LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ns_kumiho)

Looking around the net, I've found that a site called Encyclopedia-Obscura has done some funny reviews of the old Wisdom Tree Christian NES games... One of which is Dominionist:

Spiritual Warfare - where you take the role of a 'God Warrior' out to convert the world and save souls by blowing them up (although that's more Sunday Funday!)...



If you look around on the Web you can easily find Roms and Emulators for these games, they do have some amusement value... =P

Speaking of religious kitch, Belief.net has their Spiritual Gift List for this year out. Not as odd as some of the other years, although the Christian Teen Wallets are kind of good... and the Brainwashed Sign... Heck the whole shop is good... Christian Multi-Tools? =P

In light of first the DefCon America call for people to report dominionist groups violating tax exempt status and a later report of at least the second serious threat against Focus on the Family's tax exempt status, I would like to present both a bit of useful info and history and a very long list of groups that you, too, can file complaint in regards to.
( First, the history )

A brief note on the whole 501(c)3 and 501(c)4 stuff...the US tax code allows specific exemptions to federal taxes for certain classes of nonprofit organisations. To make a very long story short, the three main types of nonprofit groups legally recognised under the US tax codes are 501(c)3 groups, 501(c)4 groups, and PACs (political action committees). Both 501(c)3 and 501(c)4 groups can be set up as nonprofit groups; 501(c)3 exemptions tend to be used by churches, schools and educational groups whilst 501(c)4 groups tend to be used by actual lobbying groups. (Of note to Dark Christianity, dominionist groups typically register as 501(c)3 groups, and typically under the "religious ministry" or "educational foundation" exemptions (with the exception of groups like the DeVos Foundations, which are organised as private charitable foundations). The very few dominionist groups registered as 501(c)4 groups are uniformly registered as "social welfare organisations".)

The main difference in practice between a 501(c)3 and a 501(c)4 in practice:

501(c)3 group donations *can* be counted off on taxes as "tax deductible donations" but 501(c)3 groups generally are not legally allowed to engage in most political activity. (Certainly not advocating certain persons or certain parties for election, even certain issues can be iffy if it's a party-defining issue)

501(c)4 groups have more leeway as far as lobbying in Congress and state governments but donations to these groups are *not* tax deductible.

The specific IRS rules for lobbying for 501(c)3 groups are here and the rules for 501(c)4 "social welfare" groups are here.

Of special note (and of major import for dominionist groups)--groups that lose their 501(c)3 status as a result of lobbying *cannot* apply for 501(c)4 status; they lose their tax exempt status period. (Christian Coalition had changed their status to 501(c)4 just before the IRS yanked their tax exempt status, and it was only after almost seven years before it was restored; even now, they're essentially on "double secret probation" with the IRS.) Also, 501(c)4 groups can't have political lobbying as their *primary* activity (which is much of what got the Christian Coalition in trouble, and what may even get the few dominionist 501(c)4 groups in hot water).

Instead of the 1040C or other business-related tax forms that are normally filled out, organisations that qualify as 501(c)3 and 501(c)4 groups fill out a different form, called a form 990 or form 990-PF (the latter mostly applies to 501(c)4 groups); churches are largely exempt from having to register or file a form 990 (it's "assumed" they're tax exempt unless they show misbehaviour like, oh, distributing blatantly partisan dominionist voter's guides in sermon).

This is important in relevance to the next section:
( Form 990 filings and tax exempt statuses for lots of dominionist groups )

I know there are probably dominionist groups I've not listed there--if you've additions, let me know and I can add their tax info (and you can have fun reporting them for their misbehaviour!).

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY nefri)

i have been having an exchange with a fundamentalist christian who knows my parents lately, and have been posting it on my journal. Its kinda amusing, its the last 3 posts. They are friends only, however, so if you want to read the fun, let me know, i will add you. I also may make them public, in the name of entertainment.

You, too, can do a visible part to fight the dominionists abusing their tax exempt status. (I know we've talked a good deal about it on here before on organising a way to do this. What with large antidominionist communities like Dark Christianity and Talk2Action and DefCon America working together now, we're actually starting to get a "hundredth monkey" effect going with things like this.)

