I’m not a conspiracy theory nutzoid. Really, I’m not. I’m always up for a good conspiracy theory, like what’s promulgated on Jesse Ventura’s show. It’s fun to speculate, theorize and enjoy some of the crazier ravings that come out of some of these theories. I honestly do NOT see the boogieman under the bed, and I also don’t check in the closet or under the bed to see if there really ARE boogiemen there. Unfortunately, there’s a new conspiracy theory out there that seems to be the truth, and it scares me to death. The boogieman might actually be real.
Those of you that read my blog posts and columns on a fairly regular basis know that I’ve got about as much use for the fundie pastors as I do for most critters of their contemptible ilk. I have opined, in the past, that it’s a damned good thing that none of the fundies running around loose can get over their differences long enough to form one united front to the country, because that’s about the single most dangerous thing that I can think of that could happen here in this country. On 9/13/01, during a broadcast of The 700 Club, both Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell categorically stated that the atrocities that were perpetrated on 9/11/01 were OUR FAULT as a country, that their version of god was raining fire down upon us and killing our citizens because we weren’t following strict Old Testament rules of law, and that the Muslims were all satanic. They called for an end to religious sectarianism, and ordered the country to go back to being the Christian nation that we’d been set up as in the first place.
Commentary as follows: Pat Robertson said “we have sinned against God, that the Supreme Court has insulted God over and over, that we (America) have allowed rampant pornography and secularism, taken God out of the schools, taken away the Ten Commandments, legalized abortion. We have insulted God at the highest level of our government" and that "this happened because we lost God's protection and now we're vulnerable...". He admonished us to humble ourselves, pray and turn from "wicked ways", and that "we must come back to God as a people". He said, "If you're not right with God, get yourself right with God" and that "it happened because people are evil but it also happened because God lifted his protection of us...we must have a spiritual revival". He also blamed "sexual perversion", evil and the "pervading secularism" that is exported through the Internet and through our films.
He also talked with Jerry Falwell. Mr. Falwell said "the Lord has protected us the past 225 years...I fear that this is just the beginning...this could be minuscule if God continues to lift the curtain and allow our enemies in. He also said that "the ACLU's gotta take a lot of blame for this" for "throwing God out of the public square" and out of schools.
Mr. Falwell also said, "The pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays and lesbians...the ACLU, People For the American Way and all those that tried to secularize America -you helped that happen" to which Mr. Robertson replied, "I concur".
Further commentary by folks opposed to this silly and egregious nonsense: "As if our country has not suffered enough at the hands of religious fanatics with the recent terrorist attacks, we are now treated to even more hatred cloaked in the mantle of religion, courtesy of Jerry Falwell," said Ed Buckner, Executive Director of the Council for Secular Humanism. "I can't help wondering how the family and friends of David Charlebois, the gay co-pilot who lost his life on the American Airlines jet that crashed into the Pentagon, feel when they hear Falwell's hateful remarks," said D.J. Grothe, Field Director for the Council for Secular Humanism. "We are all grieving at this time. Some of us take comfort in the solace of their religious beliefs, but many others of us are able to express our compassion without recourse to religion. Everyone, religious or nonreligious should be respected at this time," added Grothe.
These two (Falwell and Robertson) apologized (sort of), BUT once the idea of playing the “blame game” was out there, well, it never really went away. Look at the anti-gay laws that were passed in Uganda. If you’re gay, or even accused of BEING gay, the Religious Reichians© of that country have the legal right and the legal mandate to arrest you, harass you and kill you. Guess where that idea came from? The C Street religious barracks owned by The Family. A little background on this bunch of vile opportunists, called The Family: Family men are more than hypocritical. They're followers of a political religion that embraces elitism, disdains democracy, and pursues power for its members the better to "advance the Kingdom." They say they're working for Jesus, but their Christ is a power-hungry, inside-the-Beltway savior not many churchgoers would recognize. Sexual peccadilloes aside, the Family acts today like the most powerful lobby in America that isn't registered as a lobby - and is thus immune from the scrutiny attending the other powerful organizations like Big Pharma and Big Insurance that exert pressure on public policy.
