General Boykin

Monday, January 30, 2012

MRFF Friends and Allies,

This is a monumentally-clear indication that when organizations such as the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and VoteVets work toward a common goal, with the strength of our dedicated supporters behind us, concrete positive change can be achieved.

We are deeply saddened that it took a public outcry of this magnitude to cause Boykin to pull out from this event, likely under pressure from within the Pentagon. Our outcry must not stop – all individuals within the command structure responsible for inviting this vile Islamophobe must be held accountable via courts martial.

On behalf of every single serviceman and servicewoman that we represent, and especially our 101 clients at West Point, we thank you so much for your continued support. Please read the powerful email below that we just received from one of our anonymous West Point Faculty clients.

This is truly a momentous victory for the Constitution, and you’re responsible for it.

Michael L. “Mikey” Weinstein, Esq.
Founder & President
Military Religious Freedom Foundation

WHO is Boykin? Chris Rodda summed up a bit about him on her blog on freethoughts.com:

[...] none so far beats the choice of West Point — none other than retired Lt. Gen. Jerry “my god is bigger than your god” Boykin!

On Feb. 8, 2012, the United States Military Academy at West Point is planning to host a National Prayer Breakfast featuring ret. Lt. Gen. William “Jerry” Boykin, an individual who has a long record of issuing hate-filled rhetoric about Muslims.

Here’s what Boykin has said about Muslims in the past: there should be “no mosques in America“; Muslims worship an “idol“; “Islam is a totalitarian way of life, it’s not just a religion”; “it should not be protected under the First Amendment”; Muslims operate “under an obligation to destroy our Constitution.”

The importance of this cannot be understated. The work that we do at MRFF does not get the recognition that it deserves in light of how infested our military is with political Christians who aide and abet the Dominionist goals by overtly overstepping the U.S. Constitution and work to obliterate the wall of separation of church and state.

Dominionists have inserted themselves into all facets of American culture over the past few decades, but none of their achievements match the global threat that their influence has in our military…training our men and women that we are in a Holy War against Islam. The ramifications of this threat are real. The consequences of ignoring this threat are global.

This is reminiscent of 2010 when MRFF put forth a similar protest to have Franklin Graham disinvited as keynote speaker at the Pentagon for the National Day of Prayer due to Graham’s outspoken Islamophobic statements painting all of Islam as “evil”. Once again, MRFF was successfully able to send communication to the leaders in our military and the President in protest of another internationally known Islamophobe, Boykin, from potentially slithering under the radar as an invited speaker representing the un-American position of intolerance, religious supremacy and global divisiveness.

These victories, though hardly noticed by most Americans, are crucial to the protection of our freedoms in this world that we all share. We are not anti-Christian; we are not anti-conservative – we are anti-extremism. MRFF’s 26,000 clients are overwhelmingly 96% Protestant Christians and Catholics. Our volunteer staff mirror that ratio. We support mainstream Christians, Muslims, Jews, Atheists, Agnostics, and a broad spectrum of people of faith and non-faith.

Any of you who are watching the political news of 2012 cannot deny that we have come to a point where this is no longer about simply two parties – this is not merely Democrats vs. Republicans – this is emphatically about Freedom vs. Theocracy.

(Oh…and by the way…the logo behind Boykin’s head in the picture is for “The Oak Initiatvie” which I will address in an upcoming post for PoliticusUSA.com this weekend). 

The Chester Upland school district in Pennsylvania is getting some much needed attention as we hear about severe funding cuts to public education in their state resulting in heroics by their teachers. These teachers are so dedicated to what is best for their students that they are continuing to show up for work to teach even without pay. Every state in America is dealing with the push to use federal tax dollars to fund religion-based schools, but this latest budget round of severe cuts in Pennsylvania and the resultant acts by the affected teachers has elevated this discussion in recent days.

This attack on public education is sectarian extremism and corporate greed joined together in one of the worst, most un-American threats to our country’s freedom and defense. An ignorant society destabilizes our potentials for success and innovation. An indoctrinated society breeds a robotic citizenry that cannot reason and is easily led into disastrous endeavors.

These funding cuts to public education are deliberate and calculated.  We hear the goals to cripple this system from Ron Paul to Rick Santorum; John Boehner to Jim DeMint and many more. The political Christians refer to public schools as “Institutions of Satan” and the corporate opportunists see this as a new industry that can be monetized to their advantage.

As I do from time to time, I am posting a recent article from Pastor Howard Bess from Alaska. He is a retired Baptist minister who also taught critical studies of the Bible at the University of California Santa Barbara which – as you might imagine – makes him a foe to Dominionists. Please read below what Pastor Bess has to contribute on this issue…

VOUCHERS, RELIGION AND GOVERNMENT

By Howard Bess

New legislative sessions are about to begin. It is an election year. Old issues will be raised, especially if there are religious and emotional underpinnings attached to these issues. School vouchers will have another hearing. Some will argue that vouchers are about equal access to quality education. Others will argue that vouchers are a challenge to First Amendment mandates for separation of church and state.

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The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees free exercise of religion, but also guarantees that Congress will make no law for the establishment of religion. Religious organizations in the United States have always been free to establish education systems that compete with public schools for students. They are free to teach and advocate for their religion as a part of their curriculum. Roman Catholics, Baptists, Lutherans and Evangelicals have established very large school systems that provide education from Kindergarten through high school.  In general the quality of education provided by religious organizations has been quite good. They are taking advantage of the free exercise provision of the First Amendment.

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Religious people and organizations have paid the cost of religion based parochial education, but not without complaint. They argue they are paying for education twice. First they pay through tax systems that pay for public education, and they pay again by covering the tuition that makes parochial education possible. Portable vouchers underwritten by a governmental body is their proposal for equity. Until recently courts at every level have ruled that government funded vouchers are a violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment.

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For the past 75 years the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Freedom has been the leading religious Washington lobby on issues of separation of church and state. BJC has had the sponsorship of every major Baptist body in America until recently when the Southern Baptist Convention withdrew its support. BJC has long opposed vouchers based on the establishment clause in the First Amendment. They have affirmed the right of parents to choose a religious education for their children, but firmly oppose the use of public money in any way to support parochial school systems. BJC has argued that government MUST remain neutral in all matters of religion.

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Eight years ago Congress established what became known as the D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Program. It provided scholarship vouchers of up to $7,500 for 1,000 students. The vouchers were portable and could be used by families at any private school in D.C. Almost all of the private schools in the area are religion based. After 5 years the program was phased out.  The program did not produce the predicted result. The children in most need did not get the vouchers. Children involved showed no statistical gain in achievement. The net result was that several millions of dollars were transferred from the federal government to churches through the hands of the 1,000 families involved.

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The issue with the Joint Baptist Committee was not the plan’s failure to produce intended results. The issue was that millions of government dollars went into the coffers of sponsoring churches. For JBC the Washington D.C. experiment was a blatant violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

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The United States is in the process of a significant shift in its religious make-up.  There is no question; our national roots are in Christian Protestantism. Then came the Catholics. A flood of immigrants from Ireland and Italy made Catholics a statistical reality. For many years Roman Catholics were religious outsiders in America.  Tolerance was the best for which a Catholic could hope. he election of Roman Catholic John Kennedy as president of the United States was a watershed event in American history. Catholics are now seen as a part of the American Christian mainstream; but an even greater challenge to assimilation is in full swing.

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While a large Roman Catholic immigration from Latin America continues, the religious face of America’s immigrant population has rapidly changed.  Immigrants from the Pacific Rim, China, Korea, India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia are bringing a new religious profile to America. Immigrants, as always, bring their religion with them.  Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism are thriving in the United States. Mosques, Temples, and Shrines are popping up all over the country. If we Americans take the First Amendment seriously, the idea that the United States is a Christian nation is an absurdity.

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It is inevitable that these new religious groups will flourish and, just like Catholics, Baptists, Lutherans and Evangelicals; they will establish schools for the purpose of maintaining their religions through the education of children. This is healthy and the First Amendment guarantees no government interference in the practice of their faiths, including the establishment of special schools.

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In the eyes of the First Amendment there is no difference between a Baptist school, a Jewish school, a Catholic school, an atheist school and a Muslim school. Under the establishment clause of the First Amendment, BJC believes none of these religion based schools should receive a single dollar of government support. I agree completely.

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The image of America as a melting pot has outlived its usefulness. Our increasing religious diversity is a long term reality. We are a neighborhood that reflects the world. To live in our American neighborhood, we do not need to have the same religious beliefs. We do need gracious respect and understanding. The First Amendment does not allow government funded school vouchers for use at a religion based school. The First Amendment is one of our truest friends.

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THE END

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska.

