Fornits
General Interest => Tacitus' Realm => Topic started by: Ursus on September 27, 2008, 10:01:48 AM
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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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/163234/559/495/579213)
by dogemperor (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/)
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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/12648/3010/45/578646).
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 (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/) :: ::
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 (http://http://www.alaskaag.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=doc_download&gid=34) 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 (http://http://jccalaska.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?GXHC_gx_session_id_FutureTenseContentServer=7035445ca9bc40af&pagename=FaithHighway/10000/3000/582JU/vision) 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 (http://http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=964)); cell churches are promoted (http://http://jccalaska.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/applogic+ftcontentserver?pagename=faithhighway/10000/3000/582JU/ministry5) (of the same sort that are linked to short-term and longterm psychological damage (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/15/15587/1892/116/515505) and are among the most coercive tactics ever documented in spiritually abusive groups (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/10/1787/26874/752/511810)). The church, like a number of other large Assemblies churches, is the center of a dominionist broadcast TV center (http://http://jccalaska.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?pagename=FaithHighway/10000/3000/582JU/staff1) whose programming is carried across multiple channels (http://http://207.200.19.180/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/applogic+ftcontentserver?pagename=FaithHighway/10000/3000/582JU/Ministry6) 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 (http://http://jccalaska.com/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/AppLogic+FTContentServer?pagename=FaithHighway/10000/3000/582JU/ministry2) (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" (http://http://www.pastornet.net.au/renewal/journal7/evans.html)--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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/5/10504/2835/310/253942) 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 (http://http://www.deceptioninthechurch.com/madisonsquare.html) 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 (http://http://dwb.adn.com/news/politics/elections/story/8347904p-8243554c.html) (as now well documented in Kitzmiller vs. Dover School District (http://http://www.pamd.uscourts.gov/kitzmiller/kitzmiller_342.pdf), 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 (http://http://www.feministsforlife.org/). 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 (http://http://www.feministsforlife.org/FAQ/index.htm) (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" (http://http://www.feministsforlife.org/FFL_topics/after/index.htm) (the idea that having an abortion will inevitably lead to PTSD and insanity), and promotes mandatory waiting periods and misinformation guidelines (http://http://www.feministsforlife.org/FFL_topics/right/index.htm) that can be insurmountable for poor or rural women--even those forced to make the most heartbreaking choice (http://http://aheartbreakingchoice.com/) because of a nonviable pregnancy. In fact, one of their biggest causes isn't feminist at all (http://http://www.feministsforlife.org/taf/1998/summer/Summer98.pdf)--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 (http://http://www.lifenews.com/nat4237.html). Interestingly, despite their claims of being more "moderate" than most anti-abortion groups, very few real solutions are offered (http://http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/08/29/sarah_pahlin_and_feminists_for/) 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/8/151023/463/84/395531)--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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/7/23/82357/4096/843/361219)--a chain, of note, that has bailed out a neopente university (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/11/28/145718/12/503/415452) and has even funded paramilitary "Joel's Army" groups targeting teens (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/7/163753/4705/414/452169).
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 (http://http://www.talk2action.org/comments/2005/11/21/11049/141/4#4). (Such tactics are a favourite of dominionist groups explicitly targeting youth (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/5/17/214045/406).) It's also well known (and, apparently, explicitly by design (http://http://community.livejournal.com/dark_christian/58167.html)) 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 (http://http://www.aclualabama.org/AboutUs/ACLUAL_70YearsOfService.pdf) (in particular, Jewish people tend to be targeted (http://http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/web/mainpages/students-oncampus.html), according to the anti-cult group Rick Ross Foundation (http://http://www.rickross.com/reference/fundamentalists/fund175.html)); in addition, it is explicitly supported by dominionist groups (http://http://www.afajournal.org/2005/april/4.05campus_ministries.asp), and explicitly partners with other dominionist groups targeting youth (http://http://www.worldwidechallenge.org/2000/janfeb005.html) (including Chi Alpha (an Assemblies of God frontgroup), Campus Crusade for Christ, and even scarier groups like "See You At The Pole" (http://http://www.fca.org/AboutFCA/MinistryPartners.lsp) (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 (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/5/16/1040/55082)) and Council for National Policy (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/3/2/9632/00000)).
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 (http://http://www.lifenews.com/nat4234.html)--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 (http://http://www.streetprophets.com/storyonly/2008/8/29/152728/136). Frederick Clarkson over on Talk to Action has also noted salutations from two other dominionist leaders (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/8/29/161452/173)--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 (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/8/29/152024/857) 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 (http://http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5973844.html) 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
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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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/2/14422/49170/241/583511)
by dogemperor (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/)
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" (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/163234/559/495/579213)--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 (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/) :: ::
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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/28/81940/6308/874/377460).
However, a recent Harper's Magazine article (http://http://harpers.org/archive/2008/08/hbc-90003486) 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/8/141951/7939/699/511879)--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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/3/1914/67015/1001/508526).
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 (http://http://www.churchontherockak.org/about.html#History_of_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 (http://http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/02/palins-church-may-have-sh_n_123205.html), 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" (http://http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,1837918,00.html), 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/1/193111/4427/159/582600), 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 (http://http://www.akip.org/links.html)), and a number of Constitution Party state affiliates also use similar names.
Today, it appears, none other than Fredrick Clarkson has confirmed my suspicions (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/2/1938/63427):
But what has not been reported as far as I can tell, is that the AIP is the Alaska affiliate of the Constitution Party (http://http://www.constitutionparty.com/view_states.php?state=AK), founded by Howard Phillips, and has been the political home to leading theocratic Christian Reconstructionism (http://http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v08n1/chrisrec.html) 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 (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/8/14/153627/071/Front_Page/Fractures_on_the_Religious_Right_Randall_Terry_Edition) 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 (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/4/28/143126/074) 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/10/10638/489/534/255752). 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 (http://http://web.archive.org/web/20050308150106/http://www.skepticfiles.org/moretext/mushwak.htm) 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 (http://http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/1997/Nov-17-Mon-1997/news/6342564.html) by Southern Poverty Law Center and was subjected to "dead-agenting" (http://http://www.rickross.com/reference/militia/militia18.html)--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 (http://http://www.thenation.com/blogs/campaignmatters?pid=352178) 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
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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
--= = -=0=- = =-- --= = -=0=- = =-- --= = -=0=- = =--
Sarah Palin used AK tax dollars to fund dominionist churches (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/4/12289/69937/415/586412)
by dogemperor (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/)
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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/163234/559/495/579213) and her connections to some scary dominionist groups (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/2/14422/49170/241/583511) 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 (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/) :: ::
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 (http://http://guthriesguitar.blogspot.com/2008/09/palins-push-for-grants-for-jcc.html), which included not only documentation of a $25,000 grant (http://http://tinyurl.com/58d9z9) to JCC's "The Hub" from Palin's administration, but also a request for $100,000 total (http://http://tinyurl.com/6aar9w) in state and federal funding and pictures of Palin actually being at the opening of "The Hub" (http://http://tinyurl.com/5o36m2) (which have since been scrubbed from her website).
And all is definitely not as it seems with "The Hub".
"The Hub" (http://http://207.200.19.180/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/applogic+ftcontentserver?pagename=FaithHighway/10000/3000/582JU/building) 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 (http://http://207.200.19.180/cgi-bin/gx.cgi/applogic+ftcontentserver?pagename=FaithHighway/10000/3000/582JU/ministry2), 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 (http://http://www.ag.org/top/church_directory/index.cfm?Display=Yes&churchdetail=5dd436fb-19ae-4015-bd7c-5d21d145d2de), 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 (http://http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2008/09/02/text-transcript-of-sarah-palins-speech-of-june-8-2008-at-masters-commission-of-wasilla-alaska/) 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" (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/15/15587/1892/116/515505) 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/3/33536/18028), 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 (http://http://account.churchwebworks.com/acct/11169-3154/tmpl/tm270_about_whatwebelieve.php) that is connected to Phoenix A/G (http://http://account.churchwebworks.com/acct/11169-3154/tmpl/tm270_about_mission.php) (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 (http://http://www.mcin.org/) (and one of the largest megachurches in the country).
The group promotes itself as a "discipling and shepherding" group (http://http://www.mcin.org/modules.php?name=Overview) (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 (http://http://www.mcnorthpole.org/mainmenu.html) (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" (http://http://www.mcnorthpole.org/prayer.html) of the type popularly promoted in Assemblies circles (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/6/17032/00859/434/367714) (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 (http://http://www.mcnorthpole.org/anm.html)? 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 (http://http://account.churchwebworks.com/acct/11169-3154/tmpl/tm270_missions_master.php):
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 (http://http://www.globaluniversity.edu/)--and the Assemblies tends to have particularly lax standards for ordination (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/7/29/63054/8670/251/363845) (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 (http://http://account.churchwebworks.com/acct/11169-3154/tmpl/tm270_ministries_master.php)--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. :P 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/27/16939/4201) (he was ultimately dismissed from the program, as expected).
And--much like other Assemblies-operated "faith based rehab" chains such as Teen Challenge (http://http://teenchallengecult.blogspot.com/2008/05/daily-kos-dogemperor-teen-challenge.html) and Mercy Ministries (http://http://www.cifs.org.au/revelations.php), 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 (http://http://articles.latimes.com/2005/sep/16/local/me-dream16) and holding them in conditions identical to people in rehab (http://http://www.knbc.com/news/4985211/detail.html) (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 (http://http://www.rickross.com/reference/meyer/meyer11.html), 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 (http://http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080326205919AAysWwd) who were targeted quite aggressively (http://http://logicvoice.blogspot.com/2005/09/are-katrina-victims-being.html).
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 (http://http://account.churchwebworks.com/acct/11169-3154/tmpl/tm270_about_page_2.php), 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 (http://http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=964); 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/23/10500/378/657/260706)--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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/20/2406/2232/786/259560). Steve Thompson is connected with Rick Joyner's Morningstar Ministries (http://http://stevethompson.org/Media/rss.xml?group=1000013353) (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" (http://http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&q=%22Steve+Thompson%22+%22joel%27s+army%22&btnG=Search); Dutch Sheets is a real piece of work and a major, major promoter of this stuff as well (http://http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&q=%22Dutch+Sheets%22+%22joel%27s+army%22&btnG=Search) (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 (http://http://www.woodsonministries.org/woodson_ministries_website_004.htm) 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 (http://http://account.churchwebworks.com/acct/11169-3154/tmpl/tm270_about_page_1.php) 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 (http://http://wasillabible.org/) 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 (http://http://wasillabible.org/statement%20of%20faith.htm) 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 (http://http://web.archive.org/web/20030414033652/www.wasillabible.org/links.html) 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 (http://http://wasillabible.org/news_bulletins/8-31-08PDF.pdf), 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 (http://http://www.lazymountainbiblechurch.org/). 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 (http://http://www.lazymountainbiblechurch.org/what.htm), 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 (http://http://christianjobssearch.com/jobs/listings-archive/1901.html)--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 (http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beth_Moore) within Lazy Mountain's church newsletter (http://http://www.lazymountainbiblechurch.org/Communicator/Communicator_web.pdf); 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" (http://http://www.lazymountainbiblechurch.org/adultministries.php) 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 (http://http://www.lazymountainbiblechurch.org/CMS/Potters_Application.pdf) 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" (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/9/165026/2943/580/511990) that turned into a literal vomitorium (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/10/1787/26874/752/511810). (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 (http://http://www.thetruthproject.org/whatistruthproject/), in a surprisingly blatant attempt (via cell-churches)...and when I mean blatant, I mean flat out Christian Nationalism 101 (http://http://www.thetruthproject.org/events/A000000068.cfm).)
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 (http://http://www.mychurchevents.com/calendar/calendar.aspx?cei=231499023&event_date=9/7/2008&ci=G1F0K5N8N8H2N8N8H2&igd=)--a dominionist legal group that effectively operates as the de facto legal battering-ram of FotF (http://http://www.alliancedefensefund.org/about/founders/focusonthefamily.php). (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 (http://http://p.lps2.com/1editorialbody.lasso?-token.folder=2007-10-26&-token.story=165539.112113&-token.subpub=). 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/8/151023/463/84/395531), 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" (http://http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0908/13098.html); in fact, the speaker in question literally blamed terrorist attacks against the Israeli community on Jewish people failing to convert (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/3/194046/7340/Front_Page/At_Palin_Church_Jews_For_Jesus_Head_Says_Terrorism_vs_Israel_Is_God_s_Punishment) 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 (http://http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/j/jews/) independent researchers (http://http://www.icsahome.com/infoserv_grp/grp_jewsforjesus.asp) and exit counselors (http://http://www.rickross.com/groups/jews.html) (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 (http://http://www.rickross.com/biography.html)).
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" (http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PizrJLV30yI).
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 (http://http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jCeGgS4vbVt6qpxTpahCgGn_R-dQD92VOKVG0)--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 (http://http://www.newsweek.com/id/156679):
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
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Whoa! and I thought she did a good enough job making herself look bad.
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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.
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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!
;D
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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!
;D
Daily KOS = ::fullofshit::
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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.
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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.
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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://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.
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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 (http://http://www.cia-on-campus.org/surveil/chaos.html) 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.
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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?)
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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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/9/143710/2371/534/592379)
by dogemperor (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/)
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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/163234/559/495/579213), including ongoing relationships with (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/2/14422/49170/241/583511) and even guest-preaching at and taxpayer support of (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/4/12289/69937/415/586412) several Assemblies and "Assemblies family" churches connected with the "Joel's Army" movement (http://http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=964).
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 (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/) :: ::
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 (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/9/9040/56216) 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 (http://http://www.spirithome.com/histpen1.html). These reports--and claims that the quake was in fact a sign of God's impending judgement on humanity (http://http://forerunner.com/forerunner/X0219_San_Francisco_Earthq.html)--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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/5/3496/45340/178/366953)), the primary reference bible used by the Assemblies was the "old" Scofield Reference Bible (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/4/15345/39645/671/366484)--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 (http://http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scofield_Reference_Bible&oldid=12690018):
(from the studylight.org archive (http://http://www.studylight.org/com/srn/view.cgi?book=eze&chapter=038) 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" (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/17/165640/10/473/399218) (a group, of note, that A/G Western District head Joseph Fuiten has extensive connections to (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/25/123427/83/312/402430), and which the Assemblies of God has sanctioned at official conferences for pastors (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/10/153224/772/224/473692)); by 1934 Aimee Semple McPherson tarred no less than Upton Sinclair with one of the first televangelist "Red smears" (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/7/30/71341/4088/938/364175) 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/5/10504/2835/310/253942) 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 (http://http://peacecorpsonline.org/messages/messages/2629/1008731.html), 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/20/2406/2232/786/259560) (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 (http://http://are.as.wvu.edu/lebeau1.htm)) 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 (http://http://web.archive.org/web/20070819193938/http://lowcountry.humanists.net/SEPS/sep-2001-03.html). 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/23/10500/378/657/260706), 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/12/105122/66/756/256547), 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/5/3496/45340/178/366953) (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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/5/3496/45340/178/366953)), 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/6/17032/00859/434/367714) on this particular study bible (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/7/165741/6906/927/368262) (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 (http://http://www.tjww.org/prophecies.html) 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. :P)
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 (http://http://www.studybibleforum.com/spages/Harry%20Potter.htm)--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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/3/114749/049/223/253028); in fact, severe psychiatric injuries requiring inpatient mental health treatment (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/7/17/11272/3341/129/358866) are not an uncommon consequence of "deliverance ministry".)
The following example from another group using the Assemblies reference Bible (http://http://www.cce.hr/pdf/sermons/Spiritual_renewal.pdf), 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 (http://http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=1495410). 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/7/165741/6906/927/368262); you can see for yourself at the Assemblies' own website (http://http://youth.ag.org/fbse/docs/comparison.pdf). 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" (http://http://youth.ag.org/fbse/docs/AJosiahRevolution.pdf) (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. (http://http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/r/rsv/rsv-idx?type=DIV1&byte=1495410) 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
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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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/12/131526/483/698/596291)
by dogemperor (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/)
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" (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/163234/559/495/579213), that she has extensive and ongoing connections with "Joel's Army" neopente dominionists (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/2/14422/49170/241/583511) including providing tax dollars to them (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/4/12289/69937/415/586412). 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 (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/) :: ::
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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/9/143710/2371/534/592379) in relation to Sarah Palin--an article that has apparently made it all the way to none other than fark.com (http://http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink=3866059) and which I wrote, in part, based on my own observations (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/12/105122/66/756/256547) as a walkaway from a "Joel's Army" church and my own post-walking-away research (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/4/15345/39645/671/366484).
Unfortunately for us and the rest of the world, Palin may have just answered that question.
The definitive DailyKos diary (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/11/17013/9899) on this subject was written a few days ago by Rock Strango, but it's also worth looking at the original quote (http://http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Palin_tells_ABC_War_with_Russia_0911.html) 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/9/143710/2371/534/592379), 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 (http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permian_extinction), 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 (http://http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/31/alaska-national-guard-gen_n_122860.html), 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/4/12289/69937/415/586412)--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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/163234/559/495/579213) 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 (http://http://www.alternet.org/election08/97939/weird_theology_in_wasilla%3A_a_look_inside_sarah_palin%27s_pentecostal_church/?page=entire). 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/4/12289/69937/415/586412) 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 (http://http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/02/palins-church-may-have-sh_n_123205.html):
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 (http://http://www.wasillaag.net/all.html). 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/2/14422/49170/241/583511)--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 (http://http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-09-09-Palin-book-ban_N.htm), but this doesn't mesh with both the report from the librarian (http://http://www.adn.com/sarah-palin/story/515512.html) and reports on librarian sites. There's also been evidence that one challenge was found--but only one (http://http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/09/wasilla_besiege.html): 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 (http://http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5it8KyOqY5ZF4nQaF8rc4tX5tLvCgD93595CG0) 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 (http://http://www.frontiersman.com/articles/2008/09/12/breaking_news/doc48c1c8a60d6d9379155484.txt)--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 (http://http://www.libraryjournal.com/index.asp?layout=talkbackCommentsFull&talk_back_header_id=6554706&articleid=CA6594759). 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 (http://http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5766173&page=1) 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/21/175029/27/940/400793) (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" (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2005/11/26/21010/166)--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 (http://http://sayanythingblog.com/images/Minot_Daily_News.pdf), September 2006
- Harvest Assembly of God (Butler, PA) bookburning (http://http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bookburning/21stcentury/21stcentury.htm), March 2001 (also noted here (http://http://southflorida.bizjournals.com/southflorida/stories/2001/04/23/editorial2.html))
- Jesus Party (Lewiston, ME) planned book-burning (http://http://www.atforumz.com/showthread.php?t=163154), later turned to "book cutting" (http://http://lists.webjunction.org/wjlists/publib/2001-November/056128.html) after burning permit denied by fire dept., Nov. 2001
- Second protest from Jesus Party including destruction of Harry Potter books (http://http://web.archive.org/web/20021117122103/http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_708627.html), Nov. 2002 (Jesus Party is a neopente group that is known to target kids for recruitment via "bait and switch" ice-cream socials (http://http://www.sunjournal.com/story/225901-3/Connections/Jesus_Party_invites_youth_to_attend_ice_cream_social/))
- Christ Community Church (Alamogordo, NM) book-burning (http://http://archives.cnn.com/2001/fyi/teachers.ednews/12/31/potter.book.burning.ap/), 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 (http://http://www.religioustolerance.org/pottera.htm) (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 (http://http://www.ala.org/ala/alonline/currentnews/newsarchive/2002/january2002/harrypotterbooks.cfm#potterburn))
- Full Gospel Assembly (Grande Cache, AB) (http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_burning), 1990s (noted in Wikipedia article on book-burning; church is member of Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (http://http://www.paoc.org/ministries/MissionsInCanada/missionsincanada.html), which is the name under which the Assemblies of God operates in the Great White North)
- Jesus Non-Denominational Church (Greeneville, MI) (http://http://www.hpana.com/news.17092.html), August 2003 (JNDC is a neopente church (http://http://www.jesusnon-denominationalchurch.us/) 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 (http://http://atheism.about.com/b/a/015222.htm) notes Catholic rosaries and non-KJV Bibles were also burned)
- Dominionist neopente churches in general, spreading to the larger dominionist movement (http://http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_2265.shtml) (article re book challenges and book-burnings targeting Harry Potter in particular, notes involvement of Focus on the Family in challenges)
- Multiple neopente churches (http://http://www.forbes.com/2006/11/30/book-burnings-potter-tech-media_cz_ds_books06_1201burn.html) (Forbes.com article on phenomenon of "book burning" parties in Assemblies and "Assemblies daughter" congregations)
- Multiple neopente churches (http://http://christianblogs.christianet.com/1133649241.htm) (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 (http://http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=3655) (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 (http://http://www.amazon.com/Book-Burning-Cal-Thomas/dp/0891072845) (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 (http://http://books.google.com/books?id=dyzbdjDJ9OUC&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=%22el+shaddai+church%22+guatemala&source=web&ots=qLrePo48ZN&sig=CL_cYoc_gl9V6WzUr474aZIOAds#PPA99,M1) (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 (http://http://www.humanities-interactive.org/literature/bonfire/001c.html), 1982 (book and record burning photo from exhibition "Bonfire of the Liberties")
- Numerous neopente churches (http://http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Book_burning_-_Notable_book_burning_incidents/id/618707) (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 (http://http://community.livejournal.com/dark_christian/946438.html), 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 (http://http://freestudents.blogspot.com/2007/07/christian-right-is-harryphobic.html) (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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/28/165052/12)).
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 (http://http://www.ag.org/top/Beliefs/Position_Papers/pp_downloads/pp_4181_homosexuality.pdf), one of two separate ones (http://http://www.ag.org/top/Beliefs/relations_11_homosexual.cfm)) 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 (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/29/123330/30/20/263385), to the point of dead-agenting of LGBT groups in attempts to smear them (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/11/6/0931/79483/894/406941), involuntary outings and "exorcisms" of LGBT youth (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/12/105122/66/756/256547) and shipment to abusive facilities for "degaying" (http://http://teenchallengecult.blogspot.com/2008/05/daily-kos-dogemperor-teen-challenge.html), denomination-wide support (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/3/10/153224/772/224/473692) of vicious (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/18/173333/11/1019/399689) anti-LGBT hate groups including endorsements from denominational leaders (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/25/123427/83/312/402430), and even the use of literal Holocaust denial in regards to LGBT folks to excuse promotion of hate (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/17/165640/10/473/399218) (specifically via the promotion in many Assemblies churches of an execrable work called The Pink Swastika (http://http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Barracks/8706/) 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 (http://http://kennebecjournal.mainetoday.com/news/local/4334441.html) 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" (http://http://www.evangelicalright.com/2006/11/parents_try_to_censor_gay_peng.html) due to people objecting to the idea of homosexual penguins, the book Sandpiper has been the target of censor-theft (http://http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20070911/LATEST/70911048/1010/NEWS05), Heather Has Two Mommies and Daddy's Roommate have also been victims of censor-theft (http://http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3861/is_199811/ai_n8823379) (targeted because they are books concerning same-sex relationships aimed at younger kids), books supporting decriminalisation of marijuana have been targeted for censor-theft (http://http://dailybeacon.utk.edu/showarticle.php?articleid=50564), a book discussing children around the world--including Cuban kids--in a positive light was targeted (http://http://mobile.ljworld.com/news/2007/mar/03/book_theft_censorship_not_protest/), 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 (http://http://www.iowastatedaily.com/media/storage/paper818/news/2004/09/29/Opinion/Column.Confessions.Of.A.WannaBe.Book.Thief-1101303.shtml) and libraries nationwide are starting to compile most frequently stolen books lists (http://http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/05/15/MN191536.DTL)--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 (http://http://www.religioustolerance.org/potter2.htm) and which has promoted "reparative therapy" (http://http://members.aol.com/tiaokc/bcfenatl.htm), 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
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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.
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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.
Someone please explain why it's our responsibility to take such good care of Israel? I get helping our allies, but it just seems to go beyond reason where Israel's concerned.
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.
Citation please. Don't just throw out the latest talking points. Please post facts to back that up. And be careful when throwing around the guilt by association deal. Two words......Keating Five. http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1989-11- ... ing-five/1 (http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1989-11-29/news/mccain-the-most-reprehensible-of-the-keating-five/1)
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.
Palin's stance on Choice, wanting to ban books and belief in a '"'young world" (yes, she actually believes dinosaurs and man walked the earth together) bother me but what bothers me MORE is that she's a flaming IDIOT!! And it worries me because of McCain's health. I shudder to think of what would happen to this country should she get in office. Hell, she's already talking about expanding the powers of the VP ala Cheney. Do we really need more of what we've had the last 8 years??
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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.
Citation please.
OK.
I assume you know about the Rev. Wright. (and Wiliam Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dohrn)
Lets deal here with Al Mansour.
go hear:
http://http://www.foxnews.com/hannitysamerica/
Open the link to the college years. Pull the slide tab to 2:50 and let it run. You'll see tape of one al-Mansour and you'll see and hear him discribe how white people can be mutilated and it is OK, b/c it is what God wants.
This is in keeping with similar thought expressed by the founder of Black Liberation Theology, James Cone - as described by Obama's pastor, the Rev Wright. This is also in keeping with the teaching and theology of the Nation of Islam - which Obama is also closely linked to by his relationship with Louis Farrakhan. As with the Weatherman - he and Farrakhan are close neighbors with many mutual friends and significant events attended together. I'll let you Google that if you want to. You may also want to Google Obama+Saul and Obama+Rezco.
If you refuse to watch a Fox report, go hear:
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8npeYfKI_ns
or Read:
http://http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/obama_sutton...
Obama Had Close Ties to Top Saudi Adviser at Early Age
Wednesday, September 3, 2008 5:58 PM
By: Kenneth R. Timmerman
New evidence has emerged that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was closely associated as early as age 25 to a key adviser to a Saudi billionaire who had mentored the founding members of the Black Panthers.
In a videotaped interview this year on New York’s all news cable channel NY1, a prominent African-American businessman and political figure made the curious disclosures about Obama.(See Video Clip Below)
Percy Sutton, the former borough president of Manhattan, off-handedly revealed the unusual circumstances about his first encounter with the young Obama.
“I was introduced to (Obama) by a friend who was raising money for him,” Sutton told NY1 city hall reporter Dominic Carter.
“The friend’s name is Dr. Khalid al-Mansour, from Texas,” Sutton said.“He is the principal adviser to one of the world’s richest men. He told me about Obama.”
Sutton, the founder of Inner City Broadcasting, said al-Mansour contacted him to ask a favor: Would Sutton write a letter in support of Obama’s application to Harvard Law School?
“He wrote to me about him,” Sutton recalled.“And his introduction was there is a young man that has applied to Harvard. I know that you have a few friends up there because you used to go up there to speak. Would you please write a letter in support of him?”
Sutton said he acted on his friend al-Mansour’s advice.
“I wrote a letter of support of him to my friends at Harvard, saying to them I thought there was a genius that was going to be available and I certainly hoped they would treat him kindly,” Sutton told NY1.
Sutton did not say why al-Mansour was helping Obama, how he discovered him, or from whom he was raising money on Obama’s behalf.
A Sutton aide told Newsmax that Sutton, 88, is ailing and is unlikely to do additional TV interviews in the near future. The aide could not provide additional comment for this story.
As it turned out, Obama did attend Harvard Law School after graduating from Columbia University in New York and doing a stint as a community organizer in Chicago.
The New York Times described how transformative his Harvard experience became for the young Obama:“He arrived there as an unknown, Afro-wearing community organizer who had spent years searching for his identity; by the time he left, he had his first national news media exposure, a book contract and a shot of confidence from running the most powerful legal journal in the country.”
The details of Obama’s academic performance are well known: At Harvard, Obama rose to academic distinction becoming the editor of the Harvard Law Review and graduating magna cum laude.
Less known are the reasons al-Mansour, an activist African-American Muslim, would be a key backer for a young man from Hawaii seeking to attend the most Ivy of the Ivy League law schools
Read:
http://http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2008/08/obamas-saudi-connection.html
Read:
http://http://townhall.com/blog/g/c2df500d-0189-47d8-a454-54de9f6584c3
watch the clips. this is the man who sought out help getting Barack Husain Obama into Harvard.
or just go here: http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDeAnC-6P0Q pull it to about 3:00 and listen.
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http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8QcpdUtxNQ
You tube video explaining who Raila Odinga is, his election with Barack Husain Obama's support, and the horrid ethic violence afterward.
Odinga campaigned and was elected as the agent of change
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what does this have to do with sarah palin?
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I assume you know about the Rev. Wright. (and Wiliam Ayers and his wife Bernadine Dohrn)
Lets deal here with Al Mansour.
go hear:
http://http://www.foxnews.com/hannitysamerica/
Open the link to the college years. Pull the slide tab to 2:50 and let it run. You'll see tape of one al-Mansour and you'll see and hear him discribe how white people can be mutilated and it is OK, b/c it is what God wants.
