Did you read that link I posted about the Christian Reconstructionists? I don't think they care so much about religious and spiritual enrichment. It's all about the Rapture for them.
Yes, I did read that article about Christian Reconstructionists.
Fundamentalists such as my family have no idea how thoroughly they have been orchestrated by agenda-driven Christian media and other innovations of the past few decades.
This quote makes me feel that many people don't know what they're doing -- their behavior has been *orchestrated*.
...what is truly happening in this country, the thing that has been building for a long, long time---a holy war, a covert Christian jihad for control of America and the entire world. Millions of Americans are under the spell of an extraordinarily dangerous mass psychosis.
My ex-girlfriend's father was a believer in The Rapture. At his church, the parishioners would practice jumping, literally, leaping off the ground as high as they could, so that when The Rapture came, they would be closer to the sky and thus more likely to be swept up and fly. This was deadly serious, in spite of its clear insanity. Like the author, my ex-girlfriend was forced to pretend to agree with theories on The Rapture when her father became ill, just to shut him up about it. He viewed her homosexuality as a complete abomination, and vowed to help "save" her and bring her around to his views, which again she was forced to give lip service to, to mollify an ill father. Of course no sane person can believe these things, but mass psychosis is real.
The only question is whether or not it is possible to tear younger such Christians away from these erroneous beliefs, and if so, how?
From there it was a short step for Christian Dominionist leaders to conclude that such magnificent infallibility [of the Bible] should be enforced upon all other people.
Why do these folks purposely flout the founding ideas of America? The idea that no particular religious belies should ever be "enforced" on any people? Do they see how un-American their religious conformity is, how dangerous to democracy? I mean, it's clear that they don't see it, and if they do, they don't care, but again, there HAS to be a way to convey this basic idea to the younger Christians before it is too late. Outlawing their home schooling won't work, because one cannot outlaw home schooling, as it is not the kind of thing that should inherently be outlawed. Academic rigor in home schooling is unenforcable, although a good idea. The Bible folks just pretend to teach what the state says, but secretly spend all day teaching the Bible. In Colorado, our next door neighbors were like this. The kids would sit in the backyard listening to a Bible reading on Books on Tape for an hour, and that was the extent of their daily curriculum. I am not surprised by any of this. I just want to know if there is a way to culturally shift some younger Christians away from these ways of thinking, or if indeed there is no way to do so. How did the author of the article come to think differently from the way his family thinks? How can he figure out a way to help others like himself, people who have doubts, gain the strength to rebel?
I wish I knew. I went to one of those Baptist things where they denounce the Devil's music and try and get kids to burn their albums. I was HORRIFIED.
I just don't know if it is possible to get people to understand that the foundation of America is not "do whatever you think God wants and tell others to do the same." But there is a distinction between having your faith guide you and using your "faith" as an excuse to not use your brain, logic, the facts at hand, etc. when leading a country.
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-11-04 08:19 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-11-04 08:51 am (UTC)Fundamentalists such as my family have no idea how thoroughly they have been orchestrated by agenda-driven Christian media and other innovations of the past few decades.
This quote makes me feel that many people don't know what they're doing -- their behavior has been *orchestrated*.
...what is truly happening in this country, the thing that has been building for a long, long time---a holy war, a covert Christian jihad for control of America and the entire world. Millions of Americans are under the spell of an extraordinarily dangerous mass psychosis.
My ex-girlfriend's father was a believer in The Rapture. At his church, the parishioners would practice jumping, literally, leaping off the ground as high as they could, so that when The Rapture came, they would be closer to the sky and thus more likely to be swept up and fly. This was deadly serious, in spite of its clear insanity. Like the author, my ex-girlfriend was forced to pretend to agree with theories on The Rapture when her father became ill, just to shut him up about it. He viewed her homosexuality as a complete abomination, and vowed to help "save" her and bring her around to his views, which again she was forced to give lip service to, to mollify an ill father. Of course no sane person can believe these things, but mass psychosis is real.
The only question is whether or not it is possible to tear younger such Christians away from these erroneous beliefs, and if so, how?
From there it was a short step for Christian Dominionist leaders to conclude that such magnificent infallibility [of the Bible] should be enforced upon all other people.
Why do these folks purposely flout the founding ideas of America? The idea that no particular religious belies should ever be "enforced" on any people? Do they see how un-American their religious conformity is, how dangerous to democracy? I mean, it's clear that they don't see it, and if they do, they don't care, but again, there HAS to be a way to convey this basic idea to the younger Christians before it is too late. Outlawing their home schooling won't work, because one cannot outlaw home schooling, as it is not the kind of thing that should inherently be outlawed. Academic rigor in home schooling is unenforcable, although a good idea. The Bible folks just pretend to teach what the state says, but secretly spend all day teaching the Bible. In Colorado, our next door neighbors were like this. The kids would sit in the backyard listening to a Bible reading on Books on Tape for an hour, and that was the extent of their daily curriculum. I am not surprised by any of this. I just want to know if there is a way to culturally shift some younger Christians away from these ways of thinking, or if indeed there is no way to do so. How did the author of the article come to think differently from the way his family thinks? How can he figure out a way to help others like himself, people who have doubts, gain the strength to rebel?
(no subject)
Date: 2004-11-04 09:34 am (UTC)I just don't know if it is possible to get people to understand that the foundation of America is not "do whatever you think God wants and tell others to do the same." But there is a distinction between having your faith guide you and using your "faith" as an excuse to not use your brain, logic, the facts at hand, etc. when leading a country.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-11-04 11:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-11-04 11:29 am (UTC)