Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Ex Treasury Official Bruce Bartlett: " Republicans Stupid, Crazy, Ignorant Craven Cowards " & throwing Saint Reagan Under The Bus
Governor of Texas Rick Perry & Some Whoop-ass
Jimmy Kimmel response to Rick Perry's Tough Talk about beating up or lynching or just charging Ben Bernake of the Federal ReserveNote Federal Reserve has been a lightning rod for extreme right wing groups such as The Birchers and The Patriot Movement, Minutemen, Militias,posse comitatus So rick perry and others are now giving support to another Conspiracy theory which involves the FederalReserve , the Bilderberg group the non-existent Illuminati, free masons and other nonsense which is boiled down to World Government and so on.
Uploaded by JimmyKimmel Live on Aug 17, 2011Jimmy Kimmel Live - Rick Perry Campaign Ad
And now a few words from Rick Perry's Radical religious Right supporters who wish to give their blessing to Perry and pronounce him as an Apostle for GOD:
Islamophobia with a smile and a Hallelujah
Apostle and Prophet Lou Engle predicts Signs and Wonders in Detroit when his ministry The Call goes to Detroit where there is a large Muslim population.
God is bigger than the Devil
Pray for Muslims to convert to Engle's twisted and scary form of Evangelical Christianity or Christian Nationalism - Dominionists
Boykin" "I Am Intolerant" And I Meet With Rick Perry
From: RWWBlog | Aug 15, 2011 | 750 views
Jerry Boykin says he is intolerant of anything to prevents him from freely exercising his religion (e.g., gays and Muslims and liberals) while revealing his ties to Gov. Rick Perry.
Question of the day: Will Republicans throw Saint Ronald Reagan under the bus or have his name excised from all official documents ???
Reagan in fact raised taxes on the wealthy and was no as fiscally irresponsible as the Bush Regime which inherited a massive surplus to be replaced by a massive debt-
Ronald Reagan Schools the current Republicans for their financial irresponsibility on lawrence O'Donell and Rachel Maddow
"Saint" Ronald Reagan Warns And Scolds Republicans About The Dangers Of Not Raising Debt Ceiling
incitebytes
Uploaded by incitebytes on Jul 20, 2011
Clips from July 19, 2011, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell and The Rachel Maddow Show where Lawrence and Rachel ironically highlight clips of "Saint" Ronald Reagan warning and scolding Republicans about the dangers of not raising the debt ceiling.
Rick Perry questions whether the military has any respect for President Obama.
Perry is anti-evolution and pro-Creationism aka Intelligent Design
Perry appears to believe that it is more important for Americans to pray than to pass appropriate legislation.
Perry is backed by a whole roster of Religious Right wing-nuts especially those connected with The New Apostolic Reformation movement created by Peter C. Wagner.
But Apostolic movement and the Seven Mountains prophecy are really the rebranding of Dominionist and Reconstructionist theology especially as articulated by Rousas Rushodoony as Frank Schaeffer has pointed out.
These Religious Right leaders want to rid America of the notion of the Separation of Church and State.
As the Religious Right has its own God centered Faux scientists it has also got its own God Centered Faux Historians such as David Barton who is really a propagandist for the Religious and Political hard right.
Ex Treasury Official Bruce Bartlett Calls Texas Rick Perry An Idiot
ARTLOVERRR CNN Wolf Blitzer on Rick Perry lists some of the radical right wing issues which Perry supports-
The Elephant in the room is the Republican Party's responsibility under George W. Bush for the massive debt and fiscal irresponsibility-
US Financial crisis is greatly the result of the Bush Regime's tax cuts for the wealthy ie Income Tax & Capital Gains tax
which was combined with two unnecessary wars.
It is not all President Obama or the Democrat's fault.
Obama is intimidated by the Tea Party, the anti-government anti-regulation Radical Political Right and the Republican buffoons in Washington who are out to undermine President Obama even if this leads to further financial crisis in the USA.
Obama is too nice or naive to realize that the Republican Party do not act in good faith or for the good of the nation. They simply want to push through their agenda of decreasing the size and reach of government and to help out their super-wealthy friends.
As we have seen corporations which have been granted "personhood" are interested only in making profits they care little about the average American. This is why they see nothing wrong with putting their money into off shore accounts or moving their businesses to countries which do not protect their workers or the environment or have regulations of any kind. Money is the bottom line period.
Chris Mathews interviews Bruce Bartlett who Calls Rep Caucus Stupid, Crazy, Ignorant, Craven Cowards!
America under the heel of a handfull of Billionaires and Republicans think this is a good think WTF!
Rachel Maddow
Rachel Maddow Exposes Karl Rove and American Crossroads
ProgressiveMukraker
Uploaded by ProgressiveMukraker on Jul 4, 2011
Rachel Maddow exposes American Crossroads which is supposed to be, as explained by Karl Rove, a "grassroots" supported movement of which over 90% of it's funding is supported by only 3 billionaires.
and so it goes,
GORD.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Frank Schaeffer Attacks Michele Bachmann's Christian Apostolic Movement & The Media MIA on Religious Right Fanaticism
As Adele Stan argues in her article at Truthout : Why the Mainstream Media Are Clueless About the Religious Right by: Adele M. Stan, AlterNet | News Analysis August 18, 2011
John Benefiel: Homosexuality A Plot By Illuminati For Population Control
As Adele Stan and others have pointed especially in the last couple of weeks since Rick Perry's gathering of radical Christian Right leaders at what he called The Response it becomes obvious that once again the American mainstream Media doesn't understand and is fairly ignorant about Religious Right Movements such as Dominionist ' Peter C. Wagner's newly rebranded The New Apostolic Reformation which includes the doctrine of The Seven Mountains Prophecy.
As previously mentioned on DemocracyNow! Rick Perry's name for the event was a calculated nod to Lou Engle's The Call .
What may also be occurring on the part of the media is more of what Bill Maher would call being far too concerned about being politically correct rather than investigating these groups which back certain candidates or to which the candidates belong. But then again the Media is not surprised or bothered when a religious test is administered to each candidate. Since when di it become the law that only Christians can be legislators or be President. Remember that moment everyone who believes in God raise your hand or George W. Bush My favorite philosopher is Jesus.
The media either denies the importance and impact of these Radical Religious Right movements on the GOP and American society and culture and its governance.
What once was considered on the fringes forty years or so ago has become closer to the Mainstream .
Right wing conspiracy theories first touted by the radical Birchers who were forced out of the Republican Party in the 1960s and those conspiracy theories promulgated by Religious Right notables and leaders such as Francis Schaeffer , Pat Robertson , Reverend Jerry Falwell et al in the 1970s til the present have slowly leeched into the Mainstream of the Republican Party and so is reflected by its hyper-patriotism that is America as a nation in essence founded by God. The Republican Party's base wraps itself in the Flag while carrying the Cross and thereby rationalizes its anti-liberalism and its rejection of those attitudes which they believe to be the basis of modernity ("Secual Humanism") such as tolerance, pluralism, multiculturalism, cultural diversity , basic rights and freedoms, equality for all or notions such as Social Justice .
To those not convinced by the Radical Religious Right and their Radical Political Right enablers or co-conspirators their views appear antiquated and under the rubric of anti-intellectualism,the Politics of fear, hate and paranoia, authoritarianism and the politics of resentment blended with a big helping of conspiratorial thinking .
