Sarah Palin's Dominionist Ties

[Ursus]

Here is dogemperor's first entry on Sarah Palin, posted about a month ago (Daily Kos). I'll try to post more as time allows. As of this writing there were 163 comments on this particular piece; these also contain a fair amount of interesting material in and of themselves.

This post includes:

• Sarah Palin's connections that McCain doesn't want you to know about
• Palin's Assemblies linkage
• Palin's links to "Feminists" For Life, a deceptive anti-abortion group
• Palin's links with Campus Crusade frontgroups
• And finally, the dominionists themselves like her

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Sarah Palin: Dominionist Stalking Horse
by dogemperor
Fri Aug 29, 2008 at 03:21:50 PM PDT

The big news, obviously, in the blogosphere today is John McCain's surprise pick for the Republican veep nominee--a relative unknown by the name of Sarah Palin, whom--at least in the more conventional political circles--would appear to be a complete cypher.

Unfortunately, if one digs just a bit deeper, Palin is found to have some very interesting--and very disturbing--connections...among them, being potentially the first Assemblies-linked VP candidate and having a number of links to dominionist groups targeting kids via "bait and switch" evangelism.

     dogemperor's diary :: ::

Sarah Palin's connections that McCain doesn't want you to know about

There are quite a number of extremely troubling links between Sarah Palin and neopentecostal dominionists--enough that, in truth, she may be ultimately as much of a "dream candidate" for the dominionist movement as Mike Huckabee was. Even worse, she's running in a manner that has been frighteningly successful for dominionist groups since the early 80's--specifically, as a "stealth candidate".

Palin's Assemblies linkage

The first link in and of itself is a doozy--and one of the most damning indeed. No less than the official newsletter of the Assemblies of God of Alaska promotes her proudly as one of the denomination's own, and she was actually feted at an official function of the Assemblies' Alaska District as recently as this year:

The opening night banquet of the 2008 Alaska District Council was honored to have Governor Sarah Palin address the delegates and guests. Governor Palin spoke of her appreciation for the Assemblies of God and requested that the Council pray for both her and the State of Alaska. Superintendent Ted Boatsman, who was Palin’s junior high pastor at Wasilla Assembly of God, along with Pastor Mike Rose of Juneau Christian Center, where Palin presently attends church when in Juneau, laid hands on the Governor and led the Council in prayer.

Palin, who was elected Governor in 2007, is Alaska’s youngest governor and the first female governor of the state. She just recently gave birth to her fifth child, Trig. Palin spoke of the faith challenge she faced when learning that Trig would be a Downs Syndrome child. However, she and her husband, Todd, believe that every child is a gift of God, deserving of life, and that God was asking them to accept His will for their lives. The Alaska District Council believes that the State of Alaska is blessed to have a woman of faith and courage as Governor.

A look at the home website of Palin's church tends to be revealing. Among other things, a particular Assemblies buzzword associated frequently with Hillsong A/G and New Zealand Assemblies churches shows up ("Destiny", here, is a buzzword for "Joel's Army", and is being preferred even as the phrase "Joel's Army" is getting enough negative spin that even the Assemblies is now having to do some rather massive spin control); cell churches are promoted (of the same sort that are linked to short-term and longterm psychological damage and are among the most coercive tactics ever documented in spiritually abusive groups). The church, like a number of other large Assemblies churches, is the center of a dominionist broadcast TV center whose programming is carried across multiple channels in Alaska.

In a trend that has been recently documented by no less than Southern Poverty Law Center (in its recent report on the Joel's Army movement), the church operates a Seven Project-esque targeted recruitment campaign aiming at teens (this is common across the Assemblies and across "Joel's Army" groups in general; fully a third of the documented national-level front groups operated by the Assemblies target teens).  

And...believe you me, Palin's church is definitely "Joel's Army".

Mike Rose, pastor of Juneau Christian Center (Palin's church), is noted to be connected with the "Third Wave Movement"--a movement in neopente dominionist circles that is the major theological home of "Joel's Army". In fact, he's quite closely connected with Rodney Howard-Browne, a major (in fact, for some years, the major promoter) of "Third Wave" neopente dominionism, and actively promotes this insanity in his church:

1. Mike Rose

Mike is an AOG pastor in Alaska's capital, who had Rodney Howard-Browne minister in his church four years ago. At that time, they had a congregation of 200, but over the last 4 years, they have seen it grow to 600 in a community of 35,000.

The format that Mike uses is one which gives a balanced approach to church life, allowing for worship and the Word, ministry to the unsaved as well as impartation of the Holy Spirit.

To do this, he has followed a fairly traditional Sunday morning worship service with worship, communion and preaching of the Word, as well as all the other activities which occur in our morning services, such as dedications and so on.

If there are two or three people who are perhaps crying or laughing uncontrollably, the ushers will gently lead them into the prayer room where they can continue to enjoy the presence of Jesus without affecting those around them.

However, he is also open to the possible occasions when the Holy Spirit will just sweep over the service and the majority of the people will be either laughing, crying or worshipping at one time.

His Sunday evening service generally lasts for three to four hours, compared to the morning one of around two hours. At the conclusion of the evening evangelistic endeavour, people are invited to open up their hearts and hunger for a fresh touch of the Spirit. It was during these times that the powerful manifestations will take place and, having observed what has been happening in our Adelaide meetings over the last few weeks, these times have a great similarity to the old time Pentecostal camp meeting or tarrying services where people received a fresh touch of God.

Mike encourages his people to hunger and has taught them along that line. He helped them to understand and develop a new sensitivity to the ways of the Holy Spirit. His observations were:

• You cannot sustain a move of the Spirit without hunger.
• Corrections need to be made from time to time.
• Don't just get fascinated by the move of God, but rather keep your eyes on Jesus.
• Mission giving and outreach evangelism should be a prominent part of this move and the churches which don't reach out soon dry up.

He encourages us not to hype it up and that there needs to be a continual emphasis on holiness and that only qualified people should lay hands on those who have come for prayer.

Mike is also an adviser on Rodney Howard-Browne's Revival Ministries committee, along with three or four other AOG pastors in the USA. He informed me that he had sat in over 110 of Rodney's meetings and been impressed by the lack of pressure and hype, but by the powerful anointing of the Spirit which accompanies this young man.

As to why Howard-Browne's involvement is distressing--well, this previous article should give some pointers, but suffice it to say that another notable church he's had close connections with is the very church I am a walkaway from--hence how I know some of this up close and personal.  

Some of the fun includes literal imprecatory prayers and curses against critics and literally accusing critics even within pentecostal circles of literal blasphemy against the Holy Spirit:

Rodney Howard-Browne gave this 'prophesy' last year at New Life Center:  'Do not compromise. For if you compromise, you shall not only lose the anointing that I placed upon you, you shall lose your life.'"  [T.A. McMahon, "Experience-Driven Spirituality," The Berean Call, May 1995, page 4]
    . . .
"I'm telling you right now," [Rodney Howard-Browne] hissed, "you'll drop dead if you prohibit what God is doing!"  Dramatically he gestured toward the crowd [at Melodyland Christian Center, Anaheim, CA, 1/17/95] and warned them that those like me, who would dare to question that what he was doing was of God, had committed the unpardonable sin and would not be forgiven in this world or the next."  [Hank Hanegraaf, "Counterfeit Revival" (1997), page 22]

Bad news...but it doesn't stop there.

Palin's links to "Feminists" For Life, a deceptive anti-abortion group

As if the Assemblies links weren't enough (and between this diary and the stuff that has been reported re John Ashcroft--much less George W. Bush's consistent support for Assemblies frontgroups--that should be a pretty big damn danger sign right there!), there's still more to indicate Sarah Palin may have been put in as a "stealth dominionist".

Among other things, Palin explicitly promoted "teach the controversy" by calling for the misnamed "creation science" to be taught in public schools (as now well documented in Kitzmiller vs. Dover School District, it's known that "creation science" is nothing more and nothing less than a method of putting young-earth creationism in public schools).

It also appears that Sarah Palin is a member of a misnamed group called Feminists for Life. FFL in fact engages in "cultural appropriation" of women's suffrage icons to promote a very woman-unfriendly agenda that--despite attempts to sound "not like those crazies in Operation Rescue"--would not only criminalise abortion but the IUD and hormonal birth control methods, and potentially everything outside the rhythm method (the term "abortifacient birth control" is a codephrase in the dominionist "pro-life" community for hormonal birth control--partly due to a unique urban legend claiming "the pill" and other hormonal birth control causes abortion and partly because of a unique definition of pregnancy beginning at conception rather than at implantation (the latter is what most mainstream OB/GYNs use) and thus making anything preventing implantation potentially "abortifacient").  

FFL promotes such fun bogosities as "post-abortion syndrome" (the idea that having an abortion will inevitably lead to PTSD and insanity), and promotes mandatory waiting periods and misinformation guidelines that can be insurmountable for poor or rural women--even those forced to make the most heartbreaking choice because of a nonviable pregnancy. In fact, one of their biggest causes isn't feminist at all--they actively promote the idea that the best choice for women is to stay home as fulltime mothers, and it can be well argued that the only traditionally feminist viewpoint they really support is women's suffrage!

One of the big things FFL promotes is deceptive "pregnancy counseling centers"--where pregnant teens are forced to essentially listen to an altar call on how "abortionists want to murder their children" whilst a pee-stick test clears--and if she tests "yes", she gets a hard-sell to keep the child or to check herself into a dominionist-run "halfway house for teenage moms" where she will ultimately be forced to sign her kid over. (Yes, there is an entire private adoption industry in the dominionist community--mostly focusing on adopting out the infants of poor teenage mothers who have been forced to give their kids up and who have been either scared into it or checked into such facilities by their parents.)

Ironically, FFL itself is rather a "stealth" organisation in and of itself--yes, even the dominionists admit this. Interestingly, despite their claims of being more "moderate" than most anti-abortion groups, very few real solutions are offered on how they intend to fund such things (which can be boiled down to "CHOOSE TO BREED").

Palin's links with Campus Crusade frontgroups

Palin's linkages don't stop there. In Kaylene Johnson's book Sarah: How a Hockey Mom Turned Alaska's Political Establishment Upside Down (2008, Epicenter Press) it's mentioned that Palin was head of the local Fellowship of Christian Athletes branch in her school--up to and including leading team prayers.

It is helpful to know a bit of FCA's past history to know why this is a matter of concern. FCA is, in fact, a known frontgroup of the coercive dominionist group Campus Crusade for Christ--yes, the selfsame Campus Crusade that has such close links to the Assemblies of God that it can be described as a "conjoined twin" of the Assemblies and the same one documented as having links to an ever-widening prosyletisation scandal in our Armed Forces. FCA also gets quite a lot of cash from de facto Assemblies funding-front Hobby Lobby--a chain, of note, that has bailed out a neopente university and has even funded paramilitary "Joel's Army" groups targeting teens.

The links between FCA and a particular Hobby Lobby frontgroup, Bearing Fruit Communications, are particularly close. At least one member of Bearing Fruit's board of directors (T. Ray Grandstaff) is a former Senior VP for Fellowship of Christian Athletes.

Regarding FCA itself, the group has been linked to dominionism in numerous ways; they are well known for "bait and switch" evangelism (in fact, they and Athletes in Action are among the two groups most frequently banned from public school campuses due to bait-and-switch "altar calls" marketed as anti-drug talks to the school administration). More info here. (Such tactics are a favourite of dominionist groups explicitly targeting youth.) It's also well known (and, apparently, explicitly by design) that Fellowship of Christian Athletes rather aggressively "dominionist-ises" any team they are let into (this tends to be bad even within the NFL, but even more so within FCA groups run in colleges and high schools).

Of particular note, FCA has close links with the US Air Force Academy religious coercion controversies (and is but one of multiple Campus Crusade frontgroups documented by Military Religious Freedom Foundation as involved in military religious coercion scandals), and the ACLU has had to fight them since the 60's because of religious coercion (in particular, Jewish people tend to be targeted, according to the anti-cult group Rick Ross Foundation); in addition, it is explicitly supported by dominionist groups, and explicitly partners with other dominionist groups targeting youth (including Chi Alpha (an Assemblies of God frontgroup), Campus Crusade for Christ, and even scarier groups like "See You At The Pole" (infamous for, among other things, nailing people's names to crosses and "praying" over them to essentially curse people in the name of Christ to convert or suffer) and Council for National Policy).

And finally, the dominionists themselves like her

As expected, many if not most of the dominionist groups in the US have given explicit approval for Palin on her anti-abortion bona-fides alone--including Concerned Women for America, Focus on the Family, and a pack of the more extreme dominionist anti-abortion groups.

I'm not the only one to have noticed the rather extensive dominionist bona-fides--Pastor Dan over on Street Prophets has noted this as well. Frederick Clarkson over on Talk to Action has also noted salutations from two other dominionist leaders--one being Kenneth Blackwell, who was the "dream candidate" of neopente dominionists in his home state (fortunately, he lost the gubernatorial election).  

Chip Berlet has also noted on Talk to Action a further endorsement from Eagle Forum--the oldest dominionist political group aside from "The Family" and the Assemblies-linked FGBMFI.

In addition, it would seem she may well have quite a bit of approval from dominionists in general--that is, if the barometer of the Texas GOP Convention is to be believed. (The Texas GOP is one of the most thoroughly steeplejacked GOP conventions in the US; many of the official party platforms are indistinguishable from Constitution Party platforms.) The Houston Chronicle reports:

"It's a slam dunk. I think that people who are concerned about 'How conservative is Mr. McCain' are now going to say, 'If he can make a choice of Sarah Palin, then he can be trusted with our conservative ideals,' " said delegate Cathie Adams, Republican National Committeewoman-elect and president of the Texas Eagle Forum.
    . . .
"I always thought he needed to pick a woman," said Harris County Clerk Beverly Kaufman, former president of the Texas Federation of Republican Women. "I think Hillary Clinton's campaign stimulated a lot of interest among women voters, and I think this is going to hit a chord."

But Kaufman added: "I look forward to learning more about her." She also noted that Palin is considered to be against abortion rights, and McCain "thought he needed to satisfy that wing of the party."

Here's hoping this article starts shining a little bit of light on the subject--the last thing we need a literal heartbeat away from the Presidency is a ninja dominionist.

Tags: John McCain, sarah Palin, 2008 Elections, Religious Right, Scandals, Dominionism, Assemblies of God, Campus Crusade for Christ, Republican Party, Women's Rights, Abortion Rights (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions

[Ursus]

Here is the second piece.

This post includes:

• New information re Palin's church...and what it could mean for you
• Palin tries to strongarm book censorship
• Palin's links with the Constitution Party
• And finally, info from the horse's mouth

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New revelations re "stealth dominionist" Sarah Palin
by dogemperor
Tue Sep 02, 2008 at 12:51:59 PM PDT

A few days ago, I wrote one of the first articles out there regarding Sarah Palin's VP nomination as a "stealth dominionist"--a "stealther" with extensive Assemblies connections (and to particularly scary segments of the Assemblies as well as a particularly nasty "Assemblies daughter", as we'll get into) as well as dominionist orgs like Campus Crusade frontgroups and deceptive "feminist" anti-reproductive-healthcare groups.

