Last Minute Election Revival Crazies Take Center Stage.
Before watching the following video, it's important to note that the fringe element always screams the loudest.
And Cindy Japan-is-shaped-like-a-dragon Jacobs (founder of Generals International) is certainly fringe. The woman who has declared herself a "prophetess" and a "New Apostle" may have packed them in after promising to cure hysterectomies, raising children from the dead and smash as many Native American artifacts as she can find.
Last week, Pastor Gary Cass declared that "You can't be a Christian and not own a gun." However, with the vehemence of these people (to be fair - one of them is really praying for Obama to receive the Holy Spirit), it is evident that some people should not heed Cass' Christofascist, NRA, Patriot Movement activism. The words may be holy, but their screams are hellish.
The video also invites one to look at the background - a barely filled stadium staged with people filled not with "Possession of the Spirit" but with the Spirit of Possession, possession by the speakers. Trance-like (and in what seems to be terminal slow motion), these people are to be feared the most: what goes on in their minds may be the stuff of horror films. It is as I've always stated about Christfascists: there are two kinds - the Elmer Gantrys who charismatically control people and the Elmer Fudds being controlled. The Elmer Gantrys are dangerous enough, but the Elmer Fudds may be lethal: after all, they're the ones with the guns. Gary Cass' guns.
I had no idea that the people of Minneapolis had such a monumental hatred for the rest of the country. I mean, didn't we portray it in a good enough light on the Mary Tyler Moore Show? Sure, we saw lots of snow, overcoats and a woolly caps, but come on, there's no reason for Minneapolis to curse the rest of the country with one of history's most insidiously stupid politicians!
Yeah, yeah we know that Sarah Palin started us down the slippery slope of accepting power-grabbing dimwits, the country was starting to opine for the good 'ole days of W and stand-up comedians are starving for material, but has our hunger to be entertained overshadowed our need to be led by someone with at least half a brain?
From the instant his fruitful eight-year reign ended, Republicans have pined for the next Ronald Reagan... Sarah Palin, you say? The buzz inside the Beltway is that Mrs. Bachmann may be looking to add a woman's touch to the Oval Office (beyond just sprucing up its temporary occupant's eyesore decor). Her spokesman, Doug Sachtleben, has confirmed to media that the congresswoman is considering a potential presidential run, saying: "Nothing's off the table."
Nothing's off the table, except, maybe, sanity. Or a modicum of intelligence. Barber goes on to describe Bachmann as a "maverick's maverick," the most conservative member of Congress (because only a right wingnut job will do) and "indifferent to what the moonbat media and the larger loony left think about her." Not counting the rather original "moonbat media" jibe, Barber waxes predictable: Bachmann is the perfect uber-Christian for the office of POTUS. So, if elected by all of the other uber-Rightwing Christians, we will be treated to more of these wonderful bits of wisdom:
''[Pelosi] is committed to her global warming fanaticism to the point where she has said she has even said she is trying to save the planet. We all know that someone did that 2,000 years ago.''
"A woman (Terri Schiavo) was healthy. There was brain damage, there was no question. But from a health point of view, she was not terminally ill.''
''If we took away the minimum wage -- if conceivably it was gone -- we could potentially virtually wipe out unemployment completely because we would be able to offer jobs at whatever level.''
''I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back."
Bachmann's "reasoning" runs the gamut from tortured to absolutely clueless.
Are people pining away for George Bush to the extent that they'll take someone with equal (or lesser) value? The Right constantly screams at the Left on how vicious it was towards Bush when the truth is that many of us were laughing too hard to be vicious. Focusing on ineptitude as monumental as Bush's took a vigilance so constant that it wore many of us out, leading the introspective amongst us to surmise that maybe Bush was acting "The Good Soldier Schweik." The fact that half of the country voted for him TWICE was an indication that the dumbing of America had finally taken hold and that we were on the slippery slope to irrelevancy.
Barber's fawning also stated "her existing widespread Tea Party support" which may or may not be true, because the TP's lack of credible foundation and leadership makes them look as if they'll hold on to anything that says "no more big government, no more taxes."
Excess of any kind can be comical, so that is why Barber's statement that if coupled with Obama in a debate, Bachmann would "mop the floor with him," now lies as the most laughable statement out the mouth of a rabid Religious Right (oops, - social conservative) Reconstructionist.
Excessive idiocy aside, the Right wing theocrats (religious or political) of today need to rein Bachmann in and let her make her mark in history through insanely stupid malapropisms. Allowing her a wider audience would be a nail in the coffin of America's intelligence.
August 28th, the day Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor rally hits the nation's capitol, may become a notable date in history: it will be the first time that Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin will meet to extol the glory that was our country and what we should do to regain its former stature among nations and among ourselves. It will be notable because it surely will not be the only time these two world-renowned people will be together under the shadow of Abraham Lincoln to put forth their philosophies and theologies. History is ready to enshrine their wisdom.
