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The GOP’s Blatant Support for Theocracy
more from Hrafnkell Haraldsson
Bishop Harry Jackson, who earlier claimed he prayed a gay newspaper out of existence, wants churches to become “prophetic voices.” In a four-minute video, he now tells the faithful to pray for their local churches to “speak to us and give us direction; they need to tell us who to vote for.”
Watch the video from Right Wing Watch:
I want to encourage you to pray for the local church and for the radio and television ministries around our nation; we need to pray that they become prophetic voices to our generation. I believe especially in this election season they speak to us and give us direction. They need to tell us who to vote for. Who has a the prophetic mantle of god upon them? in other words, who is carrying out god’s will in our day?
Not only is this a blatant call for illegal activity on the part of churches, it is an invitation to chaos. What happens when different churches produce different prophetic wisdom? Is Jackson forgetting that in 2008 God chose Sarah Palin, the new Esther? Or that Sarah Palin, as God’s chosen, assured America that God would do the right thing for America?
You know that she wasn’t talking about an Obama victory.
Has Jackson forgotten that each Republican candidate in 2012 announced that God had directed them to run? Rick Santorum and Michele Bachmann, in particular, acted like messiah wannabes. If God can’t even make up his mind in direct communication with these little messiahs, who are churches supposed to do any better as intermediaries?
Even if it is denominations that decide – and yes, humans will decide, not whatever God Evangelicals think they are praying to – there are many denominations. And here is a big conundrum for “especially this election season”: Mitt Romney’s Mormon god is not the Christian god in the mind of most Christians (it was not in mine during my brief experience with Mormonism once I found out he was a dime-a-dozen godling and not the Supreme Being I’d been brought up as a Lutheran to believe in). How could the Evangelical god tell his faithful to vote for another god’s candidate?
The politics of heaven are pretty messy in 2012.
But those are problems for America’s fundamentalist crazies. There is a bigger problem for the rest of us: what happened to the First Amendment? What happens when you have a Catholic candidate, a Protestant candidate (or several), and maybe a Jewish candidate and a Muslim candidate and other religions put forward their own candidates? It is an invitation to religious strife.
The Founding Fathers lived at the end of a long era of brutal religious wars in Europe: Catholic vs. Protestant strife had reigned since the Reformation. All Englishmen were aware of the violence on their island that was the result of these differences. Seeking the endorsement of churches is exactly what the Founding Fathers hoped to save America from.
Yes in 2012 we saw the Republican platform written by the likes of David Barton and Tony Perkins and other religious extremists. The influence of these religious extremists have never been higher than in 2012. If you think about how frighteningly close America came to theocracy under George W. Bush, you won’t be able to sleep for thinking about what will happen on Romney’s watch.
A concomitant effort is under way by Rick Scarborough to pray the “ungodly” out of office:
In the course of the next forty days, we’re going to pray for every member of Congress by name, every member of the Senate by name, the President, the Vice-President and the Attorney General every single day and also every member of the Supreme Court every single day. But we do want to call out, cry out, for these major leaders for our country and forty days from now we want to be able to report to them that thousands of people called their name to Heaven and asked God to give them wisdom, and if their heart is hardened, to remove them from leadership so that godly people can take their place.
Glenn Beck says that Romney’s debate performance was divine providence, and Rick Joyner says Romney may be the fulfillment of the White House prophecy.
We have seen the reintroduction of forbidden religious tests too. These are naked power plays by the Religious Right. They have, over the past decade or so, made a mockery of the First Amendment. Theocracy is their goal and they get closer every year.
Look at how Billy Graham’s son, Franklin Graham interprets our system of government:
Americans must remember that while our nation was founded upon godly principles, we do not have a state religion; rather, our Constitution provides for the freedom to worship without interference from government. Our forefathers shed their blood to win this right. We must be committed to electing leaders who will protect this liberty and uphold the Constitution as one nation under God that ensures God’s moral laws will not be violated by man’s ever-changing laws.
In other words, the American revolution was all about establishing a nation and a government for Christians. The government can’t interfere in religion but in some bizarre way government exists to serve the best interests of Christianity and “God’s moral laws”, whatever those are. I think our forefathers would be shocked by this. There is certainly nothing in their writings to suggest that this was behind their thinking.
Graham says,
In recent days, former President Clinton said that President Obama “has a plan to rebuild America from the ground up,” but God-fearing Americans have no desire to see America rebuilt — but rather, restored. To “rebuild it” would be to create a new nation, perhaps without God or under many gods. This was never the intent of those who shed their blood for the freedom to worship as “one nation under God.” I pray that all Americans who love and fear God will put aside labels and vote for principle — God’s principles — that for many years resulted in His blessing upon our nation.
