And our Lexicon grows!

- Glossolalia –  also known as “xenoglossy” (emphasis on the ‘glossy’) is the required 2nd language of Dominionist Sheeples. We are more familiar with it referred to as “speaking in tongues”. The basis for this “language” doesn’t exist, but you cannot convince them, and they aren’t even the least bit embarrassed by the absurdity of putting it into practice.

Here is an article that discusses this act from a scientific evaluation of ‘glossololia’ -

Glossolalia is fabricated, meaningless speech.

According to Dr. William T. Samarin, professor of anthropology and linguistics at the University of Toronto,

glossolalia consists of strings of meaningless syllables made up of sounds taken from those familiar to the speaker and put together more or less haphazardly …. Glossolalia is language-like because the speaker unconsciously wants it to be language-like. Yet in spite of superficial similarities, glossolalia fundamentally is not language (Nickell, 108).

When spoken by schizophrenics, glossolalia are recognized as gibberish. In charismatic Christian communities glossolalia is sacred and referred to as “speaking in tongues” or having “the gift of tongues.” In Acts of the Apostles, tongues of fire are described as alighting on the Apostles, filling them with the Holy Spirit. Allegedly, this allowed the Apostles to speak in their own language but be understood by foreigners from several nations.

Glossolalics behave in various ways, depending on the social expectations of their community. Some go into convulsions or lose consciousness; others are less dramatic. Some seem to go into a trance; some claim to have amnesia of their speaking in tongues. All believe they are possessed by the Holy Spirit and the gibberish they utter is meaningful. However, only one with faith and the gift of interpretation is capable of figuring out the meaning of the meaningless utterances. Of course, this belief gives the interpreter unchecked leeway in “translating” the meaningless utterances. Nicholas Spanos notes: “Typically, the interpretation supports the central tenets of the religious community” (Spanos, 147).

Uttering gibberish that is interpreted as profound mystical insight by holy men is an ancient practice. In Greece, even the priest of Apollo, god of light, engaged in prophetic babbling. The ancient Israelites did it. So did the Jansenists, the Quakers, the Methodists, and the Shakers.

“Glossolalia is fabricated, meaningless speech.

According to Dr. William T. Samarin, professor of anthropology and linguistics at the University of Toronto,

glossolalia consists of strings of meaningless syllables made up of sounds taken from those familiar to the speaker and put together more or less haphazardly …. Glossolalia is language-like because the speaker unconsciously wants it to be language-like. Yet in spite of superficial similarities, glossolalia fundamentally is not language (Nickell, 108).

When spoken by schizophrenics, glossolalia are recognized as gibberish. In charismatic Christian communities glossolalia is sacred and referred to as “speaking in tongues” or having “the gift of tongues.” In Acts of the Apostles, tongues of fire are described as alighting on the Apostles, filling them with the Holy Spirit. Allegedly, this allowed the Apostles to speak in their own language but be understood by foreigners from several nations.

Glossolalics behave in various ways, depending on the social expectations of their community. Some go into convulsions or lose consciousness; others are less dramatic. Some seem to go into a trance; some claim to have amnesia of their speaking in tongues. All believe they are possessed by the Holy Spirit and the gibberish they utter is meaningful. However, only one with faith and the gift of interpretation is capable of figuring out the meaning of the meaningless utterances. Of course, this belief gives the interpreter unchecked leeway in “translating” the meaningless utterances. Nicholas Spanos notes: “Typically, the interpretation supports the central tenets of the religious community” (Spanos, 147).

Uttering gibberish that is interpreted as profound mystical insight by holy men is an ancient practice. In Greece, even the priest of Apollo, god of light, engaged in prophetic babbling. The ancient Israelites did it. So did the Jansenists, the Quakers, the Methodists, and the Shakers.”

They tell a fable from the Book of Acts II: 1-11 to support the notion that such an event really did occur and it was prophesied by Joel that this kind of thing would happen in the last days. There is nothing in Joel, however, that prophesied that, when the last days didn’t come as predicted, plan B would be to wait 1900 years and have a revival and claim that when you speak gibberish it is a sign that God loves you.

Interesting – doncha think? Somehow, I’m thinkin’ they have taken these ancient interpretations and twisted them – and as we have discussed, they are experts at twisting biblical intent. Here is a video of one of their revered ‘church’ leaders speaking this eloquent language…

Gives you the chills doesn’t it? The article goes on to say…

What is the real Truth about Tongue Speaking?