Beck's messianic religiosity took the next logical step this week, when he announced a new event scheduled on the eve of the 8-28 rally. Employing his characteristic humility, the event will be titled "Glenn Beck's Divine Destiny" and will feature "nationally-known figures from all faiths." Beck describes the evening as an "eye-opening" event "that will help heal your soul."
"... from all faiths." Will that panoply of religion include Islam? For Beck's sake, it had better not. It shouldn't include Hinduism. Or Buddhism. Or Mormonism. Or even Judaism (to any extent - tokens may be accepted since he's actually had several rabbis on his radio show). The guest list MUST be packed with such notables as Tony Perkins (FRC), Bryan Fischer (AFA), Lou Engle, Rick Warren, Richard Land (SBC), Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell, Jr. and (if he's feted enough), Pat Robertson. If Glenn Beck wants to solidify his power-base, he needs these men and needs to keep within their boundaries. Through his historian-guru, David Barton, Beck has firmly placed the Christian Nation ideology on the political map. With rallies like this one, however, he must make certain that the meme is stretched to mean "Christian-Only Nation."
There will be points that Beck will need to punctuate or else the Tony Perkinses and Franklin Grahams will walk away and leave a very unpleasant tension in the air:
First: America is a Christian Nation. Beck's "historian" David Barton must be able to point to every founding father and declare that without a doubt he was a Christian and that this country was founded solely on Christian principles.
Gay rights are not Civil Rights. The fact that August 28th is the 47th anniversary of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s I Have A Dream speech will not be lost on the multitude, hopefully sprinkled with African American pastors.
America must repent. It must feel utter remorse in the fact that it let hedonistic and immoral forces take over the country.
If America does not stop the machinations of the Obama administration, it will be doomed to become a totalitarian, Socialist - and Godless - state.
The Freedoms of Religion and Speech are being strongly curtailed and, if we do not act now, Christian churches and congregations will be persecuted.
Traditional marriage is under attack by a small but powerful minority of homosexual, Socialist activists.
The current administration seeks to uphold immoral laws allowing abortion.
Our justice system has been corrupted by the ideologies of lawless Socialists.
If our country does not turn away from Socialist ideas, Socialist science, and Socialist education, then it is doomed both spiritually and physically.
Muslims - especially the ones who practice Islam - should be looked upon as potential terrorists.
I don't think the Beckian concept of "social justice" will be featured, since all of Beck's apostles know it by heart.
I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words. Now, the idea - hang on, am I advising people to leave their church? Yes!
That now-famous statement has been enshrined in the halls of the Christian Right while being scorned from the pulpits of the progressives. With that one statement, Beck defined both sides: Progressive=evil, Conservative = good.
Beck's definitions are not, however, quite balanced: "conservative" should be replaced by "regressive." And then "Restoring" would make more sense, for according to the Right's philosophy, we must reach back in time to retrieve the principles, to take back the Christian morals that we don't have today. And Beck's definition of "honor" is also amiss: isn't hypocrisy one of the opposites of honor? Isn't hiding behind the Bible, cowering behind the pulpit and evoking the First Amendment to justify hate speech dishonorable? Isn't bloviating about religious freedom while (literally) demonizing other religions dishonorable? What is so honorable about turning one's rights into something to be feared? And what is so unifying about "us" versus "them"? Restore Honor, by its very name says that "we" are better than "them."
That begs the question: who's honor needs to be restored?
Cracks In Divine Destiny
Unfortunately for Glenn Beck, his ship of Divine Destiny this Friday has already had some serious bailouts:
He has swerved into theological and doctrinal realm in the last few weeks. He’s said things on the air that makes my skin crawl. . . a ‘works based’ theology that is based in Mormonism. . . . We are not serving the god of Mormonism that says you can be like God… a religion that said Jesus and Satan were brothers. . . . Leave your pagan—your cult—religion. . . .
It's important to know that Howse was a big supporter of Beck and David Barton's "Christian Nation" meme, but the prospect of Mormonism creeping into Beck's "Daily Prayer" (on radio) and into his new found religionist theories makes many Christians' "skin crawl".
Coupled with Beck's promoting Mormonism is the even worse possibility that he might also promote the tolerance he showed for same-sex marriage on Bill O'Reilly's program:
O'Reilly: ... Is it going to harm the country?
Beck: I believe that Thomas Jefferson said: "If it neither breaks my leg nor picks my pocket what difference is it to me?
The MSM will undoubtedly tout attendance at the event as evidence of support for his patently false view that promotion of "gay marriage" poses no threat to our Constitution, sovereignty and liberty; that the majority of Americans are willing to allow the legal abandonment of the natural family and a redefinition of rights that makes them figments of government power rather than authoritative assertions of God's will for justice.
Famous CR homo-Islamo-everyone-who's-not-CR-phobe Bryan Fischer:
Count Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck as the latest deserters in the culture war and in the battle for sexual normalcy. They have flinched at "precisely that little point which the world and the devil are ... attacking," and so have forfeited the right to consider themselves any longer culture warriors.
