Tuesday, August 31, 2010
"To him that 'walketh righteously' is the promise: 'Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.'"
"The messengers of the cross must arm themselves with watchfulness and prayer, and more forward in faith and courage, working always in the name of Jesus. They must have confidence in their Leader; for troublous times are before us. The judgments of God are abroad in the land. Calamities follow one another in rapid succession. Soon God is to rise out of His place to shake terribly the earth, and to punish the wicked for their iniquity. Then He will stand up in behalf of His people, and will give them His protecting care. He will throw His everlasting arms about them, to shield them from all harm." GW 264.
"Forces are now at work that will usher in the last great conflict between good and evil--between Satan, the prince of darkness, and Christ, the Prince of life. But the coming triumph for the men who love and fear God is as sure as that His throne is established in the heavens." BEcho, August 26, 1895.
"In the time of trouble we all fled from the cities and villages, but were pursued by the wicked, who entered the houses of the saints with a sword. They raised the sword to kill us, but it broke, and fell as powerless as a straw. Then we all cried day and night for deliverance, and the cry came up before God." EW 35.
"The people of God will not be free from suffering; but while persecuted and distressed, while they endure privation and suffer for want of food they will not be left to perish. That God who cared for Elijah will not pass by one of His self-sacrificing children. He who numbers the hairs of their head will care for them, and in time of famine they shall be satisfied. While the wicked are dying from hunger and pestilence, angels will shield the righteous and supply their wants. To him that 'walketh righteously' is the promise: 'Bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.' 'When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.' Isaiah 33:15, 16; 41:17." GC 629.
An "illustration of the rapidly developing crisis"
Beck's Rally Proves that Dominionism is Spreading
(Excerpts) This event with Beck is indicative of a new way that the evangelical Right is conducting itself. Why were these high-profile evangelical and political leaders openly fraternizing with Lance Wallnau?! Do they agree with his mandate to "possess and occupy," take "territory," "take the high places," and "conquer"? And how can they possibly call this agenda of aggressive Dominion-mongering a "Great Awakening"? That is the question that we will be addressing in a series of posts in the days to come.The open association of David Barton and Jim Garlow with the New Apostolic Reformation leaders goes back several years at least. Cindy Jacobs, one of the leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation and her organization, Generals International, featured a "Raise Up An Army Convergence '09" conference[5] in which Barton and Garlow were keynote speakers along with Chuck Pierce and Dutch Sheets, key "apostles" under C. Peter Wagner in the NAR. This conference was promoted on The Elijah List,[6] which is the chief media organ for the leaders, doctrines and events of the NAR. The event's purpose was described by Cindy Jacobs: "to raise up a prayer army to both awaken and reform this nation," and used all of the strident military rhetoric of the NAR's prayer warfare agenda. The Convergence '09 appeared to have the full trapping of the extreme "worship" style that characterizes the leaders of the NAR.[8]
At the May Day event at the Lincoln Memorial several months ago, which also advocated the "Seven Mountains of Culture" strategy, both David Barton and Jim Garlow again publicly associated with the leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation. Their names were listed on the committee along with NAR leaders Cindy Jacobs, Dutch Sheets and Chuck Pierce. Other high profile evangelical political leaders included Dr. James Dobson, who promoted the event, and Tim Wildman.
Garlow and Barton are no small potatoes when it comes to widespread influence and name recognition. Jim Garlow heads up Newt Gingrich's Renewing American Leadership (ReAL) group and is a well-known activist opposing California's Proposition 8. And Barton of WallBuilders was ranked by TIME magazine as one of "25 Most Influential EVANGELICALS in America" in 2005. So what are these men doing hanging out with the likes of Lance Wallnau?
They aren't the only ones, however. The very reputable and mainstream National Day of Prayer this year included prayers for the 7 Mountains, a sobering fact which illustrates how far and wide the leaven of this Dominion mandate has spread. One observer described it as a "National Day of Dominion":
The official Task Force for the National Day of Prayer was chaired by Shirley (Mrs. James) Dobson. A who's who of American evangelicals, from Billy and Franklin Graham to Rick Warren, served on the leadership committee. But the Mission Statement of the Task Force is nearly identical to the Dominionists' 7-M Mandate:
The National Day of Prayer Task Force’s mission is to communicate with every individual the need for personal repentance and prayer, mobilizing the Christian community to intercede for America and its leadership in the seven centers of power: Government, Military, Media, Business, Education, Church and Family.
The seven centers of power are exactly the same as the 7 Mountains of Influence invented by Loren Cunningham and Bill Bright (whose widow, Vonette, is the Task Force co-chair), except that "Military" has been swapped in for "Arts & Entertainment".
Given the Dominionist fervor to create Joel's Army, the demonic horde described in Joel chapter 2, that's kind of creepy.
Farther down the list of leaders on the National Day of Prayer Task Force one finds C. Peter Wagner. He coined the term New Apostolic Reformation to describe his teaching that a second age of capital-A Apostles began in 2001. Wagner is also the leading proponent of the 7-M Mandate, the heretical belief that Christians are on a mission from God to reclaim the planet and set up His kingdom on Earth....
While the NDOP Task Force's mission statement stresses the need for personal repentance and prayer, which is scriptural, the Seven Mountains Mandate is pure Wagner, and pure Dominionism. The fact that the seven mountains of Wagner, Cunningham, and Bright have been grafted into the mission statement for the National Day of Prayer, an event chaired and directed by some of the most well-known and respected evangelicals in America, indicates that the influence of the Dominionists is spreading, being mainstreamed by its tacit approval from prominent, respected Christian leaders.
David Barton's associations with the Latter Rain cult, which gave birth to the New Apostolic Reformation, go back a few more years. One notable example is on November 29, 2003, David Barton and Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback showed up at a TheCall event in Dallas at The Cotton Bowl to participate in a "cleansing, 30 years after Roe V. Wade (originated in Dallas) and 40 years after the death of JFK,"which included" breaking curses off the nation for abuses to Native Americans." It was reported that this event utilized one of the New Apostolic Reformation's newly concocted doctrines, Identificational Repentance, which repents for the sins of one's ancestors or other people:
Kansas Senator Sam Brownback, representing the US Government repented for broken treaties and abused people. He announced that a bill has been introduced in Congress asking official forgiveness for these sins. President Bush says he will sign it. Negeil Bigpond spoke prophetically. He said on the day this bill is signed, look to the eastern sky for a sign for God. It would indicate that the curse of abortion was broken....
The list of attendees was a veritable "who's who" in leadership of the New Apostolic Reformation and Latter Rain:
Some of those who spoke: Mike Bickle, Negeil Bigpond, Jay Swallow, John Benefiel, Billy Joe & Sharon Daugherty, Bishop Harry Jackson, James Robison, Senator Sam Brownback, Dutch Sheets, Cindy Jacobs, Jim Goll, Chuck Pierce, Mike Hays, David Barton, Shawn Boltz, Paul Cain, Rocket Ishmael, Todd Bentley, Jill Austin, Michael Brown, Ron Luce, David Shibley, Lou Engle and Che Ahn.
Lou Engle, along with the apostle appointed to oversee his TheCall operation, Che' Ahn, reportedly invoked the Latter Rain concept of a New Breed, a Joel's Army of youthful warriors to build the kingdom of God on earth:
Finally, out of the dissipating darkness came a vital commissioning for the youth. Everyone born since 1973 is part of a “chosen generation,” whose parents had the choice to legally kill them before they were born. They will be an army of warriors fighting to bring this nation back to its original calling as a place of unity in diversity. All streams flowing together to advance the Kingdom of God.
The open schmoozing between the Tea Party and the New Apostolic Reformation "apostles" and "prophets" has continued unabated throughout the summer. But things have escalated with the entry of Glenn Beck, an influential Mormon, into the eclectic Tea Party/NAR mixture, especially with his "Divine Destiny" event tonight and his "Restore Honor" event tomorrow at the Lincoln Memorial. Everything suddenly seemed to switch gears from a purely Tea Party political event to a NAR-styled spiritual event. Note Beck's description:
I think this is an opportunity to gather God's people together and wake people up. And I just have this feeling that this is the beginning of something gigantic in this country, that it is spiritual awakening....
This is Divine Providence. This is the Lord's hand at work. This is a miracle.
David Barton, who was interviewing Beck on his radio show during this conversation, responded by agreeing that it is "an intervention of God." Beck then replied with a curious statement that he believed that his rally would be held on a "sacred space" and that he felt that "the Spirit of the Lord" would be "unleashed":
You can feel the presence of the Lord. I mean, the Spirit is so strong. When you two hundred, three hundred, five hundred thousand people on the Mall in that space right there between Washington and Lincoln with the Reflecting Poll - a spiritual space in our nation - the Spirit of the Lord is going to be unleashed like I think you've never felt it before.