We need to support our teachers and students and climb back to a position of educational competitiveness in the world. For those who insist on educating their children in insular parochial environments…I wish them well…just stop trying to destroy our public institutions in the process.

“Why I hate Religion But Love Jesus”

In light of the endorsement of Rick Santorum by the cadre of Dominionist power-brokers who met in Texas last week to choose their favored ReBiblican candidate this is very timely. These people want to rule, not follow. They want to control, not lead. They want to dictate, not adhere to the teachings of peace, compassion and love. Most of you know that I have no trouble writing lengthy narratives…but I choose not to add to this…

It is mind-boggling to me how many people attribute this date as the literal day that Jesus was born. Historians have written about this myth for years pointing out numerous factors that indicate that the birth more than likely ocurred in June – September.

Outrage seems to increase each year about the commercialization of this holiday season and it stems from devout Christians who are intent on insinuating their faith into this time of year. As I do often, I turned to several knowledgeable Bible scholars and historians and none other than my co-researcher, Alex Bird who is known as “dogemporer”. She contributed the following that gives background to this holiday which should defuse any sanctimonious cry about a “War on Christmas”. (Notice that I said “should”)

By Alex Bird

“The arguments concerning the birth date of Jesus have to do with numerous criteria including the following:

 

a) The fact that a number of church holidays (especially holidays outside of Easter–which is one of the few holidays VERY much tied to a holiday on the pre-existing Jewish calendar) coincide with pre-Christian paleopagan holidays.  In the case of Christmas, the fact that the old festival of Saturnalia was based around the time of the Solstice and other pre-Christian indigenous faiths in Europe have Solstice festivals points to this.

 

As noted below, the Cathoic Church had not set a liturgical date for the birth of Jesus until 270 CE–a number of centuries after Jesus supposedly walked the earth; an accepted date among all Christian groups of the time (including the Coptic Church) did not exist until at least 337 CE.

 

b) Another good argument comes from the Bible itself in Luke 1:26:
“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, ” (RSV; wording is substantially identical in all English translations)

 

At the time the Bible was written, two calendar systems would have been in use–the Hebrew calendar (the modern Jewish liturgical calendar, now used as the legal calendar in Israel) and the Julian calendar (used as a liturgical calendar in some Eastern Rite churches); neither of those use the same new-year dates as the modern Gregorian calendar.  There were also areas still using the old Egyptian calendar system (and a variant of that is still used as the liturgical calendar in the Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Churches.)

 

The Jewish calendar (and the Coptic calendar) both have their “New Years” in September, as does the “old Greek” calendar known as the “Byzantine Calendar” which was formerly used as the liturgical calendar for the Orthodox Church . The Coptic Calendar usually has its New Years’ Day around 11 or 12 September , and the Byzantine calendar usually has its New Year’s Day around 13 or 14 September (it is based in part on the Coptic calendar).  The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar, and Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) normally falls sometime in September.

 

The sixth month of these calendars and their equivalent Gregorian dates are as follows: 6th month of Coptic calendar would fall roughly between February and March (which IS pretty much when lambing and calving would begin–fun with growing up right next door to a farm) and also the sixth month (at least for civil purposes) usually falls around February-March.

 

It gets worse when we include ecclesiastical “calendar skewing” in the Jewish calendar and the Julian Calendar.

 

To make a very long story short–the Julian calendar originally had March as the first month, with New Year’s Day being March 1; there is also an ‘ecclesiastical calendar” used in Jewish calendar calculations that is skewed exactly six months from the primary civil calendar.  The sixth months for each of these….don’t look good for winter Christmases; the “sixth month” in the Jewish ecclesiastical calendar would end up right smack dab in the middle of August/September (with the end of the month culminating in Yom Kippur) whilst the “sixth month” in the Julian calendar (VERY new at that time, so it hadn’t yet had the “date creep” from its error in calculating leap years) has its “sixth month” being–surprise surprise–AUGUST.  (In fact, they’d just renamed the month Formerly Known As Sextilus pretty much within shouting distance of the time of Christ’s birth (usually felt to be anywhere from 4 BCE to 7 CE; the change of Sextilus to August occurred 8 BCE).

 

c) The big argument isn’t so much with temperature as agricultural cycles. Specifically, the Bible explicitly depicts the Star of Bethlehem and the angelic visitation being seen by shepherds guarding flocks grazing freely (indicating that this would be during the lambing season in spring; normally sheep would be corralled in winter as they would be at greater risk of predation).

 

As for the star of Bethlehem (which supposedly shined when Jesus was born)…nobody is really sure about that yet (for many reasons, not the least of which is still a definite uncertainty over whether the story of Jesus is itself a co-opting of Mithraic mythology or (if he existed) what the date of birth was).

 

Most who do think the Star of Bethlehem existed don’t see it as anything in the modern skies. not something we can point to today, at any rate.

 

The particular account of the “star” only occurs in Matthew, and there are those Biblical scholars who feel this may have been a later addition or even a bit of “divine gloss”; astronomers who don’t just dismiss the story of the Star of Bethlehem being an embellishment have attributed it to conjunctions of Jupiter and Saturn, to comets (even Halley’s Comet), and to a supernova explosion that caused a temporary brightening of a star.

 

(Of note, the one account that gives an actual date is that of Luke, which does NOT include the story of the three Magi.)

 

If there’s anything to the “Star of Bethlehem” story, the role of the Magi becomes important, as “Magi” in the world of that time were typically Zoroastrian priests who were astronomers (yes, if the Magi existed…it’s very likely they came from what is now Iran, as this is where Zoroastrianism was based until religious oppression led to most active Zoroastrians moving to India or following their faith underground in Iran) and by extension the term was applied to all practitioners of esoteric arts; in fact the term “Magi” is pretty much consistently translated as “fortune-teller, illusionist, practitioner of esoterica” OTHER than in John (save in VERY early versions of the Bible, where it is translated “magician”–in this sense, a magick-user, a practitioner of magick).

 

Probably the closest parallels nowadays would be if a neopagan circle saw an unusual occurence in the sky as an astrological omen and followed it.

 

Those who dismiss the Star of Bethlehem story as dramatic gloss (and even some who do accept it as true) have noted the author of that particular section was almost certainly familiar with the “Star Prophecy”(Numbers 24:17; which was popular amongst Israeli independence groups in what was then the Roman province of Judaea (technically what was then Judaea would be what we’d refer to now as an autonomous area or overseas possession of the Roman Empire, with Herod being a “Hellenic-friendly” king generally despised by those seeking full independence from Rome).

 

The “Star Prophecy” becomes important in this note because it’s a method of setting Jesus up as “King of the Jews” destined to drive invaders out of the land–it was also notably used explicitly in the late Jewish revolts against the Roman Empire, including the final stand at Masada and the final revolt that led to the Diaspora (and the functional end of Judah and Israel as independent states until 1948).  A popular theory is that the Magi may have observed an astronomical occultation of Jupiter in Ares, which was seen as a sign of a kingly birth.

 

There are a few Chinese and Babylonian sources that would point to a number of possible unusual astronomical events that could have been described as the “Star of Bethlehem”; most likely (that fit with the time period in Luke) is a possible supernova event recorded by Chinese and Korean sources around March 31st, 4 BCE that would probably have been seen as notable enough to get the notice of astrologers.

 

(Of particular note here–a supernova of a star not normally visible to the naked eye would appear to be a “new star” that would shine for only a few months to a year.  The brightening of the sky by a supernova can be impressive; the Supernova of 1054 was visible for two years.

 

All in all, though, this is actually somewhat irrelevant:

d) Christmas, liturgically speaking (and even popular-culture-speaking) is actually a relatively young holiday; celebrations of Christmas are almost unknown until at least the late first millennium CE (in fact, early Christian writings–including that notably of Origen of Alexandria–explicitly mock the entire concept of birth anniversaries and celebration of birthdays as pagan).  The earliest definitive mention of Christmas as a holiday being celebrated dates from 336 CE; there was not set liturgical date for what we know as Christmas until 170 CE.

 

More important–well into the medieval period–were celebrations of Easter; in fact, in many Eastern Orthodox traditions (particularly the Russian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox) Easter is STILL seen as the more important liturgical holiday and a much bigger deal than Christmas (many of these countries pretty much didn’t have a winter-holiday tradition until Westernization happened in the 20th Century).

 

After the great split of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches in 1054 CE, the Catholic Church seems to have embraced Christmas (with Christmas replacing Easter as the primary liturgical holiday by 1100 CE) and it started becoming a popular holiday until the 1500s in Catholic (and later, CoE) parts of the world.  This ended up getting shot to hell by (ironically) the Protestant Reformation, as we’ll see below.

