In the process of transitioning web sites, I want to start a new series that will be ongoing on the new site.  As I have said, we will be departing the Palin port and moving into broader scopes. This will sometimes require ongoing ties back to Queen Esther – as in today’s post about the antics of Franklin Graham and his neat lil company, “Samaritan’s Purse”. Referring back to her is inevitable because they did actually choose her (as unbelievable as that still remains to my rational mind), one year ago today.

My partner Alex (aka ‘dogemporer’), in the upcoming book has done extensive research and writing over the years on dominionism and religious extremism. A great deal of her “diaries” as she calls them are spread across many web sites in the blogosphere…but I am going to start re-posting portions of them with links to her entire articles on the new blog site, “godsownparty”, in an effort to bring them into one place. Her work is invaluable.

So today I am going to share an article about proselytizing in the military and the parasites that swoop in to “harvest souls” like our friend Franklin Graham – Billy Graham’s spot-on example of a prodigal son – a rich daddy’s-boy who travels the world perpetuating his father’s multi-million dollar “souls-for-money” business. We saw Frank recently shuttling Palin, Parnell and the self-righteous Baptist from Anchorage, Alaska (Jerry Prevo), around to a couple of villages in western Alaska. They stood around the plane and had prayer group hugs on camera, and claimed their acts as altruistic in the name of Jesus.

First of all…there is nothing altruistic about these people. There is always an agenda, and that agenda is that you either convert to their game or get squashed. They need the numbers, for how else will they be able to traverse the globe in private planes, motorcycles, boats, limos – you name it spreading the ‘wurd’? They feed off those in despair like zealot parasites in the name of Jesus.

If it sounds like I am angry today it is because I am. A true American patriot, USAF graduate, former White House counsel in the Reagan Administration and my friend Mikey Weinstein and his family have been horribly harassed, threatened and terrorized because of his work to prevent these parasites from dominating faith in the military through his Military Religious Freedom Foundation. So I am compelled to speak out about these lovely dominionist ‘c’hristians and share the tangled web they weave together, including their act of military proselytizing.

Alex has already written about this connection in June 2008 between Samaritan’s Purse and military proselytizing which is included in  full article here – but below I would like to include portions of it so I can interject a few comments:

The recent incident where a Marine was recently found distributing “Bible coins” promoted by a fundamentalist “Bible church” is, sad to say, far from the first incident of overt proselytizing in Iraq.

The truth is, this sort of thing has been going on literally since Gulf War I, and ramped up in Gulf War II–and, ironically, has directly threatened the future existence of two of the oldest Christian churches in the world–churches that can literally trace their founding to one of the Twelve Apostles. Even more disturbingly, most of the worst proselytizing has been with civilian dominionist groups that target both Iraqi citizens and US military personnel.

Not the first, and not even the worst, example of “invading missionaries”

Whilst the “Bible coin” fiasco has been given considerable press (in part because of military involvement following an incident where a copy of the Quran was used for target practice), it is by no means the first or the worst example of targeting of Iraqis–including other “people of the book”–by dominionist “missionaries”.

It has been little publicized, but dominionist “missionary” groups have been in Iraq since the US government hit the ground in Gulf War II–and their activities may have in fact directly led in part to the bucket of hell that the country is in…and to US military being targeted.

One of the first groups on the ground–and one of the more notorious offenders in regard to the use of “bait and switch” evangelism, especially in regards to relief efforts–was Frank Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse (which made plans as soon as 2003 to enter the country). The SBC, the Assemblies of God, and other groups also moved in quite rapidly after Saddam Hussein’s government fell.

Samaritan’s Purse’s actions have been especially odious. Among other things, the group literally described the attempted genocide of Iraq’s Kurdish population as a “missionary opportunity”; never mind that Kurdish people are already a marginalized people and that one of the more heavily demonized religious minorities in Iraq exists among the Kurdish people (the Yezidi faith, which venerates Malek Taus as a bringer of wisdom–a being normally equated to Shaitan in traditional Islam, which has led to Yezidis being (falsely) accused of being Satanists). As it is, Samaritan’s Purse’s leader stated that Islam was a “wicked and violent” religion in such terms that even George W. Bush didn’t want to touch that statement with a 40-foot barge pole.

Okay…It is not a stretch her to place Franklin Graham and Erik Prince (Mr. Xe formerly known as Blackwater) in the same tree house when they were young and playing army. Frank actually was kown to take an automatic rifle and use it as a chain saw but shooting up the base of trees to the point of toppling them. Picture the vitriol hatred the 2 of them share in their righteous ‘c’hristianity towards Islam. An ugly and dangerous combination. Look at them – they look like twins. ‘c’hristians filled with hate. Wow!

Samaritan’s Purse also has a well-documented history of forcing people to be proselytized to as a condition of disaster aid and especially targeting children to do so–including gift boxes given to children with religious toys.

Starving, homeless, displaced children and families – suffering the horrors of war or other disasters – and here come these “people of God”, swooping in with aid but tell them they can’t have it until they have listen to the sales pitch and are “saved” before they can have food, clothing or trinket dangling before them.

This is saving souls!  This is extortion! Shame on them!

In fact, the “bait and switch” extended to adults as well; Samaritan’s Purse ended up wearing out its welcome with the Red Cross during Gulf War I (by pulling stunts where it required people to watch “The Jesus Film” to receive aid at a Jordanian refugee center) which could have gotten our soldiers in serious trouble with their host country:

Even Franklin Graham used some of these methods. According to Graham’s biography, “Rebel With a Cause,” during the last Gulf War, Samaritan’s Purse went to Jordan under the banner “Operation Desert Save” with food and aid–and showed the Jesus Film at night until the International Red Cross complained. Graham then used the Dear Abby Any Servicemen campaign to send Arabic language Scripture tracts and New Testaments into Saudi Arabia-a country he describes as “wicked”–and smuggled them past censors concerned about cultural sensitivity by using the Dear Abby postmark. The U.S. Postal Service, acting on a complaint by Dear Abby, brought the campaign to an end.

(Of Note: Samaritan’s Purse was among a number of dominionist groups (including the Assemblies front group FGBMFI) known to have funneled aid to the Contras under the guise of “aid” and conducted extensive “bait and switch” evangelism in Nicaragua)

And lest people think Samaritan’s Purse’s behavior in Iraq was an aberration–they’re reported to have targeted survivors of Hurricane Katrina in identical manner. In fact, Frank Graham explicitly saw Katrina as “God’s Judgment” on New Orleans (how many times do we have to tell these folks that Hurricane Katrina is not divine retribution, and if it were, then God must have the worst aim in the world as Bourbon Street was probably the least damaged area that Katrina hit?).

Ironically, the influx of dominionist missionaries may well have been one of the worst things to have happened to the Christian community in Iraq in modern times.