This idea about sacred spaces comes out of the occult world, and these weird remarks may pertain to the distinctive Masonic grid of Washington, D.C. streets.[20] But take note that the "sacred space" heresy is also promoted by leaders of the NAR.[21]
All of this complicates matters for David Barton, who has been working very closely with Glenn Beck recently.[22] Critics from all sides of the spectrum have begun to raise serious questions in the past few weeks.[23] Barton's fervor for saving America has seemed to blind him to the questionable doctrines of those with whom he associates.[24] Sadly, many sincere patriotic Americans who are Christian believers have followed him like a pied piper, straight into these strange associations. Barton, by exhibiting such a profound lack of discernment, has tragically given great credibility to these many false apostles and prophets.[25]
Jim Garlow, David Barton, and the other evangelical leaders who are lending their high-profile names to the New Apostolic Reformation Dominionists, are leading many astray. Today's post is just one illustration of the rapidly developing crisis.
Their fervor is increasing. Jim Garlow wrote a letter to a broader group of people on August 24, 2010, calling them to "become part of the massive prayer army" that engages in a "40-day prayer and fast period -- from September 20 to October 30," and to watch "four webcasts." He also called upon everyone to sign The Manhattan Declaration, which appears to be gaining in significance as a key "covenant" document for Dominionism. Herescope
NOTE: "There will be a universal bond of union, one great harmony, a confederacy of Satan's forces." 3SM 392 (1891).
"A crisis is just upon us; but God's servants are not to trust to themselves in this great emergency. In the visions given to Isaiah, Ezekiel, and John, we see how closely heaven is connected with the events transpiring upon the earth. We see the care of God for those who are loyal to him. The world is not without a ruler. The program of coming events is in the hands of the Lord. The Majesty of heaven has the destiny of nations, as well as the concerns of his church, in his own keeping.
God has revealed what is to take place in the last days, that his people may be prepared to stand against the tempests of opposition and wrath." Southern Watchman, December 25, 1906.
Beck Announces Creation of Revolutionary "black robe regiment"
This weekend, Glenn Beck announced the re-creation of a revolutionary force called the Black Robe Regiment. At his Restoring Honor rally on Saturday, Beck claimed that "our churches have fallen asleep" and that the "thousands of clergy" in the Regiment who subscribe to his particular views on the role of religion in American life, will "start the heart of this nation again and put it where it belongs: our heart with God."
On his radio show this morning, Beck delved into a little more detail about how the group was formed and who, exactly, some of these members of the Regiment are.
Apparently, the idea began with Beck's favorite historian, David Barton. When Beck told Barton he wanted to "get religious leaders together," Barton suggested forming a Black Robe Regiment -- named after what Barton had said was a group of preachers who supported the American Revolution from their pulpits. Beck decided that was "exactly" what he was looking for because it was a movement supposedly like his that was "not about politics."
Beck then described the first meeting he held with "the largest evangelical leaders in the country" some of whom had been involved in the Christian Coalition. Beck explained that at first the leaders he was recruiting were "very skeptical," as David Barton told him, "because of [Beck's] faith." When Beck spoke to these "skeptical" leaders, he apparently told them that "we're about to lose our country, and we need to teach the correct principles of liberty and freedom, and it has nothing to do with politics." He also warned that: "we're all going to lose our religious freedom if we don't" stand together.
This apparently swayed televangelist James Robison, a former guest on Beck's radio show, who Beck claims "pounded the table" and said "I can testify that the things that this man says are true because I've felt them too."
However Beck explains that others were still wary of Beck's initiative and were concerned that if they joined him they would "lose half [of their] congregation." But then Focus on the Family's James Dobson came to Beck's defense. According to Beck, Dobson "looked [Beck] right in the eye ... and he said; 'I will start tomorrow.' " And thus, Beck's Black Robe Regiment was formed.
Later in the show, Beck elaborated on his call to "mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes," calling on his listeners to "tithe 10 percent" and encouraging them to "sacrifice our fortunes so our children don't have to pay for our lifestyle." Beck implored his listeners: "You must tithe because these people [the Black Robe Regiment] are going to be in trouble. They're going to come under attack."
Beck then emphasized the urgency of the support needed by the Regiment with some loaded Biblical imagery. He suggested that "[t]he media hasn't noticed" the leaders yet "quite honestly, because the adversary hasn't noticed them yet." While Beck does not make it clear who the "adversary" is, the word is closely associated with Satan. Various dictionaries note that adversary is among the definitions for Satan. The term also appeared in Milton's Paradise Lost where it was defined in the endnotes: "For 'the Adversary' = Satan, according to the meaning of the name." In addition, the Church of Latter Day Saints describes Satan as "the adversary or the devil."
Building upon this notion, Beck warned that "the great thing is, darkness does not understand light" and "has no idea where we're headed," but "once it does, the very gates of Hell are going to open up." Source: Media Matters for America
NOTE: "Its professions are mild and apparently Christian, but when it shall speak it will reveal the spirit of the dragon." 5T 452. A consensus is clearly forming in favor of a union between church and state. "The leaders are concealing the true issue, and many who unite in the movement do not themselves see whither the undercurrent is tending." 5T 452.
"They are working in blindness. They do not see that if a Protestant government sacrifices the principles that have made them a free, independent nation, and through legislation brings into the Constitution principles that will propagate papal falsehood and papal delusion, they are plunging into the Roman horrors of the Dark Ages." RH Extra, Dec. 11, 1888.
"Religious powers, allied to heaven by profession, and claiming to have the characteristics of a lamb, will show by their acts that they have the heart of a dragon, and that they are instigated and controlled by Satan." 9T 229, 230.
On his radio show this morning, Beck delved into a little more detail about how the group was formed and who, exactly, some of these members of the Regiment are.
Apparently, the idea began with Beck's favorite historian, David Barton. When Beck told Barton he wanted to "get religious leaders together," Barton suggested forming a Black Robe Regiment -- named after what Barton had said was a group of preachers who supported the American Revolution from their pulpits. Beck decided that was "exactly" what he was looking for because it was a movement supposedly like his that was "not about politics."
Beck then described the first meeting he held with "the largest evangelical leaders in the country" some of whom had been involved in the Christian Coalition. Beck explained that at first the leaders he was recruiting were "very skeptical," as David Barton told him, "because of [Beck's] faith." When Beck spoke to these "skeptical" leaders, he apparently told them that "we're about to lose our country, and we need to teach the correct principles of liberty and freedom, and it has nothing to do with politics." He also warned that: "we're all going to lose our religious freedom if we don't" stand together.
This apparently swayed televangelist James Robison, a former guest on Beck's radio show, who Beck claims "pounded the table" and said "I can testify that the things that this man says are true because I've felt them too."
However Beck explains that others were still wary of Beck's initiative and were concerned that if they joined him they would "lose half [of their] congregation." But then Focus on the Family's James Dobson came to Beck's defense. According to Beck, Dobson "looked [Beck] right in the eye ... and he said; 'I will start tomorrow.' " And thus, Beck's Black Robe Regiment was formed.
Later in the show, Beck elaborated on his call to "mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes," calling on his listeners to "tithe 10 percent" and encouraging them to "sacrifice our fortunes so our children don't have to pay for our lifestyle." Beck implored his listeners: "You must tithe because these people [the Black Robe Regiment] are going to be in trouble. They're going to come under attack."
Beck then emphasized the urgency of the support needed by the Regiment with some loaded Biblical imagery. He suggested that "[t]he media hasn't noticed" the leaders yet "quite honestly, because the adversary hasn't noticed them yet." While Beck does not make it clear who the "adversary" is, the word is closely associated with Satan. Various dictionaries note that adversary is among the definitions for Satan. The term also appeared in Milton's Paradise Lost where it was defined in the endnotes: "For 'the Adversary' = Satan, according to the meaning of the name." In addition, the Church of Latter Day Saints describes Satan as "the adversary or the devil."
Building upon this notion, Beck warned that "the great thing is, darkness does not understand light" and "has no idea where we're headed," but "once it does, the very gates of Hell are going to open up." Source: Media Matters for America
NOTE: "Its professions are mild and apparently Christian, but when it shall speak it will reveal the spirit of the dragon." 5T 452. A consensus is clearly forming in favor of a union between church and state. "The leaders are concealing the true issue, and many who unite in the movement do not themselves see whither the undercurrent is tending." 5T 452.
