elite evangelical right philanthropists who collectively distribute upwards of $1 billion dollars a year in grants and function as the funding wing of The Fellowship, which hosts the National Prayer Breakfast.

My research was based, at least initially, on an audio archive of talks at The Gathering which went back to 1996. That archive, along with a trove of The Gathering newsletters back to '96, used to be publicly available at the official website of The Gathering. Around 2013 or so, most of that archival material vanished. Fortunately, I had harvested it and have since made it available to select researchers.

I've also posted some of the audio online, such as this talk, from The Gathering 2008, led by Dennis and Eileen Bakke. Following Dennis Bakke's sale of his share in the lucrative AES energy company, the Bakkes moved on to become by 2010 the largest manager of charter schools in America, through their Imagine Schools business.

In the video below, the Bakkes describe their project of "infiltrating" institutions of secular society. The project has several dimensions. One is the Bakke's grooming of talented "believers" through their Mustard Seed Foundation Harvey Fellows program. Another is Imagine Schools itself - according to Dennis Bakke, 50% of the Imagine employees are "believers".

The convenient mixing of personal business and faith (and in some cases - as detailed below - government as well) is a feature, not a bug, of the form of "biblical capitalism" practiced by the Washington, DC based evangelical network known as The Family, which hosts the National Prayer Breakfast.

In his groundbreaking book on The Family (otherwise known as The Fellowship), author Jeff Sharlet provides some background to the genesis of the Bakke fortune:

"Dennis Bakke, former CEO of AES, the largest independent power producer in the world, and a Family insider, took the occasion of the 1997 Prayer Breakfast to invite Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni, the Family's "key man" in Africa, to a private dinner at a mansion, just up the block from the Family's Arlington headquarters....

Bakke was one of the pioneer thinkers of energy deregulation, the laissez-faire fever dream that culminated in the meltdown of Enron. But there was other, less-noticed fallout, such as the no-bid deal Bakke made with Museveni at the 1997 Prayer Breakfast for a $500-million dam close to the source of the White Nile--in waters considered sacred by Uganda's 2.5-million-strong Busoga minority. AES announced that the Busoga had agreed to "re- locate" the spirits of their dead. They weren't the only ones opposed; first environmentalists (Museveni had one American arrested and deported) and then even other foreign investors revolted against a project that seemed like it might actually increase the price of power for the poor. Bakke didn't worry. "We don't go away," he declared. He dispatched a young man named Christian Wright, the son of one of the Prayer Breakfast's organizers, to be AES's in-country liaison to Museveni; Wright was later accused of authorizing at least $400,000 in bribes. He claimed his signature had been forged."

The Mustard Seed Foundation project seems to have borne significant fruit - beneficiaries of its Harvey Fellowship program have attained significant positions of influence within American academia - from which positions several Harvey Fellowship alumnae launched scathing attacks on Jeff Sharlet's two books on The Fellowship.

These detractors did not, needless to say, bother to identify themselves as associated with the evangelical network that Sharlet's books critiqued.

One especially noteworthy Harvey Fellow has been Jacqueline Fuller, who now heads the Google Foundation and who, at The Gathering in 2013, described how she infiltrated the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation during its early days before the effort even had a website.

Note: for a closely related The Gathering presentation, see this 2001 The Gathering talk by Dick and Betsy DeVos, concerning their efforts to "reform" (privatize) public education.

Below is my provisional, partial transcript of the 2008 Bakke/The Gathering talk.

Eileen and Dennis Bakke (The Gathering, 2008)

Panel - Andy Crouch (Christianity Today), Eileen & Dennis Bakke (AES, Imagine Schools, Mustard Seed Foundation), Michael D. Lindsay, Joel Carpenter (Pew, Calvin College)

Asking questions in Q&A: Peggy Wehmeyer (formerly ABC religion correspondent), Chuck Stetson (Venture capitalist, board member of Essentials in Education which launched the Bible Literacy Project), Ted Chen (Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies)

Eileen Bakke:

[16:50] “The Harvey Fellows Program, for us, was a real departure from our typical granting and even today it’s really the only program that we actually operate as a foundation, as opposed to funding others. So it’s unique, within even the Mustard Seed structure. But I think it does fit well, because about 15 years ago as we were starting Mustard Seed, and Dennis [Bakke] was developing AES, we were thinking a lot about the theology of ministry, and what does it mean for those of us whole, all, are called into full-time Christian work, not just pastors and missionaries, but all of us in marketplace - how do we bring The Kingdom into structures that are quote, unquote, “secular” (but we know they are God’s) ?

