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Goodbye Jesus

ARE YOU AWARE OF "THE FAMILY" (a.k.a., the Fellowship)


Weezer

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I didn't know where else to put this to get the most attention.  If you are interested in the separation of church and state, you need to be aware of this "movement".  They are the ones who put on the NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST each year, and are viewed by many, especially some Evangicals, to be God sent.  They are very powerful and have the ears of some of the most powerful people in the world.  In the name of Jesus, they are out to take the world for God.  They are backing Trump and are determined to make the USA a christian nation under God.  For an interesting overview of how they got started, the tactics they use, and just how powerful they are, watch the Netflix,  5 part series, THE FAMILY.   There is also a book by the same name written by Jeff Sharlet.  It is much more detailed than the Netflix series.  They are a very shrewd, sly,  group, and masters at flying under the radar.   They are male, authoritarian oriented, and initation of young men is by invitation only, and remind me of initation into elite fraternities and the Marines.  They believe they have been called by God, and are totally committed to their version of "Jesus."  They have studied the leadership tactics of powerful people, including Hitler, and say God had used imperfect men through the ages to accomplish his goals.  Trump comes to mind.  They are to be feared!!  Their tactics are very effective.

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I wrote the above last night and was getting sleepy.  Forgot the question part.  How to best counter this movement??  I thought about writing my congressmen, but think our conservative guys from Kansas probably back the movement.  One of our ex-senators, Sam Brownback, one of Trumps men, appears to be one of them.  So, what do you do with a situation like this?

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The religious right gains ground every day. I fear it might be too late. After all, how do we make people smarter and how do we dissuade others from seeking power and control? If I were younger I would move to a less hostile country.

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The movement is frightening.  Following are excerpts from the movie Silhouette City which addresses numerous groups that are behind the movement and is well worth watching.   It came out maybe a dozen years ago.  Things have gotten worse.  

 

 

 

 

 

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14 hours ago, florduh said:

If I were younger I would move to a less hostile country.

  

^ ^ ^ 

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On 2/18/2020 at 9:30 AM, florduh said:

If I were younger I would move to a less hostile country.

 

I have had the same thoughts. 

 

I just finished the book, and except for being too detailed in some places, it appears well researched.  I highly recommend it.  

 

The latter part of it is about the Evangelicals in general, which I found very interesting.  Some on the far right are really scary, believing the ends justify the means.  It helped me understand why some professed Christians are so militaristic, and some back Trump.  And how they so easily forgive their fallen leaders.  

 

One thing we can do is to push for teaching critical thinking in our education systems, a broad (liberal) education, and fight school vouchers.   They are big on indoctrination of children.  And part of their manifest destiny is to get rid of unbelievers. 

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A few days ago I engaged a believer in another guy's thread on FB. He kept repeating how they were ready for a revolution, a violent one they were willing to die in to protect their freedoms, how they are well armed and will protect those rights. I called him out on his violent attitude and lack of love, saying he was playing right into Putin's hands by wanting America in a civil war. He replied "Violent? I never said anything about violence. Putin? You people are weak." I replied with line after line of his statements about armed conflict, killing, and dying. Then I said "Those are your own words. You seem far more interested in shooting someone than in loving your neighbor." He actually toned down a lot after that, but a lot of believers across the country have become militarized since the 1980s. They see it as reclaiming their "heritage" of the pure white days of prophets Ozzie and Harriet (that was sarcasm, but they really do have a view of America that is idealized and idolized). They WANT someone to take a shot at the president to justify unleashing a bloody civil war against everyone that isn't like them. They WANT violence, not caring for the poor and needy. They eat up old testament stories of God giving victory in battles. They ignore all the words of Jesus in favor of stories like those. 

 

The military has strong groups of evangelicals that force recruits into church activities, and you won't get promoted without belonging to the cult. That is why the current president is their wet dream of power, boldness, brashness, acting more like a king than an elected representative. They worship a dictator king who demands absolute obedience, not that they give it other than what they want to give. But the power...they get off on the power.

 

On the flip side, there are millions of us that want things exactly not like what they want, we look forward to the next election and hope that it isn't already too rigged. But my hunch is that if he retains power, we are on the brink of a new kind of fascism with all the tech in their control. The Oregon Republicans openly refuse to even allow a vote on subjects they hate. They literally get up as a group and leave the building, driving into the next state to prevent a quorum. Fucking cowards. Expect that in the federal level if they lose the next election. If they lose widely enough, it won't matter if they leave. 

