Two weeks ago we saw Democratic Senate hopeful Paul Hackett take on the Religious Right single-handedly without so much as a peep of support from top Democrats.(With the exception of Democratic spokesman Brian Rothenberg who vociferously defended Hackett. A big tip of the hat to you Brian, well done.) Here is what Hackett had to say that caused the controversy...
"The Republican Party has been hijacked by the religious fanatics that, in my opinion, aren’t a whole lot different than Osama bin Laden and a lot of the other religious nuts around the world," he said. "The challenge is for the rest of us moderate Americans and citizens of the world to put down the fork and spoon, turn off the TV, and participate in the process and try to push back on these radical nuts – and they are nuts."We here in the collective agree with Mr. Hackett and while we don't know him we can sure see that he's on to something, so we'd like to give those pathetic Democrats who sat on the sidelines and watched him take on the Christofascists by himself a little history lesson. So listen up you weaklings, some of this will be very new to you and if you aren't appalled and pissed off then you have no business being in the Democratic Party. If you haven't got the stones to expose and ridicule great icons of the GOP then you don't deserve to be here either. So listen and listen good, you're going to get an account of events that helped shape the modern Republican Party. We expect, no...DEMAND, that you take on these extremists.
The fascism of early 20th Century evangelistsToday, most peoples' image of the Klan is one of a violent gang of racists clothed in bed sheets, and view the Klan as a pariah of some sort. Even with the rise in membership since 1980, the Klan is still a shadow of its former self. However, the real legacy of the Klan is not related to hooded nightriders or cross burnings. Rather, the real legacy is the role the Klan played in developing what now constitutes the religious right.
The Red Scare of 1919 resulted in the purging of anyone holding even the mildest liberal views, clergy included. With few liberal clergymen remaining, the result was a gigantic chasm into which the Klan and the radical right moved, shifting the spectrum to the far right. The result can still be seen today in the linkage between racism and religion. A study conducted in the 1960s detailed this linkage. Since that study, the linkage has become even more pronounced, with the rise of the Identity religion in recent years.
The evolution of the present religious right from the 1920s Klan can best be shown by the careers of Gerald Winrod and Gerald Smith. In November, 1925 in Salina, Kansas, Winrod established the Defenders of the Christian Faith. The Defenders were extremely conservative, and in April, 1926 Winrod began publishing a monthly magazine, The Defender. Winrod supported prohibition, and was rabidly opposed to the theory of evolution.
The teaching of evolution, as well as the Scopes trial, was one of those issues that become a watershed event in shaping later movements. The teaching of evolution would define what has evolved into the religious right. Although there were fundamentalists before the 1920s, the fundamental religious movement was revitalized and defined by the Scopes trial. In fact, the term "fundamentalist" was coined in the 1920s. Many early fundamentalists, such as John Franklyn Norris, were openly supportive of the Klan. Norris was a Baptist preacher from Texas, and also had a parish in Detroit, flying between the two cities. Norris also ran a seminary, one notable graduate of which was John Birch. Birch's death at the hands of Chinese communist forces in the late 1940s spawned the formation of the John Birch Society in the 1950s.
In 1926, Winrod led a campaign to ban the teaching of evolution locally, as well as in California and Minnesota. He appointed a committee to examine textbooks, and in Minnesota he helped
William Bell Riley draft the bill which was introduced in the Minnesota legislature.
Riley was a force in the conservative wing of the Baptist Church during the 1920s. Like Winrod, Riley was rabidly opposed to the teaching of evolution, and was also extremely anti-Semitic. In 1934, he published the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and an article on communism, attempting to show they were part of a conspiracy at work in Roosevelt's New Deal. Riley preached:
"Today in our land many of the biggest trusts, banks and manufacturing interests are controlled by Jews. Most of our department stores they own. The motion pictures, the most vicious of all immoral, educational and communistic influences, is their creation." The above quote, from one of Riley's sermons, is indistinguishable from Hitler's propaganda. It is a clue that, if Riley was not outright pro-Nazi, he certainly harbored sympathy for fascism.
