Upon reading that ADL is also (though far, far less of an extent than SPLC is) starting to realise that the dominionists are a threat, I did some surfing on their site and a few links off ADL's site:

http://www.adl.org/PresRele/RelChStSep_90/4507_90.htm (A report on the ADL condemning having Roy Moore in regards to a Senate hearing on religious intolerance)

http://www.adl.org/PresRele/RelChStSep_90/4694_90.htm (in regards to an attempt in Florida to pass a school prayer bill)

http://www.adl.org/PresRele/RelChStSep_90/4695_90.htm (ADL's statement on the "Justice Sunday" debacle)

http://www.adl.org/PresRele/RelChStSep_90/4510_90.htm (regarding ADL's efforts to fight attempted passage of bills and amendments that would allow churches to promote specific candidates--this is one of the BIGGIES the dominionists are trying to get passed, for obvious reasons (both because dominionist churches do it so much, and because dominionist churches are starting to lose their tax exempt status over it on occasion)

http://www.adl.org/PresRele/RelChStSep_90/4519_90.htm (regarding ADL's statement on the Texas Republican Party's official platform (which is pretty much a dominionist tract in and of itself, up to and including promotion of the "Christian Nation" canard)

http://www.adl.org/vouchers/vouchers_main.asp (ADL's statement re school vouchers)

http://www.adl.org/charitable_choice/Charitable_Choice_a.asp (ADL's statement re "charitable choice" initiatives)

http://www.adl.org/Civil_Rights/boehner_amend.asp (ADL's statement on an ongoing attempt to allow Head Start facilities operated by churches to discriminate--as it is, dominionist groups by and large cannot participate in running a Head Start facility because they keep pushing the right to ban gays, Democrats, and...well, anyone who ISN'T a dominionist. Dominionists are pushing to get this changed so that they can practice "stealth evangelism" on your kids with YOUR tax dollars)

http://www.adl.org/religious_freedom/court_sep_georgia.asp (re ADL efforts on the state level to prevent passage of dominionist-friendly amendments to Georgia's state constitution that would allow sending tax money directly to dominionist groups)

I'll be making a second post, focusing specifically on the context with so-called "Messianic Judaism" (which is an increasing concern in the Jewish community).

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

From Talk To Action comes this post by Chip Berlet:

We have learned a few things at Political Research Associates (PRA) over the past 24 years of studying U.S. right-wing political and social movements, and we have captured our best advice in a document titled "Ground Rules and Tips for Challenging the Right." There are three sections--Do Your Homework, Stay Cool in Public, and Keep Organizing--each with several suggestions.

When PRA staff speak in public we often expand on these recommendations, and a blog seems like a good place to enshrine these musings in written form. Over the next few months, I will pick one suggestion and write a short essay around it, with some useful links if I can find them.

To start, let’s look at the following recommendation:

Distinguish between leaders and followers in right-wing organizations.

Leaders are often “professional” right-wingers. They’ve made a career of promoting a rightist agenda and attacking progressives and progressive issues. Followers, on the other hand, may not be well-informed. They are often mobilized by fears about family and future based on information that, if true, would indeed be frightening. This so-called “education” is often skillful, deceitful, and convincing. These followers may take positions that are more extreme than those of the leaders, but on the other hand, they may not know exactly what they are supporting by attending a certain organization’s rally or conference. To critique and expose the leaders of right-wing organizations is the work of a good progressive organizer, writer or activist. In the case of the followers, however, it is important to reserve judgment and listen to their grievances. Do not assume that they are all sophisticated political agents or have access to a variety of information sources.
--
PublicEye.org - Ground Rules and Tips for Challenging the Right

There are some great pointers and definitions in this article. Definitely worth a look.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY mysticknyght)

I know a lot of you read DailyKos, but this stuff bears repeating as louldy and often as possible today:

( what you can do now )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

The blog Lieter Reports has a downloadable (.doc file) of 95 theses of the Religious Right written by philosopher Peter Ludlow. An excerpt:

Here's something you may not have known or suspected. When I grew up my family went to a conservative Christian church and I subsequently went to a Swedish Baptist college in Minnesota. I recently went back to my home town and was sickened by what became of the family church over the last 20 years. The received view is that the conservative christians have taken over the Republican Party. I think the reverse happened. The right wing of the Republican Party has taken over the church. Nothing could be more clear to me. In a fit of revulsion, and with a nod to Marty Luther, I wrote up the following 95 theses on the relighous right: Download ludlows_95_theses_on_the_religious_right.doc In lieu of nailing it to the door of the Wittenburg Church I'm sending it to you instead. Not exactly the same thing, I realize. I'm not saying I'm a believer and I'm not saying I'm not, but I am saying that what has happened to the fundamentalist church is revolting.

Professor Ludlow invites readers to redistribute it as widely as they'd like.

( Here are the 95 Theses of the Religious Right )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY thedemonprist)

( Read more ) Comments, suggestions, etc. are welcome. Should I include links to websites like Theocracy Watch? I had thought about doing so but wasn't sure. (they do have internet access; the church has an email address)

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

thedemonprist had a very intersting idea- writing a letter to her pastor warning about the Dominionist threat. I am very interested to see what she comes up with, to be honest. My question to all of you is, how would you tell your pastor or family/friends/colleagues about the Dominionists?

Another community on Yahoo, no_dominion, has come up with a similar idea- the creation of warning tracts or flyers about Dominionists. The discussion begins here, and has some interesting viewpoints. I caution on a post that we must be precise as to how we define Dominionists- so to avoid tarring non-dominionist Evangelicals and Fundementalist (and moderate) Christians with the same brush. Another writer steps in with this thought:

A year ago I posted an summary with excerpts from Katherine Yurica's site. [Link pending]

One of the immediate responses reflects, I believe, the sense of doubt and denial that most mainline conservative Christians feel or express when confronted with the realities of dominionism.

It would appear to me that each and every one of the issues involved in the article are contrived. Almost every conservative congregation would have members who believe differently on those issues even if the leadership or majority felt their rightness. I don't concede that there is such a movement. There are conspiracy theories about all powerful movements. The article itself is weighted down with almost no reliable sources of recent worth. In the example of the Pro-Israel issue, support for that country does not villify Americans. Americans and Israelis have almost always been on the same side of the political
fence. The entire article is mudslinging from a religious point of view. It seeks to paint all or most conservative churches into the same mold, and that is rediculous thinking. The thread should be
retitled to say, 'My agenda to sling more mud than is really needed on the American conservative church.'

So it seems that we must have care to consider the fact that the Christian community will be just as skeptical and resistant to this idea as the Pagan community has been (and currently is). The news is percolating into the mainstream, but it hasn't yet been repeated in enough places enough times to start working through the shells of indifference of the masses.

However, in noting the growth of both this community (and that of the Yahoo group, which I was a founding member but do not own), it seems that this thought and its accompanying ideas are starting to penetrate the mainstream.

In the meantime, I would like to call upon the brainpower here to come up with an idea for a possible tract or flyer. How would you do it? How would you present it? If you had the Mailing List of the Gods and a proper budget, what would you say to people about the 'theocorporates', 'christocrats', or Dominionists? I look forward to your replies.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Found this on "Christian Alliance":

Spiritual Activism Conferences in Berkeley, Ca. July 20-23, 2005. In Washington, D.C. Feb. 10-13, 2006

Courtesy of TIKKUN Magazine: A Bimonthly Jewish Critique of Politics, Culture, & Society

Go to above link for conference details.

Goals:
Begin the process of creating the strategy and program for The Nework of Spiritual Progressives (NSP), which will:

1. Challenge the misuse of God and religion by the Religious Right

2. Challenge the ethos of selfishness and materialism of the advanced industrial societies (first and foremost in the U.S. and Canada), and replace it with a NEW BOTTOM LINE (so that institutions are judged efficient, rational and productive not only to the extent that they maximize money and power, but also to the extent that they maximize love and caring, ethical and ecological consciousness, and to the extent that they maximize our capacities to respond to the universe with awe and wonder)

3. Build an alliance between secular, religious and "spiritual but not religious" progressives--in part by challenging the anti-religious biases in parts of the liberal culture (while acknowledging the legitimacy of anger against those parts of the religious world that have embodied authoritarian, racist, sexist, homophobic or xenophobic practices and attitudes).