"They are working in blindness. They do not see that if a Protestant government sacrifices the principles that have made them a free, independent nation, and through legislation brings into the Constitution principles that will propagate papal falsehood and papal delusion, they are plunging into the Roman horrors of the Dark Ages." RH Extra, Dec. 11, 1888.
"Religious powers, allied to heaven by profession, and claiming to have the characteristics of a lamb, will show by their acts that they have the heart of a dragon, and that they are instigated and controlled by Satan." 9T 229, 230.
"This first day of the 2010 Alaska State Fair starts with sunny skies and a brutal assault by security personnel on a LaRouche supporter"
The Constitution is Being Repudiated Across the Board
"This 10-minute clip of a protester with a Lyndon LaRouche 'Impeach Obama Now' sign clashing with state fair security appeared yesterday on YouTube and is gaining buzz this morning." -This is not an easy video to watch. The man did absolutely nothing wrong. But because he had a banner that said "Impeach Obama" on it, he was forced to the ground and arrested! They won't even let him stand up after they cuffed him. In fact, a woman has to give him water while he's lying there. Free speech is gone in the USA. Source: Remnant of GodMonday, August 30, 2010
Financial Meltdown in the Offing
Even though the U.S. financial system nearly experienced a total meltdown in late 2008, the truth is that most Americans simply have no idea what is happening to the U.S. economy. Most people seem to think that the nasty little recession that we have just been through is almost over and that we will be experiencing another time of economic growth and prosperity very shortly. But this time around that is not the case. The reality is that we are being sucked into an economic black hole from which the U.S. economy will never fully recover.
The problem is debt. Collectively, the U.S. government, the state governments, corporate America and American consumers have accumulated the biggest mountain of debt in the history of the world. Our massive debt binge has financed our tremendous growth and prosperity over the last couple of decades, but now the day of reckoning is here.
And it is going to be painful.
The following are 20 reasons why the U.S. economy is dying and is simply not going to recover….
#1) Do you remember that massive wave of subprime mortgages that defaulted in 2007 and 2008 and caused the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression? Well, the “second wave” of mortgage defaults in on the way and there is simply no way that we are going to be able to avoid it. A huge mountain of mortgages is going to reset starting in 2010, and once those mortgage payments go up there are once again going to be millons of people who simply cannot pay their mortgages. The chart below reveals just how bad the second wave of adjustable rate mortgages is likely to be over the next several years….
#2) The Federal Housing Administration has announced plans to increase the amount of up-front cash paid by new borrowers and to require higher down payments from those with the poorest credit. The Federal Housing Administration currently backs about 30 percent of all new home loans and about 20 percent of all new home refinancing loans. Tighter standards are going to mean that less people will qualify for loans. Less qualifiers means that there will be less buyers for homes. Less buyers means that home prices are going to drop even more.
#3) It is getting really hard to find a job in the United States. A total of 6,130,000 U.S. workers had been unemployed for 27 weeks or more in December 2009. That was the most ever since the U.S. government started keeping track of this statistic in 1948. In fact, it is more than double the 2,612,000 U.S. workers who were unemployed for a similar length of time in December 2008. The reality is that once Americans lose their jobs they are increasingly finding it difficult to find new ones. Just check out the chart below….
#4) In December, there were also 929,000 “discouraged” workers who are not counted as part of the labor force because they have “given up” looking for work. That is the most since the U.S. government first started keeping track of discouraged workers in 1949. Many Americans have simply given up and are now chronically unemployed.
#5) Some areas of the U.S. are already virtually in a state of depression. The mayor of Detroit estimates that the real unemployment rate in his city is now somewhere around 50 percent.
#6) For decades, our leaders in Washington pushed us towards ”a global economy” and told us it would be so good for us. But there is a flip side. Now workers in the U.S. must compete with workers all over the world, and our greedy corporations are free to pursue the cheapest labor available anywhere on the globe. Millions of jobs have already been shipped out of the United States, and Princeton University economist Alan S. Blinder estimates that 22% to 29% of all current U.S. jobs will be offshorable within two decades. The days when blue collar workers could live the American Dream are gone and they are not going to come back.
#7) During the 2001 recession, the U.S. economy lost 2% of its jobs and it took four years to get them back. This time around the U.S. economy has lost more than 5% of its jobs and there is no sign that the bleeding of jobs is going to stop any time soon.
#8) All of this unemployment is putting severe stress on state unemployment funds. At this point, 25 state unemployment insurance funds have gone broke and the Department of Labor estimates that 15 more state unemployment funds will likely go broke within two years and will need massive loans from the federal government just to keep going.
#9) 37 million Americans now receive food stamps, and the program is expanding at a pace of about 20,000 people a day. The United States of America is very quickly becoming a socialist welfare state.
#10) The number of Americans who are going broke is staggering. 1.41 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009 - a 32 percent increase over 2008.
#11) For decades, the fact that the U.S. dollar was the reserve currency of the world gave the U.S. financial system an unusual degree of stability. But all of that is changing. Foreign countries are increasingly turning away from the dollar to other currencies. For example, Russia’s central bank announced on Wednesday that it had started buying Canadian dollars in a bid to diversify its foreign exchange reserves.
#12) The recent economic downturn has left some localities totally bankrupt. For instance, Jefferson County, Alabama is on the brink of what would be the largest government bankruptcy in the history of the United States - surpassing the 1994 filing by Southern California’s Orange County.
#13) The U.S. is facing a pension crisis of unprecedented magnitude. Virtually all pension funds in the United States, both private and public, are massively underfunded. With millions of Baby Boomers getting ready to retire, there is simply no way on earth that all of these obligations can be met. Robert Novy-Marx of the University of Chicago and Joshua D. Rauh of Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management recently calculated the collective unfunded pension liability for all 50 U.S. statesfor Forbes magazine. So what was the total? 3.2 trillion dollars.
#14) Social Security and Medicare expenses are wildly out of control. Once again, with millions of Baby Boomers now at retirement age there is simply going to be no way to pay all of these retirees what they are owed.
#15) So will the U.S. government come to the rescue? The U.S. has allowed the total federal debt to balloon by 50% since 2006 to $12.3 trillion. The chart below is a bit outdated, but it does show the reckless expansion of U.S. government debt over the past several decades. To get an idea of where we are now, just add at least 3 trillion dollars on to the top of the chart….
#16) So has the U.S. government learned anything from these mistakes? No. In fact, Senate Democrats on Wednesday proposed allowing the federal government to borrow an additional $2 trillion to pay its bills, a record increase that would allow the U.S. national debt to reach approximately $14.3 trillion.
#17) It is going to become even harder for the U.S. government to pay the bills now that tax receipts are falling through the floor. U.S. corporate income tax receiptswere down 55% in the year that ended on September 30th, 2009.
#18) So where will the U.S. government get the money? From the Federal Reserve of course. The Federal Reserve bought approximately 80 percent of all U.S. Treasury securities issued in 2009. In other words, the U.S. government is now being financed by a massive Ponzi scheme.
#19) The reckless expansion of the money supply by the U.S. government and the Federal Reserve is going to end up destroying the U.S. dollar and the value of the remaining collective net worth of all Americans. The more dollars there are, the less each individual dollar is worth. In essence, inflation is like a hidden tax on each dollar that you own. When they flood the economy with money, the value of the money you have in your bank accounts goes down. The chart below shows the growth of the U.S. money supply. Pay particular attention to the very end of the chart which shows what has been happening lately. What do you think this is going to do to the value of the U.S. dollar?….
#20) When a nation practices evil, there is no way that it is going to be blessed in the long run. The truth is that we have become a nation that is dripping with corruption and wickedness from the top to the bottom. Unless this fundamentally changes, not even the most perfect economic policies in the world are going to do us any good. In the end, you always reap what you sow. The day of reckoning for the U.S. economy is here and it is not going to be pleasant.
This article has been contributed by The Economic Collapse Source
NOTE: In the wings the "Christian" Right waits with gleeful anticipation!
"I do believe that the radical Christian Right is a sworn and potent enemy of the open society . . . In the event of another catastrophic terrorist attack [or] an economic meltdown . . . the movement stands poised manipulate fear and chaos ruthlessly and reshape America in ways that have not been seen since the nation's founding." American Fascists, p. 207.