Almost from the time they arrived, dominionist groups started aggressively targeting both Moslem *and* Christian groups for conversion–including the Chaldean Catholic and Iraqi Orthodox churches, two of the longest-lived congregations in all of Christianity. Traditionally, some of the churches in Iraq literally were founded by missionary efforts of no less than St. Thomas. As in the disciple Thomas, as in one of the guys who personally knew Jesus when he was alive in Christian tradition. Yes, these are literally some of the first Christian churches ever set up, where St. Paul would have been visiting as a traveling preacher visiting established churches.

Enough is enough for the Christian community in Iraq. The head of Iraq’s largest Christian community, Patriarch Emmanuel Delly, recently scathingly attacked the evangelical Christians who have taken their crusade to Iraq since the illegal U.S. invasion of March 2003.

According to Delly, the evangelicals attract poor youths with displays of money and then “take them out in cars to have fun. Then, they take photos and send them here, to Germany, to the United States and say ‘look how many Muslims have become Christian.’”

The interesting thing is…before the dominionist missionaries came, relations between the Christian and Moslem communities in Iraq were historically quite good in modern times. There was very much a spirit of “live and let live”–groups kept to their faith, and there was little effort at trying to convert each other.

This pretty much got shot to hell by dominionist missionaries…who, in part because of their actions, are now causing one of the oldest groups in Christendom to flee their country in droves and causing them to be targeted in such numbers that the word “genocide” has been increasingly used to describe the situation.

And increasingly, our soldiers are being associated with having brought the Dominionists to Iraq by its countrymen–and, sadly, with reports of ongoing attempts at steeplejacking of the US military’s chaplaincy system (which has been frighteningly successful in the Army and Air Force; the Navy still seems to be giving a good fight), this is not necessarily inaccurate.

Thank you, Alex.

And that is exactly what Weinstein is fighting, and being persecuted for. Working to keep our military free from these ‘c’hristian cult leaders who have now invaded the chaplaincy and dominated it, leaving subordinates to be pressured into conversion under threat of insubordination and misconduct.

And because of his fight to keep religious choice free in the military, he and his family have come under the most heinous fire. Mr. Weinstein, you sir are a true patriot!

One of the extraordinary people that I have had the pleasure to meet along this path is retired Pastor Howard Bess who resides in Palmer, Alaska…   miles from Wasilla.  Pastor Bess was interviewed by the press last year during the presidential campaign. When Sarah Palin was on the Wasilla city council , she organized an all out effort to censor a book written by Pastor Bess titled, “Pastor I Am Gay”.  Her efforts stirred up the hackles of like-minded extremists in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley (Mat-Su) and they were successful in preventing his book from being sold and promoted in local bookstores. As stated in an article in Salon.com from September 2008…

“Inevitably, his [Pastor Bess] work brought him into conflict with Palin and other highly politicized Christian fundamentalists in the valley. “Things got very intense around here in the ’90s — the culture war was very hot here,” Bess said. “The evangelicals were trying to take over the valley. They took over the school board, the community hospital board, even the local electric utility. And Sarah Palin was in the direct center of all these culture battles, along with the churches she belonged to.”

Bess’ first run-in with Palin’s religious forces came when he decided to write his book, “Pastor, I Am Gay.” The book was the result of a theological journey that began in the 1970s when Bess was asked for guidance by a closeted homosexual in his Santa Barbara congregation”…[which became the inspiration for his book].

“She scares me,” said Bess. “She’s Jerry Falwell with a pretty face.

“At this point, people in this country don’t grasp what this person is all about. The key to understanding Sarah Palin is understanding her radical theology.”

Over the past year I have had the pleasure of consulting and speaking with Pastor Bess, who sends newsletters out on a regular basis.  The one I received this morning I think speaks volumes about the compassionate, caring and kind Jesus Christ that is the basis for mainstream Christians…as opposed to this “Warrior Christ” that the evangelical extremists Dominionist cult of re-invented ‘c’hristianity has created. Please watch the following video with an interview of Pastor Bess by Max Blumenthal:

.

I don’t mean this to sound like Bible study, but I think it behooves us all to understand the way the Dominionists have such a violent and dramatically different view from mainstream Christians so that we don’t become intolerant of all people of Christian faith.  I would like to share a few observations from Pastor Bess that are worthy of noting from this mornings’ newsletter with you…

THE CHALLENGE OF CULTURAL TRANSLATION

By Howard Bess

The Bible is a collection of ancient writings.  The Old Testament was first written in Hebrew, and the New Testament was originally written in Greek.  Naively I studied Greek and Hebrew thinking that they would be the keys that would unlock the truest meanings of Christianity’s sacred book.  Greek was my undergraduate minor and the study of Hebrew awaited me in my first year of graduate school.  Along the way I ran into some surprises.

For starters, I was introduced to textual criticism.  I learned that there were hundreds of variant texts, and even the oldest of those manuscripts did not even come close to the time of original writings.  Then I faced the reality that Jesus’ every day language was neither Hebrew nor Greek.  It was Aramaic.  If he spoke a second language, it was a pigeon Greek that had minimal resemblance to either classical Greek or koine (common) Greek.  Trying to trace the words of Jesus with some level of accuracy all the way to modern English translations is a detective story not fully understood by the finest of Bible scholars.

My next big surprise came when I realized that an even more challenging translation task lay ahead of me as a pastor.  It is called cultural translation.  Every Sunday I had the responsibility to speak to my congregation about what the Bible messages mean to people of the late 20th century and the early 21st century.  Flawed as the texts of our modern English Bibles might be, clear messages emerge and demand to be translated into modern life.

Here at the beginning of the 21st century, a vigorous movement is afoot to translate Jesus into modern life.  Jesus from Nazareth is being understood as a community activist, who took on the critical issues of economics, race, politics and religion.  He was a vigorous social reformer.   How are we to translate his messages and concerns into the 21st century?

In 2007 the National Council of Churches of Christ published A Social Creed for the 21st Century.  The document is a thoughtful attempt to translate the messages of Jesus into our own culture.  While I have revised, added and subtracted, I acknowledge the instruction of the NCC document.  Even more I acknowledge the stories, sayings and actions that Jesus left for our guidance and instruction.

Jesus has left us at least five mandates.

First, all men and women without regard to race, age, cultural roots, or sexual orientation, are to have full human rights….civil, political, economic, religious.

Jesus’ acceptance and relationships with women and children were outside of the bounds of social norms.  His relationship with women was considered nothing short of scandalous.  He was charged with eating with thieves and those who drank too much. He befriended Samaritans.  Sexual orientation was not an issue in the day of Jesus, but he made it plain that everyone was welcome at the dinner table of God.

Second, priority attention is to be given to the people who are most vulnerable.  The poor, the hungry, the sick, the naked, the widow, the orphan.  In a modern world universal health care, expansion of the food stamp program, social security for older persons, tax and budget policies that diminish the gap between the rich and the poor, quality education for everyone, and affordable housing, cannot be set aside.

