Christian Nationalism in an Age of Reason
Labeled, "Americas Stonehenge" by Georgia officials in order to draw tourism, instead, drew in the nutty imagination of Christian Nationalists ever quick to connect any and everything to Globalists, the Illuminati or insert what have you, that will inevitably lead to the rise of a Beast just before the return of Jesus. I know because I was one of them, exercising my internet sleuthing abilities-even going as far as visiting the site on my way to the Feast of Tabernacles one year.
Designed and paid for anonymously, the stones were put into place in 1980. Since then, the site has been vandalized many times but never to the point of bombing it successfully until now. At first glance, one could easily see why people would be concerned by the "suggestions" established on the stones to guide a new society, a sort of 10 commandments for a "great reset." After all, how could we possibly maintain the human population under 500 million when we are already 8 billion strong? Why, this could only mean one thing: the Beast of Revelation is planning on murdering over 7 billion people!
It is embarrassing when I think about how long I shut down my ability to reason when it came to my adherence to Armstrongism. It is little comfort that many cult experts assure us that people who get sucked into cults are not stupid. On the contrary, cults specifically set out to lure the wealthy, healthy, and educated and often succeed in filling their ranks with the nicest, most successful people in society.
While Armstrong actually lured the "weakest and basest things" throughout the 40's, 50's and 60's by way of radio, appealing largely to uneducated, poor, marginalized, and racist whites in the Appalachians, by the time of its epic prophecy failure of 1975, the cult had reached its peak. Scandals, followed by Herb's death, and an admission that his doctrines were wrong by a new administration, were the beginning of the end.
Now, attend any COG service and you will find 3rd and 4th generation cult members driving new cars, pursuing college degrees, holding successful careers, bragging on their investments, and propping up their ministerial fathers, grandfathers, and uncle's paychecks all to maintain the pleasant social club they grew up in and adore. They seem oblivious to their own church history and probably sense that it is better that way in order to maintain the fantasy. This is particularly true of COGWA stateside and they know it: the whitest, most affluent, AC alumni, country club COG that does everything in their power to stay under the radar and out of the crosshairs of Banned. (COGWA thanks God every night for Dave, Bob, Gerald, and his other brother Gerald)
But you will find very very few new members in any of the COGs across the board; proof their stale, outdated concept of "the Work" is an old and forgotten cheap trick unable to withstand the modern tree of knowledge called the internet. If the flailing churches of God were honest, they would admit that their new work has become siding with Evangelical Christian Nationalists. You can see hints of it in all of their publications.
On a positive note, Millenials and Gen Z don't seem interested in checking out of society like their pre-internet, cold war, Boomer parents and grandparents that prayed for the death of billions of humans in their lifetime. Instead, they want a place at the table to change it. Gen X ministers wringing their hands in anticipation of taking the reigns of COG corporations, know the writing is on the wall and they will need to change with the times or look for real jobs.
While it could be a good thing to see the churches of God bridge out of Armstrongism, it is not at all if they choose to jump in bed with QAnon Trump Republicans and the American Jesus. It was bad enough when Armstrongism sat on its hands and waited for a day that will never come BUT they are now on the precipice of deciding to link arms with religious terrorists hell-bent on enforcing (Modern American) Christianity down the throat of a Democracy that has no roots in Christianity. [Read, "The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism is Un-American" by Andrew L. Seidel. Also read, "Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted A Faith and Fractured a Nation" by Kristin Kobes Du Mez.]
Armstrong rests on two pillars and is still what upholds the splinters to this day: Annual Holy Days and British Israelism. The annual holy days are the very framework on which the seductive social structure rests upon, keeping the brainwashed locked into a perpetual annual cycle. British Israelism (Racism) is what easily marries them to the Christian Nationalist movement. Take these pillars away and they no longer have any reason to exist.
That being said, I am personally confident that the young people in the churches of God will largely exit over time, not wanting to be part of any group or church that tells them that their non-white friends are inferior foreign invaders and their lgbtq friends are vile human waste. They are too connected and can see by their own experiences that the us-vs-them of religion, in general, is a toxic delusion.
