Il "mandante" dei coreani in Iraq incoronato a Washington dai politici americani.

crownmoon.jpg, image/jpeg, 236x181

E' dall'inizio della seconda guerra tra Usa ed Iraq che spuntano strani coreani nelle faccende mediorientali.

I nostri giornali non ne parlano quasi mai, ma che cosa fanno tutti questi "pacifisti" coreani che ogni tanto vengono presi in ostaggio, a volte rilasciati e a volte uccisi?

Cosa spinge un coreano in Iraq?

La risposta è semplice, anche se non molto pubblicizzata: I COREANI SONO IN IRAQ PER CONVERTIRE GLI IRACHENI!

Parrebbe incredibile, ma fin dall'inizio dell'invasione i missionari evangelici coreani sono entrati nel paese al seguito delle truppe Usa, con lo scopo di evangelizzare gli iracheni.

Fin dai primi giorni dell'invasione si sono segnalati per il business delle conversioni in cambio della fornitura di acqua, poi, rientrati nell'ombra, appaiono sui media solo quando vengono catturati od uccisi.

A cosa si deve l'incredibile fenomeno?

I coreani sono uomini del Reverendo Moon, l'impresentabile titolare della setta evangelica nota in Italia per la storia del matrimonio di Milingo.
Sono stati aggregati all'U.s.Army grazie agli evidenti buoni uffici di George Bush I ( http://italy.indymedia.org/news/2004/04/527544.php ), decisione evidentemente condivisa dal figlio e dall'establishment repubblicano, anche se sfugge l'utilità di una mossa del genere.

Il buon Moon si è segnalato recentemente per una iniziativa abbastanza discutibile.

Gia' condannato per frodi fiscali ed ostruzione alla giustizia, l'ottantacinquenne reverendo, è stato incoronato Messia in una sala del Senato americano, alla presenza di numerosi eletti al Congresso e al Senato.
Quando la cosa è venuta alla luce parecchi degli eletti hanno fatto marcia indietro ( http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61932-2004Jun22.html ), ma l'avvenimento è significativo.

La cerimonia si è svolta sotto il patrocinio del Washington Times, di proprietà di Moon, e durante la celebrazione il reverendo è stato investito con la "Corona internazionale dei premi per la pace" nel corso di un rito con stole di ermellino e dall'iconografia piu' vicina ad una incoronazione imperiale che a quella di un premio per la pace.

Diversi convenuti si sono dissociati, di fronte alle proteste sollevate in seguito, il reverendo si dichiara: Messia, Salvatore del Mondo, Signore che ritorna e Vero Genitore.

Nonostante diffuse investigazioni del Post, non si è venuti a capo del mistero della concessione della sala per la cerimonia, nelle disponibilità del Senato americano.

Il reverendo che asserisce di parlare con i morti, sostiene di essere stato nominato a tali cariche da miliardi di esseri umani, re ed imperatori, e che persino Stalin ed Hitler, dopo i contatti medianici con lui, sarebbero rinati come "uomini nuovi".

Un delirio totale, nel quale la democrazia americana viene ancora una volta trascinata dagli amichetti cerebrolesi di Bush.

Adesso si capisce da dove esca tutta la retorica sullo "scontro di civiltà", questa è la civiltà che secondo Bush dovrebbe prevalere qull'oscurantismo islamico, anche se si tratta di un pensiero estremista, omofobo e razzista.

L'impero Occidentale dovrebbe cosi' avere un'imperatore rappresentato da un idiota Texano ed un Papa coreano che si crede il Messia, ansioso di convertire gli islamici cattivi.
La base teorica di Moon fa capo ad un sionismo cristiano per il quale occorrerebbe riportare a Gerusalemme e a Babilonia, il regno del Messia, cioè lui stesso.

Non stupisce che tutto corra verso il disastro, se le promesse sono queste.

video:
http://s95177230.onlinehome.us/

cronaca:
http://thehill.com/news/062204/moon.aspx
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=16558

giornalista evangelico:
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2004/03/23/jack_kelley/index_np.html

Gli affari di Moon e dei neocons, fondi segreti:
http://www.consortiumnews.com/archive/moon.html

Il sito del pazzo coreano:
http://www.unification.net/

Bush glorifica il Messia che intanto paga i nord coreani
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0103-07.htm

Moon attacca l'Onu:
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=17038
http://www.globalpolicy.org/ngos/analysis/1101moon.htm

Il lato oscuro di Moon:
http://www.trancenet.org/moonism/darkmoon.shtml

Le cose che Bush apprezza nella predicazione di Moon:
http://www.geocities.com/craigmaxim/p-politicians-governorgeorgewbush.html

Il denaro sporco di Moon:
http://larouchepub.com/other/2002/2942moonie_targt.html

L'ideologia di Moom:
http://freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/m/moonies/jews_div_principle.htm
http://www.wwrn.org/parse.php?idd=7884&c=46

Moon ed Iraq:
http://www.fulfilledprophecy.com/interreligious_peace_council.htm
http://www.disinfo.com/site/displayarticle3345.html
http://www.tparents.org/Moon-Talks/SunMyungMoon03/SM030302a.htm
http://www.alternet.org/columnists/story/18660/
http://www.bachelorsbeat.com/50903.html

Dio lo vuole:
http://www.hypocrites.com/article10993.html
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=14780

Razzismo e "sionismo cristiano":
http://www.religioustolerance.org/news_03mar.htm

Gli omosessuali non gli piacciono:
http://www.polizeros.com/2004/01/13.html
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?ItemID=15412

En passant il buon rev. è anche a capo della Lega Anticomunista.

http://italy.indymedia.org/news/2003/01/166061_comment.php#166110

italy.indymedia.org/news/2003/01/166061_comment.php#166110

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/article.php?sid=15261


Rev. Rich Lang: 'George Bush and the rise of Christian Fascism'
Posted on Monday, March 08 @ 10:10:27 EST By Rev. Rich Lang

The Imperial Presidency

The men who wrote the Constitution of the United States knew that if power accrued into the hands of an elite the experiment of democracy (power spread out into the realm of the people) would be over. So they created a system of checks and balances which blocked access to any one person, or any one special interest or elite gaining too much power over others. Thus our executive, legislative and judicial branches of government "balanced" each other. The media was yet another "check" on the accrual of too much power, as was the Bill of Rights, and to some extent the Church (or churches). The system wasn't perfect but it kept alive the possibility of true democracy. It kept alive the dream that one day "we the people" could live in a peaceful commonwealth where every person has what they need to survive and thrive.

That dream died in December 2000 when the checks and balances of our Constitution collapsed and George Bush was inserted into the Presidency of the United States. September 11, 2001 furthered the atrophying of democracy handing the country into the hands of an emerging Corporate (and I say Christian) Fascism.



Fascism meaning the collapse of diverse spheres of power into one. Since that time we have witnessed, and have been unable to prevent, the emergence of an Imperial Presidency that has the unrestricted power to declare war against any country it chooses. The Imperial Presidency has brought to end the Constitutional mandate that 'ONLY CONGRESS' has the authority to declare war. It has furthered weakened international law and undermined the potential of the United Nations to spread democracy throughout the earth.

The Imperial Presidency has also gained unrestricted potential to round up American citizens incarcerating them in military brigs or concentration camps for unlimited amounts of time. The presidency can keep the accused from ever again communicating with friends, families, and attorneys, simply on the certification that the incarcerated are "terrorists," as he has done with Jose Padilla and Yaser Esam Hamdi. The Presidency may also now kill American citizens abroad solely on the basis of naming the one killed "a terrorist". Just ask the family and friends of Ahmed Hijazi, anAmerican killed with a U.S.-fired missile in Yemen. This nullifies the Constitutional right: "no person shall be denied life, liberty or property without due process of law."