Just as sexual orientation was an unknown issue in Jesus’ day, so also was concern about the unborn.  Awareness has confronted us with reality.  A Jesus ethic in a modern world cannot ignore the most vulnerable of the vulnerable, the unborn child. Third, we all must adopt simpler lifestyles that support and sustain the world in which we live.  We now know that we live in a world of limited resources.  Land, water, and air are all limited resources that are necessary for the survival of the human race.  The world cannot renew itself as fast as we are using its resources.  We must curb our appetites.                                                                                                                               In addition, we are polluting the world’s resources.  Burning fossil fuels has possibly fouled the world’s land, water and air beyond recovery.  We must find different sources of energy.    The rule is simple.  If it’s not clean, we ought not to be using it.   Polluting the world is a sin against the whole human family.  We cannot say we love our neighbor and leave that neighbor with a polluted and inadequate environment.

Fourth, war is an unacceptable way of resolving conflicts between human beings.  Peacemaking is the highest calling of a devout follower of Jesus our Christ from Nazareth.  I cannot even imagine Jesus in an act of violence.  The Christian warrior becomes a tragic oxymoron.

Fifth, we must become people of trust.  We need to be trustworthy, but along with that we must be willing to trust those who appear to be untrustworthy.  Trust produces trust.

I am happy to leave the translating of the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into English to those who have mastered the languages.  I cannot escape translating the Jesus message into my every day life.

THE END

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska.  His email address is hdbss@mtaonlline.net.

THE CHALLENGE OF CULTURAL TRANSLATION  By Howard Bess

The Bible is a collection of ancient writings.  The Old Testament was first written in Hebrew, and the New Testament was originally written in Greek.  Naively I studied Greek and Hebrew thinking that they would be the keys that would unlock the truest meanings of Christianity’s sacred book.  Greek was my undergraduate minor and the study of Hebrew awaited me in my first year of graduate school.  Along the way I ran into some surprises.

For starters, I was introduced to textual criticism.  I learned that there were hundreds of variant texts, and even the oldest of those manuscripts did not even come close to the time of original writings.  Then I faced the reality that Jesus’ every day language was neither Hebrew nor Greek.  It was Aramaic.  Trying to trace the words of Jesus with some level of accuracy all the way to modern English translations is a detective story not fully understood by the finest of Bible scholars.

My next big surprise came when I realized that an even more challenging translation task lay ahead of me as a pastor.  It is called cultural translation.

Here at the beginning of the 21st century, a vigorous movement is afoot to translate Jesus into modern life. Jesus from Nazareth is being understood as a community activist, who took on the critical issues of economics, race, politics and religion.  He was a vigorous social reformer. How are we to translate his messages and concerns into the 21st century?

Jesus has left us at least five mandates.

First, all men and women without regard to race, age, cultural roots, or sexual orientation, are to have full human rights….civil, political, economic, religious.

Jesus’ acceptance and relationships with women and children were outside of the bounds of social norms.  His relationship with women was considered nothing short of scandalous.  He was charged with eating with thieves and those who drank too much. He befriended Samaritans.  Sexual orientation was not an issue in the day of Jesus, but he made it plain that everyone was welcome at the dinner table of God.

Second, priority attention is to be given to the people who are most vulnerable.  The poor, the hungry, the sick, the naked, the widow, the orphan.  In a modern world universal health care, expansion of the food stamp program, social security for older persons, tax and budget policies that diminish the gap between the rich and the poor, quality education for everyone, and affordable housing, cannot be set aside.

Third, we all must adopt simpler lifestyles that support and sustain the world in which we live.  We now know that we live in a world of limited resources.  Land, water, and air are all limited resources that are necessary for the survival of the human race.  The world cannot renew itself as fast as we are using its resources.  We must curb our appetites. In addition, we are polluting the world’s resources.  Burning fossil fuels has possibly fouled the world’s land, water and air beyond recovery.  We must find different sources of energy. The rule is simple.  If it’s not clean, we ought not to be using it.   Polluting the world is a sin against the whole human family.  We cannot say we love our neighbor and leave that neighbor with a polluted and inadequate environment.

Fourth, war is an unacceptable way of resolving conflicts between human beings.  Peacemaking is the highest calling of a devout follower of Jesus our Christ from Nazareth. I cannot even imagine Jesus in an act of violence.  The Christian warrior becomes a tragic oxymoron.

Fifth, we must become people of trust.  We need to be trustworthy, but along with that we must be willing to trust those who appear to be untrustworthy.  Trust produces trust.

THE END

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer, Alaska.  His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.

If the common perception of Christianity was as Pastor Bess describes it, as opposed to the now popular version of evangelical born-again, “take dominion over all even if you have to round them up and force it on them ‘c’hristianity” or you will suffer unspeakable punishment at the hands of a warlord Christ…maybe, just maybe we would be able to have intelligent conversation and successful debate on how to care for our needs in this country.

If these sanctimonious self-proclaimed masters of the “Great Commission” believed more in Bess’ Christ, and less in being Phalse Prophets for Profit…we could experience kindness rather than the intolerant hateful ‘c’hristians who call for opponents deaths through curses. Or spit on the memory of dead statesmen like the recent passing of Ted Kennedy in ugly juvenile Facebook messages on Sarah Palin’s site.

I have said it before…and I will repeat it often…these people need to quit arrogantly asking, “What Would Jesus Do?”  I don’t think they want to know the answer…

UPDATE!!  BAILIN’ PALIN BAILS AGAIN! THIS WOMAN IS UNBELIEVABLE…

Link here to Lisa Derrick’s article that was JUST posted to LaFiga Firedoglake.com.

She can’t even commit to something she is committed to!

Below is the article I put together last night before the news that she now claims to have never been invited to this shin-dig.  There ya go Sarah! Step on your own!  Let us know how that will keep working for you…what a piece of work…

She has picked another spotlight to hover under. Parental consent. It is essentially – “Fox joins Change Point and promoted by Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council”.  When I say Fox, it is the combination of her appeal to have all her “friends” tune in and act out by being loyal and faithful watchers of Glenn Beck, and her own questionable mental state that urges her to support this very unstable man.

Her appearance at this ‘event’ will get coverage. Adding to the media attraction is that another very active dominionist extremist, Star Parker, will be there sharing the spotlight with her.  Parker is also scheduled to speak at the Family Research Council’s “Value Voters Council Summit in Washington, D.C. next month on September 18-20, 2009, and of course Palin simply can’t decide – although she is on the list as a “maybe”.

Oh boy…here they go!  Winding up to convey their message of take back America by mandating “Family Values” based on biblical origins and shoving them down our throats…

…while simultaneously absolving themselves from any wrongdoings in C Street fashion because they are the “chosen elite” and are therefore forgiven of past and future sins because they are “doing the Lord’s work”.

So getting back to tonight’s show, I guess this opportunity for Palin and Parker to test the mics at Governor Parnell’s church, is a great way to launch their sanctimonious partnership in the name of “pro-life” by pushing for a law that would require all minor females to notify their parents before seeking an abortion in the event a minor girl went in search of one – even when the pregnancy may be a result of rape/incest and put the girl in harm’s way by seeking permission.

P & P are using this for two main political messages: 1)  declare abortion illegal under any circumstance; and 2)  keep the fires stoked that Obama is a proponent of federal tax dollars going to pay for abortion in his health care reform bill…well, and in Parker’s world add that she claims abortion is a direct tool of genocide against African-Americans among other interesting claims.