Glenn Beck's Minister Of Chauvenism
Of course, a laissez-faire attitude towards gay marriage will oppose Beck's most ardent promoter, Jim Garlow, pastor of Skyline Church in San Diego and one of the men who spearheaded Proposition 8.
Below is an audio clip from one of Beck's most recent radio shows which can serve as a guide to what thought processes will be used during the two-day fete. It really bears listening to, because Garlow regurgitates all the points above with (unfortunate) sincerity and piety. His sermon is supposedly based on the book of Hosea (on which he so proudly says that he based his master's thesis). Garlow then uses the usual supposition that no one actually reads the Bible (let alone an obscure book like Hosea) and procedes to carve out his own fictitious story that Hosea forgave this wanton wife and she obediently followed him home. Look it up in the KJV (Hosea), and see if there's any way you can conceivably make out his story from what is written.
The above anecdote serves to tell us the kind of "honorable" men Beck has been surrounding himself with.
Beck's homespun demagoguery is at times reminiscent of Andy Griffith's character in A Face In The Crowd. In the clip below, Griffith gloats to the late Patricia Neal about his political power. The horror on her face looks familiar, because you can see the same horror in the faces of Beck's critics: here is a man who has is enraptured by his own effect on people. With Beck, the medium has become the message.
I ask that you would come and bring your family, bring your children, this is going to be a historic day, it is going to be a day that I think will shock those naysayers, those people on the far left, those people who think we are going to dishonor...it is about Restoring Honor.
So whose honor will Divine Destiny Beck restore? The country's? The Christian Right's? His own?
When musing on Glenn Beck's many scattered (and even contradictory) philosophies, someone used the old saw "a broken clock is right twice a day." That may be true. However, a brocken clock is also wrong 1438 times a day. Whatever happens on Satruday, let's not give Beck too much credit.*
Defenestration: to throw something or someone out of a high window, hence the term, "out the window" The most famous defenestration was the Defenestration of Prague, when Protestants threw the Catholic emissaries out of the castle window, starting the Thirty Years War. Defenestration was also a favorite form of execution of Bohemia. It is conjectured that statesman Anton Masaryk was executed by the Communist Party by being thrown out the third story of the Czernin Palace.
These days, throwing something out the window is to eradicate or nullify it. We throw things "out the window" every day: a diet, an idea, a promise. An oath.
Like the Hippocratic Oath.
These days, doctors are no longer required to take the Hippocratic Oath. That's primarily because the Oath has evolved to suit a society's needs and a culture's norms. For example, the original Oath started thusly:
I swear by Apollo, the healer, Asclepius, Hygieia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgment, the following Oath and agreement:
The classic:
I swear by Apollo the Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods, and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment this oath and this covenant:
The modern version:
I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:
Probably the most well-known tenet of the Oath:
I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.
The Hippocratic Oath was really the first of moral statement relating to humanity no matter who the person was or what station he or she held. It is important to note that it was a statement of true compassion in that it denotes unqualified acceptance of a person as a human being. Today, unfortunately, we are seeing the defenestration of the Hippocratic Oath for religious and political purposes.
Thin and long-faced, 46-year-old Steven Forrest Hotze has carved out a niche in local politics over the past decade as an unyielding and occasionally strident opponent of abortion and public acceptance of homosexuality... beliefs include the following:
• A wife may work outside the home only with her husband's consent
• "Biblical spanking" that results in "temporary or superficial bruises or welts" should not be considered a crime
• No doctor shall provide medical service on the Sabbath
• All disease and disability is caused by the sin of Adam and Eve
• Medical problems are frequently caused by personal sin
So if you should be so unfortunate as to require the services of Dr. Hotze, you'll be judged a sinner first, a patient second. Makes you kind of uncomfortable, doesn't it? And what if he treats you and you don't get well? Hmmm... In a car accident on a Sunday? Good luck!
Another doctor prejudges you according to your political beliefs:
The sign reads [in his outer office]: "If you voted for Obama … seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years."
There are two different kinds of Christofascists: one is the Elmer Gantry and the other kind is the Elmer Fudd. The one to watch out for is the Elmer Fudd. After all, he's the one with the gun.
About 35 years ago, I had the occasion to meet one of my boyhood cowboy icons. I had seen him on the 14-inch screen in black and white, but his portrayal of a Mexican cowboy with a sidekick named Pancho was colorful enough for the imagination. The actor's name was Duncan Renaldo and he played The Cisco Kid. When I met him he was in his sixties and was much shorter than I had imagined him. But his white hair was still as thick as it had been twenty years before and he still had a kind of benign intensity. He was promoting a friend's book of poetry. He talked to me about his early days in movies, when sound was in its infancy. He was in Africa for almost two years filming the classic Trader Horn. He told me that the movie made almost no money at the box-office, but the extensive footage of the Serengeti and its animals was a goldmine in studio rentals. I was anxious, however, to get to the subject of The Cisco Kid."You know, I had Hopalong Cassidy wallpaper when I was a kid," I said. "And I know there were dozens of other promotional toys and whatnot for different shows, but I don't recall seeing anything with The Cisco Kid on them."
