References and Links
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 Spiritual and Religious Progressives Saying "No"
to Corporate Dominance of the US Economy and Politics and to Tea Party Extremists and Invited Secular Progressives to Join in a United Strategy
in the national strategy conference, June 11-14, 2010
at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation on Capitol Hill (in DC).
The Network of Spiritual Progressives (NSP), was chaired by Rabbi Michael Lerner and co-chaired by Cornel West and Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister, and made the invitation for the Obama years, "whether you be a militant atheist or a practitioner of some spiritual or relgious path." [The list of speakers is star-studed, by the way. -cp]
Organizations that co-sponsored the conference with Tikkun and the NSP included: Common Cause, United Religions Initiative, Peace Action, The Nation Magazine, Public Citizen, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, The Institute for Policy Studies, Progressive Democrats of America, the Shalom Center, the Washington Peace Center, and Yes magazine. For more information: Contact James Lee, Conference Coordinator at 410.262.8365. To interview Rabbi Michael Lerner: Contact Natalie Wollner or Will Pasley at Tikkun Magazine, 510.644.1200 or write to will@tikkun.org. You Can Register Here or by calling Natalie@tikkun.org, 510.644.1200, Monday to Friday, from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time.
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Sarah GONE so SOON? (I thought they would love my Bsticker) Nah, the Repubs will keep the tent show rolling 'til Oct'12, including even Sarah Palin.
EG: Whenever one of their sub-groups starts losing interest, Rove's party will roll out the the corresponding extremist to pep things up.[Jan'12]
On the Tea Party, Teabaggers, Oath Keepers, Etc
*The Whites of Their Eyes*
by Jill Lapore
Listen on KUOW's "The Conversation" (KUOW, Seattle) to Jill Lapore interviewed by Ross Reynolds, 10/25/2010. Harvard History Professor Jill Lapore describes the Tea Party movement leadership/communications as nationally organized, it's nature as far more religious than non-secular, it's followers primarily as emotion-led (evangelical), its perspective on the constitution as originist (sp?), and not as a respecting/acknowledging its development as in keeping with the progress of the American culture (which was very violent and uncivilized in it's early stages, and the laws overall were much farther out of step with the higher values of American society. eg: This radio program provided great context for Thurgood Marshall's powerful statements about the constitution as a "Living Document," that lives and breathes in step with our progress (forwards or backwards). [- Chris Pringer] KUOW: "Tea Party activists and their leaders like Glen Beck claim they follow what the founding fathers intended. Harvard history professor and New Yorker staff writer Jill Lepore says 18th century history is a bit messier than they might realize. She talks about the battle over the meaning of history..." Another Review from History News Network: "Jill Lepore, a historian of the American Revolution and a staff writer at The New Yorker, has written a brief but valuable book..." (http://hnn.us/blogs/52.html)
NEW Section, March 2010: "The Axis of the Obsessed and Deranged"
By FRANK RICH, February 28, 2010 in The Times.
Important reading (IMO) on the murder-suicide of Andrew Joseph Stack III, who flew the plane into the IRS office (or building housing same), on "the Tea Party hero" Scott Brown, on David Barstow's chilling, months-long investigation of the Tea Party movement published in The Times (2/16/10), on what the Southern Poverty Law Center had found last year, on the distinction between the Tea Party movement and the official G.O.P., on the co-sponsor of CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) by the John Birch Society, on Barstow's profile of Pam Stout, who cast her lot with a Tea Party group allied with the 9/12 Project, the Birch Society and the Oath Keepers, "a rising militia group of veterans and former law enforcement officers who champion disregarding laws they oppose [about] "another civil war" [that] may be in the offing."
ACORN v. USA & Center for Constitutional Rights
"The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) filed a lawsuit against the United States government in an effort to derail a a right wing campaign to target, attack and crush progressive organizations. ACORN v. USA challenges the legality of the actions of Congress in passing a resolution barring government funding of ACORN and all of its affiliated and allied organizations. Their actions constitute a bill of attainder - effectively permitting Congress to act as judge, jury and executioner without a trial or judicial hearing. Despite existing regulations and mechanisms to address legal concerns involving federal grantees, this resolution was passed solely for the purpose of singling out ACORN and its affiliates for de-funding and punishment." - Annette Dickerson, CCR. Rachel Maddow's analysed the lies about ACORN. March 10, 2010 CCR celebrated a major victory when we won an injunction against Congress' unconstitutional de-funding of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) for the second time. A federal judge ordered the United States and several government agencies to rescind orders cutting off funding to ACORN and its affiliates and allies.
Cuéntame exposing Tea Party racism
Tea Partiers boast a presence of hundreds of thousands on social networks and in order to be able to expose their true colors we need as many of you, your family and friends to join Cuéntame and take action. Watch the first video: "Exposing The Racism." Cuéntame is a community of Facebook users where Latinos and the general public can connect and interact with fellow Facebook fans, activists, artists, bloggers, public figures, musicians journalists and other community members. In Spanish Cuéntame has a double meaning: "Count me in," and "Tell me your story." - Robert Greenwald
Rush Limbaugh and Karl Rove
Heroes to many in the Tea Party and likeminded others, these two have been writing in the Wall Street Journal since Rupert Murdock took it over (the rich conservative from Australia whose been buying up the media for some years now). Rove has been called for umteen times before congress with regard to the multitudinous contractory statements under the Bush Administration (Bush, Cheney, Ashcroft, etc re Valerie Plame, Attorney's General firings, abuse of presidential powers, Project for a New American Century [PNAC], etc.) There's a special section at the Political References page on Karl Rove, "The King Of Dirt" (title of one of the books published about his person).