And I think we observed, as Dennis [Bakke] was in the business world, on Wall Street, meeting with international leaders, observed, very sadly, that the evangelical church, in the 20th Century, has abdicated many arenas, many of our arenas -- the university probably being the first one that comes to mind, media, the business world, government leadership, the arts.

And we started thinking, ‘What would be our strategy to reclaim those, to infiltrate, to re-infiltrate, and to be salt and light, and leaven - not just for evangelism, not just for personal witness, but the structures of those places need to be brought under truth, under the lordship of Christ.?’

And we looked at, Dennis I think, particularly, studied Joseph and Daniel [Dennis Bakke murmurs in agreement] as models of that. Daniel went into a totally pagan culture. He kept his faith but he was trained at the king’s college, he went into, you know, the -- he was the prime minister, he was -- God used him so powerfully in his history because of his faithfulness but because he was not a church leader, he was not off in a nonprofit trying to save the nation of Israel. He was right in the throes of -- and so our model for the Harvey Fellows is the Daniels, the Josephs, the Esthers, the Lydias [Dennis Bakke - “That’s right”] in scripture.

The name comes from -- the Harvey Fellowship is named for my parents, Helen and Brantley Harvey, and my father is a lawyer, and a politician -- government service in South Carolina for many years -- and in my life he embodied this notion that God had called him into public office, for service, and it was every bit as much an act of worship, and act of devotion, an act of service as being in the ministry, as being a missionary.

So we have, for the last 15 years, we funded graduate fellows, by application -- we fund them for up to 3 years, $16,000 a year, and instead of -- we fund the individual, not their institution, so it’s a scholarship to the individual that they carry with them to a top five institution in their field of study.

And we have -- about 50 percent of our fellows end up in higher education, in the academy, but we also have a strong emphasis in the sciences, in the arts, in international finance, in media particularly. You know, popular media -- We’ve sort of said what, “where are the areas that there are a dearth of Christians? What are the mission fields, the secular mission fields, where we need strong, talented believers who have gotten the credentials -- from Harvard, from Stanford, from Yale, from Oxford, from the University of Chicago -- they’ve gotten the credentials that the world recognizes, and that’s very important, I think, as you know. We have to be as credible, or more credible, in the world to be an effective witness.

[20:55] In the past 15 years we’ve funded almost 300 fellows, about $9 million dollars in funding, and we -- [It’s] very international, we started with very US but it’s spread and we funded fellows from 40 countries in about -- 25 countries, excuse me, in about 40 different disciplines.

And we’re just embarking, this year, on a fellows program called The Daniel Award, in India, where we will do the very same thing, with the top institutions in India, trying to stem the brain drain, the Christian brain drain, from India, so that hopefully those top leaders will stay in the country and be an influence.

And when we started this thing, Dennis [Bakke] said an interesting thing, he said, “This is a 20-year experiment”. And I think it’s very important. We are now in our 15th year, and we are seeing tenured faculty. We are seeing people who are in the International Monetary Fund. We’re - one of our early fellows is head of the Google Foundation. You know, Michael Lindsay, professor at Rice, and many others - but it’s a long-term strategy.

And we know that God’s going to bear fruit in this. It’s very risky - to fund a 22-year old, a 23-year old who has a vision for their lives. They may make it, they may not. So it’s - it’s definitely, we’re investing in people’s lives and we are trying to encourage them, we do a summer Institute of Faith and Vocation to try to help mentor them and equip them and network them with more senior fellows.

But it’s been an incredibly wonderful blessing in our lives because of the relationship with the fellows. But strategic - it will be a 20-25 year strategic vision, so I feel like we’ve been planting those seeds and I think it will be another generation before we see how that bears fruit.

Dennis Bakke:

One of the things that we’re trying to, we’ve also, as part of that -- and we don’t really know how to do it very well, and so maybe some of you have some good suggestions -- but we obviously want not just the top academics but we’d like the leaders in art, the leaders in drama, the leaders in newspaper -- you know, Pulitzer Prize winners, we want to win some of those. But we’d also, we want organizational leaders, whether business or --the top leaders.