And of course, the personal pandering and clambering for constant media attention always a primary factor.  While Parker is a regular mouthpiece on Fox news, and Palin is rallying her ‘friends’ in the Internet world to support Glenn Beck, they continue to command audiences whether through the media or congregations and rile up the paranoid extremists.

For those of you who have the interest, I am going to give you a tremendous amount of information below that you will learn so much from with regard to how these seemingly regional appearances link to the bigger picture of national Political Dominionism.  What I am inserting here is the raw research material provided by “dogemporer” on how this righteous duo fit into the puzzle.  You will also notice that the connections are like a spider web and each link reveals another and another and another.  But this is a glimpse of how we are able to bind them all together.   FotF=Focus on the Family; AFC=Alaska Family Council; NARasite=New Apostolic Reformation parasite;

It turns out Palin is connected with Alaskans for Parental Rights
(http://www.alaskansforparentalrights.org/) which is a front of a front
of a front of a front.  (Yes, it’s pretty much a classic “matroshka doll
front”; Alaskans for Parental Rights is a front of Alaska Family Action,
which in turn is a 501(c)4 lobbying front of Alaska Family Council
(http://www.alaskafamilycouncil.org/), which (along with (de facto if
not de jure) Family Research Council) is a Focus on the Family front
(http://www.alaskafamilycouncil.org/about_us/focus_family_assn.html
gives more details–pretty much it’s a FotF state affiliate (and
specifically a front of Citizenlink, itself a front of FotF Action,
itself the 501(c)4 lobbying wing of FotF that it set up after it
“officially” split off Family Research Council under threat of FotF
losing its tax-exempt status)–and http://www.citizenlink.org/fpc/ gives
more info on the networks nationwide).

This is actually pretty interesting, as AFC has apparently had some
disagreements with Palin regarding Supreme Court appointees
(http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/groups/alaska-family-council).
This proves, even more, that Sarah Palin is going into “stealth and
organise” mode–Alaskans for Parental Rights is a frontgroup set up for
the sole purpose of forcing a referendum on passing a strict “parental
notification” law regarding abortions for minors similar to that in
Missouri (http://www.alaskansforparentalrights.org/about)–Missouri’s
law, of note, has only limited judicial bypass options, and it is
legally a felony for even a relative to take a minor across state lines
for purposes of obtaining an abortion in a state with friendlier
judicial bypass options.

Interestingly, another FotF frontgroup–the Alliance Defense Fund, a
group that promotes itself as being a parallel-economy “Christian
Alternative” to legit civil rights legal groups like the ACLU or
Americans United–has been doing quite a bit of damage control and
pimping of Palin
(http://www.alaskansforparentalrights.org/aggregator/sources/4 gives a
large list, almost all links pointing to Alliance Defense Fund news briefs).

Star Parker…oh gods, Star Parker is just all kinds of friggin’
*speshul*.  Parker is an example of, shall we say, a “house slave” of the dominionist movement,
and in particular likes to promote the idea that abortion was meant as a
method of “back-door genocide of African-Americans”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Parker and yes, sadly, this exact
sort of whargarbl is heavily used now as a recruitment tool by NARasite
groups in particular to recruit African-Americans).  In fact, much of
her schtick is in fact essentially the old neopentecostal “I was a
horrid horrid sinner and druggie and I had lots of abortions and then I
found God” narrative (pretty much what one can consider the “involved in
atrocities then converted” dialogue–which has literally been used for
supposed “Satanists” in the 80s during the “Satanic Panic”, is used a
lot nowadays with “former terrorists”, and has even been promoted up to
literal Godwin’s Law-invoking claims of being former Hitler Youth who
converted; yes, it is literally an honest-to-God “conversion
trope”)–her “Saved Ex-Slut” trope-story is at
http://www.christianitytoday.com/tcw/1997/julaug/7w4022.html?start=2 for
your perusal.

Parker is especially appealing to neopentes and neocons, in part,
because she claims to essentially be an ex-welfare-queen and ex-Dr.
Feelgood (which plays to a *very* nasty popular myth regarding “black
welfare queens”) and promotes “abstinence only” stuff; she operates a
group called Coalition for Urban Renewal and Education
(http://www.urbancure.org/) that in essence promotes NARasite theories
about why African-Americans are being held down (tl;dr version: they
ain’t got enough God–no matter that African-Americans are in general
some of the most solidly Evangelical Christians in the US–NARasite
neopentecostalism is relatively new in the African-American church
community, however).  Among other things, she essentially claims that
LBJ’s War on Poverty destroyed African-American culture
(http://www.talk2action.org/story/2009/3/9/93733/84075), even writing a
book called “Uncle Sam’s Plantation” promoting this.

Parker is rather well documented as having connections with FotF Action
(http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/4/05840/96219) and apparently
has stumped for Palin in past; she’s pretty much one of the “rising
stars” of the political dominionist community
(www.talk2action.org

and in particular http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/10/19/20916/994
and http://www.talk2action.org/story/2007/9/13/17438/3915 or the promo
material on her own site at http://www.urbancure.org/starparker.asp).

In particular, Parker does seem to have NARasite linkage; she shared the
stage with David Barton of the NARasite historical-revisionist group
“Wallbuilders” (http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/7/18/142622/634)
along with Rick Scarborough at a “Penetrating America’s Heart
Conference” held Sept. 25-27, 2000 at Encourager Church; Encourager is a
“stealth Assemblies” NARasite church with linkages to C. Peter Wagner’s
network in particular that literally operates nowadays as a de facto
“daughter” church of the infamous NARasite Brownsville A/G in Pensacola
(http://www.encouragerchurch.org/ and in particular
http://www.encouragerchurch.org/staff1.html notes how it’s essentially a
Third Wave/Joel’s Army church DIRECTLY descended from Brownsville).
More NARasite linkage (and “Assemblies NARasite” in particular) comes
from some of her advisory board members–Kenneth Blackwell (connected
with World Harvest Church in Columbus, a NARasite “Assemblies
daughter”), John Ashcroft (yes, as in the Assemblies NARasite who was
“annointed” as Attorney-General, as in the literal son of the founder of
the Assemblies frontgroup Chi Alpha), and the head of the dominionist
“Liberty Counsel” legal-harassment group
(http://www.urbancure.org/advisors.asp).

Parker serves not only as an “Uncle Tom” (or “Auntie Thomasina”) to the
African-American community but also to women; she’s linked with the
Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute, a “conservative women” think-tank
(http://www.cblpi.org/index.cfm); she’s a favourite on the whargarbl
sites Townhall (http://townhall.com/columnists/StarParker/archive.shtml)
and WorldNetDaily (http://www.wnd.com/news/archives.asp?AUTHOR_ID=219).

Her present husband (she is apparently trotted out especially as an
example of “ebony and ivory living in perfect harmony”; her husband is
white) was in seminary at a steeplejacked “Charismatic Episcopalian”
church as of 1997 (http://www.theeffectivetruth.info/testlsip.html notes
her husband is pastor of St. Michael’s Charismatic Episcopal Church.