In essence they can be labeled as being racist, sexist, Islamophobic, Homophobic, and at times they just sound like old fashioned white supremacists and members of the KKK or Christian Identity movement . As David Neiwert in his book The Eliminationists argues that such extremist rhetoric on the part of the Radical Right is used to demonize and dehumanize those whom they see as the ENEMY and in the end they will want not just to defeat this enemy but have them excluded from having any influence on society denying them rights as citizens
But even after all this if the right continues its extremist rhetoric and continues to promulgate its Conspiracy theories in order to assuage their unfounded fear and paranoia and their incessant search for scapegoats eventually the situation for the so-called enemy might get much worse and even deadly first by segregating the targeted groups from the rest of society .
The more radical or at least more outspoken members of the Radical Religious and Political Right argue in favor of incarcerating for instance homosexuals by making their actions as criminal ie sodomy laws etc. and as a threat to society in general.
In considering other targeted groups the religious right argues in favor of deportation of millions of Hispanics , Mexicans, Muslims etc. They have been told by likes of the racist fear-monger Lou Dobbs , Glenn Beck, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Sarah Palin et al that the immigrants legal or not from Mexico are a threat to traditional (read : white) America they bring disease and crime . But you might think that they wouldn't be so harsh since at the very least most Hispanics are devoutly Christian but this fact is ignored by the Merchants of Hate.
This may seem far fetched but some anti-Muslims or Islamophobes such as Pam Geller, Ann coulter, Robert Spencer, Andrew McCarthy John Hagee, Rush limbaugh, Michael Savage, Pat Robertson et al have suggested the US government should either incarcerate and segregate all Muslims in America or have them deported without exception since Muslims they contend act as a fifth column in the US secretly plotting to take control of America in the name of Islam.
Dr. Francis Schaeffer who was Frank Schaeffer's father was one of the most inflential Christian philosophers and theologians of the latter part of the twentieth Century.
Dr. Francis Schaeffer has also been characterized and rightly so as being one of the main founders or creators of what became the Religious Right in the 1980's til the present time.
Frank Schaeffer has over the years raised questions and doubts about what his father would have said about where this movement has gone would he be pleased or possibly revolted by the rhetoric, teachings and actions of the members of the Religious Right which he spawned.
According to their official history of their movement these religious leaders primarily Protestant Evangelicals and Catholics and others ostensibly united to fight against the right to abortion as it had been made legal in the Supreme Court decision in the case of Roe v Wade 1973 and were emboldened by their defeat of the ERA: the Equal Rights Amendment and later on they kept adding more issues to widen their base .
Since the 1970s the Religious Right has continued to grow in numbers and in its ultimate impact on politics and culture in America.
So currently in the US we have the spectacle of the most radical religious right leaders running for the presidential nominee of the Republican Party in 2012 while openly courting the Religious Right's notables and Media stars though backing off at least publicly from some supporters who are characterized by the media as being extremists and fanatics.
Dr. Francis Schaeffer in the 1960s and 1970s til his death in 1984 argued that over the last couple of centuries the philosophies of "Secular Humanists " ie physical science, social sciences anthropology, sociology etc.which place man at the center of all things and as the measure of all things have become dominant in Western Culture which has led to a culture which can no longer accomodate the belief systems of "True" or "Real" Christians.
Real Christians and those of good will Francis Schaeffer argued must become committed to taking action against these anti-God atheistic humanists who characterize the world as being merely a result of materialistic scientific souless chance and therefore has no ultimate purpose beyond furthering its own existence through time and space.
In Essence Further he argues that this Scientific Materialism is the dominant view in Western Culture .
Many Christians especially those who called themselves Evangelical fundamentalists were deeply disturbed by the increasing divide between Christians and their basic beliefs and those who accepted Darwin's Theory of Evolution and other related scientific theories or who were influenced by the writings of Karl Marx or Frederick nietzche who were then embracing the notion that God is Dead and that according to anthropology and sociology and specialized studies such as Comparative Religion everything was relative.
Francis Schaeffer like his Christian predecessors argued that the belief in Relativism and scientific materialism and the belief in a man centered world finally leads to the conclusion that there are no absolute truths or values everything as it were is in flux.
No one has the right then to question the values of other cultures or of other individuals . This leads they believe to undermining the traditions, religious beliefs, and the basis for law and for culture in Western Christian civilization.
Part of what Schaeffer and others reject was the movement mainly in Germany of what is known as Higher Biblical Criticisms which examines the Bible as if it were just another ancient text such as the works of Plato or Homer to be studied and critiqued from a scholarly humanist view point.
This new breed of biblical scholars in essence deconstructed the Bible taking into consideration linguistic styles , actual historical events as opposed to the rewriting of history to suit the agenda of each particular group or individuals so various authors are thereby identified for instance writing the Book of genesis and how passages were later added or amended by various subsequent authors in som cases centuries apart. So Genesis is not the work of one author but of multiple authors who inserted verses into various parts of the Book of genesis often reflecting a possible much later held view.
According to Conservative Evangelicals all of this would either just be false or inconsequential sine all those involved in the creation of the Holy Book are being inspired and controlled by God and the Holy Spirit or even by the physical manifestations of Angels . (Islam makes the same argument for the Quran that Muhammad was given God's(Allah) commands through the Archangel Gabriel.)
Note on Evangelicals :
There are in fact millions of Americans who call themselves Evangelicals among whom there is a large and influential segment who see themselves as being the victims of a secularized anti-God antiChristian run nation.
But remember though all Evangelicals have entered into the political arena to fight the so called Culture War there are certains beliefs which all Evangelicals adhere to.
That is they believe in God and jesus, the Trinity of Father, So & Holy Ghost, that Jesus was crucified in order to bring salvation to humankind ; that he rose from the dead on the third day that he had performed miracles while teaching and was born of a virgin birth and that he was The messiah talked about in the old testament.
They further believe that the Bible is not open to a myriad of interpretations but rather is divinely inspired and that it is to be taken as the literal word of God and that it is without errors -the Bible is "the inerrant Literal Word of God "
They therefore believe the creation story in which God creates the world and the first human beings and that this event occurred some 6,000 years ago or some put the date at about 100,000 years ago and they reject the scentific view that the world or Universe as we know it came into existence over 4 billion years ago.Evangelicals reject Darwin's theory of evolution in favor of what they now call not Scientific Creationism but rather their new branding name is ID: Intelligent Design which they believe can be explained using science .
All Evangelicals believe that each convert must go through some form of mystical, supernatural, spiritual possibly mind blowing experience known as the "Born Again " experience in which one is totally transformed spiritually, mentally, psychologically and even physically that is each molecule or each atom that makes up one's body is transformed therefore in the deepest sense the person is no longer the person they were before this Earth shattering event.
also see:
* Balmer , Randall : Thy Kingdom Come: An Evangelical's Lament; How The Religious Right Distorts The Faith And Threatens America, Pub. 2006. ( Balmer is an Evangelical Christian who in this expose reveals how the Religious Right have distorted the Bible's message and rewrite the history of Evangelicalism in America to suit their agenda of remaking America into a Christian Nation ruled according to the Old Testament laws found in Leviticus and so forth.)
* Dershowitz, Alan : Blasphemy: How The religious Right Is Hijacking Our Declaration of Independence, Pub. 2007
* Diamond, Sara: Roads To Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power
in The United States, Pub. 1995.
* El-Faizy, Monique: God And Country: How Evangelicals Have Become America's Mainstream, pub.2006
* Gorenfeld, John : Bad Moon Rising; How Reverend Moon Created The Washington Times, Seduced The Religious Right , and Built An American Kingdom, Pub. 2008.
