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David (the guy I've been writing back and forth to the past few weeks, the "PresidentErnestTBass" dude :-)) said my post from the other day sparked a lot of discussion, so I took a looksee. Just wanted to clear some things up here and hopefully won't have to do this again, 'cuz I said several months ago that I NEVER AGAIN wanted to do the online discussion forums thing. I had almost four years of that at Free Republic and then two at Liberty Post. For all the friends I've made (and still have BTW) at FR and then after trying to keep up the good fight at LP when FR got intellectually co-opted, I got more than a little tired of this kind of rigamarole. It wasn't accomplishing anything but becoming a waste of time and energy.
I'm gonna let you guys in on something I realized earlier this year: there's a LOT more that you have in common with plenty enough of the people at FR and some other "conservative" sites than you may realize. I fully understand why it is that you're angry at some of them... and they have some reasons to be angry at some of you. But that does NOT mean that either of you should be this kind of PO'd at EVERYONE on the other side.
Let me put it another way: I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian "our country right or wrong" school during the better part of the 80s. We weren't just taught, we were *encouraged* to believe, that the entire Russian people were a bunch of godless heathens that should have been nuked off the face of the Earth. It was some years later that I came to understand the REAL truth of the matter: that MOST of the Russian people, despite the beliefs of the dominating Communist Party, were VERY Christian... and even moreso than their counterparts here in America, I'm inclined to believe. They had their faith tested... while the Christians over here have had theirs spoiled rotten.
I don't believe that there's such a thing as "liberal" and "conservative", that there are these two disparate groups that wake up every morning obsessed with destroying each other. But I *do* believe that there are a very few self-professing "leaders", a small minority of proud-and-pompous rabble-rousers, that DO want people to fall under their banner and hate others for no real reason except that the emotion of hate makes a people far more conducive to being controlled... and to be used as a weapon.
That's why I grew up hating the people of the Soviet Union: I didn't realize at the time that I was being taught to hate and be angry at them so that my own energies would contribute to the collective madness of "my own side". When I realized that truth, I threw it aside. I'm my own person now... and I'll be damned if I'm ever so willing as to let any man use me as an instrument toward his own ends in such a way again.
THAT is what the anger should be directed against. And I see them on every and all sides, including the "Democratic/liberal one". Jesse Jackson used to be a really good man, with a really good message, thirty years ago. For the past twenty years he's not only exploited his own people to satiate his own want of power, he's exploited and diminished the memory of one of the VERY few statesmen and Christian leaders that this country produced in the last century: Martin Luther King Jr. Same goes for "feminist" leaders like those at the National Organization for Women: how much of a bigger (or better, I might add... I'm of the opinion that of all good things in life, women are the finest :-)) block of people would you want to use than roughly one-half of the world's population? Does anyone seriously believe that the Palestinian people hate the Israelis en masse, or that the Israelis reciprocate that loathing so naturally? Were the Serbians and Croats and Bosnians all wake up pokey one morning in the early 90s and decide that they wanted to slaughter each other for no reason?
No, no, a thousand times no. To varying degrees, whether relatively harmless or blatantly genocidal, all of these things and more happen because someone - or a group of someones - with glib on their lips, darkness in their hearts and insanity in their minds, make themselves the "leaders" and expect lots of people to follow them over a cliff, if worse comes to worst. And unfortunately for us, there's usually plenty enough people that follow them.
Don't be angry at those following. Feel sorrow and pity for them if anything. Be angry at those "leading", rather. They're the ones that have brought discord and mischief to the table that we share as Americans. And I don't care what side they're claiming to come from or how much they try to justify it, but between you guys at DU and the ones at FR and everyone in between, you're all helping to gives the wrong people all the wrong power over this country.
But you've a lot of common ground with a lot of good people on "the other side" also. Maybe a little humbleness in not only hearing them out but reaching out the them might go a long way. 'Cuz fact of the matter is, both you AND they are now looking at something at something that I never believed might actuall come to pass in this country. And if you don't learn to put aside your petty squabbles NOW and start standing against this, and raise all holy Hell and start fighting THIS instead of falling for the distraction of hating "them" like Those With Power want you to do, then you're NOT GOING TO HAVE an America where you still have some freedom to disagree on things this petty with your neighbors and friends anymore, at all.
It was eight years ago this past week that for the first time in my life, after being deluded by false teachings about it for so many years, that I finally understood what it meant to surrender all to God, and I became what you would call a born-again Christian. I used to be an atheist for a long time before that. Long story how all that came about (if anyone wants to know my e-mail address is theknightshift@gmail.com) and it's not really germane to the discussion here. I'm not perfect by any stretch: I fail a lot. There are things with my flesh that I still contend with. I'd have to immediately stand guilty as charged if anyone accused me of being the worst sinner in history... and I've done horrible things, believe you me. Don't look to me as the model of Christian idealism, because that's *not* what I am.
And there are things I believe in that, if I were to admit them on this forum, a lot of people would probably hate me for... but I'll admit 'em anyway. For starters, I'm very strongly pro-life. I believe in limited government. I don't believe that the federal government should have as strong a part in public education as it does. The present income tax system saps away at our individual freedoms and our personal initiatives and should be done away with. Most current government programs should be scrapped. I don't believe in the idea of "homosexual marriage"... but I also do NOT believe in having an amendment to the United States Constitution that forbids it (and if anyone wants to know my reasons for THAT, yer free to ask also). Anti-gun laws should be scrapped so that means of self-protection are widely available (I believe that lends itself toward encouraging freedom... again, ask me sometime). Government should cease passing and enforcing laws that restrict some expressions of religion on the grounds that some things violate "separation of church and state... because the mindset of actively discouraging acts of faith is also logically one that ENCOURAGES a faith, if lack of a faith can also be considered a faith in and of itself. American military defense should never be under the authority of any foreign powers, especially any United Nations officials. Come to think of it, the entire UN itself should be closed down, give the staff 30 minutes to vacate the building, at the end of which implode the place with explosives, bulldoze the debris into the Hudson River and have the site sown with salt so that nothing so inherently useless may ever arise from it again. Our borders with Mexico and Canada are shoddily protected: we need to beef up security along each... especially with Mexico, 'cuz this country's economic vitality is slowly but surely being bled away by illegal immigration.
But I'm not a lockstep conservative either, if anyone's so inclined to think that I am. Lord willing, the PATRIOT Act *will* be scrapped someday soon and if anyone suggests resurrecting it, they should be dragged out into the street and shot for the good of the country: there's never been a more atrocious intrusion of the rights that we have - as delineated by the Constitution - as this damnable dose of Doublespeak dictation. The Iraq War has become the WORST blunder to be instigated by dubious reasons that America has gotten involved with since the Spanish-American War... and at least THAT war was funny enough for Mel Brooks to make a movie about it if he wanted to. One of the main reasons why I did break down and vote for Kerry (though for months my conscience wouldn't let me even consider it) is that between he and Bush, Kerry has at least known enough about what it is to be in a war that he'd bring enough discipline to the table to get us out of THIS one, that we shouldn't have even been fighting to begin with. Bush's mad plan to enforce mental-health screenings on ALL Americans should be stopped by any means necessary... 'cuz anyone can figure out that this is just a massive kickback to his buddies in some pharmeceutical companies who would provide the medicines that are going to be dosed out, at massive profit. At the same time, Americans should be free to purchase medications from abroad, if it's cheaper to do so than domestically.
So now you know: I'm a devout believer in Jesus Christ who you might consider "conservative" on some things, and "liberal" on others. I imagine it's just the fact that I admit to being a Christian - who DOES believe that the Bible is 100% true, BTW - is going to get me skewered by some people here. I'm okay with that. But it's not going to keep me from telling you guys this...
...that there is nothing Christian at all about what is happening to America right now. And there're quite a few sincere Christians that are starting to see what's REALLY coming down on this country. You should be careful not to "diss" them: there may prove to be no finer allies than they to have on your side, if God has extended this nation a little more grace.
"Christian Reconstructionism" is something that I grew up learning all about, though it was YEARS later when at last I had a name to give it, not long after becoming a real Christian. And from everything I've come to know about it both from experience and long years of watchful study, know this: that there is NOTHING that these people would not do if it somehow justifies their vision of what it means to serve God. Because God really doesn't factor into their schemes at all: they're just using His name to brand their own upon this world's history.
"By their fruits shall ye know them," we are taught as Christians. We are also instructed to "test the spirits" to determine if something is really from God.
If the spirits are to be tested, how much moreso should we test a mere man?
PresidentErnestTBass said he posted a link to my accout on my blog: how four years ago George W. Bush apparently referred to me as an "asshole" before setting one of his goons on me... who threatened physical violence before telling me to "get the fuck out of here" because the Bush camp didn't want an independent journalist (as I was at the time) at their rally. That night opened my eyes on what kind of "Christ-like man" America was going to be dealing with. Ever since then I've prayed for patience, asked God to still the anger in my heart over the incident, let me see things as He might see it regarding this man... but in all honesty, I can't see where Bush is all that Christian a guy at all. I mean, what kind of Christian routinely "gives the bird" to people that he doesn't like: doesn't he understand what that gesture means, how HORRIBLE it is that a sincere Christian would even entertain such a thought?! Not to mention that this man never ceases to seek the destruction of all of his enemies, whether real or imagined. Christ taught us to love everyone ESPECIALLY our enemies... so what makes Bush believe that he's exempt from that instruction? We're also called to hold the truth as sacred and holy... so why are we letting hundreds of innocent lives end for sake of a lie?
Christians are called to forsake the riches and glories of this world, and sacrifice this flesh's desires, so that we might share the love of Christ with others. How is it that the paragon of Christian identity is now considered to be a man who apparently thinks nothing of sacrificing others for his own sense of grandeur, so that he can be "making history" as he once boasted?
I'm so disappointed in many of my fellow professing Christians and the things they are now doing in this country, that I honestly wonder when - not if, when - God will punish us for such unprecedented pride and condescension. They should KNOW, after coming to SEE, how so unlike a Christ-like spirit it is that Bush has. Yet they care not how weak, and even nonexistent, his testimony as Christian really is. It only matters that Bush has spoken all the right words to their itching ears. In doing so they fall to a great delusion, that they might believe a lie instead of holding to the truth.
The truth of it is, whether they admit or even understand it at all, is that they look at Bush as God's gift to them to achieve one of two goals: either domination over this country and ultimately the world, or the destruction of the world. They want Bush to either throw open the doors for them to take over everything, or step up the timetable for the Rapture so that they don't have to worry about pesky things like showing the love of Christ to the poor wretched sinners anymore... and won't Heaven be that much sweeter knowing that there's at least one damnable soul from this world roasting in Hell forever, to say nothing of the millions that they secretly harbor hatred toward?
I believe the "end-times" motivation is what's led a lot of the so-called "evangelical Christians" to pull for Bush no matter what, even if it was only at a subconcious level. They believe that the Second Coming is not only literal but imminent... as in within the next few days or months or years. And they want to play a part in it. Helping Bush out, they will hold, is actually helping Jesus come that much sooner. It's the same unconfessed rationale as to why it is that many evangelicals hold the Jewish people in such high regard: it's not that they really LOVE them, it's that they can't wait to hurry them back to the land that God promised Abraham... so that most of them can be destroyed as part of end-time prophecy.
As a Christian, I do believe that Jesus Christ will someday return. But I've also come to understand this: that when He does, it will be in perfect and complete fulfillment of scripture. At the same time, it will be in a way that is unlike ANYTHING that has entered into our imaginations. That's the way God has always worked: He keeps His promises, but when He does, He does it far wilder than anything we ever had in mind. Who are we to insist that God redeem this world as we believe it should be redeemed?
If that's not the acme of arrogance, I've no idea what is. But for all the fanaticism that this mindset entails, it is not the thing that should immediately concern you and me, and a lot of others... including honest Christians.
Folks, there is a very strong likelihood that right now, whether most Americans realize it or not, last Tuesday marked the culmination of a coup that a lot of people have been quietly praying and plotting for at least the past 20 years to happen. It certainly popped some red flags in my head that the higher-levels of Diebold's owners and management are believers in Christian Reconstruction... and apparently that holds true for other manufacturers of electronic voting machines also. That these machines "malfunctioned" in a way that skewed the voter tabulations toward favoring Bush - without fail or seemingly any tilt toward Kerry - in defiance of what one mathematician friend told me was "staggering probability", should be entailing nothing short of the highest priority of concern.
Because if... IF... our democratic process is being given the end-run by ANYONE who's using this supposedly "trustworthy technology" to stifle even one vote of the American franchise, then there should be no pretense that we live in a democratic republic anymore, at all. If there is no more respect toward this right of the people that our government is inclined to give, then there becomes an end to any and all claims of sovereignty and allegiance that the people are expected to pay government.
We have authority over our government, it's not the other way around. God let US have the stewardship over America. If we start letting anyone have authority over us in any way, then we stand in violation of God's ultimate authority. And if we know fully well that a party is stealing authority from us, it becomes our moral and ethical obligation to not only stop that party, but punish it.
Christian Reconstructionism, or Dominion Theology, is a cancer upon the human mind in the same way that radical Islam infected the Taliban, or agrarian utopianism drove the Khmer Rouge. You could call it "radical Christianity", but there is nothing Christian about it save in name only. Its goal is simple: re-fashion America and the world under a new order. One that bases its entire existence upon a VERY literal interpretation of the Old Testament that not even the Hebrews of old followed. Theirs would be a world without pity, where the most casual swearing out of thoughtless frustration will be met with being stoned to death. Where it is not so much that a young girl might be burdened with the uncertainty of what to do with her life after unexpectedly becoming pregnant, because that wouldn't really be something to worry about at all... not when she'll be KILLED for her transgression (whether it's before or after the child is born is something I've heard varying opinions of from these people, BTW). It would be a world where slavery is re-instituted as a biblically-viable economic system. Where little children can be executed for talking out of line.
Someone once defined evil as being "judgement without compassion." These people want to institute the harshness of Law without tempering it with any Love. If there's anything more fitting of being considered "evil" than this, I've yet to see it. These people will, as a religion professor told us one day, "pave a path straight to Auschwitz."
