The following is Bruce’s latest article posted at the Daily Kos:

“Pray For Newark” Is a Model For Christian Theocratic Rule

by Bruce Wilson

Sat Jul 31, 2010 at 05:22:52 AM PDT

Consider this following 10 minute video documentary, which presents what it calls the “transformation” of Newark. Initiated by New Jersey residents Lloyd and Joanna Turner in early 2008, the Pray For Newark effort involves a consortium of church volunteers who are working closely with Newark’s police and the mayoral administration of Corey Booker. The effort claims to be able to field an entire army of volunteers, one for each street in the city, organized by city ward – almost like a neighborhood watch. Neighborhood watches have been shown to be effective at reducing crime. So what’s not to like?

Well, as I documented in my story Movement Behind Uganda’s “Kill the Gays” Bill Organizing in Newark, Pray For Newark is closely tied to a an international evangelical ministry whose leaders are in the forefront of opposing gay rights in Hawaii and are closely allied with Ugandan leaders who are leading the push in Uganda for the so-called “kill the gays” bill that would in effect legislate an entire segment of Ugandan society out of existence. As a simple point of fact, the Uganda Anti Homosexuality Bill is harsher than any comparable anti-gay legislation passed, prior to World War Two, in Nazi Germany. The movement can’t currently aim so high in the United States but in Hawaii, where it is highly influential in the executive branch of government, gay rights activists are being treated as second-class citizens whose civil rights can be determined by majority vote.

Another slight problem with Pray For Newark is that it is being led by a Newark minister, the Rev. Bernard Wilks, whose literature for the effort lists the goal of “enemy identification,” (see my Newark story, above) and the Pray For Newark website cites the “Seven Mountains” program which encourages Christians to achieve dominance in all sectors of society. In the video, Pray For Newark founder Lloyd Turner notes that Newark was founded as an overtly Christian city, which is correct. Turner says he wants to return the city to those roots but omits to note that Newark was set up as a theocracy.

The Rev. Bernard Wilks is an apostle in the International Coalition of Apostles (ICA), one of the major organizational bodies of a new reorganization of charismatic Christianity known as the New Apostolic Reformation – whose leaders practice exorcism, burn “witchcraft items,” and have become the new de-facto prayer leaders of the Republican Party.

In this article ICA head C. Peter Wagner explains what’s distinctive about the New Apostolic Reformation. Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is extremely closely tied to Wagner’s movement. Talk To Action features a resource directory on the major known entities in the New Apostolic Reformation, here.

Pray For Newark has become so closely tied to Newark’s police department that early in 2010 Newark leader of the effort, the Rev. Bernard Wilks presided over the graduation of 54 new Newark police officers. The graduation was held in a church Wilks preaches at, with Newark’s mayor Corey Booker and other top Newark city officials in attendance.

So where is this headed ? It’s impossible to say, but given that the apostles of the New Apostolic Reformation say they’re working to implement Christian theocratic rule, the indications are not promising. In all likelihood, Newark, NJ is a developing template for the implementation of Christian theocratic government.

Thank you, Bruce!

Police War?

Holy War?

If this doesn’t scare you as much as it does me then we need paint this picture even more clearly. There is nothing innocent about the infiltration of law enforcement agencies. It is as serious as the Dominionism infiltration in the military that we battle over at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. These are the issues that should be grabbing our attention…not what the latest shift is or isn’t in the poster family for dysfunction form Wasilla.

Remember what I have been saying about the 7 Mountains Mandate? If you have missed any of it, please search my blog for the articles that I have written here…and absolutely check out the video I have on my sidebar to the right of this post that is their own marketing video on the 7 Mountains Mandate.

Eyes open people!

Island Chapel’s Purpose:

The purpose of this church is to fulfill the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20) and Great Commandment (Matt. 22:37-40) of Jesus Christ. It shall do so through the worship of God, the sharing of the gospel with all peoples, the instruction and edification of Christians, the expression of the Christian faith through varied means and the expression of biblical social concern for those in need.