Many Christians believe that speaking in tongues is the fulfilment of the Latter Rain promised in Joel 2:28-29 and that it is the final manifestation of the Holy Spirit before the Second Coming of Christ. It is also commonly taught that you have not received the Holy Spirit and are not saved unless you have demonstrated the gift of speaking in tongues, and tongues seems to be the only sought after gift in the tongue speaking Church today.

And here we bump up against the End Times/End of Times/Armageddon mentality once again. But I have the King James Version of the Christian Bible and when I read Joel 2:28-29…well, ummm, it doesn’t say anything about talking in babble-baby talk.

Isn’t it amazing what men can contrive and sell to the masses? Frightening!

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!

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…

First of all, I would like to thank those who bought “TheoPalinism – The Face of Failed Extremism”, and those who took interest enough to pick up my cards with the web site address.  Your interest and support is crucial in taking the steps necessary to begin educating ourselves about the Political Dominionism and how entrenched it is in our political lanscape.  It is imperative that we not roll our eyes and dismiss the lunacy of these people who now represent the neo-conservatives in America, and hennce the Republican Party.

Often times we are our own worst enemies.  Let me elaborate.  As progressives, democrats, moderates and so on – we tend to intellectualize issues to death!  When it comes to taking action steps, we balk.  We are so busy being tolerant…and politically correct…that our tolerance of the GOP intolerance – is going to put us right back in the minority!

Out of the hundreds of people that came by my table with my display of “TheoPalinism – The Face of Failed Extremism”, I only sold 21 books.  I did engage many more than that in short discussions, but the overwhelming sentiment was that they weren’t interested in hearing about Palin.  There was a great deal more interest in the 2nd book, “God’s Own Party? – Keep Your Bible OFF My Ballot!”  But there was a definite disconnect and a total repulsion at hearing about who this lunatic really is, and what her role is, has been and will be in the upcoming years – whether she ever runs for elected office again or not.

My sense of frustration is not in the lack of sales because TheoPalinism is a self-published book that I see no profit from.  I wrote it as a pre-cursor to the 2nd book and to illuminate where this wingnut sprouted from and why she is a force that we cannot just shake our heads at and ignore with a dismissive attitude.  My sincere hope for TheoPalinism is that it will introduce what a political Dominionist candidate looks like and how dangerously close we came to having one as ridiculous as Palin in the White House.

What is disheartening about the lack of interest, is that it brings to light what an uphill battle this is going to be.  I have said before that I have no interest or energy in trying to change the minds of the brainwashed sheeples in the GOP.  But, getting the attention of everyone else is no small task either.

Even Ron Reagan made a quick dismissive comment about how Palin isn’t a factor and bypassed my table without even talking to me or looking at the book.  Again, people are just not getting this.  If she never ran for office again, it is about her ‘higher calling’ and how she will be used to whip the GOP fanatics into a froth such as she is doing right now on the issue of Health Care – by throwing out despicable garbage like “Obama’s ‘death panel’, and “euthanasia’ for the elderly.

It is about holding onto our seats in local, state and congressional elections NEXT YEAR!  2010!  THAT is what I am concerned about.  2012? Sure!  But right now it is about the millions of right-wing fanatics that hang on her every word who will show up in any weather, at any time of the day or night, across America to hear this insanity that she has to regurgitate.  It doesn’t matter what we think of her, it matters that she is like a gasoline hose dousing these tea-bagging republicans with hate and misinformation that is dangerous.

Fortunately Bill Press and Mike Malloy were genuinely intrigued (and I will follow up with them this week) – and to some degree Stephanie Miller and Thom Hartmann exhibited a modicum amount of interest.  But none of them were interested enough to buy the book.

So I need your help.  We need to tell our fellow “progressives” that it is playing right into their hands to turn our backs on learning not only about Palin, but Bachman, Huckabee, Jindal, Pence, Gingrich, and the list goes on.  TheoPalinism was intended to highlight their “poster gal”…but she is by NO means the leader of the pack.  We need to take a play right out of their book and fight back.

The dumber Palin comes across, the less we take her seriously, and the more dangerous she becomes.  If you have any doubts about that…just keep watching her as the weeks and months slip by toward the 2010 elections.  Meanwhile, I am now charged even more to complete my draft manuscript of “God’s Own Party?” and get it in the capable and really pissed off hands of Frank Schaeffer so that he can walk it into his NY publisher.  For those of you not so familiar with him, and those who are but may have missed it – here is his interview with Rachel Maddow from the other night.  With Frank’s endorsement (and those of many more) the 2nd book will draw the attention we need to get this message out in the same way that Jeff Sharlet’s book “The Family” is finally going viral.