"Forces against American democracy are waiting for a moment to strike, a national crisis that will allow them to shred the Constituion in the name of national security. The Christian Right awaits that time with gleeful anticipation, wanting their adherents to be ready." Source
"These activists are quite serious about bringing Christian politics into power. Bray said that it is possible, under the right conditions, for a Christian revolution to sweep across the United States and bring in its wake Constitutional changes that would allow for biblical law to be the basis of social legislation." Source
"a new citizenry, molded by government schooling and control and constant statist propaganda, clamoring now for a strongman to take control. These are disturbing times, even frightening times, for anyone who favors love and freedom. America is dead. Nothing to see here, citizen. Move along." Source
And it is going to be painful.
The following are 20 reasons why the U.S. economy is dying and is simply not going to recover….
#1) Do you remember that massive wave of subprime mortgages that defaulted in 2007 and 2008 and caused the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression? Well, the “second wave” of mortgage defaults in on the way and there is simply no way that we are going to be able to avoid it. A huge mountain of mortgages is going to reset starting in 2010, and once those mortgage payments go up there are once again going to be millons of people who simply cannot pay their mortgages. The chart below reveals just how bad the second wave of adjustable rate mortgages is likely to be over the next several years….
#2) The Federal Housing Administration has announced plans to increase the amount of up-front cash paid by new borrowers and to require higher down payments from those with the poorest credit. The Federal Housing Administration currently backs about 30 percent of all new home loans and about 20 percent of all new home refinancing loans. Tighter standards are going to mean that less people will qualify for loans. Less qualifiers means that there will be less buyers for homes. Less buyers means that home prices are going to drop even more.
#3) It is getting really hard to find a job in the United States. A total of 6,130,000 U.S. workers had been unemployed for 27 weeks or more in December 2009. That was the most ever since the U.S. government started keeping track of this statistic in 1948. In fact, it is more than double the 2,612,000 U.S. workers who were unemployed for a similar length of time in December 2008. The reality is that once Americans lose their jobs they are increasingly finding it difficult to find new ones. Just check out the chart below….
#4) In December, there were also 929,000 “discouraged” workers who are not counted as part of the labor force because they have “given up” looking for work. That is the most since the U.S. government first started keeping track of discouraged workers in 1949. Many Americans have simply given up and are now chronically unemployed.
#5) Some areas of the U.S. are already virtually in a state of depression. The mayor of Detroit estimates that the real unemployment rate in his city is now somewhere around 50 percent.
#7) During the 2001 recession, the U.S. economy lost 2% of its jobs and it took four years to get them back. This time around the U.S. economy has lost more than 5% of its jobs and there is no sign that the bleeding of jobs is going to stop any time soon.
#8) All of this unemployment is putting severe stress on state unemployment funds. At this point, 25 state unemployment insurance funds have gone broke and the Department of Labor estimates that 15 more state unemployment funds will likely go broke within two years and will need massive loans from the federal government just to keep going.
#9) 37 million Americans now receive food stamps, and the program is expanding at a pace of about 20,000 people a day. The United States of America is very quickly becoming a socialist welfare state.
#10) The number of Americans who are going broke is staggering. 1.41 million Americans filed for personal bankruptcy in 2009 - a 32 percent increase over 2008.
#11) For decades, the fact that the U.S. dollar was the reserve currency of the world gave the U.S. financial system an unusual degree of stability. But all of that is changing. Foreign countries are increasingly turning away from the dollar to other currencies. For example, Russia’s central bank announced on Wednesday that it had started buying Canadian dollars in a bid to diversify its foreign exchange reserves.
#12) The recent economic downturn has left some localities totally bankrupt. For instance, Jefferson County, Alabama is on the brink of what would be the largest government bankruptcy in the history of the United States - surpassing the 1994 filing by Southern California’s Orange County.
#13) The U.S. is facing a pension crisis of unprecedented magnitude. Virtually all pension funds in the United States, both private and public, are massively underfunded. With millions of Baby Boomers getting ready to retire, there is simply no way on earth that all of these obligations can be met. Robert Novy-Marx of the University of Chicago and Joshua D. Rauh of Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management recently calculated the collective unfunded pension liability for all 50 U.S. statesfor Forbes magazine. So what was the total? 3.2 trillion dollars.
#14) Social Security and Medicare expenses are wildly out of control. Once again, with millions of Baby Boomers now at retirement age there is simply going to be no way to pay all of these retirees what they are owed.
#15) So will the U.S. government come to the rescue? The U.S. has allowed the total federal debt to balloon by 50% since 2006 to $12.3 trillion. The chart below is a bit outdated, but it does show the reckless expansion of U.S. government debt over the past several decades. To get an idea of where we are now, just add at least 3 trillion dollars on to the top of the chart….
#17) It is going to become even harder for the U.S. government to pay the bills now that tax receipts are falling through the floor. U.S. corporate income tax receiptswere down 55% in the year that ended on September 30th, 2009.
#18) So where will the U.S. government get the money? From the Federal Reserve of course. The Federal Reserve bought approximately 80 percent of all U.S. Treasury securities issued in 2009. In other words, the U.S. government is now being financed by a massive Ponzi scheme.
#19) The reckless expansion of the money supply by the U.S. government and the Federal Reserve is going to end up destroying the U.S. dollar and the value of the remaining collective net worth of all Americans. The more dollars there are, the less each individual dollar is worth. In essence, inflation is like a hidden tax on each dollar that you own. When they flood the economy with money, the value of the money you have in your bank accounts goes down. The chart below shows the growth of the U.S. money supply. Pay particular attention to the very end of the chart which shows what has been happening lately. What do you think this is going to do to the value of the U.S. dollar?….
#20) When a nation practices evil, there is no way that it is going to be blessed in the long run. The truth is that we have become a nation that is dripping with corruption and wickedness from the top to the bottom. Unless this fundamentally changes, not even the most perfect economic policies in the world are going to do us any good. In the end, you always reap what you sow. The day of reckoning for the U.S. economy is here and it is not going to be pleasant.
This article has been contributed by The Economic Collapse Source
NOTE: In the wings the "Christian" Right waits with gleeful anticipation!
"I do believe that the radical Christian Right is a sworn and potent enemy of the open society . . . In the event of another catastrophic terrorist attack [or] an economic meltdown . . . the movement stands poised manipulate fear and chaos ruthlessly and reshape America in ways that have not been seen since the nation's founding." American Fascists, p. 207.
"Forces against American democracy are waiting for a moment to strike, a national crisis that will allow them to shred the Constituion in the name of national security. The Christian Right awaits that time with gleeful anticipation, wanting their adherents to be ready." Source
"These activists are quite serious about bringing Christian politics into power. Bray said that it is possible, under the right conditions, for a Christian revolution to sweep across the United States and bring in its wake Constitutional changes that would allow for biblical law to be the basis of social legislation." Source
"a new citizenry, molded by government schooling and control and constant statist propaganda, clamoring now for a strongman to take control. These are disturbing times, even frightening times, for anyone who favors love and freedom. America is dead. Nothing to see here, citizen. Move along."
Bashing down the wall Between Church & State
Now that Glenn Beck’s Lincoln Memorial rally is over, it’s time to step back and ask the all-important question: What the heck was that all about?
Beck portrayed the “Restoring Honor” event as a celebration of civil rights. But the reporting I read about the bombastic Fox News Channel host’s D.C. get together made some of it sound more like a fundamentalist religious revival.
“Something that is beyond man is happening,” Beck told the crowd. “America today begins to turn back to God.”
Beck claims his event was intended to be non-political, but the rally featured Sarah Palin as a speaker, and the very next day Beck went on national television and attacked President Barack Obama’s religion. (Obama’s fault? He fails to agree with Beck.)
Beck is stomping over well-trod ground. His real enemy isn’t racial injustice. He’s far too polarizing a figure to achieve a noble goal like bringing people together and healing racial discord. In fact, Beck is just another in a seemingly endless line of far-right blowhards seeking to curry favor with the ignoramus brigades of the Religious Right by bashing the wall of separation between church and state.
Backed by “Professor” David Barton – who is not a professor and not a historian – Beck unleashes the usual Religious Right line about America’s glorious Christian heritage with strident calls to win the country “back” from nefarious forces that have supposedly usurped it.
It’s an old story. Throughout our history, the nation has occasionally been seduced by extremists who play the fear card, warning darkly of dangerous forces that must be stopped before they destroy the country.
In the 1950s, it was Communists. In the 1960s, it was African Americans seeking civil rights and their “hippy” allies. In the 1970s, it was feminists. In the 1980s and ‘90s, it was gays. In the 2000s, it has been Muslims.
Demagogues are always looking for a new bogeyman to wave before their legions; they are always looking for a new group to demonize. It’s essential for whipping up the mob.
