The Rise of Christian Fascism

[gopher]

I have seen Hedges on TV and he is a good speech maker. His one deficiency, like that of many libs, is his failure to understand that the Bible is the best weapon people like him have in order to defeat Christian fascists. For example:

http://www.liberalslikechrist.org/

But if he and the like refuse to use that Bible the they have nobody else to blame for their inability to attract religious thinkers into their fold.

 

[look3467]

The human element is at it again! How can it be tamed?

Peace>>>AJ:love9:

 

[ShepherdsDog]

The rise of Christian Fascism??? The Roman Catholic Church has been around for many centuries, this isn't something recent. It becomes fashionable once or twice a century.

 

[talloola]

Religion should never be "part" of the decision making in government, and neither should atheism.

Religion should be kept out of schools and other public organizations, in respect for all other persons,
as they could be religions, or non religious, and everyone should be respected for
their personal beliefs, our country has such a multi-cultural mix, there are many many different
persuasions.

Decisions in government are made by "majority rules", and that would be a mixture of all sorts of
people of all sorts of beliefs/non beliefs, so in that case, the government would neither be religious
or non religious,but a democratic mixture.

 

[look3467]

Religion should never be "part" of the decision making in government, and neither should atheism.

Religion should be kept out of schools and other public organizations, in respect for all other persons,
as they could be religions, or non religious, and everyone should be respected for
their personal beliefs, our country has such a multi-cultural mix, there are many many different
persuasions.

Decisions in government are made by "majority rules", and that would be a mixture of all sorts of
people of all sorts of beliefs/non beliefs, so in that case, the government would neither be religious
or non religious,but a democratic mixture.

Question? Why suppose that after thousand of years of mankind's rule, we have yet to have a utopia? Is there something lacking?

Peace>>>AJ:love9:

 

[gc]

Well I feel its wrong to say, religion cannot be in the public square, because it imposes ones belief in a lack of religion, onto others.

Imposing of beliefs runs both ways.

Last time I checked, no one is putting up atheistic decorations in a public place (what exactly would atheist decorations look like, a big sign saying God doesn't exist?). I imagine if someone did try to put up such a sign, it would be taken down in the same was as a religious symbol. So, the solution is to have neither. You are still free to practice your beliefs at home, and no one is forcing anything on you. In other words, lack of decoration is NOT the same thing as atheistic decorations.

Of course, personally speaking, I don't give a damn either way. Put up religious decorations, or put up a big sign saying "God doesn't exist", I don't give a damn. Just keep ID out of science class.

 

[BitWhys]

I have seen Hedges on TV and he is a good speech maker. His one deficiency, like that of many libs, is his failure to understand that the Bible is the best weapon people like him have in order to defeat Christian fascists. For example:

http://www.liberalslikechrist.org/

But if he and the like refuse to use that Bible the they have nobody else to blame for their inability to attract religious thinkers into their fold.

I'm not so sure about that. If he understands the teachings of Bonhoffer and the Confessing Church at all he's aware it will ultimately be the task of those who oppose the ascension of the philosopher king to stand fast with the few tools they are afforded. History so far has proven its a matter of allies, so for his part Hedges may well have chosen his audience quite deliberately.

 

[BitWhys]

Fascist are a dime a dozen these days. The term has taken on a life of its own and can apply to anyone who seems bent on imposing his or her agenda. What we need are more commies. Pinkos. And the like. It'd be refreshing.

Its not used nearly enough and certainly not with the precision it merits. Hedges reliance on the "14 points of Fascism" doesn't really strike at the heart of the matter. In a nutshell, the (reactionary) Christian Right won't be satisfied until politics has become purely a matter of moral oversite by proper authority void of interference with the self-regulating market and social justice is the sole domain of its own concept of what the church should be.

 

[darkbeaver]

Corporate Canada isn't innocent but why pray tell would they seek to anger their customers?

They don't seek to anger thier customers,they're just to stupid to realize that homoginization of the consumer base alienates entrenched elements like your fine self. But they can hardly offer separately targeted consumer seasonal buying bashes,so to target everyone with one stroke they wash the guts out of something like chistmas.


DarkBeaver Inc (2007)
Manufacturers of Industrial Drivel
RR1 Canada
The Pond

 

[tamarin]

Bitwhys, there are elements in the far right Christian church that deserve scrutiny but I don't see the issue as being as serious as Hedges believes. There is a large moderate middle in America and I can't see that being displaced.
DB, I cancelled my Maclean's subscription years ago when the mag started using the Happy Holidays nonsense. More people should vote with their money and then Corporate Canada and America might think twice when involved in cultural adventurism.

 

[BitWhys]

...There is a large moderate middle in America and I can't see that being displaced.
...

Look again. At this point the reactionary's sharpest tool is disenfranchisement.

check the current rhetoric. its even been turned up a notch on this very board. some personas even specialize in it.

 

[RedGreen]

I 100% agree with taloola that religion has no place in politics. Democracy is intended to deal with all issues that arise within a country (the division of countries is an artificial division of land on our planet with no bearing on one's beliefs). I say no bearing but often which country one is in does have a bearing on which faith they take part in. The former is usually a function of being 'born into' a certain religion. True beliefs/ religion know no borders. Therefore the political systems in place in our already divided world (by countries) are not fit to deal with religious issues (which further divide us).
Political decision making should rely on scientific data and economics (things that are real to EVERYONE). Some would disagree with economics as being 'real' due to the fact that money is an obscure (invented) tool intended to be used as a way to count one's acomplishments or work. Politics should not consider the fantastic legends of our past that have been interpreted in different ways by differents groups which have lead the divisions, lines in the sand and ultimately religions that have pitted us against eachother for thousands of years and have been the root of nearly all wars throughout history.

