Ethics Daily Runs Story on Reconstructionism

Kudos to Bob Allen at Ethics Daily for his story on Reconstructionism.

It is hard to know when you can take what North and SBC leaders say at face value. They often obfuscate whenever it helps them accomplish their goals.

My rule of thumb is to watch what they do and see if it matches with what they say.

It is entirely possible that the idea for "conservative" Christians to takeover the institutions of civil government began with North and was then taken up by other hands. It is also possible that the idea did not begin with North and that he was merely the first to report what he had heard religious right leaders like Pressler talking about behind closed doors at meetings like that of the Council for National Policy. That would explain why North appeared surprised by Pressler's reluctance to openly talk about connections between the SBC takeover and the religious "New Right."

There's no doubt in my mind that, behind the scenes, the Republican party is now engaged in a bitter struggle between neo-conservatives and the religious right. At the moment, the mechanisms of power are all in the hands of neo-conservatives. They throw a bone to the religious right now and then. Their biggest bones are the appointments of Roberts and Alito. In the end, those bones will have the most lasting influence on domestic politics.

The neo-conservatives most lasting influence is on foreign policy. The mess they have made in Iraq and the tensions they are fueling in North Korea, Syria and Iran are setting a trajectory that is shaping the world's future for the foreseeable future. That future does not look bright. It looks more like the pre-millenialist vision of Armageddon than the millenial reign that post-millenialists like North had envisioned.

Indecency and Televangelists

The LA Times has published a report revealing that Televangelists are fighting an effort by anti-indecency groups to thwart cable channels offering racy programming.

At issue is whether cable operators should be required to expose subscribers to niche channels, including religious ones, that people might not order on their own.

My vote is to let people choose and pay only for the channels that they want to watch. If that were possible, I wouldn't have any of the religious channels at my house.

There's Horsepower in Chicken Fat

Just when we learn that our lives are going to change because oil production is peaking and world oil reserves are in decline, the lowly chicken may be riding to our rescue.

Associated Press is reporting that researchers have discovered ways to convert chicken fat into a biodiesel fuel.

The biggest obstacle in processing is making sure the fat doesn't turn into soap.

Some day anthropologists are going to write about 21st century Americans putting every part of a chicken to good use, the way they now write about how plains dwelling Native Americans put every part of the Buffalo to good use.

Moyers Speaks Out About Attempts to Silence Him at PBS

In an interview published by Broadcasting & Cable Bill Moyers has his say about the feud between him and former Corporation for Public Broadcasting Chairman Ken Tomlinson. Here are some quotes:

The people at PBS told me they were getting excruciating pressure because of our reporting, including threats to de-fund public television unless "Moyers is dealt with." They never identified the source of that pressure.

. . .

I asked him (Tomlinson) repeatedly. He refused. He didn't even respond. But when all this started to unfold early last year, I asked three times to meet with the CPB board and try to find out what was going on.

I thought we could reason together and maybe agree on how to cooperate to protect Public Broadcasting's independence. I mean, I not only read the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, I helped to create it. CPB's job was to be a firewall between guys like them and the producers, journalists, and content of public broadcasting.

I thought at the time that I was dealing with people who cared about this institution. I didn't realize they had gone over to the dark side.

Podcast: A Mainstream Baptist Perspective on Abortion, Part 2

The second part of Dr. Bruce Prescott's 11/28/99 "Religious Talk" radio interview with Rose, a personal friend, and Dr. Vincent Padulla.

This half of the interview discusses the difference between a moderate Baptist and a Catholic perspective on Rose's experiences, abortion in general, and contraception. Discussion is between Dr. Prescott, Dr. Padulla and persons who called-in during the broadcast.

Prior to this interview, Dr. Padulla called-in promoting his convictions each week during broadcasts. Since this interview, he has not called during a broadcast.

Podcast: A Mainstream Baptist Perspective on the Abortion Issue

Dr. Bruce Prescott's 11/28/99 "Religious Talk" radio interview with Rose, a personal friend, and Dr. Vincent Padulla. Rose talks about her experience having an abortion and her experience with another very complicated pregnancy that, by extraordinary faith and courage, she was able to bring to a live delivery. Dr. Padulla is a Roman Catholic physician and fervent pro-life advocate in Oklahoma City.