"The Oath Keepers: The Militant and Armed Side of the Tea Party Movement"
By Justine Sharrock, Mother Jones, Posted on March 6, 2010, Printed on March 6, 2010 [This article serves as a reference link page in itself; I included only a few of the relevant highlights in the following excerpts -Chris]:
"THE .50 CALIBER Bushmaster bolt action rifle is a serious weapon. The model that Pvt. 1st Class Lee Pray is saving up for has a 2,500-yard range and comes with a Mark IV scope and an easy-load magazine."
"...His belief that that day is imminent has led Pray to a group called His belief that that day is imminent has led Pray to a group called Oath Keepers Oath Keepers, one of the fastest-growing "patriot" organizations on the right. Founded last April by Yale-educated lawyer and ex-Ron Paul aide Stewart Rhodes, the group has established itself as a hub in the sprawling anti-Obama movement that includes Tea Partiers, Birthers, and 912ers. Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, and Pat Buchanan have all sung its praises, and in December, a grassroots summit [2] it helped organize drew such prominent guests as representatives Phil Gingrey [3] and Paul Broun [4], both Georgia Republicans., one of the fastest-growing "patriot" organizations on the right. Founded last April by Yale-educated lawyer and ex-Ron Paul aide Stewart Rhodes, the group has established itself as a hub in the sprawling anti-Obama movement that includes Tea Partiers, Birthers, and 912ers. Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, and Pat Buchanan have all sung its praises, and in December, a grassroots summit it helped organize drew such prominent guests as representatives Phil Gingrey and Paul Broun [4], both Georgia Republicans. ..."
"...Twelve days earlier, the Department of Homeland Security had issued a report warning that a black president, weak economy, and high unemployment rate had created a "fertile recruiting environment" for right-wing extremists—"disgruntled" vets from Iraq and Afghanistan, the report noted, could bring combat know-how to domestic terrorist groups. Predictably, veterans groups went ballistic, and the report itself became a potent Oath Keepers recruiting tool. "The No. 1 focus of DHS is not Islamic terrorists—it is me and you," Rhodes told followers. "They will unleash the government against you, silence you and suppress you! ..."
"...All this attention has put Oath Keepers on the radar of anti-hate groups. Last year, the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center
both name-checked the group in their reports on rising anti-government extremism. ..."
"... IT IS EASY ENOUGH to dismiss the Oath Keepers as (in the words of Britain's Independent [article]) "right-wing crackpots" or "extremist nimrods" (Huffington Post [article]). CNN stressed the group's conspiracy theories in its series on militias. But beyond the predictable stereotypes, "the reality is a lot of them are fairly intelligent, well-educated people who have complex worldviews that are thoroughly thought out," says author David Neiwert, who has been following the patriot movement closely since the '90s. Rhodes' vision is simple—"It's the Constitution, stupid." He views the founding blueprint the way fundamentalist Christians view the Bible. ..."
"...Oath Keepers steers clear of certain issues. Personally, Rhodes would prefer the list of objectionable orders to include detaining foreigners indefinitely at facilities like Guantanamo. And while he argues that torture should never be legal, the group takes no official stance on America's war on terror or overseas engagements. After an Oath Keeper who is also a member of Iraq Veterans Against the War touted IVAW repeatedly on Oath Keepers' Web forum, Rhodes deleted the guy's online testimonial. "The IVAW have their own totalitarian mindset," he told me. "I don't like communists any more than I like Nazis. ..."
What If the Tea Party Were Black?[
This article REALLY puts the light on things. Kind of amazing, actually. -cp, 4/29/10 ]
By Tim Wise, AlterNet Posted 4/25/2010: "Let's play a game, shall we? The name of the game is called “Imagine.” The way it's played is simple: we'll envision recent happenings in the news, but then change them up a bit. Instead of envisioning white people as the main actors in the scenes we'll conjure - the ones who are driving the action - we'll envision black folks or other people of color instead. ..."
Related: Tell the GOP: Don't tolerate hatred. [at CREDO Action]
A Mad Tea Party
By William Cox, The Public Record, 4/21/2010: "There are good reasons why the tea partiers are mad. However, their solutions are equally mad. The movement is being joined by Independents, Republicans, and even some disenchanted Democrats who have come to believe their government has failed them and that neither political party is doing anything to fix it. This is true; however, all of us are being manipulated by the big corporations and the wealthy elite, who use their corporate-owned, mainstream media to mislead the people into acting against their own interests. The corporations and wealthy elite have been highly successful in using their money to seize control of the government and the media to spread their lies, most recently in the debate about health care. ..."
"SCENES FROM AN AMERICAN DISASTER: TEA PARTY CONVENTION ATTENDEES SPEAK"
includes VIDEO: Scenes from the Tea Party convention
New Left Media, February 12, 2010: "Last week, the group Tea Party Nation organized the first Tea Party Convention in Nashville, Tenn., a for-profit event. Some 600 people paid $550 to attend, and Sarah Palin was reportedly paid $115,000 to the be the keynote speaker. After criticism of the convention's cost, for-profit status, and payment to Palin, multiple national Tea Party organizations withdrew their participation. But the event went on. And so did the paranoid, conspiratorial assertions -- that President Obama was born in another country, that he has covered up his college transcripts, that he is pushing a communist/socialist agenda, that he is protecting terrorists and endangering our country, etc. ..."