Ominous signs are all around us concerning the accrual of power into the hands of the Presidency. If Mr. Bush stays in office I think our future will continue to witness shrinking political rights, financial collapse and endless war. Part of the power and seduction of this administration emerges from its diabolical manipulation of Christian rhetoric. I want to flesh out the ideology of the Christian Fascism that Mr. Bush articulates. It is a form of Christianity that is the mirror opposite of what Jesus embodied. It is, indeed, the materialization of the spirit of antichrist: a perversion of Christian faith and practice.

Christian Fascism

This country, like it or not, is overwhelmingly dominated by the ideology of the Christian story. It is not so much that our founders were all Christians. Rather, they lived in an atmosphere which was visioned through the lens of Christian thought and rhetoric. What they saw was that America had become the New Israel (the new Promised Land) of God. America was a benevolent nation seeking only the good of all. Our wealth is a blessing given to us as a sign that we are a "chosen, special people" whose larger meaning is to help the world into an era of peace, prosperity and justice. Every politician draws on this "civil religion story" of benevolence which gives authority to the politicians ambition and agenda. Another way of saying this is: every nation needs sacred legitimation. It needs the authority of transcendence: of a story larger than itself ... a story that connects past with present and future. An Empire needs an even broader story: one that connects with cosmic and/or historical redemption and new creation.

Martin Luther King understood this sacred American civil religion and was able to wed it brilliantly with the prophetic religious teachings of the Bible. He drew upon Biblical narratives which limited the power and authority of the elite while calling for economic redistribution of wealth. He drew upon teachings rooted in the personal morality of nonviolence and compassion. George Bush, on the other hand, also understands this sacred American 'civic gospel' and has brilliantly merged it with Biblical Holiness and Holy War traditions. These traditions call for the emergence of the Righteous Warrior who will cleanse the land of its impurity. These traditions are rooted in the personal morality of righteous zeal and obedience.

For example:

Mr. Bush consistently sends signals to his right wing religious base. In the 2003 State of the Union he exhorted: "there's power, wonder working power, in the goodness and idealism and faith of the American people". It's a phrase from a well known Communion hymn "there's power, wonder working power in the blood of the lamb". Bush brings together the holiness zeal of Christian evangelicalism with patriotic fundamentalism. The core belief system of this 'civic gospel' goes something like this: The United States was founded as a Christian nation with free enterprise as the only economic system truly compatible with Christian beliefs. These religious values are today under attack in America. The danger is that without faith in God America will lose its blessing. Therefore, the government needs to act to protect the nation's religious heritage.

Mr. Bush's teachings on terrorism: "you are with us or against us" cements for the hearer the apocalyptic world of good versus evil. There can be no neutral ground. You have to make a decision. Patriotism is now all or nothing: it is either total agreement or a slippery slope towards treason. In the Church you come to Jesus alone for salvation. In the state you obey the God-annointed leader and are thereby secured.

Renana Brooks writes (The Nation June 24, 2003: Bush Dominates A Nation of Victims):

"Bush is a master at inducing learned helplessness in the electorate. He uses pessimistic language that creates fear and disables people from feeling they can solve their problems. In his September 20, 2001 speech to Congress on the 9/11 attacks, he chose to increase people's sense of vulnerability: 'Americans should not expect one battle, but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen. ... I ask you to live your lives, and hug your children. I know many citizens have fears tonight ... Be calm and resolute, even in the face of a continuing threat.' (Subsequent terror alerts .. have maintained and expanded this fear of unknown, sinister enemies.)"

The terror threat itself can only be combated with increases in military force, domestic security and curtailment of civil rights through Patriot Acts. There are no other options nor any dialogue or debate that would create an alternative way to deal with terrorism.

3.) Mr. Bush certainly sees himself as a Messiah figure. Listen to his language after 9-11: " I will not forget this wound to our country or those who inflicted it. I will not yield; I will not rest; I will not relent in waging this struggle for freedom and security for the American people." Or, in his 2003 State of the Union speech: "I will defend the freedom and security of the American people". He has become the nation. He is its embodiment. According to Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, - Bush told him: "God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them." This is Biblical language ... it isn't political script. This is Bush's soul language. He understands himself as a man with a Divine mission. It also means that for him leadership is not "representing the people" rather leadership means transcending the will of the people. George Bush already knows the truth before the evidence is presented. He is guided by God and must blaze the trial even if the people are reluctant.

Iraq, for example, was a necessary war whether or not Saddam had nukes. Saddam, for Bush, was a bad guy who tried to kill "my dad". The war, for Bush, was holy and justified and necessary. Purging evil is necessary in the Holiness/Holy War tradition of the Bible. The righteous will purge evil but the unrighteous will be consumed by it.

Like all religions the Bible has various narratives within its pages: Jesus drew on the prophetic traditions that called upon the people to change their way of life even as it critiqued and called upon the elites to decentralize their power. Jesus role modeled a lifestyle of redemptive suffering on behalf of others. Mr. Bush, however, draws on traditions that call for purity and cleansing. It is a language of hostility towards enemies and a strident call for obedience. It calls forth a lifestyle of the RIGHTEOUS ONE who will purge evil from the world through sacred violence. This religious rhetoric, which merges Holiness Christianity with Imperial Americanism, is "in sync" with a growing new movement in theology called Christian Reconstructionism (or Dominion Theology).

Reconstructed Fascism

First and most basic is that Dominion Theology wants to replace democracy with a theocratic elite that would govern according to a very literal and peculiar interpretation of Biblical law. The disciples of Jesus are to have "dominion" over all of creation. It is the role of the Church to rule over the wicked and bring them into the obedience of faith.

In a "reconstructed society" democracy would be heresy. The division between sacred and secular would be abolished. A new insistence on conformity to moral rules would replace the pluralism we now know. The purpose of the Federal government would be to enforce morality through military and police functions. Society would be regulated by a theocratic elite: in the words of Pat Robertson: "just as the Supreme Court justices place a hand on the Bible and swear to uphold the Constitution, so they should also put a hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."

We see this at play in the leanings of Supreme Court Justices Scalia and Thomas. Against the common assumption that we are a secular state Mr. Scalia has said (in a FIRST THINGS: May 2002 ) "government ... derives its moral authority from God. Government is the minister of God with powers to revenge, to execute wrath, including wrath by the sword."

Scalia is drawing from Romans 13. If taken literally the implication of those verses would prohibit any resistance against the policies of a government. No more peaceful demonstrations (the government would be justified to do what it did to those recently in Miami and earlier here in Seattle). Even writings of dissent and opposition could be labeled treasonous (this is part of Ashcroft's passion for Patriot Acts and other warnings not to say too much).

Scalia (and many of the conservative judges placed in Federal Courts since Reagan) believe in interpreting the Constitution in its original intent. As Scalia has said (same article as above) "the constitution that I interpret and apply is not living but dead. It means today not what current society ..thinks it ought to mean, but what it meant when it was adopted." So, as Katherine Yurica points out in her article THE DESPOILING OF AMERICA:

.. since the death penalty was clearly permitted when the 8th Amendment (which prohibits cruel and unusual punishments) was adopted and at that time the death penalty was applied for all felonies --- including, for example, the felony of horse-thieving, "so it is clearly permitted today".

All a willing Dominionist Republican controlled congress need do to extend the death penalty to those people who practice witchcraft, adultery, homosexuality, heresy, etc. is to find those particular death penalty laws existing as of November 3, 1791 and re-instate them.

