Anti-Dominionism

Interesting find

2009-07-09T00:31:52Z

It appears that even some fairly main stream/plain vanillia Christians have noticed that something is Amiss on the Right....

link to Pdf found this on a 'discernment' ministries site, here. The language it employs is unequivocal in it's condemnation, without being hysterical. Pointing out, that technically Dominionism is a heresy and an 'aberration' of doctrine. It is also a pretty good dissection and analysis of the dominionist movement within christian evangelism.

Don't Cry For Me, Alaska: Why Sarah Palin REALLY Resigned

2009-07-05T02:21:29Z

I watched with intent, on the Faux News Channel, Sarah Palin's press conference last night wherein she "unexpectedly" resigned from the office of Governor of the State of Alaska. It was difficult to watch... not just because I was witnessing the opening of a campaign for President by a megalomaniacal Dominionist, but because ducks alighting on the banks of Lake Wasilla made it difficult to hear her. Then, too, was the unsettling feeling when I first tuned in that what I was hearing was not the constant quacks of ducks, but the cries of one Trig Palin desperate for his mother's attention. I presumed I was wrong on this... or rather, I hoped I was wrong. (More about this later.)

But enough about quacks and mysterious wails: There will be plenty of wailing to come if this quack makes it into office. Make no mistake, we witnessed yesterday the opening of the 2012 campaign season. But why now? Why so early? Palin gave all the reasons why, although you had to read between the lines to gather them all. TalkingPointsMemo.com has the full text of Palin's speech; in the interest of political debate (a protected activity under US Copyright Law, I do believe) I shall quote substantial portions of it-- perhaps the entirety-- behind the cut, along with my thoughts:

Hi Alaska, I appreciate speaking directly TO you, the people I serve, as your Governor.

Don't you believe it. What she's really saying is that she appreciates having the State of Alaska pay for this press conference, and she appreciates the people of Alaska giving her the opportunity to speak to the nation. Beyond that, the lie she speaks is as emphatic as the word "to", which is capitalized here in the original.

People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing's more important to me than our beloved Alaska. Serving her people is the greatest honor I could imagine.

Again, more posturing for the home crowd. But look a little closer: She clearly places Alaska after her faith and family. As we shall soon see, both "faith" (or what passes for it, in Palin's mind) and family play vital roles in her forsaking Alaska at this time.

I want Alaskans to grasp what can be in store for our state.

I will interrupt to point out a classic trait of megalomaniacs: Often, they will project their own aspirations upon those (family, constituents, etc.) whose interests they pretend to serve.

We were purchased as a territory because a member of President Abe Lincoln's cabinet, William Seward, providentially saw in this great land, vast riches, beauty, strategic placement on the globe, and opportunity. He boldly looked "North to the Future". But he endured such ridicule and mocking for his vision for Alaska, remember the adversaries scoffed, calling this "Seward's Folly". Seward withstood such disdain as he chose the uncomfortable, unconventional, but RIGHT path to secure Alaska, so Alaska could help secure the United States.

Palin, a native of Sandpoint, Idaho, wants very much to be viewed as serving Alaska at this time. There are many reasons for this, virtually all of them self-serving. Again, we will discuss these in some detail in a moment; she hints at some of these in this very paragraph. For now, though, note that politicians and sports stars alike tend to speak most eloquently about the cities and states they represent right before they abandon those cities and states for greener pastures. See, for example, Brett Favre's ~~resignation~~ retirement speech from the Green Bay Packers.

People who know me know that besides faith and family, nothing's more important to me than our beloved Alaska.

This is not a transcription error. She really did repeat this sentence, verbatim. It could have been the ducks, throwing her off her notes... or it could be that she desperately wanted Alaskans to believe she has their interests at heart. "Don't cry for me, Argentina," as Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Evita" famously sung, "The truth is I never left you..."

Of course, it could also be that Palin let slip (again) the fact that Alaska is meaningless to her when compared to her Dominionist aspirations and her "sacred" family, as we discussed last week.

Alaska's mission - to contribute to America. We're strategic IN the world as the air crossroads OF the world, as a gatekeeper of the continent. Bold visionaries knew this - Alaska would be part of America's great destiny.

Careful readers will note a strange similarity between Palin's words here and the famous exhortation made by dozens of Evangelicals that "Christians are in the world, but not of the world." I don't think this is mere coincidence. Beyond that, she begins explaining her response to Obama's energy policy, his economic policy, his transportation policy, et cetera ad nauseum. Expect to hear this repeatedly over the next three years. For every problem, real or invented, concerning Obama's present term, Sarah Palin's answer will be summed up in one word: Alaska. She's counting on the theory that we in the Lower 48 don't pay too much attention to the state up north. Of course, we'd do well to learn all we can about America's last frontier, so we can rebut her statements when the time comes.

Our destiny to be reached by responsibly developing our natural resources. This land, blessed with clean air, water, wildlife, minerals, AND oil and gas. It's energy! God gave us energy.

And anyone who would dare question this in the least is clearly of Satan. Expect to hear that quite a bit in the next three years, too.

So to serve the state is a humbling responsibility, because I know in my soul that Alaska is of such import, for America's security, in our very volatile world. And you know me by now, I promised even four years ago to show MY independence... no more conventional "politics as usual".

"Ya, sure, that whole business about the Constitution? We can throw it out, ya know. No more conventional 'politics as usual'... it's my way or the highway, you betcha!" One might also wonder why someone claiming to serve the interests of a group of people would assert her independence.

