Prior to 9/11, the Taliban government in Afghanistan did not register very much on American radar screens, with one notable exception: when it blew up two colossal images of the Buddha in Bamiyan province in early 2001. But destruction of treasured artifacts isn't just limited to the Taliban.
There's a right-wing politico-religious presence centred in the US, but with a global reach, engaging in similar practises, destroying religious and cultural artifacts as a key aspect of its ideology of "strategic level spiritual warfare" (SLSW).
Until recently a fringe evangelical movement, warned against as deviant, "spiritual warfare" is rapidly positioning itself within America's mainstream political right. It's well past time for political journalists to start covering what this movement is up to.
As an example, leaders have bragged online about the destruction of Native American religious artifacts, which their twisted ideology somehow sees as a liberating act, promoting "reconciliation" between estranged groups of people. Critics, however, see it as reflecting an eliminationist mindset, while traditional conservative evangelicals have denounced the ideology as un-biblical. Some even claim it is actually a form of pagan practice dressed up in Christian clothes, according such artifacts a spiritual power that the Bible itself denies.
The ultimate goal is to replace secular democracy, both in America and around the world, with a Christian theocracy, an ideology known as "dominionism". The supposed purpose is to "purify" the world for Christ's return - again, strikingly similar to what the Taliban believe, but also significantly at odds with more common, long-standing Christian beliefs about the "end times", as well as the nature and purpose of prayer, and the roles of human and divine power.
This is a VERY informative article which touches on many of the same frightening themes that fans of Leah Burton, and God's Own Party, are probably already aware. The piece explores the New Apostolic Reformation, the Seven Mountains Mandate, the influence of Sarah Palin, and also lays out the three levels of Spiritual Warfare.
Ground level spiritual warfare is casting out demons from individuals. Occult level spiritual warfare is a confrontation with demons operating through witchcraft and esoteric philosophies (examples are Freemasonry and Tibetan Buddhism). Strategic Level Spiritual Warfare is the highest level, dealing with confrontation of territorial principalities that control entire communities, ethnic groups, religions, and nations.
Like I said the article is quite informative, however it is also a chilling read that might cause you one or two sleepless night. So take care.
"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ."
ReplyDeleteMohandas Gandhi
Thanks, Gryph. I was trying to convince my sister, who is a big and duped fan of Limbaugh, Palin, and Fox, that these people have bad plans for this country. I sent her some links, but got back "I'll do my own reading, and you should stop believing everything MSNBC tells you." So I tried again, writing things about the war on women, dominionism, and the lies of Fox, but she's having none of it, She isn't even religious in any way, but she sue knew the code words against Obama, and threw in Van Jones, ACORN, and all the rest. Scary that people are being so easily led to the demise of this country. Keep fighting! Palin is fading, and we have to get the word out. Love you for your untiring search for truth!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting that people continue to use Sarah Palin as defense for such behavior when she would in no way condone this. It's like when I walk down the stree and hear a couple of guys say "yeah I don't have to get a job. Obamas looking out for me dawg." (Yes I have heard that often)
ReplyDeleteRemember. Just because people throw out someones name doesn't make them an advocate.
Is that pic photoshopped, Gryphen. Becauseoif it isn't,it just ost Perry a whole bunch of votes outside Texas, Wyoming and Alaska
ReplyDeleteRick Perry is very literally the real Texas version of George W. Bush. They both are cut from the same cloth, both even look alike. Stupid, mean and very dangerous.
ReplyDeleteHumans long for community, and in latter years, we've just seen a real decline of civic engagement. GUESS WHO HAS STEPPED INTO THE VOID? DOMINIONIST MEGACHURCHES.
ReplyDeleteAnd people, this is why we all need to participate more in our community, especially in the realm of bringing people in the community together at public spaces. Otherwise, these scary fake Christians WILL step into the void and provide the community, albeit a twisted one, instead.
Anon 4;42 am: "It's like when I walk down the stree and hear a couple of guys say "yeah I don't have to get a job. Obamas looking out for me dawg." (Yes I have heard that often)"
ReplyDeleteYou've never heard of that in your life. You are a liar, just like Sarah Palin.
I tried to access the article via the link that said "Aljazeera," but it took me to a page called "Laura Ingraham sucks? Can you link to the article?
ReplyDeleteSo, the piece is by a Paul Rosenberg, with the disclaimer that the writer's views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Al Jazeera. Right.
ReplyDeleteI admire Al Jazeera, though I prefer Al Arabiya. Certainly it is not an accident that this piece appeals to Al Jazeera and its audience, however. The real interesting stuff is in the comments below that editorial, btw. Interesting clash of viewpoints/cultural biases there.
Why anyone is determined to disturb anyone's sleep with this topic is beyond me. Unless someone cares more about making a point than anything else, I guess.