Mark Jensen's Summary: "About ten minutes of interviews of attendees of the Nashville Tea Party convention reveal how widespread among its adherents are "paranoid, conspiratorial assertions -- that President Obama was born in another country, that he has covered up his college transcripts, that he is pushing a communist/socialist agenda, that he is protecting terrorists and endangering our country, etc."
On racism and the Tea Party
[Includes Three Articles and lets you judge for yourself. Speaking for myself, based on the articles on this page, and the virtual fourth linked article (an address to a Tea Party meeting by "another black Tea Partyer, Mason Weaver") noted in Mark Jensen's summary, I found that difficult. -Chris]:
"White Racial Resentment Bubbles Under The Surface Of The Tea Party Movement" By Rich Benjamin ** The simmering movement is the whitest phenomenon on the national scene, evident not just in its Caucasian numbers but in the bedrock beliefs stirring its anti-government contempt. ** AlterNet February 5, 2010
"Black Tea Party Express Tour Member Experienced Racism" By Lloyd Marcus American Thinker February 10, 2010
"Garofalo: Tea Party Goes Are Racists Who Hate Black President" By Noel Sheppard NewsBusters April 16, 2009
"The Misinformed Tea Party Movement -
For an antitax group, they don't know much about taxes."
Bruce Bartlett, Forbes.com, 3/19/10, 12:01 AM EDT: "On March 16 the Tea Party crowd showed up for yet another demonstration on Capitol Hill in Washington. Curious about the factual knowledge these people have regarding the issues they are protesting, my friend David Frum enlisted some interns to interview as many Tea Partyers as possible on a couple of basic questions. They got 57 responses--a pretty good-sized sample from a crowd that numbered between 300 and 500 people. (Survey results are here.) ...Tuesday's Tea Party crowd, however, thought that federal taxes were almost three times as high as they actually are. The average response was 42% of GDP and the median 40%. The highest figure recorded in all of American history was half those figures: 20.9% at the peak of World War II in 1944."
"Tea partiers target wrong Perriello"
By Mike Madden, Salon.Com, Wednesday, Mar 24, 2010 10:34 EDT: Opponents of the freshman Virginia Democrat post his brother's address online -- and someone cuts a gas line there. WASHINGTON -- "Tea party activists weren't particularly fond of Rep. Tom Perriello, D-Va., even before he voted for the healthcare reform bill last weekend. So maybe it's not a surprise that they posted what they thought was Perriello's home address on a blog, inviting people to "drop by and say hi and express their thanks" in person. What is a bit of a surprise, though, is that the activists had the address for the wrong Perriello, and sent sending angry constituents to the freshman congressman's brother's house. And that other activists at first refused to take the address down, since they didn't believe it was the wrong one. And then, someone cut a gas line to a propane tank on Perriello's brother's back porch, which got the FBI interested. ...A recent poll found only 28 percent of the public has a favorable opinion of the tea partiers; 49 percent don't know enough about them to form an opinion yet. If organizers aren't careful, the opinion that eventually forms may not be so favorable."
A Very "Going Rogue in Combat Boots ...
American Coup Coming Soon to a Hometown Near You"
By William Astore, Posted on January 19, 2010, TomDispatch.Com [skip down to the 2nd section, "American Coup..." for most relevant parts. Then take it all in context. -Chris]
"ANTI-SOCIALIST PLEDGE" by Thom Hartmann, April 2010
CONSERVATIVE REAL AMERICAN SOCIALIST-FREE PURITY PLEDGE;
Socialism, as defined by the Oxford American Dictionary: A political and economic theory...
[ I had to do a double-take when first saw this, but then I just knew Thom Hartmann HAD to be up to something - VERY CREATIVE! GREAT list of points! Includes "I will foreswear the time-honored principles of fairness, decency, and respect by screaming unintelligible platitudes regarding tyranny, Nazi-ism, and socialism at public town halls while exercising my inalienable right to not know what any of these words actually mean." -Chris... and in response to the similar vein at "Just Say No to Socialism" Facebook Note by Daniel Brodie, this is what I had posted 3/28/10 at the PolyPsy Citizen Healing page and at facebook (and not the other way around unless you want facebook to claim it!):
The funny thing about "socialism" in America - take most any system in our infrastructure, and define which parts are from capitalism, and which is from socialism. Besides all the arguments about which ones are from which, how many folks would pick up on the point that what works is what works, what doesn't is what doesn't, and who is/was it that's actually responsible for whichever? I suppose, once we Americans could ever establish a working definition (like yeah, could that even happen?), then we'd see how meaningless it's application would be for those infrastructure systems. The system that works is the one that can be used fairly for and upheld justly the citizenry of a given community, as it interacts effectively with systems of other communities. But we all know that such politicals as the "Teabaggers" (2010) are not arguing about many logical points - the organizers just use whatever they can to exite the exitable and get them where they can use them to accomplish their ends. As if "their" constitution could defend capitalism more than socialism - especially with regard to how they have actually been practiced. I used to call them "Machiavengelicals." Now I want to call them "MachiaPalingelicals" -Chris ;-) ]
But is not *Structure* what it IS *all* about essentially ? Since that is the basis of FUNDAMENTALISM (whatever the particular creed) and thus the extremism, thence the terrorism. It's also the basis of most of the major schisms in the world today, certainly of those that make the news. Perhaps it's even the basis of the "'ism'-schisms," thence resource distribution, thence poverty and all that brings (population issues, health, etc).