Scalia further believes that democracy fosters civil disobedience and is therefore a hindrance to the greater good of law and order. Our Federal Court system is being packed with these types of Judges ... Bush himself will try to fill Court vacancies with these type of judges.

Secondly: The good society according to Dominion Theology has men on top. Society would be reconstructed into a strong patriarchy that would provide the social pressure ensuring conformity. Women would find their true function as supportive wives, mothers and homemakers. Those outside this "patriarchal modality" would be exterminated. (Today the Gay marriage movement is a true threat to establishing a patriarchal society. This administration has no choice but to make this a MAJOR issue in the coming election.).

Thirdly: Purity becomes very important. There is only one right way to see the world. It is therefore of fundamental importance to control education in all spheres of culture. We see this in the Bush administration's approach to testing in schools; in his massive discounting of Global warming and in his repeated refusals to engage in open, diversified conversation about matters of importance: whether it be Cheney's Energy Task Force, the investigation of 9/11; or the creation of an "in house" intelligence team which created evidence for the Iraqi war after the other governmental agencies couldn't provide it. The Bush team KNEW the answers before the evidence was even accumulated.

Fourth: Dominion Theology denies history and spurns the modern. It is not a conservative (conserving) movement. Although it might appeal to a nostalgic and mythical past it is primarily focused on a radically, revolutionized future of utopia. It assumes that the end will justify the means and it is moral to work as "stealth agents" fooling the pagans. It sees the world as engaged in spiritual warfare pitting "good Christians" against everybody else. This HOLY WAR and HOLINESS rhetoric is foundational in Mr. Bush's worldview.

Now if you think that this talk is bit "hyper" on my part ... that I'm Chicken Little squawking in the wind ... what then do you make of these Texas Republican platform positions of 2002 ???

"The Republican Party of Texas reaffirms the United States of America is a Christian nation.

Government: We reclaim freedom of religious expression in public on government property, and freedom from government interference. Support government display of Ten Commandments.

... Dispel the "myth" of separation of church and state.

ECONOMY: Abolish the dollar in favor of the gold standard. Abolish the IRS. Eliminate income tax, inheritance tax, gift tax, capital gains, corporate income tax, payroll tax and property tax. Repeal minimum wage law ...Gradually phase out Social security tax for a system of private pensions.

UNITED NATIONS: We immediately rescind our membership in , as well as financial and military contributions to the United Nations ... we should evict the United Nations...

FAMILY: We believe that traditional marriage is a legal and moral commitment between a man and a woman. We recognize that the family is the foundational unit of a healthy society and consists of those related by blood, marriage or adoption. The family is responsible for its own welfare, education, moral training, conduct and property.

EDUCATION: Since Secular Humanism is recognized by the United States Supreme Court as a religion ... Secular Humanism should be subjected to the same state and federal laws as any other recognized religion.

ENVIRONMENT: Oppose the myth of global warming. Reaffirm the belief in the fundamental right of an individual to use property without governmental interference.

This coming election will not be decided because of political policy. It will not be decided in a debate over free markets versus fair markets; tax cuts or no tax cuts, Patriot Act or no Patriot Act; military draft or no draft. None of these issues will determine the election because the candidates are all for free markets, tax cuts, domestic security and a strong global military presence. The election will be determined by the candidate who can embody the deeply felt, often unarticulated religious yearnings of the populace. Yearnings such as "who will save us, secure us, lead us??? who will connect us with a power greater than the terrors of the night?" Bush speaks this language. Democrats are stuck in political nuance. Or, in other words, Democrats cannot speak the language of Martin Luther King who understood that social transformation requires a transcendent authority. And it is a vision of transformation, not nuance, that gives people courage to risk alternative paths to violence.

The problem comes down to this: Democrats, liberals, and social progressives have simply not grasped how afraid, insecure and how deeply in despair the populace is. They keep speaking as if tinkering with the system is a vision that can win the day. What Bush and Rove, Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz and Pearls, Abrams and Bolton, DeLay and Rice etc, have clearly understood is that truth is perception. Image is EVERYTHING! Unfortunately, the inner person of America today is a hollowed out consumer who lacks the will power, stamina and imagination to do anything more than be overwhelmed by appearances. Therefore, a politics of crisis, a politics of fear will keep us locked into a state of conformity.

Apocalyptic Fascism

Fueling this politics of fear is yet another theological worldview of crisis and insecurity. Apocalyptic theology is booming !!! Drawing from the Holiness/Holy War traditions of the Bible it currently dominates the mass media expression of Christian faith from which Bush draws his strength. It is a theology of despair that has given up on the possibilities of redemption.

One of the most popular fiction series making the rounds these days is the LEFT BEHIND series written by Tim LaHaye & Jerry Jenkins. Multiple millions of people are reading these books which fictionalize the end of life as we know it. It used to be that the Church could control people through the fear of eternal damnation. Today it is through fear of the future. The theology is basically this: The Bible is a code book that when rightly interpreted reveals that we are living at the end of history. History is scripted and is about to come to a catastrophic conclusion. The only hope is to accept Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior so that you can be "saved" from the future apocalypse. God will "snatch you up" (Rapture) right before a seven year series of horrible events that will see the rise of Antichrist and the rebuilding of the Jewish temple. There will be world war with most of humanity dying. At that point Jesus will return to restore law and order. This theology of despair "fits" our current culture of powerlessness and fear. From SARS to weapons of mass destruction to the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict, to ecological collapse, the whole world seems to be on a "no exit" slide into an end times abyss. The theology of despair is very seductive and it is shaping the spirituality of millions of Christians today.

It has, at least, five political implications that affect each one of us here today. FIRST: Israel is to be exalted and defended no matter what they do to the Palestinian people. They are God's chosen people and must reside in their Biblically anointed Land for the "end time clock" to tick to its final minute. Israel has a Biblical mandate to conquer and control all of the land from the Nile River to the Euphrates. Behind the politics of oil lie the religious passion to fulfill God's will: Syria must fall.

Secondly: institutions like the United Nations are not to be trusted because they are tools of the Antichrist. The Antichrist is thought of (not as a spirituality or ideology) but as a personal embodiment of evil. The Antichrist will be a living person who will come to power at the end of history and proclaim himself to be god on earth. The theory has it that his power will be generated from within a coalition of nations. Thus ... America, as God's chosen nation, will need to go it alone so as not to be duped by Antichrist. Our destiny is to take the gospel to all the nations: a benevolent gospel of security and salvation for all.

Thirdly: since the world is passing away the environment is not of great importance. There is no need to worry about issues of sustainability because the world is in its final countdown. Part of the unconcern towards global warming and other ecological crisis is the religious belief that we aren't going to be around in 100 years. We're in the end times now ... every moment is merely preparation for eternity. Whether Bushhimself believes this or not is irrelevant. This is the religious worldview of those who exalt him and the voter-bloc to which he plays. For Bush to act for sustainability would require a major shift in his religious narrative. ... As an aside this past summer the National Park Service was instructed to approve the display of religious symbols and Bible verses, as well as the sale of creationist books at the Grand Canyon National Park. In December 2003 the Park Service was ordered to develop a "more balanced" version of an 8 minute video shown at the Lincoln Memorial Visitor Center. Conservative Christians wanted the removal of footage of gay rights, pro choice and anti-war demonstrations replacing it with footage of Christian rallies and pro-war demonstrations.

Fourth: Apocalyptic theology believes that Jesus dying for my sins is far more important than the teachings of Jesus. We see this in the recent movie PASSION OF THE CHRIST. What this creates is a spirituality that can overlook the teachings of Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount is re-framed as an impossible this-worldly ethic. Teachings about nonviolence, economic redistribution, compassion toward those who are thought of as sinners and resistance to injustice are all discounted. Recently, the Governor of Alabama in a fit of religious zeal wanted to take the economic teachings of Jesus seriously: he tried to reform his state to benefit the poor. The Christian Coalition led the charge against such thinking and foiled his efforts.

