LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY drgndancer)

A relative is becoming involved in this organization, and I'm doing some digging. I've looked at their website and done some internet searches, but haven't come up with a lot of specific information. They are clearly at least somewhat coercive and Dominionist (I'm always wary of groups that exist explicitly to propagate their own message), but I can find little specific information on things they have done that I and my family should be concerned about. Telling everyone "They are teh EBIL! Just look at their website! Ebil codewords everywhere!" is not quite as effective as being able to point out specific things they support or have done.

I'm going to continue to investigate on my own, but any pointers or tips would be appreciated.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY blueboy2000) As most of you know, I am a former member of the highly abusive charismatic Christian outfit Every Nation. This organization is, in turn, a repackaging of Maranatha Campus Ministries, one of the more notorious "campus cults" of the 1980s. For more info about my experiences with this bunch, check out the Reader's Digest version.

So you can imagine how alarmed I was when I found out that Shrub has appointed a major leader in this outfit to a post in his administration. Namely, Brett Fuller, pastor of one of EN's most important churches, Metro MorningStar Church in Northern VA. He's been tapped for a post on the President's Board of Advisors on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Many of you guys probably remember Maranatha from the 1980s.  It caught all kinds of hell for its highly authoritarian structure, in which campus leaders exercised very close supervision over members' lives.  For instance, members were not allowed to date.  The group was kicked off two campuses after allegations of abusive behavior came to light.  An ad hoc committee was called in by Maranatha's leadership to deflect allegations that it was nothing more than a Christianized version of the Moonies and Krishnas.  But the committee ended up raking Maranatha over the coals.  Its report stated that unless Maranatha made some major changes, "we would not recommend this organization to anyone."  This group was also a MAJOR player in the religious right.

The pressure from campus administrators, former members and the press didn't let up a bit, and Maranatha supposedly dissolved in 1990.  However, there is overwhelming evidence that a bunch of Maranatha's leaders simply engaged in a rondo of corporate realignments that culminated in the formation of Morning Star International in 1994.

Fuller is EN's highest-profile black minister.  He's been a major player in Maranatha and EN since the 1980s.  He's served as chaplain of the Washington Redskins for a few years.  His church, which grew out of Maranatha's outreaches in the DC area (he actually started the Maranatha chapter at Howard University), counts a few Redskins as prominent members--including Art Monk and Darrell Green.  Even without the links to a recognized cult, some of this guy's activities stink to high heaven.  For instance, he lives in a $790,000 house in the tony Northern VA suburb of Chantilly--even though his church has only 200 members and meets in a high school in Herndon.  At one time, his church also raised almost $3 million for a new building in Fairfax County--again, despite having only 200 members.

I can't imagine that this appointment wouldn't require Senate confirmation.  Just in case it does, here's the new lineup for the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (from Wikipedia):

Democrats:
Ted Kennedy, MA (chairman)
Chris Dodd, CT (vice-chairman)
Tom Harkin, IA
Barbara Mikulski, MD
Jeff Bingaman, NM
Patty Murray, WA
Jack Reed, RI
Hillary Rodham Clinton, NY
Barack Obama, IL
Bernie Sanders, VT
Sherrod Brown, OH

Republicans:
Mike Enzi, WY (ranking Republican)
Judd Gregg, NH
Lamar Alexander, TN
Richard Burr, NC
Johnny Isakson, GA
John Ensign, NV
Orrin Hatch, UT
Jeff Sessions, AL
Pat Roberts, KS

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

firepie asked for a list of Religious Right websites. I found a nice collection of them. Here they are:

American Family Association

Fallwell's Moral Majority Coalition

The 700 Club

James Dobson's Focus on the Family

Breakthrough- Rod Parsley's World Harvest Church

The 10/40 window (world conversion site)

FORCE Ministries (Warning- noisy intro.)

Campus Crusade for Christ

Liberty University

Bob Jones University

That ought to get you started. Anyone else, feel free to add to the list.

http://www.uruknet.info/?s1=1&p=11955&s2=23

Interesting post that states that the (Eastern Orthodox) Patriarch of Iraq has told the American dominionists to "take their Bibles and go home" because they are apparently explicitly targeting not only Moslems but Eastern Orthodox for conversion (often with the same "stealth missionary" tactics used in the US--in this case, taking Iraqi kids for rides in cars and such and then prosyletising to them, even making them hold (Protestant) Bibles and taking pictures for their own fundraising efforts in the States).

