The Jesus Landing Pad - Village Voice

[Kelvin Mace]

The inmates are in charge of the asylum.


Bush White House checked with rapture Christians before latest Israel move

It was an e-mail we weren't meant to see. Not for our eyes were the notes that showed White House staffers taking two-hour meetings with Christian fundamentalists, where they passed off bogus social science on gay marriage as if it were holy writ and issued fiery warnings that "the Presidents Administration and current Government is engaged in cultural, economical, and social struggle on every level"—this to a group whose representative in Israel believed herself to have been attacked by witchcraft unleashed by proximity to a volume of Harry Potter. Most of all, apparently, we're not supposed to know the National Security Council's top Middle East aide consults with apocalyptic Christians eager to ensure American policy on Israel conforms with their sectarian doomsday scenarios.

But now we know.

"Everything that you're discussing is information you're not supposed to have," barked Pentecostal minister Robert G. Upton when asked about the off-the-record briefing his delegation received on March 25. Details of that meeting appear in a confidential memo signed by Upton and obtained by the Voice.

*snip*

Abrams attempted to assuage their concerns by stating that "the Gaza Strip had no significant Biblical influence such as Joseph's tomb or Rachel's tomb and therefore is a piece of land that can be sacrificed for the cause of peace."

Three weeks after the confab, President George W. Bush reversed long-standing U.S. policy, endorsing Israeli sovereignty over parts of the West Bank in exchange for Israel'sdisengagement from the Gaza Strip.


David Allen
www.thoughtcrimes.org
Distrusting the Government Since 1984

[kimchi]

1. link? n/t

[jean]

2. Link is here

The Jesus Landing Pad

[Merlin]

28. Jesus! God in heaven save us from these people!

"…the members vociferously oppose the idea of a Palestinian state. They fear an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza might enable just that, and they object on the grounds that all of Old Testament Israel belongs to the Jews. Until Israel is intact and David's temple rebuilt, they believe, Christ won't come back to earth."

We must build popular support for public acknowledgement of the fact that:

The Bible is NOT The Word of God.

God just isn't a stupid racist who can't write a coherent, clear book. Sorry. The Bible (OT) is simply ancient tribal history and folklore.

[crossroads]

59. Bush keeping it real... in *his* world!

Jeeeeessshh...!!! He was just checking with *dad*... wot a leader!
:eyes:

[boobooday]

3. Once again, these people SCARE THE HELL OUT OF ME

They are completely whacked.

Is this Bush's exit strategy? To bring on the rapture?



http://www.wgoeshome.com

[TrogL]

7. Yes, that's been the strategy all along

This isn't a war, it's a Crusade.

[OKNancy]

4. Kick it up

They are all INSANE!!!!!!!

[htuttle]

5. Why can't they just castrate themselves and start wearing tracksuits....

...like the rest of the insane cults?

Isn't their comet-ride going to show up soon?

[DinahMoeHum]

6. Methinks they better wear asbestos suits instead. . .

for where they'll end up.

:evilgrin:

[okieinpain]

18. yeah, but if they can't get us to drink the kool-aid. they will have

other means at their disposal.

[RoyGBiv]

8. Dear God,

Please protect us from your servants.

Thanks.

[Kelvin Mace]

9. SHAZZBOT!!! Here's the link

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0420/perlstein.php

Sorry guys!

David Allen
www.thoughtcrimes.org
Distrusting the Government Since 1984

[donco6]

37. I've known a lot of these whackos.

The article talks about "operating on the edge of insanity" and that's a perfect description. Everything for them is filtered through this emotional filter. If they feel afraid, it's because there's a demon in the room; if they are happy, it's because an angel passed by - blah blah.

I don't know what else to do but shake my head that ANYONE ANYWHERE is actually taking these idiots seriously.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

10. "TheoCRATICAL perspective" (quote)

When Pastor Upton was asked to explain why the group's website describes the Apostolic Congress as "the Christian Voice in the nation's capital," instead of simply a Christian voice in the nation's capital, he responded, "There has been a real lack of leadership in having someone emerge as a Christian voice, someone who doesn't speak for the right, someone who doesn't speak for the left, but someone who speaks for the people, and someone who speaks from a theocratical perspective."

