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May 22, 2013
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Battle Cry for TheocracyPosted on May 11, 2006
Editor’s note: In this opinion piece, a young activist explores the frightening world of a Christian evangelical youth movement that is holding rock concerts and rallies at city halls nationwide this weekend. (First column a series of three. Second column here, third column here.)
If you?ve been waiting to get alarmed until the Christian fascist movement started filling stadiums with young people and hyping them up to do battle in ?God?s army,? wait no longer. Advertisement The leaders of BattleCry claim that their religion and values are under attack, but amid spectacular light shows, Hummers, Navy SEALs and military imagery on stage, it is BattleCry that has declared war on everyone else. Its leader, Ron Luce, insists: ?This is war. And Jesus invites us to get into the action, telling us that the violent—the ?forceful? ones—will lay hold of the kingdom.? BattleCry is a part of the evangelical organization Teen Mania, and you can learn a lot about the kind of society that Teen Mania is fighting for by reading up on its Honor Academy, a non-accredited educational institution that offers directed internships to 700 undergraduate and graduate youth each year. Among the academy?s tenets: Homosexuality and masturbation are sins. Interns are forbidden to listen to secular music, watch R-rated movies or date; men can?t use the Internet unsupervised; the length of women?s skirts is regulated. The logic behind this—that men must be protected from the sin of sexual temptation—is what drives Islamic fundamentalists to shroud women in burkhas! Teen Mania and BattleCry are multimillion-dollar operations that send more than 5,000 missionaries to more than 34 countries each year. Their supporters and members are some of the most powerful and extreme religious lunatics in the country. BattleCry?s ?partners? include Pat Robertson (who got a call from Karl Rove to discuss Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito before the nomination was made public), Charles Colson (who as President Richard Nixon’s lawyer was knee-deep in the Watergate scandal and who went to jail for obstruction of justice in the Pentagon Papers case), and Jerry Falwell (who blamed Sept. 11 on homosexuals, feminists, pagans and abortionists). BattleCry?s events have been addressed by former First Lady Barbara Bush (via video) as well as former President Gerald Ford. This weekend?s event will include Franklin Graham, who has ministered to George W. Bush and publicly proclaimed that Islam is an ?evil religion.? What most of these figures have in common is their insistence that the Bible be read literally and obeyed as the inerrant word of God. And, because Ron Luce leads youth to say in prayer, ?I will keep my eyes on the battle, submitting to Your code even when I don?t understand,” it would be foolish to expect that there is any part of the Bible?s literal horrors this movement would be unwilling to enforce, including stoning disobedient children and non-virgin brides (Deuteronomy 21:18-21 and 22:13-21), executing gays (Leviticus 20:13), and keeping slaves (Peter 2:18).
Luce’s followers staged a protest in March on the steps of San Francisco?s City Hall because gay weddings had taken place there. Their answer to the scourge of rape and violence against women is to end the right of divorce, spread ignorance and insist on virginity -? the very things that will entrap more women in these nightmares. And this Friday, they are planning rallies at 50 city halls nationwide. Of course, like the president, who gave Ron Luce an appointment to the White House Advisory Commission on Drug-Free Communities, BattleCry tells its share of bald-faced lies. For one, it claims that ?a society fortified by Biblical principals and a strong moral code ... is the heritage our forefathers fought and died to secure for us.? But the word “God” never appears in the Constitution. After three and a half months of debate about what should go into the document that would govern the land, the framers drafted a secular constitution. BattleCry also claims America has been ?set aside for God?s purposes -? a country established for good and fruitfully blessed so that we might take God?s message to the ends of the earth.? It is revealing that for all its talk about the value of life and the evils of violent imagery, BattleCry never speaks against the real violence and loss of life being inflicted by U.S. troops in Iraq. Still, there is one thing that BattleCry gets right: This country is in the midst of a deep moral crisis. We are indeed living through times when business-as-usual is unconscionable. As the Bush regime wages unjust wars and conducts torture in our names, as it leaves New Orleans to rot and drags us closer each day to a theocracy in which abortion and birth control are banned, science is pulled under and gays are persecuted, it is no wonder that young people are searching for meaning and morality. However, the truth is that youth will not find the morality they need in a stadium listening to Ron Luce preach about religious war and intolerance. And they won?t find it while buying BattleCry?s keepsake dog tags. These young people need to be challenged to look around themselves and think for themselves. I am confident that if they do, many of them may find that the truly moral way to live is to throw their tremendous energies and dreams of a better world into stopping this madness and driving out the Bush regime. This generation ?- and its counterparts around the world -? will have to live with the consequences of this culture war, one way or another.
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By whistlepigwnc, May 12, 2006 at 5:13 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
regarding the"O’Really"interview,it’s not name-calling when you call it like it is.“Big Bill"was busted having unsolicitated phone sex.Calling him a perv is not name calling,it’s calling it like it is.Battlecry is a nasty ,fascist piece of poop.It’s not a godly,moral anything.Laugh these charlatans out of existence.It’s the only way.