DC in February, eh? Who's up for going?

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY kalibex)

The Moderate Christians Strike Back

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY seshen)

Thought you might be interested.

A mainstream voice to counter the Religious Right in Texas

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

This AlterNet article is quite interesting. It 'depicts the transformation of a Texas teenager -- from conservative Christian to champion of sex education.'

Comprehensive sex education is at the heart of what divides America today. One side thinks it's a direct affront to the Christian value of abstinence until marriage; the other thinks it helps prevent the 60% of teens who already having sex from getting pregnant, or contracting a disease and dying.

Tonight's documentary on PBS, "The Education of Shelby Knox," traverses the bridge between both sides. Shelby Knox is a 15-year-old Christian girl who takes a church pledge to not have sex until marriage. She lives in Lubbock, Texas, a Republican Christian stronghold where local government meetings begin with a prayer, and where students learn that abstinence is the only way to prevent pregnancy and disease.( Read more... )

As I have previously noted, the Southern Poverty Law Center is now aggressively investigating hate activity (including hate activity against les/bi/gay/trans folks and, for that matter, hate activity against anyone who isn't dominionist) and considers several of the major dominionist groups hate groups on par with Klan or Neo-Nazi groups (see http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/intrep.jsp?iid=31 for this months' Intelligence Report)

I have been providing SPLC as much info as I can (including links to Dark Christianity here, as well as to Yurica Report, mikeditto.com, and Theocracy Watch) regarding this, including detailed info on Frank Simon (Kentucky's local hater) who, as it turns out, *is* linked to Family Research Institute (which is one of the groups SPLC lists as a hate group) and the info on the FRC/David Duke associations.

Per private email from SPLC, their next Intelligence Report will be focusing on the "ex-gay" movement, and they will be doing heavy focus in future regarding hate activity among dominionists. (I would also expect that the list of groups formally listed as hate groups will also expand.)

When the new Intelligence Report comes out, I will post a link.

Anyone who has info that may be helpful to SPLC is *strongly* encouraged to forward this to them via their comments page (at http://www.splcenter.org/center/contact.jsp and yes, they will keep your comments anonymous). (Sunfell, anyone who's suffered harassment at the hands of dominionists--this means *you*. One of the biggies that would be useful is if we can get folks from Yurica or Theocracy Watch *directly* to contact SPLC, too--I've emailed them both to let them know regarding the SPLC beginning active investigation of and warnings regarding dominionist groups. We also need to get more info to them regarding things like links between groups (I've notified them on how the Family Research Council is pretty much the "official" political wing of Focus on the Family, and how Exodus International links together many groups--the more they have, though, the more it's going to be helpful) and how dominionist groups infiltrate organisations (the US Airforce Academy's takeover by dominionists is a *prime* one here).)

(Again, as backgrounder for folks who might not know--Southern Poverty Law Center is the group formerly known as Klanwatch. They, along with the Anti-Defamation League, are probably the two single largest and most active groups fighting racism and hate. SPLC offers, among other things, training courses to law enforcement on hate groups and hate activity; SPLC has also successfully sued and shut down Klan and neo-Nazi groups in past. This is *very* historic for them to start listing dominionist groups as hate groups and investigating dominionism as hate--for that is, at its core level, what it is--and they are going to need all the support and help they can get on this, especially from those of us who are walkaways from those groups.)

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

This past weekend, there was a conference (reported here by Frederick Clarkson) that was entitled "Taking Back the Gates". It was a conference aimed at Christian businessmen. The homepage blurb reads:

CONSIDER THIS…

* What would happen if a Godly influence owned CNN, FOX News or the New York Times? (In the 1880's the New York Times was the leading pro-life voice in America referring to abortion as "child killing" - It has since changed hands!)
* What if Christians owned the stadiums and arenas in town and a lot more real estate?
* What if 1 in 8 websites offered help and hope to the world instead of posting pornography? (Source: www.internetfilterreview.com)
* The portals of power (gates of the city) have been captured by the enemies of the gospel and have now been turned on us, assaulting our liberties and stealing our children.