Going back to my earlier question, “How could the Evangelical god tell his faithful to vote for another god’s candidate?” Graham makes an argument for the Mormon Romney, saying that “an evangelical Christian [can] vote for a Mormon.” His reasoning is this: “If a biblically faithful evangelical could only vote for a candidate who was perfectly aligned theologically, he or she would be unable to cast a vote for president on November 6 — and that poses another problem for the believer; citizenship in God’s kingdom and in this country demands that we participate by voting and praying for those who govern this earthly kingdom.”
Apparently, close counts not only in horseshoes and hand grenades, but in religion. Romney will indulge them in their desire for a Bartonic fantasy America. The Religious Right is eager to define this election as a clear-cut choice: Mitt Romney and the Bible or Barack Obama and the Constitution?
The Religious Right is generally wrong but they got this one right. I’d say that’s a pretty clear-cut choice for the rest of us too. America was founded on the ideals not of the Bible but of the Constitution, which does not mention God, not the Christian God nor any other God. Those who believe in the very secular Enlightenment ideals embodies by the IUnited States Constitution must vote for Barack Obama.
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17 Responses to The GOP’s Blatant Support for Theocracy
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SinghX
Oct. 9th, 2012 at 8:24 am
Well done once again, Harf! I completely understand your well-laid premise, however, I’m zeroing in on this one line:
…”Not only is this a blatant call for illegal activity on the part of churches, it is an invitation to chaos…”
Yep, that is exactly correct. These folks ARE in the throes of instigating chaos/illegal activity via their messaging; I would call it a form of pathological communication…
The Chaos Theory, as outlined “Snapping” (Conway and Sieglman), provides us a pretty good picture of this very style of pathological communication currently streaming through these aberrant fundamentalist “cults”.
Both “brands” of religion (cults) are using this style of “communication” to circle their wagons and create stand-offs that will eventually trigger a minor incident propelling an entire “collective” of misinformed, isolated followers in to a “death spiral” (similar to a Waco, Jonestown…and those paranoid Mormon stands off where they killed “the other” on their way to Utah).
This is what I’m seeing…these various cults are forming their “collective”, mapping out the chaos, breeding hate, paranoia, isolation from “outsiders”, constantly messaging, triggering one another until an incident (the butterfly effect) cause a “snap”…and this preacher is just another one of many fundamentalist charismatics stirring the pot, making more toxic brew, stirring it into a “spiral”, creating more and more unpredictable, unstable followers until finally, the threshold is crossed…snap!
Stojef
Oct. 9th, 2012 at 8:59 am
Despite what the theocrats think, the soldiers of the Revolution were not fighting for “one nation under God.” The Pledge of Allegiance wasn’t written until the middle of the 19th century. And “one nation under God” wasn’t added until the 1950s.
Isn’t the whole Teabagger movement based on the whole idea that they are like the brave patriots who were “Taxed Enough Already”?
Hey, if they want to change their party to Theocratic Evangelical A$$#0L3S, let them.
A Walkaway
Oct. 9th, 2012 at 11:12 am
“Hey, if they want to change their party to Theocratic Evangelical A$$#0L3S, let them.”
(Laugh)
The tea party always was that way around here – no need for them to change. (They HAVE gotten a lot more up-front about their reality -which includes racism, however.)
Reynardine
Oct. 9th, 2012 at 9:27 am
It’s early, dammit. I used to start by going over to FSTDT for a laugh. It’s not funny any more. I come here, and half the time I think, I can’t take this before coffee. They’re meaner, they’re nutser, they’re higher-ranking, and Jim Lehrer just did what he could to throw them the election, and if they take it, I’m convinced there’ll never be another real one I’ll live to see.
AFM
Oct. 9th, 2012 at 9:48 am
This scares me more than anything. People aren’t paying attention. If your interested just google Seven Mountains and it will inform you what is going on in this country and people aren’t paying any attention to it. Before you know it we will have sharia laws here imposed by christain leaders. Wake up america before its to late.
A Walkaway
Oct. 9th, 2012 at 11:15 am
The primary enemies of the Light (and truth) are fundamentalists – and it doesn’t matter what their professed religion (or lack thereof) is.