He turned very serious. "That's because they wanted me to promote Cisco Kid six-shooters and I wouldn't do it."
"Why not?"
"Because every time you point a gun at someone, even a toy gun, it means 'I want to kill you.'"
I've never forgotten that exchange. As The Cisco Kid, he was totally fearless. In reality, he was compassionate and peaceful. I then realized that his character's quick wit and rather sophisticated temperament was due to his own persona and not just a scriptwriter's attempt to inject something more meaningful into an early TV kids' cowboy program.
"I want to kill you."
Amarillo, TX is under siege. The group called Repent Amarillo is openly targeting businesses, clubs, establishments it considers immoral and/or evil.
The following description of a "soldier for Christ" sounds routinely innocuous, but put it on a website that features gunshots and bullet holes and you have the makings of a hate group armed with guns as well as Bibles. This group will start with extreme intimidation, but only time will tell what it will end up with.
Let's look at the inconsistencies in their description of a "soldier of Christ":
Asoldier for Christ fights a spiritual battle. The enemy is not our fellow man but the principalities, the powers, the rulers of the darkness of this world (Ephesians 6:12). (History tells us that a soldier is trained to kill whomever he perceives as the enemy. Flesh and blood humans are painted as evil incarnate by pastors.) Our mission is to do battle with the lies of the enemy. To do battle with the corruption of this world. We do this by personal evangelism, one heart at a time. (Not when you target whole groups for extreme intimidation) The first century church went out into the streets and house to house being personal witnesses for Christ. This we do as well. (No, they did not intend to intimidate, harass or threaten blackmail) The Christian soldier has three weapons in his arsenal, prayer, praise and worship, and the Word of God. (Using Scripture as a weapon in any way is not Christian is it?) The Christian soldier must have the courage to stand where others will not and to go where others fear to tread. If God the Father regarded every person’s value as to be worth sending His only begotten Son to die for then why do so many Christians think that some are not worth preaching to? (Intimidation is not preaching) Regardless of the risk, regardless of the cost, regardless of the place, Christians are called to preach the Gospel to every creature. (Not to animals, since that would be putting animals on the same plane as humans) There is no excuse for cowardice in the face of the enemy. (Again, who is the enemy - how about that guy who runs the porno shop? Or the young couple in a swingers club? Or the gay couple down the street?) Jesus Christ was faithful unto death, obedient unto death and so shall we. The costs of cowardice and apathy are far too high. (Costs to whom?) A soldier for Christ wants to leave no man behind. (Easily qualified by a young soldier’s mind - if a man refuses to go, then what is the soldier to do?) We will fight unto death for the cause of eternal life through Christ Jesus. We will wage a good spiritual warfare until our King calls us home. May we leave this earth desperately clinging to one more lost soul.
"Desperately clinging." In the context of warfare, those words could be taken to mean that while the right hand is clinging to someone, the left hand is searching for a place to stab with the dagger - and turn it.
Of course, this article doesn't do justice to the website. Picture it pockmarked with bullet holes.
Yes, bullet holes.
That's what got to me when I looked at the site. No matter what they say about not targeting anyone, the bullet holes make everything disingenuous. The bullet holes are there to intimidate. The bullet holes are, in fact, very indicative of their modus operandi: intentionally ruining peoples' lives to further their agenda:
It was members of this "soldier" group that confronted, harassed, and smeared members of the Amarillo swinger's club, employing such apparently "Christian" tactics as posting names, employers, and license plate numbers of club attendees online, resulting in lost jobs and social ostracism--which, I guess, was the point--for several members.
While I call this ideology of religious militarism Christofascism, some have other names even more sinister. Dan Savage (Savage Love) calls Christofascists The American Taliban:
They're also going after churches they believe to be insufficiently Christian (Episcopalians, Christian Scientists, Unitarians), palm readers, people who practice witchcraft, and anything and everything that might create a "demonic stronghold" in Amarillo. And they're not just threatening to pray for people: Repent Amarillo's "actions" include prayer, according to Repent Amarillo's website, "but [also] may involve more aggressive use of soldiers and prayer warriors." Check out the group's locked-and-loaded website. (Please note: Repent Amarillo's website "is not designed for non-Christians," or the wrong kinds of Christians, so don't look long lest you defile the group's website with your eyes and turn into a pillar of salt.)