Riley was not the first clergyman to tout the Protocols. On February 12, 1919, the Reverend George Simons testified in front of the Senate's Overman Committee, shocking listeners with the tale of a secret worldwide Jewish conspiracy. Simons cited the Protocols as evidence. It is generally assumed that Simons obtained his copy of the Protocols from Dr. Harris Houghton of military intelligence. Houghton had obtained his copy from the Czarist immigrant Boris Brasol.
With his congregation of 3,500, Riley exerted tremendous influence in the upper Midwest. Jewish leaders regarded his church as the center of the area's anti-Semitism. However, Riley's influence extended far beyond his area and time. In 1902, Riley founded Northwestern Bible Training School, which in 1935 became the Northwestern Theological Seminary. He also assisted in the preparation of The Fundamentals, a statement of fundamentalist belief. Just before his death, Riley placed the leadership of Northwestern under the direction of
Billy Graham.
On March 2, 2002, the ghost of fascism came home to roost on the head of Riley's chosen successor, Billy Graham. On that day, an additional 500 hours of Nixon tapes were released. In a 1972 conversation between
Nixon and Graham, the preacher expressed his contempt for, as he saw it, Jewish domination of the media. Graham is heard on tape saying referring to a Jewish owned newspaper:
"his stranglehold has got to be broken or this country is going down the drain." Later in the conversation, Graham expresses further opinions about Jews:
"They swarm around me and are friendly to me. Because they know I am friendly to Israel and so forth. But they don't know how I really feel about what they are doing to this country, and I have no power and no way to control them." In response to the new revelations, Graham apologized profusely, claiming a lack of memory of the incident. This latest example of Billy Graham's anti-Semitism should come as no surprise to those that have followed his career. Graham's career has been marked with similar incidents.
In the 1950s, Graham was embroiled in an incident revealing his anti-Semitism. The incident stemmed from his portrait gracing the cover of the January 1957 issue of The American Mercury, and his friendship with the Mercury's owner, Russell Maguire. Maguire had acquired a huge fortune from oil and munitions. Maquire owned the company that made the Thompson submachine gun, and had acquired the Mercury in 1952.
In 1951, Maquire donated $75,000 to Billy Graham to produce a film extolling the virtues of free enterprise and the development of God-given natural resources. The film Graham produced was called Oiltown, USA. Graham continued his friendship with Maguire after producing Oiltown, and wrote several articles for the American Mercury. By the time Graham's portrait graced the Mercury's cover, the magazine had earned a reputation as overtly anti-Semitic and hard right. Maguire and the Mercury were ardently anti-communist, and also called for the abolition of the income tax, the UN, NATO, the ACLU and Zionism. Throughout the 1950s the Mercury, under the guidance of Maguire, supported Senator Joseph McCarthy.
Other writers for the Mercury included J. Edgar Hoover, Ralph de Toledano and George Lincoln Rockwell, founder of the American Nazi Party. De Toledano's resigned from the OSS after refusing to work with liberals. Maguire was an open backer of fascism and fascist organizations, and was an early supporter of Rockwell. Rockwell often complained about Maguire's miserly donations.
By January 1957, the Mercury was at loggerheads with the Anti-Defamation League over charges of anti-Semitism. Despite their public apologies, the religious right and Billy Graham cannot rid themselves of their past support of fascism and anti-Semitism any more than a leopard can change its spots.
So let's recap, shall we?
· Billy Graham began his career as a spokesman of a fundamentalist neo-fascist group lead by William B. Riley that believed in a theocracy.
· In 1902, Riley founded Northwestern Bible Training School, which in 1935 became the Northwestern Theological Seminary and Billy Graham was appointed as the leader. This is evidence that Riley and Graham shared the same philosophical beliefs.
