LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY raven_oreilly) This is mostly for dogemperorbecause of something I read in a recent blog, but also for anyone who can answer it also. I recently read dogemperor's dailyKOS entry about "The Madness of King George" and the subsequent commentary below and saw this, in reference to Methodist churchs:

"There are also some pretty interesting and scary things going on re steeplejacking here--at least one Presbyterian church that has split off from the main body because it felt the parent denomination was far too progressive (the Presbyterian Church of America, a split from PCUSA) is now itself being subjected to steeplejacking--by, of all groups, the racist League of the South (who is in essence trying to turn THAT church into Christian Identity Lite)."

Given the fact that I've posted in here about different mailings from fundie/dominionist groups and my brother being a full timer in Campus Christian Crusade for Christ, I couldn't remember what part of the Presbyterian Church MY hometown church, that I grew up in, was part of. So, I went and found that my church has a website and it says at the top "Presbyterian Church in America."

What is the difference between "Presbyterian Church IN America" and the "Presbyterian Church OF America" that dogemperorspoke about?

I remember my pastor talking about the decision to separate from, I guess, PCUSA, but it's been so long ago, that I can't be sure. He is a pastor that studied at Westminster, though. I'm just worried that my old church is/will get steeplejacked, I guess. I mean, even though I'm not so into the whole organized religion thing, the people at this church are great and really nice and know how to have fun. 

Maybe I just need a little Presbyterian 101?

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY fullcircleagain) they ain't done yet folks

 http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071102/ts_alt_afp/ussocietyreligioncourtgay

'"We will continue to warn you of your impending doom as long as our God gives us breath," church leaders said in a press release lined with biblical references and pictures of the signs its members flaunt at funerals.'

"Not only did you fail to stop our preaching, but our message has gone to the entire world."

the good news?

"While Westboro's congregation remains stable at around 70 to 100 people -- most of whom are the extended family of founder Fred Phelps -- the ranks of the Patriot Guard Riders has swelled to more than 117,000 in the past two years."

Yes maybe there are limits to hurting others under the name of "religion"

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY catvincent)

Fred Clark provides (lengthy but I think worth your time) analysis of the results of the previously mentioned Barna Group survey on the homophobia perceived to be integral to US Christianity. He considers several possible reasons for this - and the analysis applies well to many areas of Dominionist thought.

Part One "The Safe Target"

Part Two "Inner Demons"

Part Three "The Innocent Backlash"

Part Four "The Exegetical Panic Defense"

Part Five "It's the politics, stupid"

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY crazyjane13)

Rev. Tim Costello, CEO of World Vision and one of the leaders of the Make Poverty History Coalition, today weighed into the Australian Federal Election. He indicated that he'd direct the members of the Coalition (which includes Hillsong, the Australian Reproductive Health Alliance and is affiliated with the Assemblies of God World Relief among others) to vote for the party which promised to increase foreign aid to 0.5% of Gross Domestic Product. This is a pledge that has been made by the Labor Party, but not matched by the Liberal Party, so effectively Rev. Costello is saying he will direct his 100,00+ members to vote Labor.

Given that Rev. Costello is, in fact, the brother of Australian Treasurer (and Liberal Party MP) Peter Costello, this is particularly interesting. Interviewed tonight, the Reverend described the issue of foreign aid repeatedly as "moral, not political", and made a point of stressing the numbers of "Christians" who would be likely to change their vote because of it. It was clearly political blackmail, and the organisations affiliated with his coalition make me very, very nervous.

This looks like the first overt lobbying threat by Dominionists and their allies.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ellid)

They look legit and non-Dominionist to me, but I'm curious if anyone has additional information.

http://www.nrpe.org/

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY batvomit)

The logo of Blackwater USA

Revelation 13:2 (King James Version):

"And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority."

I'm not saying Blackwater is a symbol of the antichrist or anything....I'm just saying it's interesting, that's all.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY catvincent)

...and have to pay at least $11 million out to the plaintiff.

For. The. Win.