When his words were repeated back to him to make sure he had said a "theocratical" perspective, not a "theological" perspective, he said, "Exactly. Exactly. We want to know what God would have us say or what God would have us do in every issue."

[Just Me]

14. Awwww shit,...

,...we really do have some apocalyptic whack-jobs with their arms around Dubya's neck,...huh.

God, save us from these people. Amen.

[duvinnie]

29. their God

is a small god.
Unlike the God of the bible, who belongs to all people

[JohnOneillsMemory]

43. Antonin Scalia is assisting this Dominionist movement. Read my sig. quote.

Here's my synopsis on Dominionism again:

Religion is the biggest arrow in the quiver of the Culture War to hijack control of the biggest weapon on the planet, the US government. Television is a close second for filling the collective American mind with manipulative fearmongering. Combined, they are a 24/7 Nuremberg rally of adrenalin and endorphins, a daily drip of red-white-and-blue indoctri-Nation-alism.

'THE CHOSEN FEW' IS BEING MORPHED INTO 'THE MASTER RACE'
THE SAME WAY 'GET OSAMA' WAS MORPHED INTO 'GET SADDAM.'

This is the basic model of this religion-fueled fascism:
Supreme Dictator Smiting Evil-doers Wrathfully Without Legal Restraints.
Sound familar?
Yup. George W. Bush as the American Neocon Ayatollah.

We are living in the closing minutes of a culture war that the American Taliban, called Dominionists, are winning.
The US Constitution (of-by-for the people) is being gutted and replaced with the Bible (Divine Right of Kings) to achieve a police-state where everyone who isn't with us goes to Guantanamo Bay to be tortured indefinitely with no legal rights. That is already happening. The power of president-ordered summary execution has also been procured as of 2002.

The inflammation of the old anti-Semitic, anti-homosexual, anti-abortion, and anti-pornography 'passions' is part of a very real and documented campaign to make this country into a Hitlerian theocracy fueled by militarism and Christian fundamentalist religious dogma called 'Dominionism.'

It’s teachings are the opposite of those of Jesus Christ's Sermon on the Mount. Instead:
Wealth=virtue/Poverty=sin.
War=safety/Peace=danger.
Monarchy=Success/Democracy=failure.

It is totally Orwellian and some animals are definitely more equal than others. In fact, some deserve to starve. Eugenics serves as domestic policy while imperialism is foreign policy.

The return of eugenics (elimination of the 'weak') in our government's policies looks very much like the old systems of feudalism, slavery and holocaust.
'Might Makes Right' is replacing 'The Rule of Law.'

Georgie's brain is much worse than you think and he's being used for terrible purposes. Here's a British clinical psychologist's researched analysis of the boy king. He interviewed Georgie's family, friends and such and determined that he was abused as a child and developed an 'authoritarian personality,' the root of fascism. Read it and weep for him and us.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1033904,00.html
(So George, how do you feel about your mom and dad?)-CLICK

And this personality is being exploited to further the creation of a Hitlerian Theocracy called ‘Dominionism’, which has been going on in this country for the last thirty years. http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_5160.shtml
(God Bless America, The Constitution is Dead)-CLICK

If you'd like to read the full speech of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia back in the dark ages of January 2002 when he said that 'democracy interferes with the Divine Right of Kings and he's doing something about it,' read this and wonder what century we're living in and just what that Constitution was for, anyway.
http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/scalia.htm
(God's Justice and Ours)-CLICK

Eugenics, isn’t that a little dramatic? Social conditions have not improved in the United States since 1980.
Using data from the UN and World Bank, researcher Richard Estes created an Index of Social Progress that
takes into account health, education, human rights, political participation, population growth, the status of women, cultural diversity, ‘freedom from social chaos’, military spending, and environmental protection.
In a list that included 163 countries, the United States ranked 27th. Estes, who has researched world social development for 30 years, found the pace of social development to be "on hold" since 1980, putting the U.S. on the same level as Poland and Slovenia in the current "report card.” Yet the US ‘defense’ budget is the size of the next 15 largest in the world combined.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-07/uop-ur2071703.php
(US Ranks 27th in World Social Progress)-CLICK.