Colleen
Oct. 9th, 2012 at 11:57 am
I would suggest that any church that wants to get involved in politics should be subject to taxes as they are now exempt. If that doesn’t put a crimp in their rhetoric I don’t know what will.
clarence swinney
Oct. 9th, 2012 at 12:08 pm
Democratic Party has a proud heritage in America. Almost everything that is good for Middle America and the poor, were causes championed by Democrats! Democrats passed Social Security, Medicare, the Civil Rights Act, and Voting Rights for every single American; the New Deal after the Great Depression, The Family Medical Leave Act, the G. I. Bill (which helped establish a solid middle class) and Equal Pay for Equal Work.
This is OUR story; one every Democrat should be proud of.
Democrats understand that all citizens, regardless of economic status, merit the opportunity to achieve their God given potential. We believe that everyone who works hard and plays by the rules deserves a life with dignity and that a catastrophic health event should not wipe out a lifetime, or generations of savings. Democrats know that the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness apply to everyone regardless of gender, ethnicity, religious beliefs or sexual orientation. We do not believe that life begins at conception and ends at birth. We know the difference between a hand up and a hand out; helping our neighbors instead of bail outs for Wall Street.At virtually every point in time over the last sixty years when America made progress Democrats made it happen. And not only did Democrats make it happen they did it over Republican opposition and with many Republicans yelling “socialist.” It was Rep. Sam Rayburn former Speaker of the House, who once responded to these GOP rants saying, “It’s not socialism, it’s applied Christianity.”
As Democrats we believe that a country as blessed as America, who can spend untold trillions on war and instruments of destruction and policing the world and rebuilding nations, should be able to help America’s very own middle class and our poor in their struggle to find work for all who can do it, fair wages, the right to bargain, shelter for the homeless, health care and a safety net for our elderly, our veterans, our chi
Aaron
Oct. 9th, 2012 at 12:16 pm
FYI, the ‘revelation’ the Joseph Smith ‘had’ concerning the constitution hanging by a thread etc. etc. was the White Horse Prophecy, not the White House Prophecy.
Mary
Oct. 9th, 2012 at 12:25 pm
It is time to start calling “these people” what they truly are DOMESTIC TERRORIST. Each day I pray that most of us realize that a person cannot be a HATER and a Christian.
awaiken
Oct. 9th, 2012 at 12:30 pm
Yes, please tell us what to think. Where would I be without someone telling me what to believe in.
Jim Faubel
Oct. 9th, 2012 at 1:18 pm
“the transition to Fascism is, at first, made easier by demagogic political agitation of the kind which is described as ‘We are all things to all men.’ To gain the backing of powerful industrialists…a form of society is offered which will protect their objective; disunity is created by playing political groups against each other, religious groups against each other, social and economic groups against each other. A confused and disunited people can offer no effective resistance to the seizure of power by this newly-merged oligarchy.” [US Army; “Classes in Citizenship and War Issues,” issued during WWII.
A Walkaway
Oct. 9th, 2012 at 2:59 pm
That is about the most appropriate quote I’ve ever seen with regards to the Republicans and what we face today.
Jim Faubel
Oct. 9th, 2012 at 3:15 pm
“Fascism is government by the few and for the few. The objective is seizure and control of the economic, political, social and cultural life of the State.” [US Army: Army Talk, Orientation Fact Sheet 64, March 24, 1945.
Someone one said that if Fascism ever comes to American, it will come “wrapped in an American Flag and carrying a Cross.” Well, that sums up these RW “Christians”, doesn’t it?
David Hinson
Oct. 9th, 2012 at 5:18 pm
well, i have taken up calling them ANTI-CHRISTS, since all behavior and language is direct opposition to the teachings of Jesus Christ. when i can, i c/p a prayer on their page, to bless them and open their eyes and heart, inthe prayer i add the true and correct view.
THEY REALLY HATE THAT. and vocal about it too
who can guess what happens when several leaders of several sects gain power and begin attacking each other? new released survey says 1st time in [long time] protestants membership / attendance fell below “others”. a sign to me, that many leaving in disgust, children are not following hypocrite parents. hate, fear, lies poisons hearts and minds and that is all they have left now
D. W. Skinner
Oct. 10th, 2012 at 6:09 am
Okay… I’m not religious at all..but if there was a Devil.. a creator of evil.. I think he said… let’s create this character and say he’s good… let’s call him Christ… and everyone who follows him can kill and persecute anyone in his name and say they’re righteous… The most perfect EVIL ever!!!
Gary Vaughn
Oct. 10th, 2012 at 9:00 am
If these co called christ lovers would think outside the box for ten seconds, they would realize God supposedly told 3 of the candidates to run. Who came out on top? A Mormon, who in any other scenario would not be trusted or voted for, as they have always seen it as what it is, a cult. So if God told 3 of them to run and left the Mormon, then doesn’t it tell them to keep the christian man they already have?