· Billy Graham is held as a great moral leader but was recorded talking to one of the most corrupt presidents in American history making anti-semitic remarks blaming Jews for the ills of American society. He tells a delighted Nixon that Jews have a stranglehold on America "that has got to be broken or this country's going down the drain." Then, again addressing Nixon, the revered evangelist turned toady says: "But if you get elected a second time, then maybe we might be able to do something." Such talk is usually attributed to fascists or whacked-out religious fanatics and hate groups, not esteemed clergymen.
· Billy Graham’s career was subsidized and publicized by at least three fanatical fascists and media owners: Randolph Hearst, Henry Luce, and Russell Maguire. It follows that Graham owes his fame and fortune to Riley and the KKK, as well as Hearst and Luce.
· Billy Graham functions as a legitimizer and transmitter of the far right wing and the US government by his role as the personal ‘minister’ of numerous presidents. As a moral leader he never spoke out against war, poverty, racism, anti-Semitism, and corporate corruption even today. Those are things he didn't do.
· Billy Graham is identifying himself with the same right-wing fascist political groups that he started from and legitimizing the war in Iraq, the rise of right wing fundamentalism, and the corruption of the present administration. This is something he is still doing.
All of the above points contradict the uncritical belief that Rev. Billy Graham is a great Christian moral leader that is tolerant of other religions, believes in equality, cares about victims of poverty, that beleives in democracy, and resists public corruption. Instead, Graham's history is more consistent with the fascists that he associated with in the past and today.
The appeal to evangelicals went further. On April 29, 1985, Billy Graham, the respected and world famous evangelist, told Pat Robertson’s audience on the 700 Club show that:
“The time has come when evangelicals are going to have to think about getting organized corporately….I’m for evangelicals running for public office and winning if possible and getting control of the Congress, getting control of the bureaucracy, getting control of the executive branch of government. I think if we leave it to the other side we’re going to be lost. I would like to see every true believer involved in politics in some way shape or form.” Got Theocracy?
The Haldeman DiariesAnd don't forget H.R. Haldmann's comments about Graham. It seems that parts of the Nixon tape recording Graham were edited and Haldmann fills in the blanks in his diaries. Graham also mentions Henry Luce. You think Graham knew Luce as an anti-Semite? Graham's Luce reference was deleted because it is dyn-o-mite! It would have brought up too much history pointing at the media and 1930s American Fascism. They're not stupid. ""Graham notes that he's just been invited to lunch with editors of Time magazine. "I was quite amazed since this is the first time I've heard from Time since (Time founder) Henry Luce died."
This deletion and others was negotiated by lawyers. Remember these tapes were recorded in a 90-minute session after a prayer breakfast the men attended on Feb. 1, 1972.
Haldeman's own diaries briefly noted the unseemly conversation. He wrote that there was discussion "of the terrible problem arising from the total Jewish domination of the media, and agreement that this was something that would have to be dealt with."
He continues,
"Graham has the strong feeling that the Bible says there are satanic Jews and there's where our problem arises." No such comments about the Bible are found on the tape released Thursday but, since it contains several long deletions, it's believed such remarks were excised.
The lengthy chat opens with Graham praising Nixon's prayer breakfast remarks.
"There were a lot of people in tears when you finished this morning and it's very moving. That's the best I've heard you at one of those breakfast things." After offering Nixon tips on preparing himself for big speeches, as well as strategy for his re-election campaign, Graham notes that he's just been invited to lunch with editors of Time magazine.
"I was quite amazed since this is the first time I've heard from Time since (Time founder) Henry Luce died." "You meet with all their editors, you better take your Jewish beanie," says Haldeman.
Graham laughs.
"Is that right? I don't know any of them now." Nixon then broaches a subject about which
"we can't talk about it publicly," namely Jewish influence in Hollywood and the media. He cites Paul Keyes, a political conservative who is executive producer of the NBC hit, "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In," as telling him that
"11 of the 12 writers are Jewish." "That right?" says Graham, prompting Nixon to claim that Life magazine, Newsweek, the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and others, are
"totally dominated by the Jews." He calls network TV anchors, Howard K. Smith, David Brinkley and Walter Cronkite
"front men who may not be of that persuasion," but that their writers are
"95 percent Jewish." He demurs that this does not mean
"that all the Jews are bad" but that most are left-wing radicals who want
"peace at any price except where support for Israel is concerned. The best Jews are actually the Israeli Jews." "That's right," agrees Graham, who later concurs with a Nixon assertion that a
"powerful bloc" of Jews confronts Nixon in the media.