Do you really want to go there?? Let's take a look at Palin's minister, shall we?
http://lastfreevoice.wordpress.com/2008 ... rah-palin/ (http://lastfreevoice.wordpress.com/2008/09/25/sarah-palin/)
Palin’s minister drives out witchcraft, makes Obama’s minister look completely sane in comparison
September 25, 2008 by ElfNinosMom
Thomas Muthee is a minister from Kenya who has repeatedly preached at Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin’s church (Wasilla Assembly of God). This is not some long-past connection, nor is it a situation where the church one time invited a visiting minister who they didn’t know was a wackjob. Muthee has been a visiting minister there since 2005, and most recently preached at Palin’s church this past weekend.
From Wikipedia:
Muthee and his wife returned home to Kenya from Scotland, where he had finished his graduate studies, in 1988.[3][4] They soon felt that they were “called by God to Kiambu” and after six months of prayer, research, and “spiritual mapping,” they came to believe that a witch known as “Mama Jane” was the cause of crime and spiritual oppression in the area.[1][3][4][5][6] Muthee alleged that “top government and business leaders [were] afraid to do anything without her approval,” that at least one person per month would die in a car accident in front of her “divination house” (otherwise known as Emmanuel Clinic), and that she harassed his congregation.[3][4][7] According to Muthee, soon after his followers began to pray that God would either save or oust Mama Jane,[3][4][7][8] three young people died in another apparent accident in front of Mama Jane’s clinic.[3][4][7] The angry townsfolk wanted to stone her in retaliation, and when the police entered Mama Jane’s home to intervene, they were apparently startled by what they believed to be a demon and shot her pet python to death.[3][4][6][7][8] Mama Jane was then questioned by police, after which she left town.[3][4][8] Since then, Muthee has frequently referred to his witch-hunt as an example of successful spiritual warfare.[6]
The event was depicted in two videos by George Otis, Jr.,[9][10] in which Muthee claimed that the crime rate in Kiambu dropped drastically after Mama Jane left.[1][3][5][7][11][12] However, Workgroup “Back to the Bible,” headed by Pastor Rien van de Kraats of Kamperland, Netherlands, found no police reports or any other sources that backed up this claim.[12]
In the video below, after enumerating how religious people should take over the entire country, he drives witchcraft away from Sarah Palin.
Whoo-boy.
(video embeded in that page, linked above) Imagine if some religious nut came into your neighborhood and declared that one woman was causing all the problems because of her practice of witchcraft. Then that nut scared, pressured and then rallied the local politicians to raid her home and drive her out of her hometown in order to 'save the town'. What, pray tell, would you call that? Hmmm? Yep, that's right. Terrorism, in its most local and simplest form.
This is in keeping with similar thought expressed by the founder of Black Liberation Theology, James Cone - as described by Obama's pastor, the Rev Wright. This is also in keeping with the teaching and theology of the Nation of Islam - which Obama is also closely linked to by his relationship with Louis Farrakhan. As with the Weatherman - he and Farrakhan are close neighbors with many mutual friends and significant events attended together. I'll let you Google that if you want to. You may also want to Google Obama+Saul and Obama+Rezco.
You've been reading way too much Free Republic.
Buzz, you don't like him because you've bought into the nonsense that he's a secret muslim and that directly flies in the face of YOUR chosen adult fairy tale. Palin is your kinda gal though, dontcha know [wink] ::) . Good, god fearing "Murican woman. Unfortunately, she's the worst thing to come along to freedom, intelligent and critical thought, feminism and compassion in a very long time. And McCain jumped the shark long ago. Too bad. There was a time when I respected and would have voted for him, but he bears zero resemblance to the man he used to be. Kind of sad and pathetic really. And all these "he's an evil turrist" claims are nothing but the desperation of the McCain/Palin team, realizing that not many are falling for their bullshit.
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I do believe Obama is far more idealistically aligned with the Nation of Islam, than with any kind of Christian thought. The evidence for this is overwhelming. This is a concern because of the hostility (the extreme hostility) those in the Nation of Islam hold toward "white America" and anyone Jewish. That Obama shares this hostility seems evident from his choice of friends and associates and political supporters, as well as those he supports politically.
Sarah Plain's situation with the witch hunter is in no way comparable. He was a guest at her church, not her pastor for 20 years. As for his "witchy" concerns, being African, it was not odd that he was concerned with witch craft. They take it more seriously than you or I would. In Africa, it is far more real. The same could be said of Hati. You may think this the grossest ignorance, but this man from Africa would strongly disagree and think you ignorant for doubting it. But who ever is right on the subject of witch craft, his prayer was for another person's protection from evil, no matter how silly you think it was.
The clips and articles I provided you above do not pertain to Obama's Pastor, but rather to the man who helped get him into Harvard: Al-Mansour. His politics are very disturbing (as demonstrated in the clips) and call for great evil to be carried out against me and mine (and probably you and yours) and so I can't help but think his keen interest in Obama's career is far more dangerous and worrisome than the VP with a once upon a time African guest preacher praying she be protected from the evil of witch craft.
Another of the clips referenced above have to do with Obama's Islamic Kenyan cousin, Raila Odinga, who ran for president there, on a platform of change, with Obama's support, won, and then began the change he promised in the form of ethnic cleansing. Its true. It isn't talked about, but it is still true.
Obama's pastor. For 20 years. His much admired spiritual mentor. I assume there is no need for me to provide clips or articles. Surely you've seen him ranting. Did you see him explaining the importance of James Cones Book Black Power and Black Liberation Theology? Have you seen him explaining this is what his church believes? Have you not read the many hatefilled and violent calls to destroy found in Cone's books? Just as with Al-Mansour, his god is a god who wants to see white people butchered. This is true. Like it or not, it is a documented fact.
Now, as far as I know, the Rev Wright didn't call for the butchering of white American's, but he did call for his god to dam America, and he did frequently rant with a rabid and paranoid hate against white people. And, Obama sat and soaked it up for 20 years.
The Rev. Wright is good pals with Louis Farrakhan. He traveled with Louis Farrakhan to visit Omar Quadifie. He admires both men. Both men hate and despise America and Israel. It seems Obama's spiritual mentor is much more comfortable and in agreement with the Nation of Islam, than any kind of Christianity - excepting that practiced by the KKK. Both are gross perversions of the Biblical message.
Tony Rezco. Obama's Syrian friend; the one to which he owes his fine home. True, he gave back some cash, but he is still enjoying his fine home thanks to the very sweet deal Rezco provided on the real estate before his conviction.
William Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn. Home grown terrorist proud to this day of the terror and destruction they brought about. Ayers hired Obama to manage the grant monies he received to Radicalize youth. Not to improve literacy. Not to strengthen math and science scores for the inner city kids. The grant request was for monies to radicalize youth; and Obama was the man Ayers hired to distribute the funds. This was what Obama did as a community organizer. And as has been mentioned, it was in the Ayers home that Obama launched his political career.
And another unspoken little tid-bit that could complicate things for us, should Obama be elected is the fact that no matter what I think; no matter what Obama claims; Islam considers him Islamic. No one knows if this would help or hurt diplomatic relations.
http://http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/06/obama_seen_as_a_muslim_oversea.html
http://http://www.danielpipes.org/article/5286
http://http://www.danielpipes.org/article/5845
The man doesn't know how many states there are
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpGH02DtIws
And he won't let us get at our own oil. (often admitted from the stump) And he wants to raise taxes when the economy is strangled. (often admitted from the stump) And he couldn't name one thing he would change about his spending plan despite the current economic problems. (in the last debate) And he refuses to vote for legislation to protect babies Born Alive after attempted abortion. http://http://news.yahoo.com/s/uc/20080919/cm_uc_crmchx/op_57442
But your worried about Sarah Palin. . .
OK. Thats the beauty of America. I just hope you don't live to see any real change.
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I just hope you don't live to see any real change.
Nice.
Tell me, are you seriously wishing an early death on Obama supporters?
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I just hope you don't live to see any real change.
Wow.
Lovely Xtian values you display there honey. I musta really struck a nerve there, huh?
[inhales deeply]
I love the smell of neocon/evangelical desperation in the morning.
;D :rasta:
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I just hope you don't live to see any real change.
Nice.
Tell me, are you seriously wishing an early death on Obama supporters?
Good Night Marie - No, not at all. I am surprised anyone would take it that way. But maybe I did express myself poorly. Maybe I should have said I hope We don't live to see any real change - to America and American's. Change, I will remind you, can be very bad indeed. When I consider Obama's friends, and political supporters and those whom he supports, and when I consider what he has actually done in his life, I feel the change he promises will be of the most negative sort. I hope I am wrong. Thats what I ment.
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Lets deal here with Al Mansour.
http://http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/obama_sutton...
Obama Had Close Ties to Top Saudi Adviser at Early Age
Wednesday, September 3, 2008 5:58 PM
By: Kenneth R. Timmerman
New evidence has emerged that Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama was closely associated as early as age 25 to a key adviser to a Saudi billionaire who had mentored the founding members of the Black Panthers.
In a videotaped interview this year on New York’s all news cable channel NY1, a prominent African-American businessman and political figure made the curious disclosures about Obama.(See Video Clip Below)
Percy Sutton, the former borough president of Manhattan, off-handedly revealed the unusual circumstances about his first encounter with the young Obama.
“I was introduced to (Obama) by a friend who was raising money for him,” Sutton told NY1 city hall reporter Dominic Carter.
“The friend’s name is Dr. Khalid al-Mansour, from Texas,” Sutton said.“He is the principal adviser to one of the world’s richest men. He told me about Obama.”
Sutton, the founder of Inner City Broadcasting, said al-Mansour contacted him to ask a favor: Would Sutton write a letter in support of Obama’s application to Harvard Law School?
“He wrote to me about him,” Sutton recalled.“And his introduction was there is a young man that has applied to Harvard. I know that you have a few friends up there because you used to go up there to speak. Would you please write a letter in support of him?”
Sutton said he acted on his friend al-Mansour’s advice.
http://www.truthfightsback.com/smear/279/ (http://www.truthfightsback.com/smear/279/)
Barack Obama Got Into Harvard On His Own Merits
The Race:
Barack Obama (D) vs. John McCain (R): President of the US
Discuss and Debunk
The Smear:
Uninformed e-mails and right wing opinion articles have been stewing over a discredited claim about Barack Obama’s acceptance into Harvard Law School. They claim he was supposedly helped by a Muslim businessman and ex-Black Panther named Khalid al-Mansour—yet another in the many attempts to bring Islam and 60s radicals into the debate.
The Truth:
Barack Obama and Khalid al-Mansour have never met and do not know each other at all. Manhattan borough president Percy Sutton, now approaching 90 and struggling with a foggy recollection of over 20 years ago, thought that al-Mansour had asked him to write Obama a letter of recommendation for Harvard Law School, and said so on a local New York television station. While it is widely known that Obama financed his Harvard education by working small jobs and taking out college loans, Sutton wrongly believed that al-Mansour had been raising funds for Obama—an impossibility, as both Sen. Obama and al-Mansour have made it very clear that they do not know one another.
The confusion was finally put to rest when Mr. Sutton’s family released a statement saying that Percy Sutton’s statement was false, expressing regret for Sutton’s inadvertent mistake, and asked for understanding and compassion for this elderly respected public servant. You can read the statement here:
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/ ... story.html (http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0908/Sutton_family_retracts_Obama_story.html)
Once again, smear merchants want to confuse the electorate about Barack Obama’s faith and connections. Mr. Sutton seems to have made an honest mistake in his recollections, but mendacious fringe conservative elements have taken advantage of this poor man’s confusion and tried to turn it into evidence of Obama’s supposed “otherness.” But the facts are already well known, and you can read about how Obama funded his education from Lynn Sweet’s reporting in the Chicago Sun-Times:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/o ... 20.article (http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/obama/1064437,CST-NWS-sweet20.article)
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http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/ ... story.html (http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0908/Sutton_family_retracts_Obama_story.html)
September 06, 2008
Categories: Barack Obama
Sutton family retracts Obama story
Conservative bloggers have, understandably, spent some time in recent days chasing suggestive comments made by the former Manhattan borough president Percy Sutton earlier this year.
Sutton had suggested in an interview that a former Black Panther and advisor to Saudi royals, Khalid al-Mansour, had played some previously unknown role in Obama's pre-political life.
I wrote about the story in detail here; Obama's camp, apparently puzzled and eager to put the story to rest, flatly denied his knowing al-Mansour, and details of Sutton's account appeared not to make sense.
After I wrote it, al-Mansour also called me back, and said he'd never met Obama, and had no idea where the story came from; his only hesitance in denying it, he said, had been in contradicting Sutton, "a dear friend, his health is not good."
This evening, a spokesman for Sutton's family, Kevin Wardally, e-mailed over a statement that (because there's absolutely no other evidence for the story, and much that contradicts it) seems to put the story to rest for good:
The information Mr. Percy Sutton imparted on March 25 in a NY1 News interview regarding his connection to Barack Obama is inaccurate. As best as our family and the Chairman's closest friends can tell, Mr. Sutton, now 86 years of age, misspoke in describing certain details and events in that television interview.
We regret this unfortunate incident and we ask good conscientious people to extend compassion and grace to Percy Sutton, a man who has served America in many capacities; an officer with the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II and as a public servant who was the first elected African-American Manhattan Borough President.
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I just hope you don't live to see any real change.
Nice.
Tell me, are you seriously wishing an early death on Obama supporters?
Good Night Marie - No, not at all. I am surprised anyone would take it that way. But maybe I did express myself poorly. Maybe I should have said I hope We don't live to see any real change - to America and American's. Change, I will remind you, can be very bad indeed. When I consider Obama's friends, and political supporters and those whom he supports, and when I consider what he has actually done in his life, I feel the change he promises will be of the most negative sort. I hope I am wrong. Thats what I ment.
Makes sense; it's just one of those "one could interpret the statement one way or the other, but ~this is how i actually meant it" sort of moments. I get those all the time. ;D
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Who's Marie?
;D
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She knew Donnie; she was a little bit country...
ps- i miss the old set of emoticons.
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She knew Donnie; she was a little bit country...
I hear they have ties to a known religious cult. :D
ps- i miss the old set of emoticons.
You and me both!
'Cept I like this guy......
:rasta:
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She knew Donnie; she was a little bit country...
I hear they have ties to a known religious cult. :D
Groucho: Well whadaya say girls? Are we all gonna get married?
Woman: All of us? But that’s bigamy!
Groucho: Yes, and it’s big-a-me too. Let's be big for a change.
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http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0908/Sutton_family_retracts_Obama_story.html
September 06, 2008
Categories: Barack Obama
Sutton family retracts Obama story
Conservative bloggers have, understandably, spent some time in recent days chasing suggestive comments made by the former Manhattan borough president Percy Sutton earlier this year.
Sutton had suggested in an interview that a former Black Panther and advisor to Saudi royals, Khalid al-Mansour, had played some previously unknown role in Obama's pre-political life.
I wrote about the story in detail here; Obama's camp, apparently puzzled and eager to put the story to rest, flatly denied his knowing al-Mansour, and details of Sutton's account appeared not to make sense.
After I wrote it, al-Mansour also called me back, and said he'd never met Obama, and had no idea where the story came from; his only hesitance in denying it, he said, had been in contradicting Sutton, "a dear friend, his health is not good."
This evening, a spokesman for Sutton's family, Kevin Wardally, e-mailed over a statement that (because there's absolutely no other evidence for the story, and much that contradicts it) seems to put the story to rest for good:
The information Mr. Percy Sutton imparted on March 25 in a NY1 News interview regarding his connection to Barack Obama is inaccurate. As best as our family and the Chairman's closest friends can tell, Mr. Sutton, now 86 years of age, misspoke in describing certain details and events in that television interview.
We regret this unfortunate incident and we ask good conscientious people to extend compassion and grace to Percy Sutton, a man who has served America in many capacities; an officer with the Tuskegee Airmen in World War II and as a public servant who was the first elected African-American Manhattan Borough President.
Thanks, debunker and Sutton, for clarifying the source and details of that misconception. Hopefully, people of integrity will cease repeating that nonsense, even if for no other reason than a sense of compassion for Percy Sutton and a desire to allow him to live the rest of his days with some modicum of dignity.
I would also like to add, re. Obama's connection with Islam, that back then...after the Black Panther Party was significantly demoralized and stomped into the ground by excessive targeting by the police, illegal destruction of their property and records, not to mention jail time of participants on trumped up charges, infiltration by CIA informants and agent provocateurs, etc. etc. ...the next alternative for a young African American man of that era who wished to contribute to his heritage and community was to join the "back to Islam" movement. It was not uncommon; in fact, it was generally seen as a mark of good character back then, regardless of how you felt about Islam or any of its tenets.
Just something to keep in mind, along the lines of context within the time period in question.
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Referring back to the last dogemperor piece I posted, namely More info comes out on Palin and dominionism, Armageddon, and book bans (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=25900&start=0#p316341) (the 5th one of this series; dated September 12, 2008), here is an entry from the 'LIBRARIANS AGAINST PALIN! (http://http://librariansagainstpalin.wordpress.com/)' blog, complete with comments up to today. There are many useful links, in case anyone is especially interested in this issue.
—•?|•?•0•?•|?•— —•?|•?•0•?•|?•— —•?|•?•0•?•|?•—
What Books did Sarah Palin want banned? (http://http://librariansagainstpalin.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/what-books-did-sarah-palin-want-banned/)
Thursday, Sep 4 2008
So, what titles did Sarah Palin attempt to censor from the Wasilla Public Library?
Short answer - I don't know. I am going to need all your help with this one.
I do have a couple of leads
- The best bet would be if we could get Mary Emmons to make a statement. However, she appears to be very media-shy.
- Ann Kilkenny was active in the backlash against Palin during the censorship battle, and also reported that Palin brought up censoring books at a city council meeting (http://http://librariansagainstpalin.wordpress.com/2008/09/03/new-york-times-more-kilkenny/).
- I have e-mailed Kilkenny to see if she can recall titles, and have invited her to visit the blog.
- Can anyone access the Minutes from the Wasilla City Council meetings? We're looking in the 1996-1997 time-frame.
- Another lead is the Frontiersman article regarding the book banning from 12/18/1996 (http://http://librariansagainstpalin.wordpress.com/2008/09/03/politico-9208/). I have not had any success in getting the original copy of the article, or any articles from the paper. Does anyone have access to it? To our friends in Alaska - microfilm/fiche?
THANK YOU EVERYONE!
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12 Responses to "What books did Sarah Palin want banned?"
- SLISStudent Says:
September 4, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Palin asked about censoring books with Wasilla librarian
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/2008/ ... position=6 (http://news.bostonherald.com/news/2008/view.bg?articleid=1117009&srvc=2008campaign&position=6)
===================================== - Rex Says:
September 4, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Check out this post:
http://www.librarian.net/stax/2366/sara ... p-nominee/ (http://www.librarian.net/stax/2366/sarah-palin-vp-nominee/)
Comment #11 in the post has a list.
Is this "THE" list?
Don't know.
Consider it a candidate.
===================================== - librariansagainstpalin Says:
September 4, 2008 at 11:06 pm
Rex,
Thank you for the suggestion. However, this list is not accurate. While it is a list of commonly banned books, notice that it contains multiple Harry Potter books, which were not published in 1996. Therefore, this list cannot be viewed as credible.
===================================== - Will Says:
September 5, 2008 at 2:15 am
Not sure how accurate this is…but here's what I've found:
http://www.cityofwasilla.com/Modules/Sh ... mentid=516 (http://www.cityofwasilla.com/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=516)
===================================== - Betty Barcode Says:
September 7, 2008 at 5:44 pm
If you need pre-computers articles from an old newspaper, use WorldCat and ILL just like our patrons do! You folks are supposedly librarians–don't you know how to place interlibrary loan requests?
Surely it is one of these titles:
http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=alaska ... t=advanced (http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=alaska+ti%3Afrontiersman&fq=dt%3Aser+%3E&qt=advanced)
Sheesh.
===================================== - rewinn Says:
September 7, 2008 at 11:50 pm
Let me urge great care in this matter, especially as to purported lists of books Palin wanted banned.
It seems unlikely that such a list actually exists on paper or other media; although few would be more delighted than I were a verifiable instance of such a list be found, I am very confident that her opponent in the gubernatorial race would have produced it ere now.
It seems more likely that a false-flag operation, or mere careless excitement, could produce one or more inauthentic lists, the subsequent debunking of which provides Palin supporters with "evidence" that she's being unfairly attacked.
This may be an excellent example of the proposition that some things are simply not provable, because we don't keep written records of everything. It is, perhaps, an argument for more thorough information retention.
===================================== - rbhardy3rd Says:
September 8, 2008 at 10:47 pm
This just appeared in Salon.com: List of books Palin wanted banned is fake (http://http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/09/08/palin_books/index.html).
Keep up the good work here!
===================================== - Ellen Says:
September 9, 2008 at 2:49 am
Hi, I've also worked with Mary Ellen, when I was a library intern, after she left Wasilla. I would like to reinforce that she is a very professional, nice, and I think private person. She is not someone I knew well personally, but whom I regard highly as a professional.
I think in a profession that guards patron privacy, it is only right that she remain silent about the details of any private interactions she may have had with Palin.
What's public record, of course, is fair game. And that being the case, there should be no need of a statement from Mary Ellen.
Thanks to everyone still in Alaska who is busy unearthing bound and microfilm materials! Yes, we are information professionals and we will do what we can to get the most accurate information we can to anyone who wants it!
I think a call for the titles is beside the point, and only leads to "the list."
===================================== - M Says:
September 9, 2008 at 4:47 pm
You asked about access to Wasilla City Council minutes. You can make a public records request - see http://www.cityofwasilla.com/index.aspx?page=217 (http://www.cityofwasilla.com/index.aspx?page=217).
===================================== - K.Connell Says:
September 11, 2008 at 6:10 pm
"It seems unlikely that such a list actually exists on paper or other media; although few would be more delighted than I were a verifiable instance of such a list be found, I am very confident that her opponent in the gubernatorial race would have produced it ere now."
You are correct. Such a "list/lists" does not exist. That is precisely why people who share your political persuasion were forced to fabricate one (them).
"It seems more likely that a false-flag operation, or mere careless excitement, could produce one or more inauthentic lists, the subsequent debunking of which provides Palin supporters with 'evidence' that she's being unfairly attacked."
Please. Do not insult the intelligence of all your readers. The very fact that there have been spurious "lists" of books Palin wanted removed from libraries IS evidence that she is being unfairly attacked. That is self-evident.
"This may be an excellent example of the proposition that some things are simply not provable, because we don't keep written records of everything."
Indeed. And some things are not "provable" because they are false. "We" cannot keep written records of fictional lists. Or fictional conversations. Or fictional motives. But that doesn't seem to stop "us" from discussing them, does it?
"Yes, we are information professionals…"
Really? How nice that you think so.
===================================== - J Says:
September 12, 2008 at 9:27 pm
How nice of you to be so snidely condescending. Just because some overexcited Internet trawler made up a 'list' is not, in itself, proof that Palin is being unfairly attacked. It is NOT self-evident, and even saying so makes it obvious that you failed Logic 101 in school.
Don't insult the intelligence of those here by trying to deal in absolutes.
And really, why come to a site like this and make these comments anyway? You persuade no one, offer no evidence, and sound like a troll.
What a waste of your time, and the time of those who read your inane argument.
===================================== - Mavrodaphne Says:
September 14, 2008 at 2:26 am
Here's what I've been looking at:
1) Paul Stuart, former reporter and managing editor for 'The Frontiersman' (from April 1995 to December 1999), knew Palin and Mary Ellen Emmons. He was interviewed by Tom Eastman for the Conway Daily Sun (9/9/08) regarding an interview he had done with 'Good Morning America'. In the interview, Stuart said he 'told ABC-TV about Palin's attempts to have three books removed from the Wasilla town library because she felt they were not appropriate. "I don't remember the name of the third book, but two of them were 'Pastor I'm Gay' and 'Go Ask Alice," explaining they were pro-gay books. "I'm not sure if they came out or not, as Wasilla wasn't my town beat at the time, but she was furious," Stuart said."
The above-referenced 'Conway Daily Sun' article has been archived and can only be accessed by paid prescription, however, the title is: Local journalist who covered Palin interviewed by 'Good Morning America' Segment slated to air Tuesday, Sept. 9 - by Tom Eastman. There is also brief mention of this ABC News piece cited below.
Stuart has made this statment about the librarian: "Mary Ellen told me Palin asked her directly to remove these books from the shelves. She refused." (This statement can be googled for sourcing - there are several sites.)
2) From a NY Times article, 'In Office, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes' by Jo Becker, Peters S. Goodman and Michael Powell, 9/13/08:
"But in 1995, Ms. Palin, then a city councilwoman, told colleagues that she had noticed the book "Daddy's Roommate" on the shelves and that it didn't belong there, according to Ms. Chase and Mr. Stein. Ms. Chase read the book, which helps children understand homosexuality, and said it was inoffensive; she suggested that Ms. Palin read it.
"Sarah said she didn't need to read that stuff," Ms. Chase said. "It was disturbing someone would be willing to remove a book from the library and she didn't even read it."" (from page 3)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/po ... ref=slogin (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14palin.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin.&oref=slogin)
3) From Boston.com, "Wasilla besieged by researchers" by Brian C. Mooney, September 10, 2008:
…one complaint was raised during Palin's six years as mayor, in 1997, but the book "Heather Has Two Mommies" by Leslea Newman, remained on the shelf, the report states."
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/pol ... siege.html (http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/09/wasilla_besiege.html)
4) Pastor Howard Bess, author of 'Pastor, I Am Gay' claims the Assembly of God (where Palin was a member) was pushing to remove his book from local bookstores.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5766173&page=1 (http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5766173&page=1)
(Mavrodaphne note: I've read Bess would give the library copies and have to resupply them because they wouldn't be returned.)
*****
The only book mentioned here that doesn't have a homosexual theme is "Go Ask Alice" - that's about a teenage girl and drugs (and entails casual sex). I'm not sure how much we rely on Stuart's claim there were 3 books Palin wanted banned based on him saying "Go Ask Alice" was a pro-gay book and he couldn't remember the name of the third book. That leaves "Pastor, I Am Gay".
The remaining books, "Daddy's Roommate" and "Heather Has Two Mommies" follow the homosexual theme. So if there really were three books Palin wanted banned, there's documentation for it.
Finally, a quote from Charlote Glover, Alaska Chapter Councilor of the American Library Association:
"I can tell you that the facts coming out about Sarah Palin are absolutely true. I know the librarian in question and the entire story may never be told as the librarian is guarding her privacy for several reasons, but IT IS EVEN WORSE THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE."
…"the facts speak for themselves and that you need to know that they are indeed, facts, and not tabloid gossip."
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6593135.html (http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6593135.html)
*****
I am not computer saavy and this has literally taken me hours to compile. I hope you will be able to use some of the material and wish you the very best of luck.
—A former member of the Northfield (Minn.) Public Library Board
=====================================
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And here's an editorial from about a week ago, posted on Library Journal (by the Editor-in-Chief) about the censorship/book banning issue:
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Editorial: Palin Strikes Fear in Libraries (http://http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6598074.html?rssid=220)
The more we hear about Palin, the less we trust her
By Francine Fialkoff, Editor-in-Chief, http://www.mydebate.org (http://www.mydebate.org). As that Alaskan moose warned, BE AFRAID...BE VERY AFRAID!
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Wonder what happened to Buzzkill and her merry band of men in white hats, errrrr.... I mean coats? And why would anyone give themselves a name like Buzzkill?
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Wonder what happened to Buzzkill and her merry band of men in white hats, errrrr.... I mean coats?
Maybe she has better things to do......like Sarah Palin! :D
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Wonder what happened to Buzzkill and her merry band of men in white hats, errrrr.... I mean coats?
Maybe she has better things to do......like Sarah Palin! :D
;D ;D
You're a sick man. :sue: I like that in a person.
(holy shit! the 'code' for the jism guys emoticon is : sue : ?? ROFLMFAO!!!!!)
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Wonder what happened to Buzzkill and her merry band of men in white hats, errrrr.... I mean coats? And why would anyone give themselves a name like Buzzkill?
I cannot actually speak for BuzzKill, but up until this latest software version on fornits, she always had an avatar of an anole (small brown/green insect-eating lizard; many species). I suspect it was the consumption of insects (buzz gets killed), rather than the more colloquial usage of the term, that inspired her moniker...
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You're a sick man.
Why yes, yes I am! :sue: :D
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You're a sick man.
Why yes, yes I am! :sue: :D
:D :D ;D
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Here's the 6th piece on Sarah Palin by dogemperor.