"Baltimore — A federal jury has ruled that a fundamentalist Kansas church was wrong to picket the funeral of a fallen Marine in Maryland.

The jury awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages and $8 million in punitive damages to the family of Lance Corporal Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq. It found that the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka invaded the family’s privacy and intentionally inflicted emotional distress when it demonstrated at Snyder’s funeral last year. The protesters carried signs with messages like “God hates fags” and “Thank God for dead soldiers.”

The jury will now consider punitive damages. But the judge has already pointed out that the compensatory damage award is far more money than the defendants have."

Considering how many Phelps family are lawyers, this is remarkable - and a good sign.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY navytron89) Found by my buddysmwance

Some Christian Pastors Embrace Scientology

I find this just a little disturbing, and mind you, I'm not exactly a dedicated church goer by any means!

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY jhfurnish)

Jury awards father $11M in funeral case By ALEX DOMINGUEZ, Associated Press Writer
58 minutes ago



BALTIMORE - A grieving father won a nearly $11 million verdict Wednesday against a fundamentalist Kansas church that pickets military funerals out of a belief that the war in Iraq is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

Albert Snyder of York, Pa., sued the Westboro Baptist Church for unspecified damages after members demonstrated at the March 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq.

The jury first awarded $2.9 million in compensatory damages. It returned in the afternoon with its decision to award $6 million in punitive damages for invasion of privacy and $2 million for causing emotional distress.

Snyder's attorney, Craig Trebilcock, had urged jurors to determine an amount "that says don't do this in Maryland again. Do not bring your circus of hate to Maryland again."

Church members routinely picket funerals of military personnel killed in Iraq and Afghanistan, carrying signs such as "Thank God for dead soldiers" and "God hates fags."

A number of states have passed laws regarding funeral protests, and Congress has passed a law prohibiting such protests at federal cemeteries. But the Maryland lawsuit is believed to be the first filed by the family of a fallen serviceman.

The church and three of its leaders — the Rev. Fred Phelps and his two daughters, Shirley Phelps-Roper and Rebecca Phelps-Davis, 46 — were found liable for invasion of privacy and intent to inflict emotional distress.

Even the size of the award for compensating damages "far exceeds the net worth of the defendants," according to financial statements filed with the court, U.S. District Judge Richard Bennett noted.

Snyder claimed the protests intruded upon what should have been a private ceremony and sullied his memory of the event.

The church members testified they are following their religious beliefs by spreading the message that soldiers are dying because the nation is too tolerant of homosexuality.

Their attorneys maintained in closing arguments Tuesday that the burial was a public event and that even abhorrent points of view are protected by the First Amendment, which guarantees freedom of speech and religion.

Earlier, church members staged a demonstration outside the federal courthouse. Church founder Fred Phelps held a sign reading "God is your enemy," while Shirley Phelps-Roper stood on an American flag and carried a sign that read "God hates fag enablers." Members of the group sang "God Hates America" to the tune of "God Bless America."

Snyder sobbed when he heard the verdict, while members of the church greeted the news with tightlipped smiles.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY 1400scale)

Here's a question: has anyone ever created a comprehensive (and possibly updatable) timeline of Dominionist-related events and activities from the past century leading up to the present with perhaps interactive links and such?

It might be a good idea, for several reasons; a little Dominionist History 101 definitely wouldn't hurt, certain trends and events might be more easily discerned and connected, and it could help in convincing the skeptical. It never hurts to have the sequence of events in a concise chronology.

Also (and here's a wild thought), if we had something like that, and someone was willing and able to enter the variables into Chaos software, we might be able to predict how things could happen from here on in, at least to a limited degree.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY fullcircleagain)  "BALTIMORE (Reuters) - A jury on Wednesday ordered a Kansas church to pay $2.9 million in compensatory damages to relatives of a gay U.S. Marine after church members cheered his death at his funeral."

