Training evangelical pastors to be politicians

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

I'm trying to think of one as well. So far no luck though. I can elaborate a bit on why I think the other is not as "even" as ketsuko's though. It really comes down to this. While I can't speak for ketsuko, I think it's safe to say that generally speaking Christians don't hate or fear homosexuals. They hate the sin, and fear for their soul perhaps. But the homosexual crowd has never given any indication they should be feared. Now on the other hand, we have Westboro. The people that most other Christians, along with the rest of us, think are crazy. Not "true Christians" etc. etc. The obvious extreme choice between the two you've presented. The clear zealots.

Enjoy your movie!

a reply to: WakeUpBeer

Enjoy your movie!

It's such a good one that we're watching it for a second time. I watched it by myself first, then said, "Oh honey, you gotta see this." We watched it together.

Tonight he suggested watching it again.....after we were discussing this thread.

The Birdcage.
We're about an hour into it.

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
Oh my oh my....

Jesus camp for adults seeks to impose Christianity on the US by converting 1,000 pastors into politicians

I learned about the New Apostolic Reformationist and Seven Mountain Dominionists a couple of years ago. At that time, they remained rather "underground", below the radar. No more.

You all will have to click the link to see the story (originally posted in the International Business Times, but I couldn't find it on there) - this version is on rawstory.com. I can't post a snippet either.

Briefly, the evangelicals are mobilizing big time - a gathering commenced to begin training pastors to become political operatives - i.e. running for office. 300 of them in Florida, with Mike Huckabee slated as keynote speaker.

This is rather alarming.
This began last November, according to the Washington Times.

A prominent evangelical Christian leader has launched an effort to recruit 1,000 pastors willing to run for political office, hoping to inject religious issues and candidates into the 2016 election.

David Lane, the founder of the American Renewal Project, said he hopes he can persuade pastors to run for offices as varied as school board and city council to the state legislature and Congress. He’s scheduled an organizing meeting in January in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.



Read more: www.washingtontimes.com...
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

An additional link from The American Renewal Project


It seems to me there must be some boundary that is being crossed, but maybe not. It just sounds .... off.

By engaging pastors and church communities, Mr. Lane hopes ultimately that more Christians will head to the polls.

“We have a Christian responsibility to engage people and get out the vote,” Mr. Lane said adding that the pastors “might decide that the Lord doesn’t want them to run for office, but they may have someone in their church who is very talented and can encourage them to.”

He argued that America was established as a Judeo-Christian nation and that separation of church and state was never meant to keep religion out of politics.

“There’s no truth to that, the Constitution says the state is to keep out of the church, it doesn’t say the church is to keep out of the state,” Mr. Lane said, adding that secularism is another religion that’s being imposed on Americans.



Read more: www.washingtontimes.com...
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

Another storm brewing....not so quietly. Americans mustn't let themselves be taken by surprise. Please do your due diligence and learn all you can about those hopefuls currently running for office, and how they are recruiting. What party do they claim?

I'll just leave this here and see if anyone wants to discuss it.

How is this any different from the closet homosexuals who infiltrated media and government to advance their own goals?

The only difference I see is the Christians are being rather open about it.

a reply to: WakeUpBeer

Do you know who Eddie Izzard is?
We went to see him last year (for the second time)......
and Westboro was actually across the street with their silly signs about fags and hell and condemnation.

We'd also gone to see Fleetwood Mac last year, and the Holy-Rollers were outside with bullhorns and banners hanging from crosses telling us we were all doomed to hell.....

For heaven's sake - it wasn't Marilyn Manson, or Korn, or whoever sinister guys.... it was FLEETWOOD MAC!!!!

ALL of the people waiting to get in to see the shows either just ignored the WBCs and the Megaphone guy - or took pictures. Like a freak show kind of thing.



Eddie even put on lipstick, just for our show, and said in his opening: "I wasn't going to wear lipstick tonight, but the people over the road said it would be okay."


LOL!!!!!!!

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

I know who Eddie Izzard is a bit. Basically I've seen one stand up show he did, and saw him in a Treasure Island mini series once. Not half bad. Made me laugh.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Are you just as alarmed at Rev Jesse Jackson and Rev Al Sharpton? Or are you only alarmed because those in this article will likely be conservatives with a differing political opinion than you?

I am not opposed to religious politicians, as long as they agree that a theocracy has never been a good thing, and there are plenty of prime examples, even within Christian history.

originally posted by: AnonymousMoose
a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Are you just as alarmed at Rev Jesse Jackson and Rev Al Sharpton? Or are you only alarmed because those in this article will likely be conservatives with a differing political opinion than you?

I am not opposed to religious politicians, as long as they agree that a theocracy has never been a good thing, and there are plenty of prime examples, even within Christian history.

Jesse Jackson Jr is a good example of integrity and honesty.