"And they're the ones putting out the pornographic stuff," Graham adds.
Nixon contends that
"every Democratic candidate will owe his election to Jewish people," but he won't.
Haldeman turns the subject to the White House press corps and the Gridiron Club, a bastion of the media establishment, both of which they say were mostly WASP once, but no more.
"It was the Merriman Smiths, the Dick Wilsons, the Kilpatricks, all that kind of people. But you look at what covers the president today and it's really kind of scary," Haldeman says. Haldeman and Nixon both cite by name reporters from the Los Angeles Times (David Kraslow), New York Times (Max Frankel), Washington Post (Stanley Karnow) and NBC (Herb Kaplow) but stumble on getting to CBS.
"From CBS, Rather, Dan Rather, is Rather? . . ." says Haldeman. A deletion then follows with the next voice heard being that of Graham, who alludes to A.M. Rosenthal, managing editor of the New York Times.
"But I have to lean a little bit, you know. I go and see friend of Mr. Rosenthal at The New York Times, and people of that sort. And all, I don't mean all the Jews, but a lot of the Jews are great friends of mine. They swarm around me and are friendly to me. Because they know I am friendly to Israel and so forth. They don't know how I really feel about what they're doing to this country. And I have no power and no way to handle them." Nixon says,
"You must not let them know." The conversation turns to religious magazines, postal rates and Nixon's uncharitable thoughts on certain Cabinet members. Graham then leaves and, a few minutes later, Nixon tells Haldeman,
"You know it was good we got this point about the Jews across." "It's a shocking point," says Haldeman, a frequent cheerleader during Nixon's negative diatribes.
"Well," says Nixon,
"it's also, the Jews are irreligious, atheistic, immoral bunch of bastards."*This historical account courtesy of Spiritone.
Jerry Falwell's influenceFalwell started "Liberty University" in the early 1960's and is fond of proclaining its academic excellence. But the real reason it was founded was as a bullwark against the rising tide of de-segregation. It was supposed to be for whites only as Falwell was a segregationist. His racist roots continued to define him until 1968 when he had an epiphany and saw the error of his ways. Actually he claims that Jesus cured him of racism but we here at the collective think he saw the writing on the wall and the way the world was heading, so he decided to stop fighting City Hall. Nice move Jerry.
From Wiki-pedia...
""In 1994, Falwell released the straight-to-video documentary "The Clinton Chronicles: An Investigation into the Alleged Criminal Activities of Bill Clinton." The description on the box read:
"For the first time on video, a documentary that puts together the whole story! -- The names and faces of the key players who Clinton used to build his Circle of Power... as well as those who got in his way and lost their jobs, reputations, virtue, and lives! From Whitewater to ADFA... From millions in drug smuggling in Mena, Arkansas, to money laundering with the BCCI... From Gennifer Flowers to Paula Jones... From Vince Foster's "suicide" to the gangland slaying of private investigator Jerry Parks.
THE CLINTON CHRONICLES uncovers the shocking truth the controlled media and Clintons don't want you to know!"
Falwell's infomercial for the 80-minute tape included footage of Falwell interviewing a silhouetted journalist who was afraid for his life. The journalist accused Clinton of orchestrating the deaths of several reporters and personal confidants who had gotten too close to his illegalities. However, it was subsequently revealed that the silhouetted journalist was, in fact, Patrick Matrisciana, the producer of the video.
"Obviously, I'm not an investigative reporter," Matrisciana admitted (to investigative journalist Murray Waas),
"and I doubt our lives were actually ever in any real danger. That was Jerry's idea to do that ... He thought that would be dramatic." In an interview for The Hunting of the American President Falwell admitted,
"To this day I do not know the accuracy of the claims made in The Clinton Chronicles," but nevertheless failed to condemn the poor research and false statements.