Let's skip over the next few paragraphs, as this is a rare point in her speech where Palin actually does touch on matters of some import to Alaskans. I will point out her rather odd habit of peppering the word "bi-partisan" throughout these paragraphs, along with thinly veiled potshots against the nationalization of certain industries in the Lower 48. ("We took government out of the dairy business and put it back into private-sector hands - where it should be.") We should also note this statement of Palin's: "We cleaned up previously accepted unethical actions; we ushered in bi-partisan Ethics Reform." Remember this, as it will become important later in the speech.

We are doing well! I wish you'd hear MORE from the media of your state's progress and how we tackle Outside interests - daily - SPECIAL interests that would stymie our state.

Giving her the benefit of doubt, I suppose we could presume that when she bemoans "the media", she speaks of the Anchorage Daily News, which has done a pretty good job being a check against Palin's gubernatorial powers. But consider an odd thing that happened during the Faux News coverage of the speech: Suddenly, the camera switched to a side view of Palin (from Palin's right, naturally) and the background noise of ducks and God-knows-what-else dropped dramatically. It was almost as though the network cut to a previously recorded version of the speech. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Her Holiness is done with Alaska. She shall now address her CNN-watching subway-riding subjects in the Lower 48.

Even those debt-ridden stimulus dollars that would force the heavy hand of federal government into our communities with an "all-knowing attitude" - I have taken the slings and arrows with that unpopular move to veto because I know being right is better than being popular. Some of those dollars would harm Alaska and harm America - I resisted those dollars because of the obscene national debt we're forcing our children to pay, because of today's Big Government spending; it's immoral and doesn't even make economic sense!

Chew over that last clause for a moment: "It's immoral and doesn't even make economic sense!" Now, as a true conservative, I would of course argue that indeed it doesn't make economic sense to spend on top-heavy bureaucracies in order to address societal problems. However, I would make that my primary argument. To start by saying "it's immoral" is a non sequitur, at best. To finish by saying it "doesn't even make economic sense" reveals conservative economics to be an afterthought in Palin's world. To wit, "even" if it had made economic sense, Palin would be incensed at how "immoral" it is.

Another accomplishment - our Law Department protected states' rights - TWO huge U.S. Supreme Court reversals came down against that liberal Ninth Circuit, deciding in OUR state's favor over the last two weeks. We're protectors of our Constitution - federalists protect states' rights as mandated in 10th amendment.

You're going to hear a lot about the 10th Amendment in the next three years as well. Actually, if you listen closely, you already have been hearing about the 10th Amendment quite a bit, ever since Roy Moore erected a 5,000 pound monument to his own arrogance in the Alabama Supreme Court Building. This is the Constitutional rationale by which Dominionists hope to erode our civil liberties. The logic-- which is completely backwards from the text of the original Amendment-- is that the fifty US states have almost infinite power to do what the Federal Government cannot. To a Dominionist, the 10th Amendment does not protect the natural rights of the individual from the caprice of totalitarian government. Rather, the 10th Amendment is an end run around the protections of the 1st and 14th Amendments, specifically in their guarantee of religious liberty and freedom from discrimination. Maybe "Congress" can't establish a state religion, but surely "Juneau" can. Or "Austin", "Columbus", "Atlanta", "Denver" or your state government of choice.

But you don't hear much of the good stuff in the press anymore, do you?

Some say things changed for me on August 29th last year - the day John McCain tapped me to be his running-mate - I say others changed.

Let me speak to that for a minute.

Please do.

Political operatives descended on Alaska last August, digging for dirt. The ethics law I championed became their weapon of choice. Over the past nine months I've been accused of all sorts of frivolous ethics violations - such as holding a fish in a photograph, wearing a jacket with a logo on it, and answering reporters' questions.

Every one - all 15 of the ethics complaints have been dismissed. We've won! But it hasn't been cheap - the State has wasted THOUSANDS of hours of YOUR time and shelled out some two million of YOUR dollars to respond to "opposition research" - that's money NOT going to fund teachers or troopers - or safer roads. And this political absurdity, the "politics of personal destruction" ... Todd and I are looking at more than half a million dollars in legal bills in order to set the record straight. And what about the people who offer up these silly accusations? It doesn't cost them a dime so they're not going to stop draining public resources - spending other peoples' money in their game.

Remember the "bi-partisan Ethics Reform" I pointed out earlier? Now would be the time to recall it, as the band strikes up and Palin resumes singing:

"And as for fortune and as for fame
I never invited them in
Though it seemed to the world
They were all I desired
They are illusions
They're not the solutions
They promise to be
The answer was here all the time
I love you and hope you love me"

Ah, but don't cry for her, Argentina. The truth is Palin learned something from that country on the opposite end of the earth from her; and I'm not just talking about her mentor in megalomania, Eva Peron. We know the reasons why Palin resigned; she telegraphed them so loudly that even Faux News could not deny that Palin intends to begin her run for President in 2012. But why now? Why not wait for 2011? Alternatively, why not run serve out her term, then run for Lisa Murkowski's Senate seat in 2010?

She still might run for Senate, of course. The Murkowskis and the Palins are the true political parties in Alaska right now, and Sarah Palin would probably enjoy ripping the Senate seat from Lisa Murkowski's hands just as much as she enjoyed beating Murkowski's father, the incumbent, in the Alaska Governor GOP primary race in 2006. Plus, conventional wisdom says that a Senate seat would give Palin the same kind of exposure Obama enjoyed going into 2008.

