PUBLIC SCHOOL IS NO PLACE FOR MY CHILD- PERIOD !

“Parents do not have a constitutional right to home school their children,” wrote Justice H. Walter Croskey in a Feb. 28 opinion signed by the two other members of the district court. “Parents who fail to [comply with school enrollment laws] may be subject to a criminal complaint against them, found guilty of an infraction, and subject to imposition of fines or an order to complete a parent education and counseling program.”

Read the rest of this  *&^%$#&^%^()&)(*% !!!!!!

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-homeschool6mar06,0,7343621.story

This is a very complicated issue for there are many *needs* in play that is bringing this to a head.

1)   vaccinations

      The Us Gov wants your daughter to have the HPV vaccine. I won’t go into why, cuz it will scare you. But, they can’t really do the job they need to do if they miss homeschoolers. And, they need ALL females in the next generation for their handywork.

2)  Teachers Unions

      Don’t even start !

3)   Afraid parents will teach kids the truth. The gov can’t control them as well.

4)   If kids are in school, they are far more likely to eat and drink toxic food and sugar drinks.

      Yeah, it’s evil, but so was/is Flouride.

5)   Because on the day they call martial law, they want the kiddies nice and safe in school.

      Now, that’s the really scary part.  Think about it. you have no idea what is coming do you.

6)   The rest is so damned evil, I can’t bare to write it down.

 People, you better make your voices heard on this issue. CALL YOUR STATE REPS AND

TELL THEM YOU WANT THE RIGHT THE EDUCATE YOUR CHILD AT HOME.

Want to know what a Romney Presidency might look like? Here’s a picture.

DEMOCRATS: WE ARE OFF TOPIC. THE NEWS MEDIA WANTS TO TALK ABOUT ECONOMY BECAUSE WE’RE IDIOTS

 

From the time I woke up this morning, to right now, all networks are talking only word: ECONOMY. They will spend all day talking about the economy. They just now said it again. THE ECONOMY, they say is our #1 concern. This is a lie. They lie to you and I. Why? Because they are bought and sold by the very people who have stolen our democracy.

HERE’S MY ADVICE TO YOU . You won’t get better advise my friend. There is only one way to end this nightmare. DISENGAGE FROM THE BS. Stop buying stuff. Effective now. Dedicate 2008 as the year you stopped buying shit. Also, I suggest to you that you sign up for the undecided column, and wait and see where we go as a party from here. Get out of Edwards column. Get out of Hillary’s column. Get out of Obama’s column. I wish we had some REAL leadership right now. But, we don’t. What we have is each other and the power of our collective wallet, voice and vote. I don’t care about the damn economy. The Power Elite have complete control of our economy. Big Oil made record profits and they are Bush’s best friends. The banks made billions of dollars in bad loans, knowing it would crash and here we are.  They control the economy. Period. If YOU want to control the economy – you can. You can stop buying their stuff.

 I care about the war in Iraq, the upcoming war in Iran, our homeless vets, mandatory vaccines, the corrupt beef industry, our health freedoms, THE PATRIOT ACT, and all the things Obama, Hils and Edwards won’t talk about, except as a nice little poem. The media own these poeple, and the Global Elite own the Media, and you really don’t want to know who owns the Global Elite do you.

There is no time left. This is it. WHAT WILL YOU DO.

Please, we must join together, fearlessly and stand united. Stop buying anything that is not food or shelter and basic needs. Get rid of your big fat cars and go small. Conserve gas. Conserve electricity. Buy used clothing. I’ve been doing it for years, and I look fabulous ! Have a yard sale and sell your junk. Give that money away if you can. If not, please use it wisely. Don’t buy their stuff. If you cannot dedicate for this, then nothing else you are doing has any power.

Keep blogging about the things you care about. DON’T LET THEM TELL US WHAT MATTERS TO US.

The people in positions in power who may understand this debate, will no longer fight for people who will not fight for themselves. WHY WOULD THEY ? They will cave to the enormous pressure on them from above.

Now get going.