How can they get away with it when everyone seems to be mad at Georgie and we're supposed to be able to vote him out of our White House? By fixing the electronic voting machines for 'the House.' Read this and decide which country to escape to this fall when Georgie is reinstalled, like a 'Manchurian Candidate' to finish the job he was sent to do: eliminate democracy, create a police state, and conquer the world as Superman Jesus in a Cowboy Hat.
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0225-05.htm
(Diebold, Electonic Voting, and the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy)-CLICK

LATE BREAKING NEWS-FEB. 26 2004
Right now the Dominionists are introducing legislation to replace 'The People' as the authority in our democracy’s Constitution with ‘God’ in a bill called ‘The Constitution Restoration Act of 2004,’ exactly the opposite of what it really is, just like the Patriot Act, the Help America Vote Act, the Leave No Child Behind Act, and the Clear Skies Act. The legalities of the Christian Theocracy are being used to destroy our laws as if by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

This is not a test! It is absolutely real and happening right now while the media are busy covering gay marriage and Mel Gibson’s bloody crucifixion porn film, ‘The Passion of the Christ.’

“…on February 11 , 2004 Dominionist leaders in congress made their move; they introduced a bill in both houses called The Constitution Restoration Act of 2004. Among the sponsors of the bill are Rep. Robert Aderholt (Alabama), Rep. Michael Pence (Indiana), Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, Sen. Zell Miller (Georgia), Sen. Sam Brownback (Kansas), and Sen. Lindsey Graham (South Carolina).

The House version is H.R. 3799 and the Senate version is S. 2082. The bill limits the U.S. Supreme Court and federal courts to hear cases involving “expressions of religious faith by elected or appointed officials.”

Although the claim by its sponsors appears to be that the intention is to prevent the courts from hearing cases involving the Ten Commandments or a Nativity Scene in a public setting from being reviewed, the law is drawn broadly and expressly includes the acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law by an official in his capacity of executing his office.”

http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0402/S00172.htm
(The Constitution Restoration Act of 2004)-CLICK

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

50. OMFG, Scalia really DID say that!

Exact quote from http://www.prodeathpenalty.com/scalia.htm

"The reaction of people of faith to this tendency of democracy to obscure the divine authority behind government should not be resignation to it, but the resolution to combat it as effectively as possible."

Why does he hate America so much?

[struggle4progress]

55. The Scalia speech is surprisingly vacuous. eom

[yellowcanine]

11. Remember James Watt? Didn't see any need to protect the environment

because it was going to be destroyed anyway after the rapture.
(Secretary of the Interior under Reagan for those too young to remember)

[Kolesar]

13. I remember! eom

[struggle4progress]

22. I was so happy when he convicted ...

for withholding documents from a grand jury. I thought it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy! :)

[jean]

47. Watt's protege is now Sec'y of the Interior - - -

Gale Norton Is No James Watt;She's Even Worse

[KamaAina]

12. So, what does Kerry have to say about this?

Anything? Anything at all? Or hasn't he focus-grouped it yet?

If Sen. KamaAina had this kind of smoking gun on his repuke opponent, you can bet I'd be on the air with it the next day!

"Vote KamaAina. Aloha for everyone -- except repukes, of course."

[duvinnie]

30. Kerry?

I believe he says that he supports the President (re Israel).

[Mountainman]

15. Religion could be the death of us all

I believe that if there is a nuclear war it will be because two or more religions disagree.

[SemperEadem]

16. So, how does one set into motion the machinery to revoke their

tax exemption status?

If they want to dabble in politics, then they should not be able to hide behind tax exemption.