This portion of the interview runs 38 minutes. Lively, but respectful, differences of opinion between equally committed Christians are exchanged in this interview.

National Electronic Conference on the Religious Right

Talk to Action, founded by author Frederick Clarkson, blogger Bruce Wilson, and 14 other writers, will host an electronic conference on the Religious Right tomorrow.

"We are concerned about the theocratic tendencies of the religious right in the United States," said Clarkson. "Among other things, claims that America is a Christian Nation; sectarian approaches to public policy such as efforts to require the teaching of "intelligent design"; the movement to redefine our laws in terms of religious laws; and a growing culture of religious intolerance and religious supremacism. We welcome anyone who shares our concerns to think and learn with us. Strategize with us. Debate with us."

Participants in the pioneering Talk to Action E-Conference include Clarkson; Mother Jones Senior Editor, Monika Bauerlein; Communications Director Richard Reynolds, and contributors John Sugg and Susan Jacoby. Sugg details the role of the theocratic Christian Reconstructionist movement in the American Christian Right; and Jacoby counters the Christian right's arguments about the role of religion and government by outlining the intent of the framers of the constitution to clearly separate church and state.

Former Sen. Gary Hart (D-CO), will also be making a guest appearance. Hart has just published God and Caesar in America: An Essay on Religion and Politics (Golden, CO: Fulcrum Publishing, 2005).

Jose Padilla and American Civil Rights

Marjorie Cohn at Truthout has posted a very informative article about how the "Bush game on Padilla may backfire." Jose Padillas is the American civilian citizen who has been held in military detention for the past three years without benefit of a trial. The reasons for holding him have shifted from being a "material witness" to being an "enemy combatant" to "conspiracy to commit murder and kidnap" of persons outside the U.S. Here's Cohn's conclusion:

Padilla has been held by the Bush administration in solitary confinement for more than 3 years without criminal charges. Now, in the government's haste to avoid an unfavorable ruling in the Supreme Court, it has charged Padilla with crimes that may be trumped up. For the first time, Padilla will have an opportunity to tell his side of the story in court; it may be a story of harsh interrogation that the government would prefer to keep quiet. Padilla will undoubtedly be offered a plea bargain to prevent his telling the truth about what happened to him while he languished in military custody for so long. The government may offer Padilla a deal like the one it offered John Walker Lindh, who was also facing life in prison. Lindh was allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges on the condition that he not mention the mistreatment he suffered while in custody.

The legal maneuvering by the Bush administration is "a remarkable game of musical courtrooms," said Eugene Fidell, president of the National Institute for Military Justice. "The Justice Department cannot continue changing course each time action from the courts is imminent," according to Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Calif.), a member of the Judiciary Committee.

Bill Goodman, Legal Director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, characterizes the charges against Padilla as a "stale conspiracy" and predicts the government will try to have Padilla's petition to the Supreme Court dismissed as moot. "In my judgment," Goodman said on Democracy Now!, "that borders on abuse of process by the Justice Department. What they are doing is manipulating the process in order to sustain an opinion that says the President can virtually shred the Constitution ... and saying someone who had been held in violation of constitutional principles because he was such a danger to the United States because of these allegations, now they're irrelevant. It's shocking. It's an outrage."

Jose Padilla's case may end up being a lose-lose situation for the Bush administration if the Supreme Court decides to go ahead and hear Padilla's petition anyway. Depending on the composition of the high court after Samuel Alito's confirmation hearing, the Court could place some limits on the President's power to indefinitely detain a US citizen arrested on American soil and held as an "enemy combatant." Padilla could refuse a plea bargain and testify about how he was treated - or mistreated - while in custody. And the defense may have a meritorious motion to dismiss the criminal charges because the government denied Padilla due process by its delay in filing the charges against him.