THE BELL RINGS: Boycott the MSNBC Democratic Debate Tonight

You might have 2 or 3 FINAL opportunities to save our democracy. This is one of them. Tonight. I fully support the BOYCOTT OF MSNBC, and particularly Brian Williams, and now – Conan O’Brien, for shamefully perpetuating our failing Liberties. I will n0t watch the debates on MSNBC tonight. I won’t read the transcript. What new thing will they say? That our Democratic candidates don’t stand up for Dennis and Mike, is OUTRAGEOUS. Have they totally forgotten what this election is about? They simply want more time for themselves, and they don’t want to talk about Iraq, New Hampshire, or anything else THE PEOPLE WANT TO TALK ABOUT. This is not acceptable. As of this second, I am now undecided. I was voting for Obama. But, this will not do. Not at all. The entire nation must rise up on Corporate censorship, or lose OUR power and voice as of tonight.  If you were voting for Obama or Edwards, go to their website and give em hell. Clinton- well, forget it, she is way far gone.  Please let others know.

AND STOP BUYING SHIT !!!  If you buy their stuff, it will not end. Believe it.

Boycott the MSNBC Democratic Debate On Tuesday + Protesting exclusion (videos) « Dandelion Salad

FAMILY LEADERS CALL ROMNEY A DISASTER

Family leaders call Romney ‘disaster’ : Letter criticizes ‘deceptive rhetoric’ around candidate —
© 2008 www.WorldNetDaily.com

Mitt Romney

A coalition of leaders on family issues has released a letter warning about what they describe as the deception being assembled around former Massachusetts governor and GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

“Most of us are not allied with any presidential candidate,” the letter says. “But we are troubled by the unethical and Orwellian cover-up of Mitt Romney’s role in catastrophic events in Massachusetts, once the cradle of American liberty.

 Read the rest at:  http://www.punditreview.com/2008/01/03/a-stern-warning-to-the-%E2%80%9Cconservative-elites%E2%80%9D-about-mitt-romney/