So, to quote Clark at DefCon America:

So in light of the recent action's taken by the IRS against All Saints Church in Pasadena, CA we at DefConAmerica.org have decided to make sure the IRS doesn't miss any tax exempt religious organizations who may have overstepped their bounds.

Have you noticed overtly political sermons, fliers, or events sponsored by or emanating from a local church? Are you collecting information on the political actions of a national religious right organization or megachurch? Let DefCon know! We'll be taking any and all infringements right to the IRS ourselves. We wouldn't want to leave all of our politically active religious right friends out would we?

Email us any info you have at Tips@DefConAmerica.org, and of course stay tuned to DefConBlog.org.

DefCon America (per convo with DefCon Clark and per posts on Talk2Action) got deluged (having to increase the quota on their mailbox because it filled up within the first hour of posting with reports)...but at the same time it's something that is all too necessary, finally has a group with funding to push the complaints through, and can hoist the dominionists by their own petards at the source--the very churches at the center of the dominionist movement.

I've already put in my complaints re the Big Bad Three in my area (Highview Baptist aka home of Justice Sunday I, the dominionist church I walked away from, and another megachurch which has had its tax-exempt revoked before for prosyletisation). You know you all want to do the Right Thing.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Talk to Action, the first national interactive blog site devoted to discussing the theocratic Christian Right and what to do about it, will host a national "e-conference," on the Talk to Action site, featuring writers and editors of Mother Jones which is publishing several articles about the religious right in the next issue. The event will begin at 10am EST, Tuesday, November 29th.

Talk To Action

Talk to Action, founded by author Frederick Clarkson, blogger Bruce Wilson, and 14 other writers, seeks to advance the national conversation on this subject.

"We are concerned about the theocratic tendencies of the religious right in the United States," said Clarkson. "Among other things, claims that America is a Christian Nation; sectarian approaches to public policy such as efforts to require the teaching of "intelligent design"; the movement to redefine our laws in terms of religious laws; and a growing culture of religious intolerance and religious supremacism. We welcome anyone who shares our concerns to think and learn with us. Strategize with us. Debate with us."

http://www.talk2action.org /story/2005/11/22/115617/98

Participants in the pioneering Talk to Action E-Conference include Clarkson; Mother Jones Senior Editor, Monika Bauerlein; Communications Director Richard Reynolds, and contributors John Sugg and Susan Jacoby. Sugg details the role of the theocratic Christian Reconstructionist movement in the American Christian Right; and Jacoby counters the Christian right's arguments about the role of religion and government by outlining the intent of the framers of the constitution to clearly separate church and state.

Former Sen. Gary Hart (D-CO), will also be making a guest appearance. Hart has just published God and Caesar in America: An Essay on Religion and Politics (Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing, 2005).

Clarkson, the author of the book, Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy, has written about politics and religion for more than 20 years. The founding writers also include: Chip Berlet, Senior Analyst, Political Research Associates; Joan Bokaer, founder of Theocracy Watch; Esther Kaplan, author of With God on Their Side: How Christian Fundamentalists Trampled Science, Policy and Democracy in George Bush's White House; Michelle Goldberg, Senior Writer, Salon.com; Dr. Bruce Prescott, Executive Director, Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists; Rev. Dan Schultz, a minister in the United Church of Christ who operates the blog site, Street Prophets; and Joel Pelleteir, an artist whose remarkable painting American Fundamentalists, is touring the United States.

Talk to Action, like such major blog sites as The Daily Kos, uses "scoop" software, that has proved to be highly conducive to online discussion. The site differs from other major sites, however, in that it seeks to be less freewheeling in tone as well as content. Talk to Action seeks a more thoughtful, civil, and nonpartisan tone than is found on many sites. While anyone can read the site, those who agree with it's general purpose are welcome to become registered users, publish their own essays, and comment on the posts of others.

"We favor religious equality and separation of church and state," Clarkson said. "We support reproductive freedom and gay and lesbian civil rights -- including marriage equality. Therefore," he says, "debates about abortion and gay rights are off topic on this site. We understand that there are those who may be concerned generally about the politics of the Christian Right, who may not completely share our view on these matters. They are welcome to participate anyway, but bearing this in mind. Our purpose is to take the conversation forward, and not let it be held back by debating what, in our view are or should be, settled matters of human and civil rights.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Mother Jones has a great illustration of the various Dominionist organizations and their relationship to one another here.