"Ayn Rand, Hugely Popular Author and Inspiration to Right-Wing Leaders,
Was a Big Admirer of Serial Killers"
By Mark Ames, AlterNet Posted on February 26, 2010: "...The loudest of all the Republicans, right-wing attack-dog pundits and the Teabagger mobs fighting to kill health care reform and eviscerate "entitlement programs" increasingly hold up Ayn Rand as their guru. Sales of her books have soared in the past couple of years; one poll ranked "Atlas Shrugged" as the second most influential book of the 20th century, after The Bible. ...This is the "amazing picture" Ayn Rand -- guru to the Republican/Tea Party right-wing -- admired when she wrote in her notebook that Hickman represented "the amazing picture of a man with no regard whatsoever for all that a society holds sacred, and with a consciousness all his own. A man who really stands alone, in action and in soul. Other people do not exist for him, and he does not see why they should."
Why the Tea Party Is a Fraud
The political action committee that organized the Tea Party Express -- Our Country Deserves Better PAC -- funneled almost two-thirds of its spending from July to November back to the political consulting firm from which it was spawned, Russo, Marsh, and Associates. More than $850,000 of the money the supposedly grassroots PAC collected went to the firm of GOP political operatives who ran it.
[-- Comment by Anita Stewart, Huffington Post .Com, 4/15/10 ]
Tea and Empathy: The Connection Between High Unemployment, Record Foreclosures, and Right Wing Rage
"Look at the guy who started the movement - Rick Santelli, an ex hedge fund trader."
[--Comment by Emilia Romagna, Huffington Post .Com, 4/15/10 ]
Sarah Palin's Boston Tea Party Speech: Obama Agenda 'Un-American'
Huffington Post .Com, 4/14/2010
Palin Uses Crosshairs To Identify Dems Who Voted For Health Care Reform
Talking Points Memo, March 24, 2010.
Tea Party Protests: 'Ni**er,' 'Fa**ot' Shouted At Members Of Congress
Huffington Post, March 20, 2010.
Robert Creamer: Republican Defenders of Wall Street Beware: The Tea Party Is Coming
Wall Street is a powerful political "wedge" issue. Lining up with the Wall Street Banks this spring is going to be really bad politics for Republicans this fall. Huffington Post .Com, 4/13/2010
Arizona And Nevada To Join States Suing Over Health Care Reform
Huffington Post .Com, 4/7/2010
 RELATED ?
American Family Association To Muslim-Americans: Convert To Christianity Or Leave
Huffington Post .Com, 4/14/2010
Militia Members Planned To Kill Cop And Bomb Funeral, Prosecutors Say
DETROIT — Nine alleged members of a Christian militia group that was girding for battle with the Antichrist -to wage war against the US- were charged Monday with plotting to kill...
...have been freed from jail on bond 3 May 2010: "A judge in Detroit ordered their release, despite prosecutors' objections, imposing strict conditions including electronic tagging. ...'The United States is correct that it need not wait until people are killed before it arrests conspirators,' US District Judge Victoria Roberts said in her ruling. 'But, the defendants are also correct: Their right to engage in hate-filled, venomous speech, is a right that deserves First Amendment protection.' "
Hutaree Christian Militia Among Targets Of FBI Raids In Three States
ADRIAN, Mich. — The FBI said Sunday that agents conducted weekend raids in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio and arrested at least three people, and a...
Project for a New American Century (PNAC)
[sometimes referred to as "the P'NAC Gallery"]
The PNAC blueprint, for the creation of a 'global Pax Americana' Uncovered by the Sunday Herald, was drawn up for Dick Cheney (now vice-president), Donald Rumsfeld (defense secretary), Paul Wolfowitz (Rumsfeld's deputy), George W Bush's younger brother Jeb and Lewis Libby (Cheney's chief of staff). The document, entitled "Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategies, Forces And Resources For A New Century," (a copy here) was written in September 2000 by the neo-conservative think-tank Project for the New American Century (PNAC). This 90 page document used to be available at New American Century .Org (but now it's their Iraq-Middle-East page). It was a grand re-write of a 46-page document, "Draft Defense Planning Guidance," conceived in 1992, during the first Bush Administration. The orchestrated call for empire was "out of the closet," according to conservative columnist Charles Krauthamer: "It's Empire Versus Democracy". Also of interest might be "History Repeats Itself Clear and Present Danger," an analysis of PNAC and CPD (Committee on the Present Danger). In "THE FRAUDULENT WAR," Richard W. Behan of Lopez Island provides A GREAT SUMMARY. The detailed pdf file with illustrated slideshow presentation, is available via (click to open file in your browser or download by right-clicking, then "Save Link as") (5.5 mb PDF file), or "The So-Called War On Terror" (digested article, 105kb Word Doc). |
 from PolyPsyArt 2004,
Click to see/print Full Size |
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Political-Evangelical Complexities And Confusions
NOT un-related are the chart on the Cost of Military Spending
and the section on how to vote with your dollar (further above)
'George Bush and the rise of Christian Fascism' by Rev. Rich Lang (March 2004)
'George Bush and the rise of Christian Fascism' is a powerful sermon fired off by the most astute Rev. Rich Lang, of Seattle's Trinity United Methodist Church, about theocratic fascism. Nails the Machiavangelical movement on every corner of its shadowy charade. I can't say enough about this sobering description of our challenge. His adept focus addresses the specific theological tresspasses that the Christian fascists engage in.