Refreshing that this man keeps the use of the word dominionism to a minimum, but instead gets into specifics. I'd like to see his citations and references, however.
It would be funny if his info goes largely back to stuff he has read on Leah Burton's site.
Round in circles we go.
great article Gryphen.
ReplyDelete(FYI, the link to Al Jazeera is a typo, should redirect to
http://tinyurl.com/3m6kyhw
For any Christians reading this blog, it would be great to hear what you have to say about the 7 mountains movement, dominionism, and how that all relates to John 18:36.
Quote from KJames version
"My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence."
If the "kingdom" is not of this world, then why are all these theocrats like Pastor Muthee, D James Kennedy, and C Peter Wagner working so hard to infiltrate and control our Constitution and laws?
They seem far more concerned with secular matters, and are consumed with getting christians elected to high office, to force religious based legislation on all the rest of us, rather than the actual work of the gospel.
In fact, through much of Western history, many mainline churches have recognized this "separation from the world" as basic doctrine, which is exactly why there are monastaries and nunneries to withdraw from the world and seek
spiritual growth and peace.
I am personally convinced that the radical right, the teaparty, and the religious right are moving to not only outlaw abortion, they will seek to make being gay a criminal offense.
As they develop their ever more radical taliban tendencies, they will also seek to outlaw all contraceptives, and even tubal ligation and vascectomies.
Consider what insanity is encoded in law based on religion in this example:
In 2010, and woman in Iowa was ARRESTED for accidentally falling down the stairs after becoming light headed. The doctor and nurse decided she tried to kill the baby purposely and called the police! The only reason she was not charged with murder is that she was in the 2nd trimester, and not the 3rd and so the DA decided not to prosecute.
http://news.change.org/stories/pregnant-iowa-woman-arrested-for-falling-down
The Aljazeera link has been fixed.
ReplyDeleteSorry about that. Late night.
4:42 You are a liar. Unfortunately for you, you're not a very good one. In this respect you follow your cult leader Sarah Palin; she isn't a very good liar either.
ReplyDeletePlease read that Constitution you teabaggers like to cite so often, and you may discover that it is
Congress that controls taxpayer revenues and how they are disbursed, not the President. And if Congress is taking care of anyone, it's the large corporations and billionaires who rule this country by paying these corrupt politicians off.
Wear your racism proudly, you liar. You might just as well, because you're not fooling anybody.
@4:42
ReplyDeleteYes, your message is clear: "the NEGRO in the White House takes care of his own people. Meanwhile real, common-sense conservative hard-working xtian white Americans are increasingly burdened by the socialist free-ride provided the undeserving."
Nice try, DAWG... The Obama administration has provided/proposed remarkably few 'goodies' for what you would consider his natural constituency. Unlike President George W. Dipshit who gave away the store to what he clearly considered his two most important constituencies: the very wealthy and the extremely wealthy.
It seems that giving rigid religion its proper secondary (or lesser) place in society has always been a key to American (and western, generally) success. The cultures that let religion dominate daily life tend to be fraught with conflict and intolerance.
There's a place for belief, if you insist, but it shouldnt dominate our lives. The prospect of rising religious intolerance - in the name of protecting American freedoms???? - is a dire one, indeed.
May all-mighty Zeus strike you dead with a thunderbolt if you disagree with me.
So this is the publication Mr. Rosenberg edits?
ReplyDeletehttp://www.randomlengthsnews.com/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/
Scroll down for a short bio of Mr. Rosenberg here:
http://dirtyhippies.org/2011/03/09/taxing-the-poor-to-balance-the-budget-in-georgia/
I am always interested in the actual writers behind anything I read.
I personally know a young writer who has not been able to make professional headway within established American and other Western journalistic circles, and yet Middle Eastern outlets are happy to use his work because he conforms to their editorial policies and is largely sympathetic to many of their viewpoints. Some of those viewpoints are absolutely accurate, don't get me wrong, and I am not naive about the suppression of ideas that can take place here in the good old USA. Still, it's noteworthy in this context.
I am not saying Mr. Rosenberg's points about these fanatics aren't at all worth discussing, but the tone is something I continue to question with so much of the writing on this topic. The alarmist equivalencies are also iffy, for me.
The use of the word Taliban is objectionable, for example. Until we have a truly equivalent phenomenon here in the US - and sorry folks, it ain't gonna happen - the label should not be used for sensationalist purposes.
AJ Billings....
ReplyDeleteI'd like someone to explain that, too. Fact is they can't.
"And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. And they marvelled at him." Mark 12:17
Sounds like separation of church and state to me!
These people are ignorant in the extreme and have effectively declared a war of cultural genocide on Native America. I live adjacent to San Ildefonso Pueblo land and traverse the lands of three other pueblos at least once a week. It is the culture and beliefs of my neighbors these assholes are talking about destroying.