Ah yes…”The Great Commission”. We have covered that in discussions about Palin’s zealous devotion and those like her that have been taught that it is their responsibility to go forth and shove their version of Christianity down the throats of humans worldwide. And they do – without regard, consideration or respect of ANY other faith. They are obsessed and possessed!

Why do I bring this up? This annoying little Chapel outpost on an island with less than a thousand residents is here to “harvest souls”. This is the graphic and unsettling term that they use in their code speak.

The Island Chapel is part of the the Village Missions sect. They intentionally seek out rural areas; preferably in close proximity to “First Nations” populations; and sidle up snuggly near elementary schools.

Island Chapel’s Statement of Faith:

In essentials unity, in non essentials charity, and in all things Jesus Christ.

The Church affirms the following as its essential beliefs:

The Immers

1. We believe the Bible is the Word of God, fully inspired and without error in the original manuscripts, written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and that it has the supreme authority in all matters of faith and conduct.

2. We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

3. We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in his sinless life, in His miracles, in vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.

4. We believe for the salvation of lost and sinful people, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved.” (Romans 10:9)

5. We believe the Holy Spirit indwells Christians and enables them to live a godly life.

6. We believe in the resurrection of the saved into eternal life and the resurrection of the lost to eternal separation from God.

7. We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Affiliation

Village Missions

Go to this site and type in your own zip code to see just how infested your own areas are with these NARasitic Dominionists. It is a real eye opener!

They are parasites. That is why we have coined the phrase NARisites for them. NAR stands for New Apostolic Reformation. The NARasites are just one of a multitude of non-denominational sects organized under the Christian Dominionist umbrella. They may not all agree, and some vehemently lash out against each other as we heard from Shirley Phelps-Roper from the Westboro Baptist Church during our Blog Talk Radio program this past Thursday evening. (For those of you who did not hear it, Deborah always makes certain that they are available on podcast). Shirley made it abundantly clear that she thinks the Dominionists are “freaks”. Yes, she actually called them that.

What makes all of this so confusing for the rest of us is that, for example, Westboro Baptists are not the same as Southern Baptist Convention denomination who are not the same as the Mainline Baptists along the lines of Pastor Bess whose writings I post here on Sundays. Here we have three completely oppositional theologies all using “Baptist”. Is it any wonder that we can’t keep up with who believes what?

But, getting back to the Village Missionaries. These people move into communities, ingratiate themselves with the locals and insidiously cause a rift resulting in a fracture of local congregations. This allows them to siphon off a potential congregation so that they can establish their own “church”. It is deception of the wolf in sheep’s clothing at it’s finest. It is a practice that is becoming widely used known as “Steeplejacking”. This very same practice is used by the Dominionists in politics as well.

This is how the GOP was “Steeplejacked” in the early 1990s, and now the Religious Right non-secular Republican Party is no longer conservative enough by today’s Christian Dominionists’ standards, we see the same tactic of divide, fracture and recruit ocurring again. Out with that old guard liberal Religious Right! In with the neocon/Dominionist/plutocratic/Dixiebelt patriot/gun totin’/Bible thumpin’/low-information Amurikan!

Don’t tread on WHO?

I will keep you posted about this new gathering of predators on our little island…this just illustrates that they are in our own back yards and spreading…look around.

“Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
Caveats: NONE

Mikey,

The evangelicals strike again, this time, they’re making life hell for us. If you can, find a copy of 9 June 2010 issue of “Stars and Stripes”. Page 4, there’s a lovely picture of about 1000+ Afghan Nationals protesting outside a Masque chanting “Death to America, long live Islam!”. Apparently, some U.S. foreign aid group backed by a church in Elkhart, Indiana has been proselytizing down in Mazar-e-Sharif. Now, the Afghans really do believe this is a Holy War and the Taliban, Haqqani Network, H.I.G. are just going to eat this up.