For example, "Apocalyptic theology believes that Jesus dying for my sins is far more important than the teachings of Jesus. We see this in the recent movie PASSION OF THE CHRIST. What this creates is a spirituality that can overlook the teachings of Jesus." I hope I can add one more important quote from Rev. Lang.
It's the one I was looking for when first doing this page:
"Mr. Bush certainly sees himself as a Messiah figure. Listen to his language after 9-11:
'I will not forget this wound to our country or those who inflicted it. I will not yield; I will not rest; I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for the American people.' Or, in his 2003 State of the Union speech: 'I will defend the freedom and security of the American people'. He has become the nation. He is its embodiment. According to Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, - Bush told him: 'God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them.' This is Biblical language ... it isn't political script. This is Bush's soul language. He understands himself as a man with a Divine mission. It also means that for him leadership is not 'representing the people' rather leadership means transcending the will of the people. George Bush already knows the truth before the evidence is presented. He is guided by God and must blaze the trial even if the people are reluctant."
Military Deeply Involved in Christian Reality Television Show
By Jason Leopold, May 6th, 2009, The Public Record Staff: "The Pentagon was involved in the production of a cable program that featured two so-called 'extreme' missionaries embedded with a U.S. Army unit in Afghanistan trying to convert Muslims to Christianity. The popular reality series, 'Travel the Road,' aired on the Trinity Broadcasting Network and featured Will Decker and Tim Scott, and Tim Scott, two so-called 'extreme' missionaries who travel the globe to 'preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth and encourage the church to be active in the Great Commission.' ..."
"The Origins of the Neo-Conservative Mind
Political Comparative Analysis" by Alan Wolfe
and "How The Democrats Were Betamaxed" was written by Laurie Spivak
Professor Alan Wolfe uses fascist philosopher Carl Schmitt
to help us understand contemporary politics & the eerie relevance to the current moment in American history. Spivak focuses on countering the conservative smoke & mirror show. Wolfe and Spivak provide much for answering questions & considerations put forth in "Questions for [healing] Disillusionment," "Recovering the Citizenry," and related theme web pages. (These Q&C-loaded pages emerged in response to the current political mind-bog: the apparently unconscious psycho-political dumbfounding of many American citizens who have, according to most everyone else on the planet, blindly allowed current trends due to taking our democracy for granted. Q&C pages by yours truly; links provided below)
The Influence Of The Christian Right On U.S. Middle East Policy.
Foreign Policy in Focus By Stephen Zunes, The Project Against the Present Danger, June 28, 2004.
Stephen Zunes analyzes the considerable influence of the Christian Right on U.S. foreign policy, which is the result of an electoral strategy adopted by the GOP in the late 1970s. "Since capturing this pivotal constituency, Republicans have won four out of six presidential races, have dominated the Senate for seven out of 12 sessions, and have controlled the House of Representatives for the past decade. . . . The Christian Right constitutes nearly one out of seven American voters and determines the agenda of the Republican Party in about half of the states, particularly in the South and Midwest." -- Zunes's long analysis concludes with a specific recommendation: "Those who support justice for the Palestinians should . . . reproach congressional Democrats for falling captive to the Christian Right. Such a rebuke . . . would likely enhance the ability of those who support peace, justice, and the rule of law to highlight the profound immorality of congressional sanction for the Israeli occupation."
On the dangerous global ramifications of Evangelical politics
Bill Moyers On Receiving Harvard Medical School's Global Environment Citizen Award. "For the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in Washington. Theology asserts propositions that cannot be proven true; ideologues hold stoutly to a world view despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality. When ideology and theology couple, their offspring are not always bad but they are always blind. And there is the danger: voters and politicians alike, oblivious to the facts... These true believers subscribe to a fantastical theology concocted in the 19th century by a couple of immigrant preachers who took disparate passages from the Bible and wove them into a narrative that has captivated the imagination of millions of Americans.
In "The danger in America today is the coupling of theology and ideology,"
Moyers said, "Theology asserts propositions that do not have to do with the improvement of truth. Ideology embraces a worldview that cannot be changed. Governments have married ideology and theology and have become immune to local discourse... We are seeing a rise in the resurgence of tribalism that is manifested in religious fundamentalism. [The world doesn't] have, at this point, a large spiritual or political or cultural leader who is speaking beyond the polarities of tribalists and globalization to try to peel through that universal human intuition... Religious ideology can also be a barrier to communications between different nations... There is still an element of separation among certain peoples of the world, despite the growth of economic globalization."