* Hedges, Chris : American Fascists , pub. 2007
* Lipset, Seymour Martin and Raab, Earl: The Politics Of Unreason: Right-Wing Extremism in America, 1790-1970, Pub. 1970.
* Wolraich, Michael : BS Blowing Smoke *** Why the Right Keeps Serving Up Whack-Job Fantasies About the Plot To Euthanize Grandma, Outlaw Christmas, And Turn Junior into a Raging Homosexual, Pub. 2010- (Despite the overwrought title it is an excellent book on the Religious Right and the Conservative movement in the US over the last 60 years or so. A good introduction to the various issues which are of concern to the Right. And does a decent job showing the evolution of the Republican party as it descends into a party for the Extreme Right and away from traditional American conservatism.)
--------------------------
and so it goes,
GORD.
From the attitudes shown by media toward the religious right, you'd never know that more than one-quarter of the U.S. population identify as evangelicals,
according to a 2007 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, and among white self-identified evangelicals, 62 percent told Pew in 2006 that they believe the Bible to be the literal word of God.
These, by and large, are the people who determine the outcome of the Republican presidential primary, thanks to the early stacking of states heavily populated by evangelicals, and the propensity of most evangelicals to align with the Republican Party.
And yet, we who cover these races often know very little about the voters whose person-on-the-street interviews they're recording, except to know that these people are very different from us in their view of the world. So as everyday doctrines come to light in one or another campaign incident, the media either find themselves aghast at the implications, or simply choose to ignore them.
John Benefiel: Homosexuality A Plot By Illuminati For Population Control
Uploaded by RWWBlog on Jul 12, 2011John Benefiel, an endorser of Gov. Rick Perry's "The Response" prayer rally, says homosexuality is plot by the Illuminati to limit the size of the global population.
As Adele Stan and others have pointed especially in the last couple of weeks since Rick Perry's gathering of radical Christian Right leaders at what he called The Response it becomes obvious that once again the American mainstream Media doesn't understand and is fairly ignorant about Religious Right Movements such as Dominionist ' Peter C. Wagner's newly rebranded The New Apostolic Reformation which includes the doctrine of The Seven Mountains Prophecy.
As previously mentioned on DemocracyNow! Rick Perry's name for the event was a calculated nod to Lou Engle's The Call .
What may also be occurring on the part of the media is more of what Bill Maher would call being far too concerned about being politically correct rather than investigating these groups which back certain candidates or to which the candidates belong. But then again the Media is not surprised or bothered when a religious test is administered to each candidate. Since when di it become the law that only Christians can be legislators or be President. Remember that moment everyone who believes in God raise your hand or George W. Bush My favorite philosopher is Jesus.
The media either denies the importance and impact of these Radical Religious Right movements on the GOP and American society and culture and its governance.
What once was considered on the fringes forty years or so ago has become closer to the Mainstream .
Right wing conspiracy theories first touted by the radical Birchers who were forced out of the Republican Party in the 1960s and those conspiracy theories promulgated by Religious Right notables and leaders such as Francis Schaeffer , Pat Robertson , Reverend Jerry Falwell et al in the 1970s til the present have slowly leeched into the Mainstream of the Republican Party and so is reflected by its hyper-patriotism that is America as a nation in essence founded by God. The Republican Party's base wraps itself in the Flag while carrying the Cross and thereby rationalizes its anti-liberalism and its rejection of those attitudes which they believe to be the basis of modernity ("Secual Humanism") such as tolerance, pluralism, multiculturalism, cultural diversity , basic rights and freedoms, equality for all or notions such as Social Justice .
To those not convinced by the Radical Religious Right and their Radical Political Right enablers or co-conspirators their views appear antiquated and under the rubric of anti-intellectualism,the Politics of fear, hate and paranoia, authoritarianism and the politics of resentment blended with a big helping of conspiratorial thinking .
In essence they can be labeled as being racist, sexist, Islamophobic, Homophobic, and at times they just sound like old fashioned white supremacists and members of the KKK or Christian Identity movement . As David Neiwert in his book The Eliminationists argues that such extremist rhetoric on the part of the Radical Right is used to demonize and dehumanize those whom they see as the ENEMY and in the end they will want not just to defeat this enemy but have them excluded from having any influence on society denying them rights as citizens
But even after all this if the right continues its extremist rhetoric and continues to promulgate its Conspiracy theories in order to assuage their unfounded fear and paranoia and their incessant search for scapegoats eventually the situation for the so-called enemy might get much worse and even deadly first by segregating the targeted groups from the rest of society .
The more radical or at least more outspoken members of the Radical Religious and Political Right argue in favor of incarcerating for instance homosexuals by making their actions as criminal ie sodomy laws etc. and as a threat to society in general.
In considering other targeted groups the religious right argues in favor of deportation of millions of Hispanics , Mexicans, Muslims etc. They have been told by likes of the racist fear-monger Lou Dobbs , Glenn Beck, Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Sarah Palin et al that the immigrants legal or not from Mexico are a threat to traditional (read : white) America they bring disease and crime . But you might think that they wouldn't be so harsh since at the very least most Hispanics are devoutly Christian but this fact is ignored by the Merchants of Hate.
This may seem far fetched but some anti-Muslims or Islamophobes such as Pam Geller, Ann coulter, Robert Spencer, Andrew McCarthy John Hagee, Rush limbaugh, Michael Savage, Pat Robertson et al have suggested the US government should either incarcerate and segregate all Muslims in America or have them deported without exception since Muslims they contend act as a fifth column in the US secretly plotting to take control of America in the name of Islam.
Ex-Evangelical Frank Schaeffer Denounces Michele Bachmann & Calls Her Movement Anti-American
democracynow!
Dr. Francis Schaeffer who was Frank Schaeffer's father was one of the most inflential Christian philosophers and theologians of the latter part of the twentieth Century.
Dr. Francis Schaeffer has also been characterized and rightly so as being one of the main founders or creators of what became the Religious Right in the 1980's til the present time.
Frank Schaeffer has over the years raised questions and doubts about what his father would have said about where this movement has gone would he be pleased or possibly revolted by the rhetoric, teachings and actions of the members of the Religious Right which he spawned.
According to their official history of their movement these religious leaders primarily Protestant Evangelicals and Catholics and others ostensibly united to fight against the right to abortion as it had been made legal in the Supreme Court decision in the case of Roe v Wade 1973 and were emboldened by their defeat of the ERA: the Equal Rights Amendment and later on they kept adding more issues to widen their base .
Since the 1970s the Religious Right has continued to grow in numbers and in its ultimate impact on politics and culture in America.
So currently in the US we have the spectacle of the most radical religious right leaders running for the presidential nominee of the Republican Party in 2012 while openly courting the Religious Right's notables and Media stars though backing off at least publicly from some supporters who are characterized by the media as being extremists and fanatics.
Dr. Francis Schaeffer in the 1960s and 1970s til his death in 1984 argued that over the last couple of centuries the philosophies of "Secular Humanists " ie physical science, social sciences anthropology, sociology etc.which place man at the center of all things and as the measure of all things have become dominant in Western Culture which has led to a culture which can no longer accomodate the belief systems of "True" or "Real" Christians.
Real Christians and those of good will Francis Schaeffer argued must become committed to taking action against these anti-God atheistic humanists who characterize the world as being merely a result of materialistic scientific souless chance and therefore has no ultimate purpose beyond furthering its own existence through time and space.