The thing is, I may have just scratched the surface.  

Much has been made of the recent revelation that Sarah Palin may be connected to the "Alaska Independence Party", but not revealed is its connection to the far-right Constitution Party--and she not only has attempted censorious campaigns in office, but was also apparently put in the GOP vice-presidential spot by none other than the kingmakers of the dominionist movement in the US.  

    dogemperor's diary :: ::

New information re Palin's church...and what it could mean for you

In my original post, I noted Sarah Palin's membership in a "stealth Assemblies" congregation, Juneau Christian Center--that is, an Assemblies of God church that tries very hard to hide the fact from outsiders that it is, in fact, an Assemblies of God church. This is pretty much a danger sign in and of itself, especially to those of us familiar with the Assemblies and its increasingly strident calls from district leaders for literal holy war with the rest of America.

However, a recent Harper's Magazine article reveals just WHY she shouldn't be near a borough dogcatcher position, much less a literal heartbeat away from the office of President.

For starters, JCC maintains very close relations with John Hagee's "Christians United For Israel". I've written on Hagee in past--ironically, Hagee was one of two "Joel's Army"-connected pastors McCain formerly used as "spiritual advisors" in an attempt to curry favour with the dominionist wing of the GOP.

And this relationship is troubling, to say the least, because Hagee and CUFI have a real love of seeing Israel as a literal "Armageddon pawn" to make the Rapture hurry the hell up and get here--including destroying the Dome on the Rock to build the Third Temple, if necessary (and yes, they've done Photoshopped images of just this). This is also the same lovely fellow, of note, who also essentially termed the nuking of the East Coast as a divine pimp-slapping.

And it'd appear that Mike Rose of Juneau Christian Center shares remarkably similar sentiments:

From an April 27, 2008 sermon: "If you really want to know where you came from and happen to believe the word of God that you are not a descendant of a chimpanzee, this is what the word of God says. I believe this version."

From a July 8, 2007 sermon: "Those that die without Christ have a horrible, horrible surprise."

From a July 28, 2007 sermon: "Do you believe we’re in the last days? After listening to Newt Gingrich and the prime minister of Israel and a number of others at our gathering, I became convinced, and I have been convinced for some time. We are living in the last days. These are incredible times to live in."

The sad thing is, this may actually be less extreme than her former congregation. Between her membership at Wasilla A/G and JCC, she apparently attended another neopente church--Church on the Rock, a neopente "Assemblies daughter" (and pretty much the solitary church in this list that is not technically Assemblies, at least based on the official A/G directory). Like JCC, it promotes cell-churches and the usual other claptrap--and also a healthy dose of Armageddonism and "Joel's Army" War On America:

From an November 25, 2007 sermon: "The purpose for the United States is... to glorify God. This nation is a Christian nation."

From an October 28, 2007 sermon: "God will not be mocked. I don’t care what the ACLU says. God will not be mocked. I don’t care what atheists say. God will not be mocked. I don’t care what’s going on in the nation today with so much horrific rebellion and sin and things that take place. God will not be mocked. Judgment Day is coming. Where do you stand?"

From an October 28, 2007 sermon: "Just giving in a little bit is a disastrous thing...You can’t serve both man and God. It is one or the other."

Disturbingly, it would appear that Sarah Palin may have been expressing "God Warrior" sentiments as early as her membership in Wasilla A/G, literally proclaiming that the US Armed Forces in Iraq were on a literal holy crusade:

Speaking before the Pentecostal church, Palin painted the current war in Iraq as a messianic affair in which the United States could act out the will of the Lord.

"Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God," she exhorted the congregants. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."

This is not entirely surprising, hearing some of the sermons at Wasilla A/G:

The church runs a number of ministries providing help to poor neighborhoods, care for children in need, and general community services. But Pastor Kalnins has also preached that critics of President Bush will be banished to hell; questioned whether people who voted for Sen. John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to heaven; charged that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and war in Iraq were part of a war "contending for your faith;" and said that Jesus "operated from that position of war mode."
    . . .
If the church had a political alignment, it would almost surely be conservative. In his sermons, Kalnins did not hide his affections for certain national politicians.

During the 2004 election season, he praised President Bush's performance during a debate with Sen. John Kerry, then offered a not-so-subtle message about his personal candidate preferences. "I'm not going tell you who to vote for, but if you vote for this particular person, I question your salvation. I'm sorry." Kalnins added: "If every Christian will vote righteously, it would be a landslide every time."

Months after hinting at possible damnation for Kerry supporters, Kalnins bristled at the treatment President Bush was receiving over the federal government's handling of Hurricane Katrina. "I hate criticisms towards the President," he said, "because it's like criticisms towards the pastor -- it's almost like, it's not going to get you anywhere, you know, except for hell. That's what it'll get you."

Much of his support for the current administration has come in the realm of foreign affairs. Kalnins has preached that the 9/11 attacks and the invasion of Iraq were part of a "world war" over the Christian faith, one in which Jesus Christ had called upon believers to be willing to sacrifice their lives.

What you see in a terrorist -- that's called the invisible enemy. There has always been an invisible enemy. What you see in Iraq, basically, is a manifestation of what's going on in this unseen world called the spirit world. ... We need to think like Jesus thinks. We are in a time and a season of war, and we need to think like that. We need to develop that instinct. We need to develop as believers the instinct that we are at war, and that war is contending for your faith. ... Jesus called us to die. You're worried about getting hurt? He's called us to die. Listen, you know we can't even follow him unless you are willing to give up your life. ... I believe that Jesus himself operated from that position of war mode. Everyone say "war mode." Now you say, wait a minute Ed, he's like the good shepherd, he's loving all the time and he's kind all the time. Oh yes he is -- but I also believe that he had a part of his thoughts that knew that he was in a war.

As for his former congregant and current vice presidential candidate, Kalnins has asserted that Palin's election as governor was the result of a "prophetic call" by another pastor at the church who prayed for her victory. "[He made] a prophetic declaration and then unfolds the kingdom of God, you know."

For those of you who had doubts about my initial claim that she attended "Joel's Army" churches that wanted to establish a theocracy by hook or by crook...consider the question answered.

Palin tries to strongarm book censorship

According to a recent Time Magazine article, it would appear Palin was almost singlehandedly responsible for bringing nasty state-level GOP-style politics to Alaska's "Bible Belt", and that she pretty much ran as a dominionist-friendly candidate to get that mayoral position:

One thing all sides agree on is that the valley was in flux. The old libertarian pioneer ethos was giving way to a rising Christian conservatism. By shrewdly invoking issues that mattered to the ascendant majority, Palin won the mayor's race. But while she may have been a new face, says Naegele, she was no maverick — not yet. "The state party gave her the mechanism to get into that office," says Naegele. "As soon as she was confident enough to brush them off, she did. But she wasn't an outsider to start with. She very much had to kowtow to them."

Once in office, one of her very first acts was an attempt to strongarm book censorship in--even threatening to fire officials unwilling to toe the line and putting a "muzzle order" on all city officials to prevent press leaks:

At some point in those fractious first days, Palin told the department heads they needed her permission to talk to reporters. "She put a gag order on those people, something that you'd expect to find in the big city, not here," says Naegele. "She flew in there like a big-city gal, which she's not. It was a strange time, and [the Frontiersman] came out very harshly against her."

Stein says that as mayor, Palin continued to inject religious beliefs into her policy at times. "She asked the library how she could go about banning books," he says, because some voters thought they had inappropriate language in them. "The librarian was aghast." That woman, Mary Ellen Baker, couldn't be reached for comment, but news reports from the time show that Palin had threatened to fire Baker for not giving "full support" to the mayor.

This should not be entirely surprising, however...as we'll soon see.

Palin's links with the Constitution Party

When I had heard the initial info re Sarah Palin's speeches and former membership in the Alaskan Independence Party, I had a few alarm bells ringing--among other things, the group does have known links to the Christian Reconstructionist and neo-Confederate group "Christian Exodus" as well as racist neo-Confederates "League Of The South" (see referral links at their home site), and a number of Constitution Party state affiliates also use similar names.

Today, it appears, none other than Fredrick Clarkson has confirmed my suspicions:

But what has not been reported as far as I can tell, is that the AIP is the Alaska affiliate of the Constitution Party, founded by Howard Phillips, and has been the political home to leading theocratic Christian Reconstructionism such as John Lofton, Otto Scott, Joe Morecraft and movement founder R.J. Rushdoony himself. It has also been the party of some of the most militant anti-abortion activists in the U.S. such as Matthew Trewhella and Ralph Ovadal of Missionaries to the Preborn and for many years Randall Terry -- until he decided to run (unsuccessfully) in a primary challenge to an incumbent Republican State Senator Jim King (who had stood up to the Religious Right during the Terri Schiavo episode.) More recently perennial GOP presidential candidate Alan Keyes unsuccessfully sought the Constitution Party nomination. Currently the third largest political party in the U.S. in terms of membership, it is usually on the ballot in about 35 states.

To say that this is a Bad, Bad, Bad Thing is quite possibly the understatement of this century.

For those who are new to this diary series, the Constitution Party is a political party that back in the 1980s used to be known as the US Taxpayer's Party. It actually manages to make the Texas GOP (probably the most thoroughly hijacked-by-dominionists GOP convention in the US) look downright moderate in its viewpoints; it has also historically been a political wing of the branch of the far-right most historically linked to domestic terrorism in the US.

And this "Happy Family" in the Constitution Party, of note, has included not only racist and neo-Confederates but literal bombers and assassins and "Christian Patriot" militia members. Some of the supporters of the Constitution Party in past--including that Matthew Trewhella mentioned above--have literally called for armed insurrection against the United States and passed around petitions claiming that Army of God domestic terrorist attacks and assassinations of women's clinic workers were "justifiable homicide". Mr. Trewhella himself kept his own hitlist:

Rev. Matthew Trewhella -- USTP National Committee, Wisconsin. A signer of Paul Hill's Defensive Action statement, Trewhella leads the anti-abortion group Missionaries to the Pre-Born. At the USTP Wisconsin state convention, he called for the formation of armed militias, such as the one he leads through his church. Newsweek reports that one member of the Missionaries  (who lived in Trewhella's basement for five months in 1990) kept a journal which included apparent plans for a guerrilla campaign of clinic bombings and assassinations of doctors. What's more, a 100 page guerrilla army manual was sold by the USTP of Wisconsin at their May convention. Among the manual's justifications for armed resistance to the federal government is legalized abortion.

In part because of some bang-up investigative work on the US Taxpayers Party's more unsavory connections (including to Christian Identity groups gunning for "racial holy war", the usual "God Warriors With Guns And Bombs", links to the "tax protester" movement claiming that the Sixteenth Amendment was never ratified and that people given citizenship under the Thirteenth and Twentieth Amendments were untermenschen and just "subjects" but all white male landowners were Real Honest-To-God Citizens not bound to most laws, etc.) they changed their name in 1992 to the Constitution Party--hoping to throw off some of that bad press.

In fact, the Constitution Party (under its prior name, the US Taxpayer's Party) ended up listed as a hate group by Southern Poverty Law Center and was subjected to "dead-agenting"--character assassination--by a state head of the party. The listing as a hate org was only consolidated in the late 90s, when Michael Peroutka (a recent Constitution Party presidential candidate) became a member of the racist League of the South.

Yes, you are reading this right, folks; from 1992 to 1996, Sarah Palin was a card-carrying member of what is the de facto political wing of far-right domestic terrorist networks, including the most extreme branches of "Joel's Army" groups, in the US.

And finally, info from the horse's mouth

And--as has been suspected by many of us--info is now filtering out to suggest she was specifically proffered up by the dominionist wing of the party, and specifically by a secretive group long known as dominionist "kingmakers".

Max Blumenthal, who has spent quite some time watching the group known as the Council for National Policy--a secretive, invitation-only group that essentially acts as the "five year planning committee" for political dominionist and neoconservative groups--has confirmed through his sources that Palin has received the CNP's official blessing in possibly the most enthusiastic greeting of a pro-dominionist candidate since Reagan:

I learned of the get-together only through an online commentary by one of its attendees, top Dobson/Focus on the Family flack Tom Minnery. (Watch it here) Minnery described the mood as CNP members watched Palin accept her selection as John McCain's Vice Presidential pick. "I was standing in the back of a ballroom filled with largely Republicans who were hoping against hope that something would put excitement back into this campaign," Minnery said. "And I have to tell you, that speech by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin -- people were on their seats applauding, cheering, yelling... That room in Minneapolis watching on the television screen was electrified. I have not seen anything like it in a long time."
    . . .
The members of the Council for National Policy are the hidden hand behind McCain's Palin pick. With her selection, the Republican nominee is suddenly -- and unexpectedly -- assured of the support of a movement that once opposed his candidacy with all its might. Case in point: while Dobson once said he could "never" vote for McCain, he issued a statement last week hailing Palin as an "outstanding" choice. If Dobson's enthusiasm for Palin is any indication, he may soon emerge from his bunker in Colorado Springs to endorse McCain, providing the Republican nominee with the backing of the Christian right's single most influential figure.

Combined with what else we know, this is incredibly frightening--especially considering that, if McCain gets elected, Palin may literally be but a heartbeat away from the Presidency and the Big Red Button.

This is too important to let this remain stealthed...it's time to shed some light on the subject.

Tags: Rescued, John McCain, sarah Palin, 2008 Elections, Religious Right, Council for National Policy, Scandals, Dominionism, Assemblies of God, Constitution Party, Republican Party, Censorship, hate groups (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions

[Ursus]

Dogemperor's third piece on Sarah Palin...

This post includes:

• Your tax dollars, going to support dominionism for kids
• More evidence of Palin's dallyances with Joel's Army
• And her present congregation aren't exactly angels, either

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Sarah Palin used AK tax dollars to fund dominionist churches
by dogemperor
Thu Sep 04, 2008 at 01:09:03 PM PDT

Over the past few days, I've done reporting on Sarah Palin's extensive dominionist connections--including the attempt to run her as a "stealth" dominionist candidate and her connections to some scary dominionist groups including not just "Joel's Army" folks but a far-right Christian Reconstructionist political party linked to domestic terrorism.

As bad as all this--and the scandals regarding her misrule in both Wasilla and as state governor--are, there's apparently still more.  

Today, we find that part of those funding scandals include the tax money of Alaskans used to pay for youth programs at Juneau Christian Center. We also reveal info regarding a particularly disturbing Assemblies frontgroup Palin recently did a talk at, and we go into researching the dominionist connections of her most recent church--Wasilla Bible Church.

    dogemperor's diary :: ::

Your tax dollars, going to support dominionism for kids

In another example of what appears to be some extensive whitewashing at almost all of Palin's former and present churches, there were some very interesting links removed from JCC's site regarding an interesting bit of largesse by Sarah Palin to the church.

Fortunately, an astute blogger happened to archive the material, which included not only documentation of a $25,000 grant to JCC's "The Hub" from Palin's administration, but also a request for $100,000 total in state and federal funding and pictures of Palin actually being at the opening of "The Hub" (which have since been scrubbed from her website).