Guess who it is?  Yup, Mr. Phelps's kids need to work on their lawyering skills a bit more

story here

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN3134225120071031

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY jhfurnish)

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY catvincent)

Click on the link for more, including video of the affair:

' On October 20 and 21st, I attended the Value Voters Summit, a massive gathering hosted by the Colorado-based Christian right mega-ministry, Focus on the Family, and its Washington lobbying arm, the Family Research Council. With the pro-choice Rudy Giuliani leading in the race for the Republican nomination and the threat of another Clinton presidency looming, the stakes for the Christian right were high.

At the Summit, I witnessed all of the major Republican presidential candidates compete for the affection of so-called value voters. Rudy Giuliani, the current frontrunner, sought to assuage movement leaders' concerns about his multiple marriages, pro-choice politics, and penchant for cross-dressing. Mitt Romney pledged to fight for a Constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, hoping his newfound conservatism would somehow lessen evangelical resentment of his Mormon faith.

Though no candidate emerged from the Summit as a clear Christian right favorite, the badly underfunded former Arkansas governor and Baptist minister Mike Huckabee won over the audience with his insistence that banning abortion would put an end to America's illegal immigration problem. Huckabee's comparison of "liberalized abortion" to the Holocaust further endeared him to the "value voters." Later, during a press conference, I challenged Huckabee to explain the logic behind his rhetoric.

Recently, there has been a lot of mainstream media noise about a new, more socially conscious evangelical movement rising from the angry ashes of the Christian right. Pastors like Rick Warren and "evangelical feminist" Bill Hybels are supposedly bringing issues like the environment and poverty to the forefront of the movement's social agenda, while pushing anti-abortion and anti-gay activism to the wayside. Yet no one told those evangelicals gathered at the Value Voters Summit about this friendly new initiative.

If anything, the movement seemed more extreme and paranoid than it did four years ago. Rev. Lou Sheldon, dubbed "Lucky Louie" by his former paymaster Jack Abramoff, told me that homosexuality is a "pathological disorder" and "a groove" that is difficult to escape from. He proceeded to passionately defend his friend, Senator Larry Craig, from allegations of homosexuality... '

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY crazyjane13)

I just gave in to the Dark Side, and joined Facebook.

Browsing groups, I noticed a huge number of evangelical Christian ones, which got me wondering :

Anyone know if there are any Dominionist ones? It's hard to get info on them without joining up.

Thanks ...

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY exotic_princess)

Just some quick links...

Lawmakers try to get the VA to reconsider, and reinstate the flag-folding ceremony

A group of congressmen has asked the Department of Veterans Affairs to reconsider its ban on the flag-folding ceremony at military funerals after the agency decided last month to streamline burials at federal cemeteries.

"The flag folding recitation is a longstanding tradition which brings comfort to the living and honor to the deceased," Rep. Heath Shuler, D-N.C., writes in his letter Tuesday signed by 11 other congressmen. "The recitations accompanying each fold pay tribute to the service and sacrifice of our veterans and their families, the nation they proudly serve, and the beliefs that they hold dear."


Snopes gives the scoop on the meaning of the folds

Which leads to this link that gives more to the ceremony, before and after the folds...

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY odilla) Latest mailing from the AFA (American Family Association)
Quick note - I've noticed that they spend more time on Religions issues than family/child issues.

Federal government strips "God" from the Washington Monument

National monument no longer references God

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY odilla) I am on the e-mailing list for the AFA. I received this "Plea" Friday afternoon.
This seems this is another Dominionist persecution plea.  The government is doing what right for all the people, and the Dominionist feel they should be the only ones. 
Or at least, this is how I feel.  Please let me know if you feel otherwise.
--------

Federal government bans flag-folding recitations following one complaint

It is time for Christians to say enough is enough

Dear ,

In the latest attack on Christianity, the U.S. government has banned the flag-folding recitations at all 125 national cemeteries. The banning came as the result of one complaint! The situation is similar to that in which one person removed prayer from schools.

This article from The Associated Press explains the situation:

Complaints about religious content have led to a ban on flag-folding recitations by Veterans Administration employees and volunteers at all national cemeteries.

At thousands of military burials, VA volunteers have folded the American flag 13 times and recited the significance of each fold to survivors. The 11th fold glorifies "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.” The 12th glorifies "God the Father, the Son and Holy Ghost."