In Essence Further he argues that this Scientific Materialism is the dominant view in Western Culture .
Many Christians especially those who called themselves Evangelical fundamentalists were deeply disturbed by the increasing divide between Christians and their basic beliefs and those who accepted Darwin's Theory of Evolution and other related scientific theories or who were influenced by the writings of Karl Marx or Frederick nietzche who were then embracing the notion that God is Dead and that according to anthropology and sociology and specialized studies such as Comparative Religion everything was relative.
Francis Schaeffer like his Christian predecessors argued that the belief in Relativism and scientific materialism and the belief in a man centered world finally leads to the conclusion that there are no absolute truths or values everything as it were is in flux.
No one has the right then to question the values of other cultures or of other individuals . This leads they believe to undermining the traditions, religious beliefs, and the basis for law and for culture in Western Christian civilization.
Part of what Schaeffer and others reject was the movement mainly in Germany of what is known as Higher Biblical Criticisms which examines the Bible as if it were just another ancient text such as the works of Plato or Homer to be studied and critiqued from a scholarly humanist view point.
This new breed of biblical scholars in essence deconstructed the Bible taking into consideration linguistic styles , actual historical events as opposed to the rewriting of history to suit the agenda of each particular group or individuals so various authors are thereby identified for instance writing the Book of genesis and how passages were later added or amended by various subsequent authors in som cases centuries apart. So Genesis is not the work of one author but of multiple authors who inserted verses into various parts of the Book of genesis often reflecting a possible much later held view.
According to Conservative Evangelicals all of this would either just be false or inconsequential sine all those involved in the creation of the Holy Book are being inspired and controlled by God and the Holy Spirit or even by the physical manifestations of Angels . (Islam makes the same argument for the Quran that Muhammad was given God's(Allah) commands through the Archangel Gabriel.)
Note on Evangelicals :
There are in fact millions of Americans who call themselves Evangelicals among whom there is a large and influential segment who see themselves as being the victims of a secularized anti-God antiChristian run nation.
But remember though all Evangelicals have entered into the political arena to fight the so called Culture War there are certains beliefs which all Evangelicals adhere to.
That is they believe in God and jesus, the Trinity of Father, So & Holy Ghost, that Jesus was crucified in order to bring salvation to humankind ; that he rose from the dead on the third day that he had performed miracles while teaching and was born of a virgin birth and that he was The messiah talked about in the old testament.
They further believe that the Bible is not open to a myriad of interpretations but rather is divinely inspired and that it is to be taken as the literal word of God and that it is without errors -the Bible is "the inerrant Literal Word of God "
They therefore believe the creation story in which God creates the world and the first human beings and that this event occurred some 6,000 years ago or some put the date at about 100,000 years ago and they reject the scentific view that the world or Universe as we know it came into existence over 4 billion years ago.Evangelicals reject Darwin's theory of evolution in favor of what they now call not Scientific Creationism but rather their new branding name is ID: Intelligent Design which they believe can be explained using science .
All Evangelicals believe that each convert must go through some form of mystical, supernatural, spiritual possibly mind blowing experience known as the "Born Again " experience in which one is totally transformed spiritually, mentally, psychologically and even physically that is each molecule or each atom that makes up one's body is transformed therefore in the deepest sense the person is no longer the person they were before this Earth shattering event.
also see:
* Balmer , Randall : Thy Kingdom Come: An Evangelical's Lament; How The Religious Right Distorts The Faith And Threatens America, Pub. 2006. ( Balmer is an Evangelical Christian who in this expose reveals how the Religious Right have distorted the Bible's message and rewrite the history of Evangelicalism in America to suit their agenda of remaking America into a Christian Nation ruled according to the Old Testament laws found in Leviticus and so forth.)
* Dershowitz, Alan : Blasphemy: How The religious Right Is Hijacking Our Declaration of Independence, Pub. 2007
* Diamond, Sara: Roads To Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power
in The United States, Pub. 1995.
* El-Faizy, Monique: God And Country: How Evangelicals Have Become America's Mainstream, pub.2006
* Gorenfeld, John : Bad Moon Rising; How Reverend Moon Created The Washington Times, Seduced The Religious Right , and Built An American Kingdom, Pub. 2008.
* Hedges, Chris : American Fascists , pub. 2007
* Lipset, Seymour Martin and Raab, Earl: The Politics Of Unreason: Right-Wing Extremism in America, 1790-1970, Pub. 1970.
* Moulitsas, Markos (founder of Daily Kos) : American Taliban: how War, Sex, Sin, and Power Bind Jihadists and the Radical Right, Pub. 2010.
* Neiwert, David : The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right, Pub. 2009.
* Philips, Kevin: American Theocracy , pub.2006.
* Neiwert, David : The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right, Pub. 2009.
* Philips, Kevin: American Theocracy , pub.2006.
* Posner, Sarah : God's Profits: Faith, Fraud, and the Republican Crusade for Values Voters, Pub. 2008.
* Sells, Michael : The Bridge Betrayed: Religion and Genocide in Bosnia , Pub. 1998.
* Sharlet, Jeff: The Family ,pub. 2008. (AKA C STREET , Doug Coe's Christian cult for politicians and the rich and powerful who are told they are God's chosen ones -organization hosts The prayer Breakfast annually in Washington attended by America's political leaders and other notables )
* Sells, Michael : The Bridge Betrayed: Religion and Genocide in Bosnia , Pub. 1998.
* Sharlet, Jeff: The Family ,pub. 2008. (AKA C STREET , Doug Coe's Christian cult for politicians and the rich and powerful who are told they are God's chosen ones -organization hosts The prayer Breakfast annually in Washington attended by America's political leaders and other notables )
* Williams, Daniel K. : God's Own Party; The Making of the Christian Right, Pub. 2010.
* Wilson, john K. : The Most Dangerous Man In America: Rush Limbaugh's Assault on Reason, Pub. 2011.
* Wilson, john K. : The Most Dangerous Man In America: Rush Limbaugh's Assault on Reason, Pub. 2011.
* Wolraich, Michael : BS Blowing Smoke *** Why the Right Keeps Serving Up Whack-Job Fantasies About the Plot To Euthanize Grandma, Outlaw Christmas, And Turn Junior into a Raging Homosexual, Pub. 2010- (Despite the overwrought title it is an excellent book on the Religious Right and the Conservative movement in the US over the last 60 years or so. A good introduction to the various issues which are of concern to the Right. And does a decent job showing the evolution of the Republican party as it descends into a party for the Extreme Right and away from traditional American conservatism.)
--------------------------
and so it goes,
GORD.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Criticizing Radical Evangelical Christians Labeled "Hate Speech"
First a funny story to begin the week about Fox News viewers and their concern about an alien (ETs) invasion of Earth.
Fox Viewers Overwhelmingly Think We Should Prepare For Alien Invasion Before Fighting Climate Change By Alex Seitz-Wald via Think Progress, Aug 19, 2011
So by studying and critiquing the more Radical Evangelical Christians we are engaging in Hate Speech and Paranoid Fantasies according to much of the Mainstream media and Christian Evangelical apologists and fellow travelers such as American uberconservatives Sarah Palin, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann , Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly , Sean Hannity, Ann coulter and so on.