And all is definitely not as it seems with "The Hub".

"The Hub" is essentially a frontgroup run by JCC for recruitment of future members--much of its activities focus on recruiting kids. The page itself begins with the phrase "Destiny Has Begun!"--a codephrase commonly used in "Joel's Army" circles to denote the "generation of destiny" (the new rebranding of "Joel's Army" borrowed from an Assemblies-linked church in New Zealand, now that the press is starting to catch onto the "Joel's Army" branding). "Destiny" in and of itself is a favourite codephrase in these circles--in "Joel's Army" theology, people are "destined" to inherit all manner of wealth and take over the planet and whatnot.

The original blogger has also noted he's received some info to suggest that ongoing prosyletisation may be going on at "The Hub":

I also found some publicly available videos about JCC’s "Ground//Zero" youth program through a rather circuitous route that I won’t post here to protect the privacy of people in the videos that lead me to believe that more goes on here than what is described in the application.

The "Ground//Zero" program, too, is worth noting--and even based on its rather scrubbed page, the intent is to essentially set up an army of teen "God Warriors":

ground//zero - the center of rapid or intense development or change.

Our name speaks our purpose. At ground//zero we have a vision to develop youth that are marked by purity, passion, and the presence of God. This vision exists to create young people that will carry ground//zero as a movement, not just a meeting.

ground//zero is not a place, it's not a time, but it is a movement transported by people that will impact this generation with a message that instills hope and a purpose. The movement meets Wednesday nights.

Doors open at 6:00PM and service begins at 6:30PM for Middle and High School service.

Doors open at 8:30PM and service begins at 9:00PM for University service (ages 18-26).

(Last I checked, "ground zero" was the central blast point of explosions. And also a name that at least the New York community would probably find in extremely poor taste.)

Seeing as it's actually been established through some quite official sources that Juneau Christian Center is an Assemblies church, that means that at least $25,000 of Alaskan taxpayers' money may have gone for active efforts to convert Alaskan teenagers to "Joel's Army" theology.

More evidence of Palin's dallyances with Joel's Army

Possibly some of the more damning info yet on Palin's membership in "Joel's Army" comes from the recent revelations of Palin's speech to a group called "Master's Commission". The full transcript of her speech has now come out, and it's actually worse than the initial reports of her claiming that Gulf War II was a holy crusade.

Some of the badness is from specific codewords she uses (at the beginning, she literally describes the members as being under the "umbrella of the church"--a codephrase used in orgs that use abusive "cell churches" to denote the cell-church relationship). And she gives some real zingers, too, including one which notes pretty much why I get alarm bells when I hear neopentecostal dominionist churches ranting about "destiny":

But, um, so, having grown up here, and having little kids growing up here also, this is such a special, special place. The Assembly of God here has been a real center point in the Valley for all these years, and the Valley has been a center point for the state of Alaska. So what comes from this church I think has great destiny. And I say this to the Master’s Commission students who have been here under this umbrella, who are going to be sent out now and bringing people in.
    . . .
I just want to bless you, and oh, because I didn’t know if I was going to get here tonight, I flew in from Juneau last night and I fly again to Juneau tomorrow. So I didn’t prepare anything, thinking my schedule wouldn’t allow me to be here. But I have a word, but really I’m cheating ’cause it’s a, I think it was given to me today but I’m going to give it to the Master’s Commission students because I think it’s so applicable to they are headed. And this word was given to me, bless his heart, by Pastor Ed Kalnins this morning at our big Valley-wide church service.

It was called Ephesians 1:17, and this is what I want to pray over you guys too: that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give to you a spirit wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, and that spirit of revelation also including a spirit of prophecy, that God’s going to tell you what is going on and what is going to go on, and you guys are going to have that within you, and it’s just going to bubble up and bubble over and, and it’s going to pour out over the state of Alaska. Again, good good things in store for the state of Alaska. Let us pray for God’s will to be done here, for all of your destinies to be met in this state.

(Yes, you're reading this right--Palin is stating, flat out, that the whole reason that Alaska is rich in natural resources and why people are moving there is so that neopentes can hold the Great-Grandmother Of All Revivals.)

However, this isn't all of why this is disturbing. For the rest of it, you have to do a little bit of digging into Master's Commission itself.

The efforts at whitewashing haven't been so successful with Master's Commission, as a fellow blogger has recorded, but even more enlightenment is found via some Google-massaging.

There are a number of groups using this name (and a surprising number of them are Joel's Army connected, indicating this may be one of the "rebrandings" we need to keep an eye on), but in this particular case, the "Master's Commission" we're concerned about is a post of an Assemblies frontgroup at Wasilla A/G that is connected to Phoenix A/G (Ted Haggard's present church). Whilst the main headquarters are now in Texas, the group did have its origins in the largest Assemblies church in the US (and one of the largest megachurches in the country).

The group promotes itself as a "discipling and shepherding" group (which is bad enough), but the info on Wasilla A/G's site--amazingly, not yet redacted--is even worse.

A preview of just how far we're going to be going into the rabbit hole becomes obvious on the website for Master's Commission North Pole (the state org--which, incidentially, has one of the most annoying Flash-based websites known). Aside from all the "sword" imagery and spouting off "destiny" every five seconds, it's let out that participants engage in "marathon fasting" of the type popularly promoted in Assemblies circles (which is to say, 21- and 40-day fasts with nothing but water, no food); in comparison, Lent just drops certain food groups, and Ramadhan only has daytime fasting. Such extreme fasts are considered quite unhealthy by medical personnel, and are seen as one major "warning sign" of a potentially abusive religious group.

Have I also mentioned the fun of the group targeting Native Alaskan and Inuit communities for conversion? And this is just baby steps, really, compared to what we're about to dive into.

The truth is, the group exists primarily as an ordination mill for the Assemblies of God:

Q: What sort of materials will I be taught?

A:

-Berean School of the Bible (work towards being credentialed with Assemblies of God)
-Scripture Memory (hidding God's word in our hearts)
-John Bevere Curriculum (Under Cover and Bait of Satan)
-Francis Frangipane (In Christ's Image Training)
-Steve Thompson (developing and operating in prophetic ministry)

Of note, that "Berean School of the Bible" is the Assemblies of God's mail-order correspondence school--and the Assemblies tends to have particularly lax standards for ordination (you can get by with two good words from other Assemblies preachers, a multiple choice "Bible quiz", and two years of "ministerial experience" without setting foot in a seminary hall).

Another sign that Something Is Not Right is the fact that a big part of the work of "Master's Commission" is working with another Assemblies front--namely, the "Dream Center" chain of "faith based rehabs":

Here at Masters Commission Wasilla Alaska you will be involved in many different ministries. Here are just some of them:
    . . .
Dream Center: You will be serving Rob and Cherise Hyslip who are taking on the vision of a dream center here in Wasilla. Like the one Pastors Matthew and Tommy Barnett have started in L.A., it is a shelter and resource for those facing homelessness, poverty, drug addiciton, and hopelessness.

Ah, yes, Dream Center.  Dream Center is one of several chains of "Faith Based Rehabs" that the Assemblies of God operates; in Dream Center's case, it is largely the Western District of the Assemblies promoting it, but it has spread to areas outside the Western District (such as Alaska). Past readers may remember Dream Center Phoenix as the site of Ted Haggard's so-far-unsuccessful degaying (he was ultimately dismissed from the program, as expected).

And--much like other Assemblies-operated "faith based rehab" chains such as Teen Challenge and Mercy Ministries, there have been reports of abuse...some egregrious.

One of the more disturbing reports of abuse at Dream Center facilities involves profiteering off Katrina evacuees and holding them in conditions identical to people in rehab (complete with random pee tests). Much like similar cases at Teen Challenge, at least one facility had a registered sex offender working with youth in Dream Center St. Louis in violation of Missouri law, and there are similarly coercive practices at Dream Center as exist at Mercy Ministries and Teen Challenge (including forced conversions as a condition of receiving aid--including Katrina evacuees who were targeted quite aggressively.

Back to "Master's Commission", though. Probably some of the most damning material as to what and whom that speech Palin made was meant for is revealed on the "About Alaska" page, including textbook use of the term "Destiny" as a neopente dominionist codeword--and noting some very frequent offenders here:

Alaska has a divine destiny that has been spoken about by many church leaders and prophetic leaders from all over the world such as Dutch Sheets, Todd Bently, Steve Thompson, Woody Woodson, and Dr. Cho just to name a few.

You will have an awesome opportunity here in Master's Commission Wasilla Alaska to partner with God as he is getting ready to pour out His Spirit like never seen before and cause a great awakening that will see millions all across our world come to know the Lord in a radical and intimate way.

If this isn't a veritable "who's who" of modern Joel's Army promoters, I don't know what is.  

Listed prominently is Todd Bentley, who recently became the primary focus on a new Southern Poverty Law Center article on "Joel's Army" groups; also listed prominently is Paul Yonggi Cho (nee David Yonggi Cho), head of the largest megachurch in the world in Seoul and pretty much the "founding father" of Joel's Army stuff in the Assemblies--oh, yes, and there's always Cho's lovely connections to the party responsible for a particularly genocidal attempt to establish the Republic of Gilead in Guatemala. Steve Thompson is connected with Rick Joyner's Morningstar Ministries (and Rick Joyner is one of the names most consistently connected with "Joel's Army") and tends to show up frequently in reference material re "Joel's Army"; Dutch Sheets is a real piece of work and a major, major promoter of this stuff as well (in fact, he's also engaging in rebranding of "Joel's Army" as "Gideon's Army" on his end) with connections to "Joel's Army" promoter C. Peter Wagner. Woody Woodson is probably the most obscure of the lot--he's heavily promoted on the Assemblies "traveling pastor" circuit along with a number of "word-faith" promoters.

And this is still not the full extent of the "Joel's Army" linkage; one group they're connected with is the International House Of Prayer along with Morningstar Ministries. (The International House Of Prayer has been mentioned in the SPLC report om "Joel's Army" groups; I am, to this day, surprised that the proprietors have not had the living you-know-what sued out of them by the proprietors of the International House of Pancakes.)

If that's not enough to curl your nosehairs, apparently the intent--as I noted above--is to essentially hold the Great-Grandmother of Revivals, for the express purpose of turning the Great White North into Jesusland:

In 1967 during the Alaska Purchase Centennial, Richard Peter wrote our Alaska State Motto. The motto is meant to represent Alaska as a land of promise. "North to The Future", we believe this is Prophetic; Alaska will be in the middle of a great outpouring.

Yes, you read that right...apparently the state motto is seen as a prophecy of a giant tent meeting. I can't make this up if I tried.

Again, I hope this puts to rest any doubt on the whole "Joel's Army" thing. :3

And her present congregation aren't exactly angels, either

Compared to this, Palin's present congregation--Wasilla Bible Church--seems rather harmless.  

Unfortunately, appearances can be deceiving...especially with all the whitewashing of info critical of Palin going on. Wasilla Bible Church may not be Assemblies-scary, but it is definitely in the "SBC-level of dominionism, post-steeplejack" levels of "worrisome".

Finding out any solid info in regards to Wasilla Bible Church has been difficult, because there's very little info on the church's website; it claims to be nondenominational, but some things like the Statement of Faith point to similarities to so-called "Independent Christian Churches" (which, in the case of the megachurch variety, trend dominionist).

And an early, non-purged Internet Archive version of Wasilla Bible Church's page already turns up, as early as 2003, links to Focus on the Family--and both WBC and its parent church, as we'll see, are closely connected to FotF.

The linkage continues to the present day--in the most recent church flyer I've been able to find online, a Focus on the Family frontgroup called "Love Won Out"--which promotes the "degaying" bogosity--is actively promoted.  

We actually tend to find more revealing info at the parent church of Wasilla Bible Church--a Palmer, Alaska church by the name of Lazy Mountain Bible Church. Again, there's an almost-deliberate attempt to hide where the origin was (all that is noted is that people apparently came to Alaska to found the church at some unidentified date, no bios on the pastors, no nothing)...but there are some indications of a potential neopente bent, and a definite dominionist bent.

One of the first warning signs is actually from a want-ad for an assistant pastor--specifically someone into "discipling and shepherding". (I mentioned earlier how this could be a Bad Thing in regards to Wasilla A/G.)  

One surprising thing that I did find in research was apparent promotion of a popular women's writer in SBC circles within Lazy Mountain's church newsletter; in the same newsletter, though, we also find more promotion for that FotF frontgroup conference.

Another thing that pinged my radar--and may give a clue to the true denominational affiliation of WBC and its parent--was the discovery of a "Potter's Group" course. This raised my alert, in part, because some highly abusive "Assemblies daughters" tend to use this imagery (including the "Potter's House" group).

The application also gives hints of a potentially neopente group--it is in fact very similar to the form Matt Taibbi filled out to attend weekend at John Hagee's "Jesus Camp for Grownups" that turned into a literal vomitorium. (One of the giveaways we may be dealing with neopentes: one of the questions asked re abuse is a history of "Satanic Ritual Abuse", something that is pretty much only taken seriously in neopentecostal circles and which has been pretty well thoroughly debunked elsewhere.) Interestingly, it is one of the few applications for joining a cell-church group that I've seen that includes an indemnity form.

And yes, this too has links to Focus on the Family:

An  Adult Sunday School Class featuring Focus on the Family's The Truth Project meets at 9:15 a.m. on Sunday mornings in room #11. The class is facilitated by Jonathon Peters, Doug Prins and Ed White.

A Truth Project Discussion Group will meet on Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. in the home of Ed White. This is open to men and women.

(Again, the "Truth Project" is a little FotF project--only this time going for explicit dominionist indoctrination, in a surprisingly blatant attempt (via cell-churches)...and when I mean blatant, I mean flat out Christian Nationalism 101.)

And it wouldn't just be these two pet projects the "Bible Churches" in question are associated with. Another group that LWBC likes to promote is the Alliance Defense Fund--a dominionist legal group that effectively operates as the de facto legal battering-ram of FotF. (Yes, it's little known, but the Alliance Defense Fund is actually a Focus on the Family "daughter".)

The particular speaker that LWBC had from ADF is also particularly damning--and disturbingly in-line with Palin's past history. Chuck Lane, in addition to being a regional ADF head, also has connections with Campus Crusade for Christ (yes, the same Campus Crusade now linked to attempts at military steeplejacking and coercive tactics aimed at college students, among other fun things--yes, the same Campus Crusade that runs the "Fellowship of Christian Athletes" that Palin held membership in, the same one that is practically joined at the hip with the Assemblies) and Promise Keepers (the infamous dominionist "men's org" that came into controversy because of its use of abusive "cell church" tactics; to this day, Promise Keepers is still listed as a coercive religious group by some exit counselors).

Of note...this is on top of the documented promotion of conversion of Jewish people to "Messianic Jews"; in fact, the speaker in question literally blamed terrorist attacks against the Israeli community on Jewish people failing to convert and God giving a smiting as a result:

"Judgment is very real and we see it played out on the pages of the newspapers and on the television. It's very real. When [Brickner's son] was in Jerusalem he was there to witness some of that judgment, some of that conflict, when a Palestinian from East Jerusalem took a bulldozer and went plowing through a score of cars, killing numbers of people. Judgment — you can't miss it."