So, someone asked about religious laws in America. How about not being able to marry certain people, not being able to buy alcohol on certain days or in entire counties, gay people can't adopt, pharmacists not having to sell birth control to customers, and of course stupid sodomy laws all in the name of freedom of course.

Electing more fundamentalists will probably mean less freedom and more rights being taken away.

a reply to: AnonymousMoose

I am not opposed to religious politicians, as long as they agree that a theocracy has never been a good thing, and there are plenty of prime examples, even within Christian history.

Neither am I opposed to religious politicians.

These folks, though - their whole thing is to create a theocracy....

a reply to: chr0naut

I must confess that the only real info I have about US evangelicals are tele-evangelists. I am NOT enamored.

Thanks for saying so.
Yeah, they are the guys doing this.....

a reply to: FyreByrd

I've found the material and authors I was looking for:

First:

www.newrepublic.com...

One Nation Under God opens with a moment of widespread anti-capitalist sentiment. Following the desolation of the Great Depression, Kruse reports, mistrust of financiers and their associates was at a perilous high.

....

Concerned that populist politics might endanger their wealth, America’s monied interests did what they do best: They bought a solution.

It came in the form of James W. Fifield Jr., a Congregationalist pastor who made his fortune in Southern California by preaching to the fabulously wealthy and accepting their patronage.

Fifield, Kruse notes, was especially gifted at assuring wealthy Christians that their riches were evidence of virtue rather than vice. A philosophical descendant of Max Weber, Fifield married Christian thought with a new era of economic development, and spread the gospel through his organization, Spiritual Mobilization.

Its mission was simple: to stamp out Christian support for a generous welfare state—which paired naturally with New Deal concern for the poor, elderly, and vulnerable—and to advance a new theory of Christian libertarianism.

Peter Kruse the Author of "One Nation under God" is:

Kevin Kruse is a professor of history at Princeton University and is the author of a previous book called White Flight.

www.npr.org...

A couple of interview exerpts:

About Corporate resentment at regulation during the "New Deal":

The most famous of these organizations was called The American Liberty League and it was heavily financed by leaders at DuPont, General Motors and other corporations.

The problem was that it seemed like very obvious corporate propaganda.

And so....

So when they realized that making this direct case for free enterprise was ineffective, they decided to find another way to do it.

They decided to outsource the job.

As they noted in their private correspondence, ministers were the most trusted men in America at the time, so who better to make the case to the American people than ministers?

You get the idea... there is even video.....



Subtitle: How Corporate America created Christian America

a reply to: FyreByrd

And for a shorter and less scholarly presentation:



Thom Hartman, a devote Christian, interviews historian & author Kevin Kruse.

Frankly the lecture is a much better presentation...

a reply to: NihilistSanta

Did the "closet homosexuals" promote taking over the government?

Well, I'll admit, America is a bit more fabulous than a few years back.

These Dominionists are not just political Christians ... they're the direct American equivalent of the Taliban.

a reply to: Gryphon66

I am not advocating a theocracy I just fail to see the difference in the two really. I mean everyone running for office is in there with an agenda. The difference being that closeted homosexuals did so in secret. They did so in secret because if it was known publicly before they had affected legislation, media matters, and public opinion they would not have been elected or hired or what have you.

Are you against transparency?

a reply to: BuzzyWigs


Made me think of this - Frank Zappa & Sting live "Murder by Numbers" probably sometime in the 80s - too tired to look it up.



Frank was an original critic about these theocracy types....

a reply to: NihilistSanta

You fail to see the difference between people fighting for equity before the law ... and people whose stated purpose it is to "return this to a Christian Nation" and "establish God's Law rather than man's?"

I'm sorry, I can't believe that you're that naive, based on reading your posts.

What in the world are you talking about with "closeted homosexuals"? Activists haven't been "closeted" in 40 years.

In fact, that's one of the complaints that right-wingers constantly make.

Are you for theocracy?

a reply to: Gryphon66

I'm scared to look in my closet now...is it full of homosexuals who will jump out like "coo eee!"?.

originally posted by: boymonkey74
a reply to: Gryphon66

I'm scared to look in my closet now...is it full of homosexuals who will jump out like "coo eee!"?.

No, but you may find a few Republicans in there ... because obviously some of them can't quit thinking about us bad ... oh so nasty ... abominations.

They just can't stop imagining what we do behind closed doors and it just makes them feel ... all funny inside.

originally posted by: NihilistSanta
How is this any different from the closet homosexuals who infiltrated media and government to advance their own goals?

The only difference I see is the Christians are being rather open about it.

Nice try at deflecting this over to your homophobic agenda but it's a really lame example.

I suppose the main difference is that infiltrating The Government is a bit more serious than infiltrating Media. If you can't see that, well, you'd have to be blind.

a reply to: AnonymousMoose

I am not opposed to religious politicians, as long as they agree that a theocracy has never been a good thing, and there are plenty of prime examples, even within Christian history.

I agree with you on that. But these folks INTEND to make it a Theocracy. That's the part that alarms me.