So I will work on that as well as continuing to post articles here, and welcome some upcoming speaking engagements – and hopefully we will turn our own people around so that we don’t have to fight resistance from within on top of these extreme manipulative fanatics.

It’s kinda like “The artist formerly known as Prince”…whose name was Prince.  Hey!  This guys name is Prince too!  Are they brothers?  Could be…

Erik Prince is a piece of work.  Dominionist extraordinaire.  He has taken playing army to a frightening level.  Here is a blurb about this war-mongering racist ‘c’hristian:

“America’s Holy Warriors”

Erik Prince^[36] is “the secretive, mega-millionaire, right-wing Christian founder of Blackwater, the private security firm that has built a formidable mercenary force in Iraq,” Chris Hedges wrote December 31, 2006, in Truthdig.^[37]

Prince “champions his company as a patriotic extension of the U.S. military. His employees, in an act as cynical as it is deceitful, take an oath of loyalty to the Constitution.^[38] These mercenary units in Iraq, including Blackwater, contain some 20,000 fighters. They unleash indiscriminate and wanton violence against unarmed Iraqis, have no accountability and are beyond the reach of legitimate authority. The appearance of these paramilitary fighters, heavily armed and wearing their trademark black uniforms, patrolling the streets of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, gave us a grim taste of the future. It was a stark reminder that the tyranny we impose on others we will one day impose on ourselves,” Hedges wrote.^[37]

Vigilantism is dangerous no matter who initiates it.  And Prince is one of our favorite Dominionists who believes he is called in the Great Commission to take up where the proselytizers fail.  In other words, if you don’t convert and “accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour”, learn “speaking in tongues” as a second language and claim rebirth – well – Prince and Pals will be happy to remove you from the landscape…pretty much that simple.

Jeremy Scahill is the expert on Prince and Xe and this video is Scahill being interviewed by Keith Olberman on August 4th, 2009:

This next video is Mike Papantonio of Air America describing the frightening power of this mercenary military that is immune from oversight…you really have to watch this!

And the third, an excellent introduction as to exactly WHO and WHAT Blackwater/Xe is and how the Bush Administration used them as their own personal militia to engage in activities that would never be sanctioned under the rule of law.  In their minds they are truly the “hit men” for God with a mission to “cleanse” the world of what their definition of evil is.

No special meaning indeed. The same can be said for the identity, which is a bizarre cross between theold Xeroxbrandmark and the logo for Xena: Warrior Princess.As a result, the only X this rebrand deserves is for a new identity that has gone terribly, terribly wrong.In 2007, Blackwater Worldwide, the world’s largest private security company, made the wrong kind of headlines when Blackwater contractors allegedly shot and killed 17 Iraqis in a crowded square in Baghdad. This resulted in protests, congressional inquiries and the Iraqi government refusing to allow the organization to operate in the country. And now, in an effort to improve public perception, Blackwater has changed its name to Xe (pronounced ZEE).

Organizations that change their name usually do so to “better define” what they do, or to “clarify” a shift in services, and this is often in tandem with a repositioning of services or a shift in core competencies. Anne Tyrrell, a spokeswoman for Blackwater, explained that the company was changing its name because “the idea is to define the company as what it is today and not what it used to be.”

The Blackwater name has being expunged from all of its business units: Blackwater Airships (which offers surveillance services for intelligence gathering) has become Guardian Flight Systems. Blackwater Target Systems (the unit that develops and builds targets) is now being called GSD Manufacturing, and Blackwater Lodge and Training Center has been named the U.S. Training Center.

Not everyone agrees with Tyrrell. RJ Hillhouse, a national security expert and author of the blog called The Spy Who Billed Me, said the company is “obviously trying to distance itself from their image as reckless cowboys that’s etched into the world’s mind from the…shooting.” With a new name, “there are a lot of people who probably won’t connect the dots,” she said. “In a year or two, people won’t remember that’s Blackwater.”

When asked about the name change, Robert Passikoff, president of the New York marketing research firm Brand Keys, Inc. offered this: “There’s an old saying about brands: ‘When you can’t change the product, you change the packaging,’” he said. “It’s common for companies to rename in an effort to distance themselves from bad publicity, but in Blackwater’s case, things have gotten so bad that the company had little choice but dump the brand.”

Tyrrell disagrees. She countered that Blackwater’s past was only one of several factors involved in the decision. “The company leaders came up with and considered several new names,” she said. “Xe had the best potential for brand identity but has no special meaning,” she added.