Fifth: a leader who loves Jesus is to be followed as God's man for the hour. The Christian leader is God's shepherd over the American flock. When Bush, who sees himself as a messianic figure anointed by God, decided on running for the Presidency he called a group of evangelical Pastors together announcing to them "I have heard the call" and then received from them the "laying on of hands" which corresponds to divine ordination for the task ahead. On September 14, 2001 he stated: "our responsibility before history is already clear: to answer these attacks and rid the world of evil". He then launched the crusade Operation Infinite Freedom against Afghanistan. Yet other messianic statements from Bush:

"History has called America to action. ... The great hope of our time, and the great hope of every time, now depends on us." ....

"We must also remember our calling as a blessed nation to make the world better ... and confound the designs of evil men."

"Our nation has been chosen by God and commissioned by history, to be a model of justice before the world."

*** According to Vice-President Cheney: America "has the duty to act with force to construct a world in the image of the United States."

In return for this messianic leadership evangelical Christians have poured out an annointing of prayer. During the Afghanistan crusade thousands of "Presidential Circles of Prayer" and "Wheels of Prayer" were organized on the Internet, running 24 hours a day.

WHEEL OF PRAYER FOR OUR SOLDIERS

Lord hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us.

Bless them and their families for the altruistic actions they are performing

for us in our time of need. This I ask in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen

This prayer was so popular and was hit so often that the website crashed within days.

Pastor Charles Stanley distributed among Marines as they entered into combat thousands of pamphlets entitled "Duty of a Christian in Time of War". With the pamphlet went a card instructing them to sign and send directly to Mr. Bush. The card says: "I have committed to pray for you, your family and your Administration." Specific prayers for the President were included for each day.

CONCLUSION:

The point I'm trying to make is that we are not dealing simply with politics when it comes to the Bush administration. The progressive left, which often pays little attention to Christianity, and the moderate middle, which thinks "these things will balance out"; will be making a huge mistake if they overlook the religious ideology at the core of Mr. Bush personally and the movement he represents. And we are talking about a "movement" (a movement of 'the people' not just the elites). We are seeing today the emergence of a "fascist movement". It is bankrolled and organized by Corporations, and articulated through the ideology of neo-conservatism. But the troops come out of the right wing church. And that church, drawing upon the Holiness/Holy War Biblical narratives of Apocalyptic-Dominionism theology, is growing in this country. This is not a battle between intellectual and institutional elites. It is far more intimate than that. It's a battle in our homes, our families, friendships, neighborhoods and within our faith communities. Let me make a rather audacious prophecy: WHOEVER CONTROLS THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE WILL CONTROL THE FUTURE OF THIS NATION. In other words it's the vision of Pat Robertson or Martin Luther King.

When Dave Korten (author of When Corporations Rule the World) says that we need a "new story"; he is talking about needing a transcendent authority in which we root our political culture. Human beings cannot live in societal form without a sacred narrative. Neither anarchy nor atheism can construct a house that will hold our future. The Republicans know this well. But the Democrats seem clueless.

What we need is a movement of spiritual justice. We need the language of those who can wed America's civil religion with Biblical prophetic narrative. We need to expand that language so that it can include the language and stories that are emerging from the antiwar, fair trade and human rights movements. Together this language can form a unique new narrative that has the power to inspire imagination and courage. A language that can call forth a new coalition powerful enough to envision a new and better world. It will be a language that articulates "we are the ones we are looking for". A language that proclaims "God with us in our diversity" not God above us threatening wrath and ruin.

Rev. Rich Lang is pastor of the Trinity United Methodist Church in Seattle, Washington

Evangelicals Flock Into Iraq on a Mission of Faith
Christian missionaries hope to save souls, but risk losing their lives and weakening stability.

By Charles Duhigg, Times Staff Writer

BAGHDAD — An American missionary proudly watches as a sea of Iraqi arms rise in witness to Jesus Christ and choruses of "Amen" compete with distant rattles of gunfire. The faithful sing familiar Christian hymns in Arabic, their voices bouncing off the shipping containers that protect the church from car bombs.

Every Sunday, more than 400 Iraqis travel to this well-to-do neighborhood far from the protection of an American base to worship in the National Biblical Christian Federation Church. Converted from Islam and from other branches of Christianity, they are the first ripple of a tidal wave that evangelical leaders pray will inundate the Middle East.

"I learned about Jesus and eternal life from a friend, and came to this church to see," said Rana Atass, who has attended weekly services at another church for the last month. Her mother, bearing facial tattoos as some Iraqi women do, stood in a line of congregants to ask church leaders for help in buying food.

"The music is very enthusiastic here," Atass said. "They promise Jesus will solve many problems."

At least nine evangelical churches have opened in Baghdad in the last eight months, many supported by American organizations contributing up to $100,000 per church. More than 900,000 Bibles in Arabic — along with hundreds of tons of food and medical supplies — have been sent to Iraq. About 30 Christian evangelical missionaries are working in Baghdad, and 150 others have visited since last summer. Some Christian groups focus on offering aid and avoid proselytizing.

These missionaries' humanitarian and religious labors are fraught with peril. Four Americans affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention were killed and one was critically injured Monday after gunmen opened fire on their vehicle in Mosul, north of Baghdad. A spokesman for the International Mission Board said the Americans had been scouting locations for humanitarian and evangelical work.

An influential Shiite Muslim leader, Sheik Fatih Kashif Ghitaa, said, "Iraqis already see the American occupation as a religious war." Ghitaa said Shiite and Sunni clerics have discussed issuing a fatwa, or religious edict, against missionaries.

The missionaries — a mix of professional proselytizers and novices with little or no preparation — are buoyed by President Bush's evangelical bent, his oft-repeated biblical references and his vision of freedom spreading out from a saved Iraq.

"God and the president have given us an opportunity to bring Jesus Christ to the Middle East," said Tom Craig, an independent American missionary working in Iraq and Cyprus. "This is my commandment. No amount of danger will stop me."

The Colorado Springs-based Christian and Missionary Alliance helped turn the National Biblical Christian Federation Church into a beachhead of Western Christian prayer eight months ago, intensifying a clash of civilizations that has consumed the Middle East for centuries. As the U.S. prepares to return sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30, amid violence and anti-American demonstrations, the stakes have never been higher.

"Iraq will become the center for spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to Iran, Libya, throughout the Middle East," said Kyle Fisk, executive administrator of the National Assn. of Evangelicals, which represents 4.5 million Christians in the United States.

"President Bush said democracy will spread from Iraq to nearby countries," Fisk said. "A free Iraq also allows us to spread Jesus Christ's teachings even in nations where the laws keep us out."

Iraqi political leaders worry that evangelical efforts will undermine the nation's stability.

"Extremists, whether Muslims or evangelicals, inspire violence and hatred," said Mahmoud Othman, a member of the Iraqi Governing Council. "The newspapers are screaming about a Christian conspiracy."

The four killed Monday were the most recent missionary casualties. A Rhode Island pastor was killed on St. Valentine's Day when gunmen opened fire as he and five companions traveled south of Baghdad. Three American missionaries working in a hospital in Yemen were killed by a gunman in December 2002, and a female American missionary was shot dead in Lebanon the month before while working in an evangelical medical clinic.

Missionaries say their work is bringing freedom to Iraq.

"We don't force Jesus Christ's love on anyone," said Darrell Phenicie, an American missionary who teaches theology in Baghdad. "Doesn't freedom of religion mean the right to learn about other choices?"