NAZI REPEAT AND THE MONUMENTAL FAILURE OF THE NYT

Creeping Fascism: From Nazi Germany to Post 9/11 America   By Ray McGovern, Consortium News Posted on December 29, 2007, Printed on January 3, 2008 http://www.alternet.org/story/71881/ “There are few things as odd as the calm, superior indifference with which I and those like me watched the beginnings of the Nazi revolution in Germany, as if from a box at the theater … Perhaps the only comparably odd thing is the way that now, years later …” These are the words of Sebastian Haffner (pen name for Raimund Pretzel), who as a young lawyer in Berlin during the 1930s experienced the Nazi takeover and wrote a firsthand account. His children found the manuscript when he died in 1999 and published it the following year as “Geschichte eines Deutschen” (The Story of a German). The book became an immediate bestseller and has been translated into 20 languages — in English as “Defying Hitler.” I recently learned from his daughter Sarah, an artist in Berlin, that yesterday was the 100th anniversary of Haffner’s birth. She had seen an earlier article in which I quoted her father and emailed to ask me to “write some more about the book and the comparison to Bush’s America … this is almost unbelievable.” More about Haffner below. Let’s set the stage first by recapping some of what has been going on that may have resonance for readers familiar with the Nazi ascendancy, noting how “odd” it is that the frontal attack on our Constitutional rights is met with such “calm, superior indifference.” Goebbels would be proud It has been two years since top New York Times officials decided to let the rest of us in on the fact that the George W. Bush administration had been eavesdropping on American citizens without the court warrants required by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978. The Times had learned of this well before the election in 2004 and acquiesced to White House entreaties to suppress the damaging information. In late fall 2005 when Times correspondent James Risen’s book “State of War: the Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration,” revealing the warrantless eavesdropping, was being printed, Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. recognized that he could procrastinate no longer. It would simply be too embarrassing to have Risen’s book on the street, with Sulzberger and his associates pretending that this explosive eavesdropping story did not fit Adolph Ochs’ trademark criterion: All The News That’s Fit To Print. (The Times‘ own ombudsman, Public Editor Byron Calame, branded the newspaper’s explanation for the long delay in publishing this story “woefully inadequate.”) When Sulzberger told his friends in the White House that he could no longer hold off on publishing in the newspaper, he was summoned to the Oval Office for a counseling session with the president on Dec. 5, 2005. Bush tried in vain to talk him out of putting the story in the Times. The truth would out; part of it, at least. Glitches There were some embarrassing glitches. For example, unfortunately for National Security Agency Director Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander, the White House neglected to tell him that the cat would soon be out of the bag. So on Dec. 6, Alexander spoke from the old talking points in assuring visiting House intelligence committee member Rush Holt, D-N.J., that the NSA did not eavesdrop on Americans without a court order. Still possessed of the quaint notion that generals and other senior officials are not supposed to lie to congressional oversight committees, Holt wrote a blistering letter to Gen. Alexander after the Times, on Dec. 16, front-paged a feature by Risen and Eric Lichtblau, “Bush Lets U.S. Spy on Callers Without Courts.” But House Intelligence Committee chair Pete Hoekstra, R-Mich., apparently found Holt’s scruples benighted; Hoekstra did nothing to hold Alexander accountable for misleading Holt, his most experienced committee member, who had served as an intelligence analyst at the State Department. What followed struck me as bizarre. The day after the Dec. 16 Times feature article, the president of the United States publicly admitted to a demonstrably impeachable offense. Authorizing illegal electronic surveillance was a key provision of the second article of impeachment against President Richard Nixon. On July 27, 1974, this and two other articles of impeachment were approved by bipartisan votes in the House Committee on the Judiciary. Bush takes frontal approach Far from expressing regret, the president bragged about having authorized the surveillance “more than 30 times since the September the 11th attacks,” and said he would continue to do so. The president also said: “Leaders in Congress have been briefed more than a dozen times on this authorization and the activities conducted under it.” On Dec. 19, 2005, then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and then-NSA Director Michael Hayden held a press conference to answer questions about the as yet unnamed surveillance program. Gonzales was asked why the White House decided to flout FISA rather than attempt to amend it, choosing instead a “backdoor approach.” He answered: “We have had discussions with Congress … as to whether or not FISA could be amended to allow us to adequately deal with this kind of threat, and we were advised that that would be difficult, if not impossible.” Hmm. Impossible? It strains credulity that a program of the limited scope described would be unable to win ready approval from a Congress that had just passed the “Patriot Act” in record time. James Risen has made the following quip about the prevailing mood: “In October 2001 you could have set up guillotines on the public streets of America.” It was not difficult to infer that the surveillance program must have been of such scope and intrusiveness that, even amid highly stoked fear, it didn’t have a prayer for passage. It turns out we didn’t know the half of it. What to call these activities “Illegal Surveillance Program” didn’t seem quite right for White House purposes, and the PR machine was unusually slow off the blocks. It took six weeks to settle on “Terrorist Surveillance Program,” with FOX News leading the way, followed by the president himself. This labeling would dovetail nicely with the president’s rhetoric on Dec. 17: “In the weeks following the terrorist attacks on our nation, I authorized the National Security Agency, consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution, to intercept the international communications of people with known links to al Qaeda and related terrorist organizations … The authorization I gave the National Security Agency after Sept. 11 helped address that problem…” And Gen. Michael Hayden, who headed NSA from 1999 to 2005, was of course on the same page, dissembling as convincingly as the president. At his May 2006 confirmation hearings to become CIA director, he told of his soul-searching when, as director of NSA, he was asked to eavesdrop on Americans without a court warrant. “I had to make this personal decision in early Oct. 2001,” said Hayden. “It was a personal decision … I could not not do this.” Like so much else, it was all because of 9/11. But we