WANT TO TURN BACK THE TIDE?

I just want to know one thing: What the heck is a 'godly influence', anyway? No, don't answer that- I know that it's a code word for rich, white, dominionist Christian males. No one else need apply.

One of the speakers at this business conference was Gary Cass, who runs the Center for Reclaiming America, which the Christian Science Monitor describes thusly:

The Center for Reclaiming America, the Monitor reported, "aims to increase its 500,000-strong 'e-mail army' to 1 million, and to encourage Christians to run for office. It has plans for 12 regional offices and activists in all 435 US House districts. And a new lobbying arm in Washington will target judicial nominations and the battle over marriage."

"'If they don't vote our way, we'll change their view one way or another,' executive director Gary Cass tells the group. As a California pastor, Dr. Cass spearheaded efforts to close abortion clinics and recruit Christians to seek positions on local school boards. 'We're going to take back what we lost in the last half of the 20th century,' he adds."

The title of Cass' Cedarville talk is: "Winning the Culture Wars."

"We'll change their view one way or another..." Is it me, or does that sound like a threat?

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

This Talk To Action article goes into the "Patriot Pastors" and the history of the involvement of Dominionist Christians with the political Right:

Ohio, Blackwell & the Christian Right Part II
Recently, the Ohio Restoration Project announced plans to mobilize conservative Christian voters towards the 2006 elections. The principal beneficiary appears to be Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell who is running for the Republican nomination for governor. (I referred to this in passing in Part I, which described Blackwell's involvement in a dominionist seminar at Cedarville University on June 17th.) The story has been widely reported, including by the New York Times, and much blogged, for example by Bruce Prescott at Talk to Action.

But there was one part of the Ohio Restoration Project action plan that was strikingly familiar to me. It incorporates a feature of two pivotal events in the development of the contemporary Christian Right -- the Washington for Jesus rallies held on the mall in Washington, DC in the 1980s. Interestingly too, they may very well also follow the model of abuse of non-profit tax-exempt organizations that accompanied these events. ( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ellid)

This may or may not be apropos, but I was at my book group tonight at the annual "choose the books for next year" meeting. I proposed "God's Politics," Jim Wallis's book on conservative religion in politics.

Not only was the book selected for next March, one of the other members said that *four other book groups* in our area will be reading it this year. And several people said that they wanted to read it because they were so horrified by the way that the religious right has co-opted political discourse in this country.

Looks like the word is definitely getting out.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

It's becoming a pattern: if a company or organization is even remotely inclusive or gay friendly, it becomes a target for attack by the Religious Right:

Now the religious right hate groups are attacking unions who support gays
by John in DC - 6/10/2005 04:38:00 PM

NOTE TO UNIONS: They're messing with you and they won't stop unless you punch them back even harder. You've got my email, feel free to give a holler. More than happy to help make your response a doozy :-)

The religious right is now threatening the unions with their hate literature.( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ellid)

The Nazi/Dominionist comparisons are justified. Proof:

http://www.365gay.com/newscon05/06/061305pride.htm

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

I've been reading about an organization called Love In Action, which is a Christian brain-washing 'camp' devoted to making gay Christian kids straight. Parents send their kids to this place, hoping to straighten out their gay children. Instead, it radically scars them.

One young man, Zach, made the potentially fatal error of coming out as gay to his Christian parents. Their solution- putting him into this program. His blog documents the horrors of what is happening to him. He is not allowed to blog- he somehow has managed to get these messages to friends of his, who do it for him.

Daily Kos, Ex-gay watch, Janus Online and many other places in the blogosphere are paying attention and shining light on this very nasty practice of the Christocrats.

Another site, "Anything But Straight documents the continual failure of "Love In Action" and other Christian-run 'ex-gay' ministries to change gay people into 'straight' people. They refuse to believe or acknowledge that homosexuality is something one is born with, and people cannot 'convert' to gay- or convert from gay to straight. All they see is what the bible has said about it, which gives them carte blanche to essentially- especially in the case of "Love In Action" (ironic name...)- destroy their own youngsters. If this isn't child abuse, I don't know what is.