At the Daily Nexus posts the Moyers UC Santa Barbara Discussion on Iraq, President Bush, Poetry by Stephanie Trujillo
"Freestyle Evangelicals"
(Dubbed so by University of Akron political scientist John Green and Steven Waldman, editor of the online faith newsletter beliefnet.com) are the more moderate evangelicals that may make up about 10% of the nation's electorate. For example, they blame Bush for failing to fix a "broken" healthcare system and for "selling off the environment to the highest bidder."
Time Magazine's Expose On Evangelicals, Religion And Politics
"A Must Read ARTICLE":
Evangelicals in America; 25 Most Influential Evangelicals; Bush and the Religious Right; The Democrats - Trying Out a Soulful Tune. (02-04-05) Subscription Required For Most Articles
Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism By Michelle Goldberg
At *Talk To Action | Reclaiming Citizenship, History, and Faith* Michelle Goldberg says, "I've just published a book called "Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism," and since it appeared, I've been asked several times what Christian ... Christian nationalists believe in a revisionist history, which holds that the founders were devout Christians who never intended to create a secular republic; separation of church and state, according to this history, is a fraud perpetrated by God-hating subversives.
One of the foremost Christian revisionist historians is David Barton, who, in addition to running an organization called Wallbuilders that disseminates Christian nationalist books, tracts and videos, is also the vice-chairman of the Texas Republican Party. The goal of Christian nationalist politics is the restoration of the imagined Christian nation.
As George Grant, former executive director of D. James Kennedy's influential Coral Ridge Ministries, wrote in his book *The Changing of the Guard:* '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."' [Whoooaaaa!!!!!!] |
from the "US Christian Flag" designer's website |
Among many more reviews at Kingdom Coming.Com, Publisher's Weekly says - "In an impressive piece of lucid journalism, Salon.com reporter Goldberg dives into the religious right and sorts out the history and networks of what to most liberals is an inscrutable parallel universe. She deconstructs 'dominion theology,' the prevalent evangelical assertion that Christians have a 'responsibility to take over every aspect of society.' Goldberg makes no attempt to hide her own partisanship, calling herself a 'secular Jew and ardent urbanite' who wrote the book because she "was terrified by America's increasing hostility to... cosmopolitan values. ..."
New Book Examines Christian Nationalism - at NPR Fresh Air from WHYY, May 11, 2006 - Includes recorded interview of Journalist Michelle Goldberg, a senior writer for the online magazine Salon, and covers the Christian Right. In her new book, Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism, she writes that Christian nationalists believe the Bible is literally true -- and they want to see the nation governed by that truth.
Related: America's Religious Right: Saints or Subversives? by Steve Weissman at TruthOut.Org
Evangelical Leader Threatens to Use His Political Muscle Against Some Democrats
"Evangelical Christianity Has Been Hijacked"
by the Religious Right - So says Evangelical leader, sociology professor, and Baptist minister Tony Campolo.
He is author of a new book, Speaking My Mind
James Dobson, founder of the Focus on the Family
None of the post-election rhetoric about "bridging gaps" and "reaching out" comes from the religious right.
James Dobson, founder of the Focus on the Family, is quoted in the media as telling a White House operative that many in his camp believe the nation was "on the verge of self-destruction" for having abandon traditional family roles and values and that, thanks to the election outcomes, "God has given us a reprieve."
Source: Column of Hubert G. Locke, Seattle PI, 26 Nov 2004, page B6.
via News You Don't Have to Lose (Use keywords for site search if link to this posting not visible when get there)
Comment: Translation of "traditional family roles":
a woman's first duty is the making and keeping of her home, the husband serves as domestic shepard and women and children ...are completely subordinated to (the husband's) blessed, God-ordained shepherding. Someone needs to be the head, God has ordained that this should be the man (I Corinthians 11:3).. Christ is subject to God, man is subject to Christ, and woman is subject to man... As one of the Promise Keeper leaders,Tony Evans, said, "I am not suggesting that you ask for your role back (in your marriage), I am urging you to take it back. There can be no compromise here."
As the church is subject to Christ, so let wives also be subject in everything to their husbands.
(Esphesians 5:24).
Source: The Fundamentals of Extremism, The Christian Right in America, by Kimberly Blaker, pages 83- 85.
via News You Don't Have to Lose (Use keywords for site search if link to this posting not visible when get there)
Crossing the Church-State Line By Sidney Blumenthal, Salon.com Nov 11 2004 -"From the White House, Rove operated a weekly conference call with selected religious leaders. Evangelical churches handed over their membership directories to the Bush campaign for voter registration drives. According to the Washington Post, 'clergy members attended legal sessions explaining how they could talk about the election from the pulpit.' ..."
Even Mormons Jumping Off Bush Bandwagon As War Takes Its Toll (April '07)
"DETROIT -- Iraq is lost militarily and politically. Even the Mormons are now abandoning President George W. Bush's mad war. That's akin to the Swiss Guard deserting and leaving the pope to fend for himself with the Vatican under siege. Other than his own greedy family members, oil barons and military contractors, no group of Americans has stood so steadfastly behind the Bush administration than the members of the Church of Latter-day Saints. ..."
and
BYU Campus Protests Dick Cheney Speech (April '07)
"sfgate, 11:49 PDT Provo, Utah (AP) -- Some students and faculty on one of the nation's most conservative campuses want Brigham Young University to withdraw an invitation for Vice President Dick Cheney to speak at commencement later this month. Critics at the school question whether Cheney sets a good example for graduates, citing his promotion of faulty intelligence before the Iraq war and his role in the CIA leak scandal. ..."