But remember Argentina. The race for President began there prematurely last month when GOP hopeful and fellow governor Mark Sanford hiked the Appalachian Trail instead of the campaign trail down to Atlanta, where he boarded the next flight to Buenos Aires. And if you got through that sentence without snickering at the word "prematurely", you're a better person than I am.

Speaking of premature evacuations, though, Palin's own evacuation from Wasilla may come a bit prematurely. Far from having been "dismissed", investigations on Sarah Palin are ongoing, as MSNBC's David Shuster reports. By resigning now, Palin hopes to spare herself the harsh limelight cast upon Mark Sanford, as well as calls for her resignation that would surely derail her Presidential run... er, prematurely.

It's pretty insane - my staff and I spend most of our day dealing with THIS instead of progressing our state now. I know I promised no more "politics as usual," but THIS isn't what anyone had in mind for ALASKA.

If I have learned one thing: LIFE is about choices!

So Palin chooses to terminate her gubernatorial administration well into its third trimester. Interesting.

Once again, I'll skip forward a few paragraphs, this time to spare you the verbal gymnastics Palin employs in the hopes of demonstrating that she's not a quitter... by quitting. We'll pick it back up with this:

I WILL support others who seek to serve, in or out of office, for the RIGHT reasons, and I don't care what party they're in or no party at all. Inside Alaska - or Outside Alaska.

But I won't do it from the Governor's desk.

I've never believed that I, nor anyone else, needs a title to do this - to make a difference... to HELP people. So I choose, for my State and my family, more "freedom" to progress, all the way around... so that Alaska may progress... I will not seek re-election as Governor.

Again, read between the lines here. Just as Brett Favre "retired" from the Packers to spend more time with the people who mean the world to him-- apparently, the New York Jets-- Palin is telegraphing her intent to leave Alaska and spend more time with Dominionist interests in the Lower 48. Indeed, it would not surprise me to learn that Focus on the Fascisti, CBN, Salem Communications, or some other Dominionist media empire is picking up the tab for Palin in the next three years. Besides being potentially more lucrative than public office, Palin escapes public accountability and gets a nationwide audience of exactly the kinds of people she hopes will carry her into the White House in 2012.

Besides, when was the last time you heard of a Governor resigning to run for the Senate?

And so as I thought about this announcement that I wouldn't run for re-election and what it means for Alaska, I thought about how much fun some governors have as lame ducks... travel around the state, to the Lower 48 (maybe), overseas on international trade - as so many politicians do. And then I thought - that's what's wrong - many just accept that lame duck status, hit the road, draw the paycheck, and "milk it".

Which means she's apparently given some thought to where she will be drawing a paycheck after July 26. Interestingly, the thought of returning to Wasilla to spend time with family didn't occur to Palin, as it usually does with those who retire from the public (again, see Brett Favre). And why would it, as she makes clear her itinerary for the next three years in projecting what "some governors" do as "lame ducks". Of course, Palin is no more a lame duck than the quacks who inhabited the stage with her during her speech, but I think I addressed that already.

In fact, this decision comes after much consideration, and finally polling the most important people in my life - my children (where the count was unanimous... well, in response to asking: "Want me to make a positive difference and fight for ALL our children's future from OUTSIDE the Governor's office?" It was four "yes's" and one "hell yeah!" The "hell yeah" sealed it - and someday I'll talk about the details of that.

So now she finally gets around to "the most important people in [her] life", some five skipped paragraphs later. Never mind that the way she presents it is how, in all cynicism, I imagine it probably was: As a fait accompli, with her children relegated to the same afterthought she assigns her fellow Alaskans and the body politic of conservative thought. (I further imagine the "hell yeah" came from Bristol "Britney Spears of the North" Palin, when told she might be spending some quality time in Nashville. Expect "Hell Yeah I'm a Christian" by breakout CCM star Bristol Palin to hit the charts sometime next year. This is not your father's Debby Boone.)

I think much of it had to do with the kids seeing their baby brother Trig mocked by some pretty mean-spirited adults recently.) Um, by the way, sure wish folks could ever, ever understand that we ALL could learn so much from someone like Trig - c... what a child can offer to set priorities RIGHT - that time is precious... the world needs more "Trigs", not fewer.

And with how Palin will ignore health care the way she's ignored good parenting skills these last several years, I think we can count on that happening. This speaks volumes about Palin's lack of character, quite frankly. I look at my own special needs daughter, and I think what a true miracle it would be for science to come up with the cure for the disease which afflicts her. Palin looks at her son, and thinks what a true miracle it would be for her god to arrest thousands of career-aspiring parents like her with more "Trigs" in the world. I look at my daughter as a human being first, who secondarily happens to have autism. If this speech is a true indicator of her belief-- and I have every indicator that it is-- Sarah Palin looks at her son as a "Downs' baby". That's despicable. And don't get me started on the hidden message behind the statement, "I know he needs me, but I need him even more..."

Ugh. And on that note, I've covered all I really need to cover from Palin's speech. Remember, folks, the Dominionists are not resting. They're not defeated, they're regrouping. We should not let them make another approach at taking over this country.

My White Heaven

2009-07-01T14:57:10Z

~Portrait of White Christian Entitlement in 1950's America.