These Notables or characters tend to have similar beliefs such as being Islamophobic, Homophobic ;a twisted form of anti-semitism ,a belief in unfettered capitalsism as sanctioned by God or Natural law and of course a belief in America as being superior to all other nations or peoples and that America has a special destiny again according to Natural Law , Social Darwinism or as simply chosen by God and as having an essential role to play in the Second Coming of Christ the Messiah and the Apocalypse .
And so it appears that it is astouding and to say the least dumfounding that so many so called journalist and media stars and other notables are in fact clueless not just about the New Apostolic Reformation movement aka The Seven Mountains prophecy linked to Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, sarah Palin but are clueless about the different brands if you like of Evangelical Fundamentalists Christians in the United States.
Not all Evangelical Christians are using the political realm to foist their beliefs on everyone else.
Some may preach that our society maybe on the road to perdition but their central message is to spread the word as they see it without being overly aggressive and interfering with other peoples rights and freedoms such as freedom of speechfreedom to worship or not as they see fit to live and let live and to be tolerant of the views and lifestyles of others.
But the groups which are of public concern are those such as the Dominionists as in the New Apostolic Reformation and the Seven mountains Prophecy who believe that their leaders are (self-proclaimed) prophets and their followers do not believe that they should confine their activities to merely praying and preaching and so forth but to actively engage politically in America's society but to openly or in some cases by stealth to ensure that the United States is run by god fearing Christian Conservative Evangelical Fundamentalists to bring about a Theocracy which they believe is essential in hastening the return of the Messiah ( the Mahdiin Islam).
Once a theocracy is in place in America and not necessarily the entire world God's time table for the End-times the Apocalypse the Rapture Armageddon and so on can take place.
One of the other conditions is that all of the Jewish /the Israelites return to Jerusalem and then complete the construction of The Temple as it was in ancient Judea. This will involve purifying Israel by emptying Israel of all non-Jews but according to the Evangelical Pro-Isreal zealots after the Jews make their sacrifice of a pure red heffer and so on at the last moment they will repent and become Good Christians. As we have seen lately Prophet Glenn Beck wants to lead a group of good Christians, Real Americans a few politicians and notables to Israel to prove their support for Israel while fully expecting the only Jews that will survive the Apocalypse are those who
who abandon Judaism in favor of Christianity. As Ann Coulter has said at that moment of conversion these Israelites will be " perfected ".
As Frederick Clarkson points out in his excellent article that those journalists and notables who know little about these radical Evangelical movements tend to be rather harshly critical of those journalist who have raised concerns about thenegative influence of these radical Christians in America on politicians , Media celebrities and on Public Policy Making, on legislators, on the law and on society's basic attitudes such as tolerance, pluralism, on helping those in need without first vetting their religious beliefs or their sexual orientation or their stand on the Rights of a Fetus and the Rights of corporations both groups defined as "Persons" and so forth.
Again as Glenn Beck and his like minded gang of Christians and Mormons including John Hagee, Sean hannity, Michele bachmann, pat Robertson, Peter Wagner, James Dobson , Doug Coe of The Family and their benefactors such as the Koch brothers, the Coors, Welches, Mellon Scaifes,and Sun Myung Moon billionaire who publishes the Washington Times at a loss each year all believe God favors Capitalism and a free market place and of course is anti-regulation - Jesus loves the prosperous Capitalist and those who are wealthy and or powerful.
Another Senior Journalist Confesses to Ignorance
byFrederick Clarkson viadaily Kos.com, August 21,2011
.
Sarah Palin & Spiritual Warfare
bruceewilson
Rick Perry Partners With 'Apostle' Who Thinks The Statue Of Liberty Is A 'Demonic Idol'by Brian Tashman at Right Wing Watch via People For The American Way ,July 12, 2011
Fox Viewers Overwhelmingly Think We Should Prepare For Alien Invasion Before Fighting Climate Change By Alex Seitz-Wald via Think Progress, Aug 19, 2011
A new (supposedly) NASA-funded study postulating that aliens may attack humans over climate change had all the ingredients for a perfect Fox faux controversy — it bolstered their anti-science narrative, painted their opponents as clownish radicals, and highlighted wasteful government spending on a supposedly liberal casue. Fox reported the “news from NASA” several times several times today, presenting it as official “taxpayer funded research.” A chyron on Fox and Friends read: “NASA: Global warming may provoke an [alien] attack.”
But as Business Insider pointed out, they’re “wrong” — “That report was not funded by NASA. It was written by an independent group of scientists and bloggers. One of those happens to work at NASA.” NASA distanced itself from the report as well, calling reports linking the agency to it “not true.” Host Megyn Kelly finally corrected the record this afternoon, saying, “I was making that up.”
But before she did, she was so bemused by the study that she directed her viewers to complete a poll on her website which asked how we should respond to the study: “Immediately increase efforts to curb greenhouse gases,” “Develop weapons to kill the Aliens FIRST,” or “Gently suggest scientists research how to create job.”
Not surprisingly, most suggested they research something else. But more than six times as many respondents (19 percent to 3 percent) said we should focus on building weapons to kill aliens before curbing greenhouse gases. Watch a compilation:
So by studying and critiquing the more Radical Evangelical Christians we are engaging in Hate Speech and Paranoid Fantasies according to much of the Mainstream media and Christian Evangelical apologists and fellow travelers such as American uberconservatives Sarah Palin, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann , Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly , Sean Hannity, Ann coulter and so on.
These Notables or characters tend to have similar beliefs such as being Islamophobic, Homophobic ;a twisted form of anti-semitism ,a belief in unfettered capitalsism as sanctioned by God or Natural law and of course a belief in America as being superior to all other nations or peoples and that America has a special destiny again according to Natural Law , Social Darwinism or as simply chosen by God and as having an essential role to play in the Second Coming of Christ the Messiah and the Apocalypse .
And so it appears that it is astouding and to say the least dumfounding that so many so called journalist and media stars and other notables are in fact clueless not just about the New Apostolic Reformation movement aka The Seven Mountains prophecy linked to Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann, sarah Palin but are clueless about the different brands if you like of Evangelical Fundamentalists Christians in the United States.
Not all Evangelical Christians are using the political realm to foist their beliefs on everyone else.
Some may preach that our society maybe on the road to perdition but their central message is to spread the word as they see it without being overly aggressive and interfering with other peoples rights and freedoms such as freedom of speechfreedom to worship or not as they see fit to live and let live and to be tolerant of the views and lifestyles of others.
But the groups which are of public concern are those such as the Dominionists as in the New Apostolic Reformation and the Seven mountains Prophecy who believe that their leaders are (self-proclaimed) prophets and their followers do not believe that they should confine their activities to merely praying and preaching and so forth but to actively engage politically in America's society but to openly or in some cases by stealth to ensure that the United States is run by god fearing Christian Conservative Evangelical Fundamentalists to bring about a Theocracy which they believe is essential in hastening the return of the Messiah ( the Mahdiin Islam).
Once a theocracy is in place in America and not necessarily the entire world God's time table for the End-times the Apocalypse the Rapture Armageddon and so on can take place.
One of the other conditions is that all of the Jewish /the Israelites return to Jerusalem and then complete the construction of The Temple as it was in ancient Judea. This will involve purifying Israel by emptying Israel of all non-Jews but according to the Evangelical Pro-Isreal zealots after the Jews make their sacrifice of a pure red heffer and so on at the last moment they will repent and become Good Christians. As we have seen lately Prophet Glenn Beck wants to lead a group of good Christians, Real Americans a few politicians and notables to Israel to prove their support for Israel while fully expecting the only Jews that will survive the Apocalypse are those who
who abandon Judaism in favor of Christianity. As Ann Coulter has said at that moment of conversion these Israelites will be " perfected ".