You can click on the pictures to be taken to their websites.

Check it out!

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

From Frederick Clarkson:

New National Bog Site Takes On The Religious Right


Talk to Action, the first national interactive blog site devoted to discussing the theocratic Christian Right and what to do about it launches on Monday, November 21st, 2005.

http://www.Talk2Action.org.

Talk to Action, founded by author Frederick Clarkson, blogger Bruce Wilson, and 13 other writers, seeks to advance the national conversation on this subject.

"We are concerned about the theocratic tendencies of the religious right in the United States," said Clarkson. "Among other things, claims that America is a Christian Nation; sectarian approaches to public policy such as efforts to require the teaching of "intelligent design"; the movement to redefine our laws in terms of religious laws; and a growing culture of religious intolerance and religious supremacism. We welcome anyone who shares our concerns to think and learn with us. Strategize with us. Debate with us."

Clarkson, the author of the book, Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy, has written about politics and religion for more than 20 years. Among the founding writers are: Chip Berlet, Senior Analyst, Political Research Associates; Max Blumenthal, Joan Bokaer, founder of Theocracy Watch; Cynthia Cooper, author and playwright; Michelle Goldberg, Senior Writer at Salon.com; Esther Kaplan, author of With God on Their Side: How Christian Fundamentalists Trampled Science, Policy and Democracy in George Bush's White House; Dr. Bruce Prescott, Executive Director, Mainstream Oklahoma Baptists; noted blogger, Pastordan, a minister in the United Church of Christ who operates the blog site, Street Prophets; and Joel Pelleteir, an artist whose painting American Fundamentalists, is touring the United States.

On Tuesday, November 29th, Talk to Action will, in partnership with the San Francisco-based Mother Jones magazine, host a national "e-conference," on the Talk to Action site, featuring writers and editors of Mother Jones which is publishing several articles about the religious right in the next issue. (For information, contact Richard Reynolds, rreynolds@motherjones.com )

Talk to Action, like such major blog sites as The Daily Kos, uses "scoop" software, that has proved to be highly conducive to online discussion. The site differs from other major sites, however, in that it seeks to be less freewheeling in tone as well as content. Talk to Action seeks a more thoughtful, civil, and nonpartisan tone than is found on many sites. While anyone can read the site, those who agree with it's general purpose are welcome to become registered users, publish their own essays, and comment on the posts of others.

"We favor religious equality and separation of church and state," Clarkson said. "We support reproductive freedom and gay and lesbian civil rights -- including marriage equality. Therefore," he says, "debates about abortion and gay rights are off topic on this site. We understand that there are those who may be concerned generally about the politics of the Christian Right, who may not completely share our view on these matters. They are welcome to participate anyway, but bearing this in mind. Our purpose is to take the conversation forward, and not let it be held back by debating what, in our view are or should be, settled matters of human and civil rights.

I am proud to say that I am part of that stable of writers, although I will be working more in the background at first. Everyone here is welcome to go and check out TTA- they will welcome everyone from similar communities. Fred reads this community, as do many of the folks who will be posting there, and our community is prominently featured. The interaction and intercommunication of communities like ours is vital to our ability to counter the Religious Right, and each blog and community has its role to play. Go and give them a big welcome, and spread the word yourselves.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY cheap_laugh)

Tackling the Myth of Christian Persecution

the gist of this highly illuminating post, is that the "persecuted christian" is not aware of American History, suchas the Treaty of Tripoli, where is stated:
"As the Government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Musselmen; and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries." This treaty was ratified by the US Congress when John Adams served as President.

I highly recommend this diary to all.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY lihan161051)

I'm noticing an increase in the usage of the term "dominionism" in a number of places. It's occurred to me that while I was seeing potential enemies in just about every Christian denomination, it made the effort both to find out more about this movement and speak out against what was wrong with it very frustrating, because it was hidden so successfully behind Christianity. I knew what I was looking for wasn't Christian at all, but didn't know what to call it.