From Lady, That's My Skull

Dominionist Radio

2009-06-29T23:16:16Z

So I was waiting in the parking lot of Walmart over the weekend. I was getting sick of Michael Jackson songs on every station on the FM dial, including the Country stations! So I decided to switch over to AM.

WTAM had the Indians. Meh. I'm a lifelong Tribe fan, but considering our World Series chances this year are as dead as the King of Pop, I hit the ol' scan button once more. Christian radio. Scan. More baseball. Scan. Gospel. Scan. Radio evangelist. Scan. Indians again. Scan. Another baseball game. Scan. "Freemasonry will take over the world!"

Okay, I can use a few good laughs. So I keep listening. "...Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry has this to say about the color red: 'It is the color of Royal Arch Masonry.' Red, my friends! The color of Satan! And is it no coincidence that Lenin and Trotsky employed the red star as their symbol?"

Yes, stay away from strawberries. They're CommieDeathSatan, ya know... The fun came to a screeching halt when the speaker concluded by admonishing his listeners to stay away from Masons, Communists, and... *sigh* Jews. Nothing ruins a good tinfoil hat rant like a bit of anti-Semitism.

The afternoon's entertainer was a loon by the name of Texe Marrs, who of course hails from Rhode Island. Gotcha... with a name like Texe Marrs, is there any doubt that he's from the Lone Star State? Although his last name provides a better indication of where he gets his ideas.

Now, nutty Christians are nothing new. I wouldn't have bothered posting this, in fact, had I not just learned something interesting about the station to which I was tuned. WCER in Canton, OH occupies that strange netherworld between the Christian programming of Marrs, Maranatha Ministries, and a not-so-heavenly host of local preachers; and standard conservative talk fare like Dr. Laura, Michael Savage, and Lou Dobbs. Throw in a heaping helping of "prosperity gospel" and top it all off with Focus on the Fascisti, and you've got yourself a border blaster from Jesusland. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's Dominionist radio.

WCER's website is particularly enlightening, if you'll excuse the pun. One is assaulted by the station's slogan, "Taking back America!" The three main sponsors of the site are Walsh University (a Catholic university in Canton), "Hope for America Ministries" (a dead link), and "Jim Toner's Wealth Builders". ("How did they get so rich? Click here to find out!") Then you get to the content of the site. Today's poll: 'Homosexual Christians?' [Quotation marks in original] Of course I figured I'd try to skew the results of the poll. No such luck... the poll question is:

Why is it impossible to have a 'meaningful, personal commitment' to Christ and still practice the sin of homosexuality?

() God instructs those who love Him to be holy, for He is holy (Lev. 20:7)
() Homosexual offenders will not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9)
() Homosexuality, like all sin, separates people from God (Rom. 1: 26-27)
() All of the above

Really. That's the poll.

Folks, if you find people who have any doubt that Dominionism exists in the US, please direct them to this station and website. I imagine I'll be posting updates from this media outlet from time to time.

Unbelievable arrogance of Dominionist Fundies...

2009-06-26T17:36:42Z

as illustrated by Palin's latest salvo...

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2009/06/25/palin-hits-back-at-malicious-photo/

To which I say:

"'Desecrated'??!!
Shut your blasphemous mouth, Palin. Your son is not the Baby Jesus, and you are not the Mother of God!"

White Nationalists Find Sundry Faults with the U.S. Government

2009-06-24T16:35:27Z

Blood and Politics: The History of the White Nationalist Movement from the Margins to the Mainstream by Leonard Zeskind
A review by Art Winslow
From Powells

This April, when the Department of Homeland Security issued a report titled "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment," the media world was briefly ablaze debating whether it was true.

"Rightwing extremists," the report maintained, "have capitalized on the election of the first African American president, and are focusing their efforts to recruit new members, mobilize existing supporters, and broaden their scope and appeal through propaganda."

Citing the economic downturn, it drew parallels to the 1990s, a fertile time in the development of militia-style factions. In a footnote, "rightwing extremism" is defined broadly as applying to groups, movements and adherents that are "primarily hate-oriented" toward particular religious, racial or ethnic groups, or "are mainly anti-government, rejecting federal authority," or may be dedicated to single issues such as opposition to abortion.

What favorable timing, then, for Leonard Zeskind's Blood and Politics: The History of the White Nationalist Movement From the Margins to the Mainstream, which addresses all of these issues, provides a context in which to assess them and offers an extended look inside a little-understood cultural zone that is really a panoply of small groups.

Unless you too resent ZOG (the Zionist Occupation Government), Zeskind's decades-long perspective will help explain why, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, there were 926 hate groups active in the United States last year -- a 4% increase from the previous year but representing a 50% increase since 2000. Demographically speaking, this involves a tiny slice of the populace: Zeskind estimates that 30,000 men and women constitute the white nationalist hard core, with an additional 250,000-plus forming a periphery of supporters. In a country of more than 300 million people, that is one-tenth of 1%.

Zeskind tracks the white supremacist impulse, as embodied in various groups since the mid-1970s, in chronological fashion. He analyzes every twist, turn and rivalry -- historically, the groups hardly yielded a harmonious or even coherent "movement," although there is more of one today than in the past. (In a prequel section of the book, Zeskind also traces roots stretching back into the mid-1950s.) Much of his narrative is cast around the schism between "mainstreamers" who seek to temper their message in return for broadened public support and potential electoral success, and more militant "vanguardists" who have not and often take a separatist approach.