Beck, who claims to revere the Founding Fathers, is actually trying to undermine their handiwork. He is a shameless demagogue with access to millions nightly over the airwaves. His ascent is alarming, but it’s important that we keep a historical perspective in mind.
We’ve been down this road before. Father Charles Coughlin spewed his poison over the radio across the nation. Sen. Joseph McCarthy used television to engage in red baiting. Gerald L.K. Smith blasted his hate from a quasi-national pulpit.
The good news is that demagogues usually overreach and come crashing down. In my opinion, it can’t happen to Beck soon enough. But until it does, those of us who support real religious freedom and church-state separation need to be on guard.
“Something that is beyond man is happening,” Beck told the crowd. “America today begins to turn back to God.”
Beck claims his event was intended to be non-political, but the rally featured Sarah Palin as a speaker, and the very next day Beck went on national television and attacked President Barack Obama’s religion. (Obama’s fault? He fails to agree with Beck.)
Beck is stomping over well-trod ground. His real enemy isn’t racial injustice. He’s far too polarizing a figure to achieve a noble goal like bringing people together and healing racial discord. In fact, Beck is just another in a seemingly endless line of far-right blowhards seeking to curry favor with the ignoramus brigades of the Religious Right by bashing the wall of separation between church and state.
Backed by “Professor” David Barton – who is not a professor and not a historian – Beck unleashes the usual Religious Right line about America’s glorious Christian heritage with strident calls to win the country “back” from nefarious forces that have supposedly usurped it.
It’s an old story. Throughout our history, the nation has occasionally been seduced by extremists who play the fear card, warning darkly of dangerous forces that must be stopped before they destroy the country.
In the 1950s, it was Communists. In the 1960s, it was African Americans seeking civil rights and their “hippy” allies. In the 1970s, it was feminists. In the 1980s and ‘90s, it was gays. In the 2000s, it has been Muslims.
Demagogues are always looking for a new bogeyman to wave before their legions; they are always looking for a new group to demonize. It’s essential for whipping up the mob.
Beck is aiming to create a new enemy for the next decade: Anyone who dares to support church-state separation and its key partner, secular government.
This last point is important. The Religious Right is increasingly assailing a key component of American life – the idea that government should be neutral on matters of theology, a principle that is the essence of secular government. Beck wants to lead this new charge.
In doing so, Beck attacks our traditions. Remember, until the United States separated church and state, the idea that a government could be secular was unthinkable. America’s experiment worked so well that it caught on in other nations.America’s leadership in this area should be a source of pride. Yet it infuriates the theocrats among us. They are spitting mad that they can no longer tap the power of the state to force everyone to live under their narrow definition of theology.
Beck is a Mormon, and it’s unlikely his religion would ever be embraced by the government. But he’s more than happy to lead the charge for a “Christian” government, well aware that on social issues like abortion, same-sex marriage, censorship and others, Mormons, fundamentalist Protestants and ultra-Orthodox Catholics often see eye to eye.Beck, who claims to revere the Founding Fathers, is actually trying to undermine their handiwork. He is a shameless demagogue with access to millions nightly over the airwaves. His ascent is alarming, but it’s important that we keep a historical perspective in mind.
We’ve been down this road before. Father Charles Coughlin spewed his poison over the radio across the nation. Sen. Joseph McCarthy used television to engage in red baiting. Gerald L.K. Smith blasted his hate from a quasi-national pulpit.
The good news is that demagogues usually overreach and come crashing down. In my opinion, it can’t happen to Beck soon enough. But until it does, those of us who support real religious freedom and church-state separation need to be on guard.
After all, we are the target. Americans United
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Bible Prophecy is Rapidly Fulfilling! Read a few Articles like this and you know we Don't have Long - Jesus is Returning Soon!
When Politics Means the End of the World (as we know it)
by Frederick ClarksonOn Labor Day weekend, Lou Engle, head of the fiery neo-Pentecostal group, The Call, is leading a worship service in a sports arena in Sacramento, California and a "solemn assembly" at the state Capitol the next day. These events were initially billed as a tenth anniversary of The Call's first youth rally on the national capital mall which drew a claimed 400,000 people. Since then, the Sacramento event has been repositioned as the kick-off of a major Christian Right fall political campaign initiative. Engle says it will be the "hinge of history" opening the door to "the greatest awakening" and "returning our nation to its righteous roots."
There are several important dimensions of this effort. One is that this is an effort at reaching and mobilizing evangelical young people into Republican politics, particularly in California; another, is that it represents a new stage in the long term cooperation between conservative Catholics, fundamentalists and the neo-Pentecostals. And finally, the militant rhetoric of Engle's armies of activists is escalating, and their organizational infrastructure seems to be increasing, especially in cyberspace.
Before we discuss these, there is one additionally remarkable aspect of this. The eminence grise of this initiative appears to be former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, whose organization Renewing American Leadership (ReAL) is apparently the force behind a series of Christian Right events being organized under the rubric of "Pray & Act." This is politically important, but as Gingrich's role becomes more public, it may also become morally dissonant, since Gingrich is well known (and has been recently highlighted in the news) as a thrice-married serial philanderer. This certainly makes him an unlikely guide for a religious political movement whose leaders believe that the fate of America hinges on the health of heterosexual marriage. (His recent conversion to Catholicism not withstanding.)
"If our society goes down the tubes," neo-conservative Catholic Robert P. George (one of the movement's premier thinkers and strategists) speculated in an essay featured on the ReAL web site "... it will not be in the end because of bad economic decisions... It will be because we let misguided but determined people undermine the institution of marriage and destroy the innocence of our children."
In March, Gingrich recruited Rev. Jim Garlow, a principal organizer of the successful effort to pass the anti-gay marriage Proposition 8, to chair ReAl, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that says it seeks to advance and defend, among other things, the Judeo-Christian tradition. The board also includes longtime Gingrich political operative and founding director, Rick Tyler, and Christian nationalist historical revisionist, David Barton (a former longtime vice-chair of the Texas Republican Party). By April, Garlow had announced Pray & Act -- a 40 day fast and preparation for political action campaign -- and the project was featured on the ReAl Web site, and almost nowhere else.
At this writing, details are still emerging, but the list of Religious Right leaders involved is impressive, and their intention to lead people from a state of fervent prayer to acquiring state power is unambiguous.
Official endorsers of Pray & Act includes neo-Pentecostals who are, like Engle, leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation (much discussed here at Talk to Action) such as Bishop Harry Jackson, Cindy Jacobs, and Samuel Rodriguez; as well as conservative Catholics like Robert P. George and Roman Catholic Bishop Richard Malone of Maine; and as such notable Christian Rightists as Jim Garlow, Richard Land, Charles Colson, Mike Huckabee, Tony Perkins, and Jim Daly (James Dobson's successor as head of Focus on the Family.
The Call, Sacramento is now billed as the National Preparation for Pray & Act and will be webcast on God TV on September 3rd. The second event is also a "youth rally" billed as a Seven Day Countdown Event on September 12 at Greater New Hope Baptist Church in Washington, DC, which will also run on God TV. The launch on September 19th in Washington, DC will be webcast from the website of the American Family Association, as will the closing ceremonies on October 30th from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, a few days before the election.
These events may fairly be seen in the context of the ongoing transition of the Religious Right as the founding generation of movement leaders passes from the scene. R.J. Rushdoony, Jerry Falwell, D. James Kennedy, Bill Bright, and John Giminez (among others) have died. Pat Robertson, Don Wildmon, James Dobson, and Beverly LaHaye are in varying stages of passing the torch; and each of their designees are coalescing via Pray & Act, which in turn is appealing to and seeking to register young people to vote.
For decades, movement leaders have sought to defuse historic tensions between conservative factions of fundamentalism, Catholicism, and Pentecostalism (among others). This is understandably no easy task, and Pray & Act signifies a potential new milestone in the effort. If so, much of the credit will go to the development of The Manhattan Declaration, whose principal author was Robert P. George. Not only did it signal a new level of cooperation, it even attracted an unprecedented level of public support from top Catholic Bishops and Cardinals. The manifesto itself has lent itself to a common agenda to guide their coalitional politics. The first "act" that people are asked to take in the Pray & Act project is to join more than 400,000 others who have signed the Declaration since its release in 2009. The Pray & Act agenda, following from the Declaration, has been distilled down to three main matters which are in turn, the sole criteria for voting. People must vote "only for candidates who affirm the sanctity of life in all stages and conditions, the integrity of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and religious liberty and respect for conscience."