No special meaning indeed. The same can be said for the identity, which is a bizarre cross between the old Xerox brandmark and the logo for Xena: Warrior Princess. As a result, the only X this rebrand deserves is for a new identity that has gone terribly, terribly wrong.

This is another article that gives you more information about this group of “brown shirts”, as I see them and yet another ‘incident’…  http://aftermathnews.wordpress.com/2009/03/23/xe-blackwater-sued-for-drunken-killing-of-iraqi-vps-guard-and-cover-up/

And here is the web site to their actual site…http://www.xecompany.com/

The Blackwater name has being expunged from all of its business units: Blackwater Airships (which offers surveillance services for intelligence gathering) has become Guardian Flight Systems. Blackwater Target Systems (the unit that develops and builds targets) is now being called GSD Manufacturing, and Blackwater Lodge and Training Center has been named the U.S. Training Center.

Not everyone agrees with Tyrrell. RJ Hillhouse, a national security expert and author of the blog called The Spy Who Billed Me, said the company is “obviously trying to distance itself from their image as reckless cowboys that’s etched into the world’s mind from the…shooting.” With a new name, “there are a lot of people who probably won’t connect the dots,” she said. “In a year or two, people won’t remember that’s Blackwater.”

And they aren’t kidding!  They truly rely on us being that stupid, that we really won’t remember…

Verb “Xe“

1. To block – (To fill (something) so that it is not possible to pass) or (To prevent (something or someone) from passing).
2. To catch – (act of catching a ball).
3. To fill – (to make full).
4. To seal – To prevent people or vehicles from crossing (something) or (To close securely to prevent leakage).

I will close this post with that…and please tell me what your interpretation of “Xe” is.  I know I have my own thoughts.  This was certainly a thoroughly thought out choice, and I am not comfortable with the meaning.

Yesterday’s post was extremely long, and I know it had a tremendous amount of information to take in.  I wanted to provide you with two things:  1)  information about the incoming Alaska Governer and his Dominionist affiliation; and 2)  an example of the depth of the research we do on each facet of this journey to uncover what is really going on in this movement.  I won’t do that to you again!

Today seems like a perfect time to introduce a new word into our growing lexicon.  Steeplejacking…

A reader left a comment that I thought required my answer in the form of a short post this morning and my answer will define steeplejacking. Here is her comment and question:

“Leah, this is really scary stuff! If I wanted to go to church I certainly want it to look like a church! Which leads me to ask…what is a person to do? A family moves into town and wants to attend church, how do they not get sucked into one of these Dominionist churches? Is it just not safe to go to any church nowadays?”

There are recognizable indicators that tip off what is a Dominionist evangelical church.  I started my response with, “There are a few characteristics that ‘thread’ through dominionist churches. Watch for the following: non-denominational, born-again, charismatic, emphasis on evangelizing and proselytizing, and speaking in tongues (or the bopping on the head/holy laughter weirdness). They also tend to be mega-churches (2,000 or more), unless in a small town. For example I am surrounded by 3 in a 3 mile radius from my home with names like, Dakota Christian Center, Community Baptist and Christ the King Church. They aren’t mega because the population is too small for huge, but you get the idea…

Let me now explain “steeplejacking”.  This is what happens when mainstream denominational churches lose their congregational members to a nearby evangelical church.  In very simple terms this is where members are wooed away from their churches by members of evangelical extremists, and/or their churches are literally taken over in place.  There is a great book available on Steeplejacking written by two ministers, Sheldon Culver and John C. Dorhauer of the United Church of Christ – Steeplejacking: How the Christian Right is Hijacking Mainstream Religion.

“An insider account by two ministers on the front lines of mainstream religions longtime shadow war against the religious right, Steeplejacking reveals how conservative renewal groups, backed by a right-wing organization called the Institute on Religion and Democracy, use social wedge issues like homosexuality to infiltrate mainline churches and stir up dissent among members of the congregation, with the goal of taking over the leadership of the church, and ultimately, the denomination.”

With that being said – the answer is – there are indeed many churches out there that have nothing to do with this extreme minority.  This is one of the components of this whole movement that frustrates me the most – that because they are so…well, evil really…it has cast a shadow over Christianity as a whole leaving an unsavory image.  And that is truly unfortunate…

I am not suggesting that all church services have to be drone, mundane and include rote memorization of passages, verses and hymnal preamble in order to be considered mainstream.  (Although that is the essence of the Lutheran services I had to attend as a kid).  But these dominionist churches pretty routinely are the ones that include the HUGE flat screens and an American flag draped somewhere behind their stage (I can’t bring myself to call it their pulpit), along with a live band of some sort.