It is my hope that all would find their way out of religion and into this grand age of reason depicted on the Georgia Guidestones. But if not, there is a Biblical Jesus socially acceptable to our times; one that focuses on the inherent value of all humans and are deserving of love. A Jesus that focuses people on serving the poor, the needy, the sick, the alien, and the outcast.
As for the first suggestion on the Guidestones to maintain a population under 500 million, it must be understood that the stones were put in place for people to rebuild civilization after the United States and the Soviet Union blew everyone up in a nuclear holocaust. Yes, people were really expecting that to be a soon reality in 1979. The Guidestones are not signaling a New World Order to destroy 90% of the earth's population. No, actually you will find that New World Order in the book of Revelation where Jesus kills billions of people and establishes a thousand years of peace. Just a side note, killing your enemies does usher in peace. Mao killed millions of Chinese and they have been enjoying peace ever since.
Christian Nationalism is the most dangerous ideology in America. Their willingness to participate in ushering in the book of Revelation was on display on January 6, 2021. I'm speaking to all you children and young adults in the churches of God (including my own children): Please, whatever you do, use the internet to learn the history of the cult you are in and use critical thinking as your guide. Don't be afraid to ask the hard questions: Who was HWA? Was HWA really an apostle? Is the Bible inerrant? Why are there thousands of opposing interpretations? Does the Bible present a coherent, unified narrative or are the writers themselves competing for prospective members? Are Yahweh and Jesus gods? Does God exist? Trust your human reasoning. It's safer than the "holy spirit" running your churches.
Stoned Stephen Society
34 comments:
Every once in a while, an article here makes me feel "icky". This is one of those.
That was such a weird phenomenon with so many people yelling "Them guidestones is the New World Order plan", as if this shadowy nefarious organization they picture would just leave their plans out in some field in Georgia at such expense.
@DW
That "icky" feeling...it's called cognitive dissonance.
Once you realize that the existential problems we face on planet Earth are so great in magnitude that the only way they can be managed and possibly resolved is globally, then the article no longer seems icky.
It is downright silly for fears which would prevent humanity from avoiding extinction to be based on scenarios outlined in a book that barely made it into the canon. Nationalism is what got us into World War II, and the globalist approach which emerged from the think tanks following that war has largely prevented us from enduring a World War III. White Nationalism, Christian Nationalism, or John Birch Society Nationalism are all the enemy. We should all fear the authoritarianism emerging here in the US from these groups which has begun to counter the will of the majority of the population. That selective memory and willful ignorance is going to get us into the end times war, not globalism!
The MAGA branch of the Republican Party is really igging out! It is indeed encouraging that normal Conservatives have become sick of this, and are now making their voices heard. I hope it's not too late already! It's more important than ever to vote, people!
"instead, drew in the nutty imagination of Christian Nationalists ever quick to connect any and everything to Globalists, the Illuminati or insert what have you ..... I know because I was one of them."
Stephen, I would have never pictured you as such a radical. It is great that you have repented - the exact message Herbert Armstrong preached every Sunday to a national audience - save yourself from this unfroward generation and save yourself from the sincere but misguided religious institutions.
My wife who has a collection of internet preachers she partakes of would have no idea that the majority of them are Christian nationalists. Nightmare along Pennsylvania Avenue is their catalyst for an agenda that has no room for 50 percent of the American population.
I remarked to many of my fellow brethren that the wilderness has a unique place in the Bible. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, David, John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth all rose up out of the wilderness. As a teenager, I listened to the voice crying out in the wilderness and departed my wilderness. At the time it was strange because everyone my age in the WCG was leaving to join the wilderness. You have advocated for young and old to reason with themselves and depart - leave the institutions where they are captured by a strange ideology. Hey, you can rise up in the wilderness and become great. But can that happen in an age of reason? Reason tends to create selfishness, and a life of selfishness would only prove Herbert Armstrong correct - that there are only two ways of living, getting for one's self or giving. So the wilderness has a pitfall in that it is a place where people go and die. The Israelite carcasses in the wilderness is a testament to that fact.