Ginning-Up an Elijah Generation
While the the Pray & Act events are timed to the heat of the political moment, Engle et al also have their eyes fixed on the future. Christians are entering the darkest of days, they warn, as a vast and terrible federal government and judicial tyrants seek to snuff faith itself from the land. For example, after a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against Eastern Michigan University that alleged a student was expelled from the graduate counseling program because she refused to counsel clients about homosexual relationships, Engle claimed:
"The federal judge is declaring that Christian kids do not have a voice to stand for a moral truth [and their] biblical convictions on the issue of homosexuality and immorality in the nation. This is a profound moment." He characteristically then set the incident, in the context of persecution, and the end times: "To compromise for the sake of getting a grade, you're practicing to receive the mark of the beast."
What Engle says to like minded like-minded young people behind closed doors can be even more explosive. Casey Sanchez of the Southern Poverty Law Center reported that Engle he spoke about a supernatural end times force called Joel's Army during an appearance at a youth conference sponsored by the International House of Prayer in Kansas City:
"I believe we're headed to an Elijah/Jezebel showdown on the Earth, not just in America but all over the globe, and the main warriors will be the prophets of Baal versus the prophets of God, and there will be no middle ground," said Engle. He was referring to the Baal of the Old Testament, a pagan idol whose followers were slaughtered under orders from the prophet Elijah. "There's an Elijah generation that's going to be the forerunners for the coming of Jesus, a generation marked not by their niceness but by the intensity of their passion," Engle continued. "The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force. Such force demands an equal response, and Jesus is going to make war on everything that hinders love, with his eyes blazing fire.""As Engle works to gin-up an Elijah generation to fill the ranks of Joel's army, his intentions can be surprisingly transparent. For example, the Call has sent forth a small traveling company of young activists on a three week promotion for Sacramento they called Jehu's Ride.
"In Elijah's revolution there was a turning when... Jehu was called to leadership as a king to throw down Jezebel, a wicked queen who led Israel astray from the commands of Lord their God. Jehu's company led the revolution to overthrow Jezebel and rode with such zeal a movement was started that swept the nation into freedom."This takes on an additional, alarming dimension if viewed in light of his his prediction that the effort to stop abortion and gay marriage may require acts of Christian martyrdom, and suggested that a second American civil war may be required, as was detailed on The Rachel Maddow Show, on MSNBC. The occasion was a stadium rally in San Diego organized by The Call prior to the 2008 vote on Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage.
When a federal court recently found Prop 8 to be unconstitutional, he declared that the ruling signals that "democracy is crumbling."
It is into that gap that Engle is leading an eleven person team of out-of-state evangelists to hit California's state college and university campuses in September and October in search of young warriors who will emphasize "purity" over "prosperity." This is part of a growing effort by The Call, and perhaps the wider Christian Right, to target California for further religious and political development. Engle has for some time been saying, as California goes, so goes the nation
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Past & Prologue
In a promotional video for The Call, Sacramento, Pat Robertson wondered how America can keep God's blessing when it has "slaughtered 50 million unborn babies, taken the bible and prayer out of public schools, and protected by law what god calls an abomination in our land. That which is evil is being called good and that which is good is being ridiculed and banished from the public square. This is a desperate hour for our country... "
If all this sounds familiar, it may be because Robertson and his allies among Charismatic and Pentecostal Christians have been proclaiming such things for decades. In 1980, they initiated a broad scale politicization of their previously largely apolitical constituencies with a massive "prayer rally" on the Mall in Washington DC. The Washington Post acquired a memo revealing the political intentions of the rally organizers headed by the late John Giminez, but the event went ahead anyway. Rally coordinator Ted Pantaleo later said "I think president Reagan was elected as a result of what happened up there." As I reported in my 1997 book Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy, Giminez maintained in the run up to the 1988 WFJ rally that it too, was apolitical, but that the event was necessary because "AIDS... abortion, the prayer ban in the public schools and a swing towards liberalism devoid of moral standards must be submitted to prayer and repentance to avoid Divine Judgment." There were similar WFJ events in 1992 and 1996, as well as state level rallies. But The Call seemed designed to build on the success of the less political Promise Keepers men's movement rallies, which, like WFJ were by then losing steam, as well as to pick up the election year rally franchise. According to Right Wing Watch, Engle stated: "The praying church deals with the demonic realm, so that God raises up one and brings down the other," "I directly attribute [George W. Bush's election] to the prayers of the saints."
This year's effort signals a further trend towards dominionism in this element of evangelicalism. This is epitomized by a recent blog post Engle wrote about Sacramento:
"The rebellious generation of the 60's seized its moment, and history crashed into the deep abyss of drug addiction, sexual immorality, hatred for authority, and a rejection of the law of God. For 40 years we have been falling headlong into a black moral morass in America and all through the West. We are reaping the waves of destruction in every sector of our post Christian society. Can America survive another 40 years? We are declaring NO! A thousand times NO! Unless a massive spiritual shift occurs at this moment... But God has a prescription for such a massive shift and it is revealed in the power of the great transitional 40-day fast. God in His sovereign control over the parade of history delivered the Israelites out of Egypt. Longing to release a moral code that would give foundations for righteousness, for time and eternity, God summoned Moses to a 40-day fast on Mount Sinai. In that fast all of history changed and the law of God was delivered from heaven to earth. And if America is going to return to God it must recover that law again as its foundation for truth."
The notion that the law of the land should be what the Christian Right deems to be the law of God is generally the basis of dominionism, and certainly of Christian Reconstructionism. This takes on added significance in light of the controversy about Engle's alleged support for the death penalty for homosexuality as called for in pending national legislation in Uganda, and his acknowledged support for criminalization.
Engle continues, saying that the 40 day fast may lead to "the most significant election cycle in history." He bases this on the idea that it has been about 40 years since events of the 60s led us astray and that 40 day fasts in the Bible led God to show mercy to societies facing similar judgments and periods of punishment. "But it is not enough to pray," he concluded. "We must vote and act according to God's heart and mandates."
Before that can happen, Engle has a rally to organize. He is facing inevitable comparisons to The Call 2008 rally in San Diego which featured a turnout that while not disastrous, was far less than advertised. The stadium held 70,000 people, but crowd estimates ranged from a low of 5,000 to a high of 33,000 by the organizers who took into account that people came and went over the course of 12 hours. Fair enough. (Turn out might have mattered more in retrospect if they had lost on Prop 8.) This time Engle seems more realistic about The Call's capacity to deliver a crowd. Sacramento's Raley Field holds a prudent 15,000 people for the Friday evening worship; and the permit for the rally at the Capitol is for 50,000, but there has never been a rally that big, and so a smaller but telegenic crowd is far more likely.
Since none of the Fall events are promoted as mass rallies, it could be that the mass rally capacity of The Call has run its course. Nevertheless, the main feature of all of the events is the web cast, which if well-staged, could be more impressive than sparsely attended rallies, and launch the Christian Right into the cyber age of politics. The September 12th broadcast is a 15 minute video which organizers intend for "churches to be able to down load and show in church." The September 19th National Pray and Act Service will be webcast across American from Washington, DC. Event organizers say: "Churches are encouraged to watch on big screens in their auditoriums. In addition, individuals can watch from their computers and iPhone." The October 30th cybercast of the closing ceremony of the 40 day fast, will originate from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in DC, but so far, there is no indication that they will make any effort to draw a crowd.
This is a major departure from the days of mass rallies from Washington for Jesus, through the Promise Keepers and The Call. Fashions in protest marches and styles of mass rallies come and go. And whatever else happens in Sacramento and the other events of Pray & Act, we are certainly entering the era of cyber organizing by the Religious Right. Talk to Action
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Leading America Toword Intolerance and Extremism
According to Beck’s Web site, the program will feature “an inspiring look at the role faith played in the founding of America and the role it will play again in its destiny. The audience for the event will be overwhelmingly made up of pastors, ministers and clergy: a modern day Black Robe Regimen [sic].
“So, if you are sick and tired of hearing about how divided America has become,” it continues, “then join us for an eye-opening evening at the historic Kennedy Center in Washington, DC on Friday, August 27 that will help heal your soul. Guided by uplifting music, nationally-known religious figures from all faiths will unite to deliver messages reminiscent to those given during the struggles of America’s earliest days. The event will leave you with a renewed determination to look past the partisan differences and petty problems that fill our airwaves and instead focus [on] our shared values, principles and strong belief that faith can play an essential role in reuniting the country.”