This right here Mikey, is a PRIME EXAMPLE of why you keep a Government and its military secular. Do you think that church in Indiana has the slightest inkling of an idea of what this is going to do toward our war effort against the insurgents?! They just legitimized the Taliban’s claim to this all being a religious struggle. They just handed the hearts and minds of the Afghan people right over to the insurgents. This is going to be their new recruiting pitch, I’m telling you!

I can’t even begin to estimate how this is going to totally screw our PRT [Provisional Reconstruction Team] efforts in the country. When will people realize this war is not about religion!? When are they going to realize you CANNOT win an asymmetric fight when you bring religion into the picture!? How many troops, civilian contractors, PRT teams, aid workers, do you think will die because of what this church has done? How far back do you think this is going to set us in the COIN fight?

This makes me want to give up on organized religion altogether Mikey. It breaks my heart to say it but it really does. If you have the time and the manpower, could you do me a favor and please relay this message to that church group (without my name, unit, AO, etc). It’s called “Church World Services”. If they want to debate the issue with me, get their phone number and I’ll be more than happy to give them a call if I’m not too busy getting shot at or rocketed cause of this mess.

Respectfully,
(name, rank, combat military assignment, combat military unit, military base all withheld)”

Didn’t we just discuss this? How dangerous it is to have our military members proselytizing to Muslims in a country that belongs to them? This is outrageous and puts our troops at much greater risk than they are already in. As this email states…deaths will occur because of the naive and irresponsible antics of these Christian Dominionist zealots. They should be held accountable – and I am talking criminal charges!

At least someone is listening…albeit after the damage has been done and we know full well that they will weasel out of this curtailing of their “mission” to harvest souls.

AP Rohan Sullivan May 31, 2010

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – Afghan authorities suspended two Christian foreign aid groups on suspicion of proselytizing in the strictly Islamic nation and said a follow-up investigation would include whether other groups were trying to convert Muslims.

“Earlier this week, CWS announced that its long-time work in Afghanistan — dating back more than 30 years — had been temporarily suspended by the Afghan Ministry of Economy, pending investigation of allegations related to an Afghan television news story claiming that CWS and another humanitarian agency, Norwegian Church Aid, had engaged in religious proselytizing.” ~

Below is one of the absolute BEST journalistic efforts to explain just why we at MRFF took Franklin Graham’s invitation pray at the Pentagon on May 6th, 2010 so seriously. It follows up on the above letter perfectly.

I was on a 3 hour radio show yesterday where I have appeared over half a dozen times. WZTK out of Charlotte, North Carolina on the Allan Handelman Show. Among many topics covered, MRFF’s protest of Franklin Graham’s appearance was brought up by a caller. I explained that the outcry to defend National Day of Prayer by the Dominionists – including Palin’s 2 cents worth – is NOT about freedom of religious expression at all. It is purely about freedom of Christian Dominionist scripture-twisted prayers and practices of faith – to the complete and total exclusion of all others, including other Christians who are deemed by the Dominionists to be “not the right kind of Christians”.

I know, they have told me that very line…repeatedly…as they say vile, hateful and threatening things to me.

Please read this with the seriousness it commands and think of who you may know to discuss this with so that we may spread this as far and wide as we possibly can. I will end this post with the last two paragraphs from the article in InFocus News by Lawrence Swaim…

Graham’s organization, Samaritan’s Purse, has indeed gone out of its way to use war as an opportunity for proselytizing. Perhaps the most notorious incident was Graham’s “Dear Abby” gambit during “Desert Storm” in 1991, when he smuggled thousands of Arabic-language evangelical tracts hidden in reprints of lovelorn columnist Abigail van Buren’s column. Graham refused to stop even when the military asked him to. Graham is a true zealot, heedless of the suffering he causes, incapable of moderating his behavior, and likely to promote war and cultural imperialism to establish Christian missions.