This post includes:
- More info on the attempted book-ban--and its theological connections
- More evidence of theology and policy mixing
- Palin's connections with Gothard--and queenmaking by the heart of the "Joel's Army" movement
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New revelations re Palin and dominionists (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/16/182959/583/109/600956)
by dogemperor (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/)
Tue Sep 16, 2008 at 04:57:48 PM PDT
Much like the US Postal Service, neither rain nor snow nor 70% of my hometown's power infrastructure being eaten by Ike will stop me from posting the latest on Palin's connections with dominionists.
We've posted before on her initial outing as a dominionist stealth candidate (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/163234/559/495/579213), her links to "Joel's Army" (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/2/14422/49170/241/583511) including Alaskan state funds being used (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/4/12289/69937/415/586412) for groups promoting apocalyptic theology (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/9/143710/2371/534/592379), and her attempt at a back-door book ban in conjunction with a crusade by one of her home churches (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/12/131526/483/698/596291).
Today, we find out even more info on the book-ban attempt giving further proof that Palin has not dropped her links with Joel's Army--and if that weren't enough, there's some very telling evidence from the horse's mouth.
dogemperor's diary (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/) :: ::
More info on the attempted book-ban--and its theological connections
Recently, a new article in Salon gives more disturbing info (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/12/131526/483/698/596291) regarding Palin's attempt at an end-run against Wasilla Public Library's book-challenge policy--and more evidence that this was part of an attempt by several dominionist churches, with Wasilla A/G at the front, to purge LGBT-supportive books from both libraries and bookstores.
Since the initial links between Palin and neopente dominionist groups (including two separate Assemblies congregations linked to the "Joel's Army" movement as well as a third "independent" neopente denomination also promoting Joel's Army theology) have come out, there's been quite a lot of spin control--including claims that she left Wasilla A/G because it was "too extreme" (http://http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/06/and-no-shes-not-a-religious-extremist-either/) (despite apparently having appeared regularly at Assemblies churches, including Wasilla A/G and at the district H/Q even as late as June 2008--four years after she claims to have left; not in a pattern fitting with someone leaving a church because of claims of being "too extreme").
Unfortunately, the Salon article would seem to prove the lie to this--with info indicating Wasilla A/G not only supported her but actually proclaimed her as the chosen candidate of "Joel's Army"--whilst carefully warning their parishoners to keep mum to the press:
WASILLA, Alaska -- The Wasilla Assembly of God, the evangelical church where Sarah Palin came of age, was still charged with excitement on Sunday over Palin's sudden ascendance. Pastor Ed Kalnins warned his congregation not to talk with any journalists who might have been lurking in the pews -- and directly warned this reporter not to interview any of his flock. But Kalnins and other speakers at the service reveled in Palin's rise to global stardom.
It confirmed, they said, that God was making use of Wasilla. "She will take our message to the world!" rejoiced an Assembly of God youth ministry leader, as the church band rocked the high-vaulted wooden building with its electric gospel.
The article gives some very revealing information regarding the hostile environment that Wasilla A/G tried to create:
When it was published in 1995, Bess' book caused an immediate storm in the Mat-Su Valley, an evangelical stronghold dotted with storefront churches. Conservative ministers targeted the book, and the only bookstore in the valley that dared to stock it -- Shalom Christian Books and Gifts – soon dropped it after the owner was barraged with angry phone calls. The Frontiersman, the local newspaper that ran a column by Bess for seven years, fired him and ran a vicious cartoon that suggested even drooling child molesters would be welcomed by Bess' church.
(Of note, the equation of paedophiles and LGBT people tends to be all too common in Assemblies churches--here's an example from my own hometown (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/29/123330/30).)
There's also some info indicating that the attempt to go around the Wasilla Public Library's book-challenge policy was in fact inspired by the ongoing Joel's Army fatwa against "Pastor, I Am Gay" (which even extended to the point of literal pickets against bookstores daring to carry the book):
And after she became mayor of Wasilla, according to Bess, Sarah Palin tried to get rid of his book from the local library. Palin now denies that she wanted to censor library books, but Bess insists that his book was on a "hit list" targeted by Palin. "I'm as certain of that as I am that I'm sitting here. This is a small town, we all know each other. People in city government have confirmed to me what Sarah was trying to do."
And--as it turns out--her reported membership in "Feminists For Life" and statements on being virulently anti-abortion also directly influenced her policies in Wasilla--and in a different way than the infamous "make them pay for their own rape kits" way.
More evidence of theology and policy mixing
The article also notes an attempt to steeplejack community hospital boards, combined with an attempt to effectively ban abortion in the borough--one which led to the state of Alaska stepping in and ruling it unconstitutional:
Soon after the book controversy, Bess found himself again at odds with Palin and her fellow evangelicals. In 1996, evangelical churches mounted a vigorous campaign to take over the local hospital's community board and ban abortion from the valley. When they succeeded, Bess and Dr. Susan Lemagie, a Palmer OB-GYN, fought back, filing suit on behalf of a local woman who had been forced to travel to Seattle for an abortion. The case was finally decided by the Alaska Supreme Court, which ruled that the hospital must provide valley women with the abortion option.
At one point during the hospital battle, passions ran so hot that local antiabortion activists organized a boisterous picket line outside Dr. Lemagie's office, in an unassuming professional building across from Palmer's Little League field. According to Bess and another community activist, among the protesters trying to disrupt the physician's practice that day was Sarah Palin.
Another attempt at governmental steeplejacking firmly linked to Palin was what may well have been the very model for her attempted run as a dominionist stealth VP--namely school boards, a target for dominionist steeplejacks-by-stealth since the Christian Coalition's early organisational days in the early 80s.
Even worse, there are indications she has answered the question on whether or not she followed dominionist--and specifically neopentecostal dominionist--theology in governmental decision-making:
Another valley activist, Philip Munger, says that Palin also helped push the evangelical drive to take over the Mat-Su Borough school board. "She wanted to get people who believed in creationism on the board," said Munger, a music composer and teacher. "I bumped into her once after my band played at a graduation ceremony at the Assembly of God. I said, 'Sarah, how can you believe in creationism -- your father's a science teacher.' And she said, 'We don't have to agree on everything.'
"I pushed her on the earth's creation, whether it was really less than 7,000 years old and whether dinosaurs and humans walked the earth at the same time. And she said yes, she'd seen images somewhere of dinosaur fossils with human footprints in them."
Munger also asked Palin if she truly believed in the End of Days, the doomsday scenario when the Messiah will return. "She looked in my eyes and said, 'Yes, I think I will see Jesus come back to earth in my lifetime.'"
As bad as this is, there is still far worse.
Palin's connections with Gothard--and queenmaking by the heart of the "Joel's Army" movement
Recently, links have been found between Sarah Palin and one of the more distinctly coercive "Joel's Army" groups out there (http://http://www.cincinnatibeacon.com/index.php/contents/comments/is_sarah_palin_a_gothardite/)--namely, Bill Gothard's "International Association of Character Cities", one of a veritable hive of frontgroups run by Gothard:
According to articles in today’s Daily Oklahoman (http://http://newsok.com/character-counts-with-vp-candidate/article/3297441/?tm=1221336480) and Washington Post (http://http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/13/AR2008091302596_pf.html), when she was mayor of Wasilla AK, Sarah Palin "spearheaded" efforts to establish the town as as "a community of character" via the International Association of Character Cities (IACC). What these stories don’t mention is that the Oklahoma City-based IACC is a secular front for Chicago millionaire evangelist Bill Gothard.
. . .
1) When she introduced the "Character Cities" program in Wasilla, did then-Mayor Palin inform other council members that it was a front for Bill Gothard?
In 2006, Arizona State Treasurer David Petersen was forced to resign (http://http://www.azcapitoltimes.com/story.cfm?id=4273) after getting busted for accepting commissions for implementing Gothard’s Character Training programs in the Grand Canyon state.
2) Has Sarah Palin received any income from the IACC or other organizations affiliated with Bill Gothard? Are she and "First Dude" Todd Palin going to release their tax returns as Joe and Jill Biden have done (http://http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/13/us/politics/13biden.html?ref=politics)?
As The Beacon and others seek answers to these and other questions, we respectfully urge Governor Palin, good Christian that she is, to seek guidance from the Character Council of Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky’s "Character Quality of the Month" for September 2008 (http://http://www.charactercincinnati.org/buildcharacter.html): TRUTHFULNESS.
The links with Gothard are particularly disturbing. Gothard's nest of fronts are among those directly provable to be running training camps for "God Warriors With Guns" (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/7/163753/4705/414/452169) and also have a history of links with "Christian nationalist" secessionists and racists (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/27/16812/7136/606/465198). This is, of course, on top of actively infiltrating police and other public safety agencies (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/3/161243/9224/464/449044) to convert those to wings of "Joel's Army", and the promotion of religiously motivated child abuse (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/14/114136/732/786/371430) so extreme that it's been linked to murder-suicides due to those being tortured finally snapping (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/12/14/16368/202/328/421737).
And...disturbingly..."Joel's Army" certainly seems to be getting the signal on their own end, as she is explicitly being promoted even more on their ends.
One example comes from Fire In My Bones (http://http://fireinmybones.com/) (yes, "Joel's Army" groups love fire imagery) literally comparing Sarah Palin to the Biblical prophet Deborah (http://http://fireinmybones.com/index.php?col=091008~Sarah%20Palin%20and%20the%20Deborah%20Anointing). The original post seems to have been pulled, but the article was reportedly published in Charisma Magazine (http://http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/thesearch/archive/2008/09/12/prominent-evangelical-anoints-sarah-palin-as-biblical-prophet.aspx), and what is available is disturbing indeed:
A prominent evangelical figure in the U.S. this week said Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin is a modern-day incarnation of the Biblical prophet, Deborah - primed to miraculously slay her nation's enemies on the battlefield.
Writing in his influential magazine, Charisma, editor J. Lee Grady likened the 44-year-old Alaskan governor to Deborah, the Old Testament prophet "who rallied God's people to victory at a time when ancient Israel was being terrorized by foreign invaders."
Evangelicals who don't support Charisma worry that J. Lee Grady has not only embraced Sarah Palin as a prophet, but in 2005 heartily endorsed Todd Bentley, the disgraced B.C-based faith healer.
Yes, you're reading this right; Palin is now being actively promoted within Joel's Army circles as being one of the very generals of their holy war.
And the article notes just how bluntly the point is being made:
As Grady wrote in this week's column, the gender of the Old Testament prophet Deborah "didn't stop her from amassing an army; she inspired the people in a way no man could. She and her defense minister, Barak, headed to the front lines and watched God do a miracle on the battlefield."
Grady continues: "In her song in Judges 5:7, Deborah declares: 'The peasantry ceased, they ceased in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, until I arose, a mother in Israel'... Sometimes it takes a true mother to rally the troops."
Even worse, she's being promoted as a walking, talking prophecy-in-the-flesh by those promoting holy war with America (http://http://juliapalermo.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/sarah-palin-and-the-deborah-anointing-by-j-lee-grady/) by the same author:
Talk about a role model. Palin’s life is a prophecy to America. She doesn’t have to preach against abortion. She and her family, even with their flaws, are the embodiment of the compassionate pro-life values America desperately needs to adopt.
Even worse yet, there's reports that Joel's Army and other dominionists are literally making imprecatory prayers for McCain's death...so Palin can be president (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/3/11483/34706).
The explicit promotion of Palin as a latter-day end-times prophet is disturbing indeed--and a dangerous sign, a strong sign that Palin getting close to the Presidency could have the whole world's fate riding on it.
Tags: Religious Right, Scandals, Military, Abuse, Children, Dominionism, Alaska, Bill Gothard, cults, Assemblies of God, child abuse, separation of church and state, religion, hate groups, Elections 2008, GOP, Republican Party, Presidential Elections 2008, censorship, Extremism, Apocalypse, Red Scare, Joel's Army, 2008 Elections, John McCain, Sarah Palin (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions
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The information Mr. Percy Sutton imparted on March 25 in a NY1 News interview regarding his connection to Barack Obama is inaccurate. As best as our family and the Chairman's closest friends can tell, Mr. Sutton, now 86 years of age, misspoke in describing certain details and events in that television interview.
Did you look at the footage of Mr. Sutton's interview? Old dude seemd pretty sharp to me. Do you honestly believe he didn't know what he was talking about? That he has forgotten how he first heard of Obama? That he pulled Al-Monsour's name out of some dusty corner of his memory and falsely attached it to his memory of how and why he wrote a letter of recommendation for a young man he had never met? (and Spring Creek Lodge isn't WWASP, don't cha know) Sorry, but that is the rankest bullshit. But, hey, this is America, your free to believe it if you want to.
Where did I go someone asked; I had a few things to do today, as Fro suggested. :)
BuzzKill - Whats up with that, someone asks: This has a multi-faceted meaning for me. You can take it however you want. I did once have a really cool anole icon. I wish I had it back. I do have another one but I can't get it to upload. To bad for me I guess.
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Did you look at the footage of Mr. Sutton's interview? Old dude seemd pretty sharp to me. Do you honestly believe he didn't know what he was talking about?
I believe he's a very old man with dementia that gets easily confused. Much like McCain.
But, hey, this is America, your free to believe it if you want to.
Well, gee. Thanks.
BuzzKill - Whats up with that, someone asks: This has a multi-faceted meaning for me.
Which would be.......?
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Did you look at the footage of Mr. Sutton's interview? Old dude seemd pretty sharp to me. Do you honestly believe he didn't know what he was talking about?
I believe he's a very old man with dementia that gets easily confused. Much like McCain.
He is clearly an old gentleman. He has the speaking pattern of an older person. But what he says is sharp and articulate. I see no sign at all of old timers disease having removed his memory or shuffled his deck.
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EcC0QAd0Ug
Here's another clip of him. The sound is not great but there is no problem telling what is being said.
I think it is deplorable that the Obama campaign would falsely claim the old guy is demented to cover up for the worrisome assoication of their candidate.
But, hey, this is America, your free to believe it if you want to.
Well, gee. Thanks.
Your welcome. But your making a terrible mistake.
BuzzKill - Whats up with that, someone asks: This has a multi-faceted meaning for me.
Which would be.......?
As I said, You can take it however you want. What it means to me is mine.
The following link is to an article with the same clip as posted above at the bottom of the page; this link plays it with clear sound, so I thought I'd include it.
http://http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/obama_sutton_saudi/2008/09/03/127490.html
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He is clearly an old gentleman. He has the speaking pattern of an older person. But what he says is sharp and articulate. I see no sign at all of old timers disease having removed his memory or shuffled his deck.
I disagree.
I think it is deplorable that the Obama campaign would falsely claim the old guy is demented to cover up for the worrisome assoication of their candidate.
Way to read the fucking article there babe. Sutton's OWN FAMILY put out the statement.
Your welcome. But your making a terrible mistake.
And I would say the same to you, but I expect that coming from someone who still believes in adult fairy tales. And I think that's really the problem here. The evangelicals are so skeert of the big, bad, black man "takin' mah guns, rapin' are wimins and eatin' babies" that they can't see straight.
Calm down. Relax. Smoke a bowl or something. He's not gonna force you to have an abortion or call you to prayer 5 times a day. Sheesh. Talk about fear mongering.
As I said, You can take it however you want. What it means to me is mine.
And I'm asking what that meaning, to you, is. From your postings, I take it as you shit all over what could be a good time.
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Did you look at the footage of Mr. Sutton's interview?
Did you look at Sarah Palin's ties to various, nefarious anti-American groups hell bent on seceding from the nation? Did you look at what the Alaska Independence Party represents? Did you look at her video addressing the AIP and wishing them luck on their endeavors? Did you look at any of the articles Ursus linked you to?
Nah, didn't think so.
Ostrich.
http://www-keeler.ch.cam.ac.uk/pictures ... thSand.jpg (http://www-keeler.ch.cam.ac.uk/pictures/pictures2002/RichwithSand.jpg)
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He is clearly an old gentleman. He has the speaking pattern of an older person. But what he says is sharp and articulate. I see no sign at all of old timers disease having removed his memory or shuffled his deck.
I disagree.
I think it is deplorable that the Obama campaign would falsely claim the old guy is demented to cover up for the worrisome assoication of their candidate.
Way to read the fucking article there babe. Sutton's OWN FAMILY put out the statement.
Your welcome. But your making a terrible mistake.
And I would say the same to you, but I expect that coming from someone who still believes in adult fairy tales. And I think that's really the problem here. The evangelicals are so skeert of the big, bad, black man "takin' mah guns, rapin' are wimins and eatin' babies" that they can't see straight.
Calm down. Relax. Smoke a bowl or something. He's not gonna force you to have an abortion or call you to prayer 5 times a day. Sheesh. Talk about fear mongering.
As I said, You can take it however you want. What it means to me is mine.
And I'm asking what that meaning, to you, is. From your postings, I take it as you shit all over what could be a good time.
You mistake my meaning in a number of ways my friend :)
I'm not actually afraid at all. I am strangely at peace with it all. But I do see bad times ahead, and I see Obama in the white house making them much worse.
I do resent being painted as holding onto my guns and religion b/c I am to ignorant and deprived to know any better.
And I also resent being painted a racist for daring to point out that the Obama's are. They are you know. They have to be to have the friends, supporters and assoicates they have. I don't want anti-Semites and rabid racist in the white house, weather they are KKK or Nation of Islam. The evidence that the Obamas are aligned and idealisticly compatible with the Nation of Islam is undeniable and overwelming.
Oh, BTW, I do realize that Mr. Sutton's family put out that statement. I am sure they have no undue bias or interest in the outcome of this election. (and Ken Kay has only the teen's welfare at heart) The statement was on Obama's web site - and so I say "the Obama campaign" is despicable for making the old gent out to be demented. I am quit sure they requested the statement from his family in very strident language. I imagine something like: "What the FuK!!! Shit Fire, you old son of a bitch! Do you know what you just did?! You told the truth after we've worked so hard to cover it up!! Your a crazy old coot, and that's just what your going to say so we can sweep this thing back under the rug! Now - write it up!"
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You mistake my meaning in a number of ways my friend :)
I know you're attempting to be humorous, but if he had said that ONE MORE TIME the other night, I'm afraid I might have been physically ill.
I'm not actually afraid at all. I am strangely at peace with it all.
Your postings tell a different tale.
I do resent being painted as holding onto my guns and religion b/c I am to ignorant and deprived to know any better.
I'm sure you do and it was a poor choice of words, but devastatingly accurate.
And I also resent being painted a racist for daring to point out that the Obama's are. They are you know. They have to be to have the friends, supporters and assoicates they have. I don't want anti-Semites and rabid racist in the white house, weather they are KKK or Nation of Islam. The evidence that the Obamas are aligned and idealisticly compatible with the Nation of Islam is undeniable and overwelming.
I really don't know what to say to that. If you are that disconnected from reality, no facts presented will penetrate your narrow little mind.
Oh, BTW, I do realize that Mr. Sutton's family put out that statement. I am sure they have no undue bias or interest in the outcome of this election. (and Ken Kay has only the teen's welfare at heart) The statement was on Obama's web site - and so I say "the Obama campaign" is despicable for making the old gent out to be demented. I am quit sure they requested the statement from his family in very strident language. I imagine something like: "What the FuK!!! Shit Fire, you old son of a bitch! Do you know what you just did?! You told the truth after we've worked so hard to cover it up!! Your a crazy old coot, and that's just what your going to say so we can sweep this thing back under the rug! Now - write it up!"
Speculation is fun, isn't it? Why let facts, or the absence thereof, get in the way of a good conspiracy?
You are exactly the type of person that scares the living hell out of me. Obviously, you're a relatively intelligent woman but blinded by your religious beliefs. I'm sorry for you. Really I am and I don't mean that as a put down, although undoubtedly you'll take it that way.
I do have faith, however (pun intended) that religion will go the way of other myths as science advances and critical thinking will be the norm.
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And Buzzkill, I'll be waiting patiently for your responses to the Palin articles.
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And Buzzkill, I'll be waiting patiently for your responses to the Palin articles.
I've been having trouble getting it posted.
Did you look at the footage of Mr. Sutton's interview?
Did you look at Sarah Palin's ties to various, nefarious anti-American groups hell bent on seceding from the nation? Did you look at what the Alaska Independence Party represents? Did you look at her video addressing the AIP and wishing them luck on their endeavors? Did you look at any of the articles Ursus linked you to?
Nah, didn't think so.
Ostrich.
http://www-keeler.ch.cam.ac.uk/pictures ... thSand.jpg (http://www-keeler.ch.cam.ac.uk/pictures/pictures2002/RichwithSand.jpg)
I've read a great deal about Palin over the past few weeks. Some of what is posted on Fornits I am already very familiar with. The media is covering Sarah Palin pretty extensively. Its hard to miss this stuff on her. But this stuff on Obama? Your not going to see it talked or written about much. People don't know about most of these issues. For example, did you (or do you) have any idea who Raila Odinga is?
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8QcpdUtxNQ
And unless you watch Fox you don't know a thing about the FBI and 11 states finding massive voter registration fraud with ACORN, and Obama's close ties with ACORN (as a field staff trainer and as their attorney) or about the federal monies that go to them b/c no one else is talking about it. Its is just astonishing.
As for the AIP - this would not be good for the US of A; but I have to say I understand why they feel as they do and I have some sympathy for their POV. Maybe this is the southern gal in me. But I also think they exist more to bring some focus their legitimate grievances than from any real intent to cede from the union. In this, I too would certainly wish them luck.
In any event, I don't think all of your worries and woes about the republican VP candidate are anywhere near as worrisome (and dangerous) for this country as those concerning the top of the Democratic ticket.
Now, I've got some things to do, so I am going to disappear again. ;)
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And Buzzkill, I'll be waiting patiently for your responses to the Palin articles.
I've been having trouble getting it posted.
Uh huh. Your tirades about Obama seem to come through just fine.
The media is covering Sarah Palin pretty extensively. Its hard to miss this stuff on her. But this stuff on Obama? Your not going to see it talked or written about much. People don't know about most of these issues. For example, did you (or do you) have any idea who Raila Odinga is?
That's because there is a big difference between some tenuous AT BEST ties to some long ago 60s radicals and the VERY RECENT affiliation AND MEMBERSHIP of the Palins with the AIP.
And yes, I did know who Odinga was.
And unless you watch Fox you don't know a thing about the FBI and 11 states finding massive voter registration fraud with ACORN, and Obama's close ties with ACORN (as a field staff trainer and as their attorney) or about the federal monies that go to them b/c no one else is talking about it. Its is just astonishing.
Getting your prefab excuses for losing the election ready for deployment, I see.
As for the AIP - this would not be good for the US of A; but I have to say I understand why they feel as they do and I have some sympathy for their POV. Maybe this is the southern gal in me. But I also think they exist more to bring some focus their legitimate grievances than from any real intent to cede from the union. In this, I too would certainly wish them luck.
So, in other words you didn't read up on it at all.
In any event, I don't think all of your worries and woes about the republican VP candidate are anywhere near as worrisome (and dangerous) for this country as those concerning the top of the Democratic ticket.
And I would submit that Palin's a tad more worrisome given McSame's health. Again, if you're that disconnected from reality as to buy into the "OMG!!! Obama's a secret turrist mulin!" bullshit, I hold little hope for you.
Now, I've got some things to do, so I am going to disappear again. ;)
Surprise, surprise.
For when you get back, what do you think of Palin being qualified to run the country?
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Uh huh. Your tirades about Obama seem to come through just fine.
That last one took three tries. I have no idea why.
That's because there is a big difference between some tenuous AT BEST ties to some long ago 60s radicals and the VERY RECENT affiliation AND MEMBERSHIP of the Palins with the AIP.
The radical and vicious associations Obama has are actually close ties (even very close ties) and not at all tenuous. Nor is the radicalism limited to the 60 and 70's. It has changed very little since then.
I think these connections much more troubling than association with the AIP. The AIP has yet to call for butchering people; or incited the butchering of people; or insisted that god dam America; or declared any god who won't help in the destruction of the white race must be killed; or bombed federal buildings and bragged about it to this day.
But, if you have anything showing Sarah Palin is a member of the AIP party, I'd like to see it. Your not referring to the clip of her addressing the AIP before their convention are you? If so, you might want to take another look and give a more careful listen.
Getting your prefab excuses for losing the election ready for deployment, I see.
No. If Obama wins it will be because he is pleasant to listen to and look at. But, there is a very big news story being ignored by the media b/c it reflects badly on their golden boy. It is now 12 states that are investigating ACORN along with the FBI and the voter registration fraud is massive and truly outrageous in its audacity.
So, in other words you didn't read up on it at all.
I have seen a good deal about it going back maybe the past ten years. I can't recall exactly when I first learned about it. As I said, I have some sympathy for their grievances and understand their POV.
And I would submit that Palin's a tad more worrisome given McSame's health. Again, if you're that disconnected from reality as to buy into the "OMG!!! Obama's a secret turrist mulin!" bullshit, I hold little hope for you.
We see the world differently, you and I. I see the top of the democratic ticket as far more worrisome than the bottom of the Republican. The people who propelled Obama into his current exalted position are in fact terrorist; and most are in fact either Nation of Islam, or might as well be, considering their rhetoric. This isn't bull shit. It is the truth. You can ignore it if you want to, but it is still the truth.
Surprise, surprise.
For when you get back, what do you think of Palin being qualified to run the country?
Look, you don't really expect me to sit here and baby-sit fornits do you?
Palin is far more qualified and experienced than Obama. This is just another fact. The man has zero executive experience. He has barely gotten his feet wet in the senate. Palin has been the governor of a major mineral and energy producing state; and judging from her approval ratings, a very good governor. I'd have no problem voting for her over Obama, if that where the choice I had.
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http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/ ... n_chryson/ (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/10/10/palin_chryson/)
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/arc ... ience.html (http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/10/10162_palin_calendars_foreign_policy_experience.html)
Two really in-depth articules on 6packsarah
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Why the AIP and the religious right like and support Sarah Palin is a legitimate question. It is a legitimate concern for some voters.
Why William Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn, Louis Farrakhan, Kaleid Al-Monsour, Tony Rezco, Odinga, Chavez, Quadafie, Ahmadinejad, and groups like Hamas and Al-Quaeda, like and support Barrack Husain Obama, is also a legitimate question. This is also a ligament concern for some voters.
In my mind, the current state of world and US affairs makes these concerns about Obama a much more serous matter.
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Ya know, Buzz. A lot of the reason we've had so many troubles in our foreign policy is precisely because we refuse to talk to or negotiate with those who we label as "terrorists", such as Hamas, even when they are the legitimately elected government (and thus supported by the people). You can't fight an entire people. It's either: kill them all off, or talk to them and see if something can be worked out. Refusing to talk, as this administration has done and McCain will do has lead and will likely lead nowhere good.
As for the our support for Israel. Most outside the united states see it as very one sided, and as such, we're not going to be in a credible, neutral position as an arbiter and expect the "other side" to take us seriously. Personally, I'd let the whole lot kill each other until they get tired of it but IF we are going to attempt to negotiate a peace, it's just not going to stick if we're viewed (and rightly so) as supporting one side over the other. We give and sell advanced arms to Israel and tolerate them owning (and being very willing to use) weapons of mass destruction while the opposite is true of other nations in the region. This isn't even to mention Israel's tactics towards war where "collateral damage" seems to more or less be OK. We stood by and interfered with an alternative UN backed solution, letting Israel absolutely flatten lebanon for a second time (not to mention litter the place with grenade-sized cluster munitions that have been known to maim and kill years later)... We even gave them muntions to help. That sort of behavior does not place us in a positive light to the other counties of the region. Israel is an ally, yes, but they cannot be given carte-blanche to do whatever they like to their neighbors. If we are percieved as supporting them in oppressive actions against other countries and peopels of the region, what result other than hostility can you expect? Either we stop taking sides and start trying to negotiate a peace (not my preference, as i'm mostly an isolationist), or we simply stay out of it and let them kill each other until they get sickened of it (as happened in Northern Ireland after the Omagh bombing). Any other course of action will just guarantee that the thousands of years of violence will continue.
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OMG!!! How dare you criticize Israel! You anti-Semite! No wonder you support Barrack HUSSEIN obama!
hey Nazi--where's your swastika?
Talking bad about Israel=you are a bomb-throwing Islamic terrorist, doncha know.......
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The radical and vicious associations Obama has are actually close ties (even very close ties) and not at all tenuous.
I disagree.
Nor is the radicalism limited to the 60 and 70's. It has changed very little since then.
Wow. I completely disagree. Ya know, I heard one of the news stations this morning talking about how most of these Rep. holdouts are the "get off my lawn" generation that wish the world was still like it was in the 50s. The only constant is change. Get over it.
I think these connections much more troubling than association with the AIP. The AIP has yet to call for butchering people; or incited the butchering of people; or insisted that god dam America; or declared any god who won't help in the destruction of the white race must be killed; or bombed federal buildings and bragged about it to this day.