God looking back upon those Israelites - his people, asked himself this: "O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end." A statement of leverage in many Christian organizations but one used heavily by Herbert Armstrong.
It is though a statement worth much consideration. Repentence, a giving way of life and how they relate to our latter end even residing in the wilderness is a worthy pursuit. Who needs Christian nationalism? The God of the Bible says wisdom, understanding and consideration can save you from being a carcass in the wilderness.
Great article again Stephen and glad you are checking in with us every once in a while. By the way, I was only joking about you being such a RADICAL.
@ StonedStephenSociety. My icky feeling is caused by the filth spewed by white nationalists, not cognitive dissonance.
Churchill believed the Illuminati were real, and warned us about them. So did many monarchs in Europe. The list of great world leaders and philosophers and Nobel prize winners that believed in conspiracy theories would boggle your mind.
STONED STEPHEN WRITES: "Mao killed millions of Chinese and they have been enjoying peace ever since. "
MY RESPONSE:
Yeah, those folks at Tianamen Square and at the Hong Kong Riots more recently , were really enjoyable peaceable times!
@DW -Sorry, I misunderstood your comment.
@ Tonto- My comment concerning Chinese peace was sarcasm. My point was when you murder the opposition and suppress people with force, it creates "peace."
The USA is a pressure cooker right now. The main source of pressure is demographics. I can't help but believe that the White Nationalist movement is only one of the many nationalist movements that will eventually stalk the land. The American population is in the process of reverting to tribalism. This is the source of energy for many of the forces that Stoned Stephen observes.
As tribal allegiances develop in the USA, each tribe will prize homogeneity. This is not good for Armstrongism. Even though Armstrongists may fit into the larger White Nationalist model, they will be regarded odd in many other ways at the tribal level. They do not fit comfortably anywhere into the future tribal model - unless, like the Mormons, they consolidate into a single regional redoubt and leverage their numbers politically. That's a big stretch. My two cents...
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Though I have to say that the Age of Reason ended during the 19th century.
Sorry, this is a bogeyman. These terms (white nationalists, Christian nationalists) are terms generally applied by such as yourself to others; not terms that people in any substantial number are applying to themselves.
Conversely, the Nazis, the SS, the maoist, etc. happily applied their names to themselves and also had substantial numbers. It can more easily be said that Hillary and her minions planned to do away with opposition and establish an authoritarian regime first by dehumanizingly labeling those that disagreed with her/them as “deplorables” and then said they are a “basket of deplorables” which presumably should be thrown out in the trash. Hey, for a bonus, those Hillaryites were actually substantial in number, perhaps a more concerning group, wouldn’t you say?.
We have a prez who, despite the drugs and yes the crime coming across our southern border, does not care to protect or manage our borders. Those who think our borders should be protected are called nationalists as a pejorative. Sorry, they simply recognize that borders matter and that our country is the first among those countries that teach freedom. It is a closed and/or troubled/hurt/angry mind that cannot see this. SSS, you say nationalism brought us into WW2. No. It was a hateful Nazi that began the war and it was our country’s desire for freedom (even for others) that broke the back of multiple authoritarian regimes. Sadly, this spirit of freedom is in fact what you are pejoratively calling Nationalist.
It’s a bogeyman. A sure fire retirement plan would be to bet multiple American leftists that no Christian nationalists will have an authoritarian regime over this country in the next 20 years.
I’m afraid that this nonexistent threat has biased you against any that call themselves Christian or who believe borders matter. Look, there are some that I would agree are bad news, but I believe you have placed too many in that bad news camp and it’s affected you to strongly. And, even if somehow I’m wrong about this and these otherly labeled Christian Nationalists prove an actual problem, it shouldn’t matter to your own faith. Even if this was an unwise response from one who claims Christianity, all it would show is that Christians can be wrong and misapply their faith.