Remember the saying by Sinclair Lewis,

“When fascism comes to America it will be wearing a flag [carrying a gun] and holding the bible”.

Jack Abramoff, lobbyist, Republican “Think-Tank” guy, pal of the Bush admiistration and close buds with Karl Rove – Currently incarcerated, Abramoff pled guilty to three criminal felony counts in a Washington, D.C., federal court related to the defrauding of American Indian tribes and corruuption of public officials.  The following day he pled guilty to two criminal felony counts of in a separate court in Miami, Florida, related to his fraudulaent dealings with SunCruz Casinos.

He is one of the patriots that worked on the 2001 Bush transition team.  Abramoff has indicated that he knew the U.S. would invade Iraq before the American public did, and before 9/11.

Poor Jack was abandoned by his pals and pitched a fit in prison when his Bush buddies said…”Jack WHO???”…and proceeded to deny having anything to do with him.  If only Bush & Co. could share his cell block.  Now that would be justice!

Thomas Ravenel, former South Carolina State Treasurer, AND South Carolina State Chairman of Rudy “9/11″ Giuliani for President, was charged and convicted for cocaine possession and was sentenced to 10 months in jail.  A supporter of Political Dominionist Senator Jim DeMint, Gover Mark Sanford, and Senator Lindsey Graham…enough said about the type of people he admires…ICK!

Klaudt was preaching the moral superiority of the far right while he was abusingmolesting children– his own foster daughters and 2 state legislative pagesKlaudt fancied himself a radical right Republican (and an evangelical) and in 2005 was a leader against the formation of the South Dakota Mainstream Coalition, meant to turn Republicans back towards mainstream conservatism.He was sentenced on January 17, 2008, to 44 years in prison: 11 years per count, to be served consecutively.  I hope he meets “Bubba” on the inside!!was charged with eight counts of rape, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of witness tampering, sexual contact with a person uner 16, and stalking.  There were five different victims, three were foster children who lived with Klaudt.  These poor little kids are victims of the worst form of betrayal and abuse at the hands of a “Family Values” puke!While in office, he co-sponsored several bills that took aim at sex offenders, including “community safety zones,” prohibiting sex offenders from residing, working, or entering within 500 feet of schools, public parks and swimming pools. He also co-sponsored the bill that required South Dakota to be included in the National Sex Offender Registry, a bill that requires the Department of Social Services to inform parents about abuse or neglect involving their children in state custody, and a (defeated) bill that would have prohibited the distribution of birth control to high school students.

Ted Klaudt- South Dakota State Representative was charged with eight counts of rape, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of witness tampering, sexual contact with a person uner 16, and stalking.  There were five different victims, three were foster children who lived with Klaudt.

Klaudt was preaching the moral superiority of the far right while he was abusing and molesting children– his own foster daughters and 2 state legislative pages.  Klaudt fancied himself a radical right Republican (and an evangelical) and in 2005 was a leader against the formation of the South Dakota Mainstream Coalition, meant to turn Republicans back towards mainstream conservatism.

He was sentenced on January 17, 2008, to 44 years in prison: 11 years per count, to be served consecutively. I hope he meets “Bubba” on the inside!!  These poor little kids are victims of the worst form of betrayal and abuse at the hands of a “Family Values” puke!

While in office, he co-sponsored several bills that took aim at sex offenders, including “community safety zones”, prohibiting sex offenders from residing, working, or entering within 500 feet of schools, public parks and swimming pools.  He also co-sponsored the bill that required South Dakota to be included in the National Sex Offender Registry, a bill that requires the Department of Social Services to inform parents about abuse or neglect involving their children in state custody, and a (defeated) bill that would have prohibited the distribution of birth control to high school students.  What a guy!

Larry Corrigan- Republican prosecutor arrested and pleaded guilty for soliciting sex from a 13 yr old girls over the internet.

Tom DeLay- 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.

Tony Alamo-  July 24, 2009- A federal jury has convicted evangelist Tony Alamo on charges he took underage girls across state lines for sex.  The jury issued its judgment Friday in federal court in Texarkana. The jury found the 74-year-old Alamo guilty of all counts he faced. …Alamo had denied the charges, claiming they came from a Vatican-led conspiracy against his ministry. His apocalyptic tracts outline his hatred of the Vatican and his feared “one-world government.” The Southern Poverty Law Center considers his ministry a “cult.”