Since they believe that there is no separation of church and state, then it's time for them to ante up the taxes they've been owing since they got the bright idea to interfere where they have no business.

[calimary]

41. If you did that, perhaps you could look into broadening its scope to

include the Catholic Church. This Catholic would be first in line to support it. If they wanna politick at me from the pulpit, they damned well better start paying for the privilege!

And by the way, yes to an earlier poster who asked if we remembered James Watt. LORD HAVE MERCY do I remember that cretin! And yes, incredibly enough, he DID believe that it made no difference how much we fucked up the environment, because JEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEZUSS was coming and was gonna fix everything. So we could just rape and pillage and burn and pollute and squander and cut down all the trees we wanted and deforest as much of the planet as we felt like (except for saving 100 acres of trees "for the kids" - the words of one of Reagan's "kitchen cabinet" members, industrialist Justin Dart, and anyway, trees cause pollution, don'tcha know?) because the Second Coming was nigh, and the Low-werd would fix everything!

I never thought we'd survive that imbecile! To the dustbin of history with him.

[yardwork]

17. We need to keep this kicked and in the public's eye.

End-Timers are bedrock Bush* supporters, but if it gets out that they are influencing WH policy, most other denominations will back away slowly from the crazies.

Atheists and non-Christians probably have more tolerance for the End-Timers than their main-stream Protestant brethren. Most main-stream Christians - including right-wingers - are embarrassed by the existence of End-Timers. The knowledge that "those crazy loons" are influencing WH policy will give them heartburn.

LOL!

[hunter]

19. I can't wait 'til Bush meets Jesus...

Dead or alive, doesn't matter.

Myself, I don't yet find it in my heart to forgive George W. Bush, and I'm still working on forgiving Ronald Reagan, even after he forgot everything, since there was so much stuff he needed to forget.

If ignorant clowns like Robert G. Upton get what they want, I'm sorry, they will be going straight to hell, do not pass GO, do not collect $200. But if they get what they need a lot of pigs are gonna drown with those demons, and I'll be feeling sorry for the pigs, even though most of them will be Republicans.

Mark, Chapter 5, if you want to look it up in the Bible...

[UpInArms]

20. I am sick to death of these end-timers and whackjobs

:wtf: are these people doing on this earth?????

Why don't they just go and drink their kookaid and wait for their starships and leave the world out of their cults?

and then there was this stupid paragraph:

In the interview with the Voice, Pastor Upton claimed personal responsibility for directing 50,000 postcards to the White House opposing the Road Map, which aims to create a Palestinian state. "I'm in total disagreement with any form of Palestinian state," Upton said. "Within a two-week period, getting 50,000 postcards saying the exact same thing from places all over the country, that resonated with the White House. That really caused to backpedal on the Road Map."

Yeah???? Well, seeing 14 million people in the streets on February 15, 2003 did not change the freaknut's braincells into not making his war on Iraq.

So why in the world would "50,000" postcards (probably pre-printed) make a dent in anything?

I still think they are delusional and under the blanket of full of shit and hot air to believe that they have power over the BFEE - the PNACers and the AEI and Moon - yeah, maybe - but some icky little piece of overblown fundienut????

:puke:

[jmowreader]

53. There's a difference, Up in Arms...

the 14 million people wanted Bush to go against his self-interest. Please remember that the War on Iraq was declared for one major reason: it would enrich Bush's major supporters, the Pioneers and Rangers. Hence, 14 million people are a small insignificant focus group.

Who are Bush's other constituency? People who want Bush to bring about Christ's second coming. Fifty thousand people wanting Bush to do something that is in his self-interest are a significant, powerful majority.

In any sane time, these whackjobs would be minimalized. In this Bush administration, I expect the government to contract a family-care pamphlet printing job to Chick Publications any time now.

[struggle4progress]

21. Well, the Apostolic Congress has some interesting views:

On the Israeli-Palestinian conflict:
"There can be no road map to peace but only a highway to disaster."
http://www.apostoliccongress.com/event_israel.html
There's a nice photo of Bush with Upton on the home page http://www.apostoliccongress.com. I'm trying to figure out why the President would pose for pictures with a lobbyist who denigrates his foreign policy, unless GWB really doesn't care about that particular issue.