In February of 1999, an article in Falwell's National Liberty Journal suggested that a Teletubbies character, Tinky Winky, could be a hidden homosexual symbol, because the character was purple (which he claimed was a color symbolic of homosexuality), had an inverted triangle on his head and carried a handbag. Falwell denied any personal involvement with the original article, and made clear he never had any prior knowledge or concern with the Teletubbies. Falwell's organization said the author of the article was simply repeating what others in the media were already saying about the nature of the character
After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, he (along with fellow televangelist Pat Robertson) made comments interpreted as blaming various groups for the attack. The two were widely condemned for having made these comments. When asked why God would allow such an event to happen to America, Falwell said:
"And, I know that I'll hear from them for this. But, throwing God out successfully with the help of the federal court system, throwing God out of the public square, out of the schools. The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way—all of them who have tried to secularize America—I point the finger in their face and say "you helped this happen.""There are almost too many anecdotes and quotes from Falwell to support the contention in Hackett's statement that these people are nuts. That's a slam dunk. Go find your own quotes, it'll give you something to do.
Pat Robertson...loon extraordinaireDo we really need to go through the motions here? Oh very well.
We have enough votes to run the country. And when the people say, "We've had enough," we are going to take over.-- Pat Robertson, speech given to the April, 1980 "Washington for Jesus" rally, quoted from Robert Boston, The Most Dangerous Man in America, p. 29
If Christian people work together, they can succeed during this decade in winning back control of the institutions that have been taken from them over the past 70 years. Expect confrontations that will be not only unpleasant but at times physically bloody.... This decade will not be for the faint of heart, but the resolute. Institutions will be plunged into wrenching change. We will be living through one of the most tumultuous periods of human history. When it is over, I am convinced God's people will emerge victorious.-- Pat Robertson, Pat Robertson's Perspective Oct-Nov 1992
We at the Christian Coalition are raising an army who cares. We are training people to be effective -- to be elected to school boards, to city councils, to state legislatures, and to key positions in political parties.... By the end of this decade, if we work and give and organize and train, THE CHRISTIAN COALITION WILL BE THE MOST POWERFUL POLITICAL ORGANIZATION IN AMERICA.-- Pat Robertson, in a fundraising letter, July 4, 1991
There is no such thing as separation of church and state in the Constitution. It is a lie of the Left and we are not going to take it anymore.-- Pat Robertson, address to his American Center for Law and Justice, November, 1993. Let's see, now: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." How could the prohibition against Congress making laws respecting an establishment of religion be anything but the separation of church and state?
They scream, "First Amendment." Of course, the First Amendment, as you and I both know, is a restriction on Congress.... So it really doesn't have anything to do with what you say or what I say, one way or the other.-- Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, December 10, 1990, deliberately misrepresenting what it means by "Congress shall make no law" by omitting mention of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, and yet sniveling about the Supreme Court's state-church decisions
There is never in the Constitution at any point, anything that applies that to the states, none at all. The Supreme Court has done it over repeated attempts by Congress which have been beaten back to do such a thing.-- Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, April 11, 1986, deliberately misrepresenting what it means for the states to have the right to decide issues not covered by the Constitution at the Federal level (much which was clarified by the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments)
Terrorist Attacks, September 11, 2001
We have imagined ourselves invulnerable and have been consumed by the pursuit of ... health, wealth, material pleasures and sexuality... It [terrorism] is happening because God Almighty is lifting his protection from us.-- Pat Robertson, oblivious to the statistical (and obvious) fact that no nation or group of people has ever enjoyed a higher degree of personal, political, or economic safety than the Americans enjoy today, Robertson engages the fearmongering typical of Christian preachers by blaming the Americans' lifestyles for bringing upon themselves the judgement of the God of Everlasting Mercy; this is Robertson's explanation of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in a three-page statement released Thursday, September 13, 2001, quoted from AANEWS #958 by American Atheists (September 14, 2001)
We have a court that has essentially stuck its finger in God's eye. We have insulted God at the highest levels of our government. Then, we say, "Why does this happen?" It is happening because God Almighty is lifting His protection from us.-- Pat Robertson, blaming American lifestyles for bringing God's judgement upon us in the form of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, in a three-page statement released Thursday, September 13, 2001, quoted from AANEWS #958 by American Atheists (September 14, 2001), and from Dick Meyer, "Holy Smoke," CBS News (September 15, 2001)
We have a court that has essentially stuck its finger in God's eye and said we're going to legislate you out of the schools. We're going to take your commandments from off the courthouse steps in various states. We're not going to let little children read the commandments of God. We're not going to let the Bible be read, no prayer in our schools. We have insulted God at the highest levels of our government. And then we say, "Why does this happen?"