So, long story short–this is pretty much *precisely* the crowd Palin
would be hanging around with.

Again, I know this is a lot of information, but when you see the linkages and how deep they go, you can see why we are concerned about these seemingly inocuous appearances.  These are planned and intentional to acheive specific outcomes, and IF we hear about them, it is easy to dismiss them as an “so what, she is speaking at a church – big surprise” kind of reaction.  Believe it or not I only provided a third of that email for you, but it gives you a significant amount of reference material to check out as time allows you.

Palin and Parker are both being used by the boys at the top, but their egos allow them to lap up the glory along the way.  And who are the boys at the top who are referenced in this outline by dogemporer?  James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Dave Barton, and C. Peter Wagner – just to name a few – who are all entertwined with each other and groups like Youth with a Mission =YAM who =Loren Cunningham who = The Fellowship who = The Family recently exposed by Jeff Sharlet.

Soooo…anyone in Anchorage going tonight?

UPDATE!!  BAILIN’ PALIN BAILS AGAIN! THIS WOMAN IS UNBELIEVABLE…

Link here to Lisa Derrick’s article that was JUST posted to LaFiga Firedoglake.com.

She can’t even commit to something she is committed to!

I had a dear friend over for dinner last night.  Time has done its typical relentless march and before we knew it, a year had passed since we last got together.  In our effort to catch up on what was happening in each others lives, as you might well imagine the topic of my research and writing came up (and stayed up) for a fair portion of the evening.

It started out with Palin and what my opinion is as to why she resigned; then on to the GOP and what does it matter seeing as how they lost by a landslide; then my friend said, “I don’t have time to follow all this, and there aren’t that many of them anyway!”  How disheartening… So where was I going to begin without turning our evening into a lecture series?  It is a tough one.  But I had no choice.

One of the biggest problems for us, and a positive for the extremists, is our disbelief and overwhelm.  They rely on us essentially ignoring the information and activities right in front of us for a variety of reasons; 1)  we really don’t want to hear about it because it is too disturbing; 2)  if we were to pay attention to it – just what are we supposed to DO with this information? 3)  our lives are so busy we don’t have time to pay attention to all this nonsense – and as she said – there aren’t that many of them anyway.

I hear her!  As I sit here writing today, it is perfect outside, 70s, sunny and I can think of a hundred other things I would rather be doing than having to write about these extremists.  And granted, my devotion to informing others about these fanatics requires considerably more time than is necessary for the rest of us to be modestly informed and stay aware.  I am really not expecting everyone to become an activist.  I am hoping that people will at minimum recognize the face of Dominionism when it is right in front of them and not dismiss it.

For example, this friend of mine has a main business partner that she works along side everyday that is a born-again, evangelical extremists and attends services faithfully at a local dominionist church.  She avoids conversations with him but doesn’t recognize that he is exactly the type of ‘c’hristian that belongs to these indoctrinated congregations.

I explained to her that he is the embodiment of what I am talking about.  I have met and spent time with her business partner so I am not making a generalized statement based on stereo-types.

She was raised catholic and remembers a conversation not long ago where he had never heard of “lent” and chalked it up to “oh, those Catholics”.  I pointed out that this is typical.  Often times these born-agains have a myopic view of the Bible as taught to them from repeated specific versus – over and over again – without understanding context, NOR having any other concept of how their beliefs fit into a world view of Christianity or (god forbid) other religious ideologies!

It is a faith of rhetoric and rote memorization.  That is an equation for dangerous blind followers and total immersion.  What does this produce?  People like her partner who can’t defend his beliefs other than pointing to the (revised Zondervan Publishing version, NIV) Bible and saying “it’s all in there”, yet lacking the knowledge of what that really even means.  In a word?  Brainwashing!

Their own movement places the numbers at approximately 30-35% of the population and growing.  They go on to proudly claim that the leadership in their movement – who are the only ones truly in “the know” – consist of about 3-5% of THAT population, but they aim to emulate the “jihadists” and grow that to 10% where they will cause a “tipping point” and create a Christian State.  Okey-dokey!

Which brought me to the next point in our conversation last night, which is that many in the congregations aren’t even aware of the fine points of the End Times/Apocalyptic agenda pursued by the leadership/salesmen…yet they are equally as responsible in their contributions and complicity.  The Sheeples…

The population of the United States currently stands at 304 million people.  So when we do the math – they claim a following of any where between 91 – 106 million.  Our numbers are far more conservative and have placed their Sheeple numbers between 50 – 80 million.  Either way, this is a substantial number of people who subscribe to this “faith”!

“There aren’t that many of them” will echo in my head for the rest of the afternoon while I mow my lawn and wonder what can I do differently?  What can WE do differently?  It is not enough to reach one person at a time…

I gave her a signed copy of “TheoPalinism – The Face of Failed Extremism” as she was leaving…and she readily accepted and looks forward to reading it.  It does carry an introductory message to this craziness and I wish I could afford to mail it out randomly and get it in as many hands as possible…but with that idea off the table I am open to others!  I am ALL ears my friends…please share your thoughts.

Tom Delay, who is under idictment for money laundering as I posted in my ongoing list of GOP crimials, is making time out of his busy schedule of “stopping Obama” to be on “Dancing with the Stars”.  (This just further confirms for me that this TV show is VERY loose with the use of the word “stars”!)

Let’s review this “star“…shall we?

Tom DeLay, former House Majority Leader was indicted for campaign finance fraud, criminal conspiracy, and two counts of money laundering.  He was arrested and booked at Harris County Jail on October 20, 2005.  Since then, he’s been out on bail pending trial.  Also known as “Hot Tub Tom” from his days in the Texas State Legislature, DeLay became a born-again Christian in 1985.  After his wife Christine DeLay began volunteering as a court-appointed special advocate for children in foster care, the DeLays also became foster parents. DeLay has declined to comment on reports in The New Yorker that he is estranged from much of his family, including his mother and one of his brothers.

DeLay was not personally friends with Armey or Gingrich; he considered them intellectual posers who were not committed to Christian values.

And since he has such upstanding morals…you can see his conflict (rolling of eyes)…

DeLay’s involvement with the lobbying industry also includes a pointed effort on the part of the Republican Party to parlay the Congressional majority into a dominance of K Street, the famed lobbying district of Washington, D.C. (known as the K Street Project) DeLay, Senator Rick Santorum, and conservative activist Grover Norquist launched a campaign in 1995 encouraging lobbying firms to retain Republican officials in top positions.

DeLay has received gifts from Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, including paid golfing holidays to Scotland, concert tickets, and the use of Abramoff’s private skyboxes for fundraisers. Abramoff has since pleaded guilty to federal charges in an influence-peddling investigation.  The Associated Press reported on April 7, 2005.

Today Tom runs around from one Fox show to another giving his ‘professional’ take on the Obama Administration and actually has the gaul to infer that the “Right” is the answer to our problems in this country!  After all, they have done such an exemplary job over the past 8 years!!  If they have all the answers – then WHY AREN”T THEY SHARING THEM???