Aaron Bruns- According to a Tweet by ABC News’ Jake Tapper, a former Fox News producer received a ten year prison sentence for child pornography charges.

Matthew Joseph Elliot- Former campaign staffer of Governor Mitt Romney and Republican candidate to the Iowa state

legislature, Republican Matthew Joseph Elliott was listed as a pedophile.  He is now charged with murder of an infant.  Police ruled the case a homicide on Jan. 24 after investigators received an autopsy report that showed his victim died of head injuries.

Derek Walker- Republican candidate for the 5th Congressional District in Pennsylvania, Derek Walker, has been arrested and charged with felony burglary, criminal trespass, misdemeanor disorderly conduct, stalking and four counts of invasion of privacy. Charges involved his relationship with his ex-girlfriend.

Mike Hintz- March 7, 2005- Republican pastor in Des Moines, Iowa pleaded guilty of three counts of sexual exploitation and sentenced to two years probation.  As part of his sentence,  Hintz, married with four children,  is forbidden to have contact with anyone under the age of 18.  Hintz was the man President Bush used to promote his tax plan in 2004.Jack Abramoff, lobbyist, Republican “Think-Tank” guy, pal of the Bush admiistration and close buds with Karl Rove – Currently incarcerated, Abramoff pled guilty to three criminal felony counts in a Washington, D.C., federal court related to the defrauding of American Indian tribes and corruuption of public officials.  The following day he pled guilty to two criminal felony counts of in a separate court in Miami, Florida, related to his fraudulaent dealings with SunCruz Casinos.

He is one of the patriots that worked on the 2001 Bush transition team.  Abramoff has indicated that he knew the U.S. would invade Iraq before the American public did, and before 9/11.

Poor Jack was abandoned by his pals and pitched a fit in prison when his Bush buddies said…”Jack WHO???”…and proceeded to deny having anything to do with him.  If only Bush & Co. could share his cell block.  Now that would be justice!

Thomas Ravenel, former South Carolina State Treasurer, AND South Carolina State Chairman of Rudy “9/11″ Giuliani for President, was charged and convicted for cocaine possession and was sentenced to 10 months in jail.  A supporter of Political Dominionist Senator Jim DeMint, Gover Mark Sanford, and Senator Lindsey Graham…enough said about the type of people he admires…ICK!

Klaudt was preaching the moral superiority of the far right while he was abusingmolesting children– his own foster daughters and 2 state legislative pagesKlaudt fancied himself a radical right Republican (and an evangelical) and in 2005 was a leader against the formation of the South Dakota Mainstream Coalition, meant to turn Republicans back towards mainstream conservatism.He was sentenced on January 17, 2008, to 44 years in prison: 11 years per count, to be served consecutively.  I hope he meets “Bubba” on the inside!!was charged with eight counts of rape, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of witness tampering, sexual contact with a person uner 16, and stalking.  There were five different victims, three were foster children who lived with Klaudt.  These poor little kids are victims of the worst form of betrayal and abuse at the hands of a “Family Values” puke!While in office, he co-sponsored several bills that took aim at sex offenders, including “community safety zones,” prohibiting sex offenders from residing, working, or entering within 500 feet of schools, public parks and swimming pools. He also co-sponsored the bill that required South Dakota to be included in the National Sex Offender Registry, a bill that requires the Department of Social Services to inform parents about abuse or neglect involving their children in state custody, and a (defeated) bill that would have prohibited the distribution of birth control to high school students.

Ted Klaudt- South Dakota State Representative was charged with eight counts of rape, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of witness tampering, sexual contact with a person uner 16, and stalking.  There were five different victims, three were foster children who lived with Klaudt.

Klaudt was preaching the moral superiority of the far right while he was abusing and molesting children– his own foster daughters and 2 state legislative pages.  Klaudt fancied himself a radical right Republican (and an evangelical) and in 2005 was a leader against the formation of the South Dakota Mainstream Coalition, meant to turn Republicans back towards mainstream conservatism.

He was sentenced on January 17, 2008, to 44 years in prison: 11 years per count, to be served consecutively. I hope he meets “Bubba” on the inside!!  These poor little kids are victims of the worst form of betrayal and abuse at the hands of a “Family Values” puke!