When I started thinking about that Scripture verse that says "you shall have dominion.." and started thinking of it as "dominion theology" (about the same time the term came into official use, but my usage was somewhat spontaneously independent) it became much easier to focus on more likely targets and differentiate them from the innocent Christians behind whom they were hiding.

I think this has begun to happen at more mainstream levels now; it seems more and more people even in conservative Christian circles are starting to wake up and realize that there is something dark and sinister in our midst that has nothing to do with the Christianity most of us grew up with. Does it seem to anyone else here that that's what's happening, that this battle is getting somewhat easier because we have a better description of who we're actually fighting against, and can use that to single them out from the innocent bystanders? Are we being taken more seriously because there's a lot less collateral damage going up against dominionists than there was going up against "conservative Christians"? Personally, I think it's definitely a concept that sells better and describes the problems much more accurately, and as a result, I think more people are listening now. The Witchvox link from the last post shows that word is getting out at least to sympathetic audiences .. are we reaching the more conservative echelons yet?

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Looks like word is starting to percolate into the farther flung corners of Webdom. Here's a little article I found on The Witches' Voice:

Scared Yet?

Excellent article with good background.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY neadods)

There are a couple of communities where I think this would be of interest, but I don't want to spam LJ. So this is a link to my long post about how "social conservatives" want to limit access to the anti-cervical-cancer vaccine because 'This is going to sabotage our abstinence message,'" said Gene Rudd, associate executive director of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations... "There are those who would say, 'We can provide a better, healthier alternative than the vaccine, and that is to teach abstinence,'" Rudd said.

Original newspaper article available here, here and here.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Our visitor from Cross Left forgot to leave their URL, so I'll supply it here, and add it to the blogroll:

Cross Left

Check it out. They have a great blogroll, organized into what I call 'originators'- communities, political, religious, and individual. And guess what- we're on the list!

This is the cross pollination and interaction of 'clumps' of moderate and progressive Christians that I hoped would happen when I created this community. And it's happening! These little groups are finding each other, talking to each other, and growing.

Go read them, join them, post to them, tell your friends. Get engaged. Start talking, keep listening. Take action, even if it's a letter to your editor or pastor. An avalanche is made from lots and lots of tiny snowflakes. Every one of us can make that critical difference.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY guldi)

It's a sad fact that progressives get together and mope, while the Religious Right gets
together and gets their people in office. Time that changed.

The fact is that we tend to mope in little clumps. I've been whizzing around YahooGroups
for the afternoon, and I've seen something like two dozen separate email lists of
progressive Christians -- some of them 200 names long, some of them 20; all very active,
commenting on the media.

By the way, Dark_Christianity is by far the most active of the LiveJournal communities.

But think about all the scattered energy of our many groups -- twenty something discreet
groups, none of them speaking to each other? It's good to talk; it's good to vent; but it's
much better to organize and do something.

( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Check out Holier Than Thou: When the Christian Right Goes Wrong. It's a blog written by Greg Spring, who says:

I am a television producer, journalist and award-winning political columnist. My work has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Playboy and Los Angeles Magazine, among others. My political columns have been honored by Art Buchwald and the California Newspaper Publishers Association.

And the preface of the blog is interesting too:

“Holier Than Thou” is our weekly quiz to test how well you’ve been keeping up with what the Religious Right is really up to. When they screw up, we’re there to note it. When their feet of clay start to crumble, we’re there to chip away a bit more. And when they serve as president of their church while leading a double life as the nation’s most feared serial killer…well, you get the idea.

Looks like fun reading ahead!

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Here's a post from Chip Berlet on the DefCon blog about Prophecy, Belief, and Constitutional boundaries. Here's an excerpt:

A group of ultraconservative political operatives have harnessed a particular reading of Biblical prophecy, known as Premillenial Dispensationalism, (embraced by tens of millions of evangelical Christians) and transformed these beliefs into campaigns to deny basic rights to groups of people framed as sinful and subversive.