The Armageddon Plan
Published in the March, 2004 issue of The Atlantic by James Mann
"At least once a year during the 1980s Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld vanished. Cheney was working diligently on Capitol Hill, as a congressman rising through the ranks of the Republican leadership. Rumsfeld, who had served as Gerald Ford's Secretary of Defense, was a hard-driving business executive in the Chicago area—where, as the head of G. D. Searle & Co., he dedicated time and energy to the success of such commercial products as Nutra-Sweet, Equal, and Metamucil. Yet for periods of three or four days at a time no one in Congress knew where Cheney was, nor could anyone at Searle locate Rumsfeld. Even their wives were in the dark; they were handed only a mysterious Washington phone number to use in case of emergency..."
Continued A little further Below
On the other hand... there's these...
The Interfaith Alliance
The leadership of The Interfaith Alliance and The Interfaith Alliance Foundation responded with regret and concern minutes after President Bush announced that the nation had launched a war with Iraq, in a letter to the White House and a web feature displaying "Statements For a Nation At War" from national civic and religious leaders.
TIA Activists are urged to log onto www.interfaithalliance.org and read the statements that have been submitted from national religious and opinion leaders from across the country. TIA Activists are urged to be hate-violence-monitors and report any such violence to their local law enforcement authorities as soon as possible. Please contact TIA at field@interfaithalliance.org as well, as we work to document hate violence in our communities. Interested citizens can subscribe to alerts and updates via interfaith_list@capwiz.mailmanager.net.
World Conference on Religion and Peace
Encouraging religious communities and leaders to join together to work for tolerance and peace for all humankind, Most Rev Desmond M Tutu, Anglican Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, wrote letter of support asking for support.
Placebo effect beats God, Prozac [for some humor AND some wisdom]
By Mark Morford, SF Gate Columnist, 4/28/2010: "This is the story of three drugs... Problem is, it ain't just the pills. ...applies to all sorts of constructs in our tortured modern world. Organized religion? ... This research reveals, once again for the millionth time, that various psychedelics like MDMA, LSD and psilocybin ..."
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Some Evangelicals Leaning to Fascism?
Our Own Special Form Of Fascism
Rachell Elliott: Do you think the U.S. is in danger of becoming a fascist society?
Stan Goff: "It's worrisome. If we do see something like that in this country, I don't think it will look like Italian fascism, or Spanish fascism, or German fascism. It will be our own special form.
The people who are closest to that kind of consciousness right now are right-wing Evangelicals, who make up a huge percentage of the Republican Party base. There is a powerful undercurrent of white supremacy in their worldview. It's easy to make fun of them, but we need to be wary. Even though these right-wing Christian Zionists can appear ridiculous sometimes, they are politically well organized and very powerful.
It's a big mistake to underestimate them, especially if you are an oppressed minority, or queer, or if you're female; they are incredibly misogynistic."
[editor comment:] Yup: Dubya even invokes the "Crusade" word. Seems that we white folk are so good we can do evil for God, be forgiven, & then divinely rescued - all in one fell swoop! |
Click to see/print Full Size |
Source: Stan Goff On Why U.S. Foreign Policy Endangers Us All
By Rachel J. Elliott, The Sun Magazine, Nov 2004, Pages 4-12 [links to a pdf file]
14 Defining Characteristics of Fascism
The 14 defining characteristics of fascism, according to political scientist Lawrence Britt. How many apply to the US? You can watch a short video here and decide for yourself.
Theocracy Watch .Org
It's a huge site maintained by the faculty of Cornell University, Plenty of educational materials!
Church and State 3-Pack via Alternative Radio Org
3 experts on the ominous intrusion of radical Christianity into politics and government. The program pack contains the following programs: Apocalypse Now: Christian Fundamentalism by Chip Berlet - including Stats on how many people believe how much in/about the apocalypse; American Fascists: The Radical Christian Right by Chris Hedges; and American Theocracy by Kevin Phillips.
More about Chip Berlet: a senior analyst with Political Research Associates, the Somerville, Massachusetts-based organization. PRA monitors and reports on the political right wing. His articles appear in The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The Progressive magazine. He is the editor of "Eyes Right: Challenging the Right Wing Backlash" and co-author of "Right-Wing Populism in America."Berlet's Program Titles at AR include: "Conspiracy Theories: The Right Woos the Left," "The Rise of the Religious Right," "Mobilizing Resentment," "Debunking Conspiracy Theories," "Apocalypse Now: Christian Fundamentalism," and, with Holly Sklar: "Oklahoma, Militias & Conspiracy Theories." His essay, "The Christian Right, Dominionism, and Theocracy," helps us understand many key concepts underlying the political/theocratic predicament, and how it is that "This is a wedge issue ...largely being ignored by the mainstream media and most Christian evangelicals ...that can only be effective if we learn how to distinguish among the many different theological, political, organizational, and other aspects of Christian belief and political participation." Essay referenced by Berlet: "Christian Reconstructionism" by Frederick Clarkson
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"Christianizing" military students
This is in the context of the commanders of at least one of the military academies. From Antonia Zerbisias. Fellow activist, Dorli (who sent the link) calls it "More than disturbing." [Editor's Note: More on Bush's "Crusade" references in the below "Messianic Bush" links. Also, Rush Limbaugh even has a spot on Armed Forces Radio, but *Progressive Radio* does not, last I heard...]