"Mainstreamers believe that a majority (or near majority) of white people can be won over to support their cause . . . [while] vanguardists think that they will never find more than a slim minority of white people to support their aims voluntarily," Zeskind writes.

The common thread, despite a difference in orientation, is a sense of cultural dispossession: He writes that the Christian right sees 1962, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided to ban prayer in public schools, as a prominent marker of that dispossession. White nationalists see the court's decision to desegregate public education, in Brown vs. Board of Education, to have "stolen their national birthright." For others, a hot point was the 1993 passage of the gun-control Brady Bill, just months after the incineration of the Branch Davidian compound near Waco, Texas, following which, in Idaho, Montana, Michigan and the South, "militiamen popped up like cardboard targets on a rapid-fire shooting range," Zeskind says.

Zeskind takes a kitchen-sink approach to this multifaceted phenomenon, which is not exclusively race-based, despite the book's subtitle. So readers will be exposed to groups including skinheads, Christian Identity adherents and Ku Kluxers; individuals such as David Duke, Patrick Buchanan and Pat Robertson; and also to "cadres" (a word employed with a little too much abandon throughout) driven by racism, anti-Semitism, opposition to abortion, antipathy toward homosexuality, hatred of the federal government (and especially the Internal Revenue Service), gun-rights activism, millennial beliefs, anti-immigrant fervor and a taste for Holocaust denial.

Given such diversity, if Zeskind had not provided connective tissue showing significant contacts between groups and cross-pollination over time, Blood and Politics would seem merely a compendium of relatively fringe groups and their leaders. Part of the challenge he faced was inherent in the terrain: "The problem of organizational succession has remained unsolved for white nationalists," he notes. "Most organizations are basically sole entrepreneurships ...dependent on the energy and vision of their founders. Those that avoid repression by law enforcement agencies or survive the vagaries of insurgency rarely turn into self-sustaining institutions."

And yet there is continuity too among the figures Zeskind follows. Willis Carto, creator of the group Liberty Lobby, which appealed to both anti-communists and arch-segregationists, was an anti-Semite whose influence spanned decades. His magazine the Spotlight helped forge the white supremacist movement from disparate parts into something "self-conscious of its unique identity."

The same can be said of Carto's longtime rival William Pierce, an acolyte of American Nazi Party founder George Lincoln Rockwell. Pierce's novel The Turner Diaries glorified race war and influenced a generation of younger Aryan militants, including Timothy McVeigh, who sold copies of it at gun shows and whose bombing of a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995 killed 168 people. Aryan Nations head Richard Butler was another pivotal figure -- and yet, though Butler was an advocate of Christian Identity, Pierce saw Christianity as "an impediment to the liberation of white people" and was motivated by beliefs about racial genetics.

Tom Metzger, a California Klan leader who became a guru to skinheads (a central figure in Elinor Langer's 2003 book A Hundred Little Hitlers), also figures prominently in Zeskind's narrative, as does the Christian Identity minister Pete Peters. Peters, in contrast with many of his peers, decided that "both swastikas and Confederate flags symbolized a form of nationalism he didn't share," although he did see nationality as race-based, and organized a 1992 meeting that Zeskind credits as being "the foundational moment" for the militia movement that followed.

Zeskind's account is fine-grained, which is both its strength and its weakness. Late in the book, long sections detailing Carto's machinations and lawsuits during infighting over the organizations he created, for example, do not contribute to the ideological portrait that is the main attraction of Blood and Politics.

Along with the 51 politically or racially motivated murders that one watchdog group attributes to white power skinheads in 1987-2001 and the potential of another Timothy McVeigh, the most frightening aspect of what Zeskind documents is the sustainability of the ideas: The vanguardists, as he calls them, "survived police crackdowns, multiple criminal prosecutions, civic opposition and legal challenges" and managed to keep the tenets of national socialism alive, "a usable past for any similar movement in the future."

This review was originally published in the Los Angeles Times.

Winslow is a former literary and executive editor of the Nation.

Burning Books For Freedom

2009-06-17T19:16:50Z

"Milwaukee-area citizen Robert C. Braun of the Christian Civil Liberties Union (CCLU) distributed at the meeting copies of a claim for damages he and three other plaintiffs filed April 28 with the city; the complainants seek the right to publicly burn or destroy by another means the library’s copy of Baby Be-Bop. The claim also demands $120,000 in compensatory damages ($30,000 per plaintiff) for being exposed to the book in a library display, and the resignation of West Bend Mayor Kristine Deiss for “allow[ing] this book to be viewed by the public.”

From In Praise of Context, which is well worth reading in its entirety.

Mod Note

2009-06-17T18:31:12Z

~As another Trolling Season is upon us - meaning the LJ Advisory Board Elections - we are going to Members Only comments for the nonce. This is a temporary measure as we value 'outside' opinions.

The Management

The Cycle Closes Once Again [x-posted from the_recession]

2009-06-11T17:13:31Z

James Von Brunn Was Living Hand-To-Mouth, Increasingly Violent

A white separatist acquaintance of alleged Holocaust Museum shooter James von Brunn told the Washington Post that Von Brunn had lost his Social Security and was growing increasingly despondent and violent-minded in the weeks leading up to the attack.

~This underscores my 'rough summer' contention.

Domestic terrorists, again.

2009-06-11T16:05:47Z

Ok, how is this not domestic terrorism ?