ted,
Have you ever known anybody who was involved in a militia? Of course they do not call themselves militias, the members I've known call themselves "Christian Patriots". Some are white separatists, white supremacists. Some actually know of HWA and admire him for his teachings on British Israelism. These are strong Second Amendment people, anti-globalists, determined to fight the new world order. They are part of the backbone of Donald Trump's constituents. He calls them his people. Many of them are ex-military, and highly trained. They were present and accounted for on January 6. Everybody seems to have seen the footage of the happenings at the front of the Capitol Building, which looked like a bunch of high school mischief makers acting out, but the real mayhem was ongoing for hours at the entrance to the security tunnel in the back. It was a constant fight, and if the defenses had broken down, some of our elected servants would most definitely have been murdered. The guy they would have gone after first was our vice president, Mike Pence, who acted on his conscience and did his patriotic duty, knowing full well that he had placed himself in danger
Both Hillary and Donald proclaimed that the elections had been stolen from them. The difference is that Hillary made no attempt to thwart the orderly transfer of power, and that orderly transfer has always been one of the things which makes our country different from the dictatorships around the world. Trump has set a very evil precedent. I seriously doubt that his supporters believe that this thing is settled in any way shape or form, even though their own party members have fully investigated the election and concluded that the election was in no way corrupt or stolen. There is definitely more to come.
If you look at the Democrats, their downfall is the laissez faire attitude they have towards border issues, riots, creeping socialism, deficit spending. These are not the types of people who would resort to authoritarianism in their governing approach. The mask and vaccination mandates everyone points to as an example are basically the approach which was used to conquer polio and small pox. That is so benign, not authoritarian or rights impinging in the least. On the other hand, Trump wanted to roll the tanks on BLM, although he called them Antifa. Authoritarianism has historically been brought into play from extreme conservatives, not liberals. SSS wrote a very truthful and accurate analysis of what we see ongoing around us. The rabid MAGA people don't realize who and what they are supporting, and when they finally do, it will be too late. I tend to be conservative myself, but what I see happening to the Republican party makes me physically ill. It is very similar to the process which gradually led to the Third Reich back in the late 1930s.
Anon 11:39:00 PM PDT
‘Authoritarianism has historically been brought into play from extreme conservatives’.
Some may disagree.
‘There is a solid conceptual argument backed by a body of evidence that Nazism, fascism and white supremacy are not right wing at all, but they are creatures of the left’. Jonah Goldberg- Liberal Fascism, The Secret History of the American Left.
Communism and fascism represent two incarnations of the same coin of totalitarianism and authoritarianism.
The death camps of Nazi Germany and the gulags of Soviet Russia were entirely products of the same totalitarian structures.
Both National Socialists and Marxism contain all the same political and ideological ingredients of totalitarianism, order, monopoly of power, ideological uniformity, regimentation, censorship, police terror and ultimately the gulags and death camps.
Fascism is not a phenomenon of the right, it is a phenomenon of the left, obscured by the mistaken belief that fascism and communism are opposites. They are closely related.
The Italian dictator Mussolini was a product of the extreme left, he just differated his movement from its Marxist roots by allowing private enterprise and private property to exist but kept the totalitarian institutions intact calling them Fascist.
In his book ‘Marxism, Fascism and Totalitarianism’ by A James Gregor, it’s made clear how totalitarian political institutions could arise out of presumably diametrically opposed political ideologies unless they came from the same source.
Marxism and Fascism both lack sensitivity to the psychological makeup of mankind and the need for deep spiritual and cultural sources of meaning, and thus the profound importance of the human right to privacy.
When soviet ideologist Nikolai Bukharin alluded to the fascist tendencies of Soviet society, he was in swiftly purged for exposing a inconvenient truth.
Of course the majority doesnt apply those terms to themselves. It would be an admission that they are complicit in something they dont want to admit about themselves. We used to call them "dominionists".
"As for the first suggestion on the Guidestones to maintain a population under 500 million, it must be understood that the stones were put in place for people to rebuild civilization after the United States and the Soviet Union blew everyone up in a nuclear holocaust."
but they couldn't survive a local yokel with a home made bomb....
the world is mired in confusion, and it's getting worse.....people like Pack, Flurry and the others don't help....people think that since they came out of WCG that all groups are like them.