The Family likes to call itself a "Christian Mafia," but it actually began 74 years ago as an anti-New Deal coalition of businessmen convinced that organized labor was under the sway of Satan. The Great Depression, they believed, was a punishment from God for what they viewed as FDR's socialism. The Family's goal was the "consecration" of America to God, first through the repeal of New Deal reforms, then through the aggressive expansion of American power during the Cold War. They called this a "Worldwide Spiritual Offensive," but in Washington, it amounted to the nation's first fundamentalist lobby. Early participants included Southern Sens. Strom Thurmond, Herman Talmadge and Absalom Willis Robertson (Pat Robertson's father). Membership lists stored in the Family's archive at the Billy Graham Center at evangelical Wheaton College in Illinois show active participation at any given time over the years by dozens of congressmen.
Well, OK, and so what? I can hear you all thinking. And this ties up to GovGoodHair and HIS run for the Presidency how? GLAD you asked.
Many of the pastors that were invited to GovGoodHair’s PrayAThon on Saturday, August 6th are part of a little-known, very specific religious and political movement: The New Apostolic Reformation. Pastors in the movement believe themselves to be modern day prophets or apostles, directly linked to God. Their aim is "to infiltrate government, and Rick Perry might be their man." (The rest of the article can be viewed here: http://www.texasobserver.org/cover-story/rick-perrys-army-of-god).
Are you starting to see a pattern here? GovGoodHair hosting what can only charitably – VERY charitably – called “men of god”, GovGoodHair getting into the Presidential race ONLY after praying over his participation and getting the green light from his version of god, GovGoodHair doing exactly what the Bible specifically exhorts AGAINST, making a public show of his “piety”, GovGoodHair specifically stating that we all must turn back to god – HIS version of god, that is – and BEG for forgiveness for whatever it is we’re supposed to have done wrong as a country.
That means that all of us, female AND male, that support women’s health issues, the social safety net being left the fuck alone, free and equal voter registration, and a host of other social initiatives including getting rid of DOMA, DADT, and including marriage between same-sex couples, plus the right to be left the fuck ALONE by the nascent American Taliban are in some seriously deep trouble. This country was NOT founded by christians. It was founded by a polyglot group of folks that were all determined to NOT have a state ruled by religion – ANY religion. Of the 55 delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention, 49 were Protestants, and three were Roman Catholics (C. Carroll, D. Carroll, and Fitzsimons). Among the Protestant delegates to the Constitutional Convention, 28 were Church of England (or Episcopalian, after the American Revolutionary War was won), eight were Presbyterians, seven were Congregationalists, two were Lutherans, two were Dutch Reformed, and two were Methodists. A few prominent Founding Fathers were anti-clerical Christians, such as Thomas Jefferson (who created the so-called "Jefferson Bible") and Benjamin Franklin. A few others (most notably Thomas Paine) were deists, or at least held beliefs very similar to those of deists. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Founding_Fathers_of_the_United_States)
We have never had a Taliban-like religious movement in this country – until the last 3 years, when we overwhelmingly elected a black man to be our leader. That’s where a lot of this nonsense is coming from. We have, for the first time, a woman running for office who has publicly stated that a woman MUST submit to her husband in all things and in all ways. Wonder how that would play if she were elected President? I somehow do NOT think that Dr. Bachman could do as good a job or be as unobtrusive as Nancy Reagan or Edith Wilson.
As for GovGoodHair: Even the Republican strategists here IN TEXAS despise the man, and so do most of his constituents. He isn’t a flip-flopper, even if it seems like he has been flip-flopping on his entry into the Presidential arena. All of his pretended hesitancy in that particular area has served the same purpose as CaribouBarbie’s nonsense: they are both branded quite nicely, they are both or are both perceived as religious fundies, and they are both the darlings of the ReThugs/TeaPartiers/ReligiousReichians©.
Rick Perry is pretty much all hat and no cattle. He is, as are most Texas politicians, a consummate liar with as many faces as he needs to convince folks that he really is all things to all people. He’s shrewd, he’s cunning, and he has charisma. He is what Mitt Romney wishes he were.
Know what scares the shit out of me? A Perry/Palin Presidential ticket.
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