Evangelical churches were illegal under Saddam Hussein, although Iraq's 300,000 nonevangelical Christians were permitted to practice. Proselytizing is banned in most Middle East nations, but Fisk and other evangelical leaders hope to train Iraqi missionaries to work discreetly in other Arab countries.

Aid That Opens Doors

Humanitarian aid is the point of entry for many Christian groups. National Biblical Christian Federation Church has distributed more than 60,000 aid boxes prepared by Samaritan's Purse, an organization headed by U.S. evangelist Franklin Graham. Many of them were given to Muslims, said Ghassan Thomas, an Iraqi pastor.

"Handing out food is a perfect time to talk about Jesus Christ with nonbelievers."

Two blocks away from Thomas' church, evangelicals are building another house of worship, an oasis of marble and bright lights on a dusty, rundown street. The new church has received about $50,000 from Missouri-based Assemblies of God, said Pastor Jules Vivan, and another $50,000 in supplies and assistance from independent American missionaries.

Vivan preaches to only 150 parishioners, but he said his goal, set with assistance from Assemblies of God, is to attract 10,000 more in the next five years.

"It is every Christian's requirement to share Jesus Christ's gospel with everyone on the planet, including every Muslim," said Richard D. Land, president of the public policy arm of the largest U.S. Protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention. "If that causes anger and violence, it only shows we must speak more loudly."

Some Iraqis and nonevangelical religious leaders say the White House and U.S. military should protect missionaries as well as regulate how they seek Iraqi converts.

Curtailing the work of evangelical missionaries, however, may be politically vexing. Bush's chief political advisors have said that religious conservatives will be a linchpin in the president's reelection strategy.

"Iraq, and the war against terrorism, will be very important in getting evangelicals to the polls in November," said Ralph Reed, former director of the Christian Coalition and now chairman of the Bush reelection campaign in the Southeast. "And it is anything but surprising that evangelical pastors would view their own religion as superior to other faiths. Teaching others about Jesus is part of Christianity."

"Each individual and group that lives and works in Iraq must make their own decisions," said a White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "These are private groups. Their safety is their responsibility."

Phone calls seeking comment from the U.S.-backed Coalition Provisional Authority in Baghdad were not returned.

Reed and other evangelical leaders said most missionaries working in Iraq show a deep respect for Islam and cultural sensitivity. They agreed, however, that the discretion was not shared by all organizations. Leaders of smaller church groups argued that sensitivity was secondary to saving Iraqi souls.

"Yes, sharing Christ's love causes conflict. But the alternative is allowing people to go to hell," said Todd Nettleton with Oklahoma-based Voice of the Martyrs. American VOM missionaries have passed out Christian tracts in Baghdad traffic jams, among other activities.

Such attitudes are frequently heard in the evangelical community.

"Many evangelicals feel war in Iraq is part of a broader religious mission," said John Green, a professor at the University of Akron in Ohio and an expert on the religious right. "And the Bush campaign will do anything they can to mobilize that bloc. Evangelicals not only vote Republican, they produce lots of activists that stuff envelopes, make phone calls — they are the grass roots."

Evangelical leaders said they were rushing to establish churches in anticipation that Iraqi laws would curtail missionary access after the return of sovereignty.

"Christians believe we have a six-month window in Iraq," Nettleton said. "Our attitude is: Let's do everything we can now."

American evangelical organizations, including Voice of the Martyrs, the Southern Baptist Convention and Pennsylvania-based Assn. of Baptists for World Evangelism, have said they will focus much of their proselytizing on Muslims in Iraq and surrounding nations.

That focus, however, concerns other Westerners working in the Middle East.

Risks for Colleagues

"This adds to a growing perception that all Americans want to convert Muslims," said Leanne Clausen with Christian Peacemaker Teams, an American aid group that does not proselytize. Nonevangelical Iraqi churches have been vandalized in recent weeks. Newspaper editorials and Islamic clerics charge that Americans are in Iraq on a religious crusade. Clausen warned: "The missionaries coming here don't realize the danger they are placing us in."

Some of those dangers extend to missionaries visiting Iraq who are unprepared for violence. Independent missionaries working in Iraq have little or no formal training for war zones. Some are just American pastors who fly to Iraq and begin working on behalf of a new church.

Iraq's new churches report enormous success in attracting parishioners. Almost every night they are filled with the newly faithful, drawn by the dynamism and energy that have fueled evangelical growth in the United States.

"When I come here, my heart sings with happiness," said Jonvia Elias, an Iraqi homemaker who attends the National Anglican Church of the Christian Union. "We learn how to love Jesus and feel joy. It feels very young here."

Others, particularly converted Muslims, fear that their attendance is dangerous.

At the Holy Renaissance Evangelic Church in Baghdad, a Friday service included three Muslim women in head scarves. All were regular attendees and said they first visited the church at the urging of close friends or missionaries. They continued to attend because of the church's message of love and upbeat music and community. All, however, feared for their safety.

"I was invited to this church, and I found peace and love here," said 30-year-old Khalida Khamid. "But I do not tell anyone I am here, and if there are any photos taken, I will leave. It is dangerous."

Other converted Muslims said the promises of evangelical Christianity outweighed the risks.

Atass' father, a Muslim who she said was not very devout, forbade her to attend her church. But after a church member helped her find a new job, he relented.

"Baghdad has changed since the Americans came," Atass said. "It is harder now. I ask Jesus to help."

As Atass spoke, her mother finally caught the attention of church leaders. They listened to her problems and handed her a box that contained some food, cleaning supplies and a pamphlet about Jesus' life.

"I want eternal life," Atass said, "but we also need enough to eat."

Times staff writer John Goldman in New York and special correspondent Suhail Ahmed contributed to this report.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/la-fg-missionary18mar18,1,6912687.story

mazzetta,
stavolta il mio Pulitzer te lo meriti. Spero ardentemente che un giornalista come te non sia disoccupato.
(firmato: una giornalista disoccupata)

Molto interessante e ben documentata la tua riflessione.
Grazie.
Un percorso da seguire e approfondire questo dell'integralismo cristiano, sempre sullo sfondo delle guerre imperiali, in Medio Oriente come in Iraq...
Forse, mancando ogni giustificazione politica e difettando anche la strategia militare, alle orde di Bush e accoliti è necessaria una certa massiccia dose di fanatismo religioso... (A proposito... visti i risultati delle elezioni nella cristianissima Polonia, i cui contingenti allignano indifferentemente in Vaticano e in Iraq? E che ne dici del tormentone delle radici cristiane nella Costituzione europea?)
Mi sà che siamo ben messi... di questo passo, un gruppo di cerebrolesi, cristiano o musulmano a seconda di chi vince, potrebbe governare i nostri destini...

non sono disoccupato, ma non faccio il giornalista ;)

altre considerazioni:


March 9, 2004


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'On a Mission From God': The Religious Right and the Emerging American Theocracy

by Maureen Farrell

"The religious right is winning. They've won." -- Howard Stern

In Dec. 2002, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman reported that House Majority Leader Tom Delay had openly admitted he was "on a mission from God to promote a 'biblical worldview' in American politics." On Monday, the Washington Times revealed that DeLay "is about to announce his own legislative agenda."

"One goal, [Delay] said, will be to re-establish what he sees as the rightful role of religion in public places. . ." [Washington Times]

In other words, look out.