But picking them out, you know, in graduate school, is really difficult. But that’s one of things we really would love to talk -- and we’re praying about -- is to figure out how to do that. And we’ve got, we have a few we think are moving in that direction, the top -- you know, the government leaders, political leaders, whatever. We would love to do that. And that’s probably the latest, kind of cutting edge is how to make that happen, and to find these people at ages you really don’t know for sure. So it’s risky as all get out. We don’t really know.

18:09: Bakke describes Harvey Fellow who has been named deputy director of grant making for the Rockefeller Foundation in Africa.

23:09 - Dennis Bakke - “We obviously want not just the top academics - like the leaders in art, the leaders in drama, the leaders in newspaper - you know, Pullitzer Prize winners, we’ve not had some of those, but we also want organizational leaders, whether business, or - the top leaders.”

27:00 - Describes placement of Harvey Fellows

33:30 - Andy Crouch - “We’re not trying to fund just explicitly Christian work. The output is not necessarily supposed to have a fish emblem magnet on the back.”

42:00 - Andy Crouch, what are examples of successes ?

42:30 - Joel Carpenter, formerly with Pew, now at Calvin College. “OK - Pew scholars programs. We had younger scholars programs similar to the Harvey Fellows but focused on academe, on humanities and social sciences, but we also had grants for people who are working in the fields already - research projects - that we thought had, you know, kind of “kingdom-ating potential”. And we helped to found collaborative projects and work of study centers at major universities but also at Christian institutions.” (mentions George Marsden)

43:30 - (Carpenter) The “evangelical mafia” (in social sciences)

44:00 - Influence of Pew funding in social sciences. Mentions John Green.

44:50 - Mentions Michael Cromartie - “the session down the way - Mike Cromartie from the Ethics and Public Policy Center - and he's had this "evangelicals and politics" study group going for a long time. And he's become a major convener of journalists on religion and politics. And he's introduced to them, evangelical scholars, as public affairs experts - and I think really shaped, in some ways that the news of this gets reported, and certainly helped build reporters' knowledge base.”

47:00 (Eileen Bakke) Harvey Fellows people at University of Virginia, Stanford, Princeton, Julliard School of Music.

47:30 (Dennis Bakke) “There’s one Harvey Fellow I like to brag on, his name is Wiebe Boer, and he’s a 1998 graduate at Calvin College, Harvey Fellowship, he went to Yale - PhD in African history - and went to work in Mauritania with World Vision as the project director then from there to McKinsey Associates in Atlanta - one of these really world power consulting and research firms and now he’s just been named the Deputy Director of Grant Making in Africa for the Rockefeller Foundation. So he’s moving his family to Nairobi. Harvey Fellow.

48:05 (Eileen Bakke) “So Rockefeller funds become kingdom funds.” (general laughter)

48:10 (Andy Crouch) “Which is kind of a turn of events.”

48:20 Question and Answer

48:30 Peggy Wehmeyer “battle out the culture war completely alone, with no fellowship”

50:20 “We’re losing this war”

51:50 - “If we’re going to win these culture wars we’ve got to mobilize whole teams of young people.”

53;30 (Wehmeyer) “These parachurch organizations - like I was in Campus Crusade For Christ - Young Life, Campus Crusade, the places where the believers gravitate at the big universities, when I was in college they said, ‘you’ve GOT to go into full time ministry.’ These parachurch organizations need to be encouraged to teach the young believers at the state university what they can do outside the ministry.”

53:58 (Carpenter, very loudly, talking over Wehmeyer and everyone else) “Their understanding of ‘Jesus Christ is Lord’ is too small. And too truncated. That’s the problem. READ COLOSSIANS I ! Read Colossians I. You know - ‘All things belong to him.’ ”

54:50 Audience member asks about charter schools, Imagine Schools, “Because I know charter school is very different because it receives public funding and we still think the public square is inappropriate for spiritual content.”

55:00 (Eileen Bakke) “I think it goes back, I think Peggy’s [Wehmeyer] question about giving young people a vision goes back to ‘we’ve lost our vision.’ We’ve lost - we have allowed society to privatize our faith, we have really acquiesced, and I think the turnaround, the exciting thing is that there is a renewed determination to undo that. But it’s going to take some time.

