LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY idragosani)

NORFOLK, Va. - Getting divorced in Virginia may be more difficult if a conservative advocacy group gets its way.

Family Foundation, which led the push to ban same-sex marriage in Virginia, has formed a commission that will recommend public policies that could preserve traditional marriages.


Read more

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY kalibex)

FAITH & FUNDRAISING

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY gothic_oreo)

Who else has been struck by the irony of of dominionist anti-pedophile groups when there is so much child abuse up to and including pedophilia in Dominionist circles?

Case after case has surfaced and in group after group I have heard tell of children being beaten, sexually abused, and emotionaly abused in these groups. When this happens, the survivor's accounts are often the tale of the circling of wagons, protecting the perpetrator, and blaming the victim.

It seems to me WFI should follow their own books advice and make sure their own house is in order in regards to pedophilia and incest before they go throwing stones at people who are not even associated with such abominations.

I've posted quite a bit on how dominionist groups--in particular the Assemblies and its own front the FGBMFI--like to set up "Business ministries" and front companies specifically for purposes of "bait and switch" evangelism, not to mention setting up "parallel economy" alternatives for dominionists. The Assemblies in particular also has a habit of partnering with known dominionist-friendly corporations.

One of the more interesting players in this is News Media Corporation, which is a company that owns approximately 71 newspapers in nine states; they've become a bit infamous in newspaper circles for buying up community tabloid newspapers with some skull-and-dagger tactics.

The CEO, John Hopkins, runs not only News Media Corporation, but also the Rochelle News-Leader (in Illinois) and a string-music publisher.

One of the things News Media Corporation is *very* careful not to mention on its website is the fact that it's being used as a front for "bait and switch evangelism" and support of dominionism--for *that*, you have to go to a little magazine called Today's Pentecostal Evangel which is published by none other than the Assemblies of God, aka the world's first dominionist denomination...

( News Media Corp's founder happily reveals his dominionist plans to fellow dominionists when they think the rest of us aren't watching )

Mind you, this is by *far* not the only piece of work like that in the pages of that magazine--the right-hand bar actually has something like eight years of archives where the actual face of Assemblies-style dominionism is brought to the world to see via interviews with folks in the dominionist movement. It gives you all too much of an insight on just *how* dominionists plan to take over the country...a terrifying, frightening glimpse.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY hummingwolf)

This might be of interest to some of you:

Surviving and Moving On After a High Demand Group Experience:
A Workshop for Second-Generation Former Members

The International Cultic Studies Association (ICSA) has run workshops for former members of high-demand, “cultic” groups for many years.

In recent years increasing numbers of people born or raised in such groups (i.e., “second generation adults” - SGAs) have attended these workshops. These ex-members have special needs, which can be most effectively addressed through a workshop that focuses on them. SGAs do not have a “pre-cult identity” to which they can return. SGAs raised in fringe subcultures have to learn the implicit rules and expectations of mainstream culture.

SGAs frequently have educational and other skill deficits that interfere with adjustment to mainstream culture. Having grown up in high-control groups that are often based on irrational belief systems, SGAs tend to struggle with issues of dependency, self-esteem, and social conflict. Because many SGAs were physically or sexually abused, they often have to deal with anger, resentment, and other emotions related to trauma. SGAs have difficulty getting help because they tend to lack finances and be wary of other people, including helpers.

religionnewsblo

Some of you may remember my report of a court case involving coercive "deliverance ministry" group Remnant Fellowship involving yet another sad case of "death by chastening rod"--religiously motivated child abuse that ends in the death or maiming of children (both physically and emotionally) and which is all too common and all too much of a dirty secret in the dominionist community.

And as of the 16th, Josef Smith's ghost may have finally found justice, as the courts ruled his parents guilty of murder.

( To quote 'Big O', 'In the name of God, ye be guilty' )

This actually sets a very powerful precedent--to my knowledge, this is the first time a parent has actually been convicted of murder for religiously motivated child abuse (typically, if these cases make it to trial at all, the parents are simply convicted of child abuse or involuntary manslaughter).

At least one group of walkaways and survivors of Remnant Fellowship are stating this should be a lesson that religiously motivated child abuse is not acceptable, per the Tennessean newspaper:
( Walkaways speak out )

Hopefully little Josef Smith will not be the first to see justice--hopefully one day *everyone* who has been the victim of religiously-motivated child abuse will someday see justice. (In that light, I strongly encourage each and every reader of this community to please support the work of the Safe Passage Foundation, which to my knowledge is the ONLY group that is specifically working to prevent religiously-motivated child abuse and support the rights of child walkaways from coercive religious groups--including coercive dominionist churches.)

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY larathia)

Somehow, I got as far as 'Assemblies of God' and my warning bells went off.

Anyone know anything about this?