On Roy's Rock:
"Judge Moore is so committed to his conviction that he has set a four-ton granite stone with the Ten Commandments set in the entrance of the Alabama Supreme Court. We applaud and fully support Judge Moore and his desire to see judgment founded in the Word of God." (I guess this means they're in favor of reinstating Blue Laws and smashing representational sculptures, but I couldn't finf that on their web page.)

Be sure not to miss the gallery pictures of Upton with Ollie North, Dick Armey, John Ashcroft, and other assorted wackos.

[UpInArms]

23. gack!!!

The fact that there are so many whackjobs in our government is frightening in and of itself!

http://www.apostoliccongress.com/gallery4.html

[struggle4progress]

24. ROFL (until I realize how serious the situation is). eom

[progressivebydesign]

25. Think of everyone that has been denied access to Bush..

.. and just realize that these crazies have unfettered access to the man. AND WE FUCKING PAID for that meeting the White House held with them!!! THis story needs to be out in the mainstream.. people need to know how fucking crazy Bush is! And how he is pandering to these nuts at the risk of our planet's very existence! If he bases Middle East policy on a scorched earth scenario, then he doesn't care how many Iraqis, how many unbeliever Americans, how many Jews (as long as there are still 144k to make the rapture happen, he kills. He's a fucking lunatic!! Or he is the most evil, politcal panderer in history. They are playing with fire pandering to these people, and setting our foreign policy on their nutcase beliefs!

This has freaked me out beyond belief.. can you tell? :grr: :scared: :crazy:

[renaldo]

26. The Rapture

is a distortion of the Bible, promulgated by the CIA/Mossad to further the rightwing Likud- Zionist agenda. The "Left Behind" book series is a very successful PsyOp. The Bible plainly says that Christians present in the "endtimes" will have to go through them. It also says that the Antichrist will rise to power though "a great deception".

[Alerter_]

33. yes it is PsyOps

[donco6]

38. Oh God! We're in the Tribulation NOW!

AAAAGHH!

[laylah]

27. And these idiots

wonder why SOOOOOOO many have turned away from the Church, ANY church! We have people losing their jobs, homes, LIVES, etc and these A$$HOLES get face-time with the BIG a$$hole :mad:

Jenn

[Generator]

31. This reminds me of what Kerry said today

(in my hometown)

"We need a President that believes in science and technology".

YEAH BABY!

[crossroads]

60. If Kerry doesn't win, we are doomed by idiots!

:kick:

[arwalden]

32. This Is Insane. This Is Dangerous. They Are All Psychotic Idiots!!

[lil-petunia]

58. you're being too nice

Can we hold a sanity test before letting people into the white house?

[arwalden]

63. Or A Simple INTELLIGENCE TEST?... A Basic READING TEST, Perhaps?

[lil-petunia]

64. He who doth not read

Why can't we hire Laura to teach her hubby how to read? She's taught others, so it shouldn't be impossible.

THis has to be the worst administration in history.

[ithacan]

34. check out this website

http://www.TheocracyWatch.org/

The GOP has been hijacked by the religious right. The Village Voice article is just one example of this...

[Karenina]

35. Yup.

:kick:

[ithacan]

39. Theocracy Now!

these people are demented!

[Politicub]

36. When I was growing up

My mom made me go to a very fundamentalist baptist church every week. Those people were obsessed with the Apocalypse. They honestly believe that the final days are upon us, and there's no reason to plan for otherwise.

It's a scary mindset for anyone to posses, but even more frightening that our president buys into it.

[jean]

40. kick

[ithacan]

44. my suggestion to them :

go find an uninhabited island somewhere, move there, and drink the koolaid far away from us normal folks. Don't drag the entire world into your insane plans to destroy the world!!!