Ted 8:46 wrote, "Sadly, this spirit of freedom is in fact what you are pejoratively calling Nationalist. It’s a bogeyman."
I strongly disagree. There are some naive people who are drawn to The Very Stable Genius (VSG) in the belief he represents freedom - even though he has openly displayed the character of an overweening autocrat. But I think the majority of his base is simply storm troopers. We are on the brink of a civil war. The stars are lining up. I am not talking about regional division like our past Civil War but citizens and militias fighting eachother in the streets across the nation. Like Northern Ireland. We are becoming acclimated to the idea that you can go to the mall or grocery store and be killed. Or your children can be killed at school. Gun violence is how a segment of the population prefers to settle disagreements. These are not just freedom lovers. They intend to kill somebody.
The driver is demographics. Whites in the USA will become a minority in this century and they are terrified. They have AR-15s and banana clips in their closets and if they don't have these yet, they can easily get this hardware. This is why the "Republicans" jealously guard the Second Amendment and hate immigration of people of color. The followers of VSG want a White population bristling with weaponry when the clash finally comes. People can't understand why "Republicans" don't want even minor points of gun control implemented. It is because they fully intend to fight a war with people of color and they are not going to lay down their weapons now.
The ingredients are all there in the test tube: White nationalism, implausible conspiracy theories that denigrate opponents, gullibility, a build up of personal armaments, a leader with an odd autocratic charisma, people becoming accustomed to mass shootings. What is lacking is a catalyst to start the reaction (something like the burning of the Reichstag). This almost happened in the January 6th Insurrection. The question that nobody has probed is not about who was in at the Capitol on January 6th, but how many people in VSG's base all over the country were ready to pack up their assualt rifles and some snacks and drive to Washington, DC to lend support.
I don't know how old you are, but if you live to the middle of the century, chances are good that you will see a lot of blood in the streets. You may even be killed with while shopping for groceries - bleeding out among the shattered cantaloupes. And like as not, the guy who shot you will have attended some kind of church the previous Sunday. On the other hand, you may survive the conflagration and live under a future, highly regimented American Autocracy. VSG will be long dead but there will be some successor. Armstrongism and other non-standard religions will either be gone or will be small, hunted groups of people hiding underground. And the great Gentile experiment in democracy known as the USA will be history. I am not a prophet. I hope none of this happens. But I am not seeing encouraging trends. Just my two cents.
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Stoned Steve sounds to me like he's just another atheist but trying to keep one foot in "an acceptable Biblical Jesus" for the benefit of his readers. Playing both sides of the fence is just another form of hypocrisy! I know, it's Herbie's fault!
My observations (fwiw) immediately after 1/6 was that much of the Trump base were so shocked that they insisted that their own would not do such a thing. It was a month or so before justification became common. The humorous bit was that I didnt understand the shock because it was hard to miss all the open chatter leading up to the event.
Are you suggesting he became as a Jew to win the Jews?
@BP8- Hypocrisy? I do not think you know what it means. What is hypocritical about a humanist who is comfortable with Jesus beliefs that are not detrimental to society? My tolerance for beliefs I don't hold does not a hypocrite make.
CERTAIN ARMSTRONGITES
"We are 5-10 years away from the Great tribulation and the return of Christ"!
CLIMATE ALARMIST
" In 10 years sea levels will rise 12" and by 2050 . . ."
NEO
"if you live to the middle of the century, chances are good that you will see . . ."
It's contagious isn't it? Admit it people, it's how we think!
As I've said many times in the months since 1/6, these followers will have no idea what has hit them until it's far too late. Every governing body is getting stacked and ready to ring in authoritarianism. Say what you will. Even redefine if you like, but it has always been the conservatives who call for hard line enforcement. Now they're ramping things up to make that a reality.
On the subject, though, as "classic" Armstrongists of the when-HWA-was-alive period (albeit former Armstrongists), to us Christian Nationalism might seem unusual. We didn't vote, serve in the military, etc. Why? Because we believed that this was "Satan's world" and what we did in it politically didn't really matter. We looked ahead to the return of Christ - and as curmudgeon COGlodytes still do, waited for our justification of effort to pay off. You might say we both dreaded and yet couldn't wait for the end of the world.