The founder of AIP actually did say some pretty fucked up shit about America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmt0rLtgmK0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmt0rLtgmK0)
And another esteemed member of the AIP....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmt0rLtgmK0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xmt0rLtgmK0)
But, if you have anything showing Sarah Palin is a member of the AIP party, I'd like to see it.
Her husband was for years.
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la ... 9468.story (http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-aip3-2008sep03,0,6399468.story)
Sarah Palin's ties to Alaskan Independence Party are played down
The McCain campaign denies his running mate supports the party's separatist bent.
By Michael Finnegan, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
September 3, 2008
Tonight, Sarah Palin will be nominated as the Republican Party's choice for vice president of the United States.
But back home, she has cheered the work of a tiny party that long has pushed for a statewide vote on whether Alaska should secede from those same United States. And her husband, Todd, was a member of the party for seven years.
Your not referring to the clip of her addressing the AIP before their convention are you? If so, you might want to take another look and give a more careful listen.
Uh huh. And?
No. If Obama wins it will be because he is pleasant to listen to and look at.
Damn. You sure claim a lot of your opinions as facts. Seems to be a common thing with you guys.
But, there is a very big news story being ignored by the media b/c it reflects badly on their golden boy. It is now 12 states that are investigating ACORN along with the FBI and the voter registration fraud is massive and truly outrageous in its audacity.
::)
So, in other words you didn't read up on it at all.
I have seen a good deal about it going back maybe the past ten years. I can't recall exactly when I first learned about it. As I said, I have some sympathy for their grievances and understand their POV.
So, in other words you didn't read up on it at all.
We see the world differently, you and I. I see the top of the democratic ticket as far more worrisome than the bottom of the Republican. The people who propelled Obama into his current exalted position are in fact terrorist; and most are in fact either Nation of Islam, or might as well be, considering their rhetoric. This isn't bull shit. It is the truth. You can ignore it if you want to, but it is still the truth.
It's YOUR truth Buzz. Not everyone buys into the bullshit. Thank Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Palin is far more qualified and experienced than Obama. This is just another fact.
There aren't enough "rolling on the floor laughing my ass off" emoticons to express my amusement at that idiocy.
Damn. You sure claim a lot of your opinions as facts. Seems to be a common thing with you guys.
The man has zero executive experience. He has barely gotten his feet wet in the senate. Palin has been the governor of a major mineral and energy producing state; and judging from her approval ratings, a very good governor. I'd have no problem voting for her over Obama, if that where the choice I had.
It pretty much is. McCain's not going to last very long.
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Palin is far more qualified and experienced than Obama. This is just another fact.
Palin:
87 - Graduates with BA in Journalism from Univ of Idaho (http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Palin#Early_life_and_education) (yet wasn't able to name a single newspaper she reads in the Couric interview)
Palin attended several colleges and universities. In 1982, she enrolled at Hawaii Pacific College but left after her first semester. She transferred to North Idaho community college, where she spent two semesters as a general studies major. From there, she transferred to the University of Idaho for two semesters.[10][11] During this time Palin won the Miss Wasilla Pageant[12][13] then finished third in the 1984 Miss Alaska pageant,[14][15] at which she won a college scholarship and the "Miss Congeniality" award.[16] She then attended Matanuska-Susitna community college in Alaska for one term. The next year she returned to the University of Idaho where she spent three semesters completing her Bachelor of Science degree in communications-journalism, graduating in 1987.
92-95 - city council
96-02 - Mayor of Wasila (population ~6000)
03-04 - Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
03-05 - Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service, Inc.
06-08 - Governor of Alaska
(8 years total, 11 if you count the three on city council)
Obama
91 - Graduated Harvard Juris Doctor (J.D.) magna cum laude (http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama#Early_life_and_career)
Obama entered Harvard Law School in late 1988. At the end of his first year, he was selected, based on his grades and a writing competition, as an editor of the Harvard Law Review.[19] In February 1990, in his second year, he was elected president of the Law Review, a full-time volunteer position functioning as editor-in-chief and supervising the Law Review's staff of eighty editors.[20] Obama's election as the first black president of the Law Review was widely reported and followed by several long, detailed profiles.[20] During his summers, he returned to Chicago where he worked as a summer associate at the law firms of Sidley & Austin in 1989 and Hopkins & Sutter in 1990.[21] After graduating with a Juris Doctor (J.D.) magna cum laude from Harvard in 1991, he returned to Chicago.[19]
92 - Director of Illinois' "Project Vote" - sucessfully achieves target goals
92-04 - 1992, Obama taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago Law School for twelve years, being first classified as a Lecturer from 1992 to 1996, and then as a Senior Lecturer from 1996 to 2004
93-02 - He also, in 1993, joined Davis, Miner, Barnhill & Galland, a twelve attorney law firm specializing in civil rights litigation and neighborhood economic development, where he was an associate for three years from 1993 to 1996, then of counsel from 1996 to 2004, with his law license becoming inactive in 2002.
97-04 - State Legislator
04-08 - US Senator
(11 years in government, far more if you consider his background in law (application of government), specializing in civil rights)
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Executive experience Psy. She has it, and he doesn't. She doesn't have a lot, but he doesn't have any.
As to the AIP stuff, I have followed it with some interest and I have known about it (the AIP) for many years. As I say, I have some sympathy for their grievances. I'm really not alarmed that Palin's husband was once a member. I'm not bothered at all that she, as governor, addressed the AIP prior to their convention. If you watch it and keep in mind she is the governor, and of an opposing party,I think you'll note a bit of mirth in her tone as she points out what they (she as a republican gov. and the AIP) can agree on. The inference being there are other things they do not agree on.
And again, I have to say, this in no way compairs with the assoications of Barack Hussain Obama.
My quip that Obama would win b/c of his pleasant looks and speaking ability may have been flippant. It is true that he has plenty of support by those who agree with his agenda and vision for America. There are others who will vote for McCain for the same reason. But there are an awful lot who will vote for who ever they like the looks of - who ever seems "cool" - and what they actually say, or think, or do, matters not at all with these folks. Sadly, these folks can be the margin of win or loose in national races as close as ours are. In this case, they will swing it for Obama.
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FactCheck.org has an interesting report on the Ayers-Obama connection. I recommend you read it, Buzz.
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008 ... ayers.html (http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/he_lied_about_bill_ayers.html)
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FactCheck.org has an interesting report on the Ayers-Obama connection. I recommend you read it, Buzz.
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008 ... ayers.html (http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/he_lied_about_bill_ayers.html)
Great insight into the "mindset" of the McCain/Palin campaign too, I might add! All that fear mongering doesn't look so good, especially in light of recent findings of unethical conduct on Palin's part ('troopergate'):
http://download1.legis.state.ak.us/DOWNLOAD.pdf (http://download1.legis.state.ak.us/DOWNLOAD.pdf)[/list]
Maybe that has something to do with McCain's recent attempts to rein in the mob:
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McCain booed after trying to calm anti-Obama crowd (http://http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081011/ap_on_el_pr/mccain_angry_crowds;_ylt=AiNZycPb4_5rOX7ByK.kfPgb.3QA)
By PHILIP ELLIOTT and BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writers
Sat Oct 11, 1:33 AM ET
LAKEVILLE, Minn. - The anger is getting raw at Republican rallies and John McCain is acting to tamp it down. McCain was booed by his own supporters Friday when, in an abrupt switch from raising questions about Barack Obama's character, he described the Democrat as a "decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States."
A sense of grievance spilling into rage has gripped some GOP events this week as McCain supporters see his presidential campaign lag against Obama. Some in the audience are making it personal, against the Democrat. Shouts of "traitor," "terrorist," "treason," "liar," and even "off with his head" have rung from the crowd at McCain and Sarah Palin rallies, and gone unchallenged by them.
McCain changed his tone Friday when supporters at a town hall pressed him to be rougher on Obama. A voter said, "The people here in Minnesota want to see a real fight." Another said Obama would lead the U.S. into socialism. Another said he did not want his unborn child raised in a country led by Obama.
"If you want a fight, we will fight," McCain said. "But we will be respectful. I admire Sen. Obama and his accomplishments." When people booed, he cut them off.
"I don't mean that has to reduce your ferocity," he said. "I just mean to say you have to be respectful."
Presidential candidates are accustomed to raucous rallies this close to Election Day and welcome the enthusiasm. But they are also traditionally monitors of sorts from the stage. Part of their job is to leaven proceedings if tempers run ragged and to rein in an out-of-bounds comment from the crowd.
Not so much this week, at GOP rallies in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Florida and other states.
When a visibly angry McCain supporter in Waukesha, Wis., on Thursday told the candidate "I'm really mad" because of "socialists taking over the country," McCain stoked the sentiment. "I think I got the message," he said. "The gentleman is right." He went on to talk about Democrats in control of Congress.
On Friday, McCain rejected the bait.
"I don't trust Obama," a woman said. "I have read about him. He's an Arab."
McCain shook his head in disagreement, and said:
"No, ma'am. He's a decent, family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with (him) on fundamental issues and that's what this campaign is all about."
He had drawn boos with his comment: "I have to tell you, he is a decent person and a person that you do not have to be scared of as president of the United States."
The anti-Obama taunts and jeers are noticeably louder when McCain appears with Palin, a big draw for GOP social conservatives. She accused Obama this week of "palling around with terrorists" because of his past, loose association with a 1960s radical. If less directly, McCain, too, has sought to exploit Obama's Chicago neighborhood ties to William Ayers, while trying simultaneously to steer voters' attention to his plans for the financial crisis.
The Alaska governor did not campaign with McCain on Friday, and his rally in La Crosse, Wis., earlier Friday was much more subdued than those when the two campaigned together. Still, one woman shouted "traitor" when McCain told voters Obama would raise their taxes.
Volunteers worked up chants from the crowd of "U.S.A." and "John McCain, John McCain," in an apparent attempt to drown out boos and other displays of negative energy.
The Secret Service confirmed Friday that it had investigated an episode reported in The Washington Post in which someone in Palin's crowd in Clearwater, Fla., shouted "kill him," on Monday, meaning Obama. There was "no indication that there was anything directed at Obama," Secret Service spokesman Eric Zahren told AP. "We looked into it because we always operate in an atmosphere of an abundance of caution."
Palin, at a fundraiser in Ohio on Friday, told supporters "it's not negative and it's not mean-spirited" to scrutinize Obama's iffy associations.
But Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania an author of 15 books on politics, says the vitriol has been encouraged by inflammatory words from the stage.
"Red-meat rhetoric elicits emotional responses in those already disposed by ads using words such as 'dangerous' 'dishonorable' and 'risky' to believe that the country would be endangered by election of the opposing candidate," she said.
___
Beth Fouhy reported from New York. Associated Press writer Joe Milicia contributed to this story from Cleveland.
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Where can I get one of these Sarah Palin dominionist ties?
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Where can I get one of these Sarah Palin dominionist ties?
:D :D
Are you fishing for a kinky tale of a dominatrix who specializes in pleasurable uses of neckties, whilst Pastor Muthee (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=25889) rails on in the background re. your serpentine lifestyle, Frod?
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FactCheck.org has an interesting report on the Ayers-Obama connection. I recommend you read it, Buzz.
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008 ... ayers.html (http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/he_lied_about_bill_ayers.html)
Great insight into the "mindset" of the McCain/Palin campaign too, I might add!
Well. Both sides have been doing it. Factcheck.org has had a lot of fun recently posting out the BS flying from both directions, in their ads, in the debates, etc...
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FactCheck.org has an interesting report on the Ayers-Obama connection. I recommend you read it, Buzz.
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008 ... ayers.html (http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/he_lied_about_bill_ayers.html)
Hi Psy. I did. I have been aware of the Obama spin on this issue from the start. I would agree with McCain when he said Obama lied - because when he said of Ayers "He's just some guy in the neighborhood" that was a big enough down play to qualify as a lie. Ayers was much more than that. He was one of the inner circle that helped propel Obam into politics and into national prominence. And in my mind the question isn't so much why was Obama hanging out with this bomber dude - but rather, why does this bomber dude like Obama so much?
But from my perspective, Ayers matters as an issue mostly b/c of al the other troubling associations Obama has. It is the gathering together of all theses racist and viscous people in Obama's circle of influence that worry me. If it were just one of these men I could think maybe the concern was being overblown. But in light of there being such a number of really disturbing associations - coupled with yet others, just as disturbing, who support Obama, even if they are not directly associated with him - coupled with his own words, which seem to on occasion allow his racism to leak through his very carefully built facade - I am deeply, an I think very legitimately, concerned.
Personally, I believe Mr Percy Sutton was telling the truth about how he first head about Obama - who it was that asked him to write the letter of support to Harvard. I find it deeply worrisome that the Obama campaign would go so far as to have the family disparage the old gent to cover up this association. This indicates they know how disturbing it is - and they are willing to lie about something like this, and present a real "Black American Hero" as a demented old man, rather than give an explanation of how and why Obama was associated with Al- Monsour. I suspect they fear Obama's now often heard "I didn't know that about the guy" is wearing thin.
I think it is shameful that the American free press is so ignoring this story.
Also shameful is ignoring Obama's cousin Raila Odinga. I'll not post more articles and you tube clips, but Google Obama+Odinga. You'll see some articles saying they are cousins while others deny it - but apparently they are, even tho it isn't documented. By Obama's own admission, his own parents marriage isn't documented. Lots of relationships are not documented. You see some claiming Obama was in frequent contact, and others saying contact was minimal - altho all admit Obama did campaign for Ordinga while in Kenya. It matters, b/c Odinga instigated the murder of the opposing tribe and Christians, and Obama remained silent; and some insist even wrote email in support of his cousins efforts to invoke positive change in Kenya.
From Audacity of Hope:
'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'
The political winds shifted in an ugly direction some time back. He said himself who he stands with. We ignore all this at our peril.
If you use the same standards to judge Obama's character we use daily with the TT industry, I think you'd better see (or at least understand) my POV. They insist they do no harm. They insist they do great good - change is also their rallying cry. They insist anyone who says differently are lying manipulators with an agenda. They sometimes insist they are not affiliated with each other when they clearly are. You can't listen to what they say. You have to look at who they know - who their friends are - who their family is - and the consistent allegations they are not what they appear to be.
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FactCheck.org has an interesting report on the Ayers-Obama connection. I recommend you read it, Buzz.
http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008 ... ayers.html (http://www.factcheck.org/elections-2008/he_lied_about_bill_ayers.html)
Hi Psy. I did. I have been aware of the Obama spin on this issue from the start. I would agree with McCain when he said Obama lied - because when he said of Ayers "He's just some guy in the neighborhood" that was a big enough down play to qualify as a lie. Ayers was much more than that. He was one of the inner circle that helped propel Obam into politics and into national prominence. And in my mind the question isn't so much why was Obama hanging out with this bomber dude - but rather, why does this bomber dude like Obama so much?
But from my perspective, Ayers matters as an issue mostly b/c of al the other troubling associations Obama has. It is the gathering together of all theses racist and viscous people in Obama's circle of influence that worry me. If it were just one of these men I could think maybe the concern was being overblown. But in light of there being such a number of really disturbing associations - coupled with yet others, just as disturbing, who support Obama, even if they are not directly associated with him - coupled with his own words, which seem to on occasion allow his racism to leak through his very carefully built facade - I am deeply, an I think very legitimately, concerned.
Personally, I believe Mr Percy Sutton was telling the truth about how he first head about Obama - who it was that asked him to write the letter of support to Harvard. I find it deeply worrisome that the Obama campaign would go so far as to have the family disparage the old gent to cover up this association. This indicates they know how disturbing it is - and they are willing to lie about something like this, and present a real "Black American Hero" as a demented old man, rather than give an explanation of how and why Obama was associated with Al- Monsour. I suspect they fear Obama's now often heard "I didn't know that about the guy" is wearing thin.
I think it is shameful that the American free press is so ignoring this story.
Also shameful is ignoring Obama's cousin Raila Odinga. I'll not post more articles and you tube clips, but Google Obama+Odinga. You'll see some articles saying they are cousins while others deny it - but apparently they are, even tho it isn't documented. By Obama's own admission, his own parents marriage isn't documented. Lots of relationships are not documented. You see some claiming Obama was in frequent contact, and others saying contact was minimal - altho all admit Obama did campaign for Ordinga while in Kenya. It matters, b/c Odinga instigated the murder of the opposing tribe and Christians, and Obama remained silent; and some insist even wrote email in support of his cousins efforts to invoke positive change in Kenya.
From Audacity of Hope:
'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'
The political winds shifted in an ugly direction some time back. He said himself who he stands with. We ignore all this at our peril.
If you use the same standards to judge Obama's character we use daily with the TT industry, I think you'd better see (or at least understand) my POV. They insist they do no harm. They insist they do great good - change is also their rallying cry. They insist anyone who says differently are lying manipulators with an agenda. They sometimes insist they are not affiliated with each other when they clearly are. You can't listen to what they say. You have to look at who they know - who their friends are - who their family is - and the consistent allegations they are not what they appear to be.
hi buzzkill, you're the parent who fucked up her kid, tortured him by having him abducted and buried him in wwasp and then in another private prison after that. For a long time you thought contracting wwasp's self-evidently abusive aggressions against your own progeny was a great idea.
U make as good decisions on important matters as ever. Obama is definitely a secret Muslim looking to enslave Christian whites once he seizes power by going undercover for 50 years as an uber-responsible Harvard student, community organizer, and centrist senator.
From age four he planned his eventual ascendancy to presidency, and then, the final holocaust.
Thanks for spreading the wisdom.
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ADS, LDA,ADD,ADHD, you are the one who keeps coming on here accusing others to try to cover up how much you screwed up your own life. Not once have you spoken out about your part in your life and taken responsibility. It seems to be so easy for you to point your finger at others and placing blame, but we all know that you screwed up your own life and cant come to terms with that. It is interesting to watch you skirt the issue and try to judge others as a way to ignore your own mistakes. It is obvious to the readers why you are all overe the board critisizing others while hiding in the shadows.
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Ok, enough trolling.
Back to Tina Fey...er, I mean, Sarah Palin.
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ADS, LDA,ADD,ADHD, you are the one who keeps coming on here accusing others to try to cover up how much you screwed up your own life. Not once have you spoken out about your part in your life and taken responsibility. It seems to be so easy for you to point your finger at others and placing blame, but we all know that you screwed up your own life and cant come to terms with that. It is interesting to watch you skirt the issue and try to judge others as a way to ignore your own mistakes. It is obvious to the readers why you are all overe the board critisizing others while hiding in the shadows.
^^^^^^TheWho paraphrasing what he told his own kids. Has a transference issue here.
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Yeah, I figured. I wish people would just delete his shit.
Back to Sarah Palin
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From an October 10, 2008 post:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/ ... n_chryson/ (http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/10/10/palin_chryson/)
http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/arc ... ience.html (http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/10/10162_palin_calendars_foreign_policy_experience.html)
Two really in-depth articules on 6packsarah
I'm gonna expand those out, given their relevance here... First article:
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Salon
Meet Sarah Palin's radical right-wing pals (http://http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/10/10/palin_chryson/)
Extremists Mark Chryson and Steve Stoll helped launch Palin's political career in Alaska, and in return had influence over policy. "Her door was open," says Chryson -- and still is.
Editor's note: Research support provided by the Nation Institute Investigative Fund. For Salon's complete coverage of Sarah Palin, click here (http://http://dir.salon.com/topics/sarah_palin/).
By Max Blumenthal and David Neiwert
Oct. 10, 2008 | PALMER, Alaska -- On the afternoon of Sept. 24 in downtown Palmer, Alaska, as the sun began to sink behind the snowcapped mountains that flank the picturesque Mat-Su Valley, 51-year-old Mark Chryson sat for an hour on a park bench, reveling in tales of his days as chairman of the Alaska Independence Party. The stocky, gray-haired computer technician waxed nostalgic about quixotic battles to eliminate taxes, support the "traditional family" and secede from the United States.
So long as Alaska remained under the boot of the federal government, said Chryson, the AIP had to stand on guard to stymie a New World Order. He invited a Salon reporter to see a few items inside his pickup truck that were intended for his personal protection. "This here is my attack dog," he said with a chuckle, handing the reporter an exuberant 8-pound papillon from his passenger seat. "Her name is Suzy." Then he pulled a 9-millimeter Makarov PM pistol -- once the standard-issue sidearm for Soviet cops -- out of his glove compartment. "I've got enough weaponry to raise a small army in my basement," he said, clutching the gun in his palm. "Then again, so do most Alaskans." But Chryson added a message of reassurance to residents of that faraway place some Alaskans call "the 48." "We want to go our separate ways," he said, "but we are not going to kill you."
Though Chryson belongs to a fringe political party, one that advocates the secession of Alaska from the Union, and that organizes with other like-minded secessionist movements from Canada to the Deep South, he is not without peculiar influence in state politics, especially the rise of Sarah Palin. An obscure figure outside of Alaska, Chryson has been a political fixture in the hometown of the Republican vice-presidential nominee for over a decade. During the 1990s, when Chryson directed the AIP, he and another radical right-winger, Steve Stoll, played a quiet but pivotal role in electing Palin as mayor of Wasilla and shaping her political agenda afterward. Both Stoll and Chryson not only contributed to Palin's campaign financially, they played major behind-the-scenes roles in the Palin camp before, during and after her victory.
Palin backed Chryson as he successfully advanced a host of anti-tax, pro-gun initiatives, including one that altered the state Constitution's language to better facilitate the formation of anti-government militias. She joined in their vendetta against several local officials they disliked, and listened to their advice about hiring. She attempted to name Stoll, a John Birch Society activist known in the Mat-Su Valley as "Black Helicopter Steve," to an empty Wasilla City Council seat. "Every time I showed up her door was open," said Chryson. "And that policy continued when she became governor."
When Chryson first met Sarah Palin, however, he didn't really trust her politically. It was the early 1990s, when he was a member of a local libertarian pressure group called SAGE, or Standing Against Government Excess. (SAGE's founder, Tammy McGraw, was Palin's birth coach.) Palin was a leader in a pro-sales-tax citizens group called WOW, or Watch Over Wasilla, earning a political credential before her 1992 campaign for City Council. Though he was impressed by her interpersonal skills, Chryson greeted Palin's election warily, thinking she was too close to the Democrats on the council and too pro-tax.
But soon, Palin and Chryson discovered they could be useful to each other. Palin would be running for mayor, while Chryson was about to take over the chairmanship of the Alaska Independence Party, which at its peak in 1990 had managed to elect a governor.
The AIP was born of the vision of "Old Joe" Vogler, a hard-bitten former gold miner who hated the government of the United States almost as much as he hated wolves and environmentalists. His resentment peaked during the early 1970s when the federal government began installing Alaska's oil and gas pipeline. Fueled by raw rage -- "The United States has made a colony of Alaska," he told author John McPhee in 1977 -- Vogler declared a maverick candidacy for the governorship in 1982. Though he lost, Old Joe became a force to be reckoned with, as well as a constant source of amusement for Alaska's political class. During a gubernatorial debate in 1982, Vogler proposed using nuclear weapons to obliterate the glaciers blocking roadways to Juneau. "There's gold under there!" he exclaimed.
Vogler made another failed run for the governor's mansion in 1986. But the AIP's fortunes shifted suddenly four years later when Vogler convinced Richard Nixon's former interior secretary, Wally Hickel, to run for governor under his party's banner. Hickel coasted to victory, outflanking a moderate Republican and a centrist Democrat. An archconservative Republican running under the AIP candidate, Jack Coghill, was elected lieutenant governor.
Hickel's subsequent failure as governor to press for a vote on Alaskan independence rankled Old Joe. With sponsorship from the Islamic Republic of Iran (http://http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2008/10/07/palins_unamerican/), Vogler was scheduled to present his case for Alaskan secession before the United Nations General Assembly in the late spring of 1993. But before he could, Old Joe's long, strange political career ended tragically that May when he was murdered by a fellow secessionist.
Hickel rejoined the Republican Party the year after Vogler's death and didn't run for reelection. Lt. Gov. Coghill's campaign to succeed him as the AIP candidate for governor ended in disaster; he peeled away just enough votes from the Republican, Jim Campbell, to throw the gubernatorial election to Democrat Tony Knowles.
Despite the disaster, Coghill hung on as AIP chairman for three more years. When he was asked to resign in 1997, Mark Chryson replaced him. Chryson pursued a dual policy of cozying up to secessionist and right-wing groups in Alaska and elsewhere while also attempting to replicate the AIP's success with Hickel in infiltrating the mainstream.
Unlike some radical right-wingers, Chryson doesn't put forward his ideas freighted with anger or paranoia. And in a state where defense of gun and property rights often takes on a real religious fervor, Chryson was able to present himself as a typical Alaskan.
He rose through party ranks by reducing the AIP's platform to a single page that "90 percent of Alaskans could agree with." This meant scrubbing the old platform of what Chryson called "racist language" while accommodating the state's growing Christian right movement by emphasizing the AIP's commitment to the "traditional family."
"The AIP is very family-oriented," Chryson explained. "We're for the traditional family -- daddy, mommy, kids -- because we all know that it was Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. And we don't care if Heather has two mommies. That's not a traditional family."
Chryson further streamlined the AIP's platform by softening its secessionist language. Instead of calling for immediate separation from the United States, the platform now demands a vote on independence.
Yet Chryson maintains that his party remains committed to full independence. "The Alaskan Independence Party has got links to almost every independence-minded movement in the world," Chryson exclaimed. "And Alaska is not the only place that's about separation. There's at least 30 different states that are talking about some type of separation from the United States."
This has meant rubbing shoulders and forging alliances with outright white supremacists and far-right theocrats, particularly those who dominate the proceedings at such gatherings as the North American Secessionist conventions, which AIP delegates have attended in recent years. The AIP's affiliation with neo-Confederate organizations is motivated as much by ideological affinity as by organizational convenience. Indeed, Chryson makes no secret of his sympathy for the Lost Cause. "Should the Confederate states have been allowed to separate and go their peaceful ways?" Chryson asked rhetorically. "Yes. The War of Northern Aggression, or the Civil War, or the War Between the States -- however you want to refer to it -- was not about slavery, it was about states' rights."
Another far-right organization with whom the AIP has long been aligned is Howard Phillips' militia-minded Constitution Party. The AIP has been listed as the Constitution Party's state affiliate since the late 1990s, and it has endorsed the Constitution Party's presidential candidates (Michael Peroutka and Chuck Baldwin) in the past two elections.
The Constitution Party boasts an openly theocratic platform that reads, "It is our goal to limit the federal government to its delegated, enumerated, Constitutional functions and to restore American jurisprudence to its original Biblical common-law foundations." In its 1990s incarnation as the U.S. Taxpayers Party, it was on the front lines in promoting the "militia" movement, and a significant portion of its membership comprises former and current militia members.
At its 1992 convention, the AIP hosted both Phillips -- the USTP's presidential candidate -- and militia-movement leader Col. James "Bo" Gritz, who was campaigning for president under the banner of the far-right Populist Party. According to Chryson, AIP regulars heavily supported Gritz, but the party deferred to Phillips' presence and issued no official endorsements.
In Wasilla, the AIP became powerful by proxy -- because of Chryson and Stoll's alliance with Sarah Palin. Chryson and Stoll had found themselves in constant opposition to policies of Wasilla's Democratic mayor, who started his three-term, nine-year tenure in 1987. By 1992, Chryson and Stoll had begun convening regular protests outside City Council. Their demonstrations invariably involved grievances against any and all forms of "socialist government," from city planning to public education. Stoll shared Chryson's conspiratorial views: "The rumor was that he had wrapped his guns in plastic and buried them in his yard so he could get them after the New World Order took over," Stein told a reporter.
Chryson did not trust Palin when she joined the City Council in 1992. He claimed that she was handpicked by Democratic City Council leaders and by Wasilla's Democratic mayor, John Stein, to rubber-stamp their tax hike proposals. "When I first met her," he said, "I thought she was extremely left. But I've watched her slowly as she's become more pronounced in her conservative ideology."
Palin was well aware of Chryson's views. "She knew my beliefs," Chryson said. "The entire state knew my beliefs. I wasn't afraid of being on the news, on camera speaking my views."
But Chryson believes she trusted his judgment because he accurately predicted what life on the City Council would be like. "We were telling her, 'This is probably what's going to happen,'" he said. "'The city is going to give this many people raises, they're going to pave everybody's roads, and they're going to pave the City Council members' roads.' We couldn't have scripted it better because everything we predicted came true."
After intense evangelizing by Chryson and his allies, they claimed Palin as a convert. "When she started taking her job seriously," Chryson said, "the people who put her in as the rubber stamp found out the hard way that she was not going to go their way." In 1994, Sarah Palin attended the AIP's statewide convention. In 1995, her husband, Todd, changed his voter registration to AIP. Except for an interruption of a few months, he would remain registered was an AIP member until 2002, when he changed his registration to undeclared.