ReplyDeleteI've got news for these dominionist shitheads, they are fucking with the wrong crowd. I guarantee you that if the Native Americans mobilize to fight the dominionists, they fundagelicals will have no idea what hit them. The Native peoples take their culture very seriously and will fight to the death - and I mean that quite literally - any attempt to destroy their culture. They also will have plenty of allies in the non-native community who will oppose them at every turn - like me.
These fundies are simply arrogant assholes who believe themselves superior to everyone else. In that, they are nothing new, but merely the latest in a long line of self appointed guardians to the throne of God.
The bad news is that, like the cockroaches they are, they thrive in the dark as they plot their stupid, pissy little plans. The good news is that they are thicker than shit. The more we shine a light on this crowd of toothless goobers primping and preening as virtuous, incorruptible saints, the more everybody else will become aware of their dangerous imbecilic theology.
AJ Billings: I am a liberal, social justice, Christian. Your point is well taken. I think all of those so-called Apostles should study carefully the temptations of Jesus. They would see that they include all the usual temptations of humans who lead. Jesus rejects them all.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, these self-called Christians are not only not Christian, they are not particularly religious. The leadership is interesting only in wealth and power. I feel sorry for the Sheeple, but I'm afraid there is no helping them. They blindly follow whoever promises them safety. The leaders provide them with a nice, safe world where they don't have to think. Everything is black and white, and they are on the "right" side.
Are these people dangerous? I believe the answer is yes. The leadership has been consolidating its position for about 30-40 years. Look at Congress. Look at education where we fight for science, true history, public education. Look at any of the "7 mountains" and you will see their influence. We are headed for a theocracy if we don't stand up and say, "no".
6:55 here...to GasMan and Elizabeth. Can we sit down for a drink? I'm buying.
ReplyDeleteI grew up in Texas. My family still lives there. They do not like Rick Perry at all. I pray he does not even run for President. He is just a male Sarah Palin. I can not say that where I live now is much better in Alabama we have nuts like Mo Brooks, Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby. Mo Brooks is one of the freshmen in congress that is voting with the Tea Party. All three are nuts.
ReplyDeleteOT but over there at...shhhhh..I just stuck my lil toe in. But in response to new auto standards, one C4Peer said this
ReplyDeleteToday 11:11 AM
The stack of executive orders President Palin will have to sign on Inauguration Day is growing higher by the minute. Here's hoping she has time to get to the Inaugural Balls January 20, 2013.
Lol!!!!!! ha ha ha ha ha! She ain't
going to make it anywhere near the White House. The "Defeated" can't even stay at the movie theater for two weeks....
Maila says its not showing now anywhere
HA HA HA HA!!!!
No worries. Religion is about to be blown wide open, finally revealed as the corrupt power structure that it is. Actually, it's ironic that these hardline Christians are destroying native artifacts, as it's the ancient prophecies of every native people on the planet that will soon come to light and usher in HUGE changes. The age of the eagle and the condor is dawning, and the darkness will lose.
ReplyDeleteFor years, I've been reading the work of native astrologer Barbara Hand Clow, whose predictions (also based on Mayan knowledge) are always spot on. See for yourself...
http://lightworkers.org/channeling/137540/leo-new-moon-july-30-2011-b-hand-clow
Asking as a Canadian:
ReplyDeleteAre the people pushing this former soldiers- are they the generation that served/were drafted?
Have they experienced what they are advocating?
It's a shame that the majority of the American people are dismissing Dominionists as a just another group of whackos. IF they are even aware that they exist...
ReplyDeleteDominionists are the WORST threat to Democracy that has existed in the 200+years this country has been around. The religionists are the ones who are most dismissive of any warnings. They prefer their false prophets.
Dawg help us all.
Thanks, Gryph, for posting on this very important subject.
ReplyDeleteThis is the crowd I’ve been screaming about for at least 15 years. I became aware of them 30 years ago, when I made a friend whose parents were of that ilk. Their beliefs and ideas were just so ridiculous and so “off” from mainstream Christianity I thought they were just a little fringe movement that no one in their right mind would buy into. So I pretty much ignored them (busy raising my kids) till about 15 years ago a magazine article brought them to my attention.
What caught my attention, and alarmed me, was to find out that they were doing heavy duty evangelizing in the Catholic countries of Central & South America (other places too) – to people who were already Christian. That’s when I got it that for them, no other forms of Christianity are “real Christianity.” So basically, everyone in the WORLD who does not subscribe to their particular crazy brand of Christianity is fair game to be “evangelized” — Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Native Americans, Hindus, Muslims, etc. Their missionary efforts here and abroad are astounding and terrifying.
It isn’t just THIS country they’re after to spread their crazy toxic religion, it’s the world.