Citing a need for uniformity, the National Cemetery Administration has prohibited unpaid VA volunteers as well as employees from conducting the recital at all 125 national cemeteries.

American Legion attorney Rees Lloyd calls it "another attempt by secularist fanatics to cleanse any reference to God."

Following one complaint, the Veterans Administration has made anti-Christian bigotry the law of the land. The U.S. government has bowed to pressure from one radical anti-Christian secularist. Allowed to stand, the action by the Veterans Administration, in essence, means that anti-Christian bigotry is now the accepted and approved law of the land.

The rest of the article can be found here

http://www.onenewsnow.com/2007/10/flagfolding_recitations_for_ve.php

-----

I'm not sure how, in a federally funded event, they ideas of  "glorifying" "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob", and "God the Father, The Son and Holy Ghost" are really things that need to be said. If people would like to have a Christian burial, that is fine.  But using the US Flag as a Christian tool, is kinda of offensive to me.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY justjohn)

Driftglass explains.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

MSN news has an interesting article about the disaffection of evangelicals with the Bush administration:

The 2008 election is just the latest stress on a system of fault lines that go much deeper. The phenomenon of theologically conservative Christians plunging into political activism on the right is, historically speaking, something of an anomaly. Most evangelicals shrugged off abortion as a Catholic issue until after the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision. But in the wake of the ban on public-school prayer, the sexual revolution and the exodus to the suburbs that filled the new megachurches, protecting the unborn became the rallying cry of a new movement to uphold the traditional family. Now another confluence of factors is threatening to tear the movement apart. The extraordinary evangelical love affair with Bush has ended, for many, in heartbreak over the Iraq war and what they see as his meager domestic accomplishments. That disappointment, in turn, has sharpened latent divisions within the evangelical world — over the evangelical alliance with the Republican Party, among approaches to ministry and theology, and between the generations.

The founding generation of leaders like Falwell and Dobson, who first guided evangelicals into Republican politics 30 years ago, is passing from the scene. Falwell died in the spring. Paul Weyrich, 65, the indefatigable organizer who helped build Falwell’s Moral Majority and much of the rest of the movement, is confined to a wheelchair after losing his legs because of complications from a fall. Dobson, who is 71 and still vigorous, is already planning for a succession at Focus on the Family; it is expected to tack toward the less political family advice that is its bread and butter.

The engineers of the momentous 1980s takeover that expunged political and theological moderates from the Southern Baptist Convention are retiring or dying off, too. And in September, when I called a spokesman for the ailing Presbyterian televangelist D. James Kennedy, another pillar of the Christian conservative movement, I learned that Kennedy had “gone home to the Lord” at 2 a.m. that morning.

Meanwhile, a younger generation of evangelical pastors — including the widely emulated preachers Rick Warren and Bill Hybels — are pushing the movement and its theology in new directions. There are many related ways to characterize the split: a push to better this world as well as save eternal souls; a focus on the spiritual growth that follows conversion rather than the yes-or-no moment of salvation; a renewed attention to Jesus’ teachings about social justice as well as about personal or sexual morality. However conceived, though, the result is a new interest in public policies that address problems of peace, health and poverty — problems, unlike abortion and same-sex marriage, where left and right compete to present the best answers.

The backlash on the right against Bush and the war has emboldened some previously circumspect evangelical leaders to criticize the leadership of the Christian conservative political movement. “The quickness to arms, the quickness to invade, I think that caused a kind of desertion of what has been known as the Christian right,” Hybels, whose Willow Creek Association now includes 12,000 churches, told me over the summer. “People who might be called progressive evangelicals or centrist evangelicals are one stirring away from a real awakening.”

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ellid)

In this case, it seems that the moderator of a Snape-centric Yahoo group and website decided that Dumbledore being a "homosexual/sodomite" was too sinful for her to bear.

The link is to the discussion on the LJ atheist community. Am I crazy, or does this moderator come across as a mean-spirited bigot who's read too much James Dobson?