In 1996, Palin decided to run against John Stein as the Republican candidate for mayor of Wasilla. While Palin pushed back against Stein's policies, particularly those related to funding public works, Chryson said he and Steve Stoll prepared the groundwork for her mayoral campaign.
Chryson and Stoll viewed Palin's ascendancy as a vehicle for their own political ambitions. "She got support from these guys,
Stein remarked. "I think smart politicians never utter those kind of radical things, but they let other people do it for them. I never recall Sarah saying she supported the militia or taking a public stand like that. But these guys were definitely behind Sarah, thinking she was the more conservative choice."
"They worked behind the scenes," said Stein. "I think they had a lot of influence in terms of helping with the back-scatter negative campaigning."
Indeed, Chryson boasted that he and his allies urged Palin to focus her campaign on slashing character-based attacks. For instance, Chryson advised Palin to paint Stein as a sexist who had told her "to just sit there and look pretty" while she served on Wasilla's City Council. Though Palin never made this accusation, her 1996 campaign for mayor was the most negative Wasilla residents had ever witnessed.
While Palin played up her total opposition to the sales tax and gun control -- the two hobgoblins of the AIP -- mailers spread throughout the town portraying her as "the Christian candidate," a subtle suggestion that Stein, who is Lutheran, might be Jewish. "I watched that campaign unfold, bringing a level of slime our community hadn't seen until then," recalled Phil Munger, a local music teacher who counts himself as a close friend of Stein.
"This same group [Stoll and Chryson] also [publicly] challenged me on whether my wife and I were married because she had kept her maiden name," Stein bitterly recalled. "So we literally had to produce a marriage certificate. And as I recall, they said, 'Well, you could have forged that.'"
When Palin won the election, the men who had once shouted anti-government slogans outside City Hall now had a foothold inside the mayor's office. Palin attempted to pay back her newfound pals during her first City Council meeting as mayor. In that meeting, on Oct. 14, 1996, she appointed Stoll to one of the City Council's two newly vacant seats. But Palin was blocked by the single vote of then-Councilman Nick Carney, who had endured countless rancorous confrontations with Stoll and considered him a "violent" influence on local politics. Though Palin considered consulting attorneys about finding another means of placing Stoll on the council, she was ultimately forced to back down and accept a compromise candidate.
Emboldened by his nomination by Mayor Palin, Stoll later demanded she fire Wasilla's museum director, John Cooper, a personal enemy he longed to sabotage. Palin obliged, eliminating Cooper's position in short order. "Gotcha, Cooper!" Stoll told the deposed museum director after his termination, as Cooper told a reporter for the New York Times. "And it only cost me a campaign contribution. (http://http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/09/14/america/palin.php?page=2)" Stoll, who donated $1,000 to Palin's mayoral campaign, did not respond to numerous requests for an interview. Palin has blamed budget concerns for Cooper's departure.
The following year, when Carney proposed a local gun-control measure, Palin organized with Chryson to smother the nascent plan in its cradle. Carney's proposed ordinance would have prohibited residents from carrying guns into schools, bars, hospitals, government offices and playgrounds. Infuriated by the proposal that Carney viewed as a common-sense public-safety measure, Chryson and seven allies stormed a July 1997 council meeting.
With the bill still in its formative stages, Carney was not even ready to present it to the council, let alone conduct public hearings on it. He and other council members objected to the ad-hoc hearing as "a waste of time." But Palin -- in plain violation of council rules and norms -- insisted that Chryson testify, stating, according to the minutes, that "she invites the public to speak on any issue at any time."
When Carney tried later in the meeting to have the ordinance discussed officially at the following regular council meeting, he couldn't even get a second. His proposal died that night, thanks to Palin and her extremist allies.
"A lot of it was the ultra-conservative far right that is against everything in government, including taxes," recalled Carney. "A lot of it was a personal attack on me as being anti-gun, and a personal attack on anybody who deigned to threaten their authority to carry a loaded firearm wherever they pleased. That was the tenor of it. And it was being choreographed by Steve Stoll and the mayor."
Asked if he thought it was Palin who had instigated the turnout, he replied: "I know it was."
By Chryson's account, he and Palin also worked hand-in-glove to slash property taxes and block a state proposal that would have taken money for public programs from the Permanent Fund Dividend, or the oil and gas fund that doles out annual payments to citizens of Alaska. Palin endorsed Chryson's unsuccessful initiative to move the state Legislature from Juneau to Wasilla. She also lent her support to Chryson's crusade to alter the Alaska Constitution's language on gun rights so cities and counties could not impose their own restrictions. "It took over 10 years to get that language written in," Chryson said. "But Sarah [Palin] was there supporting it."
"With Sarah as a mayor," said Chryson, "there were a number of times when I just showed up at City Hall and said, 'Hey, Sarah, we need help.' I think there was only one time when I wasn't able to talk to her and that was because she was in a meeting."
Chryson says the door remains open now that Palin is governor. (Palin's office did not respond to Salon's request for an interview.) While Palin has been more circumspect in her dealings with groups like the AIP as she has risen through the political ranks, she has stayed in touch.
When Palin ran for governor in 2006, marketing herself as a fresh-faced reformer determined to crush the GOP's ossified power structure, she made certain to appear at the AIP's state convention. To burnish her maverick image, she also tapped one-time AIP member and born-again Republican Walter Hickel as her campaign co-chair. Hickel barnstormed the state for Palin, hailing her support for an "all-Alaska" liquefied gas pipeline, a project first promoted in 2002 by an AIP gubernatorial candidate named Nels Anderson. When Palin delivered her victory speech on election night, Hickel stood beaming by her side. "I made her governor," he boasted afterward. Two years later, Hickel has endorsed Palin's bid for vice president.
Just months before Palin burst onto the national stage as McCain's vice-presidential nominee, she delivered a videotaped address to the AIP's annual convention. Her message was scrupulously free of secessionist rhetoric, but complementary nonetheless. "I share your party's vision of upholding the Constitution of our great state," Palin told the assembly of AIP delegates. "My administration remains focused on reining in government growth so individual liberty can expand. I know you agree with that... Keep up the good work and God bless you."
When Palin became the Republican vice-presidential nominee, her attendance of the 1994 and 2006 AIP conventions and her husband's membership in the party (as well as Palin's videotaped welcome to the AIP's 2008 convention) generated a minor controversy. Chryson claimed, however, that Sarah and Todd Palin never even played a minor role in his party's internal affairs. "Sarah's never been a member of the Alaskan Independence Party," Chryson insisted. "Todd has, but most of rural Alaska has too. I never saw him at a meeting. They were at one meeting I was at. Sarah said hello, but I didn't pay attention because I was taking care of business."
But whether the Palins participated directly in shaping the AIP's program is less relevant than the extent to which they will implement that program. Chryson and his allies have demonstrated just as much interest in grooming major party candidates as they have in putting forward their own people. At a national convention of secessionist groups in 2007, AIP vice chairman Dexter Clark announced that his party would seek to "infiltrate" the Democratic and Republican parties with candidates sympathetic to its hard-right, secessionist agenda. "You should use that tactic. You should infiltrate," Clark told his audience of neo-Confederates, theocrats and libertarians. "Whichever party you think in that area you can get something done, get into that party. Even though that party has its problems, right now that is the only avenue."
Clark pointed to Palin's political career as the model of a successful infiltration. "There's a lot of talk of her moving up," Clark said of Palin. "She was a member [of the AIP] when she was mayor of a small town, that was a nonpartisan job. But to get along and to go along she switched to the Republican Party... She is pretty well sympathetic because of her membership."
Clark's assertion that Palin was once a card-carrying AIP member was swiftly discredited by the McCain campaign, which produced records showing she had been a registered Republican since 1988. But then why would Clark make such a statement? Why did he seem confident that Palin was a true-blue AIP activist burrowing within the Republican Party? The most salient answer is that Palin was once so thoroughly embedded with AIP figures like Chryson and Stoll and seemed so enthusiastic about their agenda, Clark may have simply assumed she belonged to his party.
Now, Palin is a household name and her every move is scrutinized by the Washington press corps. She can no longer afford to kibitz with secessionists, however instrumental they may have been to her meteoric ascendancy. This does not trouble her old AIP allies. Indeed, Chryson is hopeful that Palin's inauguration will also represent the start of a new infiltration.
"I've had my issues but she's still staying true to her core values," Chryson concluded. "Sarah's friends don't all agree with her, but do they respect her? Do they respect her ideology and her values? Definitely."
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Here is the second one, from Mother Jones:
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MoJoBLOG
Calendars Show Gov. Palin's Foreign Policy Experience: About 20 Meetings for About 12 Hours (http://http://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/10/10162_palin_calendars_foreign_policy_experience.html)
Posted by David Corn on 10/09/08
In her first interview after John McCain picked her to be the GOP's vice presidential nominee, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin claimed that her foreign policy credentials were enhanced because "you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska." (http://http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=5782924) She also pointed out (http://http://www.brutallyhonest.org/brutally_honest/2008/09/the-un-edited-g.html) that she had experience dealing with trade delegations. Later, asked by CBS News' Katie Couric if she had ever participated in negotiations with Russia, Palin said (http://http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/25/palin-talks-russia-with-k_n_129318.html), "We have trade missions back and forth. We—we do—it's very important when you consider even national security issues with Russia ."
But the calendars tracking Palin's official meetings during her tenure as governor contain not one listing indicating she ever met with a Russian official. In fact, the 562 pages of her daily schedules—obtained by Mother Jones under Alaska's Open Records Act—indicate that Palin had few meetings at all with any foreign representatives and rarely dealt with any topic related to foreign policy. The schedules include about 20 meetings, events, or phone calls in which Palin interacted with foreign officials. And in many instances, these interactions were cursory or ceremonial and did not involve policy details. According to the schedules released, Palin spent roughly 12 hours over the course of 19 months on these meetings. (This doesn't count what happened during a four-day trip she took to Kuwait to visit members of the Alaska National Guard. The schedules for those days do not detail whom she met.) The calendars show no meetings between her and a trade delegation from any nation.
It's possible that the calendars are not fully accurate reflections of what happened—perhaps some meetings ran longer (or shorter) than scheduled. And it's possible that in her off hours, Palin pored over Foreign Affairs, held unofficial chats with foreign officials, and sought out foreign policy experts. Also, there is a six-week gap in her calendars—from mid May through the end of June 2007—due to what her office calls a "computer failure." But according to the schedules, throughout her stint as governor, Palin has devoted merely a few hours to anything of a foreign relations nature, and most of her contact with foreign officials came through discussions with Canadian officials about a natural gas pipeline involving a Canadian company.
Here is a complete list of all of Palin's official calendar entries for events or meetings in which she had to interact with a foreign representative. The missing weeks aside, this list represents the sum of the foreign policy experience she obtained while serving as governor.
January 18, 2007 -- Palin hosts an afternoon reception at the governor's mansion for representatives of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER), a regional US-Canadian forum that includes several Canadian government officials. Her office previously has announced (http://http://gov.state.ak.us/archive.php?id=67&type=1) she will hold separate meetings to discuss trade and border issues with three Canadian officials--Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie, Canadian Consul General Peter Lloyd (who is based in Seattle) and Minister of Tourism Brendan Bell—who are in Alaska in conjunction with the PNWER meeting.
January 19, 2007 -- Palin meets with Fentie for 30 minutes, with Lloyd for 30 minutes, and with Bell for 30 minutes. She does not attend the PNWER dinner hosted that night by the Canadian government for Alaskan officials and business leaders.
January 22, 2007 -- Palin receives a call at 7:00 am from Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff to discuss cross-border issues and visas.
February 24, 2007 -- In Washington, DC, for a National Governors Association meeting, Palin attends a reception at the Italian embassy. She stays for 30 minutes before leaving for a dinner hosted by the Republican Governors Association.
March 10, 2007 -- Palin hosts the annual Fur & Ice reception in Fairbanks for about 30 diplomats and international tourism representatives. A Palin press release (http://http://gov.state.ak.us/archive-3525.html) issued before the event noted, "Governor Sarah Palin will welcome members of Alaska's diplomatic corps to Fairbanks to view the ice carvings of Ice Alaska's 2007 World Ice Art Championship." Following the afternoon reception, Palin attends the NCAA rifle championships.
March 19, 2007 -- Palin meets with 10 foreign exchange students.
April, 3, 2007 -- Palin spends 15 minutes filming a short video message for a trade show in China.
April 4, 2007 -- In Juneau, Palin and several of her aides meet with British Columbia's premier, Gordon Campbell, and several of his aides for about 90 minutes.
April 16, 2007 -- Palin and a few aides meet with Taiwanese officials for an hour.
May 15, 2007 -- Palin holds a "brief courtesy" meeting with Martin Uden, then the head of the British consulate in San Francisco. The calendar notes, "He'll be visiting Juneau today off of one of the Cruise Ships."
July 23-26, 2007 -- Palin visits Kuwait to meet with members of the Alaska National Guard. (After Palin was selected as McCain's running mate, her aides, referring to this trip, said she had traveled to Ireland, Germany, Kuwait and Iraq. But on this visit, she did not go beyond the Kuwait-Iraq border (http://http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/09/13/palin_camp_clarifies_extent_of_iraq_trip/), and she did not truly visit Ireland; her plane made a refueling stop there.)
August 27, 2007 -- David Akov, the Israeli consul general for the Pacific Northwest, pays a 30-minute-long "courtesy call" on Palin. David Gottstein, AIPAC's Alaska chairman, also attends. Akov invites Palin to visit Israel. She reportedly tells Akov (http://http://jewishvoiceandopinion.com/a/JVO200809c.html) that Alaskans "love Israel."
September 12, 2007 -- Palin holds a 15-minute-long "courtesy" meeting with Hideo Fujita, the new chief of Japan's consulate in Anchorage.
September 13, 2007 -- Palin holds a 15-minute long "courtesy" meeting with Peng Keyu, the head of the Chinese consulate in San Francisco.
October 15, 2007 -- Palin meets Iceland's president, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson. The session is scheduled for 30 minutes. Grimsson is in Alaska to attend the Arctic Energy Summit Technology Conference. (After she became McCain's running mate, she was asked if she had ever met with a world leader. She said, no—forgetting (http://http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/09/26/palin-met-icelands-presid_n_129690.html) this meeting.)
January 4, 2008 -- Palin holds a ten-minute-long phone conversation with Canadian Minister of Industry Jim Prentice. Her calendar also refers to "Canadian officials phone calls" that day.
January 21, 2008 -- Palin is schedule for a brief "stop by" visit with Joe Balash, a Palin aide, and Brian Mason, a member of the legislative assembly of Alberta, Canada. The calendar says, "Balash Office would like a picture w/ GOV."
March 8, 2008 -- Palin welcomes guests (http://http://gov.state.ak.us/large_photo.php?id=115) to the 2008 Fur & Ice reception for the diplomatic corps. Diplomats from the Philippines, South Korea, the Slovak Republic, South Africa, Hungary, Indonesia, Italy, Poland, Finland, Germany, and Egypt attend. Her calendar lists no separate meetings with any of them.
May 22, 2008 -- At 7:15 am, Palin calls Yukon Premier Dennis Fentie; for ten minutes they discuss the news (http://http://www.gov.state.ak.us/news.php?id=1173) that her administration will ask the state legislature to award a license for a 1,715-mile-long natural gas pipeline to TransCanada. (Her administration has turned down bids from other conglomerates, including ConocoPhillips.) Later, she has a five-minute-long phone call with Canadian Minister of Industry Jim Prentice.
August 11-12, 2008 -- Palin attends a reception and delivers welcoming remarks for the Eighth Conference of Arctic Parliamentarians. The conference, which meets every two years, includes delegates from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden, and the United States. This year, it holds panels on human health in the Arctic region, Arctic marine policy, adaptation to climate change, and energy resources in the Arctic. After welcoming the delegates, Palin leaves to attend a "dedication and blessing ceremony" for a cultural and visitors center in Fairbanks.
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so what about a sex sammich wit me as the meat an Sarah Palin as th bread,Im gonna give some mayo of my own..ok iffn not her an tina fey then madaline stowe and that dutty ol neve canpbell,she gots quite the ass on her.
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so what about a sex sammich wit me as the meat an Sarah Palin as th bread,Im gonna give some mayo of my own..ok iffn not her an tina fey then madaline stowe and that dutty ol neve canpbell,she gots quite the ass on her.
Already been done.
http://www.tmz.com/2008/10/09/get-a-loa ... in-script/ (http://www.tmz.com/2008/10/09/get-a-load-of-this-whos-nailin-paylin-script/)
Script is hilarious.
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OUCH. Watch this clip by Keith Olbermann
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp ... 6#27057346 (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27057346#27057346)
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Onwards to dogemperor's 7th piece on Sarah Palin from the Daily Kos...
This post includes:
- Sarah Palin a Gothardite?
- More on that "Deborah" dogwhistle
--= = -=0=- = =-- --= = -=0=- = =-- --= = -=0=- = =--
Palin, Gothard, and dog-whistles to dominionists (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/19/162534/731/103/603997)
by dogemperor (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/)
Fri Sep 19, 2008 at 01:36:53 PM PDT
A few days ago, I wrote an article detailing several more links between Palin and particularly disturbing elements of the "Joel's Army" movement (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/16/182959/583/109/600956)--namely, apparent links between Palin and Bill Gothard's network of groups, and some very disturbing dog-whistles from some of the "Joel's Army" faithful comparing her to the prophetess Deborah.
Now that I have my power restored...we can get to "the rest of the story", so to speak...and now you get the background as to why the latest revelations are quite disturbing.
dogemperor's diary (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/) :: ::
Sarah Palin a Gothardite?
In my last post, I noted an article from the Cincinnati Beacon--a regular source of good investigative reporting regarding Gothard's various fronts--on Palin's links with Gothard. A recent article in Salon gives more detail (http://http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/09/18/palin_iacc/print.html)--and more reason to worry.
Among other things, Wasilla is one of 200-plus cities in the US that have been recruited into a particular Gothard front--the International Association of Character Cities:
Sep. 18, 2008 | In April 2000, under the direction of then-Mayor Sarah Palin, the Wasilla City Council passed a resolution declaring itself a "City of Character." Adopted unanimously, the resolution pledged that the city would "do all in its power" to promote "positive and constructive character qualities which distinguish between right and wrong," which the resolution predicted could work a range of wonders, from reducing juvenile delinquency to increasing corporate profits.
Thanks to Palin's efforts, Wasilla is now among roughly 200 cities nationwide (and others in 27 countries around the world) that have committed themselves -- in name, at least -- to following the teachings of the International Association of Character Cities (IACC), an organization that purports to be secular but is modeled on the evangelical teachings of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP).
Palin's personal connection to IACC, and her efforts to bring its agenda to Wasilla as mayor, sheds new light on her connections to the Christian far right, as well as her willingness to infuse government with its ideals rooted in religion. Her championing of IACC principles raises further questions about Palin's views on running government, including the hiring and firing of government employees, an area in which she has come under intense scrutiny in part due to her involvement in "trooper gate."
It is not exaggeration to term IACC a recruitment front for what amounts to a very nasty "Bible-based cult" Gothard promotes. The Salon article does touch on this, but--as in most cases involving neopente dominionists and coercive activity in neopente dominionist groups--most of the writing has been in either apologetics circles, survivors' communities, or the small community focusing on this sub-segment of "Christian nationalism".
The first definitive bits of writing re Gothard's IACC and its role as a recruitment front (outside of those in apologetics circles) would be two articles--the second being an article on Talk to Action entitled "Developing Dominionist Cities" (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/1/12/91714/3652) which is itself a summary of Silva Talji's "Cult of Character" (http://http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/2450/). I would strongly recommend people start out with those two articles as backgrounder.
One piece of backgrounder, too, that I would recommend would be an article I have written regarding experiences in several "Gothardised" cities who were members of IACC (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/8/16296/09024/711/452873)--the program is promoted as "secular", but in the actual seminars, there tends to be a rapid hard-sell to a specifically neopente-dominionist theology, and pointers to the "real content" being in the explicitly religious material.
Even more disturbing, IACC is part of what amounts to a multi-headed hydra of frontgroups linked with Gothard. One known front is Police Dynamics Institute (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/28/163659/492/529/444911), which promotes Gothardism to police, firefighters and EMTs; another is ALERT Teams (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/7/163753/4705/414/452169).
The ALERT Teams linkage--which is actually quite close indeed with PDI and IACC--is especially disturbing, as it is one of the few Joel's Army groups that can be legitimately described as "Joel's Army With Guns" (complete with a paramilitary training facility). Even worse, it's a "Joel's Army With Guns" group directly linked with possible neopente-dominionist infiltration of the armed forces and potentially grave national security consequences; the head of the US Air Force's Cyberspace Command is a major supporter of ALERT Teams (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/11/8/14242/4233/727/408109) (as if the US Air Force didn't have enough issues with "God Warriors" and mandatory religious prosyletisation scandals!).
There is evidence that--at least in the particular case of Palin's involvement--there was even less pretense than usual on the program being supposedly "secular"--including a talk by David Barton of Wallbuilders, a major promoter of a form of historical revisionism popular in "Christian nationalist" circles claiming that the US was established as primarily a dominionist nation:
Palin, Menzel confirmed, learned how Wasilla could become a City of Character at an IACC conference held at IBLP's International Training Center in Indianapolis in April 2000. A conference brochure shows that Gothard and other speakers affiliated with IBLP taught several of the sessions. The conference included a videotape presentation on the separation of church and state by David Barton, a regular on the Christian right speaking circuit who argues that the separation of church and state is a "myth."
Although Menzel and the IACC's materials insist that the program Hill launched at his company is secular, IBLP's Web site boasts that as a result of Hill's efforts, Kimray "benefited from the application of Biblical principles." Menzel admitted to the Texas Observer two years ago that "these are biblical principles." Hill has ties to Gothard dating back to 1974; he served on IBLP's board of directors from 1993 to 2005, and is currently on its "board of reference."
Gothard's teachings, and his implementation of them, are highly controversial even among evangelical Christians. Based on seven "non-optional" biblical principles, Gothard demands obedience to "God-ordained authorities, such as parents, government, and the church."
This gets very disturbing, very quickly--especially if you have an idea of just what Gothard promotes.
One thing Gothard is big on promoting is the concept of coercive "Bible-based" boot camps (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/12/131327/478/704/370495)--in fact, one facility in Indianapolis was so horrific it was shut down by the state of Indiana. This is, alas, simply an extension of the religiously motivated child abuse he promotes as an extension of an entire system of abuse (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/14/114136/732/786/371430) that actually manages to resemble Scientology's infamous Sea Orgs far more than any "church charity".
And some of the abuse of children in particular is extreme. A correspondent whom wishes to remain anonymous forwarded info from a now-defunct mailinglist for support of "Gothard parents":
Lori-We learned about spanking babies. WE learned about disciplning a child with a rod at the age of 6 months, when the weeds are very little we pluck them out. We use a 1/4 inch wooden dowel when they are 6 months. If you ignore those weeds then by the time they are toddlers you have to do something drastic. WE learned that if we started when they were babies, they were so much more obedient in coming and sitting and being quiet. OUr goal was that they be able to sit quietly for 2 hours on Sunday morning. Now it has been a joy.
I have learned that just one whack on a baby's bottom is not enough, it is 5 or 6 whacks. I found I was spankiing my children a whole lot less when I did it right the first time.
(And yes, the rest of the thread is just as bad.)
Of note, this is probably the most extreme religiously motivated child abuse I've seen documented yet; even Tedd Tripp and the Pearls, who formerly held the title of "worst of the worst", don't recommend using that thick of a rod to whack a six-month-old. :P
Gothard's system of abuse is in part based on enforcing a particularly extreme version of the coercive "discipling and shepherding" model common in abusive neopente dominionist churches (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/11/16111/6207/38/370152)--the same "cell church" model, of note, in use in John Hagee's church, in Wasilla A/G, and others. This is also the same cell-church model documented to cause short and long-term personality changes (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/15/15587/1892/116/515505)--in some cases, in as short as three days (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/9/165026/2943/580/511990).
Little documented is that Gothard's "coercive neopente dominionism-plus" system has a heavy emphasis on not just the abusive "cell church" model (including a requirement people be under the "covering" of a shepherd) and some especially horrific child abuse, but also a very heavy emphasis on another oddity in neopente dominionist circles--namely, the concept of "deliverance ministry (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/3/114749/049/223/253028)". "Deliverance ministry", boiled down, claims that literally anything can be "demonised" or "open doorways for Satan" and cause one to be "oppressed" or even frankly possessed by the Devil; in practice, it strongly resembles some of the worst practices in Scientology regarding "body thetans", "engrams", and "suppressive persons".
In similar manner as have been documented at some of Palin's churches, Gothard promotes the idea that illnesses are caused by "generational curses" (http://http://www.pfo.org/bgothard.htm)--or even by things as innocuous as Cabbage Patch Kids or "Troll" dolls.
Combined, the two practices amount to one of the most coercive systems ever documented (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/5/10/1787/26874/752/511810)--and Gothard's system is far more extreme than even the infamous coercive chunderfest at Hagee's church documented by Matt Taibbi in his book "The Great Derangement".
As if this weren't enough, Gothard will in general not discuss his tactics unless you have been recruited into his programs (http://http://www.midwestoutreach.org/journals/bill_gothard.htm) (a dead giveaway we are dealing with a frank cult here), and promotes "Quiverfull" stuff in his own way by claiming in essence that "God will provide" for women having extreme amounts of kids (http://http://www.midwestoutreach.org/journals/mystical_approach.htm) and that parents shouldn't have Caesarian sections (and again attributes infertility to having Cabbage Patch Kids in the house)...among other things. In addition to this, one of Gothard's known fronts is a completely unaccredited "college" that includes classes on "Christian midwifery", and Gothard has even been known to encourage women to not register home births at all.
In addition to all the other fun stuff I've mentioned, Gothard is also very explicitly dominionist (http://http://www.midwestoutreach.org/journals/gothard.html) (as if you hadn't yet guessed this), has encouraged others to set up incredibly abusive "Bible boot camps" not unlike his Indianapolis misadventure (http://http://www.batteredsheep.com/gothard.html), and attempted to suppress publication of a guide critical of his tactics (http://http://members.tripod.com/ronhenzel/GothardZone/08-BG2BG/32-WBockelman.html).
Gothard's teachings have in fact been described as those of a Bible-based cult (http://http://members.aol.com/excognito/gothard1.html)--which I am inclined to agree with, having grown up in a coercive group where Gothard's writing was heavily promoted and having written on the subject of abusive dominionist groups (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/2/104847/030) throughout most of my diary entries on DailyKos. My experiences aren't unique--apparently Gothard's stuff is heavily promoted within the Assemblies of God in particular (http://http://www.spiritualabuse.org/experiences/upc/jeff.html) (which is the denomination I am a walkaway from); disturbingly, Gothard is also heavily promoted within the dominionist "home education" movement (http://http://www.undergroundbride.com/gothard.html).
...and yes, that would be the same Assemblies in which Palin was, and has been up to June 2008, heavily involved in...including in an official policy as state governor (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/163234/559/495/579213).
And this, after Cincinnati's commissioner has called for an investigation of IACC (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/24/162011/297/887/442527) due to its heavy support of religiously motivated child abuse.
More on that "Deborah" dogwhistle
I also reported the other day on how J. Lee Grady--a Joel's Army promoter who is editor of the site "Fire In My Bones" and who has hailed fellow Joel's Army promoter Todd Bentley as a modern-day prophet--literally compared Sarah Palin to the Biblical prophetess Deborah (http://http://juliapalermo.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/sarah-palin-and-the-deborah-anointing-by-j-lee-grady/).
This is a prime example of how many of the promoters of "Joel's Army" theology tend to drop code-words and overt "scripture twisting" as dog-whistles to their parishoners--and the "Deborah dogwhistle" is a particularly nasty one indeed, as we'll get into.
The specific dogwhistle in question:
When McCain announced that he had chosen Palin as his running mate, I was reminded of the biblical story of Deborah, the Old Testament prophet who rallied God’s people to victory at a time when ancient Israel was being terrorized by foreign invaders. Deborah’s gender didn’t stop her from amassing an army; she inspired the people in a way no man could. She and her defense minister, Barak, headed to the front lines and watched God do a miracle on the battlefield.
In her song in Judges 5:7, Deborah declares: "The peasantry ceased, they ceased in Israel, until I, Deborah, arose, until I arose, a mother in Israel" (NASB).
The use of the New American Standard Bible is somewhat unusual (most neopente dominionists tend to use the NIV), but despite the version, the message is clear...and disturbing.
The Song of Deborah (http://http://bible.tmtm.com/wiki/Song_of_Deborah) describes a particularly vicious battle against the Canaanites during the pre-royal period of Israel--when the judges ruled the country along with the priesthood. It is worth noting Judges 5:6-5:8 in particular in the NASB version (http://http://nasb.scripturetext.com/judges/5.htm):
6 "In the days of Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of Jael, the highways were deserted,
And travelers went by roundabout ways.