[riverwalker]

42. Grace Halsell

former speech writer for LBJ wote several books about this, years ago. Excellant resource.

Prophecy and Politics: The Secret Alliance Between Israel and the U.S. Christian Right
by Grace Halsell

Forcing God's Hand: Why Millions Pray for a Quick Rapture--And Destruction of Planet Earth
by Grace Halsell

and this is for Christians who need a "biblical" reason why it's not nice to crush children with tanks:

Whose Land? Whose Promise?: What Christians Are Not Being Told About Israel and the Palestinians
by Gary M. Burge

[jean]

46. Thanks for these titles - I hope to find them today!

[TexasBushwhacker]

57. Glad to know ...

... someone besides me and my relatives know about Grace Halsell. She was a distant relative of mine. Here is an article about "Prophecy and Politics":

http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/1288/8812031.htm

If you do a search for her name, you'll find several articles that she wrote about Christian Zionism and Israel.

[LeftHander]

45. Do these Pentacostals do the "drunk with jesus" stuff?

Speaking in Tounges and the laughing....or are these the snake handlers...

Heard a report on NPR a few weeks ago....

[BiggJawn]

48. They both do.

Pentecostals get "drunk", speak in "tongues" (most of them sound like they're channeling your long-departed mo-ped)
and so do the snake-handlers, but the snakies also take that verse about "Ye shall handle Serpents....Ye shall drink poisons and take no harm..." literally, as well as the rest of the psychotic behavior.

Scarey fuckers!

[bleedingheart]

49. there are normal pentecostals too...

granted they are rather strict but not all do the speaking in tongues and snake handling stuff...

What I recall was a pentecostal gal in our school whose parents refused to recognize christmas (I can't remember the reason)...

[BiggJawn]

52. That's an oxymoron, isn't it?

"normal" Pentecostals?
Sorry, my first wife was Pentecostal (United Pentecostal Church, as a matter of fact) and "Normal" is not a word I would use to describe those people..."Holy-Roller Bed-hoppers" was about the kindest thing I could say about them...

[crossroads]

61. OMG! How do the extremists believe?

This is real insanity!
Jesus, save us from your foolowers!!!
:eyes:

[Kipper58]

51. Do you think we could persuade Bush -

to try the drinking poison part?

:beer: :beer: :evilgrin: :evilgrin: :beer: :beer:

[silverpatronus]

56. the pentecostals are nuts...

first off, the whole speaking in tongues thing is a scam. it's obvious from even cursory examination of that passage of the bible that 'speaking in tongues' has nothing to do with the babbling that the pentecostals do. the original 'touched' were given the power to speak in different languages so that they could go spread the word, NOT babble insanely in incomprehensible gobbledygook and have their eyes roll back in their heads.

[starroute]

54. Interesting take on this at Slacktivist's blog

http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/2004/05/apocalypservice.html

He's someone who writes from a liberal Christian point of view and isn't afraid to call people like these heretics. But is this case, he isn't too alarmed about them -- he thinks Bush is stroking them more than he's actually listening to them.

Then he goes on to say:

That, in a nutshell, is their goal: a Greater Israel that stretches from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates (so it's actually larger than Old Testament Israel) and a reconstructed Temple in Jerusalem. Their reasoning is not so much theological as magical. By bringing about these things, they hope to make Jesus come back. This is sorcery, not eschatology.

I've mentioned this before, but this so-called-theology precisely parallels the plot of many an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Zealous fanatics loyal to some secretive prophecy try to bring about the signs that will summon their master and bring about the apocalypse and the death of nearly everyone on earth. (Buffy and the gang, contra the Apostolic Congress, regard this as a Bad Thing that should be stopped.)

<snip>

Johnson's fear of "witchcraft" is ironic in that her organization's entire enterprise is an attempt at sorcerously summoning a powerful spirit, forcing him to reappear in the flesh and to fight against all their enemies. If that's not Black Magic, what is?

[0007]

62. .....and Duncan Hunter is a first class prick that is helping to

take us down to the pits of despair.