And of course, cultures are being destroyed along the way because anything that isn’t “them” is “pagan,” or “of Satan.” Statues of the Virgin Mary have been destroyed/defaced, so I’m not surprised to hear of them destroying native sacred objects as well.
But their plan to turn the US into a theocracy is well-formed and has been in action for years. It started with getting their kind onto school boards, city councils, county boards of supervisors, the judiciary, state assemblies, and onward and upward from there. The plan was small, but well on its way before I was even aware of the movement.
An old and dear friend of mine got mixed up with this crowd many years back. She eventually got into the missionary work part of it. She would proudly tell me of the ‘mission trips’ she and her husband and some friends were doing, in which they would go to some American “sin city” (New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles) to cast out demons. It was so ridiculous it was all I could do not to laugh as she told me these things. But after a while I began to listen to the techniques being used and realized that there was a certain “new ageyness” about them. I’m not anti-new age by any means; a lot of valuable stuff has come from that movement. But the use of those techniques by fervent, literalist bible thumpers was weird and scary, to say the least.
Viewing them from a religious standpoint, I do not consider them Christian in the old & time-honored sense of the word; I consider them a cult based on the worst of the Old Testament wrathful/vengeful God, with a smattering of New Testament ideas and Jesus as the centerpiece.
@6:16 / 6:45 – Please know that those of us who are alarmed about this are not being “alarmist.” Having watched this movement grow and spread like an opportunistic virus these many years – sucking in people I always thought too bright and sane to go for it – I can say with conviction that it is definitely the time to be alarmed.
For anyone who has some free time and wants to dip a toe into insanity on spiritual warfare--check out Frank Peretti's novels "This Present Darkness" and "Piercing the Darkness." (There usually are copies floating around thrift stores.) These were released in the late 80s-early 90s (don't remember exactly when) and became massive bestsellers among evangelical fundies. "New Agers" are the foes in these books, but the novels show the us-vs-them mentality dominionists have and the "danger" of "underestimating" seemingly neutral religions that aren't Christianity. In addition to the human characters, the novels are stacked with angels and demons, who wage literal battles that often are determined by the decision of just a few dedicated "believers" to suddenly drop to their knees and pray.
ReplyDeleteThese books were extremely popular when they came out, and we all thought the message was incredibly powerful. They made spiritual warfare "real" in ways we'd never considered and showed us that no struggle in our life was so minor that there might not be angels and demons risking their very existence battling over the outcome.
Like the "Left Behind" series, these novels are fiction that many/most readers took as a template for reality. The books likely have had a profound influence on the concept of spiritual warfare among dominionists now.
P.S. A dominionist acquaintance of my family once turned down an invitation to tour the Celestial Seasonings tea factory in Boulder, CO, with us. The reason: Boulder and Celestial Seasonings were both New Age bastions, and she was convinced she would be attacked by demons if she went. My parents, conservative Christians themselves, found this hilarious.
You can't make this stuff up.
6:15 a.m. said: "It would be funny if his info goes largely back to stuff he has read on Leah Burton's site."
ReplyDeleteLeah Burton's site is based on extensive research by multiple individuals with a variety of contacts and sources within the dominionist movement. While I don't have firsthand knowledge of everything she discusses--having avoided dominionism for more than a decade--based on my experience of dominionism (which is far more extensive than I'd like, believe me), Leah is extremely well-informed and credible.
While I, too, hope this reporter found other sources, because that's what a good journalist would do, using Leah's site would hardly invalidate his observations and conclusions.
Finally: you may think it's a waste of time losing sleep over this, but I can tell you that the dominionists are losing sleep (and praying HARD while they do) over you, and specifically over how to defeat you in the name of their sovereign Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Yeah, that really is how they talk and think.
That photo alone is incredibly disturbing.
ReplyDeleteM from MD
Elizabeth @ 7:23 am
ReplyDeletethank you for the thoughtful comments. Nice to hear a voice of sanity countering the obscene and hysterical rhetoric from the dominionists.
10:38 AM. You are right about these new evangelists being bonkers… my sister has fallen into their clutches. She prays daily for "Jen", some chick from her wacko church who is on a mission to France! Because apparently France has a particularly low level of this bat-shit religion, constituting an "emergency", as they see it.
ReplyDeleteYou are also right to call it a VIRUS.
I just finished one of the best books I have read, ever:
http://www.amazon.com/God-Virus-religion-infects-culture/dp/0970950519
It talks about ALL religions (and even communism, anything that requires unthinking adherence and devotion) and describes how they compete against each other, developing more powerful strategies and "vectors" over time.
Scary stuff. The whole logic of spiritual warfare is so dehumanizing. It is the perfect excuse for control mechanisms and an utter refusal to engage in meaningful dialogue. To folks who believe in it, those of us who don't are simply the enemy. Our every word and deed is a threat, and an expression of malice. We must not be granted the dignity of human beings.
ReplyDelete