Okay, okay. I’ve heard quite enough, and I’m sure you have, too. This has NOTHING to do with “reuniting the country.” And if I want my soul healed, I sure won’t look to Glenn Beck to serve as my spiritual doctor.
What Beck actually plans to do tonight is kick off his Washington rally weekend with an all-out assault on the separation of church and state. I’m sure it will be cloaked in right-wing piety, but his bottom line is clear: America is an officially religious state – a government based on some sort of generic ultra-conservative Christianity — and if you don’t share that perspective, Beck and his cronies want you to be a second-class citizen in your own country.
The “Black Robe Regiment” Beck mentions is a clueless co-optation of the clergy who supported the American Revolution. Needless to say, the far-right religious leaders lining up to back Beck are hardly in that historic camp. Colonial-era preachers were fighting for freedom (religious and civil), not against it like Beck’s bunch.
One of the central players in all this is the infamous David Barton, a self-proclaimed “historian” who peddles “Christian nation” propaganda. Barton has lurked in the dark corners of the Religious Right house of horrors for years, but now Beck has put him on the national stage. (The TV pundit has apparently decided to overlook some very unsavory moments in Barton’s past. In the 1990s, Barton, founder of the Texas-based Wallbuilders, made two appearances at neo-Nazi rallies. In each case, he said he had no idea that the events were organized by racists. That may true, but it sure doesn’t indicate very good judgment on Barton’s part.) As the current issue of Church & State reports, the academically unqualified Barton has been on Beck’s show constantly this year, peddling bogus “Christian nation” propaganda.
Ironically, some fundamentalist Christians have blasted Barton and other Religious Right leaders for joining in Beck’s religious event tonight. Beck is a Mormon, and most fundamentalists regard the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a non-Christian cult.
For example, Brannon Howse, the Worldview Weekend empresario, blasted Beck’s Kennedy Center service for “promoting something that is not compatible with Biblical Christian doctrines” and insisted that “the Jesus of the cults is not the Jesus of the Bible.”
But fundamentalist preacher Jim Garlow (a crony of that exemplary Christian Newt Gingrich) sprang to Beck’s defense, arguing that the Fox pundit has undergone a fundamentalist inquisition and passed the test!
Reports Garlow, “I have interviewed persons who have talked specifically with Glenn about his personal salvation — persons extremely well known in Christianity — and they have affirmed (using language evangelicals understand), ‘Glenn is saved.’”
Intolerance isn’t funny, but it’s hard not to chuckle when you see Beck and Barton targeted with the kind of vicious intolerance they have aimed at mainline Christians, Muslims, non-believers and anyone else who fails to measure up to their rigid religious-political criteria.
I guess there’s a lesson here: when churlish chefs concoct a poisonous kettle of intolerance, ignorance and extremism, some of it just might splash out of the pot and burn those stirring the toxic brew.The Beck event tonight – and his “Restoring Honor” rally at the Lincoln Memorial tomorrow – will get a lot of media coverage. Most of it, I think, will focus on Tea Party politics, Sarah “Mama Grizzly” Palin and the implications for the November elections.
But in all that hubbub, we shouldn’t lose sight of the damage Beck and Co. are doing to the American foundational principles of tolerance, diversity and church-state separation. Wall of Separation
"Our nation’s destiny will be disastrous, not divine, if Glenn Beck has his way"
Fox News Channel personality Glenn Beck’s rallies in Washington, D.C., are an attack on religious liberty and our nation’s rich religious diversity, says Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
Tonight’s event at the Kennedy Center, “Divine Destiny,” is billed by Beck as a way to “reunite” Americans, “heal your soul” and take a “look at the role faith played in the founding of America and the role it will play again in its destiny.”
Tomorrow’s rally, “Restoring Honor,” will be held near the Lincoln Memorial on the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. It has been advertised as a chance to honor “our heroes, our heritage and our future.”
In reality, a major goal of Beck’s rallies is to undermine the Founding Fathers’ vision of a nation where government and religion are kept separate. Beck propagates a revisionist historical perspective that says America is an officially religious state. Mainline Christians, Muslims, non-believers and other Americans who fail to meet Beck’s religious test are often maligned.
“Our nation’s destiny will be disastrous, not divine, if Glenn Beck has his way,” said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, Americans United executive director. “The message Beck and his cronies want to send is clear: if you don’t believe in a government based on his religious vision, you should expect to be treated like a second-class citizen. Beck has made it clear that he has no respect for our Constitution’s promise of religious liberty for all.”
Over the past few months, Beck has teamed up with David Barton, a Texas-based Religious Right activist who has no credentials as a historian. Yet Barton peddles books, videos and other materials that spread his misguided belief that church-state separation was never intended by the founders.
Said AU’s Lynn, “Barton has lurked in the dark corners of the Religious Right house of horrors for years. But now he is playing on a national stage, thanks to Beck. That’s a tragedy, not a comedy.”
Barton is the founder of Wallbuilders, a Texas-based organization that exists to attack mainstream history. He served as an adviser to the Texas State Board of Education when the state’s social studies curriculum was revised to downplay Thomas Jefferson and the role of church-state separation.
Since March, Barton has appeared on Beck’s Fox program at least 15 times as part an endeavor called “Beck University.” The purpose of the “university” – which exists only in cyberspace – is to teach Americans about the true “Christian” roots of the country. (Read more in the September issue of AU’s Church & State Magazine.)
Says AU’s Lynn, “I am confident that Americans will reject the Beck-Barton message of extremism and intolerance. Our nation was built on a foundation of diversity and equality, and we must not let strident voices undercut those principles.”
Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.
Tonight’s event at the Kennedy Center, “Divine Destiny,” is billed by Beck as a way to “reunite” Americans, “heal your soul” and take a “look at the role faith played in the founding of America and the role it will play again in its destiny.”
In reality, a major goal of Beck’s rallies is to undermine the Founding Fathers’ vision of a nation where government and religion are kept separate. Beck propagates a revisionist historical perspective that says America is an officially religious state. Mainline Christians, Muslims, non-believers and other Americans who fail to meet Beck’s religious test are often maligned.
Over the past few months, Beck has teamed up with David Barton, a Texas-based Religious Right activist who has no credentials as a historian. Yet Barton peddles books, videos and other materials that spread his misguided belief that church-state separation was never intended by the founders.
Said AU’s Lynn, “Barton has lurked in the dark corners of the Religious Right house of horrors for years. But now he is playing on a national stage, thanks to Beck. That’s a tragedy, not a comedy.”
Barton is the founder of Wallbuilders, a Texas-based organization that exists to attack mainstream history. He served as an adviser to the Texas State Board of Education when the state’s social studies curriculum was revised to downplay Thomas Jefferson and the role of church-state separation.
Since March, Barton has appeared on Beck’s Fox program at least 15 times as part an endeavor called “Beck University.” The purpose of the “university” – which exists only in cyberspace – is to teach Americans about the true “Christian” roots of the country. (Read more in the September issue of AU’s Church & State Magazine.)
Says AU’s Lynn, “I am confident that Americans will reject the Beck-Barton message of extremism and intolerance. Our nation was built on a foundation of diversity and equality, and we must not let strident voices undercut those principles.”
Americans United is a religious liberty watchdog group based in Washington, D.C. Founded in 1947, the organization educates Americans about the importance of church-state separation in safeguarding religious freedom.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Not all Parents have the Right and Authority to Raise Their Children According to Their Christian Faith
"...a guardian ad litem [assigned to represent the interest of the child] concluded the girl 'appeared to reflect her mother's rigidity on questions of faith' and that the girl's interests 'would be best served by exposure to a public school setting' and 'different points of view at a time when she must begin to critically evaluate multiple systems of belief... in order to select, as a young adult, which of those systems will best suit her own needs.'"
Did you catch that? The court tells us that this Christian girl -- an excellent student -- does not have the right to "choose" which religion best "suits her own needs" until she has examined many other "systems of beliefs." Only as "a young adult" would she know enough about the world's diverse religions to choose a suitable system.
Would that rule apply to Muslim children? Buddhist children? Hindu children? Of course not! In today's "progressive" global culture, the "enemy" is Christianity. Other religions are protected. After all, they are essential to the new vision of "unity in diversity."
You see, today's change agents consider Biblical Christianity a major obstacle to global solidarity. And nothing erodes Christian values more effectively than immersion into small groups led by trained facilitators who guide the diverse members toward a pre-planned unity of heart as well as mind.
But there's more to this manipulation. The path to pluralism calls for a strategic blend of group consensus [an evolving THEORY] and collective PRACTICE: active immersion into a community with diverse social and moral values. Such "service-learning" has become a norm in schools, colleges, and service organizations everywhere.