Christian Nationalism, to use that term, has become more and more popular over the decades within the Protestant community. As the churches become engines for drumming up votes (how many times did you hear a WCG minister intone "God is not a Republican"? I did quite a few times), and happily participate in whatever propaganda process the government allows, all the while lobbying for this and that... if you were an honest COG member back in the day, this must seem alien?
@RSK- Exactly right. The teaching to stay out of politics was clear and I gladly adhered to it. I even argued with brethren who complained about same sex marriage. I would ask, what business is it of ours if the secular State chooses to recognize same sex marriage? Would Jesus have fussed at Rome for this? And in the COG's, I could see people getting excited about Trump in 2015. I gave a sermonette reminding people that they have no business talking up Trump. I had men in their 70"s coming up after and thanking me for correcting them! So I know the poison of Christian Nationalism is in the COGs and it spans from the youngest to the oldest members. I feel strongly that it is because of the inherent racism in the COGs thanks to British Israelism. There is literally no reason to believe in British Israelism. It has been thoroughly debunked at every level from the Bible, from history and now DNA science. And yet when I have confronted people on this topic in the church, they insist that they do not care about the evidence-even the scientific evidence!- they will never stop believing that the United States is Manasseh.
When you stop and think about it, from an Armstrong perspective, what we see around us is not "Christian Nationalism", it is "Christian falsely so-called Nationalism", an extension of the Sunday-keeping Beast! But, Armstrongites by definition were always predisposed to weird tangents! I'd hazard a guess that some of them fervently believe Q!
I even recall one of the "18 restored truths" saying "God isnt trying to save the whole world yet". That is definitely not a point that mentality would agree with.
Was Churchill even a Christian ? Not even a Sunday keeping Christian. Whilst war raged in Europe in WW2 Churchill spent a happy holiday painting at the Rothchilds mansion complex in South of France.
These are totally overstated positions. They are off by about two factors of 10 regarding the so named Christian Nationalism concern.
As has been said, a continued breathlessness over a gunless riot where more than 90% of the “rioters” stayed between the red velvet roped walkways of the Capitol is pearl clutching at its finest.
Several of you have been quite helpful with your writing on other topics, but are off plumb on this. I’m sure there must be some issues I’m off on but have not yet determined any candidates.
Yet, in my magnanimity, I can accept others even amidst their error.{applause}.
It seems so many of you miss what authoritarianism is. How can you not see that the conservative position is anything but authoritarian? Supporting gun rights for citizens is a check on government authoritarianism. Moving decision making toward states and counties and their legislatures rather than centralizing it in the national government and its all too often executive and non-legislative federal agencies is a strong step away from authoritarianism.
It’s low hanging false fruit to try to claim racism when one supports protection of our borders as people like myself and many conservatives encourage legal immigration from our southern border and recognize our country is underpopulated particularly in the western states. Btw, these legal immigrants have more in common with the Right than the Left: God, traditional family, independence.
With all his name recognition,Trump is still behind DeSantis in a recent New Hampshire poll of the GOP. I remain very pleased that we had 4 years of Trump rather than 4 years of Hillary, but for every 8-10 conservatives that voted for Trump 1 conservative chose not to due to conscience. That person would vote for DeSantis however. And so will a growing percentage of people of color…particularly Hispanics and Asians. I say this only to dampen the claim that those that voted for Trump are “Trumpites”. The corruption of Hillary and Biden (and other issues for biden) is evident enough to understand why Trump was the better choice in both instances…are you really going to compare sins among these three? Sins and corruption while in elected office is much less for Trump though.
The media (4th branch of government) and the Left ride in tandem. They are separated from the reality of most Americans in their echo chambers (breakfast tacos and the like). Hispanics particularly are moving away from them. It would seem they should be more focused on the Epstein Island high ranking participants than a toothless riot (and no, Pence was not in danger of being beaten to death when guards with guns were there to defend against actual attack). Why isn’t the Epstein Island list made known? It’s criminally vile and/or embarrassing to be associated with the island. Why is it not made known? Where is the media 4th estate on this?