I really feel for young Zach. He bemoans his inability to wait two years- which is practically forever for a sixteen year old- to tell his parents about his homosexuality, and he is paying the price for it. If you are a praying person, I believe that Zach, and people like him- young people who have been literally thrown away by their hateful 'god loving' parents- need all the prayers, energy, and if possible, real help you can give them.

They're doing this to their own children folks. Consider what would happen if these people actually gained real power- and had the ability to do that to you and your own children.

Here's a particularly chilling passage from "Love In Action":

"I would rather you commit suicide than have you leave Love In Action wanting to return to the gay lifestyle. In a physical death you could still have a spiritual resurrection; whereas, returning to homosexuality you are yielding yourself to a spiritual death from which there is no recovery." --The Final Indoctrination from John Smid, Director, Love In Action (LIA), San Rafael's "ex-gay" clan.

In other words, they would rather see gay people dead. Think about that.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

This article talks about the pressure that the Religious Right is putting on corporations who have any kind of inclusive regulations:

The New Blacklist
Corporate America is bowing to anti-gay Christian groups’ boycott demands
by DOUG IRELAND

Spurred on by a biblical injunction evangelicals call “The Great Commission,” and emboldened by George W. Bush’s re-election, which is perceived as a “mandate from God,” the Christian right has launched a series of boycotts and pressure campaigns aimed at corporate America — and at its sponsorship of entertainment, programs and activities the Christers don’t like. [This writer uses 'Christer' instead of 'Dominionist' or 'Christocrat'. -ed]

And it’s working. Just three weeks ago, the Rev. Donald Wildmon’s American Family Association (AFA) announced it was ending its boycott of corporate giant Procter & Gamble — maker of household staples like Tide and Crest — for being pro-gay. Why? Because the AFA’s boycott (which the organization says enlisted 400,000 families) had succeeded in getting P&G to pull its millions of dollars in advertising from TV shows like Will & Grace and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. P&G also ended its advertising in gay magazines and on gay Web sites. And a P&G executive who had been given a leave of absence to work on a successful Cincinnati, Ohio, referendum that repealed a ban on any measures protecting gays from discrimination was shown the door.

“We cannot say they are 100 percent clean, and we ask our supporters to let us know if they discover P&G again being involved in pushing the homosexual lifestyle,” growls the AFA’s statement of victory over the corporate behemoth, “but judging by all that we found in our research, it appears that our concerns have been addressed.” The Wall Street Journal reported on May 11 that “P&G officials won’t talk publicly about the boycott. But privately, they acknowledge the [Christer] groups turned out to be larger, better funded, better organized, and more sophisticated than the company had imagined.”( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY thedemonprist)

Here's a thought I had tonight...

We're all pretty clear, for the most part, on what we *don't* want where theocracy and dictatorial rule are concerned. An arguably (no pun intended) harder thing is to figure out what we *do* want, but maybe we might be better off focusing more on that instead of all the negatives associated with the threat. I don't remember where I read or heard it, but it boils down to a sort of principle involving energy and attraction. If you focus on what you DO want, and take steps to achieve it, you can often make it a reality. By the same principle, focusing on all the negative makes it that much more likely that it will come to pass.

It could be said that dominionists are using this principle well, though they likely aren't aware of it or, if they are, are almost certainly using much different terms to describe it. But perhaps it's worth a try, in that attracting more moderates and preserving basic human rights/freedoms are what we want to do (as both goals would go a long way towards overturning the theocratic plague).

Not saying, of course, that we should totally ignore the negatives every time one pops up. But dwelling too much on negatives can't be productive either.

Thoughts?

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Talk2Action has a link to a conference Sunday in Westwood about the Religious Right. This sounds like a similar conference to the one I attended earlier this month:

The Religious Right's Assault on the Judiciary--And What We Can Do About It!
2:30 - 5:30 pm - Free Admission

Westwood United Methodist Church
10497 Wilshire Blvd
310 474-4511

Using Religion as an Instrument of Oppression( Read more... )