7 "The peasantry ceased, they ceased in Israel,
Until I, Deborah, arose,
Until I arose, a mother in Israel.
8 "New gods were chosen; Then war was in the gates.
Not a shield or a spear was seen
Among forty thousand in Israel.
(NASB version.)
It's also noteworthy what appears in the New International Version (http://http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=judges%205;&version=31;), the version that most neopente dominionists are more likely to be using:
6 "In the days of Shamgar son of Anath,
in the days of Jael, the roads were abandoned;
travelers took to winding paths.
7 Village life [c] in Israel ceased,
ceased until I, [d] Deborah, arose,
arose a mother in Israel.
8 When they chose new gods,
war came to the city gates,
and not a shield or spear was seen
among forty thousand in Israel.
([c] or "Warriors"; [d] or "you".)
It's also worth noting some other minor dogwhistles. BibleWiki notes:
Name of the triumphal ode found in Jdg 5:2-31 and ascribed in the title (Jdg 5:1) to Deborah; it celebrates the victory in the plain of Megiddo over Sisera and his army.
For those unaware, Megiddo is of course the traditional site upon which the Final Battle will be fought--Armageddon. At least some groups do directly equate the two (http://http://www.heraldmag.org/2005/05nd_7.htm).
Then again, seeing as one of the persons fighting with Deborah was named Barak, this may not be as significant as one thinks--unless one counts that Barak ultimately failed at assassinating Sisera, and was beaten to it by a woman.
Oh, and the scene of aforementioned assassination is also noteworthy, one of the more spectacularly gruesome offings in the Old Testament that was not the result of direct divine intervention:
24 "Most blessed of women is Jael,
The wife of Heber the Kenite;
Most blessed is she of women in the tent.
25 "He asked for water and she gave him milk;
In a magnificent bowl she brought him curds.
26 "She reached out her hand for the tent peg,
And her right hand for the workmen’s hammer.
Then she struck Sisera, she smashed his head;
And she shattered and pierced his temple.
27 "Between her feet he bowed, he fell, he lay;
Between her feet he bowed, he fell;
Where he bowed, there he fell dead.
(NASB version.)
Ironically, Judges 6 is not mentioned (http://http://nasb.scripturetext.com/judges/6.htm)--in which Deborah reigns, and the people go to evil ways resulting in Midian occupation for seven years before Gideon takes over:
1 Then the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD gave them into the hands of Midian seven years.
(NASB version.)
And yet there is deeper meaning in this particular dogwhistle. One thing being heavily promoted in the Joel's Army community is the concept of a "Deborah Anointing" (http://http://pjmiller.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/the-deborah-anointing-and-the-kingdom-company-lol/)--that is, essentially a "women's corps of Joel's Army". An example from a site promoting "Joel's Army" theology (http://http://www.etpv.org/2001/ppmill.html) explains succinctly:
THE DEBORAH ANOINTING
King David prophesied in Ps. 68:11-12, "The Lord gives the word (command); the women who proclaim the good tidings are a great host; Kings of armies flee, they flee; and she who remains at home will divide the spoil!" The book of Judges declares Deborah as the 5th and last judge of Israel who resided under a tree, where she spent her days and nights alone with God, and received the strategic war plan to defeat Israel's enemies while being outnumbered. As a wife, judge, prophetess and strong military leader, Deborah saved her nation from bondage and tyranny, and sang of being a mother in Israel and dividing the spoil of her conquered enemy, Sisera (Judges 5). Her commander of the troops, Barak, and the scribe of Issachar (who knew and read the times of Israel) refused to engage in war without her. Why? Because of the anointings that rested upon her. The DEBORAH ANOINTING will be released upon women's ministries and housewives, birthing new ministries releasing higher seats of power, authority and the prophetic. High-ranking commanders of God's Army will not engage in battle without them. The vast majority of front liners and trench diggers are women, and the scars of battle are evident. However, this anointing will birth a new song in the hearts of many women who proclaim the Word of the Lord.
In other words, folks seen as having a "Deborah Anointing" are seen explicitly as God Warriors In Dresses--basically the WACS of Joel's Army, as it were.
The same site gives some rather disturbing insight as to what they thought of the biblical Barak (http://http://www.etpv.org/1999/tiwales.html):
Last night in the 'wee small hours' I agonised over wondering if I had made a terrible mistake in the word the Lord gave me for Wales. I know full well that Deborah did not slay Barak, indeed it was Jael who slew Sisera and yet somehow I did not 'see' what I had written at the time of testing/posting. I prayed about it, repenting if was in error, not understanding why the prophetic word for Wales, spoke of Deborah slaying Barak. I asked the Spirit of God to show me in His Word the explanation for the use of such terminology. I believe the Lord in His Wisdom permitted me to remain 'blind' in order that He might bring forth the following revelation. The Lord led me to a specific page within a book on the Welsh revival and I believe this is what He has shown:
. . .
Barak almost made a grave mistake. When he first heard the Lord's instruction to go and fight the enemy commander and his army, his initial response was not faith but fear and denial of the power of God. Through Deborah the Lord was instructing Barak to go and take on the 10,000 men of Naphtali and Zebulun and to lead the way to Mount Tabor.
BARAK TO DEBORAH --"I'LL ONLY GO IF YOU GO WITH ME"
Barak was not prepared to enter the battle trusting God. He replied to Deborah "If you go with me, I will go; but if you don't go with me, I won't go." Judges 4:8
The spirit within Barak did not believe in a conquering God who was able to defeat all opposition. Barak placed more belief in Deborah by his side than in the Lord God of Hosts as his strong deliverer. He had no revelation of the battle belonging to God, nor of the power that was in him being greater than the power in this world. Further, Barak was concerned for his flesh. The Lord is bringing together an end time army who will "love not their own lives unto death".
This is the revelation within the prophetic word for revival in Wales that we must understand. Without our eyes firmly fixed on Jesus as the risen victorious Christ, we will not be able to be used in the Lord's army against his enemy's.
. . .
The end time army will be a fearless, anointed army with no trace of the 'spirit' and rights to self within Barak. To be anything less that completely focused on the Lord and His awesome power will mean we are in danger of missing the commission set before us. It must be in His strength alone and completely dependent on Him that we move forward into revival. There are 'giants' that must be slain and it is only hidden in Christ and abandoned to His precious Spirit that we may be used to re-enforce the victory of Calvary.
Within God's Holy Word we come to understand how the enemy commander Sisera was killed by Jael - we are shown the defeat of the 'enemy without'. The Lord in His loving mercy is giving us a further 'key' - in studying Barak's responses and actions we are given some insight into the 'enemy within' - our sinful concern for our flesh, and our carnal doubts and lack of faith and belief in the nature and character of God as the Lord of Hosts.
WE MUST REPENT OF THE SPIRIT OF BARAK
I therefore believe we must repent of the sins that Barak walked in and ask the Lord for forgiveness. The Spirit will bring this conviction and through the Deborah anointing He will release those with a similar spirit to Barak. The end time army must march out in faith having sought the Lord with all of their heart, for there is no time for half hearted commitment or poorly shod armour or any amount of self-reliance.
(Of note, the "Wales revival" in question was a Joel's Army/Third Wave revival occuring in 1999.)
This is far from an isolated reference. Specific references to "Deborah Anointing" occur on multiple Joel's Army sites, including this one (http://http://www.greatsouthland.org/anointedforwar.html) (linked with Hillsong A/G in Sydney, Australia--a particularly infamous Joel's Army congregation that is the home of the Family First political party) as well as this site (http://http://www.mattsorger.com/teachings.aspx?id=41), and a major Joel's Army promotion site (Fresh Fire Ministries) promotes it as "the mantle of Deborah" (http://http://www.freshfire.ca/revival_reports_details.php?Id=99).
There are indications that the term may well have been used in Joel's Army circles as early as 1998 or earlier (http://http://discerningtheworld.wordpress.com/2008/02/03/cindy-jacobs-%e2%80%93-a-prophecy-for-zimbabwe/), based on its use in Guatemalan "Joel's Army" churches. (Guatemala has suffered possibly more than any other country the sad reality of neopente dominionist regimes (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/20/2406/2232/786/259560)...in particularly genocidal fashion during the reign of Gen. Rios Montt.)
A subtle dog-whistle indeed--and not likely that anyone outside the Joel's Army movement would catch the full import of it.
Tags: Religious Right, Scandals, Military, Abuse, Children, Dominionism, Alaska, Bill Gothard, cults, Assemblies of God, child abuse, separation of church and state, religion, hate groups, Elections 2008, GOP, Republican Party, Presidential Elections 2008, Extremism, Apocalypse, Joel's Army, 2008 Elections, John McCain, Sarah Palin, Rescued (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions
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Where can I get one of these Sarah Palin dominionist ties?
:D :D
Are you fishing for a kinky tale of a dominatrix who specializes in pleasurable uses of neckties, whilst Pastor Muthee (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=25889) rails on in the background re. your serpentine lifestyle, Frod?
I don't know about the stuff with this nutty pastor, but come to think of it I wouldn't mind if 'Mistress Sarah' wore a witch costume during our session....
In re: the serpentine thing... neckties are kind of serpent-like, are they not?
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Where can I get one of these Sarah Palin dominionist ties?
:D :D
Are you fishing for a kinky tale of a dominatrix who specializes in pleasurable uses of neckties, whilst Pastor Muthee (http://http://www.fornits.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=32&t=25889) rails on in the background re. your serpentine lifestyle, Frod?
I don't know about the stuff with this nutty pastor, but come to think of it I wouldn't mind if 'Mistress Sarah' wore a witch costume during our session....
In re: the serpentine thing... neckties are kind of serpent-like, are they not?
Fer-sher...but then, so is Medusa... (in a different way, haha!). ::evil:: :D ::evil::
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Ursus - Great post(s)!
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Thanks, but the credit actually belongs to dogemperor! ^-^
I suppose I really should say something about why I am posting this series by DE, since the upcoming election factors in but marginally, at this point.
I think that religious fanaticism and dominionism (in its broadest interpretation) have contributed a great deal to the troubled teen industry, not only in the current existence of specific programs such as Roloffs, Hephzibah House, certain Christian academies, and the like, but also as a significant contributing factor and springboard for the evolution of others. Alcoholics Anonymous would never have even existed were it not for the religious fanaticism of Frank Buchman and the Oxford Group (http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_Group), and AA -- in turn, to varying degrees, directly or indirectly -- factored into pretty much everything that is on Fornits.
Dogemperor's entries on the Daily Kos are incredible resources for links to quite a broad spectrum within that realm.
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Here is dogemperor's 8th piece on Sarah Palin...
This post includes:
- Palin's links to Thomas Muthee, Witchfinder General
- A look into a neopente dominionist witch-hunt
- Bringing a terrible new meaning to "suffer the children"
- Evidence of subversion of Wasilla government?
--= = -=0=- = =-- --= = -=0=- = =-- --= = -=0=- = =--
Palin, dominionist intimidation, and *actual* witch-hunters (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/22/112455/831/745/606414)
by dogemperor (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/)
Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 02:04:48 PM PDT
A few days ago, I had reported on Palin's linkages to "Bible-based cult" promoter Bill Gothard (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/19/162534/731/103/603997)...and, sadly, followup info proves that this may be far from her only links to religiously motivated abuse.
It turns out that Palin--and Wasilla A/G--are intimately connected with "Joel's Army" promoters directly responsible for not only harassment of critics, but also a little-reported and growing humanitarian crisis in sub-Saharan Africa: namely, the growth of "Joel's Army" "exorcists" and people--including young children--fleeing for their lives from a literal "God Warrior" progrom.
dogemperor's diary (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/) :: ::
Palin's links to Thomas Muthee, Witchfinder General
I have written in past re Palin's connections with "Joel's Army" promoters of deliverance ministry (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/3/114749/049/223/253028)--a concept in neopente dominionist circles, including in the Assemblies of God, that anything and anyone outside the group can be demonised or "open doorways to Satan" in exactly the same way that Scientologists refer to "body thetans", "suppressive persons", and "enturbulation".
The past few days have been spent on gathering some of the most damning and disturbing info on this yet--namely, Palin's linkages to Thomas Muthee, head pastor of the neopente dominionist Word of Faith Church of Nairobi, Kenya (http://http://www.wofchurchke.org/).
And, per posts in the Wild Hunt Blog (http://http://www.wildhunt.org/2008/09/palins-anti-pagan-coreligionists.html) (a neopagan site that also has a major watchdog project focusing on promoters of "deliverance ministry") has noted based on Bruce Wilson's initial expose of Wasilla A/G (http://http://www.alternet.org/rights/97939/weird_theology_in_wasilla%3A_a_look_inside_sarah_palin%27s_pentecostal_church/?page=entire), this includes a frank endorsement from Muthee:
As for Palin herself, she spoke approvingly (http://http://www.alternet.org/rights/97939/weird_theology_in_wasilla%3A_a_look_inside_sarah_palin%27s_pentecostal_church/?page=entire) of being personally prayed over by Thomas Muthee (http://http://www.wofchurchke.org/) just before winning governorship of Alaska. Muthee is a popular figure among Third Wavers for driving out the "spirit of witchcraft" that resided in Kiambu (http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiambu), Kenya.
"He and his wife committed to six months of prayer with various types of fasting before ever entering Kiambu. Their goal in prayer and fasting was to ask God to reveal the name of the demonic principality ruling over Kiambu and keeping the city under such oppression. God revealed through a vision that a spirit of witchcraft was the ruling principality there and that a number of other demonic spirits were functioning under the headship of witchcraft. An effective strategy for conquest would be to topple the spirit of witchcraft first and thus bring the coalition of evil spirits into disarray and drive them from the city."
An article in the Times Online (http://http://timesonline.typepad.com/uselections/2008/09/palin-linked-el.html) gives more info:
In video footage of the speech (http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8twqZpUT2NQ), she is seen saying: "As I was mayor and Pastor Muthee was here and he was praying over me, and you know how he speaks and he’s so bold. And he was praying "Lord make a way, Lord make a way."
"And I’m thinking, this guy’s really bold, he doesn’t even know what I’m going to do, he doesn’t know what my plans are. And he’s praying not "oh Lord if it be your will may she become governor," no, he just prayed for it. He said "Lord make a way and let her do this next step. And that’s exactly what happened."
She then adds: "So, again, very very powerful, coming from this church," before the presiding pastor comments on the "prophetic power" of the event.
This is disturbing on multiple levels.
For starters, Muthee is a rising star in "Joel's Army" circles--especially being promoted as being a God Warrior in Darkest Africa. For seconds, as Bruce Wilson noted, it appears he was a regular at a Joel's Army revival at Wasilla A/G during the exact period Palin was running for governor--and proving even more of a lie to her statement to have quit the church:
Mike Rose, senior pastor of Juneau Christian Center has a long relationship with Rodney Howard-Browne, credited with being the instigator of the outbreak of 'Holy Laughter' around the world, including the Toronto Airport Revival. Thomas Muthee visited Wasilla Assembly of God and gave 10 consecutive sermons at the church, from October 11-16 2005. As both Palin and Wasilla AoG Head Pastor Ed Kalnins have attested, Thomas Muthee 'prayed over' Sarah Palin and entreated God to "make a way" prior to Palin's successful bid for the Alaska governorship. Muthee made a return visit to the Wasilla Assembly of God in late 2008. Thomas Muthee's Word of Faith Church is featured in the "Transformations" video which details an account on how Muthee drove "the spirit of witchcraft" out of Kiambu, Kenya, liberating the town from its territorial demonic possession and enabling a miraculous societal transformation. The "Transformations" video set is used as an argument for social improvement through spiritual instead of human means, and as the best method for fighting corruption, crime, drugs and even environmental degradation.
Bruce Wilson has the video up of the conference (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/8/114332/7479) (and I would encourage wide mirroring, as there is apparently an astroturf campaign by Wasilla A/G to get the vids yanked from YouTube) and extensive documentation of the Joel's Army/Third Wave linkages of all of the neopente dominionist churches she's attended--for those who aren't easily triggered, it's worth a look just to get a good gander on the "private face" of Joel's Army".
Oh, as for that "method" of purification? It involves something that most people thought was dead with Matthew Hopkins, Witchfinder General...but which still has a very dark and terrible life in neopente dominionist circles.
Namely, this involves literal calls to round up suspected "witches".
A look into a neopente dominionist witch-hunt
Bruce Wilson's article notes:
In the video, producer George Otis declares that after Thomas Muthee and his followers banished the "spirit of witchcraft" from the town, the crime rate in Kiambu dropped almost to zero, along with the rate of alcoholism, and according to Otis most of the residents of the town joined churches. The "Transformations" video has helped spark a network of 'Transformation' ministries and mission organizations and 'transformation' has become a buzz word for change based on supernatural instead of human efforts.
Unfortunately not noted is pretty much how most of the people were convinced to convert.
There are now multiple YouTube videos (http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-_h2OU8RAQ) up discussing the matter, but it would appear (based on multiple reports) that this involved a coordinated campaign of harassment (http://http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2008/09/15/sarah-palin-and-the-thomas-muthee-witch-hunt/) of the likes not seen since the days of the Salem Witch Trials or the execution of Jeane Panne in Belgium in the 1600s:
Sarah Palin has been linked to a witch hunt. No, not a figurative witch hunt, the kind in which people are made to feel pressured and discriminated against. I’m talking about a real witch hunt, in which a woman is accused of witchcraft by someone seeking political power, and the woman is forced to flee her home in fear of her life.
That’s what one of Sarah Palin’s favorite preachers, Pastor Thomas Muthee, has done.
sarah palin thomas muthee witch hunt video podcast Muthee wanted to get control over the town of Kiambu, Kenya - a place just outside of Nairobi. Not content to set up a church and slowly gain the trust of the local inhabitants, Muthee decided to get publicity and gain political power through a piece of cruel theater.
Muthee chose a local woman named Mama Jane who happened to work as a fortune teller. Mama Jane had never caused much trouble before, but she was an important target for Muthee, because she was a close associate of town’s leaders. Muthee accused Mama Jane of being a sorceress - a witch who was engaging in spiritual warfare to curse to town of Kiambu.
Muthee’s proof of Mama Jane’s witchcraft? There had been three car accidents in the neighborhood of the clinic where Mama Jane worked. That, said Muthee, was sure evidence that Mamma Jane was a witch. So, Muthee got the local population in a panic, and sent three police officers into Mamma Jane’s. They fired their guns, killing one of Mama Jane’s pets.
Then, they arrested Mama Jane and threw her into jail. Muthee made his demand: "Mama Jane either gets saved and serves the Lord or she leaves town!"
Yes, you are reading this right--a woman was targeted simply for being a fortune teller, recruited the local cops, and arrested her simply for refusing to convert to "Joel's Army" spirituality.
An article in the Christian Science Monitor dating from 1999, and discussing the "Joel's Army" practice of "spiritual mapping"--that is, systematically mapping out which areas are supposedly "demonised" and targeting them for "spiritual warfare"--goes into more detail on Muthee's purge and the targeting of Mamma Jane (http://http://www.csmonitor.com/1999/0923/p15s1.html):
In 1988, he and his wife, Margaret, were "called by God to Kiambu," a notorious, violence-ridden suburb of Nairobi and a "ministry graveyard" for churches for years. They began six months of fervent prayer and research.
Pondering the message of Eph.6:12 ("For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world..."), they prayed to identify the source of Kiambu's spiritual oppression, Mr. Muthee says. Their answer: the spirit of witchcraft.
Their research into the community revealed that a woman called "Mama Jane" ran a "divination clinic" frequented by the town's most powerful people.
After months of prayer, Muthee held a crusade that "brought about 200 people to Christ." Their church in the basement of a grocery store was dubbed "The Prayer Cave," as members set up round-the-clock intercession. Mama Jane counterattacked, he says, but eventually "the demonic influence - the 'principality' over Kiambu - was broken," and she left town.
Not so much discussed is what tends to happen in these meetings--typically what goes on are literal imprecatory prayers against "targets", that they either convert--or be forced to leave or die.
Ironically, it's a Joel's Army site promoting Muthee that goes into detail (http://http://www.choicesforliving.com/spirit/part4/kenya.htm) on the harassment of Mama Jane--and on tactics used:
Pastor Muthee said, "When we began to recognize who - or what - Mama Jane really was, my wife Margaret and I set ourselves to pray. Our aim was to break the power of witchcraft over the town -- a power that was preventing people from turning to the Lord. It was a struggle that involved much groaning in our spirits. In time, however, we felt the burden lift. The dark cloud we had seen covering the town drifted away, and we felt supernatural joy inside. We knew things were going to change.
. . .
"Our services became very oppressed. People would try to sing, but they just couldn't." Praying 24 hours a day, Thomas Muthee and his members did what they could to counteract the demonic attacks. But the power of evil invaded the church to the point that they could hardly pray. One day it got so bad they started a worship song and were never able to finish it! They went outside and found the remains of fresh sacrifices and rituals left behind by Momma Jane.
"Finally we decided we had had enough. The whole congregation raised their hands towards the Emmanuel Clinic. We asked God to either save this woman or remove her from Kiambu.
. . .
In plain terms, Thomas Muthee challenged Momma Jane to a power encounter, much as Elijah challenged the priests of Baal.
By now word had spread to the city officials that Momma Jane did not seem to have the power she once had. Her clients were embarrassing her by openly burning fetishes and renouncing curses. Some began pointing out that it could be no coincidence that her clinic was right next to the area where the serious accidents were occurring. "
Pastor Muthee continued, "Do you know what happened? A few days later, three children were killed outside her clinic. The people were furious because they suspected that Mama Jane's witchcraft was linked to the accident. Some were clamoring that she be stoned. When the police were called in to quell the uprising, they found one of the largest pythons they had ever seen in one of the clinic rooms. Startled, the officers drew their weapons and shot it. That promptly ended the spiritual battle. Mama Jane was questioned by the police, releases, and moved to another town. Interesting, the same `bloodless accidents began happening there. [This was about 1992.] "We have not had a single accident since. In fact, since that woman moved out of Kiambu, the entire atmosphere has changed. Whereas people used to be afraid to go out at night, now we enjoy one of the lowest crime rates in Kenya.
The Times Online article also reveals some choice info on the specific forms of harassment:
According to accounts of the witchhunt circulated on evangelical websites such as Prayer Links Ministries (http://http://www.prayerlinksministries.com/), after Pastor Muthee declared Mama Jane a witch, the townspeople became suspicious and began to turn on her, demanding that she be stoned. Public outrage eventually led the police to raid her home, where they fired gunshots, killing a pet python which they believed to be a demon.
And some of the most damning info is also at another Joel's Army site (http://http://www.prayerlinksministries.com/Question3.htm)--largely a repeat of the first site, but also talking about specific organisation of not just prayer-gangs but targeted recruitment of officials to harass Mama Jane.
Sadly, incidents like this are part of a growing humanitarian crisis, especially in Nigeria and Kenya. And--even more tragic--often the targets are the youngest of all.
Bringing a terrible new meaning to "suffer the children"
Neopentecostal dominionism has grown explosively in sub-Saharan Africa, partly due to extremely aggressive targeting of the region by neopentecostal dominionists starting in the 1940s and partly because one of the main conduits of promotion has been "word-faith theology"--the same "name it and claim it" that Creflo Dollar et al promote on TBN and other dominionist networks. (Ironically, they are targeted much for the same reason Jewish people are targeted for conversion--many neopente dominionist end-time scenarios explicitly call for communities of "God Warriors" to be established in every nation and/or ethnic group before Jesus can come back and Rapture the lot of them off.)
And with "name it and claim it" tends to come "deliverance ministry"...and in Africa, "deliverance ministry" tends to breed "God Warrior" progroms, some of which even manage to put the actions of neopente dominionist hate-group "Watchmen At The Walls" (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/17/165640/10/473/399218) to shame.
One example is with the destruction of traditional places of worship (http://http://community.livejournal.com/dark_christian/946438.html):
Born to a family of traditional priests, Ibe Nwigwe converted to Christianity as a boy. Under the sway of born-again fervor as a man, he gathered the paraphernalia of ancestral worship — a centuries-old stool, a metal staff with a wooden handle and the carved figure of a god — and burned them as his pastor watched.
"I had experienced a series of misfortunes and my pastor told me it was because I had not completely broken the covenant with my ancestral idols," the 52-year-old Nwigwe said of the bonfire three years ago. "Now that I have done that, I hope I will be truly liberated."
In addition, it's not just the recently converted burning this stuff, but apparently temples are actually being raided for the African equivalent of Assemblies-style book burnings:
As poverty deepened in Nigeria from the mid-1980s, Pentecostal Christian church membership surged. The new faithful found comfort in preachers like evangelist Uma Ukpai who promised material success was next to godliness. He has boasted of overseeing the destruction of more than 100 shrines in one district in December 2005 alone.
Achina is typical of towns and villages in the ethnic Igbo-dominated Christian belt of southeastern Nigeria where this new Christian fundamentalism is evident. The old gods are being linked to the devil, and preachers are urging not only their rejection, but their destruction.
The Ezeokolo, the main shrine of Achina — a community of mainly farmers and traders in Nigeria's rain forest belt — has been repeatedly looted of its carved god figures. While no one has been caught, suspects range from people acting on Christian impulses to treasure thieves.
Recently, a village civic association volunteered to build a house to keep burglars away from a giant wooden gong decorated with carved male, female and snake figures. The gong in the market square is reputed to be more than 400 years old, and in decades past was sounded in times of emergency.
"We feared it may be stolen or destroyed like so many of our traditional cultural symbols," said Chuma Ezenwa, a Lagos-based lawyer.
And then there are those who bring a new, and all-too-often deadly, meaning to Christ's impunction to "suffer the children".
. . .
Little reported in the US press, but more reported overseas in the UK, is the growing crisis of not only traditional healers and traditional faith communities being targeted for harassment but the crisis of ndoki orphans...children who are literally forced to flee their homes for their lives due to being targeted as "witches" in neopentecostal dominionist "revivals" (http://http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/dec/09/tracymcveigh.theobserver) in even more horrific manner than Mama Jane:
The rainy season is over and the Niger Delta is lush and humid. This southern edge of West Africa, where Nigeria's wealth pumps out of oil and gas fields to bypass millions of its poorest people, is a restless place. In the small delta state of Akwa Ibom, the tension and the poverty has delivered an opportunity for a new and terrible phenomenon that is leading to the abuse and the murder of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children. And it is being done in the name of Christianity.
Almost everyone goes to church here. Driving through the town of Esit Eket, the rust-streaked signs, tarpaulins hung between trees and posters on boulders, advertise a church for every third or fourth house along the road. Such names as New Testament Assembly, Church of God Mission, Mount Zion Gospel, Glory of God, Brotherhood of the Cross, Redeemed, Apostalistic. Behind the smartly painted doors pastors make a living by 'deliverances' - exorcisms - for people beset by witchcraft, something seen to cause anything from divorce, disease, accidents or job losses. With so many churches it's a competitive market, but by local standards a lucrative one.
But an exploitative situation has now grown into something much more sinister as preachers are turning their attentions to children - naming them as witches. In a maddened state of terror, parents and whole villages turn on the child. They are burnt, poisoned, slashed, chained to trees, buried alive or simply beaten and chased off into the bush.
Some parents scrape together sums needed to pay for a deliverance - sometimes as much as three or four months' salary for the average working man - although the pastor will explain that the witch might return and a second deliverance will be needed. Even if the parent wants to keep the child, their neighbours may attack it in the street.
This is not just a few cases. This is becoming commonplace. In Esit Eket, up a nameless, puddled-and-potholed path is a concrete shack stuffed to its fetid rafters with roughly made bunk beds. Here, three to a bed like battery chickens, sleep victims of the besuited Christian pastors and their hours-long, late-night services. Ostracised and abandoned, these are the children a whole community believes fervently are witches.
If anything, the practices are essentially the same thing that goes on at neopente "deliverance" services here with an African twist (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/7/17/11272/3341/129/358866)--and have, disturbingly, had the power at times of an entire village and neopente preachers who launch essentially "Joel's Army" fatwas against infants in some cases:
Mary Sudnad, 10, grimaces as her hair is pulled into corn rows by Agnes, 11, but the scalp just above her forehead is bald and blistered. Mary tells her story fast, in staccato, staring fixedly at the ground.
'My youngest brother died. The pastor told my mother it was because I was a witch. Three men came to my house. I didn't know these men. My mother left the house. Left these men. They beat me.' She pushes her fists under her chin to show how her father lay, stretched out on his stomach on the floor of their hut, watching. After the beating there was a trip to the church for 'a deliverance'.