Why can't we all grow up, get over the fact that there is a nice gold building where there's 'supposed' to be a temple and learn to love ALL of our brothers and sisters.

Where we came from and why we're here we will likely never know forsure. Why do we pretend to know this? One thing is forsure: We all came from the same place. Let's accept this. We can all have our ideas about how and why were are here but let the ideas be your own. Discuss your ideas with others... But don't try and convince them that your ideas are spot on because undoubtedly they are flawed. How can we be so egotistical (as a race) to think that we know all the answers to our being here?

*Ranted a little*: As for the rise of Christian facism, I can only hope that there are enough level headed "citizens of the world" living in the USA and Canada to never NEVER let this happen to our governments (maybe a little late for our neighbors to the south). The rest of us (non-christian, non-brainwashed) INDIVIDUALS (people who think for themselves) need to stand up and say NO to any type of religiously driven political parties. Saying no means not voting for them but more importantly voting for someone who will stand up and say that religion has no place in politics. Ideally people in other countries would do the same in order to bring down their ________ (fill in a religion) facist governments.

The time is now for a change in dogmatic thinking. Weapons are getting more powerful and easier to aquire. If we don't stop pointing them at eachother sooner or later someone is going to accidentally pull the trigger, the world may end and I don't believe that there will be a saviour. No jesus, no mohammed, no messiah... just a big mess and the opportunity for some other species to fill the niche left by the human race (note: race is singular): The smart but extremely stubborn human race.

 

[darkbeaver]

Bitwhys, there are elements in the far right Christian church that deserve scrutiny but I don't see the issue as being as serious as Hedges believes. There is a large moderate middle in America and I can't see that being displaced.
DB, I cancelled my Maclean's subscription years ago when the mag started using the Happy Holidays nonsense. More people should vote with their money and then Corporate Canada and America might think twice when involved in cultural adventurism.

Agreed, but as long as they own and operate the media it's impossible to affect change with the speed or scope necessary to overcome them.:wave:

 

[RedGreen]

I think i agree with you too tamarin... What do you mean by vote with your money though?

 

[BitWhys]

... True beliefs/ religion know no borders...

For a guy who specializes in duct tape you do manage to toss the odd zinger.

:thumbright:

 

[darkbeaver]

Hey BitWhys I'm trying to finalize my spring and summer reading schedual. Is that Dietrich Bonhoffer? And which Confessing Church , Presbyterian or what, the interweb lists a few? Give us a clue would ya, how am I ever to lift myself out of this sea of ignorance if you won't detail your suggested readings?:laughing7::wave:

 

[RedGreen]

Thanks Bigwhys.

I've been putting much thought into this subject lately. I actually watched some evangelical preacher show on US TV the other day just to see what it is they have to say on those shows. I found it absolutely mind boggling, crazy and quite startling what they talked about. First they showed a whole bunch of headlines from the middle-east, many of which i think were from Christian publications. The headlines reflected both the religious conflicts and the magnitude and destruction the conflicts are causing. They talked about "the muslims" and "the jews" as if they were some sort of other, less important beings that are surely not related to christians. Then... The preacher got all fired up saying what the recent events in Jeruslem meant in terms of biblical prophocies, quoting verses from the bible as he went. With such conviction, he went on to say that its so great how close to armageddon we are and when the middle-east blows up or whatever, the lord will come. And he'll save us (meaning christians). Then... Just to make sure nobody starts to panic or question their religion or their lord Jesus' planned trip back to earth once the world blows up in nuclear holocaust. He says that "Oh no. We were wrong for all of these years. The world won't even end before jesus comes back... He's going to come just before it blows up and save all christians and christians only so buy our new book and DVD that tells of the new profits."

This show may not come as a surprise to everyone. I personally was blown away by the TV show and am still amazed that such a show is allowed on the air. It seems like cult activity/ brainwashing/ complete utter crap. Really I'm not even sure what to think about it. Its scary to me that people watch this show, believe in what its saying and think that its actually good for there to be a war that will end the world. How will Jesus save them? It makes no logical sense.

If anybody knows of any books dealing with the hypothetical post-religion revolution (the era that may... as long as we don't blow eachother up first arrive when divisions among religions do not exist) pleas let me know.

We need to get over this hurdle in order to advance as a civilization.

 

[BitWhys]

Hey BitWhys I'm trying to finalize my spring and summer reading schedual. Is that Dietrich Bonhoffer? And which Confessing Church , Presbyterian or what, the interweb lists a few? Give us a clue would ya, how am I ever to lift myself out of this sea of ignorance if you won't detail your suggested readings?:laughing7::wave:

Dietrich. I can recommend "The Cost of Disicpleship" if your interested in his theology sans politics but I think its only fair to warn you that once you make it past the syntax he has a way of making Christianity accessible. The "Letters from Prison" collection provides an excellent source of insight into the man himself.

Personally, just because, I think the rumours about his backing assination plans are true so in the long run he had the jewels to be a martyr but chose for himself to trade in his sainthood, as it were, for something more important. So much the better.

the Barmen

Its the sort of text you can discern what they were up against by issues they were addressing. Sort of like figuring out what was going on in the churches at the time Revelation was written.

primarily Lutheran, methinks.

 

[darkbeaver]

Thanks:wave:

 

[jimmoyer]

Over-reactions.

I don't like the sanctifying evangelism either, nor the hell-fire-damnation stuff against Islam.

But ...

It's nowhere near the cartoon extremists views secular outsiders jump to.

What gets the headlines is always the most outlandish.