Associated Baptist Press: Drake, former SBC officer, says he’s praying for Obama to die

A former Southern Baptist Convention officer who on June 2 called the death of abortion provider George Tiller an answer to prayer said later in the day he is also praying “imprecatory prayer” against President Obama.

Wiley Drake, pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Buena Park, Calif., and former running mate of American Independent Party presidential candidate Alan Keyes, said June 2 on Fox News Radio he didn’t understand why people were upset with his comments quoted by Associated Baptist Press from a webcast of his daily radio talk show.

“Imprecatory prayer is agreeing with God, and if people don’t like that, they need to talk to God,” Drake told syndicated talk-show host Alan Colmes. “God said it, I didn’t. I was just agreeing with God.”

Asked if there are others for whom Drake is praying “imprecatory prayer,” Drake hesitated before answering that there are several. “The usurper that is in the White House is one, B. Hussein Obama,” he said.

Later in the interview, Colmes returned to Drake’s answer to make sure he heard him right.

“Are you praying for his death?” Colmes asked.

“Yes,” Drake replied.

“So you’re praying for the death of the president of the United States?”

“Yes.”

“You would like for the president of the United States to die?” Colmes asked once more.

“If he does not turn to God and does not turn his life around, I am asking God to enforce imprecatory prayers that are throughout the Scripture that would cause him death, that’s correct.”

yeesh, where do they get off, calling President Obama a "usurper" ? What, McCain was the appointed successor of Bush, Gods Chosen President, and fuck the democratic vote..?

Plus he takes the prize for what has to be the most insane get-out excuse ever; “God said it, I didn’t. I was just agreeing with God.”...Beats "I was just following orders" or "the voices told me to" as crazy 'I'm not responsible, really!' excuses.

You know what. Obama should keep Gitmo open... just move the current inmates out, and these wack-jobs in! I mean, I'm all for free speech, but this... so-called Christian who's more like the Taliban than the actual taliban... is activily calling for the death of the President, and the destruction of those same rights and freedoms he's currently enjoying.

That just isn't right.

Rough Summer Up-Date

2009-06-10T19:19:01Z

James W. Von Brunn: Holocaust Museum Shooting Suspect Is White Supremacist

NBC News is reporting that the suspect in Wednesday's shooting at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. is James W. Von Brunn, an 89-year-old man with ties to white supremacist groups.

RE: my post This Is Shaping Up To Be A Rough Summer

~I'm posting this here as White Supremacists and Dominionists are 'fellow travelers'.

Terrorism works: Tiller clinic closes

2009-06-10T01:42:38Z

Tuesday, June 9, 2009 14:01 PDT

A lesson in the effectiveness of terrorism: Dr. George Tiller's Kansas clinic is closing permanently, according to his family's lawyers. In a statement Tuesday, the family said: "We are proud of the service and courage shown by our husband and father and know that women's healthcare needs have been met because of his dedication and service." They will continue to honor his memory "through private charitable activities" -- in other words, the type of activism that is less likely to get a person killed.

It's an entirely understandable response. It's also the exact one aimed for by extremists. Intimidation, harassment, threats and violence are the name of the game, and without a resolve on the part of the government and law enforcement to show that domestic terrorism doesn't work, it'll keep working. And is it ever: The Wichita area is now left with zero abortion providers, and the entire country has but two clinics that provide late-term abortions. ― Tracy Clark-Flory @ Broadsheet

Islamist vs. Dominionist Terror

2009-06-08T23:52:51Z

Bob Golic has come a long way in his career. From playing NFL football with his slightly more famous brother (current ESPN celeb Mike Golic), to starring on Saved By the Bell: The College Years, to his own stint on ESPN, he's done about as much as a kid from Cleveland can hope for.

Maybe that's why it doesn't seem to faze Bob Golic that his current gig, as the afternoon drive-time conservative talk show host on "The Talk of Akron" WNIR-FM, is somewhat removed from the fame of professional football, Hollywood, and nationwide cable TV, to say the least. It's even more removed than it appears: WNIR is actually based in nearby Kent. (Yes, that's right: A conservative talker in the very town where 4 college students were shot by National Guardsmen during the Vietnam Era. Turns out "tin soldiers and Nixon" really were coming.) The station thus markets primarily to Portage County, Ohio, a county with roughly as many people in it as Simi Valley, CA. It's about as small market as you can get while still supporting a News/Talk format that can attract the likes of Bob Golic.

Still, Golic is an amiable fellow, and his show is entertaining. So I generally listen to it on my drive home. Today, he brought up what has become a common theme in the conservative talk radio circles: Why is it that the recent assassination of Dr. Tiller has gained more media coverage than the recent killing of two soldiers at an Arkansas recruitment center by an Islamist terrorist?

Well, why, indeed? I must say, I agree with these conservatives, but for what I suspect are very different reasons. I agree, because to my way of thinking, both events are attacks by our enemy in the War on Terror.

We are fighting a war, ladies and gentlemen. This war didn't start on 9/11, though it may only have been then that America started paying attention. No, we have been fighting this war since the 1960's, and we have been fighting it in earnest on American soil since the Clinton Administration. The war is one against terror, and it is fought in places like Wichita, Oklahoma City, and Atlanta just as surely as it is in New York City and now Little Rock.