A day later there was a walk in the bush with her mother. They picked poisonous 'asiri' berries that were made into a draught and forced down Mary's throat. If that didn't kill her, her mother warned her, then it would be a barbed-wire hanging. Finally her mother threw boiling water and caustic soda over her head and body, and her father dumped his screaming daughter in a field. Drifting in and out of consciousness, she stayed near the house for a long time before finally slinking off into the bush. Mary was seven. She says she still doesn't feel safe. She says: 'My mother doesn't love me.' And, finally, a tear streaks down her beautiful face.
Gerry was picked out by a 'prophetess' at a prayer night and named as a witch. His mother cursed him, his father siphoned petrol from his motorbike tank and spat it over his eight-year-old face. Gerry's facial blistering is as visible as the trauma in his dull eyes. He asks every adult he sees if they will take him home to his parents: 'It's not them, it's the prophetess, I am scared of her.'
Nwaeka is about 16. She sits by herself in the mud, her eyes rolling, scratching at her stick-thin arms. The other children are surprisingly patient with her. The wound on her head where a nail was driven in looks to be healing well. Nine- year-old Etido had nails, too, five of them across the crown of his downy head. Its hard to tell what damage has been done. Udo, now 12, was beaten and abandoned by his mother. He nearly lost his arm after villagers, finding him foraging for food by the roadside, saw him as a witch and hacked at him with machetes.
Magrose is seven. Her mother dug a pit in the wood and tried to bury her alive. Michael was found by a farmer clearing a ditch, starving and unable to stand on legs that had been flogged raw.
Ekemini Abia has the look of someone in a deep state of shock. Both ankles are circled with gruesome wounds and she moves at a painful hobble. Named as a witch, her father and elders from the church tied her to a tree, the rope cutting her to the bone, and left the 13-year-old there alone for more than a week.
There are sibling groups such as Prince, four, and Rita, nine. Rita told her mum she had dreamt of a lovely party where there was lots to eat and to drink. The belief is that a witch flies away to the coven at night while the body sleeps, so Rita's sweet dream was proof enough: she was a witch and because she had shared food with her sibling - the way witchcraft is spread - both were abandoned. Victoria, cheeky and funny, aged four, and her seven-year-old sister Helen, a serene little girl. Left by their parents in the shell of an old shack, the girls didn't dare move from where they had been abandoned and ate leaves and grass.
The youngest here is a baby. The older girls take it in turn to sling her on their skinny hips and Ikpe-Itauma has named her Amelia, after his grandmother. He estimates around 5,000 children have been abandoned in this area since 1998 and says many bodies have turned up in the rivers or in the forest. Many more are never found. 'The more children the pastor declares witches, the more famous he gets and the more money he can make,' he says. 'The parents are asked for so much money that they will pay in instalments or perhaps sell their property. This is not what churches should be doing.'
5000 kids abandoned--a conservative estimate--in one area of Nigeria yearly. The problem of "ndoki orphans" is prevalent throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa--Kenya is a hotspot, as is Ghana, as is Nigeria, as is the Congo, as is South Africa.
The problem is in fact severe enough that it's being actively exported--the United Kingdom has done much coverage of "deliverance ministry"-related child abuse, in part, because it's becoming a rather serious problem (http://http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_exor5.htm) thanks to neopente dominionists in African emigre communities there. The BBC was one of the first mainstream news agencies to report on this form of religiously motivated child abuse (http://http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2007/01/30/kurt_belief_law_feature.shtml) due to a number of rather infamous cases of "deliverance ministry"-related abuse in the UK, which led to the discovery of at least thirty cases (http://http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20050604/ai_n14653904) and the setup of a dedicated division of Scotland Yard to investigate; even now, UK social services groups are given instructions on how to spot "deliverance ministry"-related child abuse (http://http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/consultations/downloadableDocs/Spirit%20possession%20pdf.pdf) and are among the very few groups taking an aggressive stand against it including via research and educational efforts (http://http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RR750.pdf).
And sadly, deaths occur not just of children but adults too. The Nigerian Tribune reports that the Burning Times have come to Africa (http://http://www.tribune.com.ng/28082008/opinion.html) as people accused of being witches--typically in neopentecostal dominionist "deliverance services"--are literally being burnt at the stake in scenes more closely resembling the Spanish Inquisition than the 21st century:
Let’s take for instance, the belief in witchcraft. Most Africans believe that witches exist and are real.
That witches cause diseases, accidents, death and business failures. Incidentally, there is no evidence of witchcraft or the activities associated with witches. But because of the misconceptions associated with witchcraft, those accused of being witches are attacked, tortured, maltreated and killed in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In May, at least 11 people alleged to be witches were burnt to death in Kenya. Those who masterminded this heinous act said they had ‘evidence’ that they were witches. There have been other cases of witch hunt in Nigeria, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa, Uganda, etc.
. . .
Critical thought should also be applied to the teachings of all religions including those of Christianity and Islam. Many paranormal beliefs continue to exist in Africa beeause Christianity and Islam promote and sanction them. They include the belief in witches, ghost, after life, faith healing, divine revelation, communication with spirit, etc. The two world religions Christianity and Islam introduced and control formal education in modern Africa.
One of the few other groups trying to help kids in this situation is RISE International (http://http://www.riseinternationalcic.org/)--whom has contributed to efforts to help "ndoki orphans".
The problem, alas, isn't just restricted to Nigeria. As a major researcher on Joel's Army and the "Third Wave" on Talk to Action reports (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/20/171755/145/Front_Page/Palin_Muthee_and_the_Witch_Journalists_Miss_the_Major_Story), it's not just sub-Saharan Africa, and "independent" neopente dominionist groups are promoting this worldwide--including via a Guatemalan church linked with a literal coup-de-etat:
The last city segment features Almolonga, Guatemala. Otis begins this segment by claiming that Almolongo is now 80% born again after the transformation of this town of about 19,000. Again he tells of a town in the grip of demonic strongholds, this time the demons of folk deities and syncretism. He states that previously the gospel could not take hold and evangelical Christians were a despised minority. Again a group of intercessors prayed and "after many signs and wonders and deliverances from demonic possession" the town was transformed. Otis then catalogs the miraculous changes in this once poor town plagued with crime and alcoholism. He claims that all four jails have been closed as there is no longer crime. Two dozen evangelical churches have replaced 36 bars and cantinas. The streets and buildings have been renamed after biblical places. But more remarkably Otis claims that this spiritual transformation has healed the land and revived the agricultural economy. Harold Cabelleros, founder of El Shaddai Church in Guatemala City, claims that Almolonga farmers now have three harvest per year, and that once God came to town, the harvest time for a radish dropped from 60 days to 40, and then 25.
. . .
Cabelleros also contributed to Wagner's 1993 book, Breaking Strongholds in Your City. Mell Winger was the director of the Bible Institute at El Shaddai Church in Guatemala City and later served with Ted Haggard at New Life Church, which shares the campus of the World Prayer Center. See Richard Bartholomew's Notes on Religion (http://http://blogs.salon.com/0003494/2004/05/31.html).
The involvement of El Shaddai is extremely disturbing for a special reason. Not only does El Shaddai have close links with Mell Winger (and by extension, Tedd Haggard at New Life Church--at least until Haggard was outed as gay, that is) but it is linked with the one dominionist group explicitly linked in a court of law with genocide and crimes against humanity (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/20/2406/2232/786/259560). Specifically, El Shaddai is a member of a group of "Assemblies daughters" known as Verbo Ministries and a frontgroup of Verbo, Global Outreach Ministries...and two of the most infamous members of Verbo Ministries are Efrain Rios Montt and Jorge Serrano Elias.
Serrano Elias is particularly noteworthy here, as he was not only a protege of Rios Montt (http://http://www.thedailyjournalonline.com/article.asp?CategoryId=14088&ArticleId=204237) (and a protector of Montt's slaughter of upwards of possibly 200,000 Mayans (http://http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2005/1/9/222442/5744) (we aren't for sure how high it goes; they're still finding the bodies over 25 years later (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/2/16/35915/2974)) and over a million displaced persons) but apparently was also a member of El Shaddai--not just a member, but apparently a minister and one of those establishing the initial benchhead for the closest thing the world has known to Nehemiah Scudder's regime in Heinlein's "If This Goes On...":
In 1976 he collaborated with various American Protestant churches to help the population recover from the devastating earthquake that had afflicted the country. He then published a document describing the miserable conditions under which the indigenous population lived, which resulted in his receiving threats. He went into exile in the US, only returning in 1982, to work in the government of fellow evangelist General Efraín Ríos Montt as Vice President of the Advisory Board to the government.
And El Shaddai, too, has attempted harassment of people and destruction of cultural relics in the name of "spiritual warfare" (http://http://books.google.com/books?id=dyzbdjDJ9OUC&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=%22el+shaddai+church%22+guatemala&source=web&ots=qLrePo48ZN&sig=CL_cYoc_gl9V6WzUr474aZIOAds#PPA99,M1):
As soon as the church started building, government archaeologists leaped to the defense of the pre-Colombian site. But before the church's laborers stopped, they are said to have dug up the head of a snake carved in stone. The leaders of El Shaddai Church interpreted the suddenly revealed archaeology of their new location as a sign: the Lord had brought them face to face with his vision for Guatemala.
Three hundred years before Christ, Pastor Haroldo Caballeros announced, the serpent mound had been built to dedicate the entire country to Satan. Ever since that offering to the plumed serpent Quetzalcoatl, Guatemala and all of Latin America had been cursed. Why else would a continent so rich in resources and faith be among the poorest and most indebted of the earth? Why else would a country so green and blessed by God be so afflicted with violence and poverty? But now this curse of centuries could be lifted, Caballeros said. It is probably no coincidence that the name of his church, El Shaddai, means "The Almighty" in Hebrew; this was a vision not just for saving souls, but for seizing a country's destiny. Caballeros preached like a polished courtroom advocate--his former profession--and was attracting influential people to El Shaddai, including a man about to be elected president of the country.
Funded by a well-heeled congregation, Caballeros mounted a national prayer campaign to take the vision for overcoming the serpent's curse to every evangelical pastor in the country. Fifty thousand prayer warriors were needed to battle the territorial demons controlling Guatemala, Caballeros declared. God wanted to open up the skies and rain down his blessings. He wanted to bring a revival with so many signs, prodigies, and wonders that every tongue would confess that Jesus is Lord of Guatemala. Uplifted by an army of prayer, the church would rise up like a giant. It would prophesy over Guatemala, liberate it, and turn the curse into a blessing.
El Shaddai is also at the heart of an attempt to make a third go at turning Guatemala into the Republic of Gilead (http://http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Pentecostal+candidate+seeks+%27dominion%27+over+Guatemala-a0160481498)--only bloodier, if Montt's rule is any guide.
The CSM article itself notes other examples of similar "witch hunts", even here in the States:
- In Hemet, Calif., a new pastor began noting on a map sites where what he believed to be negative spiritual influences were located: controversial religious centers, cults, youth gangs, and the West Coast's largest methamphetamine manufacturing facilities.
After years of research and targeted prayer, participants say, drug production has been dramatically reduced and corrupt police have been fired, gang members have converted, the "power of a demonic strongman" was broken, cults left town or were burned out, and Christians are in key leadership positions.
- In Cali, Colombia, home of the infamous drug cartel, pastors carried out a spiritual mapping campaign "gathering intelligence on political, social, and spiritual strongholds" in each of the city's 22 administrative zones. They began holding all-night prayer vigils involving thousands in the soccer stadium.
When vigils were followed by periods without homicides and the arrests of major cartel leaders, "a new openness to the Gospel was felt at all levels of society," and churches began to see "explosive growth."
Interestingly, one of the US churches most consistently linked with this sort of thing is New Life Church in Colorado Springs--former home of Ted Haggard. In Jeff Sharlet's article "Soldiers of Christ"--published May 2005 in Harpers Magazine (http://http://web.archive.org/web/20070307090843rn_1/www.harpers.org/SoldiersOfChrist-20061103288348488.html)--targeted harassment of not just critics but of people seen as the Enemy are noted:
He was always on the lookout for spies. At the time, Colorado Springs was a small city split between the Air Force and the New Age, and the latter, Pastor Ted believed, worked for the devil. Pastor Ted soon began upsetting the devil's plans. He staked out gay bars, inviting men to come to his church; his whole congregation pitched itself into invisible battles with demonic forces, sometimes in front of public buildings. One day, while he was working in his garage, a woman who said she'd been sent by a witches' coven tried to stab Pastor Ted with a five-inch knife she pulled from a leg sheath; Pastor Ted wrestled the blade out of her hand. He let that story get around. He called the evil forces that dominated Colorado Springs—and every other metropolitan area in the country—"Control."
Sometimes, he says, Control would call him late on Saturday night, threatening to kill him. "Any more impertinence out of you, Ted Haggard," he claims Control once told him, "and there will be unrelenting pandemonium in this city." No kidding! Pastor Ted hadn't come to Colorado Springs for his health; he had come to wage "spiritual war."
He moved the church to a strip mall. There was a bar, a liquor store, New Life Church, a massage parlor. His congregation spilled out and blocked the other businesses. He set up chairs in the alley. He strung up a banner: SIEGE THIS CITY FOR ME, signed JESUS. He assigned everyone in the church names from the phone book they were to pray for. He sent teams to pray in front of the homes of supposed witches—in one month, ten out of fifteen of his targets put their houses on the market. His congregation "prayer-walked" nearly every street of the city.
Population boomed, crime dipped; Pastor Ted believes to this day that New Life helped chase the bad out of town. He thinks like that, a piston: less bad means more good. Church is good, and his church grew, so fast there were times when no one knew how many members to claim. So they stopped talking about "members." There was just New Life. "Are you New Life?" a person might ask. New Life moved into some corporate office space. Soon they bought the land that had been prophesied, thirty-five acres, and began to build what Pastor Ted promised would be a new Jerusalem.
As disturbing as this is...it also appears that Sarah Palin may have been taking notes from Muthee et al--right down to the use of cops for harassment.
Evidence of subversion of Wasilla government?
Some of the info that has come out re Palin--and regarding her own running of Wasilla's government as well as her stint as governor--give ever more info indicating she essentially is running as the Manchurian Candidate of Joel's Army. And interestingly, a fair amount of this may directly tie into police scandals.
One bit of info includes info on Progressive Alaska indicating Wasilla A/G may have engaged in major infiltration of the Wasilla Police Department (http://http://progressivealaska.blogspot.com/2008/09/saradise-lost-chapter-twenty-seven-fear.html) and that critics fear retribution:
A blogger told me that he needs to back off the more sensitive Palin information because he's afraid of getting shot by some of the more fanatical, hard-core "Palin-bots." I've been told that when media representatives attempted to speak to several members of Palin's former church (http://http://www.wasillaag.org/), one member wouldn't speak out of fear of his/her life and the other declined out of fear of potential treatment by law enforcement who are also members of the church.
(And now you know why I post pseudonymously and am a bit paranoid on giving my personal info out!)
And tomorrow, we have some explosive new info to point out regarding how Palin is a veritable dominionist Midas--it turns out TrooperGate and "RapeKitGate" both have strong dominionist connections.
Tags: Religious Right, Scandals, Military, Abuse, Children, Dominionism, Alaska, Guatemala, Kenya, cults, Assemblies of God, child abuse, separation of church and state, religion, hate groups, Elections 2008, GOP, Republican Party, Presidential Elections 2008, Extremism, Apocalypse, Joel's Army, 2008 Elections, John McCain, Sarah Palin (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions
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"soldiers of christ"
...what the fuck?
If god made everything. Why does he need an army?
Did he nod off during creationism and whoops out popped the devil ? Pesky bug in the system - shit. I'll have to issue a fix for that - the SOC fix.
Honestly, the stories these right wing christians (and every religeon for that matter) come up with are worse than cartoons.
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Honestly, the stories these right wing christians (and every religeon for that matter) come up with are worse than cartoons.
With all due respect sir, this remark is an insult to cartoons and cartoonists everywhere. :D
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All apologies.
I would like to make amends by extending this offer to cartoonists and friends of cartoonists....
In the name of God, the father almighty the creator of the whole
universe, In him there is everything, the most powerful, the most
merciful, beneficient and the most gracious,I greet you in the name
of God who have appointed you to me to
help in carrying out his glorious work.
I am writing this mail with pains but in confidence believing that
if It is the wish of God for you to help me to carry out these
course, God almighty will bless and reward you in abundance.
My intention of contacting you is to solicit your humble assistance
for a project, which will be mutually beneficial. I am Mrs. Sarah
Dickerson. I am married to Late Mr.David Dickerson who is canadian
citizen, he was a gold miner in Ghana(Ashanti gold field)and
sierra leone(Koidu district) for twelve years before he died in the
year 2000. We were married for twelve years without a child. He
died after a
brief illness that lasted for only four days.
Since his death I too have been battling with both Cancer and
Stroke problems. When my late Husband was alive he made a huge
deposit in millions of US dollars
with a deposit and Finance Company(bank) in oversea(I will tell you
the amount as we proceed).
Though what disturbs me most is my stroke sickness. Having known
my condition I decided to donate this fund to either a devoted
religious person, organization or individual that will utilize this
money the way I am going to instruct herein. PresentlyI am
undergoing a medical treatment in London(United kingdom).
I want this organization or individual to use this money in all
sincerity to fund Motherless babies homeorphanages, widows, and also
propagating the word of God and to ensure that the society upholds
the views and belief of God.
I don't have any child that will inherit this money and my
husband relatives has been so harsh on me and they are into some
radical Organizations and I don't want a situation where this money
will be used in an Unholy manner.
Hence the reasons for this bold decision. I know that after death
I will be with God the most beneficent and the most merciful. I
don't need any telephone conversation in this regard, because of
presence of my husband's relatives around me always. I don't want
them to know about this development.
As soon as I receive your reply on email
address:([email protected])I shall give
you the contact information of the Deposit and Finance Company(bank)
in oversea where the money was deposited.I will also issue a
letter of authority to the Deposit Company authorizing them that
the said fund have being willed to you and a copy of such
authorization will be forwarded to you.
May the Almighty God who have assigned you to me on these project
continue to guide and protect you, see you through in all your
strives and human
endeavours.
My dreams will forever rest squarely on your Shoulders.
Sincerely in christ's love
Mrs. Sarah Dickerson
Propagating the word of God
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I'd like the last 2 minutes of my life back, please.
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............and the difference between a revolutionary,and a subversive is???????????????hm is that like the difference between hardheaded,and say....determined? ah yes the wide world of semantics.
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What do you call the first Black President of the USA?
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Morgan Freeman
in "Deep Impact".
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Palin, dominionist intimidation, and *actual* witch-hunters (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/22/112455/831/745/606414)
by dogemperor (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/)
Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 02:04:48 PM PDT
...<snip snip>...
Bringing a terrible new meaning to "suffer the children"
...<snip snip>...
Little reported in the US press, but more reported overseas in the UK, is the growing crisis of not only traditional healers and traditional faith communities being targeted for harassment but the crisis of ndoki orphans...children who are literally forced to flee their homes for their lives due to being targeted as "witches" in neopentecostal dominionist "revivals" (http://http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2007/dec/09/tracymcveigh.theobserver) in even more horrific manner than Mama Jane:
The rainy season is over and the Niger Delta is lush and humid. This southern edge of West Africa, where Nigeria's wealth pumps out of oil and gas fields to bypass millions of its poorest people, is a restless place. In the small delta state of Akwa Ibom, the tension and the poverty has delivered an opportunity for a new and terrible phenomenon that is leading to the abuse and the murder of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of children. And it is being done in the name of Christianity.
Almost everyone goes to church here. Driving through the town of Esit Eket, the rust-streaked signs, tarpaulins hung between trees and posters on boulders, advertise a church for every third or fourth house along the road. Such names as New Testament Assembly, Church of God Mission, Mount Zion Gospel, Glory of God, Brotherhood of the Cross, Redeemed, Apostalistic. Behind the smartly painted doors pastors make a living by 'deliverances' - exorcisms - for people beset by witchcraft, something seen to cause anything from divorce, disease, accidents or job losses. With so many churches it's a competitive market, but by local standards a lucrative one.
But an exploitative situation has now grown into something much more sinister as preachers are turning their attentions to children - naming them as witches. In a maddened state of terror, parents and whole villages turn on the child. They are burnt, poisoned, slashed, chained to trees, buried alive or simply beaten and chased off into the bush.
Some parents scrape together sums needed to pay for a deliverance - sometimes as much as three or four months' salary for the average working man - although the pastor will explain that the witch might return and a second deliverance will be needed. Even if the parent wants to keep the child, their neighbours may attack it in the street.
This is not just a few cases. This is becoming commonplace. In Esit Eket, up a nameless, puddled-and-potholed path is a concrete shack stuffed to its fetid rafters with roughly made bunk beds. Here, three to a bed like battery chickens, sleep victims of the besuited Christian pastors and their hours-long, late-night services. Ostracised and abandoned, these are the children a whole community believes fervently are witches.
If anything, the practices are essentially the same thing that goes on at neopente "deliverance" services here with an African twist (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/7/17/11272/3341/129/358866)--and have, disturbingly, had the power at times of an entire village and neopente preachers who launch essentially "Joel's Army" fatwas against infants in some cases:
Mary Sudnad, 10, grimaces as her hair is pulled into corn rows by Agnes, 11, but the scalp just above her forehead is bald and blistered. Mary tells her story fast, in staccato, staring fixedly at the ground.
'My youngest brother died. The pastor told my mother it was because I was a witch. Three men came to my house. I didn't know these men. My mother left the house. Left these men. They beat me.' She pushes her fists under her chin to show how her father lay, stretched out on his stomach on the floor of their hut, watching. After the beating there was a trip to the church for 'a deliverance'.
A day later there was a walk in the bush with her mother. They picked poisonous 'asiri' berries that were made into a draught and forced down Mary's throat. If that didn't kill her, her mother warned her, then it would be a barbed-wire hanging. Finally her mother threw boiling water and caustic soda over her head and body, and her father dumped his screaming daughter in a field. Drifting in and out of consciousness, she stayed near the house for a long time before finally slinking off into the bush. Mary was seven. She says she still doesn't feel safe. She says: 'My mother doesn't love me.' And, finally, a tear streaks down her beautiful face.
Gerry was picked out by a 'prophetess' at a prayer night and named as a witch. His mother cursed him, his father siphoned petrol from his motorbike tank and spat it over his eight-year-old face. Gerry's facial blistering is as visible as the trauma in his dull eyes. He asks every adult he sees if they will take him home to his parents: 'It's not them, it's the prophetess, I am scared of her.'
Nwaeka is about 16. She sits by herself in the mud, her eyes rolling, scratching at her stick-thin arms. The other children are surprisingly patient with her. The wound on her head where a nail was driven in looks to be healing well. Nine- year-old Etido had nails, too, five of them across the crown of his downy head. Its hard to tell what damage has been done. Udo, now 12, was beaten and abandoned by his mother. He nearly lost his arm after villagers, finding him foraging for food by the roadside, saw him as a witch and hacked at him with machetes.
Magrose is seven. Her mother dug a pit in the wood and tried to bury her alive. Michael was found by a farmer clearing a ditch, starving and unable to stand on legs that had been flogged raw.
Ekemini Abia has the look of someone in a deep state of shock. Both ankles are circled with gruesome wounds and she moves at a painful hobble. Named as a witch, her father and elders from the church tied her to a tree, the rope cutting her to the bone, and left the 13-year-old there alone for more than a week.
There are sibling groups such as Prince, four, and Rita, nine. Rita told her mum she had dreamt of a lovely party where there was lots to eat and to drink. The belief is that a witch flies away to the coven at night while the body sleeps, so Rita's sweet dream was proof enough: she was a witch and because she had shared food with her sibling - the way witchcraft is spread - both were abandoned. Victoria, cheeky and funny, aged four, and her seven-year-old sister Helen, a serene little girl. Left by their parents in the shell of an old shack, the girls didn't dare move from where they had been abandoned and ate leaves and grass.
The youngest here is a baby. The older girls take it in turn to sling her on their skinny hips and Ikpe-Itauma has named her Amelia, after his grandmother. He estimates around 5,000 children have been abandoned in this area since 1998 and says many bodies have turned up in the rivers or in the forest. Many more are never found. 'The more children the pastor declares witches, the more famous he gets and the more money he can make,' he says. 'The parents are asked for so much money that they will pay in instalments or perhaps sell their property. This is not what churches should be doing.'
5000 kids abandoned--a conservative estimate--in one area of Nigeria yearly. The problem of "ndoki orphans" is prevalent throughout much of sub-Saharan Africa--Kenya is a hotspot, as is Ghana, as is Nigeria, as is the Congo, as is South Africa.
The problem is in fact severe enough that it's being actively exported--the United Kingdom has done much coverage of "deliverance ministry"-related child abuse, in part, because it's becoming a rather serious problem (http://http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_exor5.htm) thanks to neopente dominionists in African emigre communities there. The BBC was one of the first mainstream news agencies to report on this form of religiously motivated child abuse (http://http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2007/01/30/kurt_belief_law_feature.shtml) due to a number of rather infamous cases of "deliverance ministry"-related abuse in the UK, which led to the discovery of at least thirty cases (http://http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20050604/ai_n14653904) and the setup of a dedicated division of Scotland Yard to investigate; even now, UK social services groups are given instructions on how to spot "deliverance ministry"-related child abuse (http://http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/consultations/downloadableDocs/Spirit%20possession%20pdf.pdf) and are among the very few groups taking an aggressive stand against it including via research and educational efforts (http://http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RR750.pdf).
Here's a YouTube clip about what happens to the children who are accused of witchcraft (and also lucky enough to obtain assistance):
Enfants Dits Sorcier - Children Accused of Being a Witch (http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRLVOZaSLbc)
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/SRLVOZaSLbc&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/SRLVOZaSLbc&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
-
On to the 9th piece...
This post includes:
- Dominionist connections to TrooperGate
- RapeKit-Gate and its connections with Palin's anti-abortion politicking
- New info re Palin and her "exorcist" friend...and her stealth candidacy
--= = -=0=- = =-- --= = -=0=- = =-- --= = -=0=- = =--
Palin, TrooperGate, RapeKitGate...and Joel'sArmyGate (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/24/0336/46568/904/608289)
by dogemperor (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/)
Wed Sep 24, 2008 at 08:50:03 AM PDT
Over the past few weeks, folks on the Internet have turned up an impressive amount of info re Sarah Palin's questionable judgements--including scandals involving the Alaska State Police (now known as "TrooperGate") and similar hijinks with the Wasilla PD, info re Palin trying to make rape victims pay for their own evidence collection kits (which led to the state stepping in), and Palin's disturbing connections with "Joel's Army" neopentecostal dominionists.
What has not been publicised so far is that the first two scandals have direct connections to the third--and, even worse, there's the most damning evidence yet that the very "Joel's Army" folks Palin is linked to may have been grooming her explicitly as a "stealth candidate".
dogemperor's diary (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/) :: ::
Dominionist connections to TrooperGate
Most know about the questionable firing practices Palin did as Alaskan governor--what has not been widely publicised so far is that almost identical purges may have occured with the Wasilla PD--and in both cases due to the desire to get dominionist-friendly candidates in power.
Interestingly, it also appears that some of TrooperGate may have been related to dominionist connections (http://http://www.alternet.org/election08/99661/sarah_palin%27s_troopergate_scandal_reveals_her_fundamentalist_street_cred/) of the replacement:
But Gov. Palin did not promote a socially conservative agenda during her first two years as governor and some Alaska right-wing commentators called her an economic liberal. Send us a sign, national fundamentalist Christian leaders seemingly said, that proves your credentials. In firing Monegan and hiring Kopp, Palin would have gained a controversial measure of revenge in a family dispute and established her standing as a Christian conservative politician.
Kenai City Police Chief Chuck Kopp was a rising star in Alaska's Christian conservative movement. He was a frequent speaker at local religious and patriotic gatherings. He was school board president of Cook Inlet Academy, the fundamentalist Christian high school in Soldotna his missionary-educator father founded. Kopp also was on the board of Port Alsworth's Tanailan Bible Camp, also founded by his father.
Through Samaritan's Place, Franklin Graham has been the chief benefactor of the Tanailan Bible Camp building and rebuilding a church and meeting hall and guest cabins. The evangelical scion of Alaska, Rev. Jerry Prevo of the Anchorage Baptist Temple, is on Samaritan Purse's Board of Directors, so there's a clear connection between Graham, Prevo and Kopp.