While in office, he co-sponsored several bills that took aim at sex offenders, including “community safety zones”, prohibiting sex offenders from residing, working, or entering within 500 feet of schools, public parks and swimming pools.  He also co-sponsored the bill that required South Dakota to be included in the National Sex Offender Registry, a bill that requires the Department of Social Services to inform parents about abuse or neglect involving their children in state custody, and a (defeated) bill that would have prohibited the distribution of birth control to high school students.  What a guy!

Larry Corrigan- Republican prosecutor arrested and pleaded guilty for soliciting sex from a 13 yr old girls over the internet.

Tom DeLay- 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.

Tony Alamo-  July 24, 2009- A federal jury has convicted evangelist Tony Alamo on charges he took underage girls across state lines for sex.  The jury issued its judgment Friday in federal court in Texarkana. The jury found the 74-year-old Alamo guilty of all counts he faced. …Alamo had denied the charges, claiming they came from a Vatican-led conspiracy against his ministry. His apocalyptic tracts outline his hatred of the Vatican and his feared “one-world government.” The Southern Poverty Law Center considers his ministry a “cult.”

Aaron Bruns- According to a Tweet by ABC News’ Jake Tapper, a former Fox News producer received a ten year prison sentence for child pornography charges.

Matthew Joseph Elliot- Former campaign staffer of Governor Mitt Romney and Republican candidate to the Iowa state

legislature, Republican Matthew Joseph Elliott was listed as a pedophile.  He is now charged with murder of an infant.  Police ruled the case a homicide on Jan. 24 after investigators received an autopsy report that showed his victim died of head injuries.

Derek Walker- Republican candidate for the 5th Congressional District in Pennsylvania, Derek Walker, has been arrested and charged with felony burglary, criminal trespass, misdemeanor disorderly conduct, stalking and four counts of invasion of privacy. Charges involved his relationship with his ex-girlfriend.

Mike Hintz- March 7, 2005- Republican pastor in Des Moines, Iowa pleaded guilty of three counts of sexual exploitation and sentenced to two years probation.  As part of his sentence,  Hintz, married with four children,  is forbidden to have contact with anyone under the age of 18.  Hintz was the man President Bush used to promote his tax plan in 2004.

Here are the latest names to add to the gallery of  Republican criminals that I began last month when I initially listed 123 of these stellar, upstanding “family values” ‘c’hristians who insist on dictating to all the rest of us how we are to live our lives, yet they are free to engage in any twisted, sick and dishonest behaviour they so choose.  Just like the “frat- boys” of C Street as told by Jeff Sharlet in his recent book “The Family”.

Jack Abramoff, lobbyist, Republican “Think-Tank” guy, pal of the Bush administration and close buds with Karl Rove – Currently incarcerated, Abramoff pled guilty to three criminal felony counts in a Washington, D.C., federal court related to the defrauding of American Indian tribes and corruption of public officials.  The following day he pled guilty to two criminal felony counts of in a separate court in Miami, Florida, related to his fraudulent dealings with SunCruz Casinos.

He is one of the patriots that worked on the 2001 Bush transition team.  Abramoff has indicated that he knew the U.S. would invade Iraq before the American public did,

and before 9/11.

Poor Jack was abandoned by his pals and pitched a fit in prison when his Bush buddies said…”Jack WHO???”…and proceeded to deny having anything to do with him.

If only Bush & Co. could share his cell block.  Now that would be justice!

Thomas Ravenel, former South Carolina State Treasurer, AND South Carolina State Chairman of Rudy “9/11″ Giuliani for President, was charged and convicted for cocaine possession and was sentenced to 10 months in jail.  A supporter of Political Dominionist Senator Jim DeMint, Governor Mark Sanford, and Senator Lindsey Graham…enough said about the type of people he admires…ICK!

Ted Klaudt- South Dakota State Representative was charged with eight counts of rape, two counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, two counts of witness tampering, sexual contact with a person under 16, and stalking.  There were five different victims, three were foster children who lived with Klaudt.

Klaudt was preaching the moral superiority of the far right while he was abusing and molesting children– his own foster daughters and 2 state legislative pages.  Klaudt fancied himself a radical right Republican (and an evangelical) and in 2005 was a leader against the formation of the South Dakota Mainstream Coalition, meant to turn Republicans back towards mainstream conservatism.

He was sentenced on January 17, 2008, to 44 years in prison: 11 years per count, to be served consecutively.

I hope he meets “Bubba” on the inside!!  These poor little kids are victims of the worst form of betrayal and abuse at the hands of a “Family Values” puke!

