The Call: Spiritual Warfare in the Field of Martyrs (Prop 8 Supporters answer 'the call')

On November 1, 2008, I attended The Call - a rally organized by Lou Engle at San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium - attended by 33,000 (according to organizer estimates) over a twelve hour period. Citing the state's "fog of Jezebel confusion"* Engle organized this incarnation of The Call to support Proposition 8 - a California ballot proposition that would ban same-sex marriage in the state. During the event, Engle warned that the decadence in the state "will release a spirit that is more demonic than Islam". The Call is a large-scale traveling revival that purports to offer participants an edifying day of fasting and prayer away from the temptations of secular culture. But far from being a quiet zone for collective meditation, TheCall was a anxious assembly of endtime spiritual warriors.

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As Max Blumenthal notes in a piece today on The Daily Beast { http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2008-11-03/the-man-behind-proposition-8/ }, the event was bankrolled by prominent dominionists - including the notorious Christian Reconstructionist Harold F. Ahmanson. This connection illustrates the ways in which Christian right leaders from radically different theological perspectives routinely find common ground in the dominionist mandate to "purify the nation" through political means.

The "call" of the title was to spiritual warfare - to "break the 40-year Berkeley rebellion" (a reference to what they see as the rampant spread of secular values following the Berkeley protests of the 1960s) and to cleanse the city of San Francisco. Engle's apocalyptic battle cry, "As California goes, so goes the nation" was the underlying theme of the event - if the "sanctity of marriage" falls in the trendsetting state of California, the nation won't be far behind. The crowd was reminded by Engle, James Dobson, Tony Perkins and others of a Christian right maxim: the traditional family structure forms the foundation of a Godly society and to undermine it is to join forces with the Antichrist.

Toward the end of the night, the stakes were raised when an increasingly agitated Engle and a young campus leader from UC-San Diego called the crowd to ready themselves for martyrdom. The 20,000 or so who remained in the stadium after 12 hours of spiritual warfare seemed all too willing to comply.

* Engle stated here { http://salemhouseofprayer.wordpress.com/2008/10/04/facedown40-day%20-8-by-lou-engle/ } his belief that the spirit of Minerva (Roman goddess of warriors, poetry, wisdom and medicine) controls the state of California.

Engle in Apostlic Council of Prophetic Elders (5.00 / 1)

Engle is in C. Peter Wagner's Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders (ACPE). Mary Glazier, who claimed Palin as part of her network, is also a part of this inner circle of Prophetic Elders. Lou Engle was also in the movie "Jesus Camp" but his appearance in the film received little attention at the time.

The list of people on the advisory team of "The Call" is an example of the merging of the New Apostolics with other Dominionist leaders to pursue common goals. Also, the video at the The Call Institute provides a good example of the current face of Dominionism. These can be found on the website www.thecall.com under the "About" pulldown tab.

by Ruth on Wed Nov 05, 2008 at 10:35:51 AM EST