On "the Messianic Bush"
Without a Doubt October 17, 2004 By RON SUSKIND
senior national-affairs reporter for The Wall Street Journal from 1993 to 2000.
He is the author most recently of *The Price of Loyalty: George W. Bush, the White House and the Education of Paul O'Neill.*
"Bruce Bartlett, a domestic policy adviser to Ronald Reagan and a treasury official for the first President Bush, told me recently that ''Just in the past few months,'' Bartlett said, ''I think a light has gone off for people who've spent time up close to Bush: that this instinct he's always talking about is this sort of weird, Messianic idea of what he thinks God has told him to do.'' Bartlett, a 53-year-old columnist and self-described libertarian Republican who has lately been a champion for traditional Republicans concerned about Bush's governance, went on to say: ''This is why George W. Bush is so clear-eyed about Al Qaeda and the Islamic fundamentalist enemy. He believes you have to kill them all. They can't be persuaded, that they're extremists, driven by a dark vision. He understands them, because he's just like them. . . .
''This is why he dispenses with people who confront him with inconvenient facts,'' Bartlett went on to say. ''He truly believes he's on a mission from God. Absolute faith like that overwhelms a need for analysis. The whole thing about faith is to believe things for which there is no empirical evidence.''
Bartlett paused, then said, ''But you can't run the world on faith.'' ...
...It was during a press conference on Sept. 16, in response to a question about homeland security efforts infringing on civil rights, that Bush first used the telltale word ''crusade'' in public. ''This is a new kind of -- a new kind of evil,'' he said. ''And we understand. And the American people are beginning to understand. This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while.''... In a speech in Alaska two weeks later, Bush again referred to the war on terror as a ''crusade.''
A senior adviser to Bush told Suskind, [you are] ''in what we call the reality-based community,'' which he defined as people who ''believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.'' Suskind "nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism," but was cut off. ''That's not the way the world really works anymore,'' the Bush advisor continued. ''We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality -- judiciously, as you will -- we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.''
Anti-Semitic beliefs of Evangelical Fundamentalism
(re: 1977 book, Armageddon Now!, by Christian historian Dwight Wilson)
The "Left Behind" series
the best selling novels, enthusiastically depict Jesus returning to slaughter everyone who is not a born-again Christian. These books depict the world's Hindus, Muslims, Jews, and secular humanist, along with many Roman Catholic and Unitarians, as being heaved into everlasting fire: "Jesus merely raised one hand a few inches and ...they tumbled in, howling and screeching."
If Saudi Arabians wrote an Islamic version of this "Left Behind" series, we would furiously demand that sensible Muslims repudiate such hatemongering. Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins, co-authored of the series of books. They stated, their books do not celebrate the slaughter of non-Christians but simply present the painful reality of Scripture. Jenkins said, "We can't read it some other way just because it sounds exclusivistic and not currently politically correct." In the interest of fairness, Evangelicals have done a superb relief efforts in Darfur.
Source: Column of Nicholas D. Kristof, Seattle PI, 26 Nov 2004, page B6; Truth Out .Org reference
Elaboration on "Left Behind" series
(http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/071804C.shtml)
Evangelical Christian book speaks of ethnic cleansing of non-Christians. If the latest in the "Left Behind" series of evangelical thrillers is to be believed, Jesus will return to Earth, gather non-Christians to his left and toss them into everlasting fire:
"Jesus merely raised one hand a few inches and a yawning chasm opened in the earth, stretching far and wide enough to swallow all of them. They tumbled in, howling and screeching, but their wailing was soon quashed and all was silent when the earth closed itself again."
These are the best-selling novels for adults in the United States, and they have sold more than 60 million copies worldwide. The latest is "Glorious Appearing," which has Jesus returning to Earth to wipe all non-Christians from the planet. It's disconcerting to find ethnic cleansing celebrated as the height of piety.
If a Muslim were to write an Islamic version of "Glorious Appearing" and publish it in Saudi Arabia, jubilantly describing a massacre of millions of non-Muslims by God, we would have a fit.
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[Talk about dangerous... (uh-oh) One esoteric perspective (and basis of many) has it that *God-Earth* or *Goddess* (the Mother aspect) provides material nurturance, *God-Mind* (the Father aspect) provides the Impetus, and *Spirit* (that which connects Mother & Father aspects) provides the interconnecting force between all *God-the-Children* as they/we grow in connectedness with *God-All-That-Is* (I-Am-That-I-Am). And you can find more where that came from at my web site. !OMG!
"'All Religions Logos & 'Chalice Scale'" Shared by Chris Pringer Dec'11
![Chalice & 3Kings Card [7A3RdGldScn] thumb, © Chris Pringer 2003](images-cb/Chlc&3KingsCard[7A3RdGldScn]-thumb.JPG)
A paradox to many who are still trying to realize the nature of change -- from viewing the world from one invested paradigm to viewing it from quite another. To grasp the potential reality of our changing from a fear & conflict-based economy to one of peace. 
World Healing Prayers - extended description just below
from PolyPsyArt 2004, 
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The Public Record![EmpireOfHumiliation[Book]Logo.gif](images-ced/EmpireOfHumiliation[Book]Logo.gif)
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