Christo-Fascist Terrorism

All the talk about bloodthirsty Islamic terrorists has been making me think more deeply about Religious Fundamentalist terrorism in general. I totally agree that radical Islam is an oppressive, draconian force that impedes the progress of Civilization and encourages barbarism and backward, primitive thinking. To call for the heads of political cartoonists, or novelists like Rushdie, or to encourage the persecution of women and homosexuals is deplorable, depraved and unacceptable. To insist on the absolute inerrancy of their own interpretation of an ancient "holy" text of questionable origin rife with dubious or downright absurd claims and demands is a mockery of the enlightened, rational times in which we live.

While we are on the subject of religious extremism, I thought we could perhaps discuss a few of the Christ-o-Fascist organizations that have engaged in collusion and conspiracy to try to bring about a "perfect Christian state" both in the United States and abroad.

1) The Army of God

The Army of God is a militant anti-abortion group. Whatever your feelings about abortion, the existence of abortion clinics is still, several Bush high court appointees later, legally sanctioned. There are restrictions. The clinics are closely monitored. But the fact remains that the clinics are legal and that doctors are allowed, under some circumstances, to perform abortions. We live in a society of law, and if one disagrees with a law, while one is entitled to challenge it, one is NOT entitled to take the law into one's own hands. This is exactly what The Army of God, a well organized and well funded Rightwing Christian group, does and encourages others to do. They have celebrated the murder of abortion doctors and openly praised abortion clinic bomber Eric Rudolph. Here is one fairly informative fact sheet about them, complete with other links www.sourcewatch.org... .

2) The Reverend Phelps and his clan.

Phelps is outrageously hateful. Everyone is familiar with his "godhates x" sites. These include "godhatessweden" and "godhatesamerica.com" "godhatescanada.com" and "godhatesireland.com". I don't really want to send this particular hatemonger any traffic by linking directly to his sites, but they're not difficult to find if you are curious. Phelps has publicly, loudly stated that pledging allegiance to the US (or any) flag is a form of idolatry punishable in God's eyes. Phelps' congregation has made death threats against numerous speakers in their area with whose views they have disagreed. They are notorious for [bold] attempting to picket the funerals of fallen US soldiers. Does Phelps represent the Christian mainstream? No. But since one frequently sees demands that "all Muslims must denounce any extremist statement, no matter how absurd or aberrant it may be by any Muslim leader" it seems only fair to demand that all Christians also denounce Phelps and his clan and their bigotry and hate filled rhetoric.

3) The National Liberation Front of Tripura

This militant, far right Christian organization, was established in India by Baptist missionaries from New Zealand. It exploded in size and funding, and in turn buildings and vehicles also began to explode. The NLFT and its offshoot groups demand the creation of a Christian state in Nothern India. They have been waging an aggressive and ambitious campaign of bombings, sabotage, murder and kidnapping. Here is a list of some of their more notable acts www.satp.org... .

This is only the beginning of a list of groups and organizations at home in the US and abroad who murder, bomb and kidnap in the name of their extremist Christian beliefs. If we are going to take "IslamoFascism" seriously as an ideology and as a conspiracy, then it is time to consider ChristoFascism in the same category.

edit: fixed html tag

[edit on 15-9-2007 by peabody]

Excellent post. I hadn't heard of two of your three examples.

All I needed to realize that we were creating our own fundamentalist terrorists was was to watch Jesus Camp.

fundamentalism of ANY kind breeds violence. Totalitarian regimes also fall under the heading of fundamentalism.

For a religion whose leader exhorts its followers to "turn the other cheek" I see a whole lotta people going contrary to their faith.

reply to post by peabody


nice job.
love the play on "islamo-fascist"

reply to post by peabody


Good post op

This I'm sure is gonna make us more likable in the Middle East Evangelicals financing immigrants, settlements Not quite funding terrorists.

Isn't the occupation/Jewish Settlements of Palestine one reason for Islamic Terrorists.

just my 2 cents

Great thread, peabody

There is much to look at when considering the theological influences which act upon governments. One of the most vocal critics of American foreign policy being shaped by religion is Kevin Phillips, who recently wrote a book titled American Theocracy

www.americantheocracy.net...

from American Theocracy - The Peril and Politics of Radical religion, oil and Borrowed Money in the 21st Century by Kevin Phillips Viking Penguin 2006 ISBN 0-670-03486-X

(page 100)

In its recent practice, the radical side of U.S. religion has embraced cultural antimodernism, war hawkishness, Armageddon prophecy, and in the case of conservative fundamentalists, a demand for governments by literal biblical interpretation.

Interesting observation when considering just exactly why Iraq was invaded. But, perhaps that's for another thread.

Is the US Administration becoming more radical through the infuence of the Southern Evangelical churches?

But first, just who is Kevin phillips?

