Text 285, 225 rader
Skriven 2005-04-12 00:01:40 av Steve Asher (3:800/432.0)
Ärende: "The Crusaders"
=======================

(It isn't limited to America... the Western nations will, if the
Reconstructionists have their way, be converted to "theocracies"
with "old testament" Israel as the model.)

The Crusaders

Christian evangelicals are plotting to remake America in their own image 

By BOB MOSER 

04/08/05 "Rolling Stone" - - It's February, and 900 of America's
staunchest Christian fundamentalists have gathered in Fort Lauderdale
to look back on what they accomplished in last year's election -- and
to plan what's next. As they assemble in the vast sanctuary of Coral
Ridge Presbyterian, with all fifty state flags dangling from the
rafters, three stadium-size video screens flash the name of the
conference: reclaiming america for christ. These are the evangelical
activists behind the nation's most effective political machine -- one
that brought more than 4 million new Christian voters to the polls
last November, sending George W. Bush back to the White House and
thirty-two new pro-lifers to Congress. But despite their unprecedented
power, fundamentalists still see themselves as a persecuted minority,
waging a holy war against the godless forces of secularism. To rouse
themselves, they kick off the festivities with "Soldiers of the Cross,
Arise," the bloodthirstiest tune in all of Christendom: "Seize your
armor, gird it on/Now the battle will be won/Soon, your enemies all
slain/Crowns of glory you shall gain." 

Meet the Dominionists -- biblical literalists who believe God has
called them to take over the U.S. government. As the far-right wing of
the evangelical movement, Dominionists are pressing an agenda that
makes Newt Gingrich's Contract With America look like the Communist
Manifesto. They want to rewrite schoolbooks to reflect a Christian
version of American history, pack the nation's courts with judges who
follow Old Testament law, post the Ten Commandments in every
courthouse and make it a felony for gay men to have sex and women to
have abortions. In Florida, when the courts ordered Terri Schiavo's
feeding tube removed, it was the Dominionists who organized round-the-
clock protests and issued a fiery call for Gov. Jeb Bush to defy the
law and take Schiavo into state custody. Their ultimate goal is to
plant the seeds of a "faith-based" government that will endure far
longer than Bush's presidency -- all the way until Jesus comes back.

"Most people hear them talk about a 'Christian nation' and think,
'Well, that sounds like a good, moral thing,' says the Rev. Mel White,
who ghostwrote Jerry Falwell's autobiography before breaking with the
evangelical movement. "What they don't know -- what even most
conservative Christians who voted for Bush don't know -- is that
'Christian nation' means something else entirely to these Dominionist
leaders. This movement is no more about following the example of
Christ than Bush's Clean Water Act is about clean water."

The godfather of the Dominionists is D. James Kennedy, the most
influential evangelical you've never heard of. A former Arthur Murray
dance instructor, he launched his Florida ministry in 1959, when most
evangelicals still followed Billy Graham's gospel of nonpartisan soul-
saving. Kennedy built Coral Ridge Ministries into a $37-million-a-year
empire, with a TV-and-radio audience of 3 million, by preaching that
it was time to save America -- not soul by soul but election by
election. After helping found the Moral Majority in 1979, Kennedy
became a five-star general in the Christian army. Bush sought his
blessing before running for president -- and continues to consult top
Dominionists on matters of federal policy.

"Our job is to reclaim America for Christ, whatever the cost," Kennedy
says. "As the vice regents of God, we are to exercise godly dominion
and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our government, our
literature and arts, our sports arenas, our entertainment media, our
news media, our scientific endeavors -- in short, over every aspect
and institution of human society."

At Reclaiming America, most of the conference is taken up by
grassroots training sessions that supply ministers, retirees and
devout churchgoers with "The Facts of Stem-Cell Research" or
"Practical Steps to Impact Your Community with America's Historical
Judeo-Christian Heritage." "We're going to turn you into an army of
one," Gary Cass, executive director of Reclaiming America, promises
activists at one workshop held in Evangalism Explosion Hall. The
Dominionists also attend speeches by supporters like Rep. Katherine
Harris of Florida, who urges them to "win back America for God." In
their spare time, conference-goers buy books about a God-devised
health program called the Maker's Diet or meet with a financial
adviser who offers a "biblically sound investment plan."

To implement their sweeping agenda, the Dominionists are working to
remake the federal courts in God's image. In their view, the Founding
Fathers never intended to erect a barrier between politics and
religion. "The First Amendment does not say there should be a
separation of church and state," declares Alan Sears, president and
CEO of the Alliance Defense Fund, a team of 750 attorneys trained by
the Dominionists to fight abortion and gay marriage. Sears argues that
the constitutional guarantee against state-sponsored religion is
actually designed to "shield" the church from federal interference --
allowing Christians to take their rightful place at the head of the
government. "We have a right, indeed an obligation, to govern," says
David Limbaugh, brother of Rush and author of Persecution: How
Liberals Are Waging War Against Christianity. Nothing gets the
Dominionists to their feet faster than ringing condemnations of
judicial tyranny. "Activist judges have systematically deconstructed
the Constitution," roars Rick Scarborough, author of Mixing Church and
State. "A God-free society is their goal!"