Ah, yes, Samaritan's Purse. Frank Graham, alas, has been quite a bit more openly dominionist than his daddy Billy Graham; Samaritan's Purse itself is quite the nasty bit of work. In the latest rendition of the List of Good and Bad Charities (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/24/162454/34), Samaritan's Purse gets its own dedicated section as to why they're listed as "bad guys":
Samaritan's Purse (http://http://www.samaritanspurse.org/home.asp) (Billy/Franklin Graham's charity group. Both Billy and Franklin Graham have been known to espouse dominionist statements in past, Franklin especially so. Per a report from someone who has sought employment with them, non-dominionists are not considered for employment and employees are required to have a reference from a pastor as well as a "testimonial of faith" on resumes for employment. Also is working with known dominionist group Traditional Values Coalition (http://http://www.traditionalvalues.org/) in promoting a "refugee adoption" scheme that requires statements of faith from both participating churches and refugees. Numerous reports of forced evangelism, in particular targeting children; a major part of Samaritan's Purse's operation in fact focuses on "convert or starve" targeting of children, including "sheep-stealing" from children who are attendees of mainstream Christian churches (extensive information in this Dark Christianity post (http://http://community.livejournal.com/dark_christian/955343.html)--a full discussion would require a dedicated post on DailyKos). Frank Graham has been noted as promoting concept of Hurricane Katrina being God's retribution on New Orleans. Is known to have explicitly partnered with FGBMFI (an Assemblies of God frontgroup known infamously for interference in Latin American and US politics) in the FGBMFI's attempts to interfere in the inner affairs of nations on a worldwide basis. Has promoted Iraqi War and Israeli bombing of Hizbillah sites in Lebanon as "God softening the hearts" of Iraqis. Has promoted the attempted genocide of the Kurdish people (during Gulf War I) as a missionary opportunity. Maintains links to dominionist "parallel economy" alternatives to mainstream medicine (including the "Christian Medical and Dental Association", written about here (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/7/26/02727/6516).)
(Note to non-regular readers: FGBMFI is the Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship International, an Assemblies frontgroup which has worked at promotion of the neopente version of "Christian nationalism" for decades, particularly in Latin America. FGBMFI is intimately connected with the Iran-Contra Scandal (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/4/102528/740/779/253481) (Oliver North is a regular speaker at FGBMFI events and FGBMFI itself was used as a funding-front for the Contras) as well as the genocidal regime of Gen. Efrain Rios Montt in Guatemala (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/20/2406/2232/786/259560), and is also a major conduit for the spread of "Third Wave" theology (the basis of "Joel's Army" theology) via Paul Yonggi Cho (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/10/23/10500/378/657/260706).)
In fact, the info is so extensive as to why "Shepherd's Purse" is Bad News that there's pretty much a one-stop shop commentary on it (http://http://community.livejournal.com/dark_christian/955343.html) on Dark Christianity--look through the comments.
It also appears that Palin herself has some connections to Graham, via the National Prayer Breakfast--a frontgroup of a secretive dominionist org called "The Fellowship" or "The Family" that increasingly has had links to neopente dominionists. Jeff Sharlet, a walkaway from "The Family", has written the definitive book on the subject; the article detailing the Samaritan's Purse/TrooperGate linkage gives some more info:
Palin's connection to what Jeff Sharlett has called "elite fundamentalism" is of interest now that she is an election and a heartbeat away from the presidency. Franklin Graham has been the keynote speaker for the Alaska Governor's Prayer Breakfast the past two years. According to their Web site, the organizers believe, "God directs the affairs of Man and is the ultimate authority over human events." The Alaska Governor's Prayer Breakfast is connected to the National Prayer Breakfast sponsored by The Fellowship Foundation, also known as "The Family," which espouses similar beliefs. The Family is headed by Doug Coe, one of the most influential evangelicals in Washington, D.C. Coe's group tends to operate behind the scenes organizing small cells attended by the power elite, mostly Republicans. George Bush was saved in such a cell while in Texas.
(This may in fact be some of the first confirmation of something I've speculated on before in this blog--the likelihood that George W. Bush is a member of a cell-church group (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/21/145614/144/85/388411) and was thus recruited to at least some sympathies with neopentecostal dominionists.)
And the linkage still does not stop there. One of the groups trying to derail the investigation into TrooperGate is a dominionist legal group (http://http://www.alternet.org/election08/99661/sarah_palin%27s_troopergate_scandal_reveals_her_fundamentalist_street_cred/?page=2) called Liberty Legal Institute:
On September 16th ABC News reported, "A group of Alaska Republican lawmakers, with the support of a Texas-based conservative legal group, has filed suit to stop the Alaska Legislature's "Troopergate" probe into Gov. Sarah Palin." The ABC coverage was not untypical of mainstream media coverage generally and is not being singled out for scrutiny.
This "Texas-based conservative legal group" is generally referred to as LLI (Liberty Legal Institute). Their website, which is very open and honest, may be found here.
To describe the LLI as a "conservative legal group" is like describing O. J. Simpson as a "well-dressed African-American". Both are true, as far as they go.
LLI describes themselves as, "a 501(c)(3) organization that was founded in 1997 to protect religious freedoms and First Amendment rights for individuals, groups and churches." This self-description is from the front page of their website. The site also quickly makes clear that the First Amendment Rights they defend are those of the religious right. The banner of one page proudly displays this quote, "Group is the flip side to ACLU. [sic]" - Dallas Morning News
A quick click on the "Cases" tab reveals 14 cases under the headline of "Recent Cases". Briefly looking through the summaries, 11 are plainly related to religion. In the other three cases a connection to religion is unclear. One has to do with a high school student's political tee shirt, one has to do with a political contribution and one has to do with the wording on a town monument. All case were based in Texas.
LLI is in turn connected to one of the most secretive dominionist groups in existence, even more so than the Council for National Policy--a group termed the Arlington Group, essentially a "who's who" of dominionist leaders of which very little public info is available.
It's worth taking some time to dig into LLI's leader (http://http://www.libertylegal.org/About_AboutChiefCounsel.aspx)--whose primary experience has been with the Rutherford Institute, another dominionist legal group:
Before founding Liberty Legal Institute, Mr. Shackelford was the Regional Coordinator for the Southwest and Mid-America regions of the Rutherford Institute (1993-1997) and the Director of Texas Rutherford (1989-1992). In addition, he has been sought out as an Advisor by the White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives and serves as Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Texas Law School teaching religious liberties (1994-present).
The Senior Attorneys (http://http://www.libertylegal.org/About_SeniorAttorneys.aspx) aren't much better--and then there's the matter of their internship program (http://http://www.libertylegal.org/About_BlackstoneInterns.aspx) with what amounts to the modern "big guns" of dominionist "parallel economy" alternatives to the ACLU et al:
Liberty Legal offers an internship program, in coordination with the Blackstone Fellowship and the Alliance Defense Fund, each summer that gives six of the top law students from across the country an opportunity to take action on current cases. Working in conjunction with our attorneys, the interns research and develop proposals on existing cases that attack our constitutional freedoms. Eventually, these men and women will become lawyers or judges and have a better understanding of constitutional freedoms and laws. The investment we make in their lives advances their leadership and commitment to making a difference.
Yes, this would in fact be the same Alliance Defense Fund that is encouraging dominionist churches to explicitly violate laws against electioneering from the pulpit in hopes of making a federal case out of it (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/19/195359/465/Front_Page/Archbishop_Favalora_Spills_the_Beans_on_the_Alliance_Defense_Fund).
RapeKit-Gate and its connections with Palin's anti-abortion politicking
And the article also gives some tantalising info to suggest that the now-infamous info regarding Palin's refusal to allow Wasilla's government to pay for "rape kits" was also directly related to dominionism:
5. The LLI wants to pervert justice to perpetuate the strongest anti-abortion candidate ever. A candidate bold enough to strike rape kits from her city's budget because they contain emergency contraception (the equivalent to a "morning after pill").
And yes, more evidence is pointing to exactly that as the problem that Palin had. As I've noted before, many dominionists use a definition of the start of pregnancy that is not widely accepted in the medical community--defining pregnancy as beginning at conception rather than implantation. (Yes, those of you who had sex, had eggs meet sperm, but never implant are abortionists according to these folks.)
A claim that pregnancy starts at conception also allows these groups to claim, via some very interesting mental gymnastics, that practically all birth control outside of "natural" family planning is potentially abortifacient--even barrier methods (because they typically require the use of spermicide). And yes, this is one reason why increasingly dominionists are targeting pharmacies for infiltration (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/5/2/81737/65743).
And as it turns out, one of the "pro-life" groups Palin is connected to--the misnamed "Feminists for Life"--admits to promoting this bogosity (http://http://www.feministsforlife.org/FFL_topics/index.htm). In fact, there's quite a bit of dogwhistling in their "Pro Life Answers" that they do in fact oppose hormonal contraception (http://http://www.feministsforlife.org/taf/2005/PWA2005.pdf):
What about contraception?
Since FFL's mission is based on life beginning at conception, there is no FFL policy on contraception except when it presents a threat to a woman’s health. Some FFL members support the use of contraception as long as there is no abortifacient effect, while others oppose it. Some oppose all or some forms of contraception for health reasons, others for religious reasons; others prefer natural methods to plan a family; and still others want to incorporate new medical technologies that track a woman’s fertility to be used in conjunction with natural family planning methods. FFL's mission begins at conception, not before.
And now, the explanaition.
Typically in dominionist literature, non-"natural family planning" methods are condemned as potentially abortifacient. "The Pill" and Plan B are claimed to prevent implantation (thus causing "abortion") as is the IUD; nonoxynol-9 and other spermicides commonly used in barrier methods (such as condoms and diaphragms) are claimed to be "uterine irritants" and thus potentially causing failure of implantation (and "abortions").
Did I mention that there are some very interesting mental gymnastics these groups go through?
It gets worse. It would appear that when Palin became the mayor of Wasilla, she was actively engaging in "clinic blocking" and a dominionist attempt to steeplejack the main community hospital serving Wasilla (http://http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/09/15/bess/index1.html):
Soon after the book controversy, Bess found himself again at odds with Palin and her fellow evangelicals. In 1996, evangelical churches mounted a vigorous campaign to take over the local hospital's community board and ban abortion from the valley. When they succeeded, Bess and Dr. Susan Lemagie, a Palmer OB-GYN, fought back, filing suit on behalf of a local woman who had been forced to travel to Seattle for an abortion. The case was finally decided by the Alaska Supreme Court, which ruled that the hospital must provide valley women with the abortion option.
At one point during the hospital battle, passions ran so hot that local antiabortion activists organized a boisterous picket line outside Dr. Lemagie's office, in an unassuming professional building across from Palmer's Little League field. According to Bess and another community activist, among the protesters trying to disrupt the physician's practice that day was Sarah Palin.
And yes, the same Wasilla PD that charged people for their rape kits...is also the same Wasilla PD that may be extensively infiltrated by Wasilla A/G (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/22/112455/831) to such an extent that critics are afraid to speak out in literal fear of their lives (http://http://progressivealaska.blogspot.com/2008/09/saradise-lost-chapter-twenty-seven-fear.html).
Yes, this would in fact be the same Wasilla A/G that Palin has kept a relationship with even after claiming she left in 2002--and the same Wasilla A/G that led not only the protest against the clinic providing abortion services but book-ban initiatives (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/12/131526/483/698/596291)--including attempts to go around the existing book-challenge policy of Wasilla Public Library..
In fact, there's evidence to suggest that the policy began shortly after the purge of Chief Stambaugh (http://http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jacob-alperinsheriff/sarah-palin-instituted-ra_b_125833.html) and the replacement by Chief Fannon...
...thereby linking TrooperGate (or, more properly, CopGate in general--there seem to be different incidents both on the state and town level), RapeKitGate...and the ever-growing "Joel's Army-Gate" Palin is hip-deep in.
Oh, and speaking of "Joel's Army-Gate"...that, too, has gotten more interesting with some truly damning info indicating Palin was explicitly promoted by none other than Thomas Muthee (whom we just wrote about (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/22/112455/831/745/606414)) as being a dominionist stealth candidate as early as 2005.
New info re Palin and her "exorcist" friend...and her stealth candidacy
Update 8:15pm: Please also see more info from Troutfishing (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/24/123737/140) regarding the relationship between Muthee and Palin, including video. This will serve as excellent backgrounder for what I'm about to get into.
Just two days after writing about Muthee (who is connected with a Kenyan Joel's Army church literally linked to running a woman out of town--and who is part of a large and relatively unknown humanitarian crisis where literally thousands of children have been forced out of their homes as "witches" in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere in what amounts to a massive "deliverance ministry"-based renewal of the Burning Times), some disturbing new info has come out re Muthee and his relationship with Palin.
Specifically, Irregular Times (http://http://irregulartimes.com/) has come out with some very interesting new info that should give the most damning info yet regarding Palin's status as a Joel's Army "Manchurian Candidate".
Firstly, there's some new info regarding some of Muthee's sermons (http://http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2008/09/17/thoma-muthee-who-consecrated-sarah-palins-run-for-governor-advocates-violence-and-force/), including statements that not only pretty officially prove he's "Joel's Army" but also prove the lie to official "condemnations" of Joel's Army/Third Wave theology in the Assemblies--suggesting it's been rebranded, rather than truly condemned.
Specifically, it appears Thomas Muthee has dropped something I have only heard in Joel's Army circles because only two known English-language Bible versions use it--specifically, a very specific "God Warrior reveille" based on a mistranslation of Matthew 11:12 popular in Joel's Army circles. Per an archive originally coming from Kingsgate Community Church (http://http://irregulartimes.com/muthee1.mp3) (KCC is a Joel's Army church with close connections with other neopente dominionist churches in the US and UK (http://http://www.kingsgateuk.com/Groups/333/Kingsgate_Community_Church/Resources.aspx), and the term "community church" is commonly associated in the UK with neopente dominionist orgs), Muthee explicitly calls for holy war, "Joel's Army" style, at 23:30 in the recording:
The violent take it by force. People that have spiritual backbones are the ones that are going to advance. They are the ones that will move forward.
I thank God for what I see happening in this place. I thank God for the vision, the passion that I can see here. And my word is this: the more violent you become, the more committed you become, the quicker you will see things happen in this region.
Of note, this is a dead giveaway we're dealing with yet more Joel's Army nastiness. This particular phrasing is based on a specific misinterpretation of Matthew 11:12 that only occurs in the New International Version and "God's Word" Bibles (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/5/3496/45340)--both "modern English" versions commonly used in Joel's Army circles. The phrasing in particular hints at the NIV version being used--itself the basis of a specific pro-"Joel's Army" reference Bible (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/8/6/17032/00859/434/367714) now being used as the official reference Bible by the Assemblies of God and other neopente groups.
For those not familiar with this misinterpretation, and its use in "Joel's Army" circles, a minor explanation is needed. In most versions of the Bible including the KJV, NASB and RSV, Matthew 11:12 is worded something like this:
RSV version, Matthew 11:12:
12. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and men of violence take it by force.
KJV version, Matthew 11:12:
12. And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
NASB version, Matthew 11:12:
12. From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.
Literally every Bible version commonly used with the exception of three versions (http://http://bible.cc/matthew/11-12.htm) uses similar wording--denoting Heaven itself being under attack by violent men. Even the "old" Scofield Reference Bible--the source of much of neopente dominionist theology and internal mythology--sticks with this interpretation:
[2] suffereth violence
It has been much disputed whether the "violence" here is external, as against the kingdom in the persons of John the Baptist and Jesus; or that, considering the opposition of the scribes and Pharisees, only the violently resolute would press into it. Both things are true. The King and His herald suffered violence, and this is the primary and greater meaning, but also, some were resolutely becoming disciples. CF Lk 16:16.
The major outlier ("God's Word" and the International Standard Version are relatively unknown outliers, and even the ISV mentions specifically Heaven being attacked) is the text in the NIV (http://http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2011:12&version=31), which is practically opposite of literally every other known English-language Bible version with the exception of one other very obscure Bible translation used primarily in neopente dominionist circles:
NIV version, Matthew 11:12:
12. From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
Literally nobody but a solitary, obscure translation uses this wording--they either use wording like in the RSV (heaven being attacked, and violent men trying to storm their way into heaven) or wording similar to the ISV (talking of the forces of Heaven advancing, but being under assault by violent men). (The NIRV (http://http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2011:12;&version=76;), essentially a more modern redux of the NIV, also has this odd translation; even one of the "daughter translations" of the NIV, the TINV, doesn't agree with it (http://http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2011:12;&version=72;).)
And guess what is the most common translation used in "Joel's Army" circles? If you guessed "NIV", you win the jackpot. And much of that popularity, unfortunately, is due to the decidedly unique translation of Matthew 11:12--"Joel's Army" groups like to use that misinterpretation as a call for "God Warriors" to target people for explicit harassment and worse (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/5/16/1040/55082).
And it gets worse. Per this video (http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jl4HIc-yfgM) (warning: potentially triggering to ex-neopente walkaways) and the transcript (http://http://irregulartimes.com/index.php/archives/2008/09/23/transcript-of-thomas-muthees-sermon-endorsing-sarah-palin/) at Irregular Times, Muthee pretty much explicitly calls Palin out as a member of Joel's Army, God Warrior SEALS Division:
In a moment, I’ll be asking you that we pray for Sarah, and I’ll tell you the reason why. When we talk about transformation of a community, we are talking about God invading seven areas in our society. Let me repeat that one more time. When we talk about transformation of a society, a community, it’s where we see God’s Kingdom infiltrate, influence seven areas in our society.
. . .
So we go to the third area, it’s in the area of politics. Tell your neighbor, "politics." Do you know what I discovered? This is funny. The people who actually split churches, they have the gift of politics, but they are exercising it in the wrong place. That’s what I came to know. There are people who are wired to politics because God wants to take the political, you know, dimension of our societies. And those people should be prayed for. That’s why I was, you know, I was so glad to see Sarah here. We should pray for her, we should back her up. And, you know, come the day of voting, we should be there, not just praying, we should be there. And I’m saying this because that’s what I’m telling our church. I’m telling them that we need this in Parliament. In here is what you call Congressmen, you know, you know, the, the Governors, we need the bretheren right inside there. Is anybody hearing me?
You know, because who will change the laws of the lands? The problem is do we just pray, but we do nothing about it. If the believers had not done something in this country, your president would not be in office today. Yes or no? Am I right?
. . .
And the last area is in the area of government. Hello? We need believers there. We need men and women of integrity. You know, as the Secretaries of State. We need them right there. People that are born again, spirit filled, people who know God, and people who are serious with God.
So in a moment if you do not mind, I’ll ask, you know, even before I go to do this thing, you know, I’ll ask Sarah, would you mind to come please? Would you mind? Come, please. Let’s all stand up, and let’s hold hands all over this house. Come, Pastor, come.
[Sarah Palin comes to the stage in front of the congregation. Sarah Palin bows her head stretches her forearms forward and places the palms of her hands upward. Thomas Muthee lays hands on Sarah Palin’s head. Pastor Ed Kalnin and unidentifed man lay hands on Sarah Palin’s shoulders.]
Thank you, Jesus. Let’s all pray. Let’s pray for Sarah. Hallelujah! Come on, hold your hands up and raise them. Hold them and raise them up here! Come on, talk to God about this woman! Come on, talk to God about this woman we declare favor from today. We say favor, favor, favor! We say praise my God! We say grace to be rained upon her in the name of Jesus. My God, you make your judgement, you make room. You make ways in the desert, and I’m asking you today, we are asking you as the body of Christ in this valley, make a way for Sarah, even in the [inaudible]. Make her way my God. Bring finances her way, even in the campaign in the name of Jesus, and above all give her the personnel, give her men and women that will back her up in the name of Jesus. We want righteousness in this state. We want righteousness in this nation. Because you say [inaudible] in the name of Jesus. Our Father, use her to turn this nation the other way around. Use her to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers so that the curse that has been there long can be broken. In the name of Jesus. Father, we thank you today. We come in the hindrance of the enemy, standing in her way to there. In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus! Every form of witchcraft, it will be rebuked in the name of Jesus. Father, make her way now. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
(Emphasis mine; note the reference to national and generational curses near the end. I would recommend wide archival and distribution of the video (as Wasilla A/G will almost inevitably try to get it pulled from Youtube via bogus "inappropriate content" claims, similar to how Bruce Wilson's videos on Wasilla A/G and Juneau Christian Center have been targeted (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/13/1538/09770)) and for folks to read the whole transcript--it is a very rare look at what kinds of sermons are done in Joel's Army churches internally, and pretty much lays out the "fifty-year plan" of neopente dominionist nationalism. A diary at Philip Munger's DailyKos account (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/24/93841/9122/684/608517) gives a bit more explanation re the video.)
It's worth noting that there's also a very subtle coded message here. Seven specific spheres of influence are noted, typically referred to as seven mountains (http://http://kingthunder.wordpress.com/2007/09/05/7-mountains/) in Joel's Army-speak, and researcher Bruce Wilson has video of Joel's Army promoter Lance Wallnau (http://http://vimeo.com/1786357?pg=embed&sec=1786357) going on about this.
Those "seven mountains" are the exact spheres that Muthee is talking about neopente dominionists targeting, per the first link:
What are the Seven Mountains?
The seven mountains are seven spheres of influence that make up the mind molders that control Nations. He who occupies these mountains controls the harvest. As Satan gains power over these mountains he increases his capacity for "Mind Control." That’s the spiritual force that inclines whole people groups to think along the same pathway. It is the phenomenon that explains sudden trends in fashion or music. It works to turn whole continents against each other and will be used to facilitate global wars. Mind Control will increase as the Last Days speeds toward a conclusion.
Here are the Seven Mountains or Mind Molders:
- Spirituality and Church
- Family
- Education
- Government and Law
- Media and Communication
- Arts and Entertainment
- Business and Finance
The rest of the link is quite a bit of distilled Joel's Army crazy in and of itself. Per the link, LGBT people are in a conspiracy to control the media and to destroy families by taking over the "Media" and "Family" "mountains"; Europe is apparently in a major conspiracy with Islam to take over government and finances; and apparently everyone is pissed at George W. Bush because he's a "praying president" rather than the fact he's a reverse Midas. It reads like a twisted version of the game "Illuminati" and would be hilarious if they weren't so serious.
Writer "Ruth" on Talk to Action notes how Joel's Army promoters are essentially the "extreme of the extreme" (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/24/82239/9750) and how they aren't content to wait for Rapture--and may be even more dangerous than the Christian Reconstructionists most folks are familiar with:
While Pentecostal churches have always celebrated a restoration of the church, this has been tempered with Rapture theology. As churches embrace this Apostolic revolution they are moving away from the traditions of Assemblies of God and other denominations and are adopting a view of the end time that includes the triumph and perfection of the church as opposed to escaping in the Rapture from an evil world descending into the apocalypse. They see the imminent end times as a time of great glory for the restored true Apostolic church greater than the one of New Testament times, and a time when the foot soldiers of this church will be imparted with supernatural powers. This outpouring of powers will allow them to crush evil with a "rod of iron" and deliver a purified church to Jesus when he returns. Their schedule is even more pressing than many in other Dominionist groups because their hybrid mixture of end time beliefs maintains the urgency of an imminent return of Jesus. The writer whose title I borrowed for this article states, "This growing army of delivered, discipled and deployed Christians are now prepared to become active participants in the cosmic battle for every area of God's terra-firma."
. . .
Regardless of how the end time narrative is altered to allow for this triumphant army of God, these warriors believe they have a mandate to take control of all earthly spheres. They teach that Jesus is waiting for humans to accomplish this task before coming to meet his Bride, the purified and perfected church. This purification of the church will take place through a restructuring of Christendom under the Fivefold ministry. This means a revamping of the governments of the church and the earth primarily under the authority of Apostles and Prophets who are anointed by God as defined by the anointed belivers in the movement.
. . .
Ed Kalnins of Wasilla Assembly of God is actively preaching and teaching theology which comes directly from the leadership of the New Apostolic Reformation/Third Wave. Kalnins has stated in sermons his desire that his church be Apostolic. This is Kingdom theology and Kalnins is quite open and blatant about the need for his church to take control for the Kingdom, starting with Wasilla and Alaska.
While it is very true that Palin's churches may officially still retain mention of the Rapture in some form, there is absolutely nothing in these sermons, associations and activities to indicate that they are waiting around to be snatched from the earth. Conversely, they are intent on taking control of society and government in the here and now.
And there's quite a bit of spin--and intimidation--being brought against critics. Along with the expected astroturfing, writer Max Blumenthal reports his own experiences at Wasilla A/G where he describes the damage control being done by the church (http://http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/9/24/5401/43380/Front_Page/Muthee_Anoints_Sarah_Palin_Guards_Her_From_The_quot_Spirit_Of_Witchcraft_quot_):
Since Palin was nominated as vice president, Wasilla Assembly of God has taken a draconian line with reporters. The church now forbids members of the media from filming, taking notes, or bringing voice recorders to its services. I was able to record Muthee's recent sermons only by deploying an array of tiny cameras and hidden microphones. Though the quality and comprehensiveness of my footage was severely compromised by the church's closed door policy to the press, I was not going to be deterred.
By the end of the second day of Muthee's sermons, the church had been tipped off about me, the liberal media member in its midst. An associate pastor told me he had received an email from an anonymous source warning him about me. When I tried to interview members of the congregation in the church parking lot, my questions were either met with silence or open hostility. I strongly suspect the McCain campaign has mobilized the Wasilla Assembly of God against perceived threats from the media.
But they hardly needed encouragement. On the first night of services, Muthee implored his audience to wage "spiritual warfare" against "the enemy." As I filmed, a nervous church staffer approached from behind and told me to put my camera away. I acceded to his demand, but as Muthee urged the church to crush "the python spirit" of the unbeliever enemies by stomping on their necks, I pulled out a smaller camera and filmed from a more discreet position. Now, church members were in deep prayer, speaking in tongues and raising their hands. Muthee exclaimed, "We come against the spirit of witchcraft! We come against the python spirits!" Then, a local pastor took the mic from Muthee and added, "We stomp on the heads of the enemy!"
And this is--in a word--quite possibly the most damning evidence of something I noted in my original post (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/8/29/163234/559/495/579213)--Palin may well have been groomed from the start of her political career as the Great White Hope for "Joel's Army" to get one of their own in the White House.
And this could be, in a word, a very bad thing for children and other living beings (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/9/143710/2371/534/592379)--even if the fact dominionists are doing imprecatory prayers for McCain's death should he be elected President isn't considered.
Tags: Religious Right, Scandals, Military, Abuse, Children, Dominionism, Alaska, Guatemala, Kenya, cults, Assemblies of God, child abuse, separation of church and state, religion, hate groups, Elections 2008, GOP, Republican Party, Presidential Elections 2008, Extremism, Apocalypse, Joel's Army, 2008 Elections, John McCain, Sarah Palin (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions
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Some more info on the Matthew 11:12 verse, this posted in the Comments section to the above dogemperor piece, originally posted (http://http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/9/24/0336/46568/904/608289) on Daily Kos on 9/24/2008:
--= = -=0=- = =-- --= = -=0=- = =-- --= = -=0=- = =--
And some additional commentary re Matt. 11:12 (0+ / 0-)
In the link I posted to this on Dark Christianity @ LJ, an astute poster with access to a Greek New Testament has noted just how badly the NIV skews things (http://http://community.livejournal.com/dark_christian/1091283.html?thread=15728595#t15728595):
The Greek (transliterated into the Latin alphabet) is:
apo de ton hemeron Ioannou tou Baptistou heos arti he basileia ton ouranon biazetai, kai biastai harpazousin auten.
Literally, it translates:
"From the days of John the Baptist until this point the kingdom of the heavens is being violated/having violence done against it, and the violent are snatching it."
First of all, there is no verb of "advancing" in the text. I have no idea where the NIV got that from. But the key word under dispute is "biazetai". It comes from a verb meaning "to do violence". The form here can be either passive voice or middle voice. If you take is as passive voice, it means that heaven is having violence done upon it. If you take it as middle voice, it means that heaven is doing violence on its own behalf. Grammatically, both are possible.
However...
That verb is not a positive verb. It doesn't really mean "to be forceful"; it's a lot stronger than that. It's a verb used to describe criminal action and wanton aggression. People who break laws are said to biazein the law. People who commit criminal assault are brought up on charges of biazein. Therefore, I would find it highly unusual to describe heaven as acting out biazein.
harpazein likewise carries negative connotations. It implies a certain greed. It does not mean "laying hold of" it means "snatching" usually "snatching greedily". It's a word used of robbers.
In short, although grammatically one could stretch the translation to mean something like the NIV version, when you look at what these words actually mean and how they were used, that passage looks a lot like a description of criminal activity, not a call to arms.
In other words--in the original Greek, the explicit connotation is of Heaven being the victim of a violent assault and battery or a robbery (to put it in modern terms), not of God Warriors marching off to battle.
Dominionist hell: it's not just for Sunday anymore (http://http://dogemperor.dailykos.com/)
by dogemperor (http://http://www.dailykos.com/user/uid:52305) on Wed Sep 24, 2008 at 02:38:50 PM PDT (http://http://www.dailykos.com/comments/2008/9/24/0336/46568/25#c25)
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Anyone else notice how pissed off she seemed during McCain's concession speech?
Her tears make me happy!!!
:seg: :seg: :seg: :seg: :rocker: