Tell me that I am paranoid here - A chimp theocracy question.

Please tell that I am being majorly paranoid here, but does anyone else feel that the chimp, right wing radio, and the religious right are trying to push for laws that wont allow people to attend church unless that there a registered repug? This is one of my greatest fears as too were this war on christmas "BS" is headding. Please tell me that this is not where we are headding. I can just see DNNA (Democrats Need Not Attend) signs on churches or on thier bill boards.

there are just as many churches on the left as on the right

I'd never thought that I live to see the day when the communion rail became a wedge issue. Gawd I despise the chimp for this.

My wife and I read it a few years ago, and Margaret Atwood scared the bejabbers out us. The damned novel seems prescient now.

When you combine the absolutism of fundamentalism Christianity with the totalitarian nature of the NeoCons, you arrive at despotism.

That would ruin the illusion of inclusiveness they are trying to keep alive.

They freeze people out in less forthright ways than that.

fundamentalist churches. I can't see liberal churches such as Unity or Unitarian/Universalist or Friends shutting their doors to everyone except Republicans. There could be a possibility of a particular church denying entrance to Democrats, but I'd remember what Jesus said to His disciples, and simply shake the dust of that church from your sandals and go on. They would not be following the teachings of Jesus anyway.

PS-You are always welcome at the Church of All (www.churchofall.us)

who to be nice to. A church is really it's people anyway, so you can form a new one, if you wish.

but it wasn't because I wasn't "allowed" to attend services. I made the conscientious decision that the pulpit was not the proper place for hate to originate and that's what was being spewed from the Catholic Church we had been attending. I stopped going and so did my money. I was a pretty good tither. I think they'd rather I return and bring my money with me.

Too many people simply disappear, without giving any reason. And nothing changes, if people don't know why you've gone.

and I honestly believe the pendulum is beginning to swing the OTHER (sensible, liberal) direction. Though I believe there will be some major last ditch psycho grabbing by the religious right -- but I think the tide is turning against them. And believe me, I am NOT one to be optimistic on these matters.

get the preacher to endorse Bush's policies or at least stay silent.

But churches which don't need and don't accept "faith-based intitiative" money will go on as before.

Churches that are political from the pulpit can lose their tax exempt status, doesn't matter what type of church. Currently, both sides of the spectrum are being investigated or have been

This one is specifically about the corrupting influence of faith-based initiatives:
http://dailykos.com/story/2005/6/24/234519/108

This one is about politics from the pulpit in general:
http://www.priestsforlife.org/clippings/2004/04-10-22pulpit.htm

The fear and loathing of the paranoid. Geesh, We are sometimes worse than the Clinton haters in the 90's

Sorry to be so outspoken, but the idea of the religious right having the power to force a theocracy upon us is so far out of the realm of possibilities, it's hard not to mock the idea.

How does a theocracy happen in this country?
By Congress passing laws we have to obey? Don't be so silly. They can't pass a law without having to fight about for six weeks and take twenty polls to make sure they don't piss off the wrong people. Plus we got to vote them out when they do piss us off enough.

By the military imposing it's authority over us by gunpoint? It's illegal and they won't do it. Plus there are lots of democrats in the military. Civil war would break out first.

By state government mandating it? Are the state police going to come to your door and make everybody go to the right church or stop you from going to church ? They are way too busy passing out speeding tickets on the highway.

Get a freaking grip. It isn't going to happen. If it every did happen, this county will have revolution in the streets. Just how many people think a theocracy is a good idea? maybe 5 % percent? That's probably a high number.

Also the idea that bush is this all powerfully dictatorial monster is also ridiculous. He can't even get ANWR passed for his oil buddies!!! The chimp will be gone in 2008

Do you really think they own all the churches?

Of course, you could do yourself a favor and read the bible with a critical eye. Then you need not worry about wasting your time at church anymore.

The only churches you might be able to go to are either the one that survive through funding from the new right wing money dispensers or the ones that can get on TV. The more liberal, peaceful churches or temples of other religions will have to depend on their parishioners to survive as "faith based funding" is withheld from them - and in a rapidly falling economy, end up losing funding and eventually real estate.
But the activist churches with links to the government and corporations will be able to "supplement" their community plate offerings with faith based funding because they will be "theologically correct" as well as strong-arming their parishioners to make set "minimum donations" and do free labor for them to allow them to show that they are the lowest bidder for the services they will be providing to qualify for their "funding".

Lots of people I know that are "Ghod-Pods" (the uber-conservative Cargo Cultists that claim that Jey-sus gives them everything they want and either the Shrub or Pat Robertson is Ghod's representative on Earth) do their weekly church going via the televangelists and radio evangelists before and on their way to their indentured servitude; then go to either their strip-mall saviors (if they're poor) or their crystal cathedrals (if they're well off) over the weekend.
If not home or private schooled, their Ghod-Pod kids get are usually sent to some sort of youth group "video games and services" indoctrination hang out/day care after school to make up for the lack of media based services their parent(s) get every morning.
Ghod-Pods isolate themselves, their friends, their families, and their workforce - they tend only to hire amongst their group. The face they present to public is one that can be used to promote their product and bring more into their control. Once a desperate, bored and uncertain, or otherwise weakened personality is sold their version of belief product, the Pod works on isolating that person so he or she becomes one of them and renounces everything else. I've seen it happen to well-off people and poor people. They find a weakness and try to use it to reel that person and hopefully their family in with promises that whatever happens in this life, they get everything they want in the next life so long as they don't piss Cargo-Jesus off in this.

The right wing doesn't have to push for laws requiring political registration to be able to go to church. They just have to starve out any non-political churches and "encourage" their good "citizens" to harass and look down upon anyone that doesn't believe in the great Cargo-Jesus as lesser people.

Just as "missionaries" still do in remote third world areas such as primitive Africa, South America and the South Pacific where the concepts of good and evil, personal survival and soul is not the same as they are in more developed civilizations. The primitive have a lot less options to deal with, so life tends to be more black and white. That can make it much easier to invade and corrupt their culture with impunity.
The right wingers want to be able to do the same thing here; they just have to insure that our culture becomes more primitive despite the technology advances - so they have to limit our exposure to options in thinking. Then they let "market forces" take care of the rest.

My two cents -

Haele

agencies via the federal government. Also there is funding for almost any conceivable program that are not church based. (90 pages of programs)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/fbci/GrantCatalog2005.pdf

So your scary thought would be rather hard to occur unless bush declares himself dictator. States normally don't take to federal government high handedness when it comes to dollars flowing between agencies.

I do find your last statement about right wingers wanting our culture to be more primitive to limit our exposure to options in thinking rather ludicrous.

Do you have any evidence to back up that claim ? I've never seen anyone with any credentials make that claim.

BTW, my interest is not placed in defending right wingers or "Ghod-Pods". But in fact, I find people here post some of the most bizarre claims, unsubstantiated theories and tin hat conspiracies without a shred of credible empirical evidence. Whatever evidence they do use is normally from websites that are extreme fringe or not sourced to a reputable site

Just wondering where you got that gem from

I live in in San Diego East County where Cargo-Jesus cultists have almost a stranglehold on local politics and the school boards. This is Tim LeHay country. My observation from the way they operate. And if the majority of them could have their way, Bush would be one of their prophets and the federal government would impose a Theocracy test to citizenship as well as any possible Civil Rights and social programs.
I was not writing my post as a term paper, otherwise, I would have backed up my "position" with various studies on how cults develop and dictatorships arise.
For example the anthropologist Marvin Harris has a very good, readily accessible bock on how religion affects society and what various cults have used to hold on to social power in his book "Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches, the Riddles of Culture". Another book that is easily accessible is "Under the Banner of Heaven" by Jon Krakauer - a journalist's study of the Fundamentalist Mormon cults.

There are many studies that have explored cult actions and cult personalities over a very long period of time - nothing in what I had written about in my rant is anything new, controversial, or "conspiratorial" in nature. The right wing so-called Christian phenomena is right out there in the open, and all you really need to do is actually observe that community to see where it is heading.

I can understand that you want to have hard evidence for your position, but please remember, pick your flame wars a bit more carefully.
If I was writing a treatise, I would have provided links to local articles, "church" webs and chat sites, studies, books and the like. As it is, my "claim" was a rant that was, again, based on observation of the religious nutcases around me who have and are looking for a lot of socio-political power.

It's not a "conspiracy" when they're doing it right out there in the open. And when they preach it from the pulpits and bring it into their work places.
I have to live and work with these people. Apparently, you're lucky enough not to have to do either.

Haele

as being not "real", not recognized as a church.
I think these churches could eventually lose their tax-exempt status and then be heavily taxed, unless we get the upper hand against the theocracy wannabees.

and if you are NOT Christian, you don't get help. If you are so inclined to sign up with their fundie church, they'll throw you a piece of bread. Otherwise, "go fuck yourself."