 

It may devolve into violence and renewed open hatred of those who are different. The shot heard round the world could just as easily be at the dems, giving the right a signal to "go". Most days it all feels like we are pawns watching our people being ruined by those in power, and only being given a facade of choice, and the useful idiots who think Jesus is behind it all will push a crackdown on all the "witches and fags" who bringing god's judgment on us, and themselves as the warriors of GAWD upon whom he smiles. 

 

I suppose it's possible that there could be a hat-trick and the people at large get fed up with the shitstorm of corruption and do something about it daily. I hope that is still possible.

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All I've got to say to them is good luck on trying. A spectacular attempt, but all for naught!!!

 

 

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2 hours ago, Fuego said:

 

I suppose it's possible that there could be a hat-trick and the people at large get fed up with the shitstorm of corruption and do something about it daily. I hope that is still possible.

 

Flood your congressmen in Washington with letters or messages.   Although my wife is a christian, she has gotten on the band wagon and can't understand why anyone would back Trump,  and believes the Evangical movement has gone off the deep end.  A few days ago she sent 3 emails to our congressmen.  I may get on a black list for sending emails to congressmen and the white house, heavy on separation of church and state. 

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30 minutes ago, Weezer said:

Flood your congressmen in Washington with letters or messages.   Although my wife is a christian, she has gotten on the band wagon and can't understand why anyone would back Trump,  and believes the Evangical movement has gone off the deep end.  A few days ago she sent 3 emails to our congressmen.  I may get on a black list for sending emails to congressmen and the white house, heavy on separation of church and state.

 

Just don’t make any threats . . . .

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/man-arrested-threatening-kill-schiff-schumer-impeachment/story?id=69077522

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55 minutes ago, TEG said:

 

LOL, we don't go that far, but have come close to telling them they are stupid for some of their actions.  I think the word used was uniformed-----which they are in some cases.

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What Fuego writes is, I think, very true. I just saw the movie 1917, and the line that stands out most in my mind is when one of the soldiers said, "Some men just want to fight." 

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Good luck but it appears to be a losing battle and here's why in my opinion: in America the Christian religion is still seen as the "norm," in particular among white people, a great many of whom have an interesting take on American history: that they and their norms (white Protestant middle class)  are what makes America great, and that anything different (and true equality with others) is dangerous. Trumpism involves white evangelicals much more than black and for a good reason. I just watched The Great White Hoax, which examines why divide and conquer has worked in America historically, and why it's working now. Under such a system, how do you create change? Tell the people who their enemies are and the uneducated, dissatisfied, ignorant ones (there's a lot of them) will run with it, in particular when they are religious. It all explains why the current leader of the White House is where he is and why secret organizations such as The Family are rejoicing in that. The way I see it is that Americans are involved in an ongoing battle about what it means to be American: progressive multiethnic multi-religious, diverse society of equal rights and privilege (many whites refuse to see how white privilege operates) vs some version of a white Protestant 1950s style America as normative,  that in it's most dangerous form is explicitly racist and has no shame about it. One only needs to watch Trumps campaign speeches from the last election to figure out which side of this battle he has appealed to. 

 

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On 2/20/2020 at 6:09 AM, Fuego said:

The military has strong groups of evangelicals that force recruits into church activities, and you won't get promoted without belonging to the cult. That is why the current president is their wet dream of power, boldness, brashness, acting more like a king than an elected representative. They worship a dictator king who demands absolute obedience, not that they give it other than what they want to give. But the power...they get off on the power.

 

 

 

I dont know about other branches of the US military but you have to take a test in the Air Force to promote through the enlisted ranks past E4. E1 thru E4 are just time-in-service promotions. My son who separated as an E5 three years ago didnt seem to mention Jesus. Granted, there are churches on military bases and there are definitely factions of high ranking evangelicals and I bet there are even some people 'pretending' to be evangelicals to get some good performance reports from their evangelical boss.

 

 

 

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I'm glad I exited a belief system that was chronically worked up over some future apocalypse. At least, I think I did . lol.

 

 

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