And we have a bad theology, frankly. (Dennis Bakke - “Yup”) Our churches and our parachurch organizations have told Christians, you know - young people, and all of us - that your real Christian service is either giving money to missions, volunteering at the church, or going into fulltime Christian service. I’m sorry, but all of us are in fulltime Christian service.

And I bring as much passion and, hopefully, humility and integrity and, you know, God’s righteousness, to the charter school world as I would if I was doing Christian schools.

They are not Christian, they’re public. But I am determined, in my work, to be ‘salt and light’ and to make them as ‘kingdom centered’ and truthful and right and good as they can be. And I think if we give young people that vision, that is the ministry God’s called you to wherever it is. If you are a garbage collector, do it as unto the Lord, and God will use that.

So it’s not just leadership we have chosen, because we feel like the leadership often sets the tone for the rest of organizations. So, that is one strategy. But I think Dennis’ comment about teaching pastors - all of you are in local churches. Go home and challenge your pastors to talk about the sacredness of work. Commission your laywers. Commission you schoolteachers. Commission your young people who are going off to college in IT and in psychology and in, you know - they’re gonna - not just the people who - I mean, this Gathering, we love to fund people who are front and center for the Gospel, in witness and in evangelism and in service. But that’s, that’s a small part of the kingdom. That’s a very small part of it.

57:10 (Dennis Bakke) Read - have everybody read the last chapter of my book called, it’s titled, ‘Enter Into The Master’s Joy’. It’s really separate but it’s on that, on this very subject of, of what we’re suppsed to be doing in the secular world. I, you know I - you just have to keep going. We just have to keep going after it. It is interesting that we’ve changed the tenor of a - I don’t know, we have 5,000 employees now probably, almost all of them teachers. But I would guess that - just because of who we, what we stand for, in a public school system, I would guess that over 50% of them are believers.

57:50 “Chuck Stetson. I’m chairman of Essentials in Education...

Chuck Stetson was a National Organization for Marriage board member into 2010. NOM has in recent years emerged as one of the most aggressive opponents of LGBT rights among organizations on the evangelical right.




Display:
To infiltrate most commonly means to sneak in or enter under false pretenses in order to spy on the infiltrator's enemies. UK assignment assistance don't use the expression frequently. An example is the infiltrator was captured and imprisoned. Another example is the Waterinfiltratedd into the ceiling causing it to collapse.

by johnbishop on Wed Feb 15, 2017 at 04:54:08 AM EST
In this post, they are discussing 'The Gathering' led by Dennis and Eileen Bakke,  cannabidiol oil for sleep  and everything related to this is well given in the post and I think this is really a good page to follow.

by annajohnsn on Tue Jan 04, 2022 at 09:24:29 AM EST
Parent


To infiltrate most commonly means to sneak in or enter under false pretenses in order to spy on the infiltrator's enemies. thesis writing service don't use the expression frequently. An example is the infiltrator was captured and imprisoned. Another example is the Waterinfiltratedd into the ceiling causing it to collapse.

by Alvinaash on Tue Apr 04, 2017 at 02:33:06 AM EST

Thank you for sharing the post! Nice to learn about it. html color codes

by tadobre on Mon Apr 02, 2018 at 05:00:45 AM EST

This is a great post. I like this topic. Visit games.lol for free pc games

by mobilelegends on Mon Jan 28, 2019 at 01:55:02 AM EST

This was really an interesting article to read. These conspiracies that take place in the back stages Personal Injury Lawyer are not known to much of the people and believers out there. So, in a situation like that what you did was a good thing to take this to the frontier.

by alexpaul on Tue Jan 29, 2019 at 04:43:47 AM EST

Thanks for sharing this useful information, do continue to update and will catch up more on your website, please do visit my website mobile legend bang bang

by alvinrr on Fri Apr 26, 2019 at 10:21:14 PM EST

I don't consider the majority of the promotion around veganism being awful for you, I used to peruse the web for records and arrived all through your blog. I am enlivened by utilizing the certainties you have in this weblog it's extraordinary to find a site that data a ton of actualities roughly outstanding specialists. alsbury dental dentist