The warning signs have been in place for quite some time, but went largely unnoticed until the walls started closing in on shock jock Howard Stern. When Project Censored listed "FCC Moves to Privatize Airwaves" as its top censored news story for 2001-2002 and shed its suspicious spotlight on FCC chairman Michael Powell, for example, few noticed. "[T]he mainstream press has raised few warnings about the FCC's squashing of the public interest," Project Censored's Brendan Koerner wrote, while co-author Dorothy Kidd explained that "things have just gotten worse for the US public with regards to media democracy. Mergers are up and the number of dominant players controlling media production and distribution has shrunk to a handful." [ProjectCensored.org] Or, as Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) put it, "The bottom line is that fewer and fewer huge conglomerates are controlling virtually everything that the ordinary American sees, hears and reads."

Fast forward to 2004 and Howard Stern's woes. "What this company [Clear Channel] is doing is buying up every radio station, then they sign someone like me for five years at a time and renew my contracts and then wake up one day and have a whole new attitude," Stern said. "Now why do they have a new attitude with me, but not with that guy [Michael] Savage who sits there and talks about infesting people with AIDS and all that stuff? He's just as controversial, but he backs Bush. They're being intellectually dishonest."

Welcome to our brave new world.

In case you missed this unfortunate paradigm shift, this hypothetical scenario might help: Imagine, for a moment, that Sept. 11 occurred on Clinton's watch. Now, can you imagine anyone being "Dixie Chicked" for criticizing Bill Clinton?

"My days here are numbered because I dared to speak out against the Bush administration and say that the religious agenda of George W. Bush concerning stem cell research and gay marriage is wrong," Stern said. "And that what he is doing with the FCC is pushing this religious agenda."

For those who've been supplementing daily requirements of U.S. news with reports from the foreign press, the ramifications of Stern's honesty are understood. Though it's likely to cost him dearly, he's become the unlikely champion for those who know that the underlying themes are not, as most pundits would have us believe, a matter of liberals vs. conservatives, Republicans vs. Democrats or blue states vs. red, but threats to America itself.

Yet, considering the steady diet of nonsense we're fed by a bevy of clueless pundits, busy citizens are understandably confused -- which is why it is absolutely stunning that Stern sees past the smoke and mirrors and is sounding off. "Does anyone have a problem with a United States senator being funded by a religious organization?" Stern asked, regarding Kansas Senator Sam Brownback's faith-based living arrangement, which is subsidized by the secretive religious organization, The Fellowship. [Charleston Post and Courier] "Now when someone gives you low cost housing – a gift – do you think you have to answer to them?"

As Rev. Barry Lynn, head of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State put it, "What concerns people is when you mix religion, political power and secrecy," which coincidentally (and sadly) pretty much sums up the State of the Union today.

So how embedded is the religious right in our political institutions? In his aptly titled Jan. 28, 2004 Rolling Stone cover story, "Reverend Doomsday," Robert Dreyfuss explains: "It might seem unlikely that the commander in chief would take his marching orders directly from on high -- unless you understand the views of the Rev. Timothy LaHaye, one of the most influential leaders of the Christian right, and a man who played a quiet but pivotal role in putting George W. Bush in the White House."

LaHaye, you may recall, is co-author of the various Left Behind series, which, to date, has sold a reported whopping 60 million copies. A "strict biblical reconstructionist" who takes the Bible as "God's literal truth," LaHaye believes that Armageddon will be unleashed from "the Antichrist's headquarters in Babylon" (i.e. Iraq).

"Of course, there have always been preachers on the margins of the religious right thundering on about the end of the world," Dreyfuss writes. "But it's doubtful that such a fanatic believer has ever had such a direct pipeline to the White House. Five years ago, as Bush was gearing up his presidential campaign, he made a little-noticed pilgrimage to a gathering of right-wing Christian activists, under the auspices of a group called the Committee to Restore American Values. The committee, which assembled about two dozen of the nation's leading fundamentalist firebrands, was chaired by LaHaye." [Rolling Stone]

In other words, Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore, and the religious right wants to be the great and powerful Oz. For your consideration, here are some of the means by which they're succeeding:

1) The Council for National Policy

Deemed by ABC News as "the most powerful conservative group you've never heard of," the Council for National Policy, which was co-founded by former Moral Majority head LaHaye, has included John Ashcroft, Ed Meese, Ralph Reed, the editor of The National Review, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Grover Norquist and Oliver North among its members.

As ABC put it, "the council has deservedly attained the reputation for conceiving and promoting the ideas of many who in fact do want to control everything in the world. . . The CNP helped Christian conservatives take control of the Republican state party apparati in Southern and Midwestern states. It helped to spread word about the infamous 'Clinton Chronicles' videotapes that linked the president to a host of crimes in Arkansas." (According to Rolling Stone, "The impeachment effort was reportedly conceived at a June 1997 meeting of the CNP in Montreal.")

Secular-minded folks are likely to be most intrigued by the fact that President Bush made his rumored "king-making" speech before CNP in 1999, fueling speculation that the council was responsible for his presidential nomination. And though the Democratic National Committee and others urged Bush's presidential campaign to release the tape of his CNP speech, the Bush camp refused.

What was on that tape? Depending on who you believe, "Bush promised to appoint only anti-abortion-rights judges to the Supreme Court, or he stuck to his campaign 'strict constructionist' phrase. Or he took a tough stance against gays and lesbians, or maybe he didn't." [ABC News]

As we now know, Bush is endorsing a Constitutional amendment which could change the country forever. As one Republican lawyer told Andrew Sullivan, "[With] one amendment the religious right could wipe out access to birth control, abortion, and even non-procreative sex (as Senator Santorum so eagerly wants to do). This debate isn't only about federalism, it's about the reversal of two hundred years of liberal democracy that respects individuals." Or, as Sullivan put it, "Memo to straights: you're next." [AndrewSullivan.com]

2) The Christian Coalition

On Dec. 24, 2001, the Washington Post featured an article entitled "Religious Right Finds Its Center in Oval Office: Bush Emerges as Movement's Leader After Robertson Leaves Christian Coalition " in which reporter Dana Milbank explained exactly how significant the Supreme Court's selection of George W. Bush was. "For the first time since religious conservatives became a modern political movement, the president of the United States has become the movement's de facto leader," Milbank wrote. [Washington Post]

Meanwhile, former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed explained Bush's rise to the White House in revolutionary terms. "You're no longer throwing rocks at the building; you're in the building," he said, adding that God "knew George Bush had the ability to lead in this compelling way."

Bush reportedly made similar statements. According to Newsweek, "As he prepared to run, in 1999, Bush assembled leading pastors at the governor's mansion for a "laying-on of hands," and told them he'd been "called" to seek higher office." And as Bob Woodward wrote in Bush at War: "The President was casting his mission and that of the country in the grand vision of God's Master Plan," wherein Bush promised, in the President's own words, "to export death and violence to the four corners of the earth in defense of this great country and rid the world of evil."

"Bush's flirtation with End Times rhetoric makes some suspect that he actually perceives himself as God's instrument," Gene Lyons noted, and his sentiment was echoed in former Nixon aide Charles Colson's observation that, "Some wonder if the president might be influenced by evangelical teachings that envision an end-of-the-world battle between Israel and its enemies. It would be dangerous for a president to take a particular theology like that and apply it to world events."

3) Christian Zionists

Various mainstream sources, from the BBC to the Christian Science Monitor, have long been reporting on ways Biblical prophecy is influencing political reality – and the Christian Zionists' campaign to oust the Palestinians in order to make way for the Second Coming of Christ is one of the most bizarre. In Oct. 2002, The Guardian's Matthew Engel spelled it out:

"What has really changed is the emergence of the doctrine known as "dispensationalism", popularized in the novels of the Rev. Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. . .