Premillennial means a belief that Jesus Christ returns in the End Times and, after a series of confrontations and battles against evil, he reigns over an earthly utopia for a thousand years…a millennium. Therefore, Christ returns before (“pre”) the Godly millennial kingdom. Dispensations are epochs, or blocks of history, during which certain things happen. Premillennial Dispensationalists think that we are poised on the edge of that historic epoch during which the End Times preface the second coming of Christ and his millennial reign.

A large portion of Christian evangelicals who hold these specific theological beliefs also believe that devout and Godly Christians, before the tremendous confrontations or “Tribulations” that culminate in a huge global Battle of Armageddon, will be spared injury or death when they are brought away from Earth and held in God’s protective embrace in an event called the “Rapture.”

It is easy to poke fun at these types of religious beliefs, but it is deeply offensive and provocative in a way that undermines a serious and important public debate over the proper boundaries for religious belief and public policy decisions. It is not accurate to dismiss Christians who hold these beliefs as ignorant, uneducated, or crazy. Social scientists have thoroughly refuted these stereotypes with polling data and in-depth interviews. In addition, it is not fair to ask people of faith simply to abandon their beliefs when they step into the Public Square or political arena.

It is also not fair, however, for those in the Religious Right to use God as a trump card in public policy debates.

There are some very interesting comments to this post which seem to be going along the lines of some of the commentary here in this community. Some people understand the need to reach out and engage moderate Christians, and others feel that there isn't any way to establish a dialogue when one side speaks English and the other is speaking in tongues. All in all, it's a thorny question, and a difficult matter to unravel. How can we disengage the political and theocratic elements from the spiritual ones? How can we confront the horrible monster that this politico-religious synergy has spawned?

Go read the post and its comments. I'll be interested in hearing your comments.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY neadods)

I have recently discovered http://www.jesusonthefamily.org/, billed as "Politics for People Who Think. It is a Christian site against dominionism, and has links to article such as "Bush's Bomb-Threat Nation: Do You Feel Safer Now?" ""I'm Ready to Die" Fundamentalist Christianity Instills a Depressing-- and Dangerous--Nihilism," and "Why Conservative Christians Fear Tolerance, Parts 1 & 2: 1-Making Tolerance a Sin, 2-Those Liberal Southern Baptists!"

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

I know that there are a lot of people interested in disaster preparedness- especially in the wake of Katrina.

Considering how the government is going with its dismantlement of government preparedness programs in favor of faith based programs, it seems that the best thing to do is do it yourself. I found a community that is focused on this subject, making_a_plan. This isn't a foil hat, religious, or end times site, it's a place where people can talk about and share practical thoughts about preparing for a disaster of any sort. It's a new community, so it'll take a bit of time to blossom.

Check it out!

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

twistedchick led me to these three Boston Globe articles about Religious Right leaders:

James Dobson Founder of "Focus on the Family".

Richard Land a Baptist lobbyist in DC.

Rick Warren of Saddleback Church, a megachurch in LA.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Today's Talk To Action entry talks about what books and magazines to read, what websites to monitor, and other things you can do if you think that the Religious Right is a problem.

If You Think the Religious Right is a Problem....
There are lots of things to be done.

One of the first things to do --- is to learn more about it.

The Christian Right is one of the most successful political movements in American history. Yet people's level of literacy about the subject is often, well, shockingly low. The Christian Right is the dominant faction in the GOP. There are reasons for that. But few seem to know what those reasons are. If we are going to have intelligent conversations about all this, let alone be able to have coherent discussions about what to do, we need to have more people who share a common base of knowledge and the language necessary to have meaningful conversations. After many years, I know that useful knowledge and conversation in this area can be hard to come by.

So here is my up-by-the-bootstraps, do-it-yourself program for coming up to speed: books, magazines, conferences, videos, blogging -- and a radical idea.

Fred Clarkson goes on to list various places to go- including this board!- to learn more about the Religious Right. It's an excellent reference.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

If I mentioned this community before, I apologize, but it's good enough to mention again: DefCon: The campaign to Defend the Constitution. It's another community whose focus is to counter the Religious Right. It just officially launched yesterday.

They've started with a bang, too- their Islands of Ignorance map shows where the ID-iots are making inroads into school cirriculae. If you live on one of these 'islands', you should consider making your presence known and disdain for ID-iocy felt.