Well, why it's happening is that God Almighty is lifting his protection from us.-- Pat Robertson, explaining on his 700 Club cable TV program why the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, had occurred two days earlier (but oblivious as to why such nations as Sweden and The Netherlands, both many orders more secular than the U.S. could ever hope to be, are spared such tragedies), quoted from Beth Corbin, ed., Americans United Activist Release: "Pat Robertson Prays for Supreme Court Changes" (July 15, 2003)
But I want to say as surely as I am sitting here today, this is only a foretaste, a little warning, of what is going to happen...-- Pat Robertson, remarking on the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, even after receiving a personal rebuke from the President, quoted from Dick Meyer, "Holy Smoke," CBS News (September 15, 2001)
This is God's power and he sent this thing to warn us ... we needed a shock.-- Pat Robertson, remarking on the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, quoted by Robert E. Norlander in a dispatch of September 14, 2001
Good or Bad, God Picks Bush Because He's Christian
I think George Bush is going to win in a walk. I really believe that I'm hearing from the Lord it's going to be like a blowout election of 2004. It's shaping up that way. The Lord has just blessed him.... I mean, he could make terrible mistakes and comes out of it. It doesn't make any difference what he does, good or bad. God picks him up because he's a man of prayer and God's blessing him.-- Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, , January 2, 2004 ††
U.S. Constitution: For Christians Only
The Constitution of the United States, for instance, is a marvelous document for self-government by the Christian people. But the minute you turn the document into the hands of non-Christian people and atheistic people they can use it to destroy the very foundation of our society. And that's what's been happening.-- Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, December 30, 1981
Only Christians and Jews in Government
Individual Christians are the only ones really -- and Jewish people, those who trust God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob -- are the only ones that are qualified to have the reign, because hopefully, they will be governed by God and submit to Him.-- Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, January 11, 1985, defending his stance that only Christians and Jews are fit to hold public office
I never said that in my life ... I never said only Christians and Jews. I never said that.-- Pat Robertson, Time magazine, after having been confronted regarding his statement on The 700 Club of January 11, 1985
When I said during my presidential bid that I would only bring Christians and Jews into the government, I hit a firestorm. "What do you mean?" the media challenged me. "You're not going to bring atheists into the government? How dare you maintain that those who believe in the Judeo-Christian values are better qualified to govern America than Hindus and Muslims?" My simple answer is, "Yes, they are."-- Pat Robertson, The New World Order, p. 218
Why Hindus and Muslims Cannot Govern
If anybody understood what Hindus really believe, there would be no doubt that they have no business administering government policies in a country that favors freedom and equality.... Can you imagine having the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini as defense minister, or Mahatma Gandhi as minister of health, education, and welfare? The Hindu and Buddhist idea of karma and the Muslim idea of kismet, or fate condemn the poor and the disabled to their suffering.... It's the will of Allah. These beliefs are nothing but abject fatalism, and they would devastate the social gains this nation has made if they were ever put into practice.-- Pat Robertson, The New World Order, p. 219
Christians Are Just -- Better People
I think patriotism, love of God, love of country, support of the traditional family. They [Christians] believe it would be good for our country if families were closer together.... I think they feel about them more strongly than others do.-- Pat Robertson, speaking at a rally in Lansing, Michigan, in 1986, having been asked if there are some issues Christians feel more strongly about that non-Christians
But Only Certain Kinds of Christians
You say you're supposed to be nice to the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians and the Methodists and this, that, and the other thing. Nonsense. I don't have to be nice to the spirit of the Antichrist. I can love the people who hold false opinions but I don't have to be nice to them.-- Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, January 14, 1991