So if, heaven forbid, you are ever in Amarillo, remember that Repent Amarillo will be targeting these events:
1. Gay pride events. 2. Earth worship events such as “Earth Day” 3. Pro-abortion events or places such as Planned Parenthood 4. Breast cancer events such as “Race for the Cure” to illuminate the link between abortion and breast cancer. 5. Opening day of public schools to reach out to students. 6. Spring break events
7. Demonically based concerts. 8. Halloween events. 9. Other events that may arise that the ministry feels called to confront
If Repent Amarillo seems like a terrorist organization using God as a front, we should waste no time in monitoring it VERY closely. The Christofascist Right won't do it. Progressive Christians and the rest of us must do it. Someone's life may depend upon our diligence.
Update:
A very confusing investigation into the founder of Repent Amarillo and its "parent" ministry Raven International Ministries reveals that most of the "pastors" associated with its ministries matriculated at World Evangelism Bible College - the college founded by none other than disgraced evangelist Jimmy Swaggart. Neither Todd Bohn's nor (brother) Troy Bohn's profiles state that they actually graduated from WEBC, although Troy's website does state that he received a "honorary doctorate" in appreciation for his work, but does not state the source of the honorary degree. Repent Amarillo's (pastor) David Grisham is not listed with any known theological seminary as far as we know.
Pastor Martin Ssempe's new tactic to see all gays killed reached a new low when he showed gay pornographic slides in a Kampala church. He hoped to get more support for the "kill the gays" bill.
The screening was attended by around 300 supporters crammed into an evangelical church in the Ugandan capital after plans for a 'million-man march' were thwarted by police. 'We had planned to have a million-man and -woman march in Kampala but unfortunately we were told that we could not march because of security concerns," Martin Ssempa told the crowd. 'The major argument homosexuals have is that what people do in the privacy of their bedrooms is nobody's business but do you know what they do in their bedrooms?,' the pastor asked. Ssempa then displayed a slide show of gay pornographic pictures. 'This one is eating another man's penis,' the pastor said, before going into even more graphic descriptions. 'Is this what Obama wants to bring to Africa?'
No, I don't think it is. He wants to bring something that Ssempa hasn't seen for years: civilization. I know that's harsh and some might say see the statement as racist, but just think how our own Christian Right is trying to drag us all (kicking and screaming) back to the Middle Ages. Christofascists see Africa as new meat: "there's redemption in them thar hills and we's gonna get us a whole passel of brand spankin' new converts. Yessiree!"
And people like Rick Warren are exporting homophobia as fast as possible. Of course, Warren has denounced the "kill the gays" bill, but only after a lot of pressure. And other high-ranking evangelicals are beginning to look like "Hitler's Pope," Pope Pius XII, who gave only a small, vague remonstration to Hitler and the Holocaust. For the Pope, it was a trade-off or rather, being on the side of the lesser of two evils: back Hitler, but not Stalin. And in the case of Uganda, gays, like Jews, are expendable. If killing gays en masse begets just one conversion, then so be it. It's like Rick Warren's motto: "Whatever it takes."
And yesterday's headlines concerning mass hysteria in Kenya will please a great many of the Christofascists.
The wave of anti-gay sentiment in Kenya continues to grow. The mob violence on Feb. 12 over the alleged wedding of two gay men has led to house-to-house searches for gays, attacks on gays in the street and the sacking of an AIDS clinic.
So now Martin's Seempa's homophobia (and by extension, Rick Warren's) has spread.
One of the questions I have for Pastor Ssempe: what video were your slides from? Was it "To The Last Man" by Raging Stallion? Was it the wonderful take-off on Tim LaHaye's novels called "Kiss My Left Behind?" Was it "Folsom Undercover?" Was it "The Bigger The Better?" The guys in those films didn't look gay at all. Or did you show something like "Castro Twinks Get It On." That one would have you marching in San Francisco like the angry villagers in Frankenstein. Wouldn't that be fun?
OK, so I'm flippant. Did you expect anything less? Some people deserve to be treated jovially but dismissively or they just don't get the point. OK, I'll cut out the flippancy because it's too be easy to dismiss Ssempa's mentality as one of a typical Central African tyrant whose problem-solving skills entail only jail sentences, torturde and executions. His reasoning is fed by the U.S. evangelical community which owns him. His leaders cannot accomplish anything without the sanction of people like Rick Warren and Franklin Graham. And so Ssempa targets Barack Obama.
Seempa never seems to realize that Uganda (and now Kenya) has to exist with more globalized societies. China realized it years ago. So did Russia. And if he and Musevene want to imitate capitalist democracies such as ours, he'll have to deal with certain ethical principals.
Theocracies are NOT democracies by any stretch of the imagination. But sacred cows like Ssempa would rather not have democracies standing in their way. Again, like his mentor's motto: "Whatever it takes."
AVATAR has an abhorrent New Age, pagan, anti-capitalist worldview that promotes goddess worship and the destruction of the human race.
- NOT Pat Robertson
I must have been sleeping ... for the last eight weeks. I saw the movie Avatar (in 3-D) last night and it hit me as to how the Christofascists would spin it into something totally evil. Then I went home, googled some themes and, surprise! Some right-wing bloggers and the pope had raled against it in December! I don't know how any bloviating about it could have slipped by me: I don't remember it in any of my rss feeds. How could I have missed it? The biggest blockbuster (with the biggest budget) coupled with the theme of genocide by capitalism didn't get the usual 700 Club treatment.