This is noted because, as has been mentioned here, many have noted that there is a link between the Iraqi occupation and dominionist "end time" worldview; also, much of the "missionary" effort has apparently been from chaplains in the US Army (which has in large part, in its top leadership and often wholesale, has been taken over by dominionists (in particular AoG)...).

Interestingly, the article also mentions that dominionist groups have literally been getting "massive numbers of Bibles" together for export to Iraq as early as March 2002 "in anticipation for invasion"; also, it notes how the dominionists are actively turning Iraqis against the US (one thing not widely reported in the media--several of the people kidnapped and killed, including a South Korean national, were missionaries from dominionist denominations).

Also, apparently in several cases they are blatantly misrepresenting Eastern Orthodox Christians as Moslems in their fundraising...

The person writing the article does seem to be at least somewhat aware of dominionist groups (in particular Campus Crusade for Christ) but probably would be served in knowing additional info on how the dominionists have actively targeted the military (stuff re the AoG's hijacking of the chaplaincy system as well as info re the present mess with the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs would be extremely helpful to them in enlightening them, I think).

I would also think that this should be widely distributed to the Orthodox and Catholic communities (to show them that no, they are NOT safe from the dominionists, in fact, they're probably going to be the *next* against the wall if the dominionists get what they want)...

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY blueboy2000)

A few months earlier, I wrote about Every Nation (formerly known as Morning Star International)--a pentecostal/charismatic church network.  In reality, it is a reincorporated and repackaged version of Maranatha Campus Ministries, one of the more notorious campus cults of the 80s and a major player in the religious right back then.  I was suckered into joining the Carolina outreach of one of their more important churches during my freshman year (read all about it here).

Now it looks like the whole thing's about to come home to roost--and there's something we can do on our end to help.  While perusing for info on the Tennessee Senate race, I came upon this story at WTVF-TV/NewsChannel 5 in Nashville.( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY blueboy2000)

I was just about to let everyone know about my wife's surgery when I noticed that Morning Star pastor in New Zealand paid me another call.

Jamie went into surgery yesterday--unfortunately, I couldn't be there because that two-week slowdown at the warehouse forced me to have to work and ensure we had enough money coming in. It went well--they're going to have to keep her at least a week, though. But to hear this Kiwi windbag talk, it's all my fault.

He had the nerve to suggest her illness and several other things that happened to me are a direct result of my speaking out against Morning Star International. No, I'm not kidding.

I'm not the least bit surprised that anyone affiliated with this criminal organization disguised as a church would even contemplate such an outrageous suggestion. Think about it. Ron Lewis, pastor of the church that burned me in college, appears to condone his people making vicious and false accusations against his critics in order to discredit them--if you'll remember, several members of Waymaker Christian Fellowship (the name of their outreach at Carolina at the time I was there) falsely accused me of sexual harassment. Brett Fuller, pastor of Metro MorningStar in the DC area (and the driving force behind a planned slave memorial in the National Mall) lives in an almost $800,000 house in a tony portion of Northern Virginia even though his church has only 200-plus members. Any organization that can countenance behavior like this must obviously have decency standards low enough to condone one of their pastors making such an outrageous suggestion.

This coward better hope I don't find out who he is--because if I do, you can bet I'm going to demand a full apology from Morning Star for his palpably un-Christian and insensitive comments.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY blueboy2000)

As I mentioned before, I find myself in an odd position--a black man who opposes a memorial to slaves near the Lincoln Memorial. Actually, it's not the memorial itself I oppose. It's the guys behind it--Morning Star International.

To summarize, I cannot in good conscience support my tax dollars lining the pockets of a cult--especially one that seems to condone character assasination of the worst type. But there's another reason--these guys are, to put it charitably, dreadful money managers.

Brett Fuller, pastor of Metro MorningStar Church in DC, is the driving force behind this bill. Fuller also spearheads the Youth Life Foundation, founded by Redskins legend Darrell Green. It's one of the crown jewels of Shrub's faith-based initiatives drive. According to Jim Myers, a writer in the DC area, the foundation has a $1.3 million budget and has received $3.1 million in federal grants since 2001. However, it has only one center anywhere near DC--and it serves only 38 kids. And many other learning centers serve more kids for far less money.