Proposed 'Godly Fumigation' of Non-Christians
It is interesting, that termites don't build things, and the great builders of our nation almost to a man have been Christians, because Christians have the desire to build something. He is motivated by love of man and God, so he builds. The people who have come into [our] institutions [today] are primarily termites. They are into destroying institutions that have been built by Christians, whether it is universities, governments, our own traditions, that we have.... The termites are in charge now, and that is not the way it ought to be, and the time has arrived for a godly fumigation.-- Pat Robertson, New York Magazine, August 18, 1986
Political Assassinations Recommended
I know it sounds somewhat Machiavellian and evil, to think that you could send a squad in to take out somebody like Osama bin Laden, or to take out the head of North Korea, but isn't it better to do something like that, to take out Milosevic, to take out Saddam Hussein, rather than to spend billions of dollars on a war that harms innocent civilians and destroys the infrastructure of a country?-- Pat Robertson, The 700 Club television program, August 9, 1999, quoted in Martin McLaughlin, "Pat Robertson favors assassinations," August 14, 1999, World Socialist Web Site.
"You know, I don't know about this doctrine of assassination, but if he thinks we're trying to assassinate him, I think that we really ought to go ahead and do it. It's a whole lot cheaper than starting a war ... We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability. We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator. It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with." –Pat Robertson, calling for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
"God considers this land to be his. You read the Bible and he says 'This is my land,' and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, 'No, this is mine.' ... He was dividing God's land. And I would say, 'Woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the E.U., the United Nations, or the United States of America.' God says, 'This land belongs to me. You better leave it alone.'" --Pat Robertson, on why Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke.
"The feminist agenda is not about equal rights for women. It is about a socialist, anti-family political movement that encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians." –Pat Robertson
"Maybe we need a very small nuke thrown off on Foggy Bottom to shake things up" –Pat Robertson, on nuking the State Department
Now what's really funny is that we haven't used all of the quotes we could find to illustrate the obvious craziness of Pat Robertson.
Let's wrap this upSo how does this apply to Ohio and the Democratic party you might ask? Right now dear friends we have the Rod Parsley controversy raging. These backward thinking theocrats also want to turn America into a Christian nation where only Christians of the right persuasion may hold high government office. They share a direct lineage with the history of the right wing evangelical movement that we've outlined for you here.
Are you Democrats starting to put the pieces together yet? This evangelical world view is the central nervous system of the modern Republican Party. If you don't attack it head-on you will be taking wild swings and missing the mark. You cannot merely take on the GOP on the "issues" and expect to win. You must attack the most cherished world views and icons of the Republican Party.
The modern GOP has no resemblance to the Republican Party of old. Even Barry Goldwater excoriated the fundamentalists as he saw them infiltrating and taking over his party. He is quoted as saying...
"I don't have any respect for the Religious Right."
"Every good Christian should line up and kick Jerry Falwell's ass."
"A woman has a right to an abortion."
"The religious factions will go on imposing their will on others,"...and this is from the father of the modern conservative movement! We need more people like Barry Goldwater right now. Oh sure, the GOP will counter attack and try to smear you by declaring that you're a bigot who hates "people of faith". You then counter-counter-attack by telling them that these people show a profound LACK of faith. If they had such unshakeable faith they wouldn't be using the arm of the government to give their religion the government's impramatur of endorsement. Oh yea of little faith indeed.