On Getting the Bigger Picture

Scott Lamb of the Wisdom of the Pages blog has been quick to criticize the blogs I have been posting on the Talk to Action website. Quick responses often occur when you touch a raw nerve.

Lamb's writing demonstrates an inability to comprehend the distinction that I have made between Christian Reconstructionism and Dominionism.

He does provide useful quotations from Pressler denying that he is a Reconstructionist.

Now that all of the blogs in the series have been posted, readers should be able to discern for themselves whether Pressler and North could both be classified as Dominionists and whether Pressler has had any connection with North other than a radio interview.

Here are the blogs that deal with Pressler and North:
Learning to be Patient Revolutionaries
From Reconstructionism to Dominionism, Part 1
From Reconstructionism to Dominionism, Part 2

Planes May Replace Troops in Iraq

Seymour Hersh has an article in the current issue of New Yorker Magazine that suggests that the U.S. may be planning to substitute planes for troops in Iraq. Here's a quote:

A key element of the drawdown plans, not mentioned in the President?s public statements, is that the departing American troops will be replaced by American airpower. Quick, deadly strikes by U.S. warplanes are seen as a way to improve dramatically the combat capability of even the weakest Iraqi combat units. The danger, military experts have told me, is that, while the number of American casualties would decrease as ground troops are withdrawn, the over-all level of violence and the number of Iraqi fatalities would increase unless there are stringent controls over who bombs what.

The article also discusses concerns within the pentagon about giving Iraqi's control over American air power. Here's another quote:

Within the military, the prospect of using airpower as a substitute for American troops on the ground has caused great unease. For one thing, Air Force commanders, in particular, have deep-seated objections to the possibility that Iraqis eventually will be responsible for target selection. "Will the Iraqis call in air strikes in order to snuff rivals, or other warlords, or to snuff members of your own sect and blame someone else?" another senior military planner now on assignment in the Pentagon asked. "Will some Iraqis be targeting on behalf of Al Qaeda, or the insurgency, or the Iranians?"

The Road to Dominionism

I posted a couple new blogs on the Talk to Action website yesterday.

From Reconstructionism to Dominionism, Part 1 discusses similarities between the thought of Francis Schaeffer and R. J. Rushdoony. I added podcasts of Bill Moyers interviewing Rushdoony.

From Reconstructionism to Domionism, Part 2 discusses the Reconstructionist agenda and its relation to the broader Dominionist movement. I added podcasts of Bill Moyers interviewing Rushdoony and Joseph Morecraft, of Bill Moyers interviewing Paul Pressler, and an excerpt of Independent Fundamental Baptist Rev. Aubrey Vaughn's part in the Hotze GOP takeover video.

Technorati Tags Theocracy, Religion, Politics, Baptists, Christian Reconstructionism, Dominionism

Texan Quotes Robin Meyers on Moral Values

Thanks to Ethics Daily for posting Britt Towery's essay on "Re-thinking Moral Values."

It is good to learn that Baptists in Texas can hear broadcasts of Dr. Robin Meyers sermons at Mayflower Congregational Church in Oklahoma City.

Many of his sermons are indeed like those of "a voice crying in a wilderness."

Robin is also a noted author. His "The Virtue in the Vice: Finding Seven Lively Virtues in Seven Deadly Sins" is highly recommended. Preachers ought to be able to get some ideas for sermons from the title alone.

On the SBC and Christian Reconstructionism

I've posted a couple blogs that deal with the SBC and Christian Reconstructionism on the Talk to Action website.

The first blog, "On Restoring America" discusses a video tape I received that gives instructions on how to takeover a Republican party precinct meeting. Audio podcasts from that video are posted with the blog.

The second blog, "On Learning to be Patient Revolutionaries" discusses Reconstructionist leader Gary North's 1988 interview with Paul Pressler about the takeover of the Southern Baptist Convention. Audio podcasts from that interview are posted with the blog.

Technorati Tags Theocracy, Religion, Politics, Baptists, Christian Reconstructionism, Dominionism

McCain Wants White House Officials Interviewed

The Hill has reported that Republican Senator John McCain has joined efforts to have Senate investigators question Senior White House officials about the intelligence they were receiving on Iraq before we went to war.