This is only 33 seconds long, but that is still more time than I can stand listening to this guy.

When asked how he has time to be a “dance star”, DeLay replied, “That’s just five hours a day that I dance,” he told The Daily Beast Tuesday morning from Houston, Texas, as he drove to his first training session. “I’ve got another 19 hours to stop Obama.”

What a great values driven American!  What a guy!  What a conservative republican patriot!  What a ‘c’hristian!

And when asked to expound on his thoughts regarding Palin?

Steve Waldman wrote on beliefnet.com –

“In a brief interview I had today, the former House Majority Leader said he was deeply unenthusiastic about McCain but now shares the prevailing ecstasy about Sarah Palin.

It’s obvious that’s a woman with a world view. I could see it in the way she looked at her family. I could see in the discussion around her child. It’s obvious her faith is her foundation. A Christian has a world view that allows you see a situation…they’ve made the bad choice. So do you see it as a punishment as Obama does or as a blessing as Christians see it?”

They flock together…don’t they?

You have just GOT to watch this for yourself…

…he has truly met the I.Q. standard for the Palin version of conservative republican.

I was just having a conversation on the air yesterday during a radio show about how these same congress members who are so outraged and such alarmists about Obama’s health care reform intruding into our personal lives, especially where end of life decisions are concerned, and then we noted what HYPOCRITES these sanctimonious republicans truly are!

Darren Hutchinson of Dissenting Justice is guest-blogging today for Glenn Greenwald’s column over at Salon.com sums it up beautifully in his article referring to Palin and Grassley as “Dumb & Dumber”…but there is a lot of competition for that title!  Here are a few excerpts for you, but I do recomend that you click this link to read his entire article…well worth it!

“Sarah Palin and Senator Chuck Grassley are working together to spread lies regarding the substance of pending healthcare reform legislation.

In 2005, Grassley supported legislation that injected Congress into the Terri Schiavo saga. Schiavo’s husband – and medical proxy under Florida law — waged an almost 10-year legal battle to refuse life-sustaining medical treatment on behalf of his wife, who was in a persistent vegetative state. After a federal judge ordered the removal of food and hydration, Congress intervened and passed a law that was blatantly crafted to nullify the Florida litigation and to keep Schiavo alive against the wishes of her husband, who acted on her behalf.

Although the Senate passed the statute by unanimous consent, Grassley revealed his position and expressed his support for the measure, stating that: “I support the effort to protect Terri Schiavo. It’s the first case of its kind, a chance to choose life over death. I gave the option to life. . . .” Grassley, however, did not vote for life over death. Instead, he voted to authorize direct federal involvement in an end-of-life medical decision – something he currently claims to abhor.

And to finish icing this cake, Palin and Grassley both support the death penalty. Capital punishment indisputably involves the government determining whether someone will live or die.

“Dumb” works

Apparently, “dumb” works. According to the latest Gallup poll, the conservative backlash to healthcare reform has eroded support among voters – particularly independents. If members of the corporate media (as Glenn Greenwald affectionately describes the “news” outlets) did their job and uncovered the deception and hypocrisy associated with this backlash, then this movement’s rhetoric would actually face greater scrutiny and would perhaps lose some of its effectiveness. The White House also fell asleep at the wheel, as this movement continued to mobilize and to work the media. Furthermore, I suspect that many of Obama’s Web-warriors are enjoying the final weeks of summer break and have not sufficiently organized on this issue.

Public opinion, however, is extremely malleable. If progressives redouble their efforts, a pretty solid reform package might actually get through Congress without damaging (and even possibly helping) the Democrats. Stay tuned.

You know…we hear constantly from these extremists as they smugly declare that the “liberals and democrat party is afraid of Palin”.  Uh, yeah…I am afraid of ALL of them and the collective ignorance that they have brought to the Republican Party!  I am not going to say that this mentality and lack of intelligence doesn’t scare the HELL out of me!  I am concerned for anyone who doesn’t feel that way.

The hypocrisy knows no end…and these Political Dominionists consider themselves the party of Jesus Christ…WOW!

After being a guest for 2 hours on a radio show in North Carolina on WZTK, and hearing a few remarks about the flying accusations as to who is to be likened to Hitler – the GOP or the Dems – I thought this was a perfect time to share research by Alex (dogemporer) on dominionist ties to white supremacist groups that go back early in our history.

To simply shout the loudest and make grossly mistaken remarks accusing Obama of Nazism is all it takes for these ‘c’hristian neocons to jump on that bandwagon.

BUT…they vehemently deny any association with Hitler idolization when there is evidence to the contrary and out of their own mouths.  Here is the first in a series of writings that I will post by Alex from the Daily Kos:

Racists and dominionists, part 1: A troubling history

by dogemperor

Mon Oct 09, 2006 at 08:15:11 AM PDT

“Today, I begin part one of what will be a two or three part series on a secret that the dominionists very much want kept under the bed, so to speak.

Not only are many of the leaders of the dominionist group hateful in and of themselves to LGBT folks and others, it turns out that quite a number of them–including some of the leaders of the dominionist movement like the heads of the Family Research Council, anti-abortion groups, and even Ken Blackwell and John Ashcroft–are linked to some of the most virulent racist and domestic-terrorist groups in the US.

And–as we’ll see in today’s post–this has a very long history, including Christian Identity’s origins in dominion theology (yes, really!) and the oldest dominionist group in the US’s ties with American Nazi groups in the 30’s.

• dogemperor’s diary :: ::

As I’ve discussed before in my articles on dominion theology on DailyKos, “serpent seed” theology actually originated within dominionist groups–and in fact is still used by the “spiritual warfare” crowd to claim that opponents of dominionism are the literal children of the devil.  The split between dominionism proper and Christian Identity occurred in 1948 when the Church of Jesus Christ Christian was founded–as a split from International Foursquare.

There are a few bits of note here–William Branham was one of the first practitioners in the AoG and other pentecostal groups of what would later be termed “dominion theology”–the word-faith aka “name it and claim it” movement originates from him, as do aspects of “latter rain” theology.  Charles Fox Parnham, also mentioned in the article, is the actual founder of pentecostal sects including the Assemblies of God and at least one other source notes Parnham’s influence in their early theology.  The AoG itself has had a long historical record of involvement with dominionism–the term “dominion theology” actually arises from theology in the word-faith movement that claims that illness occurs because “Satan presently has dominion” and that Pentecostals (being the only truly “saved” individuals) must “take dominion” of all things to secure God’s blessing over them and participate in “spiritual warfare”.