Don't believe the GOP has been hijacked by extremists? Witness how every Republican politician flew back to Washington last year to make a special law to keep Terri Schiavo on life support. All in the effort to pander to their fundamentalist base and their "culture of life" nonsense. Did Bush give his friend Harriet Myers an "up or down" vote that you always hear the GOP yammering about when Democrats give the slightest peep of protest about a Supreme Court nominee? Of course not, he withdrew her nomination faster than you can say BOO when his far right evangelical base had doubts about her willingness to overturn Roe v. Wade.
And now we have John Boehner being elected as Majority Leader to replace the very corrupt and yes, very evangelical Tom DeLay. But Boehner is of the same political Christofascist stripe as DeLay. To whit:
1. For School Prayer and Amending the Constitution: Rep. Boehner supported a school prayer amendment to the United States Constitution in 1997 (H.J.Res. 78), 1999 (H.J.Res 66), and 2001 (H.J.Res. 52); voted to permit school prayer "during this time of struggle against the forces of international terrorism" (House Roll Call Vote 445, Nov. 15, 2001); and voted to only allow federal aid to schools that allow prayer (House Roll Call Vote 85, March 23, 1994).
2. For Forced Religion in Anti-Poverty Programs: Rep. Boehner voted to permit taxpayer-funded anti-poverty programs to require aid recipients to join in religious activities. (House Roll Call Votes 16 and 17, Feb. 4, 2004)
3. 100% Against a Woman's Right to Choose: Rep. Boehner received a "0%" pro-choice score from NARAL Pro-Choice America in 2005.
4. For Religious Employment Discrimination: Rep. Boehner voted to permit taxpayer-funded anti-poverty programs to engage in federally-funded employment discrimination. (House Roll Call Votes 15 and 17, Feb. 4, 2004)
5. Against the Rule of Law in Ten Commandments Case: Rep. Boehner voted to prevent the Justice Department from enforcing a court order to remove a 5,000 pound Ten Commandments monument from Alabama's state supreme court. (House Roll Call Vote 419, July 23, 2003)
6. Against Common-Sense Environmental Safeguards: Rep. Boehner voted for oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (House Roll Call Vote 122, April 20, 2005); voted to gut the Endangered Species Act (House Roll Call Vote 506, September 29, 2005); and voted to weaken the National Environmental Policy Act (House Roll Call Vote 242, June 15, 2004).
7. For More Religious Employment Discrimination: Rep. Boehner voted to permit taxpayer-funded job training programs to engage in religious discrimination when hiring and firing employees with federal funds. (House Roll Call Vote 46, March 2, 2005)
8. Against Confronting Proselytizing at the Air Force Academy: Rep. Boehner voted against an amendment to squarely address religious coercion and proselytizing at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado. The amendment criticized "coercive and abusive religious proselytizing" of cadets at the Academy while observing that "expression of personal religious faith is welcome" throughout the military. (House Roll Call Vote 283, June 20, 2005)
9. Led the Effort to Inject Religious Employment Discrimination into Head Start: Rep. Boehner added a controversial amendment in September to a previously bipartisan School Readiness Act which would "allow federally funded early-child-care providers to discriminate on religious grounds," according to The Forward. The Forward notes, "The federal government transfers about $6.7 billion annually to 19,000 Head Start providers in 50 states, three territories and the District of Columbia." Jewish groups opposed to the measure, according to The Forward, include the "Anti-Defamation League, the Union for Reform Judaism, the American Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Committee and the National Council of Jewish Women."
10. Pushed Ohio Schools to Embrace "Intelligent Design:" People For the American Way reports that Rep. Boehner and fellow Ohio Republican Rep. Steve Chabot wrote to the Ohio school board claiming that legislative language required that references to "Intelligent Design" be included in Ohio's science standards. In fact, such language was removed from the relevant education bill before it became final.
Democrats, you have to stop posturing, pandering and posing. Stop trying to play the Republican's game and stop trying to race them to the bottom in an effort to find God. You need to adopt Thomas Jefferson's attitude and get government out of the religion business. Do we have to draw pictures for you? Paul Hackett knows what to do, will any of the rest of you stand up to these bullies? You need to do this and you need to do it NOW or we will find the Democrats who will do so. We watch.