And four weeks into its run, Avatar is still packing movie houses. People are seeing it twice, three times and telling people how wonderfully entertaining it is! They've been hypnotized by the artistry, blown away by their own violent reaction of empathy to an indigenous humanoid species (who, when you come to think of it, look like giant smurf pixies) and rooted against capitalism and the military mindset as never before.
So why hasn't the Christian Right conducted a huge protest ala The DaVinci Code? Is Avatar still playing in Alabama?
I checked. It is. In about ten neighborhood cineplexes.
Think of “Avatar” as “Death Wish 5” for leftists. A simplistic, revisionist revenge fantasy where if you freakin’ hate the bad guys (America), you’re able to forgive the by-the-numbers predictability of it all and still get off watching them get what they got coming.
The movie’s most seditious act is to evoke the specter of September 11, only with the terms reversed…Cameron’s willingness to question the sacred trauma of 9/11 is audacious, and his ability to do so in a $300 million tentpole movie is nothing short of shocking. If Avatar has a claim to revolution, that is where it lies.
We have made a religion out of entertainment. And an entertainment out of religion.
Sorry folks, but that's as profound as I can get. For me, it's the only solution possible to the conundrum of Avatar's popularity in spite of Christofascists telling people that it's anti-American and, by extension, anti-Christian. What many right-wingers don't seem to understand is that folks consider it anti-American to keep entertainment at bay from the American public. You can take away the right of Americans to free speech, free worship, and even representation in government, but never, never attempt to take away America's God-given right to be entertained.
Never.
And in the melee that we call the culture war, entertainment (and James Cameron's Avatar) has won this battle.
You've got to hand it to Christofascists and Right Wingnuts - they scream and rant and explode and stomp and faint and cry, well, they're just the greatest emoting animals on the planet! Their rhetoric makes every day Halloween with images of political demons and hellish moral catastrophes. They defend us all (yes, the sinners too!) with buzzwords that sting their enemies, like "God" "Bible" "Hell" "Satan" "Taxes" and "Tinky Winky!" They expand hyperboles, sometimes going on into infinity: "Throughout the history of mankind!" "They'll burn in hell - FOREVER!" "Your children and your children's children and their children's children will never, ever see the end of paying for this disastrous bill!"
They have deep-seated persecution complexes and are the biggest source of conspiracy theories. Meeting Democrats at a party makes them spout doom and gloom: they will never again see the return of Eisenhower's 50's or Reagan's 80's! Things were so much, much better!
Now a new poll conducted by Research 2000 released today shows us that:
39% of Republicans want President Obama to be impeached.
63% think Obama is a socialist.
52% do not believe Obama was born in the United States.
21% think ACORN stole the 2008 election --
AND EVEN SCARIER:
53% think Sarah Palin is more qualified than Obama to be president.
23% want to secede from the United States.
73% think gay people should not be allowed to teach in public schools.
31% want contraception to be outlawed
The poll
The last several weeks were particularly active and agitating weeks for Christofascists: the Prop 8 trial and, well, just about everything else.
The first one may not be classified as a "rant" because it's more like severe contempt, but it gets the party started:
My guess is that Haiti’s so screwed up because it wasn’t colonized long enough.
Then, of course, there was Maggie Gallagher of NOM:
When this trial [Prop 8] began I told you: gay marriage activists were putting 7 million Californians on trial. But this week it got worse: They are clearly putting Christianity itself on trial. Why else have an expert read statements of Catholic and Southern Baptist doctrines into the record?
Bill Donahue, borrowing a trite and erroneous statement from Rick Warren:
Society cannot exist without families; families cannot exist without reproduction; reproduction cannot exist without a sexual union between a man and a woman;and every society in the history of the world has created an institution called marriage to provide for this end.
And Tony Perkins of Family Research Council showed us that when you're feeling frustrated and desperate, it's time to call the other side DESPERATE!
The Left is preparing a desperate 120-day ASSAULT on your values to appease itsCULTURE OF DEATH, ANTI-MARRIAGE political base before the 2010 election campaigns begin.
And Family Research Council (FRC) is preparing to meet that BLITZ head-on.
Perkins' wild pronouncements included: (the good guys)
Reclaiming marriage Defending innocent human life Protecting children
(the bad guys)
radical agenda Silencing faith Silencing Christian and conservative radio
And ending with:
2010 is a turning-point year for faith, family, and freedom!!!.
And from another part of the globe, we have a drama queen's rant coming from the new archbishop of Belgium, Andre-Joseph Leonard:
"Homosexuality is not the same as normal sex in the same way that anorexia is not a normal appetite."
Drama. Irrational, baseless drama. Unfortunately their drama will create REAL drama.