Phillips was a senior strategist for Richard Nixon's 1968 campaign, which was the basis for a book, The Emerging Republican Majority, which predicted a conservative realignment in national politics, and is widely regarded as one of the most influential recent works in political science. His predictions regarding shifting voting patterns in presidential elections proved accurate, though they did not extend "down ballot" to Congress until the Republican revolution of 1994. Philips also was partly responsible for the design of the Republican "Southern strategy" of the 1970s and '80s.

Wiki Article

Sounds like this author was indeed very influencial in the establishment of todays Republican Party. So, what's his reasoning for distancing himself from that party today? The following might shine a light on his primary beef;

Presentation by Kevin Phillips on the Influence of Religion on U.S. Foreign Policy at the Princeton-University of Texas Conference, May 16-17

*snip*

2. George W. Bush and the Whiff of Theocracy

Unlike any previous president, George W. Bush – born again and brought to Christ in 1986 – cut his teeth in national politics during 1988 as his father’s liaison with the Religious Right, a unique entryway. In 1999, he told meetings of preachers that God wanted him to be president, and after 9/11, as widely reported, his rhetoric turned heavily religious. Then came his invasion of Iraq .

My estimate is that oil, including petroleum as the regional pivot of Mideast geopolitics, represented 40-50% of the motivation; alleged weaponry and abstract geopolitics perhaps a quarter, and Bush family grudges against Saddam another sliver. Religion, however, may well have been a further 15% factor if you lump together the huge biblical significance of Israel, the evangelical community’s sense of Iraq as Babylon and Saddam as the Anti-Christ, and the desire of key Bush constituencies like the Southern Baptist Convention and the Assemblies of God to evangelize in the Middle East and Iraq itself to enlist forces for Christ in the unfolding battle. In weighing his core electorate, forget the overall percentage of Christians believing in the End Times and Armageddon. Among evangelicals, over 70% so believed, and some 55% or more of those who voted for Bush in 2000 would have counted themselves End Times believers in the Newsweek poll. He and Cheney could never talk about oil, because it wouldn’t square with the biblical electorate’s sense of what was at stake.

www.americantheocracy.net...

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spelling edit




[edit on 16/9/07 by masqua]

Originally posted by peabody
This is only the beginning of a list of groups and organizations at home in the US and abroad who murder, bomb and kidnap in the name of their extremist Christian beliefs. If we are going to take "IslamoFascism" seriously as an ideology and as a conspiracy, then it is time to consider ChristoFascism in the same category.
[edit on 15-9-2007 by peabody]

Thank you very much for posting this subject, it is very much needed to balance out this particular topic.
There are many fanatic religious groups in the world, not only the few Muslim ones.
They are al as dangerous.

Thanks and Respect.

Interesting post

It's refreshing to see such on ATS, a reminder that Islamic fundamentalists aren't the only insane religious perverters out there. I think people too often forget that there are more terrorist cells in America which are white and christian than are al-Queda. Because along with those Christian terrorist groups, there are the neo-nazis and skinheads who pledge alliegence to a strange hybrid of the Third Reich and Christandom.

I'm sure the government are well aware of this, and the Patriot act no doubt has tabs on all these characters. As I imagine members of this website are tabbed too, though for different reasons. Though the one reason their faces aren't in the Top 10 FBI list is because they aren't the nations enemy, as far as the governments aware. You start the media off on an anti white-christian-middle america campaign, and there would be mass confusion. Shame.

reply to post by masqua


Thanks to everyone for the kind words.

Masqua, American Theocracy is a great suggestion. Kevin Phillips is a terribly smart man and an entertaining writer. The biography of him you quoted touched on this, but just to emphasize, this is a man who predicted the red/blue state division decades ago. In the 70s both the National Reveiw and the Wall Street Journal credited and congratulated him with changing the way the Republicans looked at the electoral map. This was the first guy who really understood the way, in the 80s and 90s, cultural shifts were going to shift the political landscape and he drafted strategies to take advantage of that. So if there is anyone who has a clear understanding of hard Right Christian culture, and how it can be manipulated, it's Phillips. Not coincidentally, Phillips was a deep insider in the Nixon White House, which is the time Billy Graham and Reverend Moon started playing prominent roles in the GOP.

Phillips talks about how Bush told evengelical leaders in the 90s that "God told me to run for President". I think people who are not familiar with the most extreme elements of the Christian Right would assume he was speaking metaphorically.

You're right, the religious motivation behind the Iraq invasion is probably fodder for another thread. But let me just link quickly to a couple of pieces about Bush's fundamentalist eschatology and how it has shaped his presidency.

The first one is an article from The Guardian. It presents some decent background into the development of the modern conflict between the fundamentalists and mainstream culture and science. www.guardian.co.uk...

This piece is more polemical, but it deals specifically with Bush's fixation on Judgment Day and the end of the world. www.counterpunch.org...

The problem with most sources about the Fundamentalists and their relation to American policy is that they come from sources with an obvious political agenda, and as such they have the effect of preaching to the choir, so to speak. The advantage that Phillips has over many critics of the Hard Religious Right is that he was on the inside and he left not because he was forced out, or shamed out, or embittered. He left because what he saw shaping up in American politics scared him.