The battles of Mikey Weinstein and the MRFF are all nonviolent ones, and they are always for the same cause—the US Constitution. This latest campaign was on behalf of Muslim soldiers stationed at the Pentagon, but America’s image also benefited. Was this not a triumph of interfaith solidarity? Here is a Jew, working for the rights of Muslim military personnel, supported by Christians engaged in challenging extremism. If that’s not religious pluralism at its best, I don’t know what is.

Neither do I…

Please go to the bottom of this article for an updated contribution from Rick Baker, MRFF Regional Coordinator in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

(That’s kinda like being the Regional Coordinator for MRFF in Wasilla).

And I have updated the score to “2″ because of the reaction by the National Day of Prayer Task Force stated position that goes something like this…

“Since Graham’s invitation was rescinded, the task force has decided not to participate in the military prayer service” a statement from Army spokesperson Col. Collins

This is what we call a two-fer! Their withdrawal was apparently meant to carry some weight, rather we got two birds with one Goliath sling! It reminds me of a boss saying “you’re fired” and then the employee turns around and says, “Na-uh! I QUIT!” What the hell, either way they aren’t coming back to work.

**************************************************************************************************************************************

Queen Esther is displeased…darn it! And ranting about it on her Facebook page. (You can tell when it is truly her own contribution…the writing is shorter with fewer multi-syllabic words).

The Anointing

“My, have things changed. I was honored to have Rev. Franklin Graham speak at my Governor’s Prayer Breakfasts. His good work in Alaska’s Native villages and his charitable efforts all over the world stem from his servant’s heart. In my years of knowing him, I’ve never found his tempered and biblically-based comments to be offensive – in fact his words have been encouraging and full of real hope.

It’s truly a sad day when such a fine patriotic man, whose son is serving on his fourth deployment in Afghanistan to protect our freedom of speech and religion, is dis-invited from speaking at the Pentagon’s National Day of Prayer service. His comments in 2001 were aimed at those who are so radical that they would kill innocent people and subjugate women in the name of religion.

Are we really so hyper-politically correct that we can’t abide a Christian minister who expresses his views on matters of faith? What a shame. Yes, thing have changed.”

- Sarah Palin

Oh things have indeed changed, Sister Sarah! The co-opting by Christian Dominionists of a National All-inclusive Pray Day has been exposed. And boy howdy, they are not happy! And you know what happens when the Queen is displeased…she rallies a cry for protest to her fan base that she proudly pronounces, “cling to their constitution, god and guns”!

The exclusion of other faiths is not subtle. In their own words…

“The National Day of Prayer Task Force’s mission is to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, mobilizing the Christian community to intercede for America and its leadership in the seven centers of power:Government, Military, Media, Business, Education, Church and Family.”

Hmmm…did you catch this? There it is in front of God and everybody!

The 7 Mountains Mandate!

For those of you who are new to my site, I have written extensively about the 7MM. Click the video link to the right on my sidebar and acquaint yourself with their own promotional video for the 7MM, then this will resonate more for you.

The National Day of Prayer Task Force goes even further by specifically banning non-Christian Dominionist groups from NDPTF events:

“The National Day of Prayer Task Force was a creation of the National Prayer Committee for the expressed purpose of organizing and promoting prayer observances conforming to a Judeo-Christian system of values. People with other theological and philosophical views are, of course, free to organize and participate in activities that are consistent with their own beliefs. This diversity is what Congress intended when it designated the Day of Prayer, not that every faith and creed would be homogenized, but that all who sought to pray for this nation would be encouraged to do so in any way deemed appropriate. It is that broad invitation to the American people that led, in our case, to the creation of the Task Force and the Judeo-Christian principles on which it is based.”

By the way, click here to see just WHO their “Leadership” is. And when you do, let me just tell you…it is a blatant Christian Dominionist Club. To give you just one direct line connection, the NDPTF shows Mrs. Bill Bright as their “co-chair”. Now click back on the 7MM link and look at whose name is in the first sentence. It is like “Where’s Waldo?” because there are so many more in this heap!