Central to the theory . . . is the Rapture, the second coming of Christ, which will presage the end of the world. A happy ending depends on the conversion of the Jews. And that, to cut a long story very short, can only happen if the Jews are in possession of all the lands given to them by God. In other words, these Christians are supporting the Jews in order to abolish them." [The Guardian]

"American politico-religious wackiness" aside, the conference Engel describes begins "with a videotaped benediction straight from the Oval office," and involves Tom Delay, "the most powerful man on Capitol Hill," addressing the gathering "not once, but twice."

4) Opus Dei

While FBI agent Robert Hanssen brought the Catholic organization Opus Dei to the prominence when he was caught spying for Russia, it is once again in the spotlight thanks to the best-selling book The Da Vinci Code. And while the group's secrecy appeals to some ("I think they really fly under everybody's radar screen and that they're a lot more powerful than a lot of people think," Rev. James Martin, associate editor of America magazine explained. [ABC News]) and its attitude towards pain and suffering appeals to others ("After I joined, they gave me a barbed-wire chain to wear on my leg for two hours a day and a whip to hit my buttocks with," former Opus Dei member Sharon Clasen said. [Chicago Tribune]) in April, 2001, The American Catholic co-editor Catharine A. Henningsen revealed why this highly secretive group might be of concern to average Joes:

"Immediately following that revelation [that Hanssen was a member of Opus Dei] stories began to surface in the press claiming that FBI Director, Louis Freeh and Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas are also Opus Dei members. Opus Dei denies that Freeh, Scalia and Thomas are members, though Freeh sends his son to the Opus Dei School, The Heights, and Scalia's wife is reported to regularly attend Opus Dei functions. Robert Hanssen, Justice Scalia and Louis Freeh also all worship at St. Catherine of Siena parish in Great Falls, Virginia, where the Tridentine Latin Mass is offered, rather than the new order of the Mass declared by Paul VI." [The American Catholic]

"Whether or not an alleged member of Opus Dei, like Justice Antonin Scalia, enjoys a touch of the lash on his prodigious derriere from time to time, is certainly no business of ours," Mike Whitney wrote. "However, the affiliation of a Justice on the highest court in the land to an organization that, for all appearances, is nothing more than a right-wing cult should arouse not only suspicion, but an investigation." [CounterPunch.org]

Scalia's alleged membership notwithstanding, the fact that a mere three weeks after the Supreme Court agreed to take up the vice president's appeal in lawsuits concerning the administration's energy task force, Scalia traveled with Dick Cheney on Air Force Two to hunt on a private hunting reserve owned by an oil industry executive is unsettling. And Scalia's keynote speech before a Philadelphia-based advocacy group which actively opposes gay rights (during a time when the Supreme Court was weighing a landmark gay rights case) has also raised eyebrows. [LA Times]

5) Christian Reconstructionists

Ever hear of Rousas J. Rushdoony? Didn't think so. Before he died in 2001, he was the leader of the Reconstructionist movement, which, in a nutshell, seeks to toss out the U.S. Constitution and turn the United States of America into a theocracy.

Active in the GOP for quite some time, the movement's greatest influence has been, according to a 1998 article in Reason, "in helping change the terms of discourse on the traditionalist right." Journalist Walter Olson put it this way: "One of their effects has been to allow everyone else to feel moderate. To wit: Almost any anti-abortion stance seems nuanced when compared with Gary North's advocacy of public execution not just for women who undergo abortions but for those who advised them to do so. And with the Rushdoony faction proposing the actual judicial murder of gays, fewer blink at the position of a Gary Bauer or a Janet Folger, who support laws exposing them to mere imprisonment." [Reason]

Though Reconstructionists are deemed "scary," even by Jerry Falwell's followers, considering that Rushdoony, like Attorney General John Ashcroft, was a member of the Council for National Policy (see #1) and Rushdoony's son-in-law Gary North is a current member, it may not be wise to dismiss them out of hand.

In February, when Ashcroft subpoenaed hospitals for the records of patients who had had late term abortions (a move which Philadelphia's Hahnemann's University court filing deemed "vindictive and mean-spirited") red flags sprung up. "No valid justification exists to allow such a blatant invasion of privacy into the reproductive rights of the women whose medical records would be disclosed," the filing read.

"People's medical records should not be the tools of political operatives," Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D., N.Y.) added. "All Americans should have the right to visit their doctor and receive sound medical attention without the fear of Big Brother looking into those records." [Philadelphia Inquirer]

6) The Moonies

In January 1986, Mother Jones featured an article entitled "Unholy Alliance" by Carolyn Weaver which detailed a letter written by Tim LaHaye to Colonel Bo Hi Pak of the Washington Times, (which is owned and operated by the Moonies) thanking him for his contribution to LaHaye's organization, American Coalition for Traditional Values. (Also mentioned was "Concerned Women for America," which is run by LaHaye's wife, Beverly).

In 2001, the St. Petersburg Times opined, "We believe Mr. Bush and his supporters deserve to have their philosophy placed fairly before the public, without the distorting lens of liberal media bias. Therefore, without further ado, we give you the verbatim comments of the President's good friend and spiritual comrade: the Reverend Sun Myung Moon.

"You must realize that America has become the kingdom of Satan. Americans who continue to maintain their privacy and extreme individualism are foolish people. The world will reject Americans who continue to be so foolish.. . ."

"We must have an autocratic theocracy to rule the world. So we cannot separate the political field from the religious. My dream is to organize a Christian political party including the Protestant denominations, Catholic and all religious sects. We can embrace the religious world in one arm and the political world in the other."

Coda: "I want to salute Reverend Moon. He's the man with the vision." - former President George H.W. Bush. [St. Petersburg Times]

And, as As journalist Robert Parry wrote in July, 1997, "Despite his virulent anti-Americanism, Rev. Sun Myung Moon still relies on friends in Washington to help him expand his political-and-media power base. Moon's latest reach into South America had the helping hand of former U.S. President George Bush. But the Moon-Bush alliance dates back years and could reach into the future, as Bush lines up conservative backing for the expected White House bid of his eldest son." [ConsortiumNews.com]

Of course the list of religious right organizations goes on and on, but this should be more than enough to present the bigger picture. In other words, yes, Virginia, the religious right is winning, even though most folks believe that life in America proceeds as usual.

And while you may not be able to hear Howard Stern on the radio in the not-so-distant future, you can always tune into cable "news shows," where, chances are, you can catch Washington Times editor Tony Blankley or Concerned Women for America President Sandy Rios.

"I really believe I'm hearing from the Lord it's going to be like a blowout election in 2004. It's shaping up that way," Pat Robertson said on his nationally televised 700 Club. "The Lord has just blessed [George W. Bush]. I mean, he could make terrible mistakes and comes out of it. It doesn't make any difference what he does, good or bad, God picks him up because he's a man of prayer and God's blessing him."

All of this sounds nuts, of course, because, quite frankly, it is. But considering that when John Ashcroft became attorney general, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas reportedly anointed him with cooking oil (in the manner of King David), [The Guardian] these are nutty times.

How bad will things get? Stay tuned. But be forewarned. As the Washington Times recently reported, Rep. Mike Pence, (R-IN) said that Mr. DeLay's decision to set his own legislative agenda "signals the dynamics of the president's second term, hopefully very different."

From the tone, it sounds as if an American theocracy may some day be a reality. In the meantime, however, Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State made a prediction we can be sure of. "Pat Robertson in 2004 will continue to use his multimillion broadcasting empire to promote George Bush and other Republican candidates," he said. [USA Today]

Amen and pass the remote.