Just as liberals need to understand that this is a war, conservatives need to understand that the enemy is as present as one's supposedly Christian neighbor. To paraphrase Pogo, we have met the enemy, and he is among us. I don't really know why the Alabama recruitment center killings haven't garnered the attention of Dr. Tiller's assassination, but I do know this: We need to understand the threat to freedom that both events represent, and we need to do so soon.

The alternative would be to lose this war, and to lose it on American soil.

The Fundies Always Go Over The Line

2009-06-08T14:47:35Z

Somali rage at grave desecration

Since they began to capture large swathes of southern Somalia, radical Islamists have been undertaking a programme of destroying mosques and the graves of revered religious leaders from the Sufi branch of Islam.

just found this...

2009-06-08T02:03:21Z

A cartoon that succinctly rebuts the "America is a Christian nation" argument.

Figured people might find it useful.

Angry Brad is Less Angry [via bradhicks]

2009-06-07T14:12:35Z

Thank the Gods for the Feds

"Early Friday evening, a crushing weight was lifted off of my chest. The Tiller assassination hit me on a lot of levels, some of them personal, some of the political. But one in particular was weighing heavily on me: from where I was sitting, evidence of a cover-up by the Wichita police was inescapably clear, unambiguous, and 100% certain. This isn't something that I have the luxury of feeling surprised by, either. If you've read anything by any abortion provider, clinic employee, or clinic volunteer, or if you've spoken with any of them about this as I have, one thing you hear from very nearly all of them is this: cops don't care what happens to an abortion clinic or to an abortion provider. A disproportionately large number of the police chiefs in this country are, themselves, anti-abortion. But even the rest of them would quietly and secretly be delighted if the protesters and the terrorists they inspire managed to shut down their town's abortion clinic, because to a police chief, an abortion clinic is an "attractive nuisance." "

Quote of The Day

2009-06-06T20:15:16Z

"At the founding of the American republic, some of its proponents called for the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The right to live has been corrupted by dogmatists to include the right to coerce women. The right to liberty has been corrupted by plantation farmers to include the right to bind laborers. The right to pursue happiness has been corrupted by business people to include the right to get rich quickly at the public's expense.

The religious dogmatist owns your life because his god created you and gave you life. As long as the dogmatist is free to make life hell for you, your life is not your own. You may be deceived into thinking you have a life, but it is the mere shadow of life. It is the act of legislation by a petty, jealous, and despotic deity. You have the right to be arrested, all other rights are an illusion.

You may think of your existence as one of liberty, but there is a plantation owner who keeps you down on the farm. Do you shy away from travel to lands where you don't know the language? This is a form of plantation bondage. There are Americans who shun the study of French and Spanish. This is a form of plantation bondage. There are people who speak a dialect of English that is limited to small ethnic enclaves. They refuse to learn the larger dialect. This is a form of plantation bondage.

The American religion defines the pursuit of happiness as the pursuit of material comfort. There is little attention paid to the unhappiness of the materially comfortable. That would be blasphemy. If you fail to perceive happiness outside of the comfort zone, you will never pursue that happiness. If its existence is deliberately withheld from you, you have been defrauded of the right to pursue it.

Three religious traditions are arrayed against the ambitious goals of the founders of the American republic: Romanism, isolationism, and capitalism. Romanism seeks to defraud people to a right to live life to its fullest. Isolationism seeks to bind people to the land. Capitalism seeks to bar people from pursuing the beatitude of immaterial wealth.

In order to exercise these rights, we need to throw off the yokes that prevent us from that exercise. It is not the non-Romanist who must throw off the yoke of Romanism, but the non-Romanist has the responsibility to assist those who would try. Likewise, the internationalist has a responsibility to encourage the isolationist who seeks relief. The spiritualist is responsible for the assistance of anyone who seeks to free themselves from the burden of material accumulation.

For every right, there is a responsibility to enforce that right." sophia_sadek

More Fucking Bullshit [x-posted]

2009-06-06T19:45:00Z

Right-Wing Protesters: Birth Control Will Kill You

Dominionism, defined

2009-06-06T17:42:57Z

Frequently, we opponents of Dominionism are dismissed as the lunatic fringe; anti-Christian zealots who want to see the elimination of "organized religion" (whatever that means) and/or far left politicos who want to consolidate political power against conservative opposition in all forms. We know that to be false, of course, as many among us happen to be either Christians or conservatives ourselves. Still, we have an inadequate defense to that charge so long as we fail to provide a solid definition of the very thing we oppose.

Frederick Clarkson has come to the rescue. Though watered down rather severely in the Wikipedia entry based on the article, Clarkson's Public Eye article from Winter 2005 provides at least a start at the concise definition we need:

Berlet's distinction between hard and soft dominionists is clear and broad enough to describe the two main wings of the movement. But these viewpoints, like the terms "theocrat" and "theocracy," are openly embraced by few. They are terms used by outside observers to understand a complex yet vitally important trend. So for people trying to figure out if a conservative politician, organization, or religious leader is "dominionist," I notice three characteristics that bridge both the hard and the soft kind.
Dominionists celebrate Christian nationalism, in that they believe that the United States once was, and should once again be, a Christian nation. In this way, they deny the Enlightenment roots of American democracy.

Dominionists promote religious supremacy, insofar as they generally do not respect the equality of other religions, or even other versions of Christianity.

Dominionists endorse theocratic visions, insofar as they believe that the Ten Commandments, or "biblical law," should be the foundation of American law, and that the U.S. Constitution should be seen as a vehicle for implementing Biblical principles.