And yes, this is the same "Jews for Jesus" that is almost universally considered a coercive religious group because of deceptive recruitment tactics--as documented by many independent researchers and exit counselors (in fact, the last exit counselor noted got into exit counseling due to attempts by Jews for Jesus to recruit his grandmother when she was in a nursing home).

And this is still not all. Apparently, WBC's pastor has pulled his own version of a John Hagee foot-bullet--claiming in a sermon that America is due for a smitin' due to "rampant immorality".

So...yeah, Wasilla Bible Church are definitely not angels here.

And it's not entirely accurate to say that WBC is her sole congregation, either. Some media reports have indicated she may be attending both WBC and Juneau Christian Center--though there's definitely some ongoing spin on that.

And in fact, it looks like Wasilla Bible Church itself has been recruited into whitewashing the muck covering Palin:

On Monday, the church had another cause for notoriety. Kroons told NEWSWEEK that Palin's campaign staff had contacted him that morning to ask for his discretion when discussing the pregnancy of Palin's teenage daughter Bristol. "All I'll say is that Bristol is a young lady. We care about her and want to support her and the family," Kroons said. Ashley Brown, another pastor at the church, said he'd also been contacted by the campaign with the same request.

All the more reason, methinks, to keep shining that million-candlepower light in Palin's direction.

Tags: John McCain, Sarah Palin, 2008 Elections, vice president, Republicans, religion, Religious Right, Focus on the Family, Alliance Defense Fund, Campus Crusade for Christ, Jews for Jesus, Anti-semitism, Scandals, Dominionism, Assemblies of God (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions

[Anonymous]

Whoa! and I thought she did a good enough job making herself look bad.

[Anonymous]

Will the Media Report Obama's Terrorist Connection?
By John Stephenson (Bio | Archive)
February 23, 2008 - 15:01 ET

Barack Obama has been running his campaign in the style of a revolutionary. Just how radical and liberal Obama is has been well hidden by the campaign. If you haven't heard about his friendship with the leaders of the radical group, the Weather Underground, you can thank the media. (Video Here.) Just how radically left this man is can be seen in what company he keeps.

    In 1995, State Senator Alice Palmer introduced her chosen successor, Barack Obama, to a few of the district’s influential liberals at the home of two well known figures on the local left: William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.

    …“I can remember being one of a small group of people who came to Bill Ayers’ house to learn that Alice Palmer was stepping down from the senate and running for Congress,” said Dr. Quentin Young, a prominent Chicago physician and advocate for single-payer health care, of the informal gathering at the home of Ayers and his wife, Dohrn. “[Palmer] identified [Obama] as her successor.”
    Story Continues Below Ad ?

    Obama and Palmer “were both there,” he said.

    Obama’s connections to Ayers and Dorhn have been noted in some fleeting news coverage in the past. But the visit by Obama to their home — part of a campaign courtship — reflects more extensive interaction than has been previously reported.

Ayers and Dorhn are extremist radicals from the 1960's anti-war terrorist group the Weather Underground, and they are unrepentant in the bombings they were a part of. They disappeared in 1970 after a bomb designed to kill army officers in New Jersey accidentally destroyed a Greenwich Village townhouse. They turned themselves over to authorities in 1980. While the Weather Underground claimed 25 bombings, these characters were never prosecuted. Charges were dropped due to improper FBI surviellance.

Even today they remain proud of their violent past.

    “I don't regret setting bombs; I feel we didn't do enough,” Ayers told the New York Times in 2001.

Obama does some nice double talk and condemns the actions of the Weather Underground, however he remains good friends with two of them that remain unrepentant for their actions. They helped launch his political career.

Via Right Wing Nut House: There were other “encounters” with Ayers over the years, including the fact that both men served on a far left foundation as board members:

    Wondering whether the three may have crossed paths is not speculation. It is a fact that they have. Ayers, Dohrn, and Obama have appeared together at a number of gatherings and academic events.

    In November 1997, Ayers and Obama participated in a panel at the University of Chicago entitled Should a child ever be called a “super predator?” to debate “the merits of the juvenile justice system”.

    In April 2002, Ayers, Dohrn, and Obama, then an Illinois State Senator, participated together at a conference entitled “Intellectuals: Who Needs Them?” sponsored by The Center for Public Intellectuals and the University of Illinois-Chicago. Ayers and Obama were two of the six members of the “Intellectuals in Times of Crisis” panel.

    Ayers, “who in the 1960s was a member of the terrorist group Weatherman and a wanted fugitive for over a decade as a result of the group’s bombing campaign,” is currently the Board Chairman of the Woods Fund of Chicago and Obama is a former Board member.

Lefty blogger Taylor Marsh:

    This is the vein in the Democratic party I will never understand, cannot accept on any level. What is it about some people who just don’t get the problems with our Democratic nominee being friendly, even taking a contribution (however small), as well as having a meeting as recently as 1995 with an unrepentant domestic terrorist like William Ayers? It reveals a lack of seriousness about the issue of terrorism and the dangerously immature judgment of anyone who is going to associate with a man, at the very least, that Republicans will use to beat us over the head with, having the bonus of hitting a spot the public loves to drink up, which is that our party is not serious about the dangers we face in this world.

Rick Moran asks the ultimate question:

    Will the media expose Obama? Will they criticize Senator McCain if he tries to paint Obama as a radical? Will they dig deep into Obama’s associations and associates to discover the truth?

—John Stephenson is editor of Stop The ACLU.

[Anonymous]

Will the Media Report Obama's Terrorist Connection?
By John Stephenson (Bio | Archive)
February 23, 2008 - 15:01 ET

yada yada yada...  :blabla:  yada yada yada...

—John Stephenson is editor of Stop The ACLU.

Hey PAL, this may not be the BEST SITE to try to whip up some support for having our civil liberties taken from us!

 

[Anonymous]

Will the Media Report Obama's Terrorist Connection?
By John Stephenson (Bio | Archive)
February 23, 2008 - 15:01 ET

yada yada yada...  :blabla:  yada yada yada...

—John Stephenson is editor of Stop The ACLU.

Hey PAL, this may not be the BEST SITE to try to whip up some support for having our civil liberties taken from us!

 

Daily KOS =  ::fullofshit::

[BuzzKill]

Adding to the balance:

While its true that some conservative talking heads have made issue of Obama's troubling friends and associates, the media at large refuses to go there.

For example, while it is hard not to be at least dimly aware of who Jeremiah Wright is, most people you ask can't tell you who William Ayres is. Who is he? (as explained above) He is a member of the Weathermen, a terrorist organization from the 60's and 70's. They bombed federal buildings and robbed armored cars  - things like that.  Said things like this:

"Everything was absolutely ideal on the day I bombed the Pentagon, the sky was blue, the birds were singing, and the bastards were finely going to get what was coming to them. I don't regret setting bombs. I feel we didn't do enough."
 Ayers to the New York Times, September 11, 2001.

Another Ayers quote: "Kill all the rich people. Break up their cars and apartments. Bring the revolution home. Kill your parents, that's where it's really at." I am not sure of the original source, but all you need do is Google Ayers+Kill your parents, and dozens of hits will pop up.  

Lets not leave out William's wife, co-conspirator and bomber of federal buildings, Bernadine Dohrn. From "Helter Skelter", page 297: Just before she went underground Bernadine Dohrn told the Students for a Democratic Society convention: "Offing those rich pigs with their own forks and knives, and then eating a meal in the same room, far out! The Weathermen dig Charles Manson!"

Barack Hussain Obama's political career was launched from the Ayer's living room.  Personally, I agree with McCain spokesman Brian Rogers when he said: "The fact that Barack Obama chose to launch his political career at the home of an unrepentant terrorist raises more questions about Senator Obama's judgment than any TV ad ever could,"

Considering Obama's very troubling association with the likes of Wright, Ayers, Dohrn and Rezco, I am personally amazed that Obama was ever seen as a viable candidate for the presidency. I am amazed that Jeremiah Wright's vicious racism, anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism didn't bring the candidacy of his devoted friend, admirer and protégé to a screeching halt.  This is a free ride the likes of which I don't think this nation has ever seen before.

It is a little bit frightening to me, that so many are willing to over look so much; so much of what seems to me to be very serious issues with his judgment, character and personal belief system; For in my mind, there is no way at all that Barrack Hussain Obama isn't infected with the same disturbing and dangerous beliefs and ideas as his "spiritual mentor" of some 20 years, and the unrepentant terrorist in whose living room his carrier was launched.  And what kind of "back door" favors might he owe his Syrian friend Rezco, for that fine house of his? This "problem" of extreme and viciously radical friends, spiritual mentors, and political associates is something, that in my opinion, is seriously significant and deserving of much scrutiny.

The fact that the larger media ignores or minimizes all this, all far more serious than any concern against any politician I have ever known, and that he retains a growing legion of faithful despite all this, is amazing to me.

As to some of our in-common hopes for the future - I would hope that Mrs. McCain's past experience with substance abuse may help her husband see how valid the argument for decriminalsation is. I would also hope his POW experience might help him understand better than others, how the troubled teen industry uses similar methods to break the kids - and how horrible this is. He may well understand better than most what coercive persuasion is, and why it is so evil for greedy profiteers to be using it on American teens and their families.

[psy]

Well, Buzkill.  I imagine if you ever ran for office they'd bring up this website and try to paint you as some sort of druggie internet terrorist.  Who knows...  Obama might not have even known who Ayers was.

As far as your hope for McCain.  Palin broke any chance of me voting for McCain.  While McCain/his wife might have more moderate views on things like decriminalization/coercive persuasion, I know that Palin won't due to her religious affiliation, and that particular church's proximity to Teen Challenge.

[BuzzKill]

Well, Buzkill.  I imagine if you ever ran for office they'd bring up this website and try to paint you as some sort of druggie internet terrorist.  Who knows...  Obama might not have even known who Ayers was.

As far as your hope for McCain.  Palin broke any chance of me voting for McCain.  While McCain/his wife might have more moderate views on things like decriminalization/coercive persuasion, I know that Palin won't due to her religious affiliation, and that particular church's proximity to Teen Challenge.

Hi Psy - and congrats to you on your recent win
 
Well now, should I run for office they could truthfully paint me as a one time drug user - just like Obama and Mrs. McCain I suppose - or at least very similar. I was never what you would call "dependant" in the way apparently Cindy once was. I'd be fine with that. I am after all a child of the 70's and we most all grew up in a more or less constant haze of burning hemp. I am confident I have a lot of good company who wouldn't hold it against me. In fact, it is probably a plus to have had at least some experience with the drug culture.
 
I would only be to pleased to have my association with you and Ginger and Shelby and Bill, and the Trekkers, and Maia and even Niles and Frodrick and so many others. It would give me an opportunity to explain how and why I know all you guys and what we have in common, despite our many and extreme differences.  In fact - this alone might make a run for office worth while
 
Obama likewise has explained what he has in common with Ayers and Wright and several others. He dismisses my concerns as overblown and irrelevant. Ayers after all, Obama tells us, was doing his dirty deeds when Obama himself was no more than 8 years old. But I would point out that first quote up there, and the date: 9/11/2001. The man is the same now as he was then, with the same terrorist ideology - and Obama is OK with that.  
 
Frankly, as disturbing as the Obama, Ayers connection is to me, I am more alarmed with his 20 year association with and devotion to that rabidly racist and insanely paranoid Reverend Wright. The man's theology demands you and I be destroyed. You've seen the interview where Wright went on and on and on about how his theology could not be understood apart from Cone's book: Black Power and Black Theology? This is the theology Obama sat and absorbed for 20 years - the theology he exposed his young daughters to. The pastor preaching it he calls his spiritual mentor. Do a bit of reading on what this theology is. You may want to start here:
http://http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.phpfa=PAGE.view&pageId=59230
and maybe you'll want to consider this: http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUdjhKbImwE
 
I am not what you would call delighted with the republican ticket. Truth is, they had a much better chance of getting me this year than in any past election of my life. But not with this candidate. Not only is he on the opposing side of a few key issues for me - but I think the man actually Hates me and my country, as well as Israel. I think it wise to consider who his friends are - what his actions have been - and paying little if any attention to his silky soothing words.
 
As for your concerns about Palin - I think your wrong. I think she would be horrified by the realities of the teen help industry - and even the excesses that take place in Teen Challenge.  Having attended an AOG church in no way makes me think this unlikely, as I have attended at least three churches over the years that either were AOG, or related to them.  I am well aware of their troubling excesses as well as their strengths. I see no hint of the troubling excess in Palin's words, actions or deeds.  
 
I can't say the same for Obama. A great deal of what he has done over the years, and what he himself has said in unguarded moments, makes me think he is thoroughly tainted with the troubling excesses of his own little cult like congregation. Despite his great efforts to conceal his true sentiments they do occasionally leak out.
 
 Consider the man was comfortable referring to white men as crackers : "Dreams of My Father." "there were no cigar chomping crackers like Beau Connor (ph) out there." (Pg 229)
 
As I once asked a friend - can you imagine the outrage if a WASP running for office were to write in a book in which they said that there were crack head (Nword)s in the room?
 
His white gran ma is Typical. A typical white person. I'd love to be able to ask Obama is he typical? Is his wife Typical? Are his daughters also Typical?  Maybe then people would better realize what such a statement indicates about Obama's attitude.  
 
And being someone concerned for the safety of Israel, his Islamic connections worry me greatly. Again, here we have him showing his true sentiments despite great effort to keep them hidden.
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGH02DtIws
 
For the past eleven years the organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), representing the 57 Islamic States, has been tightening its ... http://www.iheu.org/node/3123
 
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKGdkqfBICw&feature=related
 
And then you have the name change thing. He was not born Barack Hussain Obama. He had his name changed and chose to identity in this most personal of ways with his Islamic roots. This is the name he chose for himself.  We should pay attention to it.  
 
Speaking of which, the Islamic world considers him Islamic no matter what else he may insist he is.  
http://http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/06/obama_seen_as_a_muslim_oversea.html
 
It matters because the more radical elements of Islam want to see Israel wiped off the map. Barrack Hussain Obama has associated himself with this more radical element through his church - and his pastor - who revere, admire and support the Nation of Islam and Louis Farrakhan, and the anti-Semitic and anti-(white)American rhetoric of both.
 
I am truly astonished that the democrats would nominate this man; and that so many so happily support him.

[Ursus]

While its true that some conservative talking heads have made issue of Obama's troubling friends and associates, the media at large refuses to go there.

Perhaps we all have "troubling friends and associates" that say and do things that we wouldn't ourselves. I (personally) think a great deal more is made of the examples you cite than is merited. Irregardless, the Weathermen (which was a more radical splinter group of the SDS) was a very small organization from several decades ago, and which is now long gone. Perhaps I should remind folks that it is now pretty much a given that most student groups back then were infiltrated by "professional instigators" (hired by the CIA) with the primary purpose of not only gathering intel and influencing events, but also of inflaming targeted participants (to commit egregious acts and thereby reduce the organization's credibility). Try googling "MH CHAOS/Operation CHAOS." Who knows where Ayers, Dohrn, et al fell in all of that.

I also think it is important to keep in mind the social and political context of the times in which these events occurred, not to mention where in the pecking order of society those people were then operating. There was lots of that kind of stuff going on in those days, though most of it not of such high profile as the examples you cite. Note that we are talking about predominantly "young people," many of them students, enraged at a government that was busy overseas in an illegal war, mucking about with other countries' systems of government and involved in assassinations abroad, not to mention compiling dossiers of personal private information on hundreds of thousands of American citizens for the sole reason that they fell into the category of a "person of interest." See same comment above re. CIA agent provocateurs. To go into the subject of CIA involvement in the dissemination of doctored up LSD on a predominantly unsuspecting and unprepared public is beyond the scope of this post, but I do wonder just how much of the "turmoil of the 60's" they were responsible for.

One thing IS, however, quite certain: Ayers, Dohrn, et al are not (to my knowledge) part of a large, anti-scientific, ideologically fundamentalist organization that is hell-bent on determining how people live their lives, and already involved in coercively shaping adolescent hearts and minds (e.g., Teen Challenge, not to mention countless teen church organizations that are a mite bit less restrictive). This, coupled with an AoG ideology that speaks of Armageddon with a certain righteous satisfaction and hopeful anticipation, gives me considerable pause when it comes to thinking of Palin in the White House.

As to some of our in-common hopes for the future - I would hope that Mrs. McCain's past experience with substance abuse may help her husband see how valid the argument for decriminalsation is. I would also hope his POW experience might help him understand better than others, how the troubled teen industry uses similar methods to break the kids - and how horrible this is. He may well understand better than most what coercive persuasion is, and why it is so evil for greedy profiteers to be using it on American teens and their families.

I wouldn't count on it. IMO, he's pretty much a bought-and-paid-for marionette at this point; tragically, he probably even realizes it on some level. He's being given one last hurrah, a blitz of fame and glory for all his trouble. Kind of along the veins of "it's the least we can do for him at this point," but that's about it.

[Ursus]

As for your concerns about Palin - I think your wrong. I think she would be horrified by the realities of the teen help industry - and even the excesses that take place in Teen Challenge. Having attended an AOG church in no way makes me think this unlikely, as I have attended at least three churches over the years that either were AOG, or related to them. I am well aware of their troubling excesses as well as their strengths. I see no hint of the troubling excess in Palin's words, actions or deeds.

I happen to (respectfully) disagree with you on this one, however...it is not just Sarah Palin I am concerned about here, but...also her "advisers," be they "spiritual" or otherwise. I honestly don't think she will be allowed to have much influence should she find herself seated in the head chair; she will be "advised" as to the proper course to take in whatever issue is at hand. Note that the entire population of Alaska isn't even one tenth the size of New York City. She doesn't exactly have a whole lot of experience when it really comes down to it. (And just who will those advisers be? What do we really know about them?)

[Ursus]

Moving right along to...numero quatro (dogemperor's series on Sarah Palin).

This post includes:

• Berlet's article raises disturbing questions
• A brief history of apocalyptic thought in the Assemblies of God
• Demonisation of Democrats
• A theology calling for holy war

Note: One of the quotes contains three numbered lists. The original text of the middle one had two #3's. I couldn't get the BBCode for numbered lists to conform to this oddity, so have placed the original number in parentheses (for this second list only).

--= = -=0=- = =-- --= = -=0=- = =-- --= = -=0=- = =--

A Palin presidency may have literal apocalyptic consequences
by dogemperor
Tue Sep 09, 2008 at 02:27:53 PM PDT

Over the past few days I've been writing about Sarah Palin's extensive dominionist connections, including ongoing relationships with and even guest-preaching at and taxpayer support of several Assemblies and "Assemblies family" churches connected with the "Joel's Army" movement.

Now, none other than Chip Berlet has broached the question that those of us watching this particular form of "Christian nationalism" have been asking ourselves, and I give my own thoughts and commentary on that question:

Could the prospect of Sarah Palin being a heartbeat away from the presidency, and her connections with neopentecostal dominionists, have literal end-of-the-world consequences?

    dogemperor's diary :: ::

Berlet's article raises disturbing questions

Chip Berlet, a well-recognised researcher on Christian Reconstructionism (one of several distinct forms of "Christian nationalism" that include neopentecostal dominionism and ultramontaine Catholic nationalism) has written a very good article on the subject of apocalyptism, "Christian nationalism" in general, and neopente dominionism in relation that bears a good read by all. Whilst I do quibble about some of his terminology (I myself dislike the terms "hard" and "soft" dominionist, preferring "theological dominionism" and "functional dominionism" for his terms) I do hope to establish a base for his request:

Does Sarah Palin share with millions of other evangelicals a nightmare vision of an approaching global battle between Godly Christians and evil Satanic agents of the Antichrist in the End Times? I hope some reporters ask Palin if she shares the vision of an apocalypse soon.

Unfortunately, I fear the answer to Berlet's inquiry is likely to be a "yes"--partly because of my own personal experience in some of the very groups Palin maintains relations with, and partly based on my own research.

A brief history of apocalyptic thought in the Assemblies of God

Knowing the history of apocalyptic thought and theology in the Assemblies and denominations descended from it--including one-church "Assemblies daughters" such as many "nondenominational" neopentecostal groups--does not exactly reassure one in this regard.

The Assemblies, it can be said, literally had its birth in apocalypticism. The Azusa Street Revival--considered to be the birth of pentecostalism, and ultimately the very revival that the Assemblies of God considers as its "birth"--got a major kickstart when rumours spread that the San Francisco Earthquake had been prophesied at its start only a week before the great quake in 1906. These reports--and claims that the quake was in fact a sign of God's impending judgement on humanity--led to the revival getting quite the crowd, and the split of the pentecostals from the Holiness movement proper.

The love for "end is nigh" theology--and the looking-forward to literal apocalypse--hasn't dampened at all; if anything, for the majority of the Assemblies' history it was blatantly encouraged by the major reference bible used in the denomination.

For roughly sixty years (until the publication of the New International Version in 1973), the primary reference bible used by the Assemblies was the "old" Scofield Reference Bible--a particular reference bible that not only was premillenial dispensationalist, but can be said to have laid the initial groundwork for "Joel's Army" theology in its specific claims re the end of the world.

Claims, of note, which still have grave importance in national politics--partly because they inspired the literal incorporation of the Cold War into Assemblies theology (as well as a literal theological vehement hatred of all things Democratic Party), and partly because there are very specific claims regarding Russia and Iran that are still part of the core theology of these groups and which would come to a potentially thermonuclear head were Palin to ever become President of the United States.

Specifically, the Scofield Reference Bible has as a central point (regarding its Rapture and Tribulation mythology) that Russia would be home to the Antichrist and that its leader would be the literal son of Satan:

(from the studylight.org archive of Scofield Reference Bible notes, Ezekiel chp. 38)

38:2 Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

Gog

That the primary reference is to the northern (European) powers, headed up by Russia, all agree. The whole passage should be read in connection with Zechariah 12:1-4; 14:1-9; Matthew 24:14-30; Revelation 14:14-20; 19:17-21, "gog" is the prince, "Magog," his land. The reference to Meshech and Tubal (Moscow and Tobolsk) is a clear mark of identification. Russia and the northern powers have been the latest persecutors of dispersed Israel, and it is congruous both with divine justice and with the covenants (e.g. (See Scofield "Genesis 15:18") See Scofield "Deuteronomy 30:3" that destruction should fall at the climax of the last mad attempt to exterminate the remnant of Israel in Jerusalem. The whole prophecy belongs to the yet future "day of Jehovah" ; Isaiah 2:10-22; Revelation 19:11-21 and to the battle of Armageddon Revelation 16:14 See Scofield "Revelation 19:19" but includes also the final revolt of the nations at the close of the kingdom-age. Revelation 20:7-9.

This has already had implications that have gravely affected the world, both in US and global policy. From at least the 1930s on, Communism and Socialism were directly equated with Russia, and by extension with Satan; from this time on, Democrats were literally demonised as "closet Reds" and thus--in Assemblies end-time theology--as being literal agents of Satan.

The earliest example of "spiritual warfare against the Commies" that I am aware of is the steeplejacking of the Russian Reformed Baptist Church that resulted in the neopentecostal dominionist hate-group "Watchmen On The Walls" (a group, of note, that A/G Western District head Joseph Fuiten has extensive connections to, and which the Assemblies of God has sanctioned at official conferences for pastors); by 1934 Aimee Semple McPherson tarred no less than Upton Sinclair with one of the first televangelist "Red smears" simply for being a Democratic candidate running on social reform platforms.

The red-baiting in the Assemblies and its daughters would eventually have far more dire consequences. A surprising amount of Cold War hijinks were helped out by the Assemblies frontgroup Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship International as the Red Scare was literally incorporated into theology; this included not only turning one's head the other way whilst the FGBMFI happily steeplejacked Roman Catholic dioceses via cell-church based "cuckoos" (many of the Roman Catholic churches promoted "liberation theology", seen as too left-wing) but--especially in the case of Latin America--actively supported right-wing insurgents and juntas.  

In the cases of Nicaragua, Honduras, and Guatemala this would bear especially bloody fruit. The FGBMFI funneled aid to the Contras in Nicaragua, typically under claims they were CARE packages for "church missions" for the Miskitu First Nation (who have been Westernised and Christianised since the 1700s and were actually regarded by the British as a sovereign nation in the 1860s) in Honduras and Nicaragua; this resulted in the Miskitu Nation being targeted by both sides. Guatemala fared even worse; it suffered not just one but two separate political coups by neopente dominionists linked with FGBMFI, including the genocidal reign of Verbo Ministries preacher and junta leader Efrain Rios Montt (who is STILL to this day hailed in FGBMFI literature and has spoken at FGBMFI conferences, despite having international arrest warrants out against him for genocide and crimes against humanity).

In an example of how "Christian nationalists" in the Assemblies and "Assemblies daughter" communities were organising in even this early date, the FGBMFI (who later would be one of the key players in the steeplejack of the Republican Party) were promoting themselves in the 50's and 60's as a specifically anti-Communist group, and there are persistent rumours to the effect that US taxpayer dollars may have been used particularly during the Reagan years to essentially export neopentecostal dominionism. It is also entirely possible that the promotion of FGBMFI and other dominionist groups as "anti-communist bulwarks" directly led to the spread of "Joel's Army" theology worldwide; Paul Yonggi Cho nee David Yonggi Cho, the likely true originator of "Third Wave" neopentecostalism (the most recent font of "Joel's Army" theology), is extensively connected with both "Joel's Army" promoters and with FGBMFI (and in particular, cases where FGBMFI has been known to interfere with national politics).

I myself can recall, on a much more personal level, the thoughts of the church I grew up in re Russia--thoughts that still give me screaming nightmares to this day, especially since the church in question is the seventh largest Assemblies church in the US:

One of the things I still have nightmares over to this day--and modern political events don't help at all with this--is of Cold War sermons regarding the Final Battle.

You see, they would preach that Russia (back then the USSR) was the literal country of Satan and its leader was the Antichrist. And at the very end of things, Russia would use some Middle Eastern country--Iran was quite frequently mentioned--and would launch an invasion of Israel after having nuked Jerusalem.

The US would begin a nuclear exchange with the Russians after that, which would end up with the US and Israel against the rest of the world in a nuclear Mother of All Wars to be centered on Megiddo Hill.  

Of course, all the True Believers would be raptured up first. And they'd have a heaven-side seat to watch everyone else burn in literal nuclear hellfire.

And the sick and sad thing was that they welcomed this. The preacher almost seemed to be in orgiastic joy over the fact that in 1984 the relations between the US and USSR had worsened to such a point people were thinking nuclear war was a very real possibility.

I didn't know then that they were pulling this stuff out of the Scofield Reference Bible (along with their support for young-earth creationism and a lot of other bizarre things) and that the reference in the Scofield bibles were actually from Tsarist Russia--back when the Russian secret service was doing progroms against its Jewish population and printing things like The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion to justify them.

I know that now, but I still have nightmares about how the whole church was so damned happy that literally the rest of the world was going to be nuked and they were finally going to Get Theirs Against All Those Non-Dominionist Heathens.

The fact that we could end up going into a nuclear war with Iran doesn't help my nerves any at this...nor does the fact that, even to this day--fully 12 years after the Berlin Wall fell--they still claim that Russia is "Gog" and that Boris Yeltsin is part of a grand Satanic conspiracy.

Such things have been the very meat and potatoes of Assemblies theology for years--the Cold War, and later (as we'll see) the Gulf War, literally turned into a holy crusade and the thermonuclear obliteration of most of humanity turned into a divine rite.

If it were just the Russians that were being labeled as the Antichrist, that'd be one thing. The thing is, however, both Iraq and Iran have also been labeled as "Antichrist Toadies" for practically the entire time the Assemblies and its daughters have been in existence. Iraq gets labeled because of it being the historical site of Babylon; Iran because of some of the same sections in the Scofield Reference Bible equating Gog with Russia equating other "enemies" with Iran.

And it still gets worse.  

Demonisation of Democrats

Berlet does in part refer to this history with "Christian nationalist" groups in general:

That all began to change, partly because Jimmy Carter announced in 1976 he was born-again. When Jimmy Carter announced that he was born-again, a number of previously nonvoting evangelicals and fundamentalists went back to the polls to vote for him, because they were so ecstatic that someone who announced themselves as born-again could be running for President. It legitimized their religious faith and their religious outlook in many ways.

What happened, of course, was that some of the political activists who in '64 had parlayed Goldwater into a doomed Presidential run, looked at what Carter had achieved by bringing voters back to the polls from the evangelical and fundamentalists communities, and these right-wing organizers said: that's really a powerful bloc of voters. We could organize people like that, too.

And these are conservatives -- like Weyrich and Falwell--and in 1979 a bunch of them met and decided that Falwell should start a mass movement among evangelicals called the "Moral Majority" and that it should be built around stopping abortion as a way to get evangelicals to start voting Republican.

But they were faced with this theological problem: If you were a literal, Bible-reading Christian fundamentalist or evangelical, you needed a theological justification to engage in political activity of any sort. You can't just decide that you have two realms, the secular and the religious, and there is no connection. There is always a connection. So you need a theological justification for political participation.

Starting in the 1960s, the postmillennial Christian Reconstructionists, especially R.J. Rushdoony, began to write polemics at the broader premillennial community, and what they argued was that there was a failure to take back America for God. America was becoming increasingly secular, it was straying away from God, and, as postmillennialists, they obviously saw the need for political participation. They thought that people who didn't see that need, no matter what their eschatological outlook, no matter what their view of the End Times, needed to deal with political struggles in some way because they saw widespread sinfulness around America.

Berlet largely attributes the rise of "Christian nationalism" to the women's reproductive health movement (and largely to the abortion issue)--and this did have a fair amount to cause rallying (especially when abortion was literally equated to child sacrifices to Molech in Assemblies churches)--but I myself can recall that--at least in the Assemblies and its daughters--there was also a very strong meme, promoted during the Carter years onward, that pretty much equated the Democratic Party as a whole with being a Communist proxy, thus directly equating them with Satanists.  (Did I mention that "Satanic Panic" was quite popular in these circles, too?) And yes, the more hardline did--and do--still see us as closet Communists and closet Satanists, as this has been part of the core theology for a long time.  

Even with Palin's churches, this has been noted explicitly. Despite claims of no longer being a member, Palin has maintained an ongoing relationship with Wasilla Assemblies of God, including (as has recently been documented) giving "guest testimony" at a "Master's Commission" ceremony in June 2008 (Master's Commission, as we've noted in previous posts, is a group run by the Western District of the Assemblies of God as essentially a "ministerial training" group for teens and young adults). And the pastor of Wasilla A/G has let loose this little gem--one that is, sadly, quite typical of Assemblies congregations:

During the 2004 election season, he praised President Bush's performance during a debate with Sen. John Kerry, then offered a not-so-subtle message about his personal candidate preferences. "I'm not going tell you who to vote for, but if you vote for this particular person, I question your salvation. I'm sorry." Kalnins added: "If every Christian will vote righteously, it would be a landslide every time."

If you know that the Democratic Party is literally equated with the Party of Satan in the eyes of these groups, this starts to make a little more sense (in the topsy-turvy funhouse manner).

Also, the internal mythology in neopente dominionist circles of Russia being the Great Enemy has rather expanded. One of the first books published (besides Scofield) detailing this mythology is Hal Lindsey's "The Late, Great Planet Earth"; the modern version (which has gotten more extreme since the 80s) has been fictionalised in the "Left Behind" series of novels, and includes a newer meme that seems to have been imported from "sovereign citizen" movements (and is evidence of cross-pollination across "Christian nationalist" and far-right groups in general)--namely, the concept that the United Nations is secretly controlled by the Russians or the Eastern Bloc, and thus is itself also a proxy of Satan.

A theology calling for holy war

Also, the very Bibles used in reference in the Assemblies have gotten more extreme--and more strident for their calls for the rest of humanity to be converted, forcibly if necessary, including calls for the unrepentant to literally be put to the sword.

After the publication of the New International Version (itself a version with some definite skews towards dominionist viewpoints, including an apparently unique translation of Matthew 11:12 that has been extensively abused to promote "God Warrior" and "Joel's Army" theology), the Assemblies commissioned a new study bible--the most recent version being the "Fire Bible" (it's been published previously under other names, such as "Life In The Spirit Study Bible" and "Full Life Study Bible").

The already-disturbing imagery has been fairly consistently kicked up a few notches with each revision. I've written extensively on this particular study bible (and I would strongly recommend people read these articles in full), but it's worth noting how it's used in the sorts of "Joel's Army" churches that Palin keeps close company with.

The following list of so-called "prophecies" from a Joel's Army group using the Fire Bible as a primary reference is but one example:

Prophecies Concerning the Last Days

• Increase of wars and rumors of war Joel 3:9-10; & Matt. 24:6-7
• Extreme materialism 2 Tim. 3:1-2; & Rev. 3:14-19
• Lawlessness Ps. 78:8; & Prov. 30:11-14; 2 Tim. 3:2-3
• Population explosion Gen. 6:1
• Increase in speed and knowledge Dan. 12:14
• Departure from the Christian faith 2 Thess. 2:3; 1 Tim. 4:1, 3-4; 2 Tim. 3:5; 4:3-4; 2 Pet. 3:3-4
• Intense demonic activity Gen. 6:1-4: 1 Tim. 4:1-3
• Unification of the world's religious, political, and economic systems Rev. 13:4-8, 16-17; 17:1-18; 18:1-24
• The absence of gifted leadership among the nations, thus making it easy for he Antichrist to take over
• Universal drug usage (The word "sorceries" here can also refer to drugs.) Rev. 9:21
• Abnormal sexual activity Rom. 1:17-32; 2 Pet. 2:10, 14; 3:3; Jude 18
• Mass slaughter of innocents by unconcerned mothers (abortion) Rom. 1:31; 2 Tim. 3:3
• Widespread violence Gen. 6:11, 13; Rev. 9:21
• Rejection of Gods's Word 2 Tim. 4:3-4; 2 Pet. 3:3-4, 16
• Rejection of God himself Ps. 2:1-3
• Blasphemy 2 Tim. 3:2; 2 Pet. 3:3, Jude 18
• Self-seeking and pleasure seeking 2 Tim. 3:2, 4
• Men minus a conscience 1 Tim. 4:2
• Religious hucksters 2 Pet. 2:3
• Outright devil worshipers Rev. 9:20, 13:11-14
• Rise of false prophets and Antichrists Matt. 24:5, 11; 2 Pet. 2:1-2
• False claims of peace 1 Thess. 5:1-3
• Rapid advances in technology Gen. 4:22
• Great political and religious upheavals in the Holy Land Matt. 24:32-34

      . . .
THE ANTICHRIST

• (1.) Ruler during the tribulation who controls the entire world. Dan. 7:2-7,24-27; 8:4; 11:36 Rev. 13:1-18; 17: 11-17
• (2.) An incredibly wicked person, a "man of sin" and lawlessness. Dan. 9:27; 2 Thes. 2:3; Rev. 13:12
• (3.) Describe as the beast. Rev. 13:1-18; 17:3,8,16; 19:19-20; 20:10
• (3.) Will set up an image of himself in the temple and will demand worship. Dan 7:8,25; 11:31,36; Mat. 24:15; Mark 13:14; 2 Thes. 2:3-4; Rev. 13:4,8,12,14-15; 14:9; 16:2
• (4.) Will exercise miracles through the power of Satan. Mat 24:24; 2 Thes. 2:9-10; Rev. 13: 3, 12-14; 16:14; 17:8
• (5.) Will have the ability to deceive the nations. 1 Thes. 2:9-10; 1 John 2:18; Rev. 20:3
• (6.) Will be assisted by the false prophet (the beast of the earth). Rev. 13:11-17; 16:13; 19:20; 20:10
• (7.) Will kill the two witnesses who proclaimed the gospel. Rev. 11:7-10
• (8.) Will attempt to kill all who do not have the mark of the beast. Rev. 6:9; 13:15-17; 14:12-13
• (9.) Will eventually destroy the religious system with which he was aligned. Rev. 17:16-17
• (10.) Will be defeated by Christ when He returns to earth to establish his kingdom. 2 Thes. 2:8; Rev. 16:16; 19:15-21 (The Full Life Study Bible)

Christ Appearing from the Heaven to Judge and to wage War

• Christ will return with believers and His angels. 2 Thes. 1:7-10; Jude 14-15; Rev. 19:14
• Christ will gather the tribulation saints. Mat. 24:31; 24:31-40, 46; Mark 13:27; Rev. 20:4
• Unbelievers will be unprepared for this event. Mat. 24:38-39,43
• Christ will separate peoples on earth. Mat. 13:40-41, 47-50; 25:31-46
• Nations will be enraged at this event. Rev. 11:18
• Saints will rejoice at this event. Rev. 19:1-8
• Christ will judge and destroy the ungodly, including the antichrist and Satan. Is. 13:6-12; Ezek. 20:34-38; Mat. 13:41-46; Luke 19:11-27; 1 Thes. 5:1-11; 2 Thes. 2:7-10,12; Rev. 6:16-17; 11:18; 17:14; 18:1-24; 19:11-20:3
• Tribulation saints will receive rewards. Mat. 5:11-12; 1 Cor. 3:12-14; 9:25-27; Gal. 6:9-10; 2 Tim. 4:8; Rev. 20:4
• Tribulation saints will share in Christ's glory and kingdom. Mat. 25:31-40; Rom. 8:29; 2 Thes. 2:13-14; Rev. 20:4 (The Full Life Study Bible)

(As in original--yes, one of the lists had two #3s listed.)

The term "Tribulation saints" refers to an unusual bit of Assemblies internal mythology. Specifically, post-Rapture, two people are supposed to convert to Christianity and then be publically martyred (with great celebration, typically compared to Christmas parties complete with exchange of gifts, in sermons on this)--and this (and their activities beforehand) are supposed to lead to a mass conversion of much of the remaining Jewish population (long since herded to a mega-ghetto in Israel) to "Messianic Judaism". And at the end of the Tribulation, all the Raptured "God Warriors" and dead "Saved" descend from Heaven along with Gen. Jesus H. Christ, they band together with these convertees and kill everyone else, and rule for 1000 years after which they knock down one last uprising and get a new heaven and earth. (The end. )

And, as you may have guessed, this is one reason why Israel is seen as an "end-times pawn"--pretty much for the end-time scenario to take place like this, all of the world's Jewish people must be herded to Israel (yes, even the population in New York, which is actually larger than in Israel itself) and at least 144,000 converted.  

It is probably not a shock to most of you to find that much of the "Joel's Army" theology focuses heavily on the "kill 'em all" bit at the end of the Tribulation.

Another example again raises the call for "Christian nationalism" as something that must be done, lest smiting ensue--and may well have been a major impetus for Palin's attempted (and, fortunately, failed) attempts at book censorship in Wasilla:

Most people are unfortunetly ignorant of where the road really leads. Our casual acceptance of the philosophies all around us can short circuit nearly every part of our Christian walk and can certainly derail our ability to stave off spiritual attacks. We have become increasingly tolerant of witchcraft and other occult practices in our society. Show such as "Bewitched" and "Sabrina the teenage Witch" taught us to do more than just tolerate witchcraft. They promoted and encouraged it. Above all, it worked subtly on our senses teaching us to accept it as the norm. Just as a person who is poisoned a little bit at a time doesn't die after the first dose, in the end after enough "doses" our ability to recognize the evil began to shut down and we were doomed. By the time we realized what was really happening we had become too weak to climb out and soon became the delicacy on the Devil's dinner plate. By giving ungodly entertainment our time, mind, money, or emotion, even though we are not involved physically, is the same as if we were actually participating. In Romans 1:32 Paul states this: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but have pleasure in them that do them. The Full Life Study Bible explains it like this: "Being entertained by watching other people sin and engage in ungodly actions, even while you yourself abstain, brings you under the same divine condemnation as those engaging in such evil practices...Those who use the immoral actions of others for entertainment and enjoyment are directly contributing to public opinion favorable to immorality and therefore to the corruption and eternal damnation of an indefinite number of other people." It is also spiritually damaging to allow these influences a place in our lives and homes. Entire households are weakened and can lose their spiritual battles because of the actions, attitudes, and even physical possessions of one member (see 1 Sam 15).

(This is actually not all this shocking; the Assemblies are one of the major promoters of "deliverance ministry"--a concept that literally anything can be demonised. In practice, the practice is amazingly similar to Scientology's concept of "body thetans" and engrams, and just as harmful psychologically; in fact, severe psychiatric injuries requiring inpatient mental health treatment are not an uncommon consequence of "deliverance ministry".)

The following example from another group using the Assemblies reference Bible, actually pretty much proves the lie to the official "denunciation" of "Joel's Army" theology. Specifically, much like Palin's "guest speech", it specifically refers to "chosen generations" and general God-warrioring against those seen as impure:

The Third Principle is renewal of the covenant; this is change according to the Word of God. Again, we see the great love and mercy of God in 2 Kings 23:3 as Josiah made a covenant, again, with the Lord and brought about specific changes in Israel. Renewal requires specific changes. The following paragraph is taken from an excellentcommentary found in the "Full Life Study Bible" regarding verse 2 Kings 23:4.

"Josiah’s reforms follow the Scriptural principle that repentance for specific sins is essential to true revival. Whenever genuine repentance occurs, specific sins will be identified, false brothers and sisters expelled, worldly practices forsaken and godly standards restored. Any talk of the need for revival and repentance in the churches without specifying what must be changed indicates that the commitment to real change in people’s hearts and lifestyles is lacking."

Repentance and change must come in areas of adultery, lying, slander, gossip, hate, envy, pride, enmity, alcohol, smoking, drugs, and in-submission to authority. 2 Kings 22:5 mentions that Josiah removed the idolatrous priests. May I pose to you a question? Are you true or false priests of the Lord?

The Bible says in 1 Peter 2:9, that we are "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people." We must ask ourselves if Jesus would have been talking about us when He said in Mark 8:38, "For whomever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He come sin the glory of His Father with the holy angels." James also said in his book, "Adulterer and adulteresses! Do you no know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whosever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."

Again, some backgrounder in "Joel's Army" theology is required to understand why this is so terribly dangerous (and why the Assemblies' claims they "condemn" the movement are so full of BS that there has to be an entire herd of Angus stationed in the Springfield, MO headquarters). Firstly, neopentes and Jews are promoted as "God's chosen people", with an explicit requirement to "name and claim" the planet--in fact, "naming and claiming" here is explicitly promoted as a form of repentance for not establishing a theocracy the FIRST time. Secondly, establishment of a theocracy is explicitly noted as part of the "covenant" that God supposedly has with "Joel's Army" and the "Joshua Generation" being essentially the "chosen People". (This is actually subtly hinted at in describing Josiah's reforms; 2 Kings 23 in general notes the bloody re-establishment of a theocracy. At 2 Kings 24, God ends up smiting them anyway, as Nebuchadnezzar II took over the area of Judah and Israel; hence why "rapture theory" and political dominionism aren't seen as incompatible by neopente dominionists.) Thirdly, mainstream Christianity is yet again condemned (of note, the document this is from is to a Croatian neopente group)--in fact, they are directly compared to worshippers of Babylonian ba'alim, pagan gods.

In fact, these quotes are from an earlier, more moderate version of the study bible--more recent versions have gone more extreme; you can see for yourself at the Assemblies' own website. Of note, this is also very likely the same "reference bible" used by the Master's Commission group Palin spoke at.

In what may be one of the most damning bits showing the Assemblies' "denouncing" of "Joel's Army" is about as much of a lie as GlaDOS's infamous cake in "Portal", the Assemblies helpfully includes a sermon exhorting teens to join a Joel's Army movement under the rebranding of "Josiah Revolution" (thus showing how they can promote the same stuff whilst claiming to denounce a specific name-brand)--including a subtle call for "holy war" with folks of the Moslem faith:

Illustration

Here in America we are making special accommodations for those of the Muslim faith with tax dollars, while at the same time prohibiting public displays of the Ten Commandments and making school students remove crosses or other Christian symbols from their jewelry, clothing, or lockers.

The point is that as Christians we are losing our influence for Christ in our culture. We need a spiritual revolution in America!

We need more than just a little change. We need much more than a moderate course adjustment. We need far more than just cleaning up our act. We need exceedingly more than just better attendance at church. I say that we desperately need even more than a spiritual Reformation. We need a Revolution!

What is a Revolution?

Webster: a sudden, radical, or complete change; the overthrow or renunciation of one government or ruler and the substitution of another by the governed!

A Revolution is an UPHEAVAL, a 180° change of DIRECTION. It is a COMPLETE OVERTHROWING of the ungodly powers that have ruled our hearts and led us into apathy, covetousness, cussing, hatefulness, insecurity, judging, selfishness, sensuality, carnality, and every kind of immorality. We need a Revolution!

Who am I to think I’m capable of changing anything?

Whether you realize it or not, when you were born again, God planted a seed in your heart to change your world. If you or I don’t at least attempt to complete this assignment, our life purpose might be wasted or squandered.

It’s like a painting that’s not been finished. It’s like a letter that’s written, but not mailed. It’s like a delicious pizza carefully prepared and then thrown in the trash. Don’t waste your window! You were born for such a time as this!

Throughout the Scriptures some of the Lord’s greatest victories were led by the young. The young man Joseph, in spite of imprisonment and slavery, saved both his family and the rest of the nation from starvation. Samuel heard the Lord call his name when he was still a child. A boy named David defeated the Philistine champion Goliath. Remember a boy named Daniel and three Hebrew boys who honored God in a fiery furnace? A girl named Mary—the list goes on.

In 2 Chronicles we find a boy named Josiah. His name means "the fire of the Lord." (See 2 Chronicles 34 and 2 Kings 22.)

Wow, it's that same quoting we noted above, in this case referring to the prelude to the establishment of a theocracy. Specifically, 2 Kings 22 goes into detail on how Israel is cursed due to not being theocratic enough, and Josiah being informed he'd at least be lucky enough to die before Nebuchadnezzar II came knocking.

There's a literal exhortation to "cleanse and purify" anything not sanctioned by the church:

Joshiah Removed the Idols
2 Chronicles 34:3 (NIV)

In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to PURGE Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles, carved idols and cast images.

During the reign of King Josiah, idolatry was flourishing; contempt for theology was common.

There was little or no resistance to moral erosion. Over time the people of God became corrupted by the ways, customs, music, and culture of the world. They began to call good evil, and evil good! Remember, this was Judah, God’s people!

Josiah would have seen a great contrast between his grandfather Manasseh and his sinful father Amon. Josiah had the opportunity to see true worship in action alongside the idolatrous practices of his father. So Josiah turned to the temple. But the Word of the Lord could not be found! They had forsaken the prominence and proclamation of the Scriptures, and turned instead to idols of every kind.

An idol can be any possession, relationship, or activity that robs your worship from the Lord. Giving the Word prominence helps me see the idols in my life that must come down!

(The rest of it gets even better...among the usual "hand out tons of copies of this to everyone you see", there's an exhortation to give "no compromise" and general calls for "God-warrioring" throughout the text.)

...needless to say, now you all know why I'm quite worried about the mere possibility of Palin getting near the Nuclear Football (and if McCain is elected, this does become a distinct possibility; some folks state there is at least a one-in-seven chance he could die in office based on age alone).

Which is one reason we must publicise this, and we must get out the vote.

Our country--possibly all of humanity--could depend on it.

Tags: John McCain, Sarah Palin, 2008 Elections, vice president, Republicans, religion, Religious Right, Extremism, Apocalypse, Red Scare, Joel's Army, Scandals, Dominionism, Assemblies of God (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions

[Ursus]

Okay, here is dogemperor's 5th piece on Sarah Palin.

This piece includes:

• Palin conveniently answers the "Does being a 'Joel's Army' member mean I want to nuke Moscow?" question
• More indications of theology influencing policy--this time with censorship

--= = -=0=- = =-- --= = -=0=- = =-- --= = -=0=- = =--

More info comes out on Palin and dominionism, Armageddon, and book bans
by dogemperor
Fri Sep 12, 2008 at 01:29:50 PM PDT

Over the past few days, I've been one of those Damned Annoying Palin Diarists--though not on BabyGate or some of the other stuff, but more on the fact she was originally put in as a dominionist "stealth candidate", that she has extensive and ongoing connections with "Joel's Army" neopente dominionists including providing tax dollars to them. Most disturbingly, more than a few of us have raised serious questions on how Palin's connections with these groups may have literally thermonuclear consequences and how much her dominionist connections would affect her public policy.

We may very well have reason to worry.Two new recent updates have given call for alarm--one being a disturbing call for war with Russia, and the second being new revelations re the attempted Wasilla book-ban that indicate it may have been a preemptive attempt.

And in both cases, her "Joel's Army" sympathies may be closely linked.

    dogemperor's diary :: ::

Palin conveniently answers the "Does being a 'Joel's Army' member mean I want to nuke Moscow?" question

A few days back, I wrote an article on the implications of "Joel's Army" endtime theology regarding Russia in relation to Sarah Palin--an article that has apparently made it all the way to none other than fark.com and which I wrote, in part, based on my own observations as a walkaway from a "Joel's Army" church and my own post-walking-away research.

Unfortunately for us and the rest of the world, Palin may have just answered that question.

The definitive DailyKos diary on this subject was written a few days ago by Rock Strango, but it's also worth looking at the original quote as well. After a fair amount of backpedaling on her commentary re Gulf War II being essentially a holy crusade (an idea that is actively promoted in "Joel's Army" circles, incidentially--including the very Assemblies of God church she claims to no longer be a member of but did guest preaching at as recently as June 2008, as we'll see below), she let slip that she'd be quite willing to go to war with the Russians--and furthermore promoted the concept of first strikes against any country that is seen as a potential threat:

* Gibson then brought up Russia's recent invasion of Georgia, an act roundly condemned by the Bush administration and by McCain himself. He asked Gibson if the US would be compelled to answer militarily under the NATO treaty if Russia again invaded Georgia. Palin answered, "Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help."

* Expanding on her answer, Palin said, "[W]e've got to keep an eye on Russia. For Russia to have exerted such pressure in terms of invading a smaller democratic country, unprovoked, is unacceptable."
    . . .
ABC's Charlie Gibson asked Sarah Palin if she believed that the Iraq war was part of God's plan.

GIBSON: "Do you agree with the Bush doctrine?"

PALIN: "In what respect, Charlie?"

GIBSON: "The Bush ... Well, what do you interpret it to be?"

PALIN: "His world view."

GIBSON: "No. The Bush doctrine. Annunciated in September 2002, before the Iraq war."

PALIN: "I believe that what President Bush has attempted to do is rid this world of Islamic extremism, terrorists who are hell-bent on destroying our nation. There have been blunders along the way, though. There have been mistakes made, and with new leadership -- and that's the beauty of American elections of course, and democracy -- is with new leadership comes opportunity to do things better."

GIBSON: "The Bush doctrine, as I understand it, is we have the right of anticipatory self defense. We have the right to a preemptive strike against any country we think is going to attack us. Do you agree with that?"

PALIN: "Charlie, if there is legitimate and enough intelligence that tells us that a strike is imminent against American people, we have every right to defend our country."

This is quite a bit disturbing, seeing as:

a) As we went over in our last post, an end-time nuclear war has been a big part of end-time theology in Assemblies churches (and particularly those at the heart of the "Joel's Army" movement) pretty much since the time that nuclear weapons have been around.

b) Russia and the US still have enough nukes, between the two of them, to pretty much send the planet back to the Permian/Triassic boundary as far as the planetary ecosystem goes. (For those unaware, the P/T boundary is an event known by paleontologists as the Great Dying--the end-of-Permian extinction is the largest ever recorded, so thorough that only thirty percent of land vertebrates and only four percent of all sea-dwelling life survived; it is estimated that at least 90% of all species on the planet at the time went extinct. For fully twenty to thirty million years into the Triassic, life was dominated by a handful of "disaster taxa" in the closest thing this planet has known to a truly apocalyptic event.)

c) At least some stumpers for Palin have tried to claim her supposed "leadership of the Alaskan National Guard" (debunked by its actual general, by the way) qualifies her re foreign policy because "Alaska is right next door to the Russians".

. . .

If this were a case of severe foot-in-mouth disease (akin to Ronald Reagan's infamous accidentially-broadcast mike-test quip about "signing legislation outlawing Russia: we begin the bombing in five minutes"), it'd be bad enough.

Unfortunately, tied into apocalyptic imagery we know that her churches have supported, it becomes (as tvtropes.com playfully puts it) "Unleaded Nightmare Fuel".

Palin's official handlers have claimed she hasn't attended a neopente dominionist church since 2002. Despite this, however--and in an indication she may well have started attending Wasilla Bible Church (a still very dominionist, if not overtly neopente, church--but still (outwardly) "God Warrior Lite" compared to her previous congregations) as an attempt to cloak her true denominational allegiances--Palin has attended both Juneau Christian Center and has done official speeches for both Wasilla A/G's "teen ministerial Jesus Camp" (Master's Commission) and for the Alaska District of the Assemblies of God as recently as June 2008--fully six years after she claims she up and quit.

In fact, there are strong indications that Palin's relationship with the Assemblies--and misuse of Alaskan state funds to pay for trips to "revivals"--went on close to the date that McCain picked her as his choice for VP. Bruce Wilson, a noted co-researcher on neopente dominionism, has noted:

Along with her entire family, Sarah Palin was re-baptized at twelve at the Wasilla Assembly of God in Wasilla, Alaska and she attended the church from the time she was ten until 2002: over two and 1/2 decades. Sarah Palin's extensive pattern of association with the Wasilla Assembly of God has continued nearly up to the day she was picked by Senator John McCain as a vice-presidential running mate.

Palin's dedication to the Wasilla church is indicated by a Saturday, September 7, 2008, McClatchy news service story detailing possibly improper use of state travel funds by Palin for a trip she made to Wasilla, Alaska to attend, on June 8, 2008, both a Wasilla Assembly of God "Masters Commission" graduation ceremony and also a multi-church Wasilla area event known as "One Lord Sunday."

At the latter event, Palin and Alaska LT Governor Scott Parnell were publicly blessed, onstage before an estimated crowd of 6,000, through the "laying on of hands" by Wasilla Assembly of God's Head Pastor Ed Kalnins whose sermons espouse such theological concepts as the possession of geographic territories by demonic spirits and the inter-generational transmission of family "curses". Palin has also been blessed, or "anointed", by an African cleric, prominent in the Third Wave movement, who has repeatedly visited the Wasilla Assembly of God and claims to have effected positive, dramatic social change in a Kenyan town by driving out a "spirit of witchcraft."

Needless to say, it is extremely unusual, if you are truly switching denominations, to attend two churches like this--much less do the majority of your public speaking to congregations at the church you supposedly left. And it is still more unusual yet to have the pastor of your supposed "former" church doing a very specific type of blessing which is only conducted in neopentecostal churches--which includes, of note, imprecatory prayers against enemies and much nattering in tongues. (This, of note, is why I take Palin's claims of no longer being Assemblies with a grain of salt the size of a Taurus. Whether the Taurus in question is a bull, a Ford, a giant robot, or the actual constellation is up to the reader.)  

This is especially true if you left the group because you claimed they were becoming "too extreme" (as some spin-doctoring for Palin has alleged)--most people I know who are walkaways from the Assemblies (and from "Joel's Army" groups in particular, and yes, this specifically includes people I know who are attending non-dominionist evangelical churches) tend to avoid their former congregations like the plague. (And yes, this is one of those areas where being a walkaway is uniquely enlightening.)

Palin's ongoing relationship with Wasilla A/G becomes especially worrisome in this light--her little speech to their missionary training camp in June 2008 is worrying enough, but it appears the pastor has also done quite a bit of promotion of Perpetual Spiritual Warfare With Actual Military Armament, based on several videos and reports:

The church runs a number of ministries providing help to poor neighborhoods, care for children in need, and general community services. But Pastor Kalnins has also preached that critics of President Bush will be banished to hell; questioned whether people who voted for Sen. John Kerry in 2004 would be accepted to heaven; charged that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and war in Iraq were part of a war "contending for your faith;" and said that Jesus "operated from that position of war mode."

At one point, Pastor Kalinin actually makes a call remarkably similar to the calls made by the Taliban for people to sacrifice themselves for God, and further confuses Jesus Christ for John Rambo rather than the ultimate pacifist:

What you see in a terrorist -- that's called the invisible enemy. There has always been an invisible enemy. What you see in Iraq, basically, is a manifestation of what's going on in this unseen world called the spirit world. ... We need to think like Jesus thinks. We are in a time and a season of war, and we need to think like that. We need to develop that instinct. We need to develop as believers the instinct that we are at war, and that war is contending for your faith. ... Jesus called us to die. You're worried about getting hurt? He's called us to die. Listen, you know we can't even follow him unless you are willing to give up your life. ... I believe that Jesus himself operated from that position of war mode. Everyone say "war mode." Now you say, wait a minute Ed, he's like the good shepherd, he's loving all the time and he's kind all the time. Oh yes he is -- but I also believe that he had a part of his thoughts that knew that he was in a war.

(Of course, if you want the unleaded version of the madness, the sermons have remarkably not been scrubbed yet. I recommend archival before they catch on.)

More indications of theology influencing policy--this time with censorship

In one of my earlier reports, I had noted Palin's links to book censorship--namely, the attempts to remove several books from the Wasilla Public Library system (despite fake lists floating around based on the American Library Association's lists of most frequently challenged and banned books, we still do not know specifically what books were targeted) and an attempt to sack the librarian who refused to play along.

We now have a documented effort at both spin control and evidence that there seems to have been definitely something amiss with how the situation went with the attempted book ban.

One of the claims going around in GOP circles is a claim that no list exists of books Palin attempted to ban, but this doesn't mesh with both the report from the librarian and reports on librarian sites. There's also been evidence that one challenge was found--but only one: an attempt to remove the book "Heather Has Two Mommies" (frequently challenged by dominionist groups due to positive portrayal of lesbian parents).

This leads to two separate, but equally disturbing possibilities: that records have not been kept properly in the Wasilla library system (or may have been scrubbed) re book challenges, or that Palin herself may have been attempting more direct censorship or at least probing for vulnerabilities.

To recognise why this is a possibility, it's important to know how most public library systems handle things like book challenges. Typically, a formal complaint must be filed with the library and investigations conducted as to whether the book should be kept, moved to a different section of the library (reference or adult sections) or removed entirely. The library system the Wasilla Public Library is a part of does in fact follow these procedures.

There are indications from the very article mentioning the ongoing attempts at spin control by the GOP that Palin herself was considering banning books at first--preemptively, without benefit of library patrons filing complaints:

According to the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman newspaper, Emmons did not mince words when Palin asked her "how I would deal with her saying a book can't be in the library" on Oct. 28, 1996, in a week when the mayor had asked department heads for letters of resignation.

"She asked me if I would object to censorship, and I replied 'Yup'," Emmons told a reporter. "And I told her it would not be just me. This was a constitutional question, and the American Civil Liberties Union would get involved, too."

A look at the article in question--which dates from 1996--gives more details, including indications that Palin specifically instructed the librarian to go outside of normal policy regarding book challenges:

"This is different than a normal book-selection procedure or a book-challenge policy," Emmons stressed Saturday. "She was asking me how I would deal with her saying a book can't be in the library."
    . . .
"I'm hoping it was just a trial balloon," Emmons said, "because the free exchange of information is my main job, and I'll fight anyone who tries to interfere with that."

Interestingly, this matter came up with a call for revision of Wasilla Public Library's book challenge policy at the time:

The timing of the issue comes at a time when Emmons is trying to get the book-challenge policies of the Wasilla Library and of the Palmer City Library in line with the Mat-Su Borough policy, revised in December of last year.

Emmons described the new borough policy as "a very good one."