These aren't my own thoughts and theories and notions, friends. I've spoken personally with REAL people, some of them seemingly the nicest folks you can imagine, who ACTUALLY want to do this to America.
And then, once the this country and the world is crushed underfoot and remade into their own image, then and only then can Jesus come and reign over the nice orderly world that they have made for Him. And to Hell with anyone who gets in their way... actually, Hell is where they're actively intending on sending anyone who does get in their way.
Seven years ago, when I first heard of Dominion Theology, I recollected the things I grew up being taught in that Christian school and some things clicked into place. And I began to quietly keep watch, making note of the movement and what they were doing. Yet I never thought that anyone or any group of people could SERIOUSLY make that happen. Not here... it can't happen here, right?
If last week's election was rigged in any way, it was most certainly done within the power and by the authority of Christian Reconstructionists... because nothing matters more to them than remaking this world in their own image. It would be a sin before God NOT to do something if they were capable of doing it, if it helped to build "the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth" for these people. They will lie, they will cheat, they will bear false witness, and I can't help but wonder if they might even kill... because they covet power over their neighbor so much. And they believe they're acting in God's service by doing so.
Suddenly, it might very well be happening here after all.
As a born-again Christian, as someone who is unaffiliated and has no interest in helping EITHER the Democrats or Republicans have political power, is neither conservative or liberal but is only trying to do what's right in the eyes of God while knowing that I cannot measure up to the task but that He does give me the grace to go on... as all of these things and more, I want to tell this to the people of Democratic Underground, to anyone who is reading this from Free Republic and anyone else for that matter...
This is NOT a "Democrat versus Republican" thing anymore.
If it happened - and however it happened - if intentional voting manipulation took place last week, it undermines everything that God has given us in this country, and everything that counless men and women have died to protect.
If it happened and at the behest of, and in furtherance of the goals of Christian Reconstructionism, it must be stopped. And every attempt made to never let them rig the system so as to favor them in this way ever again.
If they want to try to turn America into a Christio-fascist state, they're more than welcome to do so. I'm not going to stifle them from publishing their ideas. They can even run their own candidates during an election... but not they, or anyone else for that matter, can be tolerated in the slightest if they are trying to do it illegally.
And I'm telling this to the DU people especially: I've said more than enough things about you guys here over the years. I'm man enough to admit that. The last thing I really got to say over at Free Republic before getting banned was that that site was becoming "as bad as Democratic Underground". I'm not out to curry favor with anyone, including the participants of any website.
But I do remember how Free Republic was back in the old days. And how there were things that mattered more than party loyalty over there. There was also something to be said about the tenaciousness, and the driving passion, that made that place so special. I really did used to believe that within Free Republic lay the seeds of the next renaissance of American liberty. Sadly, that did not happen. But I am still very proud of my time at Free Republic and the things I did for that site. I may harbor some dissension (and even some hard-feelings) toward the management of that site, 'specially after the low-brow things they've done to me in my absence... but as for the years I did spend there, I've no regrets.
As passionate as Free Republic was back then, I hope that there's some people here at least as passionate, if there's any indication at all that something VERY out-of-kilter happened during this past election.
Collate the evidence. Study it. Pray - yes, PRAY - that nothing DID happen during this election that could not be easily explained or articulated away beyond a reasonable doubt. Analyze this under the assumption that NOTHING wrong happened. I honestly hope that it didn't: as much as I don't like Bush, I would much rather know in all certainty that ours was a fair and honest election.
But if some things DID happen, and there's no explanation other than it was intentionally altered... and if it took place on the vast a scale as some things are making it look like they happened on...
Then you guys at Democratic Underground had damned well better pull out all the stops, take this to the press and the streets and the mountaintops, spare no expense and scream bloody murder about this. If you ARE anything like what FR was back in the day, you've got your work cut out for you... and you'd better get to work. 'Cuz just as I believed about FR then, so now am I inclined to believe that YOU guys are now the only thing keeping America from sliding irrevocably toward becoming a fascist regime.
But guys, please: don't knock all Christians. And don't disregard a lot of people who happen to sit on the other side of the aisle either. You've some friends in both places, and they're not going to hate you just because of something so silly as a political label either (at least, I'm not going to hate you anyway ;)) It's not that most of them are in approval of what's going on: it's more like THEY JUST DON'T KNOW that it's happening. You've got to find out the truth of the matter, and then if it's as bad as things look, you've got to warn them. As a great American once noted, "We must indeed all hang together, or most assuredly we will all hang separately."
In retrospect, there will be no similarity between you and the Christian that you may hate, other than the fact that you are both living in a banana republic that both of you could have prevented. Or worse.
Don't hate anyone... but don't cease to be angry if indeed we HAVE been hoodwinked. And then, don't let anyone get away with it.
That is all. Take care and God bless :-)
Christopher Knight
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