As Frederick Clarkson points out in his excellent article that those journalists and notables who know little about these radical Evangelical movements tend to be rather harshly critical of those journalist who have raised concerns about thenegative influence of these radical Christians in America on politicians , Media celebrities and on Public Policy Making, on legislators, on the law and on society's basic attitudes such as tolerance, pluralism, on helping those in need without first vetting their religious beliefs or their sexual orientation or their stand on the Rights of a Fetus and the Rights of corporations both groups defined as "Persons" and so forth.
Again as Glenn Beck and his like minded gang of Christians and Mormons including John Hagee, Sean hannity, Michele bachmann, pat Robertson, Peter Wagner, James Dobson , Doug Coe of The Family and their benefactors such as the Koch brothers, the Coors, Welches, Mellon Scaifes,and Sun Myung Moon billionaire who publishes the Washington Times at a loss each year all believe God favors Capitalism and a free market place and of course is anti-regulation - Jesus loves the prosperous Capitalist and those who are wealthy and or powerful.
Another Senior Journalist Confesses to Ignorance
byFrederick Clarkson viadaily Kos.com, August 21,2011
.
..Its bad enough that Miller hasn't heard of such a major movement in evangelicalism and so presumes that no one else could have either. What's worse is that she writes that the recent stories in The New Yorker,The Texas Observer and The Daily Beast "raise real concerns about the world views of two prospective Republican nominees" -- and then spends the rest of the piece telling us why we should not be concerned. Her main point is that not all evangelicals think like that. True. But no one said that they do.
She says that the "echo-chamber effect" of the articles "reignites old anxieties among liberals about evangelical Christians." This might be an interesting point, but she does not bother to provide any evidence that this might be so, and if it was, what the consequences might be. And while we might not be surprised to find liberals who make broad brush generalizations about evangelicals, what is astounding is that Miller would try to make her point by making broad brush generalizations about liberals.
The very next sentence is similarly revealing. "Some on the left" she claims, "seem suspicious that a firm belief in Jesus equals a desire to take over the world." That may be. But she does not say who, or how many, the extent that such views might exist and of what consequence they might be.
The whole column is like this.
"'Dominionism'", she declares, "is the paranoid mot du jour." Unfortunately, she does not say who exactly is being paranoid or what exactly they are paranoid about.
If the knocking down of straw men is remarkable in this piece, so is the use of false equivalence.
"Certain journalists" she claims, "use 'dominionist' the way some folks on Fox News use the word 'sharia.'" She does not name any journalists who do this. She offers no examples of scary misuse of the term dominionist. She makes no effort to show how her unsubstantiated charge against unnamed journalists is in anyway like what happens on Fox News.
Finally, there is her stated reason for this column. "It’s a plea," she writes, "given the acrimonious tone of our political discourse, for a certain amount of dispassionate care in the coverage of religion."
I hope Miller will take her own plea to heart.
Sarah Palin & Spiritual Warfare
bruceewilson
Rick Perry Partners With 'Apostle' Who Thinks The Statue Of Liberty Is A 'Demonic Idol'by Brian Tashman at Right Wing Watch via People For The American Way ,July 12, 2011
As we've been reporting on Right Wing Watch, Texas Governor Rick Perry is working a number of radical preachers to plan his upcoming Christians-only prayer rally. Perry's partners in the event include extremists who believe that tolerance for homosexuality caused the September 11th attacks, Oprah Winfrey is the harbinger of the Antichrist, the deadly Japanese earthquake was caused by the country’s Emperor having sex with a demon, the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell caused bird deaths in Arkansas and violence should be considered to overthrow President Obama, among many other extreme beliefs.
One self-described ‘Apostle’ who has signed on as an official endorser to Perry's The Response prayer rally is John Benefiel of the Heartland Apostolic Prayer Network, a group affiliated with the New Apostolic Reformation with ties to other The Response endorsers including Cindy Jacobs, C. Peter Wagner and Jay Swallow. In a sermon last August, Benefiel argued that America is under a curse from God because the country possesses monuments to pagan idols and that Americans needs to renounce those idols if not destroy them. Benefiel claims that the Statue of Liberty is in fact a “demonic idol” because it represents a “false goddess.”
Gov. Rick Perry's 'Army of God!' WTF?? - Rachel Maddow
goog2k
Uploaded by goog2k on Aug 10, 2011
Texas Gov. Rick Perry might actually think he's the "Chosen One" of the 'New Apostolic Reformation'. WTF? -- Sorry folks, we really can't make this sh*t up. From MSNBC & msnbc.com
For more info See:
http://www.texasobserver.org/cover-story/rick-perrys-army-of-god
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Michele Bachmann VS Rick Perry - Theocrats for President Washington Post Defends These True Believers (or opportunists)
Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann involved in the New Apostolic Reformation /Seven Mountains Prophecy the leaders of which are self-proclaimed Prophets.
The Washington Post published a somewhat facile glip under researched article on the New Apostolic Reformation Movement .
The article besides not revealing much about the influence that this movement has spends most of the article poking fun as it were of those who have researched and found the movement disturbing in that it has influenced Republican /GOP notables such as Rick perry, Michele Bachmann, Sarah Palin and so forth.
The author goes on to erroneously claim that the hysteria over the movement is being spread and encouraged by what the writer refers to as the Radical Left who just hate all Christina and especially Evangelical Fundamentalist Christians.
The author sounds like she has borrowed from the Talking Points of Fox News, Glenn Beck, Sean hannity, Bill O'Reilly who believe Christians in America are somehow an oppressed group who are forbidden to practice their beliefs or to even pray in public and so on.
For years now O'reilly has been erroneously claiming that the evil liberals, secualar humanists, atheists, agnostics and other non-Christians have declared war on Christmas as part of their war on Christianity , God and traditional America and America's values.
All real Americans they imply are Real Christians that is they are not those liberal pro-gay, pro-pluralism Jesus loves everybody kind of Christians .
These radical Evangelicals are also connected to Pastor John Hagee 's Megachurch 's Christian Zionist organization CUFI.
They only care about Israel and the Jewish people as they are seen as part of God's plan for the End-Times.
Rick Perry Partners With 'Apostle' Who Thinks The Statue Of Liberty Is A 'Demonic Idol'
by Brian Tashman at Right Wing Watch via People For The American Way ,July 12, 2011
As we've been reporting on Right Wing Watch, Texas Governor Rick Perry is working a number of radical preachers to plan his upcoming Christians-only prayer rally. Perry's partners in the event include extremists who believe that tolerance for homosexuality caused the September 11th attacks, Oprah Winfrey is the harbinger of the Antichrist, the deadly Japanese earthquake was caused by the country’s Emperor having sex with a demon, the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell caused bird deaths in Arkansas and violence should be considered to overthrow President Obama, among many other extreme beliefs.
One self-described ‘Apostle’ who has signed on as an official endorser to Perry's The Response prayer rally is John Benefiel of the Heartland Apostolic Prayer Network, a group affiliated with the New Apostolic Reformation with ties to other The Response endorsers including Cindy Jacobs, C. Peter Wagner and Jay Swallow. In a sermon last August, Benefiel argued that America is under a curse from God because the country possesses monuments to pagan idols and that Americans needs to renounce those idols if not destroy them. Benefiel claims that the Statue of Liberty is in fact a “demonic idol” because it represents a “false goddess.”