Anyway, these positions I have are much more well founded than those that throw around silly terms pejoratively like white nationalists, ignorant terms like fascist and Hitler, and lazy lying terms like racism.
I merely occupy the easy position of standing on the shoulders of giants who were learned/inspired enough to prepare our Constitution which protects against authoritarianism. It is a document that lists some individual rights, national responsibilities, and the rest to the states and counties. It’s amazing that such a stance is controversial to the current media culture. Neo may be slightly exaggerating the division in this country, but maybe not either.
I once listened to a guy who said he had information hidden for almost 1900 years; it seems that our current culture is saying the same thing without the time parameter and seem to believe their position is so woke that it was “never before understood”. Wait that old guy said that too.
I woke from the former, I’m not going to fall for such nonsense as the latter…as best I can avoid it.
That was me above too. One person asked about militia members. I know some who I count as friends who are in a militia. These are also people that have a wide variety of friends and are very personable and are not the aggressive types. They do support our founding principles and though they are probably 80% white, there are a handful of blacks and hispanics in their small group. I have zero concern from this group.
Even if you disagree, be glad when citizens protest against or resist the government; it is healthy for our Republic.
Little grass fires of liberty.
I was good with BLM as long as they didn’t tear stuff up. The BLM voices need to be heard even if I think the solution is different from their solution, or the causes different from their claim. I don’t fully disagree however…85/15.
We do live together as a society and the whole basis of our constitution was to provide laws and guidance for Society providing laws for the individual as well as societal laws. The Bill of Rights were largely individual laws and rights. You have the right to free speech; you have the right to the second amendment; you have a right not have soldiers quartered in your home etc. these are individual rights and then they provide the societal rights. Every totalitarian system wants to take away these individual rights. That is the antithesis of the goals of these militia groups, or most unelected Republicans as well. Some may point to abortion, but how big an issue is that truly on the scale of historical movements?
I think neo mentioned these shootings, however he must know that the perpetrators tend to be troubled and from Liberal homes. The inner city drug and gang related shootings account for most of the mass shootings and these are among populations that almost exclusively vote for democrats. There has got to be a better way and the left is the furthest thing from the solution. Our crime rate is driven by a super majority among those who are supportive of the Democratic party and its principles. There are underlying issues for this, but I still think that we need to be free to speak about what is going on currently today and speak honestly about it or these underlying issues will not be properly . Sorry for the ramble.
I dictated the above, and it reads poorly.
“what business is it of ours if the secular State chooses to recognize same sex marriage? Would Jesus have fussed at Rome for this?”
Problem is the American Founding Fathers created a Christian Republic and the sources of our liberties like the Declaration of Independence, Constitution and Bill of Rights were based on the concept of Christian self-government and maximizing freedom under God’s law. Over the last 200 years though and especially since the end of WWII the American government has been transformed into an anti-Christian secularist democracy. Like Franklin warned we lost our Christian Republic long ago and it remains a “republic” in name only like Communist China or USSR were “republics.” And so the next stage in its decline is further division and ultimately dictatorship.
@7:26
Read:
"The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism is Un-American" by Andrew L. Seidel.
"Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation" by Kristin Kobes Du Mez
The last thing you will find in the Bible are examples of self-government and since WWII, the Republican Party has been over-run by Christian Nationalists who would replace the Constitution and the Bill of Rights with Torah if allowed to go unchecked. Your perception of the world around you is completely wrong. Stop watching FOX news.
“Stop watching fox news”. This indicates a smallness of mind frankly. Someone states something you disagree with, then obviously they are deceived. This was a learned response of those in WCG…I know the truth and if you disagree you’re be deceived by mainstrean Christianity or the devil. Sorry those that have come out of wcg are not going to go for your easy “you are deceived by foxnews or the devil.”
I agree with the above poster and I do not listen to fox news at all.
Maybe I’m like those patriotic conservatives that developed their ideas before foxnews came about around 1997. Anyways, your foxnews comment is silly. Keep reading Mother Jones (sarc).
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