 

e) Christmas–at least as celebrated in the US–is pretty much a holiday restricted to present and former Commonwealth countries and to South Korea and Japan (and in the last two cases, primarily as a marketing holiday–though South Korea does have at least enough of a Christian presence as the result of American and British missionary groups to have a “Commonwealth-style Christmas”).

 

In general, in the rest of the Christian world, Christmas is still seen very much as a liturgical holiday (similarly to how Easter is seen here, or more properly, how Pesach is celebrated in Jewish communities worldwide); the gift-giving usually takes place before Christmas on St. Nicholas’ Day (December 6th) in Germanic- and Nordic-language nations, or on Epiphany (January 6th) in Romance-language countries; Santa Claus also does not exist, with presents given out in “St. Nicholas Day countries” by St. Nicholas and a helper (sometimes the politically-incorrect “Black Peter” or a “Moorish helper”, sometimes (and elevated to a meme by the American cartoon “Venture Brothers”) the Krampus–a goat-demon-thing that gives switches to bad children; interestingly, the Netherlands (the ultimate source of American depictions of what would becomes Santa) is of the “St. Nicholas and Black Peter” tradition, which has caused not a small bit of controversy as of late).  “Epiphany countries” typically have the Three Magi giving out presents, though some countries actually have the Christ Child delivering presents to good kids.

 

To complicate things even more–in parts of the U.S. that have been relatively isolated until recently (Appalachia, for one, and also Amish communities) you have the interesting phenomenon in much of Appalachia and Pennsylvania Dutch country of having both “new Christmas” (the December 25th holiday, which is seen as more secular) and “old Christmas” (which is–ironically–Epiphany) which follows the older Scots-Irish and German traditions, and yes, I’ve known folks in Appalachia who celebrate both.

 

f) Even in Commonwealth and ex-Commonwealth countries, Christmas is a modern phenomenon.  The very celebration of Christmas was seen as outright pagan during the Protestant Reformation, and was considered controversial enough well into the 1600s that it was one of the precipitating events behind the coup-de-etat of the British monarchy by theocrats in the 1600s (during the Cromwell years, Christmas celebrations were actually forbidden by decree); in the United States (largely founded by religious communities that had a distressing tendency to set up their own state religions after leaving countries with OTHER state religions) Christmas as we know it was pretty much well unknown if not forbidden by law.

 

(Yes, you’re reading this right: the early religionationalists in the United States literally made Christmas illegal.  Truly ironic, considering their spiritual successors promoting the “War on Christmas”!)

 

One of the FEW places in what would become the United States that managed to preserve old British Christmas traditions (pre-Saint Nicholas, and in spite of Oliver Cromwell and his son trying to make the holiday illegal) was the state of Virginia; you can actually go to Colonial Williamsburg and see how Christmas was celebrated at that time.

 

Pretty much it bore little resemblance to Christmas nowadays; if it was celebrated at all (which was still extremely controversial and by no means universal even in Colonial-era Virginia) it was pretty much an excuse to get drunk and/or party–not unlike how we celebrate New Year’s Eve nowadays in modern times; also common was the tradition of indentured servants and the poor begging for alms (a tradition that still lives on in most Commonwealth countries, including Canada, as “Boxing Day”–the day when donation boxes for the poor in churches would be distributed…the closest thing we have to that tradition in the U.S. is with Toys for Tots).

 

St. Nicholas didn’t come to the US at large till the 1800s; until then, he was a New York phenomenon (thanks to the fact the Dutch were the first Europeans in New York, and there was still enough of a Dutch influence to have a Dutch-American Society in the 1700s and 1800s).  His “American Break-out” was when the New York Historical Society declared him their patron saint and started the Dutch gift-giving tradition (though, I expect, without “Black Peter” helping out Santa).

 

The modern image of Christmas (as other than a strictly religious holiday) can be said to have come from four sources: Clement C. Moore’s poem “A Visit From St. Nicholas” (which actually didn’t refer to Santa as we know him, but rather Norwegian and Finnish depictions of St. Nicholas), Charles Dickens (whom, in his fictionalized depictions of Victorian-era poverty also pretty much depicted his ideal of the Perfect Christmas–yes, “A Christmas Carol” has done a LOT to shape modern depictions of Christmas), Thomas Nast and later Coca-Cola (pretty much giving the US the modern image of Santa Claus) and the Montgomery Ward store chain (the ultimate origin of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer–as amazing as it sounds, Rudolph didn’t exist until 1939, when a storybook was released as part of a Montgomery Ward toy campaign–probably the most successful ever).

 

Christmas celebrations didn’t really catch on in the US until well into the 1800s; it pretty much wasn’t until after the Civil War (during Reconstruction) that Christmas became a universally celebrated holiday in the States.

 

(Interestingly, no less than the Americanized version of St. Nicholas–Santa Claus–was used in a propaganda effort against the Confederacy during the Civil War; Abraham Lincoln asked Thomas Nast (pretty much responsible for modern “fat Santa” depictions) to create a picture of Santa with Union Soldiers–implying the Rebs would all be getting coal and switches in their stockings.)

 

-dogemperor (and I bet these folks would be really disappointed to read the National Geographic stuff on excavations and research on the actual reign of King Herod–long story short, not a whole lot of evidence of baby genocide, but evidence he may have been disliked due to being “too damn Hellenicized”)”

What Alex has laid out here is just the tip of the iceberg. There are volumes of information available for all of us to read and research into how December 25th became this recent high-Holy holiday. Being informed, bodes well for all of us in all things, and this is another example of where learning about the origins of traditions can help us avoid taking ridiculous stances that create tension and divisiveness. Fortunately this new hymn – the “War on Christmas” is emanating from a minority of devotees that spend more time complaining than studying.

This is not about reacting to one person’s complaint. This is about a collection of events occurring in our military that represent a calculated and intentional campaign to insert one religion as the predominant theology. (Read about the scope of our work here). The fact that we represent – pro Bono - nearly 26,000 men and women in our Armed Forces is evidence of how widespread this aggressive proselytizing is. For every military person who contacts us we are highly aware that there are many more who are too afraid to reach out and ask for help from MRFF after exhausting all avenues within the system in their quest for resolutions.

They are afraid for their jobs, career, family, personal safety and retribution in  many forms. This is patently unacceptable.

While these men and women volunteer to join our military that exists to protect our freedoms, the least we can do is be there for them. They have all taken an oath to defend our U.S. Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic and we owe it to them to help them enjoy the very freedoms they are fighting for on our behalf.

MRFF has risen to the occasion and spoken out on many issues brought to us at an alarming rate from troops here and abroad, defending mostly the needs of mainstream Christians who seek our help. Along the way we have also represented the concerns of non-religious members as well. This clearly does not make us anti-religion nor anti-Christian, it simply makes us defenders of religious freedoms for all as provided to us as Americans under our U.S. Constitution.

Travis AFB

It is, indeed, the season for displays for some religions, that is true. But – positioning these displays at the entry gates of a government funded military Base is more than celebrating the season, it is a statement of preference and endorsement that clearly signals to all who pass through those gates that their differing faiths and beliefs are disregarded. We fully support the erection of these displays on Base at their respective Chapels and places of worship, which is the appropriate setting. The insistence that our military is synonymous with a biblical worldview is dangerous on many levels.

Many of us at MRFF are mainstream Christians who honor the beliefs of others and recognize the inequity of having religious displays up front and center on the grounds of an institution that belong to all of us. Imagine the outrage that would erupt if displays were erected during holy seasons for other religions. For example, a display that coincides with the 29 or 30 days of Ramadan? It would be met with fierce opposition! This is not about objecting to Christianity or any other faith, quite the contrary…it is about protecting freedom of religion for all our Armed Forces personnel.

Here is my question: I would like to understand that if this is innocuous and purely without ulterior motive, why the push-back against relocating the displays to their respective houses of worship?

The glaring lack of Civics 101 education in this country shines through in the venomous hate mail we get every time we step up to represent our troops. I don’t know which is harder for me to digest – the ignorance or the hate.

None of this comes into focus for Newt when he looks in the mirror. He has a total preoccupation with his own self-perceived brilliance and piety. Upon visiting a couple of his more recent remarks I have to say that it is his political judgment that unsettles me more than any of his personal irresponsible choices. For example, Newt’s ridiculous and reckless comment that John Bolton would be his choice for Secretary of State is outrageous.

Bush & Bolton

Bolton has a well documented history of his own that goes against any possible definition of “values”. Bolton’s personal trials are recorded in the public battle from 1982, when Bolton’s wife filed for d-i-v-o-r-c-e, in no small part due to his insistence that she participate in group sex encounters.

But, that aside, the politically disturbing part about this man is his stance against the United Nations, a hostile attitude toward some of our allies and those countries that teeter on the edge of anti-American sentiment. He enjoys provoking more than finding common ground as a foreign policy objective and he is a member of a number of far right conservative organizations including the Dominionist controlled Council for National Policy. Great choice, Newt!