Every time I introduce Christian Dominionism people immediately say in disbelief, “but I’ve never heard of them!” My response is that they are right in front of us, walking among us and pulling their antics out in plain sight. When I connect the dots, the light bulbs of realization cast off a blinding light. And here we have an exemplary example of exactly what I have been talking about.

As a result of the stand we at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) took against allowing a biased Christian Dominionist, Franklin Graham, to speak on behalf of America – who they have declared a country based in Christianity – at our Pentagon…they are losing their minds and reverting to their tired ol’ refrain that once again they are being persecuted.

Yep, the “oh we are just well-meaning folk that love Jesus, America and want to pray for those who need to be saved” Christians. After all, Graham himself said that it’s not the Muslim he hates, it’s their religion. Gee, where have we heard that before?

So, as the media broadcasts this story across the airwaves, Internet, TV and print…remember the 7MM when you hear their decries of innocent compassion and love for all. They are frauds with a very dangerous agenda!

More to come on this…for now I have to get back to answering a slice of the hate mail we are getting at MRFF from these lovely Christian Dominionists. Man! I really don’t think Jesus would approve of their language or threats!

I’m just sayin’…..

*******************************************************************************************************************************

UPDATE….

Part Deux – April 23, 2010

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Fresh from a round of letter writing extolling the virtues of constitutional compliance, religious freedom and what seems like fighting the 3rd Crusade, I am happy to report a victory of the first magnitude for MRFF.

For those of you who might not be aware, Rev. Franklin Graham, son and heir to Billy Graham’s sizable religious empire and Christian consultant to Presidents and Emperors, was invited by the Secretary of the Army to appear at this year’s National Day of Prayer Ceremony at the Pentagon as the keynote speaker and chief Prayer Reciter.

Yes, yes, I know. What is a day of prayer doing at the Pentagon?  Well it seems that the supposedly non-sectarian event  in which all religions join hands an pray for the continued freedoms of American Democracy has, over the years, turned into a Christian Prayer Party, sponsored by the National Day of Prayer Task Force, headquartered in (you’ll never guess)  COLORADO SPRINGS!  And who might be the chair person of this now national Christian proselytizing competition? Why, Shirley Dobson! Yay Shirley.

The fact that this event had, over time, turned into an evangelical Christian Tent Revival, seems to have evaded the Pentagon folks who blithely set out to break every damn rule in the book regarding the government role in advancing, preferring, elevating, condoning and otherwise lapping up a particular religion’s domination of the American religious scene.

The Dominion Christian folks might have gotten away with this year’s ceremony, which may be it’s last, as a federal court has found the NDP unconstitutional but the invited guest, Mr. Graham, had just days ago appeared on CNN with Campbell Brown and made the startling point that Islam was an Evil and Wicked religion. He didn’t think that all Muslims were evil, but that the teachings of Islam were basically evil and wicked.

Sadly, a number of Muslim employees of the Pentagon were feeling a bit excluded and a tad pigeon-holed.  They wrote to MRFF to see if we could help.  Our legal staff, under the direction of Mikey Weinstein, wrote to the Secretary of Defense demanding that the invitation to Graham be rescinded based on his bigoted remarks, less than constitutional stances and his hair cut which makes him look like a prisoner in a Myanmar  political prison.

The story hit the national media and as a result, MRFF was inundated with hate mail so vile, so threatening, so medieval that those of us assigned to reply had to hold our noses while typing.

And here I thought Christianity was a gentle and loving religion, in which one turned his other cheek and loved and forgave his enemies.  Wrong!  There was no Cheek Turning or Enemy Loving that I could discern.

Why does Christianity appear to be so much like a cross between the Tea Baggers and children’s day at the Catholic Church?

Ok so that wasn’t nice but those letters weren’t either.

In any case this victory over Dominionism is encouraging and tells us that there is, in fact, a chance that Americans will, at long last, see  what religious supremacy can do to a modern Democracy as it did in the Inquisitions, Pogroms, Genocides and witch hunts.

Rejoice with us. Not for the rescinding of a pompous Christian leader’s speaking engagement but for the enlightenment it took to achieve it.