It is a step-by-step blueprint of procedures for anyone wanting to challenge the selection and availability of library material, Emmons explained. "it is a good process, and almost all public libraries have one."

The borough's policy was revised mainly to replace the borough manager as the final decision maker with a formal Reconsideration Committee. Mat-Su Borough Manager Don Moore said Saturday that changes were made, with the blessings, after a dispute that was resolved about two years ago involving a challenged book at the Big Lake Library.

Emmons said the current Wasilla policy, which she described as written in more general terms than the borough's, also worked procedurally in a book-challenge case last year. Emmons said then-council-woman Palin was distressed about the issue when it came up, indicating she was aware of the city's book-challenge policy.

And there is some disturbing evidence to suggest that, again, "Joel's Army" theology may have directly influenced Palin's probing and ultimately her attempt to sack the librarian in question.

It appears that the Assemblies shows up yet again--this time, as one of the major proponents of book-banning in the area. In fact, it appears local Assemblies churches were trying to get not only books challenged but banned from bookstores around the time Palin became mayor--and Palin herself was working to get the book in question banned:

Gay book raises flap

ABCNews.com reported that the church Palin then attended, the Assembly of God, had tried to get a book called Pastor, I Am Gay out of local bookstores, according to author Howard Bess, a pastor of the Church of the Covenant in the nearby town of Palmer. "And she was one of them," Bess said. The book argues for churches to be tolerant of gays and lesbians.

Was that one of the books? While two copies donated by Bess to the Wasilla Library disappeared, leading him to donate more copies, Bess told PolitiFact that he "would be surprised if my book was not one of those at issue," but he couldn’t be sure.

Former Frontiersman reporter Paul Stuart told PolitiFact that Emmons cited three titles Palin wanted removed. However, he could remember only two—and he got the names wrong, first suggesting I Told My Parents I’m Gay, later agreeing it was Pastor, I Am Gay.

Baker told ABCNews.com she "couldn’t dispute or substantiate" Stuart’s information, but Stuart said he was confident about the conversation. Friends and colleagues have said that Baker felt she was treated harshly by Palin.

This apparently was an organised attempt at book censorship by the Assemblies locally:

Palin's church at the time, the Assembly of God, had been pushing for the removal a book called "Pastor I Am Gay" from local bookstores, according to the book's author Pastor Howard Bess, of the Church of the Covenant in nearby Palmer, Alaska.

"And she was one of them," said Bess, "this whole thing of controlling information, censorship, that's part of the scene," said Bess.

Palin even asked at one point if the librarian at the center of the controversy would be willing to brave a picket by angry dominionists to preserve books:

According to coverage in the local newspaper, the Frontiersman, Palin asked the librarian at a meeting "if she would object to censorship even if people were circling the library in protest about a book."

And very interestingly, the very article noting GOP spin control has noted Wasilla A/G's central role:

The Rev. Howard Bess, a liberal Christian preacher in the nearby town of Palmer, said the church Palin and her family attended until 2002, the Wasilla Assembly of God, was pushing to remove his book from local bookstores.
    . . .
"Sarah brought pressure on the library about things she didn't like," Bess said. "To believe that my book was not targeted in this is a joke."

Of note, the disappearance of the copies of "Pastor, I Am Gay" from the library (at the same time that "Heather Has Two Mommies" was also apparently challenged) points to a method of book censorship that is becoming more popular in dominionist circles--so-called "censorship by theft", where books are checked out and never returned (despite library fines) as a method of keeping them out of circulation.

And, as we'll see, book censorship--and worse things done to books--are a regular feature of "Joel's Army" and Assemblies "spiritual warfare".

. . .

As it turns out, the Assemblies has a long and ignominious history of not only book-ban attempts but literal book burnings (and you thought this just happened in "Farenheit 451" or at times of history that risk invocation of Godwin's Law!).

As I've noted previously in this series, the Assemblies--and especially the "Joel's Army" folks--are big, big believers in "deliverance ministry"--the concept that pretty much anything can be possessed by demons, can cause one to be possessed or "oppressed" yourself, and can only be cured by exorcism and removal of the offending item. (Why, yes, you have heard of this concept before--it's pretty much identical to a lot of the same harmful concepts as exist in Scientology. And yes, it does tend to mess people up just as badly mentally. Seriously--replace "enturbulation" with "demonic oppression", "Suppressive Persons" with the "Serpent Seed", "Sea Orgs" with "Joel's Army" (or "Children of Destiny" or "Elijah's Army" or whatever they're calling it this month), "introspection rundowns" with "deliverance services", "body thetans" with "demons", and "Xenu" with "Satan" and it's pretty much the same bucket of toxic stew.)

And in their own version of "mocking up their reactive mind", erm, "conducting spiritual warfare"...books and other media are very, very frequently targeted. The works of J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling are a favourite target of censorship, due to their magical references (and despite the fact that both authors were Christians); C. S. Lewis and Madeleine L'Engle (who in part incorporated Christian apologetics explicitly in their works, especially Lewis) are also frequent targets for similar reasons. (Yes, it may surprise you to realise that the Narnia Chronicles have been challenged and even burned in pyres by Assemblies-linked groups; it happens, though.)

A brief list (and this actually is a brief list) of Assemblies and "Assemblies daughter" book-burnings (as in the literal kind, not the metaphorical kind) are as follows:

• First Assembly of God (Minot, ND) book-burning, September 2006
• Harvest Assembly of God (Butler, PA) bookburning, March 2001 (also noted here)
• Jesus Party (Lewiston, ME) planned book-burning, later turned to "book cutting" after burning permit denied by fire dept., Nov. 2001
• Second protest from Jesus Party including destruction of Harry Potter books, Nov. 2002 (Jesus Party is a neopente group that is known to target kids for recruitment via "bait and switch" ice-cream socials)
• Christ Community Church (Alamogordo, NM) book-burning, Dec. 2001 (Christ Community Church is a neopentecostal church of uncertain denominational affiliation, though it is likely either a "stealth Assemblies" or "Assemblies daughter" congregation; of note, at least one other source reports that Pokemon and an image of the Holy Buddha were also burned (Pokemon are often claimed to be Satanic by neopente churches) as well as "personal problems" written on paper (in typical neopente magicking similar to "naming and claiming" objects and people); was subject of large and organised counterprotest)
• Full Gospel Assembly (Grande Cache, AB), 1990s (noted in Wikipedia article on book-burning; church is member of Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada, which is the name under which the Assemblies of God operates in the Great White North)
• Jesus Non-Denominational Church (Greeneville, MI), August 2003 (JNDC is a neopente church that is in the "Assemblies family" of dominionist churches and is heavily into "name it and claim it" and is KJV-only; another media report notes Catholic rosaries and non-KJV Bibles were also burned)
• Dominionist neopente churches in general, spreading to the larger dominionist movement (article re book challenges and book-burnings targeting Harry Potter in particular, notes involvement of Focus on the Family in challenges)
• Multiple neopente churches (Forbes.com article on phenomenon of "book burning" parties in Assemblies and "Assemblies daughter" congregations)
• Multiple neopente churches (from a "Christian blog" entry on the morality of book-burning--includes, notably, discussion from dominionists who justify the burning of books and records)
• Dominionist groups in general (PFAW article on book censorship efforts by dominionist groups, noting how deliverance ministry is often used as an explicit justification)

I should note that the practice of book-burning (and record-burning) is nothing new at all among the Assemblies or its daughters. Other incidents not related to Harry Potter:

• Unknown Assemblies of God church, presumably 1950s-1960s (noted in review of Cal Thomas book on how Assemblies churches would burn Elvis albums; this is especially hilarious as apparently Elvis Presley was known to have grown up in the Assemblies)
• Attempted destruction of pre-Columbian Mayan relics (documented in "Accounting for Fundamentalisms", chapter 5; El Shaddai church is neopente church in El Verbo Ministries, an "Assemblies daughter" heavily connected with genocidal regimes in Guatemala including (during the regime of Gen. Rios Montt) the genocide of at least 200,000 Mayans and displacement of upwards of a million more including as refugees worldwide)
• Disruption of White Deer Ceremony (ongoing), Yurok Nation (documented at Museum of the American Indian, Washington, DC; traditional religious practices have been targeted by neopentecostal church conducting "spiritual warfare" against this yearly renewal ceremony)
• Unknown dominionist church, Monticello MN, 1982 (book and record burning photo from exhibition "Bonfire of the Liberties")
• Numerous neopente churches (experiencefestival.com noting history of book-burnings, notes history of Assemblies record-burnings including those of Elvis (ironically, later an Assemblies member himself during his "gospel album" period), Ozzy Osbourne, and Iron Maiden)
• Attempted destruction of tribal relics, Nigeria, 2007 (almost entirety of non-Catholic, non-Anglican Christianity in Nigeria is of neopentecostal bent and consists of Assemblies and "Assemblies daughters")

Of note, in the case where Harvest Assembly of God went on its book-burning spree, "deliverance ministry" was specifically invoked:

"It’s just something a little different. We’re not trying to create a riot or anything. Cleanse your house from ungodly items and idols. It’s time to deal with ungodly and demonic books, tapes, videos, statues and any other thing that gives demons the opportunity to traffic into your life."

Some of the calls for the destruction of books go right to the point of calling for the neopentecostal equivalents of fatwas against fictional characters. One of the more infamous examples of this occuring in an Assemblies-linked group was in the movie "Jesus Camp"; a scene occurs where a pastor is calling for Harry Potter to be put to death (of note, whilst not well documented in most media, the "Jesus Camp" of motion picture infamy was run out of an Assemblies of God church).

For similar reasons to why Harry Potter et al are targeted, books giving non-condemnatory views of LGBT people are also targeted explicitly. The official viewpoint of the Assemblies (and yes, this is in fact an official position paper, one of two separate ones) is that LGBT people are going to hell, should be "degayed", and are a part of a vast conspiracy to convert everyone to being gay (no, I'm not making this up: the second link actually all but comes out and says this).  

And this is actually understated, compared to what often goes on in Assemblies megachurches. Assemblies megachurches are often horrifically anti-LGBT both officially and politically, to the point of dead-agenting of LGBT groups in attempts to smear them, involuntary outings and "exorcisms" of LGBT youth and shipment to abusive facilities for "degaying", denomination-wide support of vicious anti-LGBT hate groups including endorsements from denominational leaders, and even the use of literal Holocaust denial in regards to LGBT folks to excuse promotion of hate (specifically via the promotion in many Assemblies churches of an execrable work called The Pink Swastika as true history; the book claims that not only were LGBT people not killed in the Holocaust but were its primary architects and are ringleaders in a worldwide Satanic conspiracy).

Small wonder in this, then, why books on LGBT issues are among the most frequently targeted for book bans.

And in cases where book bans are not successful--such as, thankfully, what seems to have been the case in Wasilla--neopente dominionists in particular are resorting to decidedly more direct methods of censorship. A recent report from the Kennebec Journal notes the increasing problem with dominionists all too willing to violate the Eighth Commandment in the name of censorship:

At the public library in Mount Vernon, someone waltzed off with the "Kama Sutra."

Copies of "What's Happening to my Body?" have vanished from Penquis Valley Middle and High School library in Milo.

Missing from the Lincoln Middle School library in Portland is a copy of "It's Perfectly Normal."

All three books deal with the subject of human sexuality, and all are sharing the spotlight with works on other controversial subjects this week during Banned Books Week.

Sponsored by the American Library Association and other groups, the annual event is designed to raise awareness of efforts to restrict access to books through censorship or other challenges. Libraries across the country will mark the week with special displays, public readings and other activities.

In Maine, there's a heightened awareness this year, at least among the state's librarians after a Lewiston woman checked out copies of "It's Perfectly Normal," a popular sex education book for young adolescents, from the Lewiston and Auburn public libraries.

JoAn Karkos refused to return the book, which she described as pornographic, and sent each library a $20 check to cover the cost of the loss. She faces a court fine in Lewiston and the loss of library privileges in Auburn.

Although Karkos wanted to limit access to the book, Lewiston library director Rick Speer said her action had precisely the opposite effect. Supporters of the library have donated new copies, more readers are checking out the book, and community reaction has been overwhelmingly in the library's favor, he said.

This is by far not the only case of "censorship via theft"; a book about two male penguins raising a baby penguin has also been the target of "censor-theft" due to people objecting to the idea of homosexual penguins, the book Sandpiper has been the target of censor-theft, Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy's Roommate have also been victims of censor-theft (targeted because they are books concerning same-sex relationships aimed at younger kids), books supporting decriminalisation of marijuana have been targeted for censor-theft, a book discussing children around the world--including Cuban kids--in a positive light was targeted, and so on and so on. (Sadly, the disappearance of "Pastor, I Am Gay" from Wasilla-area libraries would also fit the pattern of "censorship by theft"--especially as there was an organised effort by Wasilla A/G to have the book removed from bookstores as well as libraries.)

It's in fact a severe enough problem that librarians are now having to address the specific issue of book theft as a form of attempted censorship and libraries nationwide are starting to compile most frequently stolen books lists--among other things, to track an increasing epidemic of "censorship via theft" in public libraries.

Disturbingly, dominionist groups are also increasingly embracing the concept of "censor-theft". Family Friendly Libraries, a dominionist pro-censorship group that has had a history of pushing for censorship of Harry Potter books and which has promoted "reparative therapy", has also promoted the tactic of deliberately misfiling library material.

So between her "Let's go to war with the Russies" comment and her documented attempt (fortunately, one which met with epic fail) to backdoor book censorship in Wasilla (at the same time what is likely her real church attempted an organised book-ban campaign against a book on LGBT folks and faith issues!), we already have answers to one of the big questions:

Yes, unfortunately, Sarah Palin is likely to let her "Joel's Army" convictions override the rule of law.

All the more reason never to let her near the Presidency...or a heartbeat away from it.

Tags: Rescued, John McCain, Sarah Palin, 2008 Elections, religion, Religious Right, Extremism, Apocalypse, Red Scare, Joel's Army, Scandals, Dominionism, Assemblies of God, Hate Groups, Censorship, vice president, Republicans, Rescued (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions

[BuzzKill]

Looks like our Bruin friend won't be voting for the McCain/Palin ticket

Obviously many wont. But I do think people ought to take a good long honest look at the top of the opposing ticket. There are aspects of this man's candidacy that are not getting the attention they deserve and I fear there is a great deal that indicates a real hostility toward our nation and the majority of its people; as well as toward Israel.

He has a long list of close associates and good friends and family members who are deeply and openly hostile to America and Americans. Some go so far as to call for the butchering of "whites" & "white Jews" insisting it is what God wants them to do. Some refer to white American's and Jews as skunks and gutter people. Others have gone so far as to bomb federal buildings and brag about it 40 years later, wishing they had done more. These are people who sympathized with Charlie Manson's attempt to start "Helter Skelter". He was discovered and "made" by these very people. He is their candidate.

In my mind, this hostility is of far greater concern than the opposing VP's possible hostility to porn in the library or gay marriage books in the children's section. In my mind, thinking this is a greater national concern than electing into the presidency a man with such a history, and such friends, and so little (zero) executive experience, is nothing short of insane.