When you see "movements" growing, the first questions to ask: Who's funding it, & why? Christian

[Hannah Bell]

fundamentalism, mega-churches, Dominionism, etc. - there's been a ton of $$$ dumped into these "movements" since Reagan, & not all, or even most, by true believers. Into the mega-churches, into the training institutes, into the media, into the system of rewards used to attract new adherents & followers.

Fundamentalism is a valued element in the toolbox of the ruling class.

1. Bleeds off dissent/dissatisfaction into manageable channels.

2. Creates a "space" for political manipulation & organization, i.e. "connected" preachers telling their flocks what to believe, who to vote for, submit candidates for local office, etc.

3. Creates a base from which scapegoating of other groups for current problems can occur - again, diffusing dissatisfaction & unhappiness into reactionary, unproductive channels - which nevertheless remove the heat from the ruling class.

It's my opinion that the rise of the fundies isn't a grassroots phenomenon.

Warren is a part of that, & this invocation is a part of that.

[tsuki]

1. What is interesting, and there was a BBC article on it rattling around on

the web, is that the number of Fundies is pretty static. They keep bouncing around from church to church. That is the reason for the shadow wars.

[Hannah Bell]

2. I'd take issue with that. If you asked the folks in my church what they were, they'd mostly say

"Quaker".

But the theology they've been getting for the last ten years from their leadership is fundie. They now have a holy-roller style service & send folks to events like Promise Keepers.

There are lots of ways to take over churches. Just like the right started by taking over school boards, the fundies have taken over the leadership of some of the main-line dominations, & fundie-trained or influenced pastors have taken over individual churches as well.

Not to mention the influence of what's touted as "Christian" in the media, i.e. Warren's best-selling, highly influential, "Purpose-driven life".

It ain't an accident.

[tsuki]

11. That is the shadow wars. When you've hit a wall on recruitment, you

start hostile take-overs of other religions. There are billions in assets that can be gained, and money is power.

When a big scary moved here, they sent out disrupters to infiltrate congregations of smaller churches. They managed to take over a few before everyone caught on to their game. Most of the members eventually moved to other churches, but the big scary did manage to gain control of the land and assets of several churches.

[Hannah Bell]

19. assets, that's another point, thanks.

[conscious evolution]

22. There are lots of ways to take over churches

One way is to do what they did to the Southern Babtist Convention.
By taking control of the SBC they gained control of the Babtist seminaries and that gave them control of the theology BEING TAUGHT to future preachers.These thoroughly indoctrinated preachers then went out and indoctrinated there flocks.
They have spent the last 25 years brainwashing people into their batshit crazy bullshit idealogy.
IMO,they have poisoned the minds of millions of followers.

[glitch]

3. Another excellent post on Dominionists and their strategies. Thanks for broadening the scope

of this recent incursion. This really is far more serious than people think, and I am alarmed (I don't think I've ever posted so much on one topic). K & R.

[BrklynLiberal]

4. As Deep Throat said all those years ago-"FOLLOW THE MONEY"

Dominionists, Christian Revisionists..
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=4467007&mesg_id=4468919

http://www.religioustolerance.org/reconstr.htm

[musette_sf]

5. great post

fundies are masters of the Plen-T-Plaint, a term coined by Thomas Frank in "What's The Matter With Kansas?".

Everything seems to piss conservatives off. And they react by documenting and cataloging their disgust. The result is what we will call the plen-T-plaint, a curious amassing of petty, unrelated beefs with the world. Its purpose is not really to evaluate the hated liberal culture that surrounds us; the plen-T-plaint is a horizontal rather than vertical mode of criticism, aiming instead to infuriate us with dozens, hundreds, thousands of stories of the many tiny ways the world around us assaults family values, uses obscenities, disrespects parents<...> It offers no resolution, simply reminding us that we can never win. The plen-T-plaint is the rhetorical device that makes Bill O'Reilly's TV show a hit, as he gets indignant one day about the Insane Clown Posse and gets indignant the next about the Man-Boy Love Association .

[Donnachaidh]

6. yet fundamentalism in other countries is equated with terrorism there

But not here -- ??

If ever there was a movement that seeks to do real damage to the Constitution and to minority groups in this country, it's fundamentalism. The true American Taliban.

[BrklynLiberal]

7. They have not done anything yet because they are trying to infiltrate the govt , not

overthrow it.

[Stinky The Clown]

8. I can't argue with you and if its true it is very frightening.

[StClone]

9. Pat Robertson Billionaire It is ALL about the control and $$$

Most top Religio-Wacko Leaders of a Mega-Church are doing the Lord's work whilst believing they are getting around the "through the Camel's eye" thingy.

[Hannah Bell]

10. Robertson = scum. Christian my ass.

Card-carrying shill for the new world order, exploiter & murderer of the poor.

[Radical Activist]

12. Then where is the money coming from exactly?

Has anyone documented what you're talking about?

[Hannah Bell]

13. start with the devos/prince empire, & work from there.

yes, there's documentation.


Funding the Culture Wars

http://www.thegathering.com/_pdf/Culture%20Wars.pdf


Dominionism: Funding the agenda

http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/1357-dominionism-funding-the-agenda-spreading-the-word-by-whatever-means-necessary.html


Theocracy Watch

http://www.theocracywatch.org/

etc.

[Karenina]

20. Paul Weyrich just kicked the can.

Wonder where he left all that dough...

[ColbertWatcher]

14. Nailed it again Hannah! You nailed it again!

It's the exact same network that made Palin ready for office and keeping her in the public eye, yet safe from scrutiny.

[Hannah Bell]

15. yep. also the ones positioning huckabee as the "kinder, gentler" fundie,

with the daily show appearances, etc.

i think he's the next nominee. a hard-core fundie, v. bush's fakery.

[ColbertWatcher]

17. Same crap, different packaging.

I'm hoping people can see through the propaganda and marketing tricks.

[earth mom]

16. Excellent OP & Thread!

:kick:

[ConsAreLiars]

18. Here's a great resource for finding funding the fundies information, as well as

other parts of the corporatist/fascist/theocrat alliance -- http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/right-wing-organization-profiles-index

Just a few:

Catholic League - http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/catholic-league
Cato Institute - http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/cato-institute
Christian Coalition - http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/christian-coalition
Club for Growth - http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/club-growth

[Enrique]

21. you should use the past tense

the rise of the evangelicals wasn't a grassroots phenomenon.

Now the story about the evangelicals is their decline, at least their political involvement.

[Hannah Bell]

23. ummm...warren's high-profile opposition to prop 8 & his subsequent tap to

give the inaugural invocation kinda casts doubt on your hypothesis.