Rick

You see why Rick and I get along?

The Anointing

“My, have things changed. I was honored to have Rev. Franklin Graham speak at my Governor’s Prayer Breakfasts. His good work in Alaska’s Native villages and his charitable efforts all over the world stem from his servant’s heart. In my years of knowing him, I’ve never found his tempered and biblically-based comments to be offensive – in fact his words have been encouraging and full of real hope.

It’s truly a sad day when such a fine patriotic man, whose son is serving on his fourth deployment in Afghanistan to protect our freedom of speech and religion, is dis-invited from speaking at the Pentagon’s National Day of Prayer service. His comments in 2001 were aimed at those who are so radical that they would kill innocent people and subjugate women in the name of religion.

Are we really so hyper-politically correct that we can’t abide a Christian minister who expresses his views on matters of faith? What a shame. Yes, thing have changed.”

- Sarah Palin

Oh things have indeed changed, Sister Sarah! The co-opting by Christian Dominionists of a National All-inclusive Pray Day has been exposed. And boy howdy, they are not happy! And you know what happens when the Queen is displeased…she rallies a cry for protest to her fan base that she proudly pronounces, “cling to their constitution, god and guns”!

The exclusion of other faiths is not subtle. In their own words…

“The National Day of Prayer Task Force’s mission is to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, mobilizing the Christian community to intercede for America and its leadership in the seven centers of power: Government, Military, Media, Business, Education, Church and Family.”

Hmmm…did you catch this? There it is in front of God and everybody!

The 7 Mountains Mandate!

For those of you who are new to my site, I have written extensively about the 7MM. Click the video link to the right on my sidebar and acquaint yourself with their own promotional video for the 7MM, then this will resonate more for you.

The National Day of Prayer Task Force goes even further by specifically banning non-Christian Dominionist groups from NDPTF events:

“The National Day of Prayer Task Force was a creation of the National Prayer Committee for the expressed purpose of organizing and promoting prayer observances conforming to a Judeo-Christian system of values. People with other theological and philosophical views are, of course, free to organize and participate in activities that are consistent with their own beliefs. This diversity is what Congress intended when it designated the Day of Prayer, not that every faith and creed would be homogenized, but that all who sought to pray for this nation would be encouraged to do so in any way deemed appropriate. It is that broad invitation to the American people that led, in our case, to the creation of the Task Force and the Judeo-Christian principles on which it is based.”

By the way, click here to see just WHO their “Leadership” is. And when you do, let me just tell you…it is a blatant Christian Dominionist Club. To give you just one direct line connection, the NDPTF shows Mrs. Bill Bright as their “co-chair”. Now click back on the 7MM link and look at whose name is in the first sentence. It is like “Where’s Waldo?” because there are so many more in this heap!

Every time I introduce Christian Dominionism people immediately say in disbelief, “but I’ve never heard of them!” My response is that they are right in front of us, walking among us and pulling their antics out in plain sight. When I connect the dots, the light bulbs of realization cast off a blinding light. And here we have an exemplary example of exactly what I have been talking about.

As a result of the stand we at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) took against allowing a biased Christian Dominionist, Franklin Graham, to speak on behalf of America – who they have declared a country based in Christianity – at our Pentagon…they are losing their minds and reverting to their tired ol’ refrain that once again they are being persecuted.

Yep, the “oh we are just well-meaning folk that love Jesus, America and want to pray for those who need to be saved” Christians. After all, Graham himself said that it’s not the Muslim he hates, it’s their religion. Gee, where have we heard that before?

So, as the media broadcasts this story across the airwaves, Internet, TV and print…remember the 7MM when you hear their decries of innocent compassion and love for all. They are frauds with a very dangerous agenda!

More to come on this…for now I have to get back to answering a slice of the hate mail we are getting at MRFF from these lovely Christian Dominionists. Man! I really don’t think Jesus would approve of their language or threats!

I’m just sayin’…..