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY jehovahsfitness)

A new documentary claims that Catholic images have subliminal messages that have led to the abuse of children by priests. More here.

Berlin parishioners are trying to save Nazi church as a reminder of how the Christian establishment was so closely linked with the Nazi Party. I think it would serve as a great reminder to not only future generations, but the present ones of the dangers of mixing nationalism with religion, and how it is hurtful to religion.

Finally, Scientology is using it's starpower to convince the Arizona legislature to restrict psychiatric meds.
Which begs the question... Scientology is not a Christian group by any stretch of the imagination, but they are well-known to have a history of coercion and tactics similar to Dominionism. I wonder if we should not also cover the CoS's activities as well. Thoughts?

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY dunesong)

Should the moderators feel this is an inappropriate question to ask in this forum please delete it and accept my apologies...

Hello... I'm looking for a little advice or guidance. My little sister has "gone over" if you know what I mean. It's what started me looking into all this stuff in the first place. I need to know how to reach her. She had a rather troubled couple of years and I think some "good Christians" took advantage of that and have pulled her in. The details are not really important (and they would not be very interesting to anyone else I am sure), but the signs are all there: She has tried to convince me that what I do is "evil" (I am a research scientist that often interacts with evolutionary biologists and astro physicists, plus I am rather apathetic about the whole God question), she has left religious tracts at my house, sent me articles from such wonderful websites as Concerned Woman for American, and Familylife etc, and has tried to convince me to read the LeHay series. She just got married to someone she has recently met who insisted she recite a personalized version of Ephesians 5:22-24 as her vows. Anyway... too much information right? Sorry. My main question is, and maybe this has already been posted before in which case I ask for forgiveness for being a new-be, what is the best way to approach this? I have looked around for info on this but nothing I have found so far addresses how you get the process started. I can't just write her off. How do you reach someone who has bought into this garbage? Or maybe this is a lost cause?

Any help, no matter how trivial, would be appreciated.

Thank you.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY gairid)

I'm a regular reader of Pam's House Blend. Pam Spaulding posts timely and interesting news stories , mostly centered around LGBT issues, but often including issues that we discuss in this community--one of today's posts is a very good example:

Bishop Earl Paulk believes little things like marital fidelity were for "the little ones...commoners."

Bishop Paulk has a special interpretation of the scriptures that seems to involve a lot of extramarital sex. The leader of Chapel Hill Harvester Church in Decatur, GA is being sued by Mona Brewer, a former member of the church, charging sexual misconduct and acts of sexual coercion.

Click the link for the whole story:

http://www.pamspaulding.com/weblog/2006/01/another-perverted-pastor.html

Pam gets the skinny on quite a few of our buddies; the blog is excellent reading.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Is your faith toxic? Or are you sliding down a slippery slope that leads to such a belief set? I found a Self Test from a book entitled "Toxic Faith" that might be of use in determining if this is indeed true.

( Take the test )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY catvincent)

This made me chuckle... found by Religion News Blog

" In general, cults differ from Christian churches, first of all, in what they believe.

Cults always deny some part of what the Bible teaches (which is why some add other so-called "sacred" books to the Bible).

Many deny the deity of Jesus, or believe his work on the cross wasn't sufficient to save us from our sins.

Cults also differ from Christian churches by the way they act. Cults often stress absolute and total obedience to their leader (instead of to Jesus), and threaten anyone who wants to leave the group by claiming they will be lost if they do. "

So (ignoring of course all those xtian groups who demand total obedience to a figurehead - let's start with Catholicism and go on...) a cult is basically any religion other than Billys' version of xtianity.
Plus that whole problem of dominoinists being very picky about which bits of the bible they use - persecuting gays because of a line in Leviticus, but not going after eaters of shellfish who are condemned with equal wrath a few verses on.

Not exactly a shock, but notable.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY fannyfae)

I will defer to the moderator and if this post is not approriate here, I will remove it.

At any rate, it would seem rabid fundamentalism is trying to take up root in countries where we might not expect it, too. I recieve the Hindu Press International on a daily basis. Here is a story from one of the latest. For those who do not know, Hindus wear the Bindi on their foreheads as a mark of their faith. Both men and women wear them, depending on sect, but it is most common for married women in India to wear them.

( Hindu Teacher Ordered To Remove Bindi At Christian School )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY kalibex)

'Jews for Jesus sues Google over blog'

Several people--both on Dark Christianity and on Talk2Action--have asked in part what we can do in regards to dominionists (especially in relation to the spiritual abuse inherent in dominionism).

Some have even asked how we can persuade dominionists to, well, not be dominionists.

The problem is that--because dominionism is, at its core, a spiritually abusive movement with political aspirations it isn't that simple at all...because you have to fight the programmed mindset.