These three points are key. These characteristics isolate Dominionists from those citizens whose rightful participation in the political process is informed by Christian religious belief and conservative ideology. Christian nationalism is not conservative; it neither conserves nor restores national ideals in this country. Religious supremacy is not conservative; the Constitution is clear in its proscription of official acts that favor one sect over another. Finally, and most importantly, "biblical law" is not conservative of American political history.

Never in our nation's history has "biblical law" been enshrined in US Federal law. It is telling that in order to make the claim that the Ten Commandments represent the foundation of American law, Dominionists must gloss over the theological peculiarities that distinguish the Ten Commandments from generic and universal morality-- let alone the very distinct Levitican and other ancient Israelite laws that are as foreign to our American legal system as would be the laws of Feudal Japan or the ancient Incas. Simply put, American jurisprudence is not "biblical".

We opponents of Dominionism must continue to make the case that Dominionism is an intolerable cancer upon our nation. The time to do so is now, while Dominionists cannot hide behind popular conservative politics. Thank you for reading.

Betty Bowers Explains Traditional Marriage to Everyone Else

2009-06-05T22:48:08Z

Could Tiller's murder have been prevented?

2009-06-03T17:49:20Z

The suspect in his shooting attacked a clinic just the day before.

Tracy Clark-Flory

Jun. 03, 2009 | Salon.com

Here's a situation where police must be wishing for a do-over: The suspect in Dr. George Tiller's murder was caught vandalizing a clinic the day before Sunday's shooting. Scott Roeder wasn't arrested or questioned; he didn't even have a patrol car intimidatingly cruise by his house late at night. Instead, Roeder was left undisturbed while he allegedly planned his next-day attack on the Kansas doctor. This news comes on the heels of Kate Harding's excellent post about how difficult it is for abortion providers to get law enforcement to respond to harassment from pro-life groups, and it raises an important question: Could Tiller's assassination have been prevented by law enforcement?

Fifty-one-year-old Roeder, who was charged Tuesday with Tiller's murder, allegedly showed up at the Central Family Medicine clinic over the past two weekends and tried to pour epoxy into its locks. Both attacks were reported to officials, but neither warranted police action, apparently. During his final nonviolent attack early Saturday morning, a clinic worker caught him in the act and chased him away while he repeatedly called her a "baby killer." She wrote down his license plate number and clinic manager Jeffrey Pederson called the FBI to report the attack and pass along Roeder's plate number. FBI agents "told him nothing could be done with the information until a federal grand jury convened," CNN reports.

The next day, Pederson got word of Tiller's death, and the suspect's license plate number. It was the same number he had given the FBI just the day before. "I was just sick," he told the Kansas City Star. "I called the FBI back and said, 'It's the same car. It’s the same guy.'" An FBI spokesperson told the newspaper: "When we are notified when vandalism occurs at a clinic, we look into the matter, but we’re not going to comment on anything regarding that incident."

Roeder did the same thing -- gluing the clinic's locks two weekends in a row -- in 2000, according to Pederson. "The pictures I had back then were fuzzy, and the FBI said it wasn’t sufficient to prosecute." After turning in footage of the Memorial Day weekend attack to the FBI and finding that the image was still too fuzzy, Pederson upgraded his security camera equipment on Friday, just two days before Tiller's murder. On Saturday, he told the FBI that he "had more video, and these pictures are a lot clearer." They arranged to interview his staff at a later date -- which, it turns out, was far, far too late.

This is but one more hefty piece of evidence of a nationwide failure to adequately protect licensed and law-abiding medical professionals from violent extremists. It's been said before, but I'll say it again: This domestic war on terror has to be fought.

The Complex Made Simple

2009-06-03T14:31:31Z

The Term Has Now Been Uttered On A Major News Platform

2009-06-01T17:39:36Z

Christian Fundamentalist Terrorism

Attorney general directs U.S. marshals to protect abortion clinics, providers

2009-06-01T16:50:58Z

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder dispatched the U.S. Marshals Service to protect “appropriate people and facilities around the nation” in the wake of the killing Sunday morning of late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller in Wichita, Kan.

Likely top candidate for federal protection: Boulder physician Warren Hern, believed to be the last remaining doctor in the world to provide very late-term abortions.

Hern, director of the Boulder Abortion Clinic, told The Colorado Independent that Tiller’s assassination is the “absolutely inevitable consequence” of decades of anti-abortion fanaticism.

“Every doctor that does abortions has been under an assassination threat for decades,” Hern said Sunday afternoon. “The anti-abortion movement message is, ‘Do what we tell you to do or we will kill you,’ and they do. This is a fascist movement.”

More @ The Colorado Independent

Which Way To Go?

2009-06-01T11:41:53Z

~The assassination of Dr. George Tiller has brought something to a head in this community, a fork in the road as it were. Below are two comments on my quite intentionally inflammatory piece, A Few Thoughts Upon The Assassination of Dr George Tiller. They each signify a certain direction. I ask you, the members of this community, as a founder and Moderator of said, which path you wish to take.

“All you actually know about me is that I object to public postings of material that could very easily be construed as threats of violence and which could draw the attention of the authorities to a community which I find to be a useful source of information and discussion.”

“Let this draw attention and provoke debate. If that is not what are doing here then this is just another fucking circle jerk.”

Yes, the context is a Flame, but what more honest representation of strong beliefs is there than an ideologically driven Flame.

So, share your thoughts...