But hey, Bolton was good enough for Bush, Jr. when he recommended Bolton as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations…Bush who wrote a letter to French President Chirac expressing his biblical justification for war in Iraq based on the story of Gog and Magog. This letter included statements like this one:

“This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people’s enemies before a New Age begins”. ~ President Bush

So Newt’s completely inflammatory statement that the Paletsinians are “invented” shows that he really is not straying off the path of what kind of combative world they envision for the rest of us who just happen to live on this planet as well. Adding to this dangerous perspective, Newt has no problem associating with Christian Zionists like John Hagee and when you look into Hagee and his ilk you can see where this biblical worldview is nurtured. Bruce Wilson, Rachel Tabachnik and others at www.talk2action.org do an excellent job of covering the political Christian views on all things Israel.

Remember – political Christian Dominionists love, love, love Israel!  Jews? Not-so-much. This is all about the twisted version of Christianity that has led these narcissists to deem themselves in charge of provoking the End Times and hastening the Second Coming of Christ by starting a World War III that would fit the bill of their jonesin’ for Armageddon.

Newt is an arrogant blowhard who now is garnering a following from the very base that claimed “book learnin’” to be a negative in their politicians. And here is the result…this base doesn’t know enough about history (book-learnin’) to even recognize what is accurate and true from what is unfiltered blather falling out of Newt’s mouth.

When you take that into consideration, it makes total sense that Newt views Bolton as a perfect fit who could effectively go forward into the world and offend just about every country on the planet. After all, they truly see themselves as superior and impervious.

Inventing is widespread in Newt’s circles, he is not alone. It is important for us to recognize the origins for so much of what gets credited as ‘loose cannon off-the-cuff’ remarks by all of these political Christians. Upon deeper understanding, the danger is to roll our eyes at what we think is yet another unscripted statement instead of seeing how they are atcually on message after all.

Bruce Wilson put together this video that is 8 minutes long, but worth viewing. Notice the number of politicians – past and present – who have absolutely no issue embracing John Hagee. (He was also a huge endorser of Rick Perry’s tent revival  August 2011 in Houston called “The Response”).

I know this all seems nuts…but remember…we don’t make this stuff up, we just share it.

It is difficult to know where to even begin this discussion, but I will dive right in. This current batch of 2012 GOP candidates has served up ample reason why so many of us dedicate our time to exposing the infusion of fundamentalist Christianity into American politics. Though they may have different perspectives with varying agendas – controlling the social actions and behaviors of all Americans is the underlying goal.

It does not matter how they try to spin themselves as our moral superiors who know what is best for us, the goals are all about Dominion. Dominion over a nation where “social values” will be (and are) the focus of legislation. We are seeing that focus in the effort they expend from local to national lawmakers who refuse to address the serious issues employment and the economy, but rather chip away at women’s rights, scattering fear by sounding the alarm that we live under threat of having Shariah Law become the law of the land, buddy up to big money and the list goes on.

The field of candidates is creating a huge conundrum for the political Christians. The true Dominionist candidates have self-destructed, leaving a field of social conservative candidates that are clearly considered to be “not the right kind of Christian.” The writing is on the wall, unless something dramatic occurs to change the dynamics we are most likely looking at either Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich as the eventual Republican nominee. Mitt is a Mormon and Newt is a newly converted Catholic – both considered to be as unchristian as a Wiccan, Pagan, Atheist or just a plain ol’ mainstream Christian according to the standards of Dominionists.

So what do they do? Who do they rally around? How do they reconcile their disdain for the religious beliefs of the top two Republican contenders? How did this happen? After all, they really had this in the bag! Palin in 2008. Sweeping wins in 2012. Perry, Bachmann, Pawlenty, Huckabee, Palin et al shaping up to dominate the GOP field in 2011/2012 – and then – BAM! In the blink of an eye they are now left staring in the face of two men that they really don’t like any more than President Obama.

We have heard over the last several months individual testimony from the now fallen Dominionist candidates that they were each told, directly from God, that they were the chosen…the elect…God’s pick to run for President of the United States. And yet, none of them survived.

In the upcoming weeks and months we are going to see a remarkable campaign of rationalization by these Political Christians as they pull out all the stops in their efforts to fit the square pegs of Mitt or Newt into their round holes of neatly black and white world of Christian supremacy in America. Michelle Goldberg wrote at the Daily Beast about the sudden embrace that evangelical voters in Iowa are giving Newt – no matter what his past sins were.

If they didn’t scare me so much I would find this mildly amusing, but there is nothing funny about these people. Their power clearly does not lie in their ability to produce an informed, prepared, knowledgeable candidate – or they would not be faced with having to decided between two evils. All their money, power, influence and shenanigans have failed them. But are they really out of the game?

Over the next few months as we slide into the 2012 election year I will write about what my co-researchers and I observe. We understand them well enough to know that they will manipulate every angle to turn this to their advantage. From back room meetings with the frontrunners (and eventually the nominee) like the meetings that happened recently in Florida with Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich, to the influence of congregants across the country as politics are preached from the pulpit aiming their arrows at the rights of women, gays and immigrants…these men will have to conform to the demands of this enormous voting bloc.

We all saw how well that worked when McCain sold his soul to the devil in a desperate attempt to sleep in Lincoln’s bedroom! Palin was one heartbeat away…we can’t take our eyes off the ball.

I admit that I am surprised and now have to say “you were right and I was wrong” on this one to several of you. Lawrence O’Donnell will be saying I told you so, and Rachel Maddow will be using my refrain. Already they are immediately touting that the real power behind conservative politics in America is…the behind-the-scenes influence of that caricature of Dr. No – Karl Rove. Some things just don’t change. Here is Sarah’s 2012 swan song:

October 5, 2011

Wasilla, Alaska
After much prayer and serious consideration, I have decided that I will not be seeking the 2012 GOP nomination for President of the United States. As always, my family comes first and obviously Todd and I put great consideration into family life before making this decision. When we serve, we devote ourselves to God, family and country. My decision maintains this order.

My decision is based upon a review of what common sense Conservatives and Independents have accomplished, especially over the last year. I believe that at this time I can be more effective in a decisive role to help elect other true public servants to office – from the nation’s governors to Congressional seats and the Presidency. We need to continue to actively and aggressively help those who will stop the “fundamental transformation” of our nation and instead seek the restoration of our greatness, our goodness and our constitutional republic based on the rule of law.

From the bottom of my heart I thank those who have supported me and defended my record throughout the years, and encouraged me to run for President. Know that by working together we can bring this country back – and as I’ve always said, one doesn’t need a title to help do it.

I will continue driving the discussion for freedom and free markets, including in the race for President where our candidates must embrace immediate action toward energy independence through domestic resource developments of conventional energy sources, along with renewables. We must reduce tax burdens and onerous regulations that kill American industry, and our candidates must always push to minimize government to strengthen the economy and allow the private sector to create jobs.

Those will be our priorities so Americans can be confident that a smaller, smarter government that is truly of the people, by the people, and for the people can better serve this most exceptional nation.

In the coming weeks I will help coordinate strategies to assist in replacing the President, re-taking the Senate, and maintaining the House.

Thank you again for all your support. Let’s unite to restore this country!

God bless America.

– Sarah Palin

We are seeing desperate plays unfolding as all of us sit back and watch how this GOP field is playing out. Yesterday it was Chris Christie, today it is Sarah Palin.

Don’t take your eye off what is really important now that some of the celebrity watch will be off the election – and that is political Christianity in conservative politics.

This is like watching a production with a surprise ending and we need to all stay tuned.

It is like when Sarah Palin was found guilty of ethics violations by a bi-partisan legislative committee and when the news was released stating that she was guilty- here was her response reported by the anchorage Daily News,

“She claims the report “vindicates” her. She said that the investigation found “no unlawful or unethical activity on my part.” Her response is either astoundingly ignorant or downright Orwellian.

See how even when presented with the facts they just click their heels and declare the opposite? This actually works for them with regularity – they just deny it even when it is hiding in plain sight.

Here is Os Hillman trying to back peddle and distance them from the word Dominion…

7 Mountains Executive Sales Meeting

How to Take Dominion

“An important understanding and distinction must be stated at this point. Dominion, or perhaps a better word to use is influence, is a result of our love and obedience to God, not a goal to be achieved.It is the fruit of our obedience. Otherwise we begin to use fleshly strategies to exploit and subjugate others to our way of thinking.

Jesus never sought to have dominion; rather, He encouraged others to love and obey God. It is better that we avoid the word dominion in our culture today due to the connotation that comes with this word of control and manipulation of others. It also reminds people of a flawed movement in the body of Christ called dominion theology that caused great harm to many.

On August 19th during a CNN Situation Room broadcast with Wolf Blitzer, Jack Cafferty attempted to tie Michelle Bachman and Rick Perry to dominionsim theology. He took their words out of context, yet the very word “dominionism brought out the worst in the secular media for fear that Christians want to rule the world.” ~ Os Hillman

This guy is a lead salesman for the 7 Mountains Mandate. His boss has been none other than The ‘Pope’ of Dominionism, C. Peter Wagner – who was an endorser of Rick Perry’s “The Repsonse”. He even wrote a book a few years back…what was that? I remember! Yes, it was “Dominion” –  How Kingdom Action Can Change the World”. That doesn’t sound very Dominionist. They preach the need to “take back the 7 mountains of culture” and yet they deny that they are in any way associated with the word dominion. Which means to “take control of, dominate, rule”. And no matter what they are trying to spin, that is precisely what they are after.

To establish their version of Christianity as the supreme religion in this battle they see themselves in against evil. And evil is all others who do not believe as they do. Pope Wagner also is the one who created the practice of Spiritual Mapping and casting our Demons. One of his special people, Alice Patterson of “Justice at the Gate lays claim such as the Democratic Party is demon filled saying,

“…that an evil structure could be connected to and empowered by a political party … One strong fallen angel cannot wreak havoc on an entire nation by himself. He needs a network of wicked forces to restrain the Church and to deceive the masses. I asked the “Lord, Father, what is the demonic structure behind the Democratic Party? ~ ” Alice Patterson

You might remember him from the Rachel Maddow Show where she brought up Perry’s connections to these Dominionists. Wagner also mentored among other notables, Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in California, the same Dominionist that was invited to do the invocation for President Obama’s Inauguration Ceremony in 2009. And here is C Peter’s retraction and back peddling notice hot off the press.

If these aren’t Dominionists…who would be according to them?

They can run but they cannot hide! Finally attention is beginning to happen…and my tremendous thanks to Michele Goldberg for writing her article at the Daily Beast the other day about this. After Perry’s Tent Revival more has been written about it than normal and here is Jack Cafferty coming to the realization that Dominionism is real – no matter how Os and his co-horts try to spin it as something they are not. Watch this clip, please…

I have held firmly to the belief that we were going to be able to stop this religious extremism if only we could reach the majority of Americans who are moderates – whether Democrat or Republican; liberal or conservative…I believe most of us find this bible-based cult a real threat to our freedoms.

Here is one of their leaders, George Grant, a former assistant to D. James Kennedy of Coral Ridge Ministries in Florida, explaining precisely what Os Hillman is trying to get you to not believe:

“Christians have an obligation, a mandate, a commission, a holy responsibility to reclaim the land for Jesus Christ — to have dominion in civil structures, just as in every other aspect of life and godliness. But it is dominion we are after. Not just a voice. It is dominion we are after. Not just influence. It is dominion we are after. Not just equal time. It is dominion we are after. World conquest.

That’s what Christ has commissioned us to accomplish. We must win the world with the power of the Gospel. And we must never settle for anything less…

Thus, Christian politics has as its primary intent the conquest of the land — of men, families, institutions, bureaucracies, courts, and governments for the Kingdom of Christ.” From The Changing of the Guard: Biblical Principles for Political Action by George Grant, published in 1987 by Dominion Press

By the way, the ReBiblican politicians who are fed money and votes from these Apostles and prophetics like Os & Co. claim that they have just been too busy to find solutions for unemployment – but they did make time to conceive, write and pass House Resolution #71 honoring the late – D. James Kennedy in January 2011. Oh! What was the name of that organization Kennedy started? Lemme think….hmmm…oh yeah! The Center for Reclaiming America for Christ, Coral Ridge Ministries’ social action group.

Oops! I should clarify. What they really mean is that their “kind” of Christianity has the legal right to merge with government. Period. See, when they scream and cry about religious freedoms, just remember that this is probably not in your best interest because by their definition that excludes nearly 70% of all Americans including, but not limited to the following: mainstream Christians, Catholics, Mormons, Wiccans, Pagans, Atheists – all the same to them. Like Bryan Fischer of the hate group, the American Family Association said recently about American Muslims…they are allowed to assemble and worship as a “privilege” not a right afforded under that Constitution.

But then if you really want to feel the love, try being an African American gay news man! The outrageously hate-filled prejudice that culminated in CNN reporter, Don Lemon, being elbowed repeatedly and then ultimately shoved hard enough to knock him into a nearby golf cart in Iowa makes me literally sick to my stomach. Watch this short video clip as you see Lemon simply doing his job just like all the other news people that were sent to Iowa yesterday (August 12) to cover the Straw Poll.

Much has been written about Michele Bachmann’s husband, Marcus and his “pray away the gay” clinic that pockets 6 figures a year in federal tax dollars to reach out to homosexuals (men) and convince them that by golly they are actually really attracted to women and just don’t know it. It matters not that this whole approach of quackery has been debunked time and time again as complete nonsense. Brian Ross from ABC News did a special about the Bachmann & Associates ‘clinic’ and cited this fact from the American Psychological Association that,

“The controversial practice of trying to change someone’s sexual orientation was roundly discredited by the American Psychological Association in 2009 as ineffective and potentially harmful.”

The Bachmanns and those like them never let the facts get in the way of their mission to save all of us from ourselves. After all, as God’s Chosen, the rules don’t apply to them – just to the rest of us and on top of that, they are working to usurp the authority to change those rules and create them out of their scripture-twisted Political Dominionist faith.

If I sound angry it is because I am. Most days I take the ugliness with calm and cautious indifference, but it almost inflames me more to witness a display such as this happening to another. Don Lemon was physically discarded as though he was a non-human. There was no eye contact with him nor acknowledgement of any kind by Bachmann’s entourage. I am amazed they were able to bring themselves to have physical contact with a man that represents what they so openly despise.

Discrimination against homosexuals is not knew, especially from the increasingly religious republican field of politicians. It is a sad and pathetic dominant thread in their fabric of biblical worldview. Even as, one by one, the ones that scream loudest are outed for their own same-sex encounters and relationships, the hate continues. Cries of extreme paranoia that the gays are trying to take over the world with their “gay agenda” fuel legislation like the “Kill the Gays” legislation in Uganda that we read about this past year. And thanks in large part to American political Dominionists, it gained as much traction as it did.

Aside from the inhumanity of this political hate toward a whole segment of our population – it is frightening to read the writing on the wall of what the Bachmanns and Perrys would do if ever in power with a Congressional majority.

Michele needs to come to terms with her sister being a lesbian and Marcus needs to get counseling for behavior that is overtly consistent with the self-loathing that all too many homosexuals are taught to feel from societies pressures telling them that they are not “normal” and that this isn’t “right”. When those messages are mixed with scripture-twisted justifications for discrimination it leads to either a sense of self-repulse that send some so far to the anti-homosexual side of the pendulum that they can’t stop thinking and talking about it.

Operating a “pray away the gay” clinic is one manifestation of this, and as we saw in one of the most notorious cases, Ted Haggard would preach fire and brimstone against the sins of homosexuality and then rendezvous with his young hired male gay lover for a good ol’ romp. Other coping mechanisms we have seen evolve are the creation of punitive anti-gay laws trying to legislate it out of existence, maybe then it would go away.

Or the fear of gay marriage – that it will tear the fabric of the family unit in America and lead to “father/daughter marriage; bestiality weddings; legalized polygamy” and more! Rick Santorum spends so much time on that issue that it is even taking a back seat to his obsession over a woman’s right to her own uterus.

NO one is trying to pass laws telling churches that they have to recognize or perform same-sex marriages in their hallowed halls. No one. This is about legal rights at its core and emotional commitment that rivals the success of most heterosexual relationships.

For the love of God! Just imagine that if all the millions and millions of dollars spent by these phobic and haters was spent to help the poor and feed the hungry, we could wipe it out in America altogether – and that – is what Jesus would do!

What ever the underlying disconnect, living a lie all of one’s life leads to anger and targeting the very group that reminds the person of what they cannot reconcile from within. This is a real outgrowth of this dynamic.

As I watch this video my heart goes out to Don Lemon. But in a unwelcome way, I also feel sadness and compassion for the Bachmanns and those like the two prayer warriors that she had participating in this disgusting display, for as much as their hatred and behavior revolts me – as the “wrong kind of Christian” – I am convinced that Jesus Christ would never have treated one of God’s children with such revile and disdain.

In fact, I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest that as like-minded as they are, Sarah Palin has more class than that! Okay, let’s just say that she is more stealth about this issue.

A friend and fellow researcher was actually at The Response in person, Dr. Anthea Butler of the University of Pennsylvania, professor of theology, along with Sarah Posner – both of whom write for Religion Dispatches. Dr. Butler actually received her doctorate from studies – unlike the parade of “Dr.s” that graced that stage and endorsed this event. (EVERY one and his brother is an honorary “Dr.” in the world of Dominionist entertainment).

As I watched it live on God TV (and yes that really IS the name of the station) I live tweeted with Dr. Butler as she watched it in person. Made for a very interesting perspective on what was transpiring. I will share the highlights from our observations. Right Wing Watch did a great job of condensing the whole video performance.

Much has been written about it today, but what I am not seeing are reports about some of the more subtle details that took place, rather the focus is on how few people actually attended the event. Today’s estimates put the numbers around 22,000 people. Yes, the stadium holds 70+ thousand, but the fact that they had over 20 thousand in attendance is not a huge comfort to me or my fellow researchers.

You see, these attendees are devout! Kool-ade drinking devout. Every single one of them will cast their vote in 2012 and you can bet it will be for a Dominionist candidate. Not one of these folks will vote for a Mormon ar a Catholic even those who are running as Republicans. It just won’t happen. So that leaves an uncertain Perry, Palin, Bachmann field to choose from.

Why does this scare the hell out of me? Well, so many reasons really – not the least of which is the growing absurdity coming from the fringe Left trying to get support for their idea to run a Primary candidate against President Obama. As I just said, these zealots vote. Progressives – better at pontificating than voting. So as it stands, a second term for Obama is threatened already and the last thing we need are Civics-101-challenged disgruntled “lefties” trying to fracture a voter bloc that already can’t find the motivation to vote most of the time.

Here are some of the notable moments in Perry’s Altar Cult yesterday:

From the first utterance we were off in a Dominionist world of sounding the Shofars and calling all good Christians to action in a prayer and fast sort of way (there were food vendors there). The first to speak was Dr. James Dobson, former head of Focus on the Family before it ran amok financially – dwindling into a nearly non-existent entity – where once it reigned in this world. Then his wife Shirley, the Chair of the National Day of Prayer...well, she prayed of course. And the show was off and running!

They repeatedly laid out the 7 Mountains Mandate to “reclaim” – Family – Religion – Education – Government/Military – Arts & Entertainment/Sports – Media – (and their favorite lately) Education. The 7 Mountain agenda was repeated by the majority of their performers including Perry himself.

They voiced their alliance with Messianic Jews, those that accept Jesus Christ as their Messiah. If the others don’t convert they will face the same fate as the rest of us who do not share the Dominionist theology. As I said in one tweet when John Hagee was speaking, a known anti-Semite and faux preacher from Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas that is heavily influential in the Republican Party – “They love, love LOVE Israel! Jews – not so much….”

We witnessed Perry’s Anointing! Yep they actually anointed their King David right there on the stage for the world to see. Sarah Palin went through this at her church years ago (As Queen Esther, though – not King David). As the emcee of the moment called for all in attendance to embrace their nearest pastor/preacher/leader, Perry returned to the stage and was embraced by top gun clergy as they called for a “Fresh Anointing”.

In addition to repeating the 7 Mountains goals of capturing and dominating those 7 secular areas of culture, they repeatedly referred to themselves as King Davids. King Solomons and Queen Esthers. Their references are not casual, but speak to the mindset that these Dominionist leaders have wherein rules apply to everyone else – just not to them. Take C Street for example, and notice that Sam Brownback was there in person – a regular ol’ C Street frat boy in the flesh.

This is significant. It goes hand-in-hand with their belief that they are “The Chosen” – “The Elect”. God has spoken directly to them (they claim) to lead their people out of the abyss of immorality and to “reclaim” America for the one true God. This of course is the whole “we were founded as a Christian Nation claim that they spew to all their Sheeples. They clearly know what is best for ALL of us! Just ask them!

They proudly stood in company with political strategists such as Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council, while claiming that this was an “apolitical event”. The entire Show contained non-stop political rhetoric! But as Professor Butler pointed out, they do not have a care in the world about violating the separation of church and state laws as long as the courts are controlled by Dominionists.

They referred to the Great Commission in which God has commanded them to go and make converts of all peoples and nations. Their version of proselytizing is extreme and aggressive, we are seeing their methods as they use 3rd world countries as their own Petri dishes to test their plans.

Codespeak! The day was riddled with it. Here are just some of the terms they repeated:

Outpouring, Spiritual Mapping, Market Place ministries, Authority, beloved, Awakening, 3rd Wave, the mantle, transform, after your hearts, intercession, anointing, “fall away” – just to name a few. Where are we hearing this talk? Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann use them frequently.

Of course, no event like this would be complete without the performances of Lou Engle‘s entertainers from his travelling Road Show titled, “The Call”. (By the way, Palin spoke to Engle just before making her national debut on stage at the GOP Convention in 2008 by cell phone…just sayin’). Their focus is on abortion and they wail and cry out, tears rolling down their cheeks, as they point to this as evidence that America has gone to the Dark Side. (You could see them actually working themselves up emotionally waiting for their turn to take the mic.)

And yes, there was the requisite non-stop Christian rock music playing at varying decibel levels for the entire time. Most “songs” contained 6 to 8 (and often times 7) words that were repeated over and over and over and over….with a purposeful hypnotic rhythm playing that never stopped. This background of music and repeated refrains that ebbed and flowed throughout the entire performance was orchestrated and intentional – just like everything else they produce.

For those who actually watched any of this yesterday, what is important to understand is that this is their gig. They perform at events like this weekly and sometimes more often than that. Their crowds swell to 100,000 in some parts of the world and the United States. Hell, even their mega-church congregations range in the 10 – 20,000 range on a weekly basis! So while some are minimizing the numbers who attended “The Response” – let’s not get cocky.

The rocking, the waving of hands in the air, the outstretched palms are a trademark behavior of these audiences. (I have to tell you that a chill ran through me watching thousands in a trance with outstretched right arms in a salute that was all too reminiscent of the Nazi salute.) They are lured and lulled into this very hypnotically. Fear of damnation and lost salvation consume them mixed with an inflated sense of superior exceptionalism as “true” followers and believers in Jesus Christ. And that means apart from all of us who are “not the right kind of Christian” (meaning we can’t produce a born again birth certificate attesting to our status as one of the “saved”).

Those of us who research and follow this know that there are approximately 80 million followers in our country alone. Dominionists proudly tout that the number is 104 million. And not to beat a dead horse – but I have to repeat – THEY VOTE!

Oh! And before I forget, we will await the announcement that this anointed King David will be running for president of the United States…any moment now. Let the battle of “The Chosen” begin!

I used a small snippet of one of our Charts© in the header of this web site when I changed the theme a couple of months ago. Since then I have received numerous emails asking if there was a way to see more of it. This considerable interest is encouraging as my co-researcher and I have been working on this project for several years and will be publishing thousands of connections in the form of link charts that we have created.

These will not be published until later this year, but in the meantime we recognize this as a perfect opportunity to ask for your help in making this a reality. There are significant costs around creation software, web servers and research time that go into this project and we have all but exhausted our personal resources.

So we are offering a sampling of The Charts© to those who donate to this effort. I am awful at asking for help, but given the push-back that we are getting in trying to explain the ties and demonstrate why this network of extremism is growing, The Charts© are needed now more than ever! We welcome even modest donations enabling us to continue forward. Your help is crucial. Even $5, $10 or $20 will be an enormous infusion that will enable us to adhere to these important deadlines in time for 2012. You can easily make a donation by clicking on the “Donate” button to the right of this post on our sidebar.

For those who send $25 or less I will send you a jpeg (photograph) of one of our link Charts. For Donations greater than $25 I will send you two of our Charts.

All Christians are Not Dominionist ~ While All Dominionists Claim Christianity

People spend more time arguing semantics and downplaying the power of Dominionism than trying to work toward the common goal of stopping it. It is imperative that we recognize when acts occur like that in Oslo, Norway that are borne out of this extremism and incorporate them into our understanding of how violent this zealotry can get left to run amok. There is no time to argue semantics.

Dominionism defined in terms that we apply it are referencing those politically conservative Christians who use Genesis 1:26-28 as not only their permission – but their Mandate – to impose Old Testament biblical law on entire populations through the use of legislation. They argue that the United States was narrowly founded as a Chrisitian Nation. Some of their leaders have even gone so far as to literally state that if you are not the “right kind of Christian” (a Dominionist) that freedom of religion does not apply to you in America. Bryan Fischer, of the recognized Dominionist hate organization, American Family Association lays out the argument that all others of faith (or no faith) are provided freedoms only as a “privilege” but not a right under the 4th Amendment.

To those of us who research this extremism almost every waking moment, even we find it nearly impossible to keep track of the numerous ties that cross-pollinate these factions and bring them together under the umbrella term of Dominionism. The numbers are daunting. In fact, for that very reason we this project that we call “The Charts©” containing over 3,000 verified connections including Dominionists, corporate, militarist and ideological supporters. This has translated into hundreds of individual charts to date with more in process. We anticipate being able to release a portion of these charts this Fall with the balance due out in the Spring of 2012 where they will have the greatest impact on the elections.

They are stunning in their visual power of connecting the dots. This slaughter in Norway would be better understood with the use of The Charts© due to the massive crossover of connections, ideologies, theologies and intended outcomes.

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

These Charts are copyrighted works and cannot be distributed without our express permission.

Contact Email: leah@godsownparty.com

The following is a report to me by my researcher, Alex Bird, about the connections the shooters have with Dominionist organizations:

The guy in Norway who set off the bomb in Oslo and then went to a children’s camp, Anders Behring Breivik, (run by the main socialist-progressive party in Norway) and shot some ninety-odd kids to death (at least. Current death toll at the time of this writing is 98).

It turns out he is a self-proclaimed “Conservative Christian nationalist” who apparently was very active on a Norwegian-language anti-Moslem hate forum (compilation of writings, in Norwegian. ((warning: hate site))…and in Norway, there’s really only two possibilities (Dominionist or neo-Nazi)…and things MIGHT be thrown more to the “Dominionist” end of things as he apparently listed an anti-Nazi author on his now-defunct Facebook and media reports that he’s supposedly “pro-Israel”…

So far, much of the press on this has been in Norwegian-language sources, but the Australian Broadcasting Corporation notes that he was a “Christian fundamentalist”: At least one person familiar with Norwegian and who has been following reports (on a forum I’m a regular on) has even noted that “Christian DOMINIONIST” may be a more accurate translation…an article in the Jakarta Globe also points to “dominionist” without using the term. Apparently he went through confirmation at 15, which indicates he converted to a Dominionist church from a mainline Christian one…

That said, there may well have been hints that–if not an actual neo-Nazi–he WAS racialist (and especially in Europe, religious nationalism and racism seem to fit hand in glove); reports by childhood friends (noted in the ABC article above) say he was recruited into “far-right wing” groups in his twenties and he apparently opposed the idea of different cultures living in a meltng pot or even patchwork quilt (in other words, he was a “cultural nationalist”, a line I’ve seen taken by racialist groups here in the States who aren’t neo-Nazis–particularly the Klan and “Christian Identity” groups, but also by neo-Confederate groups in particular).

Even the anti-Nazi author he cites (Max Manus) is an example of this–he was anti-Nazi, but ultranationalist and believed all non-Norwegians should be expelled from the country. He has also (according to folks who read Norwegian) expressed support for Geert Wilders (a Dutch author noted for links to neo-fascist groups) and Pamela Geller (likewise noted for links to anti-Moslem racist groups, including those in the Tea Party movement). He apparently was also a regular guest blogger at the NARasite-linked Jihad Watch as well as a number of other dominonist-linked anti-Moslem hate sitesand even operated an English-language hate site. A Norwegian investigator has collected his posts in various forums.(Of note, this is also pretty damning proof that he was in regular contact with Dominionists with links to the “racist right” here in the US.)

There are also some reports that he was a regular poster to Stormfront, an infamous hate forum that is the primary watering hole for the racist right in the US and elsewhere. I’ve not yet found confirmation of this, though.

There are also indications he did NOT act alone; eyewitnesses at Utoya note there were two gunmen, and at least one other person on the island has been arrested…

Regarding the bombing, it appears he set up an agricultural firm (possibly as a front) and bought a large amount of fertiliser just before the bombing: (Of note: Most European countries restrict sale of ammonium nitrate fertiliser to co-ops and farmers with provable security, because it’s not uncommon for fertiliser to be stolen for truck bombs. Unfortunately, the regulations don’t account for front companies buying this and setting up faux “co-ops” for purposes of terrorism)

He apparently started out in the Progress Party, a Norwegian party that trends right-wing and is ‘the closest thing that Norway has to the Republicans” (according to sources in Norway–I should note this is not including parties outright banned due to links to neo-Naziism and racism) but apparently left it because they weren’t right-wing enough….

Needless to say…right-wing forums here in the US are not taking this news at all well (they were heavily promoting the meme that this was Al Qaeda, and are STILL desperately trying to claim this was an “Al Qaeda operative” to hide the fact one of their own has committed an act of terrorism and the worst Norwegian killing spree ever recorded. Even in US mainline forums, there seems to be an almost deliberate spin against reporting the facts–that this was likely an act of Dominionist terrorism

As a personal aside–when the news on this first came out, I commented on these forums “I bet the guy is some sort of Christian nationalist or neo-Nazi, because the details, especially the shooting, sound much more like that than Al Qaeda’s style”…also noted I said and sensed the same thing re Oklahoma City (which turned out to be connected to racialists connected to militias who took their direct inspiration from the racist “coup-porn” The Turner Diaries) and the Olympic Park Bombing (which turned out to be connected to Eric Rudolph, an Army of God operative and also known to be connected to Christian Identity organizations). There are times I seriously hate being right about this stuff….

This is chilling information. These people – Dominionists – are full of hate and anger – convinced that this is justified by their twisted version of theology. And this is why we work so very hard to discuss the dangers of Dominionism. We understand how volatile these people are and how entitled they view themselves as God’s “chosen”. The rest of us are expendable….

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I am awful at asking for help, but given the pushback that we are getting in trying to explain the ties and demonstrate why this network of extremism is growing, The Charts© are needed now more than ever! (My header is a snippet of what The Charts look like).  We welcome even modest donations enabling us to continue forward. Software and server costs to build a database such as this are depleting our personal resources. Your help is crucial. Even $5, $10 or $20 will be an enormous infusion that will enable us to adhere to these important deadlines in time for 2012. We have a donation button on this sidebar.

For those who send $25 or less I will send you a jpeg (photograph) of one of our link Charts. For Donations greater than $25 I will send you two of our Charts.

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As walkaways, each of us brings our own horrifying memories to the table as we try to awaken the rest of you to the heinous world that Dominionism has planned for the rest of us.

Here is a comment left on my most recent post from a walkway giving a perspective of the reality that already exists in this country. You see, what we are all saying in or own unique voices is that this isn’t a science fiction story set to happen in the future…for many, this has been a reality their entire lives. And yes, right here in America.

“A Walkaway commented on Independence Needed Now More Than EVER – God’s Own Party?:

I tell people that I believe in the promise of America, but not the reality. I also ask them what is more patriotic – expecting better out of the nation in which I live, or blindly supporting the things it does. My comments usually sets those types to screaming, but maybe it’s time they get their comfortable lives and worldview shaken.

I’ve seen the beginning of the sort of America the dominionists seek, and it’s not pretty – and it’s the inverse of the America I want to believe in. I’ve seen how the poor and disabled will fare under their control. I’ve seen how minorities will be treated. In this area, they dominate, and the things they advocate and push are destroying the lives of innocent people all over the place – and then they condemn them for their perceived failures. (Yes, they even turn on their own who fall by the wayside.)

Regarding their “Patriotism”, I think they buy into the myth of the America that never does wrong. The fact is, this country has done a great many reprehensible things throughout its existence, and not just to the minorities that exist within the borders. For some peoples, this country has been no better than a monster. Many of the people in this country live in third-world conditions, right among those who have comfortable lives and prattle about the greatness of this country. It really grinds on those in that situation to see the wealth and comfort around them, and to not only be locked out from access to things like basic medical care, adequate and wholesome food, and even safe water, but also be told they deserve what they experience or vilified because of their ancestry and heritage.”

Only someone who has been raised in the indoctrination of Dominionist Theology can convey to you the realities of how this is already wreaking havoc in our country. Dominionists believe that is you are poor, indigent or in need that it is only because you have brought this upon yourself by turning your back on God. By not being born again and accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour in the Dominionist definition of salvation. All your problems will be solved if you were only living ‘right’ by God.

This drivel is preached by the Dominionist leaders and their Sheeples who live without the want of food and shelter. Their smugness emanates from them revealing that they do not know the horrors of seeking the most basic survival needs. That because they are not saddled with these. issues, God must be shining His approval down on them – the chosen. And their lack of compassion takes it a step further as they swindle the last nickel from those in despair with promises of eternal life. After all, the more they give (they are told) the greater their chances of becoming citizens in the Kingdom of Heaven.

How are we seeing this translated into action right now, today, as we speak? Look at the reckless abandon the Republican politicians are employing – ready to throw America into a disastrous economic tailspin with the budget debates! Look at the demands for severe and crippling cuts to social programs that would cause untold suffering to the poor, disabled and elderly in America. Look at who the leaders are pushing for these devastating cuts! Who are they?

They are the ones who are comfortably perched on their sanctimonious pedestal who devoutly believe that they are the chosen and all those who will be adversely impacted by the elimination of these services simply need to free themselves from Satan’s grip and turn to Christ as a born again and work to build the Kingdom here on earth. Otherwise you are simply expendable and they cannot feel compassion because in their twisted minds – it is not they who are imposing this punishment on the “unchurched” – the “godless” – it is simply God’s Will.

A Nightmare that can be Avoided!

Here is a 2nd offering that was emailed to me by a walkaway who prefers to only be known as “Jubilant”. Jubilant was an assistant minister in an Assemblies of God church for 37 years until gaining the strength and knowledge to walkaway from this bible-based cult. It is a dream that Jubilant actually had and felt an urgency to share with me. It is powerful and it is frightening as it occurs in a Dominionist America post-2012 in a world created by the likes of a Perry, Bachmann, Palin, Pawlenty et al.

“A Woman Rides the Beast” by Jubilant

The Woman Rides the Beast - Rev 17

They woke me up this morning at 3:26 a.m. from the lumpy couch I was sleeping on long before my son would push the snooze button for a few more minutes of sleep. Hunger pains. But this time they were different. The noise from my stomach had their dog looking at me with those kind, gentle warm eyes dogs have. “Yes, my boy, I’m hungry” I said as I rubbed his head to let him know I was ok. “But I’m getting used to them.”

Today is the day that I pack my meager belongings and go to my daughter’s house to stay for a little while. I might as well get up and get ready to go. I don’t have much to pack; just an old toothbrush, a box of baking soda in place of toothpaste, a small plastic container of baby powder that substitutes for deodorant and a brush. As I pick up my underwear I see that I have to sew part of them back together again. The socks are still holding up even though the toes have been sewn so many times that they hurt my feet when I put my shoes on. My few articles of clothing have worn thin and faded but I’m not complaining. God promises to supply my need not what I want so I am content with what I have.

I let the water run in the sink until it gets cold and debate whether to grab a cracker to ease the hunger. No, that would be one less cracker my grandchildren will have to eat. I’ll wait for whatever breakfast I am offered. Even then I will only eat enough to stave off the pain because there is barely enough to go around.

My bible…where did I put it? Oh, yes, under the couch so no one will see it. I don’t want to anger them so I hide it and don’t talk about the book of Revelation, Daniel, Jeremiah and Isaiah anymore. I tried to warn them that the bible said this day was coming but they just laughed and thought amongst themselves that I was a little bit crazy.

Life is ok for my 6 children and their families in spite of the recession that started in 2008. They still have jobs and a roof over their heads but food has become expensive since the illegal immigrants working the farms were rounded up and deported. Americans were covered by minimum wage but when the Republicans took the Presidency and Congress that was even lowered to help businesses maintain and expand their profits. The unemployed were eager for any job, including the back breaking picking on a farm, because unemployment insurance was an entitlement and that was done away with, too. Now, food prices have skyrocketed and there is no longer a snack between meals or at bedtime. It’s hitting the grandchildren harder than the adults and it hurts to tell them they have to wait until the next meal.

I hate imposing on my family but I have no where else to live. My husband died and I could not afford the mortgage and bills on my $290.00 a month social security check. I barely had enough food to eat on that amount but when they privatized SS and Wall Street tanked again, that was wiped out. I didn’t tell my kids because they couldn’t have helped me financially. I stayed in my house even though the gas and electricity were turned off until the sheriff showed up at my door one day and forced me out due to foreclosure. Tearfully I had to call my kids and tell them I had no where to go and could I stay with them. SSI, Supplemental Security Income, was also done away with a long time ago.

I’m old and have heart disease and arthritis. Aspirin is my daily medication because I can not afford health insurance. Doctors have stopped taking Medicare patients because the government lowered their reimbursement payments. The healthcare that Obama passed was killed by the conservative Supreme Court as being unconstitutional, even though Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution says otherwise.

I never thought I would see this happen in America…a Dominionist Theocracy. There were many of us screaming from the housetops about the conservative religious right but were ignored by the mainstream media. Sarah Palin opened the doors to the vilest, racists American democracy kept under ground. She pandered to the white supremacists, militias and religious dominionists. She gave a bold voice to those politicians that believed the same way she did; America under the God of the bible and its Mosaic laws.

I used to wonder why the religious right has to live in the Old Testament and then realized that they have to in order to justify their wars. They’ve slowly over the years infiltrated the military with their dominionist, brain washed children that all wars are God’s wars to purge the world of non-Christians so Jesus can come back and rule for a thousand years. They are God’s warriors going on a crusade. But the worst thing in the military is that these people have now risen to the top ranks in each branch. They believe that they have to listen to God and not the President. When some prophet tells them God wants them to nuke a country, they will do it on their own without listening to their Commander in Chief. But, now they have a Commander in Chief who is just like them who believes in this purging. This is why they want the homosexuals out of the military. They proselytize their “right kind” of Christianity to the point of harassment and threats. They teach females that they are to give up their positions for men, get married and be subservient to their husbands. They must also have a “Quiverful” of children to keep a supply of God’s Warriors enlisting in the military in perpetual. They want a pure, Christian military.

I can’t think about these things anymore. I fear for my children and grandchildren. I warned them but they were all wrapped up in fear and anger. They blamed the democrats for the bailouts, the economy and unemployment when it all started under Bush. They also didn’t see that this was deliberately done to wipe out the middle class for the rich, powerful, right wing Domionists to control every bit of their lives. They were so busy with the Tea Party and their smokescreens that they voted themselves into this mess. Be careful what you wish for.

I took my bible out from under the couch. I need to read the sweet things of Jesus for a while.

My Christian faith always taught me that the end time’s one world religion would be the Catholic Church because it sits on seven hills or mountains. It really doesn’t. Rome does but the Vatican doesn’t sit on any hills or mountains but is across the river from them.

It also taught that America is not mentioned in the bible during the 7 year tribulation period or Armageddon. After careful study of the book of Revelation and other books of the bible, that is not true.

But then I heard about the religious rights 7 Mountain Mandate which calls for the take over of the nation under the false teaching of dominion.

Let’s see what Revelations 17 says.

“So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.”

Revelations 17:3

“And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”

Revelations 17:5

And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

Revelations 17:18

The 7 Mountain Mandate is no coincidence. All this symbolism has meaning for us now that the bible-based cult of Dominionism has infested American politics. Whether you were raised in Christianity or not, it is now time that all Americans aquaint themselves with the lore of the Bible that these people are scripture-twisiting to fit a skewed version of the Christian faith to enable a Kingdom building agenda that will bring us all unwillingly to our knees before them.

Strong words? Yes. Stating the seriousness of this must be conveyed with clarity and directness. No time for subtleties, just take another look at the GOP contenders and their constant invocations of God and religious superiority – you will hear how they rationalize these destructive proposals.

We get mail from these folks that I am referring to. In fact, here is one from today…a Happy “Forth” from a Christian Patriot fan of ours at the Military Religious Freedom Foundation that I am certain considers himself a true American. Oddly, my name is absent…’Leah’ must be too challenging for them to have created a derogatory term  for them.

On this day of remembrance, I take time to think about how hard people fought to gain our independence from religiously controlled government. I think about the loss of life and the heartache that brought to those family and friends who survived, but that they must’ve found a great sense of pride knowing that the battle for freedom such as the world has rarely  known actually set the United States apart.

I think about all of that and how tremendously fortunate I am to be an American and be afforded the life that we enjoy here in this country. That it is more a statement of how insulated we are from the possibility of having those freedoms taken away from us that many in this country do not have a clue as to what the definition of “theocracy” is, than it is an ignorance of language. That’s how fortunate we are. That those who clamor and make the most noise about tyranny and treason are often the ones who are the most critical and plotting in their unabashed lack of appreciation of how lucky we are.

I have lived overseas in my lifetime, and when I returned I did not have rose colored glasses on about where I had been or where I was returning. For me, there are many, many wonderful cultures and places in the world to visit, but this country is my home. Unlike those who either state that they are moving due to dissatisfaction; or those who tell others “to leave if you don’t like it” – I am here to stay.

One of those freedoms that this day represents is that if we see things that we are dissatisfied with in this country, we have the right and the opportunity to make changes. But one thought that I sincerely doubt ever lingered in the minds of those who laid down their lives for our freedoms was that we would become a country divided by those who feel that only they belong here and others are not allowed. As a nation of immigrants we are all “new” Americans and on the 4th of July we need to enjoy the community that is America, the one that has brought us all together.

But that pebble that we threw in the pond is growing into a boulder, our ripples are turning into a small craft warning…and the Dominionists are not happy…and THAT puts a smile on my face Happy 4th!