REDEFINING RIGHTS AND FREEDOM
The 10-year old girl mentioned earlier illustrates a battle that has raged in Germany since the days of Hitler: Should parents have the right and authority to raise their children according to their Christian faith?
Like persecuted Christians around the world, we must make a choice: will we please the world and follow its ways -- or please God and follow His Way? Since America is rapidly embracing Neo-Marxist ideals, Christians who refuse to conform may soon reap the wrath of the world. (See The UN Seizure of Parental Rights) Source
Lutherans Ordain Gay Pastors · August 26, 2010
by Pastor Hal Mayer
On July 25, seven openly gay pastors were ordained to the Evangelical Lutheran ministry in St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in San Francisco. It was the first of several such ceremonies planned since the denomination voted to allow noncelibate gay ministers in “committed relationships” to serve as pastors.
“The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, known as the E.L.C.A., with 4.6 million members, is now the largest Protestant church in the United States to permit noncelibate gay ministers to serve in the ranks of its clergy — an issue that has caused wrenching divisions for it as well as for many other denominations.”
“Since the church voted last summer to allow noncelibate gay clergy members to serve, 185 congregations have taken the two consecutive votes required to leave the denomination…” There are 10,396 congregations nationwide.”
“The Episcopal Church and the United Church of Christ also allow gay ministers. And the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s general assembly voted at its convention earlier [in July] to do so, though the vote will become church law only if is ratified by a majority of the church’s 173 regional presbyteries. Two smaller Lutheran denominations, the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, do not ordain ministers in same-sex relationships.”
“The seven ministers welcomed at the ceremony on Sunday had already been ordained and have been serving at churches or outreach ministries in the San Francisco Bay Area, but they had not been officially recognized on the clergy roster.”‘Three more gay pastors will be welcomed at ceremonies in September and October, two in the St. Paul-Minneapolis area and one in Chicago,’ Ms. Cooper said.
“Some who opposed it are now poised to leave. The Rev. Mark Chavez, director of Lutheran CORE, a coalition of theologically conservative Lutheran churches, said his group expected to form a new denomination, the North American Lutheran Church, in August. He said of the ceremony on Sunday, “It’s just another steady step taken by the E.L.C.A. to move the denomination further and further away from most Lutheran churches around the world and from the whole Christian church, unfortunately.”
“Before the ceremony, one of the gay pastors, the Rev. Megan M. Rohrer, said it had been a long journey… [to be] finally welcomed as a minister in the Lutheran church.
Note that the E.L.C.A ordains women as well as gay clergy. There is a consistent pattern that develops when a church moves away from bible teaching and ordains women to the ministry. Inevitably, it is followed by approval to ordain practicing gay pastors.
In the last days, Jesus said we would be faced with a situation very similar to the days in which Lot lived in Sodom. Sodom was destroyed for its pervasive gay culture and violence. Keep the Faith Ministry NY Times Article
NOTE: The world has become a second Sodom, but regardless of the opinions and mindset of the world today, God still reigns and His requirements have not changed one iota. According to His word, homosexuality is an abomination in His sight. Many denominations now ordaining gay clergy is fulfilling those prophetic words in Revelation 18, that Babylon would "become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird."
The Bible could not be more clear, they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. It is not love to excuse or rationalize sodomy. It is cruelty to say to the homosexual "ye shall not not surely died." No, it is the truth that sets one free. "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." In this faithless age, it may seem like a near impossibility to be delivered from homosexual passion, but Christ is just as willing to deliver from such passions today as when He visibly walked among men.
"Church members need to fast and pray, striving earnestly to overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. Not one particle of Sodomitish impurity will escape the wrath of God at the execution of the judgment. Those who do not repent of and forsake all uncleanness will fall with the wicked. Those who become members of the royal family and form God's kingdom in the earth made new, will be saints, not sinners. Isaiah 30:1-3, 8-16." TSB 119.
Our very time is described in Testimonies, volume 5, pages 209 and 210. We must not be among those who "try to throw a cloak over the existing evil, and excuse the great wickedness everywhere prevalent." We must be God's humble, peculiar people, who truly love and care about souls, who have "a soul anguish, which is expressed in lamentation and weeping, reproofs and warnings. . .those who have a zeal for God's honor and a love for souls will not hold their peace to obtain favor of any. Their righteous souls are vexed day by day with the unholy works and conversation of the unrighteous. They are powerless to stop the rushing torrent of iniquity, and hence they are filled with grief and alarm."
"Our only safety is to stand as God's peculiar people. We must not yield one inch to the customs and fashions of this degenerate age, but stand in moral independence, making no compromise with its corrupt and idolatrous practices." CG 449.
Unconstitutional Surveillance to Continue · August 25, 2010
by Pastor Hal Mayer
“It is just a technical matter,” wrote the New York Times, “the Obama administration says: We just need to make a slight change in a law to make clear that we have the right to see the names of anyone’s e-mail correspondents and their Web browsing history without the messy complication of asking a judge for permission.”
But in reality it is “far more than a technical change. The administration’s request… is an unnecessary and disappointing step backward toward more intrusive surveillance from a president who promised something very different during the 2008 campaign.”
Instead of reducing surveillance without a court order, as promised, President Obama is proposing to allow much more of it. The President wants to increase the use of National Security Letters, which are administrative requests for information on telephone and electronic communications, such as emails and web browsing history, from telecommunications and internet service providers.
The right to privacy is a key element of the U.S. Constitution. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, this and other provisions of the U.S. Constitution were pushed aside by the Bush administration in favor of nearly unbridled surveillance.
“The F.B.I. used these letters hundreds of thousands of times to demand records of phone calls and other communications, and the Pentagon used them to get records from banks and consumer credit agencies. Internal investigations of both agencies found widespread misuse of the power, and little oversight into how it was wielded.
“President Obama campaigned for office on an explicit promise to rein in these abuses. ‘There is no reason we cannot fight terrorism while maintaining our civil liberties,’ his campaign wrote… ‘As president, Barack Obama would revisit the Patriot Act to ensure that there is real and robust oversight of tools like National Security Letters, sneak-and-peek searches, and the use of the material witness provision.’
Instead President Obama “successfully pushed for crucial provisions of the Patriot Act to be renewed for another year without changing a word… Instead of implementing reasonable civil liberties protections, like taking requests for e-mail surveillance before a judge, the administration is proposing changes to the law that would allow huge numbers of new electronic communications to be examined with no judicial oversight.”
Not only is this Orwellian, it is also predicted in prophecy.
“When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, page 451.
While the Vatican and the U.S. administration are working very closely together in many ways, the assault on the U.S. Constitution continues on steadily. Keep the Faith Ministry
“It is just a technical matter,” wrote the New York Times, “the Obama administration says: We just need to make a slight change in a law to make clear that we have the right to see the names of anyone’s e-mail correspondents and their Web browsing history without the messy complication of asking a judge for permission.”
Instead of reducing surveillance without a court order, as promised, President Obama is proposing to allow much more of it. The President wants to increase the use of National Security Letters, which are administrative requests for information on telephone and electronic communications, such as emails and web browsing history, from telecommunications and internet service providers.
The right to privacy is a key element of the U.S. Constitution. After the September 11 terrorist attacks, this and other provisions of the U.S. Constitution were pushed aside by the Bush administration in favor of nearly unbridled surveillance.
“The F.B.I. used these letters hundreds of thousands of times to demand records of phone calls and other communications, and the Pentagon used them to get records from banks and consumer credit agencies. Internal investigations of both agencies found widespread misuse of the power, and little oversight into how it was wielded.
“President Obama campaigned for office on an explicit promise to rein in these abuses. ‘There is no reason we cannot fight terrorism while maintaining our civil liberties,’ his campaign wrote… ‘As president, Barack Obama would revisit the Patriot Act to ensure that there is real and robust oversight of tools like National Security Letters, sneak-and-peek searches, and the use of the material witness provision.’
Instead President Obama “successfully pushed for crucial provisions of the Patriot Act to be renewed for another year without changing a word… Instead of implementing reasonable civil liberties protections, like taking requests for e-mail surveillance before a judge, the administration is proposing changes to the law that would allow huge numbers of new electronic communications to be examined with no judicial oversight.”
Not only is this Orwellian, it is also predicted in prophecy.
“When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near.” Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 5, page 451.
While the Vatican and the U.S. administration are working very closely together in many ways, the assault on the U.S. Constitution continues on steadily. Keep the Faith Ministry