While in office, he co-sponsored several bills that took aim at sex offenders, including “community safety zones”, prohibiting sex offenders from residing, working, or entering within 500 feet of schools, public parks and swimming pools.  He also co-sponsored the bill that required South Dakota to be included in the National Sex Offender Registry, a bill that requires the Department of Social Services to inform parents about abuse or neglect involving their children in state custody, and a (defeated) bill that would have prohibited the distribution of birth control to high school students.

What a guy!

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

Tony Alamo, Preacher, July 24, 2009 a federal jury has convicted evangelist Tony Alamo on charges he took underage girls across state lines for sex.  The jury issued its judgment Friday in federal court in Texarkana. The jury found the 74-year-old Alamo guilty of all counts he faced.  Alamo had denied the charges, claiming they came from a Vatican-led conspiracy against his ministry.  His apocalyptic tracts outline his hatred of the Vatican and his feared “one-world government.”  The Southern Poverty Law Center considers his ministry a “cult.”

Aaron Bruns Washington, D.C. Bureau Chief Fox News, According to a Tweet by ABC News’ Jake Tapper, a former Fox News producer received a ten year prison sentence for child pornography charges.  Aaron Bruns is a producer for the Washington DC bureau of the Fox News Channel best known for following Hillary Rodham Clinton during the 2008 Democratic primary race. On February 10, 2009, Bruns was arrested and charged with one count of possession of child pornography.  An FBI search of Bruns’ Washington D.C. home turned up, among other evidence, photos and videos depicting the sexual abuse of children as young as five years old.

On February 13, 2009, it was reported that Fox News had fired Bruns in the wake of his arrest.

They clearly vet their employees with the same thoroughness as they do their support of Republican candidates for national office.

If I were Sean Parnell, and I was sitting there listening to Sarah Palin describing her justification for abandoning her post as governor of the State of Alaska early – I would have been personally insulted and emasculated.

“So, we are here today at a changing of the guard. Now, people who know me, and they know how much I love this state, some still are choosing not to hear why I made the decision to chart a new course to advance the state. And it should be so obvious to you. (indicating heckler) It is because I love Alaska this much, sir (at heckler) that I feel it is my duty to avoid the unproductive, typical, politics as usual, lame duck session in one’s last year in office. How does that benefit you? No, with this decision now, I will be able to fight even harder for you, for what is right, for truth. And I have never felt like you need a title to do that.” -  Sarah Palin Farewell Speech July 26th, 2009 Fairbanks, Alaska

But he didn’t…and he won’t.  Sean is a Palin follower and will not man-up.  He has guzzled the dominionist kool-aid.  He is not the most dynamic personality to begin with, I have sat across the table from the man as a lobbyist and know whereof I speak.  Sean is simply and unquestioningly accepting his role, as it is being scripted for him, in their march toward their “Great Commission” mandate.  They are sincere in their belief that the End Times are at hand and that they are “chosen” to play a crucial role in these final days.  Hence, Parnell is simply a foot soldier in God’s Army to Palin’s role as the anointed Queen Esther from the Book of Esther.  I know, sounds wild doesn’t it?  It is…but they have swallowed this hook, line and sinker and will not rest in their quest to fulfil the biblical prophecy (as they interpret it).

A little about Queen Esther: Esther had great wisdom and wise people know that sometimes timing is everything. She could not afford to ruin her one chance to save her people from a certain annihilation. It would be a tragedy of immense proportions. So much depended upon her actions!  Mordecai, earlier in the Book of Esther, had been given a place of power in the kingdom due to his trustworthiness.  The bravery of Esther saved the Jews.  Such is the eminence of Queen Esther, who will be remembered infinitely for the life she led and the role she played in saving her people through love and selfless devotion.

Is Parnell Mordecai?  Who knows…in their world anything can be created as long as they do it in the name of God.  This photo shows Parnell and Palin on stage with their evangelical leader Ed Kalnins of the Assemblies of God Wasilla Bible Church, as they receive guidance and prayer for direction.  (It is more than a bit disturbing that Senator Murkowski is there as well, although as a Catholic I cannot imagine she agrees with their interpretation of theonomy – for she would be thrown under the judgement bus along with the rest of us who are not specifically “born agains”)

Soooo…the fact that Sean did not take the microphone after his swearing in, and state with certainty that – contrary to Palin’s speech about the uselessness of the Governor’s office and position (with a mere 18 months remaining) – he would vow not to kowtow to the perceptions of being a “fill-in lame-duck”.  How is it that they deem his appointment as governor more worthwhile after just explaining what a waste of time it would be for Palin to remain?  Hmmm…it’s a conundrum of sorts, doncha think?