by TimFink on Wed Oct 02, 2019 at 04:59:15 AM EST

pelisplus tv ac market thoptv showbox

by sessa on Fri Oct 04, 2019 at 08:01:14 AM EST

Impressive details on your blog, many thanks for placing at the moment to show us. Outstanding understanding you bring this, it acts to locate a site that details so many details worrying different artists ...watergirl and fireboy 4

by TimFink on Wed Oct 30, 2019 at 09:41:30 AM EST

I came upon you could be this blog publish Roofing selection while on the lookout for some related data on weblog web site seek ... It's an excellent publish. keep publishing and upgrade the tips. click this link

by TimFink on Sat Nov 16, 2019 at 09:03:01 AM EST



This is inspiring. I have a lot of feedback in here and it did not fail me to agree with them. You haveone ramarkable thoughtful carrying here. Keep it up.    see more

by Paulojimmathew on Mon Oct 25, 2021 at 03:27:32 AM EST

You have a very inspiring story. Hope that Everyone should read this.  pole barn builders indiana

by Angel17 on Thu Sep 14, 2023 at 10:47:18 AM EST

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

by ahmedsayeed1982 on Sun Mar 10, 2024 at 01:38:25 PM EST

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

by ahmedsayeed1982 on Sun Mar 10, 2024 at 01:46:22 PM EST

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

by ahmedsayeed1982 on Sun Mar 10, 2024 at 01:52:43 PM EST

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

by ahmedsayeed1982 on Sun Mar 10, 2024 at 02:11:18 PM EST

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

by ahmedsayeed1982 on Sun Mar 10, 2024 at 02:15:28 PM EST

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

by ahmedsayeed1982 on Sun Mar 10, 2024 at 02:17:03 PM EST

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

by ahmedsayeed1982 on Sun Mar 10, 2024 at 02:19:34 PM EST

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

by ahmedsayeed1982 on Sun Mar 10, 2024 at 02:21:55 PM EST

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

by ahmedsayeed1982 on Sun Mar 10, 2024 at 02:25:08 PM EST

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

by ahmedsayeed1982 on Sun Mar 10, 2024 at 02:28:57 PM EST

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

by ahmedsayeed1982 on Sun Mar 10, 2024 at 02:30:55 PM EST

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

by ahmedsayeed1982 on Sun Mar 10, 2024 at 02:32:25 PM EST


WWW Talk To Action


Cognitive Dissonance & Dominionism Denial
There is new research on why people are averse to hearing or learning about the views of ideological opponents. Based on evaluation of five......
By Frederick Clarkson (374 comments)
Will the Air Force Do Anything To Rein In Its Dynamic Duo of Gay-Bashing, Misogynistic Bloggers?
"I always get nervous when I see female pastors/chaplains. Here is why everyone should as well: "First, women are not called to be pastors,......
By Chris Rodda (195 comments)
The Legacy of Big Oil
The media is ablaze with the upcoming publication of David Grann's book, Killers of the Flower Moon. The shocking non fiction account of the......
By wilkyjr (110 comments)
Gimme That Old Time Dominionism Denial
Over the years, I have written a great deal here and in other venues about the explicitly theocratic movement called dominionism -- which has......
By Frederick Clarkson (101 comments)
History Advisor to Members of Congress Completely Twists Jefferson's Words to Support Muslim Ban
Pseudo-historian David Barton, best known for his misquoting of our country's founders to promote the notion that America was founded as a Christian nation,......
By Chris Rodda (113 comments)
"Christian Fighter Pilot" Calls First Lesbian Air Force Academy Commandant a Liar
In a new post on his "Christian Fighter Pilot" blog titled "BGen Kristin Goodwin and the USAFA Honor Code," Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan......
By Chris Rodda (144 comments)
Catholic Right Leader Unapologetic about Call for 'Death to Liberal Professors' -- UPDATED
Today, Donald Trump appointed C-FAM Executive Vice President Lisa Correnti to the US Delegation To UN Commission On Status Of Women. (C-FAM is a......
By Frederick Clarkson (126 comments)
Controlling Information
     Yesterday I listened to Russ Limbaugh.  Rush advised listeners it would be best that they not listen to CNN,MSNBC, ABC, CBS and......
By wilkyjr (118 comments)
Is Bannon Fifth-Columning the Pope?
In December 2016 I wrote about how White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who likes to flash his Catholic credentials when it comes to......
By Frank Cocozzelli (250 comments)
Ross Douthat's Hackery on the Seemingly Incongruous Alliance of Bannon & Burke
Conservative Catholic writer Ross Douthat has dissembled again. This time, in a February 15, 2017 New York Times op-ed titled The Trump Era's Catholic......
By Frank Cocozzelli (64 comments)
`So-Called Patriots' Attack The Rule Of Law
Every so often, right-wing commentator Pat Buchanan lurches out of the far-right fever swamp where he has resided for the past 50 years to......
By Rob Boston (161 comments)
Bad Faith from Focus on the Family
Here is one from the archives, Feb 12, 2011, that serves as a reminder of how deeply disingenuous people can be. Appeals to seek......
By Frederick Clarkson (176 comments)
The Legacy of George Wallace
"One need not accept any of those views to agree that they had appealed to real concerns of real people, not to mindless, unreasoning......
By wilkyjr (70 comments)
Betsy DeVos's Mudsill View of Public Education
My Talk to Action colleague Rachel Tabachnick has been doing yeoman's work in explaining Betsy DeVos's long-term strategy for decimating universal public education. If......
By Frank Cocozzelli (80 comments)
Prince and DeVos Families at Intersection of Radical Free Market Privatizers and Religious Right
This post from 2011 surfaces important information about President-Elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. -- FC Erik Prince, Brother of Betsy......
By Rachel Tabachnick (218 comments)