It is unfortunate that although not all Muslims are terrorists, all terrorists are Muslim. - Anonymous
WARNING: Today's climate is not good for defending Muslims. And while the article does not defend acts by Muslim terrorists, the fact is that anyone in line with prejudiced voices within the Christian Right will think me extremely anti-Christian and totally un-American.
There are many, many wonderful Christians in this world. They go about doing and fostering good works and do not think it necessary to proselytize. They just do the work that's needed, then go to the next group in need. To these people, I say a sincere "thank you". You are worthy of praise and not condemnation.
There are also some people who have distorted basic Christian beliefs and have pushed their own agenda while saying that it is God's. To these people I say "Go ahead, be insulted" for if only a small fraction of what I'm writing about is true, then you deserve to own up to your sins. And those sins involve avarice, pride, arrogance, maliciousness and yes, murder.
Islamophobia: the fashionable phobia for right-wingers this year.
"While Christianity is a religion of peace, founded by the Prince of Peace, Islam is a religion of war and violence, founded by a man who routinely chopped the heads off his enemies, had sex with nine-year old girls, and made his wealth plundering merchant caravans."
- Bryan Fischer, the one-time head of the Idaho Values Alliance who got called up to the big leagues earlier this year when he became the American Family Association's Director of Issue Analysis.
"Islam is a religion in which God requires you to send your son to die for him. Christianity is a faith in which God sends his son to die for you"
- Former Attorney General John Ashcroft
"Islam is a very evil religion. All the values that we as a nation hold dear, they don't share those same values at all ... these countries that have the majority of Muslims."
- Franklin Graham
"This man [Muhammad] was an absolute wild-eyed fanatic, he was a robber and a brigand. And to say that these terrorists distort Islam ... they are carrying out Islam. I mean: This man [Muhammed] was a killer and to think that this is a peaceful religion is fraudulent."
- Pat Robertson
[At a Pro-Israel rally] "This not a war between Arabs and the Jews, this is between God and the devil.
- Benny Hinn
There are also some people who have distorted basic Christian beliefs and have pushed their own agenda. And it makes no difference to today's Islamophobes that Jesus Christ is mentioned more than Mohammed in the Q'uran and that Christ is considered Islam's most important prophet (after Mohammed).
(Remember) When the angels said O Mary! Allah Gives thee Good News of a son through a Word from Him! His name shall be the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, honoured in this world and in the next, and of those who Are Granted Nearness to Allah! (3.45) And he shall speak to the people in the cradle, and when of middle age, and he shall be of The Righteous (3.46)
Qur'an 2:136–136 "Say: we believe in God and that which is revealed unto us, and that which was revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the tribes, and that which Moses and Jesus received, and which the prophets received from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and unto Him we have surrendered."
IMPORTANT NOTE:
The following is only a small portion of the entire activity of people who have called themselves "Christian" in history. I have been compiling notes and statistics for 6 years. Many people will refute even these meager numbers and events. While I don't wish to overtly offend anyone, because, as I've said above in this article, there are many wonderful Christians in this world, there are people who don't want this kind of information to be exchanged. They now call it "revisionist" history. However, these statistics and featured events are culled from a myriad number of sources, all written long before religious "revisionist" theories were contemplated. In order to give you a taste of what philosophies have been tolerated under the name of Christianity, the following is taken from The Jesuit Extreme Oath of Induction:
“…I do further promise and declare that I will, when opportunity presents, make and wage relentless war, secretly and openly, against all heretics, Protestants and Masons, as I am directed to do, to extirpate them from the face of the whole earth; and that I will spare neither age, sex or condition, and that will hang, burn, waste, boil, flay, strangle, and bury alive these infamous heretics; rip up the stomachs and wombs of their women, and crush their infant's heads against the walls in order to annihilate their execrable race. That when the same cannot be done openly I will secretly use the poisonous cup, the strangulation cord, the steel of the poniard, or the leaden bullet, regardless of the honor, rank, dignity or authority of the persons, whatever may be their condition in life, either public or private, as I at any time may be directed so to do by any agents of the Pope or Superior of the Brotherhood of the Holy Father of the Society of Jesus.”
Christian "Crime Line"
There are crimes…and then there are CRIMES. The following is really just a partial list of all the historical events Christians just won’t own up to. Notable statements plus resulting casualties are highlighted in red. If you're a devout Christian, ask your local pastor about these points. If he or she can't answer them, then do some research. Research by yourself the development of your own religion. If even a tenth of the profile presented in these points are true, there may be something your pastor or religious mentor does not want to discuss, even in your Bible study class.
40 - St. Stephen becomes the first Christian martyr - Note: most persecutions were carried out on a local level -Death Toll: Up to 100,000 During 275-year period
48 - First Christian Council convenes Apostles meet in Jerusalem to determine if Gentiles need to become Jews first, then Christians. Gentiles do not have to undergo circumcision, nor are they obliged to keep Jewish ritual and purity laws
314 - Christians begin to massacre pagans in Egypt and Palestine .Persecution tables have now turned
325 - Council of Nicea is convened by Constantine to discuss date of Easter and deal with Arian Heresy. Approx. 300 bishops attended (out of 1800 in the entire empire, most of whom were in north Africa) – Note: Constantine threatened bishops with exile unless they agreed to the Nicene Creed. Arius and two others were exiled.