The other group of note is the group that can be truthfully stated to have been the first dominionist group in the US in action, if not in name–the Full Gospel Businessmens’ Fellowship International.  FGBMFI was started by an AoG preacher and effectively operates as a “business outreach” of the Assemblies, and can legitimately be seen as a front group of that denomination; they are also responsible for promotion of dominionism throughout the AoG (and even to other non-pentecostal groups–the FGBMFI is a major promoter of “sheep stealing” and infiltration of mainstream Christian churches) and is also the source of spread of most of the spiritually abusive practices within the Assemblies of God, including the theological basis for dominionism in that denomination:

(from a preliminary list of groups that may be front-groups of, or effectively run by, the Assemblies of God)

Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship International (a front group of the AoG targeting businessmen and other professionals; has been associated with coercive Yoido Full Gospel Church in Korea (which is the church that originated the “Third Wave” aka “Brownsville” stuff and other coercive tactics in the AoG); per multiple reports is associated with spiritual abuse as well as dominionist planning and may beparticularly responsible for dominionist infiltration of the military; per this article andthis article group has falsely advertised itself as interfaith group but rejects non-dominionists)

There is even some evidence that the FGBMFI may have been the original source promoting dominionism in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Going a bit further from the Assemblies of God in particular (the fact that the denomination is hip-deep within the dominionist movement, and may be its actual originator, is quite well documented especially on sites like Yurica Report and Deception In The Church) and looking at the whole “British Israelism” thing in general–the two main descendants of that theology are Pentecostals (who believe that they along with the Jewish people are the “chosen people” and–in “dominion theology” popular in pentecostal circles–must create a theocracy to “secure God’s blessing”) and Christian Identity (which rejects outright the idea of Jews being, well, Jewish).

If it were just a matter of dominionism being a “sister movement” to a racist ideology, or even Christian Identity being merely a racist split from pentecostalism, that’d be one thing.  The problem is, the links are rather deeper than that (as noted, dominionism was essentially founded by racists) and the links continue to the present day.”

So how does that stack up to the ludicrous and totally baseless remarks flung carelessly out there by Palin and soooo many others (such as on the Fox airwaves, for example)?  I have linked the title to Alex’ full article at Daily Kos which I highly recommend reading as the connections and people involved in their twisted world will surprise you.

On the other hand I was very heartened by the overall sentiment being one of promoting discussion and not shouting hate.  A very welcomed message…

Jeff Sharlet’s book, “The Family” has gained a tremendous amount of attention recently on the heels of adulterous affairs by South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford and Nevada Senator John Ensign.  It is an important book to add to your reading list and I have added it to my MUST READ list.

From Publishers Weekly
Checking in on a friend’s brother at Ivenwald, a Washington-based fundamentalist group living communally in Arlington, Va., religion and journalism scholar Sharlet finds a sect whose members refer to Manhattan’s Ground Zero as “the ruins of secularism”; intrigued, Sharlet accepts on a whim an invitation to stay at Ivenwald. He’s shocked to find himself in the stronghold of a widespread “invisible” network, organized into cells much like Ivenwald, and populated by elite, politically ambitious fundamentalists; Sharlet is present when a leader tells a dozen men living there, “You guys are here to learn how to rule the world.”

As it turns out, the Family was established in 1935 to oppose FDR’s New Deal and the spread of trade unions; since then, it has organized well-attended weekly prayer meetings for members of Congress and annual National Prayer Breakfasts attended by every president since Eisenhower. Further, the Family’s international reach (“almost impossible to overstate”) has “forged relationships between the U.S. government and some of the most oppressive regimes in the world.” In the years since his first encounter, Sharlet has done extensive research, and his thorough account of the Family’s life and times is a chilling expose.

Now you have to read an article written by University of Alaska Professor Alan Boraas last fall about how Palin has ties to the same power-brokers in The Family that Jeff writes about in his book.

Palin’s connection to what Jeff Sharlet has called “elite fundamentalism” is of interest now that she is an election and a heartbeat away from the presidency. Franklin Graham has been the keynote speaker for the Alaska Governor’s Prayer Breakfast the past two years. According to their Web site, the organizers believe, “God directs the affairs of Man and is the ultimate authority over human events.”

The Alaska Governor’s Prayer Breakfast is connected to the National Prayer Breakfast sponsored by The Fellowship Foundation, also known as “The Family,” which espouses similar beliefs. The Family is headed by Doug Coe, one of the most influential evangelicals in Washington, D.C. Coe’s group tends to operate behind the scenes organizing small cells attended by the power elite, mostly Republicans. George Bush was saved in such a cell while in Texas.

Elite fundamentalists believe, according to Sharlett, not only in religious determinism but that they are personally chosen by God to be in positions of power. By claiming divine legitimacy of their political power, elite fundamentalists relegate the opposition to being the devil’s tool. They are making a frighteningly close return to the pre-enlightenment concept of rule by divine right, which our founding fathers rejected as anathema to democracy and established, instead, the separation of church and state lest decisions be made on the basis of good versus evil rather than wise versus unwise.

I have spoken with both these men and we all agree that to dismiss Palin, or any of these other potential rising GOP leaders is irresponsible given that in order to rise to the top in their party – political dominionism ideology is a given.  The more ignorant the rhetoric and the more absurd they appear – the quicker we are to dismiss them.  That is where we are in error.

I am going to be posting videos and narrative that will illuminate the depth of Palin’s beliefs and involvement in the Dominionist cult.  Some of these are too traumatic for some to watch who were raised or members of these “churches”, and I apologize for that in advance.  Do not watch the video if you are a survivor and walkaway from these cults.  My co-collaborator is one who cannot endure the trauma that these trigger for her.

Having said that, the rest of us need to really expose ourselves to this, and appreciate how serious it all is.  These are not random small groups of lunatics scattered in the nether-lands of America.  These are LARGE groups (Wasilla 6,000 every Sunday) spread across our country and estimating 60 – 80 MILLION strong!

This first clip is 2 and a half minutes long, and is a compilation of longer videos that show Palin’s enthusiasm and support for this belief…

Notice how brazen they are.   Not only unashamed, modest in their ideologies – but arrogant and smug in their sense of being specially ‘chosen’ by God to either convert us or deport us.

I cannot tell you how upsetting this is to me that they have staked claim to my home state of Alaska!  I am 4th generation Alaskan, and even though I know that other generational (and born and raised) Alaskans have fallen prey to these dominionists, the majority of them are from extreme evangelical bible belt states that migrated north during the Alaska oil pipeline boom days…and stayed.

My mother was almost sucked into that vortex in 1964 while we lived in Ketchikan, Alaska…the town where I was born, my mother was born and embarrassingly enough – where Mary Skulka, now known as Mary Glazier was born.

Mary Skulka Glazier is Tlingit, and was raised in a household of alcoholism, neglect and deep dysfunction.  All these factors contributed to her ‘conversion’ to the white man evangelizing when the road show came to town.  I witnessed these road shows personally, even in this small insignificant community in the scheme of conversion focus – population then around 6,000 and whose population has fluctuated from the old days of mining, fishing and logging to the paper pulp mill and now reliant entirely on tourism and state oil revenues.

This is important to understand where the spiritual “mastermind” of Sarah Palin came from who remains to this day her senior “Apostle” and spiritual advisor, and can legitimately lay claim to grooming Palin for her ‘higher calling’.  (Bill Kristol of the Council for National Policy falsely touts that he ‘discovered her’ in 2007).