The logjam on this issue is breaking.

On Post 9-11 White House Intelligence Briefings

The National Journal has published a story revealing that ten days after the 9-11 attacks the White House received an intelligence briefing that said the U.S. had no intelligence linking Iraq to Al Qaeda.

Unfortunately, the President refused to believe it.

Roger Williams Worth Remembering

Thanks to Carlos at the Jesus Politics blog for calling attention to the essay on "Remembering Roger Williams" at Reasononline. Here's an excerpt:

The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution, released the same year as his friend John Milton?s defense of the free press, Areopagitica, argued for "soul liberty" for all people, "paganish, Jewish, Turkish, or anti-christian."

Such ideas were far ahead of their time -- perhaps even our time. Milton notably excluded Catholics in his case for free expression, and it would be 50 years before the English crown would officially tolerate dissent just among Protestants. Gaustad notes that Williams' ideas infused the charters of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and other colonies with protections for religious freedom. And his notions of a fully secular state found their way into the writings of John Locke, who would have a seminal influence on Jefferson, Madison, and other Founders.

Technorati Tags Roger Williams, Religion, Church and State

Mother Jones on God & Country

The December 2005 issue of Mother Jones Magazine has some outstanding articles about where the Christian Right is leading us. This issue is essential reading for anyone who needs a clear and concise overview of the Religious Right.

Baptists will be particularly interested in the article by Karen Houppert about the Intelligent Design vs. Evolution debate at Baylor University.

Everyone who is mystified by the plethora of right-wing organizations, think tanks and foundations will be interested in Frederick Clarkson's Expanding Universe -- the Religious Right's Orbits of Influence. This chart alone is worth the price of a year's subscription to the magazine.

John Sugg does a masterful job explaining the Reconstructionist influence that permeates the thought and influence of the Christian Right.

Adam Piore investigates the expansion of the Salem Communications radio empire.

Michael Reynolds traces the flow of some of the money that has been funding some of the activities of the Religious Right.

Susan Jacoby wrestles with the thorny question of the Original Intent of the framer's of the constitution. Her explanation makes a lot more sense than the mythology being published by David Barton.

There's a lot more in the printed copy than you'll be able to get online, so this one is definitely worth tracking down at the news stand.

Technorati Tags Theocracy, Religion, Politics, Church and State

VP Accused of Giving Guidance for Torture

Retired U.S. Army Col. Larry Wilkerson, Chief of Staff for former Secretary of State Colin Powell, indicated on CNN yesterday that Vice President Dick Cheney provided the "philosophical guidance" and "flexibility" that led to the torture of detainees in U.S. facilities. Here's a quote:

"There's no question in my mind where the philosophical guidance and the flexibility in order to do so originated -- in the vice president of the United States' office," he said. "His implementer in this case was [Defense Secretary] Donald Rumsfeld and the Defense Department."

Wilkerson also indicated that he believes that torture is still being used on prisoners. Here's another quote.

While he acknowledged having no proof that the United States is torturing detainees, Wilkerson said, "I can only assume that, when the vice president of the United States lobbies the Congress on behalf of cruel and unusual punishment and the need to be able to do that in order to get information out of potential terrorists... that it's still going on."

IMHO, Wilkerson is most certainly right about the U.S. being engaged in a "war of ideas" that cannot be advanced with torture.

Technorati Tags Torture, Iraq, Larry Wilkerson

God and Public Schools

USA Today has published an essay by Charles Haynes on The Truth about God and Public Schools.

Haynes does a good job of debunking the myth that God has been kicked out of the public schools.

Technorati Tags Public Schools, Religion, Church and State

More Bad News on Global Warming

More bad news about the impact of global warming is coming from multiple fronts.

Common Dreams has posted a story by the Independent/UK on The Big Thaw: Global Disaster Will Follow If the Ice Cap on Greenland Melts. This is a very alarming report.

Another story in the Observer says Millions Face Glacier Catastrophe as global warming hits the Himalayas.

Technorati Tags Environment, Global Warming