Read Myers' article--and think about it. This slave memorial is going to cost several million dollars. But if these guys are pissing away $3.1 million, you think they can handle several million more? I doubt it.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY blueboy2000)

Hey everyone--I was pointed here by sunfell--wonder if any other Christians are here.

OK, here's more information on Morning Star International--the artists formerly known as Maranatha Campus Ministries. For those of you who don't remember Maranatha, Rick Ross has a slew of articles at his site.

Morning Star knows about the bad press Maranatha took in the 80s, so they fall all over themselves to hide their Maranatha past. But they can't hide everything. We've uncovered at least four former Maranatha churches that are now part of Morning Star, but still operate under their old Maranatha charters. And two of them are blatantly misleading people about their pasts--undoubtedly to put off the inevitable criticism about their pasts.

• King's Park International Church in Durham, NC (the guys that suckered me into joining): claims a 1990 founding date, but was incorporated in 1986 as Maranatha Christian Church of the Triangle; changed its name to Triangle Christian Fellowship in 1990 and KPIC in 1997


• Morning Star Christian Church of the South Bay in LA: incorporated in 1986 as Maranatha Christian Church of the South Bay; changed name to Victory Church of the South Bay in 1990 and to Morning Star in 1993


• Harvest Valley Christian Church in the Bay Area: incorporated in 1986 as Maranatha Christian Church of the East Bay; changed name in 1990


• Morning Star International Church of Boston: claims to be a 2001 plant of KPIC, but was incorporated in 1986 as Maranatha Christian Church of Boston; changed name to New Beginnings Christian Fellowship in 1990, Tree of Life City Church in 1991 and Morning Star Boston in 2001; associate pastor and former senior pastor Brian Diver is spokesman for Massachusetts Citizens for Marriage
  

The two most prominent arms of Morning Star are their campus ministry arm, Victory Campus Ministries; and their outreach to athletes, Champions for Christ. The four churches I've mentioned previously have outreaches at several schools where Maranatha had chapters in the 80s--at Carolina (where KPIC traces its roots), UCLA (they actually got one of their people elected SBP in 2000--but she had a very ordinary term), Southern Cal, Cal-Berkeley, MIT and Boston University. After Christmas break, there's got to be some way we can put the word out at those schools--especially if Maranatha caused problems at those schools in the 80s. Even though they were only "officially" bounced off one campus (Kansas State in 1983), you can probably bet they jumped before they were pushed off a few more.

Champions for Christ, as many of you know, caught all kinds of hell in 1998 for its growing involvement in the NFL. Specifically, an agent with Champions ties negotiated a stupid contract for Curtis Enis. They have chapters at several schools across the country, as well as a few pro teams. They still have substantial clout in the NFL, where they've essentially taken over the Redskins and Jaguars. Rick Ross has more information on them as well.

Morning Star is one of the driving forces behind a bill to establish a national slave memorial near the Lincoln Memorial. It's being spearheaded by the National Foundation for African-American Heritage, headed by Brett Fuller. Fuller pastors Metro MorningStar Church headquartered in Northern Virginia (with satelites in DC itself, Baltimore and Philadelphia) and is also the Redskins' chaplain. There are a couple of major problems. First, as I mentioned earlier, Morning Star adheres to Kingdom Now theology, a kooky philosophy that is essentially fascism in Christian dress. Second, and more importantly, one of Morning Star's churches is Beth Shalom Ministries, a Russian Messianic Jewish congregation in Brooklyn that makes a deliberate point of targeting Russian Jewish immigrants for conversion. Three of the bill's cosponsors--Jan Schakowsky from Chicago, Tom Lantos from San Mateo County and Bob Filner from San Diego--are Jewish. Three more--John Conyers from Detroit, Barbara Lee from Oakland and Major Owens from Brooklyn--have large Jewish constituencies in their districts. And apparently the Freepers are up in arms about it too.

I never thought I'd find myself opposing a bill to memorialize slaves--it's long overdue. But not if it helps line the pockets of a cult.