C. Peter Wagner: Japan Is Cursed Because The Emperor Had Sex With A Demon
RWWBlog
Uploaded by RWWBlog on Jul 11, 2011
C. Peter Wagner, an endorser of Gov. Rick Perry's "The Response" prayer rally, explains that the nation of Japan is controlled by a demon spirit (The Sun Goddess) because the Emperor had sexual intercourse with her.
Rick Perry and other Republicans connected to the New Apostolic Reformation Movement
Forrest Wilder on His Texas Observer Article, "Rick Perry's Army of God." (Democracy Now!)
DemocracyNow.org - Republican Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is expected to announce his entry into the 2012 presidential race. Perry will make the announcement at a conference in South Carolina organized by Erick Erickson's RedState.com. Early backers of Perry's presidential run have heralded him as being behind the so-called Texas economic miracle, however many have questioned Perry's economic claims in Texas. Questions have also arisen over Perry's close ties to the radical-wing of the Christian evangelical movement. Last Saturday, Perry helped organize and spoke at a controversial seven-hour Christian prayer rally in Houston titled, "The Response: A Call to Prayer for a Nation in Crisis." While the prayer session drew 30,000 participants and received national press, little attention was paid to the Christian evangelicals Perry worked with to organize the event. The Texas Observer has just published an explosive article titled, "Rick Perry's Army of God." It exposes how a group of radical Christians and self-proclaimed prophets from a little-known movement known as New Apostolic Reformation have been quietly pushing for Perry's presidential bid. Democracy Now! interviews The Texas Observer's reporter, Forrest Wilder.
Gov. Rick Perry's 'Army of God!' WTF?? - Rachel Maddow
goog2k
Uploaded by goog2k on Aug 10, 2011
Texas Gov. Rick Perry might actually think he's the "Chosen One" of the 'New Apostolic Reformation'. WTF? -- Sorry folks, we really can't make this sh*t up. From MSNBC & msnbc.com
For more info See:
http://www.texasobserver.org/cover-story/rick-perrys-army-of-god
Friday, August 19, 2011
Uninformed Incurious Media Clueless About The Religious Right & Rick Perry Vs Michele Bachmann on The Crazy Train To The Presidency
UPDATED: 4:06 PM, August 19, 2011
Proper head ware for "Real Christian Women"
From Christian website Coveredforhim.com which explains what it means for wives to submit to their husbands:
_________________________________________________________________________
Uninformed Incurious Media Clueless About The Religious Right and the Political Right
Proper head ware for "Real Christian Women"
From Christian website Coveredforhim.com which explains what it means for wives to submit to their husbands:
Ephesians 5
22Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
_________________________________________________________________________
Uninformed Incurious Media Clueless About The Religious Right and the Political Right
Perry has a record of ordering the execution of an obviously innocent man, which goes beyond being tough on crime into the territory of killing as a demonstration of power. Amanda Marcotte at Alternet, August 18, 2011
As a nation, we've been headed down this path for more than 40 years. As the economic fortunes of the U.S. turn downward, we should expect the attraction of right-wing religion, especially its more charismatic and viscerally-felt forms, to expand. Anyone who doesn't just hasn't been paying attention. Adele M. Stan Alternet, August 18, 2011
Why the Mainstream Media Are Clueless About the Religious Right
Thursday 18 August 2011 by: Adele M. Stan, AlterNet
Though it has shaped American politics for the last 40 years, the religious right still baffles reporters
...according to a 2007 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, and among white self-identified evangelicals, 62 percent told Pew in 2006 that they believe the Bible to be the literal word of God.
These, by and large, are the people who determine the outcome of the Republican presidential primary, thanks to the early stacking of states heavily populated by evangelicals, and the propensity of most evangelicals to align with the Republican Party. And yet, we who cover these races often know very little about the voters whose person-on-the-street interviews they're recording, except to know that these people are very different from us in their view of the world. So as everyday doctrines come to light in one or another campaign incident, the media either find themselves aghast at the implications, or simply choose to ignore them...
...And the notion that regular Americans would buy into an ideology that seeks to implement biblical law as the law of the land really shouldn't come as a surprise to reporters. The Pew 2006 survey found that nearly one-third of Americans said they felt the law of the Bible should outweigh citizen preferences in the formation of civil law.
Differences Blurred
To mainstream reporters, Rick Perry's big prayer rally in Houston earlier this month looked like just another religious-right gathering. To their eyes, what made it unusual was that a sitting governor had used his official gubernatorial letterhead and Web site to promote it.
The greater departure, however, was the way in which the gathering represented a coming together of the New Apostolic Reformation, a far-right charismatic movement that seeks to defeat what its followers believe to be real-life demons located in certain geographical areas with the old-line organizations of the religious right, such as the American Family Association. Even James Dobson, the Focus on the Family founder who rarely makes public appearances anymore, appeared on Perry's stage, lending credence and political power to the demon-chasers. (If mainstream reporters view the doctrine of wifely submission with incredulity and surprise, the NAR doctrine, as described for AlterNet by Rachel Tabachnik, could cause apoplexy.)
In the New York Times' coverage of the rally, the name, New Apostolic Reformation, never appeared, even though one of the movement's more controversial organizations, the International House of Prayer, was among the event's organizers. (Although IHOP was named as an organizer by reporter Manny Fernandez, nothing about its place in the NAR was mentioned in the article. To his credit, though, Fernandez did note that the American Family Association has been named an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.) But this enlargement of the religious-right coalition to include elements once deemed "fringe" even by fellow evangelicals is a major story, especially given the 50-state, cell-based "prayer networks" that are part of the NAR infrastructure.
Meanwhile, at the Washington Post, Jacques Berlinerblau, writing in the paper's "On Faith" section, tsk-tsk'd Perry for talking about Jesus too much, reading too much scripture and generally being unecumenical.
"If he intends on using the religion card effectively beyond the Iowa and South Carolina caucuses and primaries," wrote Berlinerblau, "Governor Perry will have to come up with something more inclusive than this."
Yes, but first he has to win the nomination -- and that will require the votes of millions of Americans who believe that biblical law should supplant the will of the people, and who think the Bible is the literal truth. Right now, they're the ones who matter. And no reporter should be surprised by that.
Michele Bachmann vs. Rick Perry: Who's the Bigger Right-Wing Extremist? Who really deserves a reputation as too much of a right-wing extremist for the Beltway media to take seriously? by Amanda Marcotte at Alternet.com, August 18, 2011
As the battle for the Republican nomination for president heats up, more attention is being paid to Rep. Michele Bachmann from Minnesota, who is cast as the crazy-eyed right-wing nut, and Gov. Rick Perry from Texas, who gets to play the role of the more reasonable Republican who will likely win the nomination
But, as the progressive press has been doggedly trying to expose, Bachmann and Perry are far more alike in the “crazy right-wing nut” department than they might initially seem. After all, Perry has a record of ordering the execution of an obviously innocent man, which goes beyond being tough on crime into the territory of killing as a demonstration of power.