Report thisBy tom baker, May 12, 2006 at 2:52 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Don’t worry too much, The whole “movement” under discussion here will dissolve before long, owing, likely, to a sex scandal involving leadership and impressionable rank-and-file. Angry (dumb) parents will file lawsuits, key leaders will be found guilty of pederasty, and the kids will go back to choking themselves, or inhaling cleaning products, or whatever else the poor things are left to do for fun now in the permament drug-war nanny state.
Report thisBy Akash, May 12, 2006 at 1:42 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
I dont’ think these people follow what they preach. They are hyopocrites.
In Iran, it is the mullahs and clerics who run Prostitution rackets.
Report thisBy Austin Southard, May 12, 2006 at 12:25 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
This is about the most absurd thing I have seen lately, and yet it is completely believable. I thank this site for posting this story because after reading it I can now proclaim full atheism, for I will never be associated with something so ludicrous and devoid of logic. If anyone from the fanatic cult of an organization mentioned above is reading this (which I doubt; they probably have to much faith to be bothered by “truth” and “facts”) please respond and tell me how your aim and goals are any different than the Muslim extremists that say killing the infedels (Americans) is truely righteous.
Report thisBy felicity smith, May 12, 2006 at 11:48 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Ironically, I’m sure Osama would whole-heartedly support the tenets of this “faith.” Given that, can’t we send Luce etal willy-nilly to Guantanamo?
Report thisBy Richard Wilkey, May 12, 2006 at 10:29 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Christian fascist termites burrowing into the minds of America’s youth? Nip it in the bud or it won’t be islamic terrorists we will be fighting in America’s streets, it will be xtian ones. This is nothing more than confirmation of the adage that “Religion stops a thinking mind.”
Report thisBy mariam russell, May 12, 2006 at 9:46 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
I AM 64 YEARS OLD AND GREW UP IN A WORLD THAT DID NOT EXIST. I DID NOT KNOW THAT WORLD DID NOT EXIST TILL I WAS IN MY Late 50S. I WAS LIVING IN A HOUSE OWNED BY TWO GUYS WHO WERE ALSO CONVINCED THAT THIS WORLD WAS REAL, AND THAT THEY WERE JUST CROSSWAYS WITH THE ACCEPTED DOCTRINE OF HOW TO LIVE ONES LIFE, AS THEY ARE GAY, WITH ALL THE ATTENDANT PROBLEMS. THERE WAS DIRECT TV INTO THE HOUSE AT THAT TIME AND A CHANNEL FROM CANADA CALLED TRIO THAT ACTUALLY TRANSMITTED AN INTERVIEW WITH NOAM CHOMSKY. I RECOGNIZED THE IDEAS, AS I HAD BEEN RIDICULED, TOLD THAT MY FAMILY DID NOT EVEN LIKE ME, ETC., ETC., DIVORCED, LIVING ON THE EDGE, FOR YEARS BECAUSE I HAD AT THE AGE OF 12 OR THERE ABOUTS RECOGNIZED THAT RELIGIONS THAT CLAIMED TO HAVE THE ONLY TRUTH WERE DANGEROUS, THEN THAT THE CLAIMS OF OUR POLITICIANS SEEMED TO BE SOMEWHAT UNREASONABLE, AND THAT THE COLD WAR BULLSHIT WAS EXACTLY THAT….BULLSHIT.
THE LOAVES AND FISHES AR LONG OVERDUE…....WE ARE A POPULATION OF MORE BILLIONS THAN THE GROUND SEEMS TO BE ABLE TO SUSTAIN. I RECOGNIZE THAT PART OF THAT INABILITY IS DUE TO LACK OF WILL ON THE PART OF THE HAVES, BUT THE FACT THAT WE ARE DIVIDED INTO HAVES AND HAVENOTS SAYS THAT THERE IS NOT THE POSIBILITY OF GOOD LIFE FOR THIS MANY PEOPLE. WE WERE TAUGHT THAT THE LORD WOULD PROVIDE WHATEVER HAPPENED, NOT THAT WE HAD A FINITE EARTH TO INHABIT AND WE SHOULD MANAGE OUR LIVES WITH THAT IN MIND.
NOW I SEE REAL LIFE DR STRANGELOVES WHO SEEM TO THINK THAT ALL WE NEED TO DO IS APPLY MORE FORCE AND WE WILL BE ABLE TO CONTROL WHAT HAPPENS ON THIS PLANET. NUKE THE IRANIANS SO WE CAN CONTROL THE RESOURCES OF THE MIDDLE EAST….WAS THE NUKING OF THE JAPANESE ALL THAT PRODUCTIVE,.WHAT MAKES ANYONE BELIEVE THAT WE WILL GAIN SUBSTANISTALLY BY SUCH AN ACTION…..OR ARE WE STILL OPERATING ON TESTOSTRONE AS WITH ALEXANDER AND GENGIS KHAN. WE DO NOT SEEM TO BE A SPECIES THAT LEARNS BY MISSTEPS.