( Dominionism and the cultic mindset )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY thornewilder)

I am hot on the trail of dogemperor's proposed IRP. (Individual Research Project) The mission is to research charities for dogemperor's big NOLA list. I was rereading journals and realised I had never returned all the many favors dogemperor has done by answering my questions.

I have run across something I need a little direction on....are there now, or have there always been (last 30 years) quakers who prescribe to dominionist theology? The reason I ask is I have seemingly uncovered a nest of them (dominionists), wrapped inside a quaker educational institution...yet strangely it reaches into an evangelical group in Africa, across to abstinance only faith based and community initiative money, and a medical rescue/mission...Quakers and Evangelicals? Mixed on each others board of directors?

(sung to the tune of bert and ernie....one of these things is not like the others...)

Anyway, I am hoping to give a little back for the dogemperor...

I know the Vineyard movement (known Coercive, via Rick Ross, was born after the Quaker founder was asked to leave the Quakers....on to Calvary Chapel....on to Vineyard.) Anyone know of dominionist influences in Quaker establishments?

Any tips?

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY gleef)

I originally posted this as a link in a comment, but the more I think about it, the more I think it deserves its own post.

As I've mentioned before, the Salvation Army is among the Dominionist Churches. Yes, many people's reactions are "What, that charity that helps the poor? I didn't even know they were a church group." They are not only a church group (set along strict Calvinist/Methodist lines), but a coercive church group. They also are a multi billion dollar international business masquerading as a charitable organization. I would also say that they represent the business model that many Dominionists would like to see as the standard for how business should be done.

Wealth & Power: Assets or Addictions? — Chapter 6: Religious Corporation

Keep this in mind as you pass by the person in the red apron ringing a bell in front of your supermarket or mall this holiday season. This is what you are paying for if you toss a coin into the bucket, or give your old coat to their donation boxes.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY amethyst_hunter)

By accident tonight I happened to be sitting in front of the TV and caught the 10 pm news. For those of you in/near the Chicago area, this may be of interest.

Channel 5 had a report on a mission named Love Holy Trinity Blessed Mission, which is based in Chicago and has ties - or did - to Catholicism. Supposedly it's a mission based on Catholic principles, but according to the report, it's definitely got some cult behavior going on. One woman tearfully talked about her daughter, who literally overnight opted out of a college education and joined the mission, and hasn't been heard from since...because one of their tenets is that ALL members *must* cut ties with all outside worlders - *including* family members. That right there is a red flag.

There is a small newsclip on NBC5 Chicago's website; the report is also going to be expanded upon this coming Sunday evening at 10:00 pm. I hope I can catch it.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY shaunathan)

When we talk of Dominionist denominations, our mind instantly turns to the Southern Baptists, Assemblies of God and so on. But would you place such groups as the Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses and the such in there?

Recently (in reference to this recent post on Dark Christianity) I stumbled upon the following series of articles on "Christian Counseling" aka "Theophostic Counseling", which is promoted heavily in the dominionist community as an alternative to "secular" psychiatry:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/theophostic.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/theophostic1.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/theophostic2.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/theophostic3.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/theophostic4.htm

In these articles I found characteristics in addition to those aspects of "deliverance ministry/spiritual warfare" in dominionist churches that I am personally familiar with (being a walkaway from a coercive AoG church into "Third Wave" theology, which incorporates "deliverance ministry/spiritual warfare" as part of its integral theology, and having also done some research on churches in the dominionist movement with similar theology such as Ted Haggard's New Life Church in Colorado Springs) that are especially troubling, as they show that the basic coercive tactics used in these churches are substantially identical to those used in a group much better known for being coercive--specifically, Scientology.

For comparisons between the practices of "Christian Counseling" targeted towards dominionists and Scientology, I will rely on information from the sites listed above (and other sites where necessary) regarding "deliverance ministry" theology and will rely on various online sources regarding the latter (which will be documented).

( Warning: Long analysis ahead )

Religious Tolerance has grave concerns:

Of concern is that TheoPhostic counseling is performed in a religious setting, typically by conservative Christian counselors with no academic qualifications. Many believe that since prayer is involved in the sessions, that God will prevent any evil acts or false memories from emerging. It is our opinion that God is not responsible for any good effects of TPM nor is Satan responsible for any evil results. Rather, the impact of TPM -- whether good or evil -- is determined by the counselor, the client, and their interaction. During the 1980s and 1990s, RMT seriously harmed many tens of thousands of its victims, drove some to suicide, and disrupted tens of thousands of families of origin. Many of its victims were counseled in a conservative Christian religious setting. Since TPM and RMT are so closely related, we urge the reader avoid becoming involved in TPM or in any other similar experimental therapy. We suspect that TPM has the same potential for evil, if it becomes widely used.