So what’s the real story? In a battle of who’s the biggest right-wing nut, who would win, Michele Bachmann or Rick Perry? I compiled a set of barometers of modern right-wing nuttery and weighed each candidate against them to see who really deserves a reputation in the Beltway media as too much of a right-wing extremist to be taken seriously:
Christian Dominionism. Dominionism used to be a fringe belief, even among fundamentalist Christians in politics, because it’s rooted in Christian Reconstructionism, an ideology that promotes extreme theocracy and includes legalizing slavery and stoning people as criminal punishments for such “crimes” as homosexuality and disobedience to parents. However, in recent years, evangelicals have picked up Dominionism, ignoring its most unsavory aspects in favor of running with the arguments for theocracy. As Michelle Golberg recounted in the Daily Beast, both Bachmann and Perry have taken beliefs from Dominionists, and put into action the idea that the American government should be a Christian theocracy based around a fundamentalist interpretation of Scripture.
Both Perry and Bachmann put a great deal of effort into their theocratic values. Perry not only hosted a prayer event at the governor's mansion, a blatant violation of the separation of church and state, but it was sponsored by a group of Dominionists who believe God wants them to take over all the pillars of government and society so they can run the country as a Pentecostal theocracy.
Evangelical fundamentalists begin with a sincere deeply held belief in the literal and innerrant truth of the Bible as the Word of God.This is not to be taken lightly. It is not merely a matter of the literalist trying to explain Noah and his Ark or Jonah swallowed by a Whale or a giant guppi Their belief in the Bible as the Word of God leads to a worldview which is a direct threat to our way of life if forced upon the rest of society through public policy making decisions and the formulation of laws.
This world view is based upon religious faith and an unqustioning ideology in which everything is seen as black or white there are no grey areas.
Their position is one of an absolutist form of morality based upon the Bible and therefore the word of God.
To commit any action which is unacceptable to the Word of God is to act immorally and to have sinned against man and God.
Abortion for instance is not a choice but is wrong and is always wrong so there can be no exceptions.
If they believe the use of contraceptives are wrong then they too are always wrong there is no exception.
They argue for instance that Gays can choose to be Gay or straight and commit immoral and illegal actions when they choose to be Gay.
Even if science says otherwise these Dominionist refuse to accept this since it goes according to them against the Word of God.
So those who perform abortions and the women who have abortions would be incarcerated or executed for taking the life of a child . For them from the time of fertilization to birth the fetus is to have the same rights as all other citizens.
For them Fetuses or even Zygotes and Corporations have the same rights as other people-that is in their twisted view of the world.
These Dominionists Evangelicals are anti-pluralism, anti-diversity, anti-multiculturalism and in the final analysis are anti-democracy .
Though they often complain that the Media does not treat them with respect and tolerance at the same time their agenda basically argues against tolerance of other religions or even of those who claim to be Christians but who have become far too liberal and who preach "social Justice" and tolerance for Homosexuals and so forth.
They believe in exclusivism in which those who are true believers have certain rights and privileges which non-believers are to be denied.
They believe only "Real Christians" and in their view "Real Americans" should be permitted to hold positions of authority.
and here's another example of the Religious Right pushing for legilation to undermine Pro-Choice laws.
" Michigan Bill Reveals Anti-Choicers Hate Coercion, Unless They Are The Coercers "' By Angi Becker Stevens via Alternet.org| Sourced from RH Reality Check August 16, 2011
The latest in a long line of recently proposed anti-choice legislation in Michigan, HB 4799 takes yet another new approach in attacking abortion: the bill, if passed, would specifically prohibit coercing a woman into an abortion. In addition to prohibiting any threats of violence, HB 4799 would impose fines on husbands who threaten their wives with divorce unless they abort a pregnancy, or on parents who similarly threaten the withdrawal of financial support. Fines for attempting to coerce a woman into having an abortion would be up to $5000, or up to $10,000 if the woman is a minor or if the perpetrator of the coercion is the father of the fetus in question.
At first glance, it’s easy to read this as reasonable. No one, obviously, ever wants to see a woman pressured and coerced into an abortion she does not want. The catch, of course, is that anyone truly concerned with protecting women--not fetuses--from coercive forces would be equally interested in preventing women from being coerced into any reproductive choice, including the choice to continue a pregnancy against one’s will. As far as HB 4799 is concerned, threatening to divorce your wife unless she gets an abortion has a $10,000 price tag. Threatening to divorce her if she gets an abortion, however, is perfectly acceptable. In fact, the state itself is perfectly willing to participate in coercion against abortion; the same lawmakers behind this bill are ironically also the lawmakers trying to force Michigan women to view the most clear and accurate ultrasound images possible before obtaining an abortion.
And to take the hypocrisy even further, Michigan happens to be a state with strict parental notification laws for minors seeking abortion. So while it could soon become illegal for parents to attempt to pressure their daughters into having abortions, it is well within parents’ legal rights to force their daughters to continue an unwanted pregnancy. This type of tactic seems to be a hot trend right now in anti-choice legislation: nationwide, we’ve seen proposed laws claiming to provide women with greater ability to make informed decisions, to ensure increased safety of clinics, to prevent abortions due to the race or gender of the fetus. They are the kind of laws that sound almost inarguable, unless we look at them in a larger context. When one specific action or procedure is the subject of intense legal scrutiny, that scrutiny reflects a bias.
Where are the laws precisely dictating the kind of information a patient must be given before undergoing less-controversial medical procedures? Where are the fines for husbands who would threaten divorce in order to coerce their wives into specific sexual acts, or for the parents who would cut off all support for kids who come out of the closet? Coercion is bad, we can all agree. But we can’t allow this “we’re trying to protect women!” rhetoric to cloud our judgment. HB 4799 is not about protecting women from coercion, it’s about finding one more new path by which to vilify abortion. And no legislators who attempt to block our access to safe and legal abortion can ever claim to be acting in defense of women.
and here's an example of those who adhere to a literalist inerrancy of the Bible explaining why women are inferior to men and as wives must submit to their husbands.
(of course since Bible based law has not yet become dominant in America these members of the Religious Right will in the mean time accept a woman who is one of them to hold positions of authority until they finally take Dominion over all aspects of American society that is governance, business, education, media and so forth.)
Coveredforhim.com which explains what it means for wives to submit to their husbands:
Ephesians 5
22Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.
23For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.
24Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.
****************
33Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
Submission to Your Husband?!
Sisters, it is often asked, should a wife submit to her husband? If she wishes to follow scripture the answer is a resounding yes. The scripture is EXTREMELY clear on this point. You can follow it or not. If you are a new Christian and were unaware of the verses regarding submission, I can imagine they might be a shock to you. However, I think even some of us who have been Christian a long time still are in shock. Many Christian ladies hate or are embarrassed by these scriptures. They are proud of their faith, but don’t want others to think they are “mindless”. They will find any excuse to not obey. If you are trying to pass it off as a “cultural” requirement, do you realize you are ignoring a command of God? Either you believe the Bible is the inerrant word of God or you don’t. If you do, shouldn’t you obey it?!
Yes, I admit I sound harsh here. Sisters, so many of us struggle with this issue.
...Here is a scriptural fact though. The world will not love you, understand you, nor respect you. Why do you spin your wheels trying to get that accomplished? It isn’t going to happen unless you compromise the very word of God?! Stop trying to make the command to submission look “soft”. It is what it is. Yes it is patriarchal! Yes it is male dominant! So what?!
If that is the way God wants it I am okay with that. I love God and I trust that He knows best. If the world calls me a doormat for that, so be it.
The comment that it “takes a strong woman to submit”. Again, this is catering to the world. The Bible directly says that the woman is the WEAKER vessel. We have to accept that for what it is. We are who God made us to be, accept it with grace. Do not let your pride be your downfall.
and so it goes ,
GORD.
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