Activist judges, of course, are precisely what the Dominionists want.
Their model is Roy Moore, the former Alabama chief justice who
installed a 5,300-pound granite memorial to the Ten Commandments,
complete with an open Bible carved in its top, in the state judicial
building. At Reclaiming America, Roy's Rock sits out front, fresh off
a tour of twenty-one states, perched on the flag-festooned flatbed of
a diesel truck, a potent symbol of the "faith-based" justice the
Dominionists are bent on imposing. Activists at the conference pose
for photographs beside the rock and have circulated a petition urging
President Bush to appoint Moore -- who once penned an opinion calling
for the state to execute "practicing homosexuals" -- to the U.S.
Supreme Court.

"The other side knows we've got strongholds in the executive and
legislative branches," Cass tells the troops. "If we start winning the
judiciary, their power base is going to be eroded."

To pack the courts with fundamentalists like Moore, Dominionist
leaders are planning a massive media blitz. They're also pressuring
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist -- an ally who's courting support
for his presidential bid -- to halt the long-standing use of
filibusters to hold up judicial nominations. An anti-filibuster
petition circulating at the conference blasts Democrats for their
"outrageous stonewalling of appointments" -- even though Congress has
approved more nominees of Bush than of any president since Jimmy
Carter.

It helps that Dominionists have a direct line to the White House: The
Rev. Richard Land, top lobbyist for the 16-million-member Southern
Baptist Convention, enjoys a weekly conference call with top Bush
advisers including Karl Rove. "We've got the Holy Spirit's wind at our
backs!" Land declares in an arm-waving, red-faced speech. He takes
particular aim at the threat posed by John Lennon, denouncing
"Imagine" as a "secular anthem" that envisions a future of "clone
plantations, child sacrifice, legalized polygamy and hard-core porn."

The Dominionists are also stepping up efforts to turn public schools
into forums for evangelism. In a landmark case, the Alliance Defense
Fund is suing a California school district that threatened to dismiss
a born-again teacher who was evangelizing fifth-graders. In the
conference's opening ceremony, the Dominionists recite an oath they
dream of hearing in every classroom: "I pledge allegiance to the
Christian flag, and to the Savior for whose kingdom it stands. One
Savior, crucified, risen and coming again, with life and liberty for
all who believe."

Cass urges conference-goers to stack school boards with Dominionists.
"The most humble Christian is more qualified for office than the best-
educated pagan," says Cass, an anti-abortion activist who led a
takeover of his school district's board in San Diego. "We built quite
a little grass-roots machine out there. Now it's my burden to multiply
that success all across America."

Cass points to the Rev. Gary Beeler, a Baptist minister from Tennessee
who got permission for thousands of students to skip class and attend
weeklong events that he calls "old-time revivals, with preaching and
singing and soul-saving and the whole nine yards." Now, with support
from Kennedy, Beeler is selling his house and buying a mobile home to
spread his crusade nationwide. "It's not exactly what I planned to do
with my retirement," he says. "But it's what God told me to do."

Cass also presents another small-town activist, Kevin McCoy, with a
Salt and Light Award for leading a successful campaign to shut down an
anti-bullying program in West Virginia schools. McCoy, a soft-spoken,
prematurely gray postal worker, fought to end the program because it
taught tolerance for gay people -- and thus, in his view, constituted
a "thinly disguised effort to promote the homosexual agenda." "What
America needs," Cass tells the faithful, "is more Kevin McCoys."

While the dominionists rely on grass-roots activists to fight their
battles, they are backed by some of America's richest entrepreneurs.
Amway founder Rich DeVos, a Kennedy ally who's the leading Republican
contender for governor of Michigan, has tossed more than $5 million
into the collection plate. Jean Case, wife of former AOL chief Steve
Case -- whose fortune was made largely on sex-chat rooms -- has
donated $8 million. And Tom Monaghan, founder of Domino's Pizza, is a
major source of cash for Focus on the Family, a megaministry working
with Kennedy to eliminate all public schools.

The one-two punch of militant activists and big money has helped make
the Dominionists a force in Washington, where a growing number of
congressmen owe their elections to the machine. Kennedy has also
created the Center for Christian Statesmanship, which trains elected
officials to "more effectively share their faith in the public arena."
Speaking to the group, House Majority Whip Tom DeLay -- a winner of
Kennedy's Distinguished Christian Statesman Award -- called Bush's
faith-based initiatives "a great opportunity to bring God back into
the public institutions of our country."

The most vivid proof of the Christianizing of Capitol Hill comes at
the final session of Reclaiming America. Rep. Walter Jones, a lanky
congressman from North Carolina, gives a fire-and-brimstone speech
that would have gotten him laughed out of Washington thirty years ago.
In today's climate, however, he's got a chance of passing his pet
project, the Houses of Worship Free Speech Restoration Act, which
would permit ministers to endorse political candidates from their
pulpits, effectively converting their tax-exempt churches into
Republican campaign headquarters.

"America is under assault!" Jones thunders as his aides dash around
the sanctuary snapping PR photos. "Everyone in America has the right
to speak freely, except for those standing in the pulpits of our
churches!" The amen chorus reaches a fever pitch. Hands fly
heavenward. It's one thing to hear such words from Dominionist leaders
-- but to this crowd, there's nothing more thrilling than getting the
gospel from a U.S. congressman. "You cannot have a strong nation that
does not follow God," Jones preaches, working up to a climactic,
passionate plea for a biblical republic. "God, please -- God, please --
God, please -- save America!"

Copyright: Rolling Stone

                              -=<->=-

Source: Information Clearinghouse ...
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8499.htm


Cheers, Steve..

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