325 - Pagans are killed immediately after the Council of Nicea - Death Toll: 3,000
326 - Constantine first executes his son Chrispus in belief that he had sex with his step-mother, Fausta After Constantine finds out that Fausta lied about the affair, he has her boiled in her bathtub
336 - Arian Christians are persecuted - Death Toll: Approx. 10,000
350 - Riot between Arians and Christians - Death Toll: 3,150
580 - Christians arrest a group of Gentiles in a secret temple - Major Irony: the gentiles were fed to lions, but the lions refused to eat them. They were then crucified instead
590 - After Pope Gregory I decrees celibacy for the clergy, infants are murdered - Death Toll: 6000
782 - Charlemagne orders the beheading of pagans - Death Toll: 4500
850 - Eastern Orthodox Empress Theodora orders execution of Paulicans (heretics?) - Death Toll: 100,000
1095 - Pope Urban II calls for a “Holy War” to reclaim the “tomb of Christ from the heathen” - “Kingdom of Jerusalem” is established - Death Toll: 200,000
1096 - During the People’s Crusade (as in all nine Crusades) Jews are killed en route - Death Toll: 10,000
1144 - First “Blood Libel” used against Jews in England - “Blood Libel”: Jews accused of kidnapping Christian children, bleeding them, then killing them for ritualistic purposes –(Note: This ideology continued until 1915)
1209 Albigensian Crusade - First recorded genocide in Western Civilization. The Cathars (or Albigenses) were considered heretics and against the papacy - Death Toll: Over 100,000
1209 - The Inquisition as institution of Christianity is officially established - Inquisition continues under the title of Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith and its chief goal is to root out heresy as in the thirteenth century. Present Pope Benedict XVI was head of this institution before becoming pope.
1348 - Jews, believed to be the cause of the Black Death were massacred in Mainz, Germany - Death Toll: 16,000
1400 - Approximate time witch hunts occurred - Note: while women were the majority executed, men and children were as well - Death Toll: Approx. 100,000
1420 - Hussite Wars - First organized wars of Christians (Catholic) killing Christians (Protestants) - Death Toll: 80,000
1470 - Start of the Spanish Inquisition - Death Toll: 350,000
1492 - Colonization of the Americas – Christianity vs. Indigenous beliefs Unconverted “heathens” are persecuted for the next 500 years
1540 - Persecution of the Waldensians - Death Toll: 900,000
1572 - St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre - French Protestant Huegenots murdered in one day - Death Toll: 70,000
1631 - The Thirty Years War - Ultimate Death Toll: aprox.11,500,000
1648 - Cossak rebellion against Jews in Poland - Death Toll; 100,000
1648 - Cromwell’s Puritan Revolution in England and Ireland - Massacres of thousands of Catholics - Death Toll: 868,000
1850 - Taiping Rebellion - “Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace” is founded by Christian heretic Hong Xiuqan who preached that he was the brother of The Messiah - Death Toll: 20,000,000
1913 - The “Jesuit Extreme Oath of Induction” is entered into the Congressional Record
1940 - FBI raids the offices of Christian Front. J. Edgar Hoover stated that it was the intent of the Front to murder Jews, communists and at least 12 congressmen - The Christian Front was founded by Father Edward Coughlin, “The Father of Hate Radio”
1993 - Magdalene Laundry Scandal erupts in Ireland - Brutal conditions and treatment in the “fallen women” Magdalene Laundries run by Catholic nuns are exposed - The identification of 130 bodies in a mass grave are still coming to light
1995 - The Lord’s Resistance Army massacres villagers in Uganda - Death toll: 750
As we stated above, this information was given not to insult good Christians., but to give a perspective to the reader when Christofascists such as Rick Warren, Pat Robertson and Rod Parsley tell us that Christianity has always been a religion of peace. Islamophobia is now creeping into tour lives. Christian "leaders" are calling for serious ramifications for Muslims. They are telling each of us non-Muslims that Islam is an intrinsically violent religion. And they are doing so in order to paint themselves as supporters of Christianity - a "peaceful" religion they think is beleguered with anti-Christian sentiment.
Go outside. Walk for a while and stop every time you see a (so you think) slightly Christian symbol. Count them. Look around you, then ask yourselves how persecuted Christians are these days in the US. Look around you and count the number of Christian symbols in your house - your neighborhood, your town, your state. Christianity has grown so large as to permeate the fabric of being American. And that stupendous growth was based on one ideal: freedom of religion.
America now ranks as the nation with the least amount of restrictions on religion. It also ranks among the most religious nations in the world. So where's the persecution?
Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.
Mark Twain
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