Respect for Others? or Political Correctness?
The term "political correctness" as used by Conservatives and Republicans has often puzzled me: what exactly do they mean by it? After reading Chip Berlin's piece here-- http://www.talk2action.org/story/2016/7/21/04356/9417 I thought about what he explained......
MTOLincoln (253 comments)
Fear
What I'm feeling now is fear.  I swear that it seems my nightmares are coming true with this new "president".  I'm also frustrated because so many people are not connecting all the dots! I've......
ArchaeoBob (107 comments)
"America - love it or LEAVE!"
I've been hearing that and similar sentiments fairly frequently in the last few days - far FAR more often than ever before.  Hearing about "consequences for burning the flag (actions) from Trump is chilling!......
ArchaeoBob (211 comments)
"Faked!" Meme
Keep your eyes and ears open for a possible move to try to discredit the people openly opposing Trump and the bigots, especially people who have experienced terrorism from the "Right"  (Christian Terrorism is......
ArchaeoBob (165 comments)
More aggressive proselytizing
My wife told me today of an experience she had this last week, where she was proselytized by a McDonald's employee while in the store. ......
ArchaeoBob (163 comments)
See if you recognize names on this list
This comes from the local newspaper, which was conservative before and took a hard right turn after it was sold. Hint: Sarah Palin's name is on it!  (It's also connected to Trump.) ......
ArchaeoBob (169 comments)
Unions: A Labor Day Discussion
This is a revision of an article which I posted on my personal board and also on Dailykos. I had an interesting discussion on a discussion board concerning Unions. I tried to piece it......
Xulon (156 comments)
Extremely obnoxious protesters at WitchsFest NYC: connected to NAR?
In July of this year, some extremely loud, obnoxious Christian-identified protesters showed up at WitchsFest, an annual Pagan street fair here in NYC.  Here's an account of the protest by Pagan writer Heather Greene......
Diane Vera (130 comments)
Capitalism and the Attack on the Imago Dei
I joined this site today, having been linked here by Crooksandliars' Blog Roundup. I thought I'd put up something I put up previously on my Wordpress blog and also at the DailyKos. As will......
Xulon (329 comments)
History of attitudes towards poverty and the churches.
Jesus is said to have stated that "The Poor will always be with you" and some Christians have used that to refuse to try to help the poor, because "they will always be with......
ArchaeoBob (148 comments)
Alternate economy medical treatment
Dogemperor wrote several times about the alternate economy structure that dominionists have built.  Well, it's actually made the news.  Pretty good article, although it doesn't get into how bad people could be (have been)......
ArchaeoBob (90 comments)
Evidence violence is more common than believed
Think I've been making things up about experiencing Christian Terrorism or exaggerating, or that it was an isolated incident?  I suggest you read this article (linked below in body), which is about our great......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)

More Diaries...




All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments, posts, stories, and all other content are owned by the authors. Everything else © 2005 Talk to Action, LLC.