And equally as important because we are all so SICK AND TIRED of her – to understand why this woman is not going away.  This isn’t simply about a simple woman from Wasilla…it is about how a powerful political organization run by powerful Political Dominionists, bought into the notion that this woman is Queen Esther from the Old Testament and thrust her into our realities.

Watch this video…please…and listen to Mary stake her dominionist claims on Alaska with Dutch Sheets and nearly 6,000 people in attendance ritualistically goading her on in their fervored trance – including Sheets who is one of C. Peter Wagner most revered Phalse Prophets for Profits!

I will follow this up tomorrow with discussion on what Glazier lays claim to in this video as well as information about the “Alaska Pilgramage”…( a glass of wine or other refreshment of choice is highly recommended before sleeping ).

This is a GREAT article by Frank Schaeffer!

Lies, Intimidation, and the Insurance Industry: The Republicans Have Lost Their Minds

By Frank Schaeffer
Posted on August 7, 2009, Printed on August 7, 2009

http://www.religiondispatches.org/blog/politics/1749/

The Republican Old Guard are in the fix an atheist would be in if Jesus showed up and raised his mother from the dead: Their world view has just been shattered. Obama’s election has literally driven them over the edge.

Consider former congressman Dick Armey. Several far right foundations and the multitrillion dollar health-insuranceindustry have teamed up with him to organize the far right foot soldiers of the Republican Party to intimidate people speaking on behalf of health-care reform. They are using my old shock troops — given that many of these folks were first energized by the Evangelical pro-life movement that my late father and I started in the 1970s. What we did to clinics they are now doing to congressmen and others speaking out for health care reform. It’s called intimidation.

Having failed at the ballot box, having watched their Fox News-organized “tea parties” fizzle, the intimidation tactics which the Republicans have embraced are being used in a well-financed, top-down orchestrated fake grass roots campaign by corporate interests to try and protect the profits of the insurance business.

Armey’s FreedomWorks is organizing against health care reform. Armey’s lobbying firm represents pharmaceutical companies including Bristol-Myers Squibb. Armey’s lobbying firm also represents the trade group for the life insurance industry. FreedomWorks is supporting the status quo at all costs. (They are also fans of fossil fuels. Armey’s lobbying firm represents Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Prime Minister of the UAE, on energy related issues.)

Oh!  This is a good spot to interrupt Frank’s article and insert that blurb about him from my list of 123 GOP Criminals!

Dick Armey Republican US RepresentativeTexas, former professor at North Texas State in Denton, anit-gay bigot has been accused by The Dallas Observer of sexually harassing at least female students.  This is the same area that Constable Larry Dale Floyd hails from.  (see his listing).

Astroturfing activities

Dick Armey’s organization, FreedomWorks was behind the creation of a fake grassroots web site called Angryrenter.com which rallies opposition to “the Obama Housing Bailout.” The site urges people to oppose bailing out mortgage companies. The site claims to represent “Renters and responsible homeowners against a government mortgage bailout.”

Michael M. Phillips, a reporter with the Wall Street Journal wrote about AngryRenter.com:

AngryRenter.com looks a bit like a digital ransom note, with irregular fonts, exclamation points and big red arrows — all emphasizing prudent renters’ outrage over a proposed government bailout for irresponsible homeowners. “It seems like America’s renters may NEVER be able to afford a home,” AngryRenter.com laments. The Web site urges like-minded tenants to let Congress feel their fury by signing an online petition. “We are millions of renters standing up for our rights!” Angry they may be, but the people behind AngryRenter.com are certainly not renters. Though it purports to be a spontaneous uprising, AngryRenter.com is actually a product of an inside-the-Beltway conservative advocacy organization led by Dick Armey, the former House majority leader, and publishing magnate Steve Forbes, a fellow Republican. It’s a fake grass-roots effort — what politicos call an AstroTurf campaign — that provides a window into the sleight-of-hand ways of Washington.^[1]

Schaeffer goes on to write in his article:

Last year, the Wall Street Journal exposed FreedomWorks for building “amateur-looking” websites to promote far right interests of Armey. FreedomWorks represents a top-down, corporate-friendly approach that’s been the norm for conservative organizations for years. How do I know this is the norm? Because I used to have strategy meetings with the late Jack Kemp and Dick Army and the rest of the Republican gang about using their business ties to help finance the pro-life movement to defeat Democrats. I know this script. I helped write it.

Democratic members of Congress are being harassed by angry, sign-carrying mobs and disruptive behavior at local town halls. It’s the tactic we used to follow abortion providers around their neighborhoods. “Protesters” surrounded Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) and forced police officers to have to escort him to his car for safety. We used to do the same to Dr. Tiller… until someone killed him.

Which sure makes me ask myself…how far will this insanity go?  Who will get hurt before this is exposed for what it really is?  This is NOT simple freedom of speech.  This is indeed organized mayhem!

How can the right stoop so low?

I used to know Dick Armey quite well. One of my sons even worked for him as an intern. I knew Armey in the context of his being a fan of my late Evangelical Religious Right leader father Francis Schaeffer. (Back in the day when I was a right wing “pro-life” organizer who has long since quit the Republicans in disgust at their — our — descent into extremism and hate.) Armey was once a decent guy, whatever his political views. How could he stoop so low as to be organizing what amounts to America’s Brownshirts today?

I think I know what happened to him, Gingrich and the rest: They can’t compute that their white man-led conservative revolution is dead. They can’t reconcile their idea of themselves with the fact that white men like them don’t run the country any more — and never will again. To them the black president is leading a column of the “other” into their promised land. Gays, immigrants, blacks, progressives, even a female Hispanic appointed to the Supreme Court: for them this is the Apocalypse.

Conclusion: the fascist formula

Here’s the emerging American version of the fascist’s formula: combine millions of dollars of lobbyists’ money with embittered troublemakers who have a small army of not terribly bright white angry people (collected over decades through pro-life mass mailing networks) at their beck and call, ever ready to believe any myth or lie circulated by the semi literate and completely and routinely misinformed right wing — Evangelical religious underground. Then put his little mob together with the insurance companies’ big bucks.

What can be done?

It’s time that this whole shabby (and insane) business be exposed, vilified in run out of town on a rail by whatever responsible Republicans — if any — that are still in the party and who want to see the fortunes of their party revived. Republican leaders taking insurance industry money via lobbying firms and using it to organize what amounts to roving bands of thugs not only need to be exposed but thrown out of the public debate forever. They should become absolute pariahs.

It’s time to give this garbage a name: insurance-industry-funded fascism.

If there is anyone out there who can write about this with certainty and authority, it would be Frank Schaeffer…and we need to heed his words.

It is kind of like the later years of the creator of nuclear weapons, that although Oppenheimer’s scientific expertise produced the bomb, he grew increasingly uneasy over its application and destructive power. Oppenheimer became the first of a long line of antinuclear activists and scientists to protest nuclear weapons and nuclear power.

So as did Oppenheimer regret creating something so destructive, now comes Frank Schaeffer with his own regrets for co-creating a social weapon of sorts – and his words of warning.