Report thisBy C Quil, May 12, 2006 at 9:37 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
This is horrifying.
This is Hitler Youth under a different name.
Report thisBy bill, May 12, 2006 at 7:57 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
prepubescent religio-fascists - FUCK EM ALL
they shall die in hell for for their freaked out militarchrist bullshit beliefs
Who would Jesus Kill??????????
Report thisBy CN, May 12, 2006 at 7:23 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
There is another YOUTH movement taking place- one of PRO-LIFE YOUTH:On January 22, 1973, The United States Supreme Court legalized abortion on demand. The decision is called Roe vs. Wade. We call it Death Roe. About one fourth of our generation has already been wiped out, and the executions continue at the rate of over 3000 a day. If you were born after that date, you are one of the unchosen.You are a Death Roe Survivor.
You can read what these Survivors have to say about abortion at: http://www.DeathRoe.com
Report thisBy Roger, May 12, 2006 at 6:43 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
great clip with oreilly. the battle cry guy looked so shifty
Report thisBy Fran, May 12, 2006 at 12:11 am Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
Thank you! I’ve been ridiculed for mentioning fears of theocracy, but part of the problem is that men fear educated women and want to brainwash us into accepting our “inferiority”—-if not by science then by religion. I’m nowhere NEAR a feminist, never was, yet I see perfectly NON-religious men (like my son and husband), saying they don’t think a return to “morality” is such a bad thing. It doesn’t take much arm-twisting to convince most men it’s WOMEN who need “protecting” from “corrupt” society, whether we want it or not.
Report thisBy Larry, May 11, 2006 at 8:01 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
There’s already a name for fascist movements like the one described. They’re called the Christian Phalangists, true fascists, like the Phalangists in Lebanon for example. Read up on them and see what the American Phalangists will be like if allowed to continue their devolution into organized madness.
Way back in the 1950s and 1960s, with the Communist menace paranoia with a full head of steam, there were lots of small, nutcase Christian groups laying away armaments for that glorious battle sometime in the future. They were super-secretive and mocked by mainstream America.
Today’s version needs to be stopped in its tracks. Exposure is the first means at hand. If it continues to grow, it will inevitably turn to violence of various kinds. Then it won’t be too late, but the political will in Washington and state capitals will be required to stop it.
Who will be in political power then? That is the crucial question. That and what means do we use now beyond exposure?
Report thisBy Ga, May 11, 2006 at 7:28 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
See (hear) also:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5398604
“Fresh Air from WHYY, May 11, 2006 · Journalist Michelle Goldberg, a senior writer for the online magazine Salon, and covers the Christian Right. In her new book, Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism, she writes that Christian nationalists believe the Bible is literally true—and they want to see the nation governed by that truth.”
This is REALLY scary. Christians are a screwed up lot. I’d like to read how those here who call themselves Christians defend these stories; especially Michelle Goldberg’s.
Report thisBy john m sandoval, May 11, 2006 at 6:06 pm Link to this comment
(Unregistered commenter)
In his 2003 state of the union speech George W Bush Lied when he said; Iraq had 25,000 liters of Anthrax, 38,000 liters of Botulinum Toxin, and 500 Tons of Sarin; also Mustard and VX nerve agents. (these quantities were made up no source was mentioned) Bush also Lied stating that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction.
Report thisVice President Cheney Lied when he said; Iraq has a Nuclear Weapons program that is making progress. Secretary of State Colin Powell Lied when he said; Iraq had Biological Weapons Laboratories on rails and Chemical Weapons Bunkers.
(an absolute falsehood)
Ex deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz (now President of The World Bank) Lied when he stated that Saddam Hussein had Nuclear Weapons of Mass Destruction ready to attack the United States.
He was the prime architect, designer of the excuse for invading Iraq the Weapons of Mass Destruction. Paul Wolfowitz, represents Israel, more than our United States.
No one would have agreed to launch a full scale war on Iraq without the sensationalizing of this made up nuclear threat. When asked what he had to say about this sensational lie, Paul Wolfowitz responded quote! I don’t have to !
It is blatantly obvious in view of the exorbitant cost of the Iraqi War (projected to be $468 Billion) that he deliberately drove the point home, that War was inevitable, in order to raise the National debt, so The unconstitutional Federal Reserve Board could collect the prime rate of interest, for the loans to support the War. He is an American Jew and is arbitrarily representing the best interests of the State of Israel. He is the prime responsible person for our involvement in the Middle East Crisis. The second most responsible person is George W Bush an autocratic/dictatorial President with the mentality of a spoiled teenager. This man will go down in history as the creator of the Illegal Iraqi War.
A war that is placing America in serious risk of a future Economic Collapse.
The Seven Governors of The Federal Reserve Board are celebrating the collection of the behemoth amount of Prime Rate Interest. Israel gets Billions per year, in aid and guaranteed loans from the United States of America; while Mr. Paul Wolfowitz is basking in his appointment to new President of The World Bank.
For what ? Other purpose, did King David create The Treasures of Zion.
Contribution by Jonathan
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