BACK TO TOP

Maureen Farrell is a writer and media consultant who specializes in helping other writers get television and radio exposure.

http://www.buzzflash.com/farrell/04/03/far04007.html

propaganda svelata da Indy Uk :)
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2003/03/59508.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_Times
http://www.impeach-bush-now.org/Articles/Bush/consortiuml.htm
http://www.rense.com/general31/toobig.htm
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=14455
http://www.unification.org/ucbooks/Mspks/1991/910220.html
http://www.washingtontimes.com/national/20040324-121200-6126r.htm
http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/History/CloudsOverGeorgeBush.html
http://www.johnjemerson.com/zizka.job.htm
http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=54098&Disp=Refresh&
http://www.uspoliticstoday.com/picture_archive.php
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/01/29/48hours/main325958.shtml
http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=12193&id=10177

parola di Moon:
http://www.unification.net/1991/910217.html
http://www.unification.net/leesanghun/leesanghun20030828.html#Presidents

il mondo delle "profezie
http://myweb.absa.co.za/eindtyd.bediening/prophetic.html


anche UPI è di Moon:
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030320-111041-8635r

.... e quindi siccome sarebbe stato in missione per conto di Bush o chi per lui, hanno fatto bene a decapitarlo... è questo che volete dire, vero? MA ANDATE AFFANCULO, STRONZI FOTTUTI DI MERDA AMICI DEI DITTATORI!!!!!!!!!!!! ALLA PROSSIMA MANIFESTAZIONE NON FATEVI NEANCHE VEDERE CHE VI CACCIAMO A CALCI IN CULO!

da come ti esprimi e minacci, non mi sembri un pacifista... e d'altronde cosa ti aspetti da una popolazione giornalmente oppressa da truppe d'occupazione e avventurieri di ogni risma? che li accolgano a braccia aperte? Se qualcuno continua a dire che è una missione di pace, è in malafede. In Iraq c'è la guerra e come in tutte le guerre vi sono orrori da entrambe le parti. O gli occidentali pensano che un bombardamento sia piu' civile di una decapitazione ?

Il coreano non era nè un occupante nè un avventuriero, quindi chi l'ha decapitato è una bestia immonda! Punto! Altrimenti bisognerebbe di questo passo riconoscere il diritto degli irakeni di decapitare anche medici di guerra, persino Gino Strada visto che è italiano, oppure i Medici Senza Frontiere, che non sono irakeni.
Comunque guarda che ad uccidere, decapitare e far esplodere bombe non sono i cittadini irakeni ma i fondamentalisti, praticamente l'equivalente dei repubblichini fascisti da noi durante la guerra di Liberazione.

hai il brutto vizio di mettere in bocca ad altri le parole che girano nella tua testolina eh?

Cosa ti fa pensare che io abbia la stessa merda in testa di un Ferrara o un Allam?

Io ringrazio la natura di non avermi fatto tanto "intelligente", e di essere ancora in grado di dispiacermi quando muore un coreano, un italiano o un iracheno nella stessa misura. Nulla per me giustifica un omicidio.

La sorte del povero coreano, ma anche quella di Quattrocchi, di qualche migliaio di iranche e di americani, sono tanto tristi perchè al mondo esistono persone come Bush e come te,
pazzi che parlano ed agiscono prima di collegare il cervello.

Hai una gran confusione in testa, respira e riprova, manco si capiva bene con chi te la prendessi, tranquillo che i fondamentalisti non piacciono a nessuno, neanche quelli finto-pacifisti come te, pronti a "cacciare a cali in culo" chi non apprezzano dalle manifestazioni.

Meno fantasie torbide, i fans dello splatter sono altrove, te lo sillabo:
non-hai-ca-pi-to-un-caz-zo!
ok?

".... e quindi siccome sarebbe stato in missione per conto di Bush o chi per lui, hanno fatto bene a decapitarlo... è questo che volete dire, vero? "

no, mazzetta non ha per nulla detto questo, sei un demente schizofrenico, smettila di attribuire ad altri i tuoi deliri.


ripijate

Grande Mazzetta.
pero', per cortesia, non potresti fare post tradotti in italiano.
Grande Mazzetta.

Moon è una spia e la sua chiesa è una copertura per traffici vari


The Moon organization has also acquired and operates an accredited college, the University of Bridgeport. Moon was given an honorary doctorate there. Buying the university cost an estimated 60 million dollars. Moon intends to set up a series of Universities around the world.

"The Rev. Sun Myung Moon's business empire, which includes the conservative Washington Times, paid millions of dollars to North Korea's communist leaders in the early 1990s when the hard-line government needed foreign currency to finance its weapons programs, according to U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency documents. The payments included a $3 million 'birthday present' to current communist leader Kim Jong Il and offshore payments amounting to 'several tens of million dollars' to the previous communist dictator, Kim Il Sung, the partially declassified documents said. Moon apparently was seeking a business foothold in North Korea. "
This is a very significant story. But Bill Gertz, the paper's excellent national security reporter who covers suspicious U.S. dealings with Communist China and whose access to classified information has been a subject of controversy, has stayed away from it. Why?


la Chiesa dell’Unificazione del Reverendo Moon, che come recentemente rivelato da EIR (Executive Intelligence Review), è il canale principale di denaro sporco per l’intero network mondiale della destra radicale

http://www.fisicamente.net/index-363.htm

EIR Publishes Extensive Dossier On
Rev. Moon's Dirty Money Empire
By Executive Intelligence Review
10-28-2
(EIRNS) -- In an Oct. 19, 2002 international webcast, Lyndon LaRouche, founding and contributing editor of Executive Intelligence Review and a pre-candidate for the 2004 Democratic Party Presidential nomination, told his audience that the most effective way to clean out the nest of neo-conservative and Christian Zionist war-mongers inside the Bush Administration was to expose the Moonies. "The most important and most significant nut factor, which is a serous threat to our political order, inside the United States, is the Moonies," he declared. "Reverend Moon bought up Jerry Falwell, Richard Viguerie, the whole racist far right in the country, and now Moon is buying up many African-Americans. You pull this out, and I guarantee you, the biggest factor of loose, religious, and other kinds of nuts, in the United States, will scamper. And the rest of the mess will be cleaned up."

The Oct. 25 and Nov. 1, 2002 issues of Executive Intelligence Review feature extensive documentation of the Moonie operations in and around the Bush Administration, the radical "Christian Right," and other political circles that are behind the mad war drive in the Persian Gulf and in the Far East, which has been a near-obsession of this apparatus since Sept. 11, 2001.

The series of articles, which will continue to appear in EIR and are posted on the EIR website (http://www.larouchepub.com), reveal the Moonies' ties to some of the leading organized crime circles in the Far East and in South America; how Moon bought up Jerry Falwell and the other so-called "Christian Zionists;" and the early roots of the Moon organization in Korean CIA dirty operations, aimed at buying up members of the United States Congress through sex and cash. The Moon apparatus was one of the primary sources of illegal money into the Oliver North Iran-Contra operations, some of which came from the infamous "Cocaine Colonels" narco-coup regime in Bolivia.

Go to http://larouchepub.com/other/2002/2942moonie_targt.html now, to find the first two parts of the ongoing EIR series.


• MATRIMONIO MISTO IN ORIENTE - In attesa di altre, più globali nozze occidentali (tra Fiat e Daimler-Chrysler?) l'Avvocato si è alleato con il Reverendo Moon. Produrrà auto in Corea del Nord. Di GABRIELE ROMAGNOLI. Diario della Settimana, anno V numero 9. 1-7 marzo 2000.
«Il nuovo alleato della Fiat è più sorprendente, esotico e vicino a Dio. Il suo nome è Sun Myung Moon, più conosciuto semplicemente come "il Reverendo Moon", fondatore della Chiesa dell'Unificazione.»
http://alessiaguidi.provocation.net/menu14.htm