now know … It started seven months before 9/11 How many times have you heard it? The mantra “after 9/11 everything changed” has given absolution to all manner of sin. We are understandably reluctant to believe the worst of our leaders, and this tends to make us negligent. After all, we learned from former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill that drastic changes were made in U.S. foreign policy toward the Israeli-Palestinian issue and toward Iraq at the first National Security Council meeting on Jan. 30, 2001. Should we not have anticipated far-reaching changes at home as well? Reporting by the Rocky Mountain News and court documents and testimony in a case involving Qwest Communications strongly suggest that in February 2001 Hayden saluted smartly when the Bush administration instructed NSA to suborn AT&T, Verizon and Qwest to spy illegally on you, me and other Americans. Bear in mind that this would have had nothing to do with terrorism, which did not really appear on the new administration’s radar screen until a week before 9/11, despite the pleading of Clinton aides that the issue deserved extremely high priority. So this until-recently-unknown pre-9/11 facet of the “Terrorist Surveillance Program” was not related to Osama bin Laden or to whomever he and his associates might be speaking. It had to do with us. We know that the Democrats who were briefed on the “Terrorist Surveillance Program” include House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. (the one with the longest tenure on the House Intelligence Committee), Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., and former and current chairmen of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Bob Graham, D-Fla., and Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va. May one interpret their lack of public comment on the news that the snooping began well before 9/11 as a sign they were co-opted and then sworn to secrecy? It is an important question. Were the appropriate leaders in Congress informed that within days of George W. Bush’s first inauguration the NSA electronic vacuum cleaner began to suck up information on you and me despite the FISA law and the Fourth Amendment? Are they all complicit? And are Democratic leaders about to cave in and grant retroactive immunity to those telecommunications corporations — AT&T and Verizon — who made millions by winking at the law and the Constitution? (Qwest, to its credit, heeded the advice of its general counsel, who said that what NSA wanted done was clearly illegal.) What’s going on here? Have congressional leaders no sense for what is at stake? Lately the adjective “spineless” has come into vogue in describing congressional Democrats — no offense to invertebrates. Nazis and those who enable them You don’t have to be a Nazi. You can just be, well, a sheep. In his journal Sebastian Haffner decries what he calls the “sheepish submissiveness” with which the German people reacted to a 9/11-like event, the burning of the German parliament building (Reichstag) on Feb. 27, 1933. Haffner finds it quite telling that none of his acquaintances “saw anything out of the ordinary in the fact that, from then on, one’s telephone would be tapped, one’s letters opened and one’s desk might be broken into.” But it is for the cowardly politicians that Haffner reserves his most vehement condemnation. Do you see any contemporary parallels here? In the elections of March 4, 1933, shortly after the Reichstag fire, the Nazi party garnered only 44 percent of the vote. Only the “cowardly treachery” of the Social Democrats and other parties to whom 56 percent of the German people had entrusted their votes made it possible for the Nazis to seize full power. Haffner adds: “It is in the final analysis only that betrayal that explains the almost inexplicable fact that a great nation, which cannot have consisted entirely of cowards, fell into ignominy without a fight.” The Social Democratic leaders betrayed their followers — “for the most part decent, unimportant individuals.” In May they sang the Nazi anthem; in June the Social Democratic party was dissolved. The middle-class Catholic party Zentrum folded in less than a month and in the end supplied the votes necessary for the two-thirds majority that “legalized” Hitler’s dictatorship. As for the right-wing conservatives and German nationalists: “Oh God,” writes Haffner, “what an infinitely dishonorable and cowardly spectacle their leaders made in 1933 and continued to make afterward. … They went along with everything: the terror, the persecution of Jews. … They were not even bothered when their own party was banned and their own members arrested.” In sum: “There was not a single example of energetic defense, of courage or principle. There was only panic, flight, and desertion. In March 1933 millions were ready to fight the Nazis. Overnight they found themselves without leaders. … At the moment of truth, when other nations rise spontaneously to the occasion, the Germans collectively and limply collapsed. They yielded and capitulated, and suffered a nervous breakdown. … The result is today the nightmare of the rest of the world.” This is what can happen when virtually all are intimidated. Our founding fathers were not oblivious to this; thus, James Madison wrote: “I believe there are more instances of the abridgement of freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments by those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations. … The means of defense against foreign danger historically have become the instruments of tyranny at home.” We cannot say we weren’t warned. Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, D.C. A former Army officer and CIA analyst, he worked in Germany for five years; he is co-founder of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity. © 2008 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved. View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/71881/

A MUST SEE ON BLACKWATER !!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJUEULWEP9c&feature=related

Freemasons ruling the world?

Home Articles

Freemasons Its Roots & Links to the Occult by a concerned Christian researcher who prefers to remain anonymous   See also How mysticism & the occult are changing the Church Trouble in Narnia: The Occult Side of C.S. Lewis Unequal Contenders in the Spiritual War

Emphasis added in bold letters

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“Freemasonry is not Christianity, nor a substitute for it. It does not meddle with sectarian creeds or doctrines, but teaches fundamental religious truth.” (Albert G. Mackey, “Encyclopedia of Freemasonry,” page 162)
 

“Masonry, like all the Religions, all the Mysteries, Hermeticism and Alchemy, conceals its secrets from all except the Adepts and Sages, or the Elect, and uses false explanations and misinterpretations of its symbols to mislead those who deserve only to be misled; to conceal the Truth, which it calls Light, from them, and to draw them away from it.” (Albert Pike, “Morals and Dogma,” page 104)

“Drop the theological barnacles [timeless Biblical truths] from the religion of Jesus, as taught by Him, and by the Essenes and Gnostics of the first centuries, and it becomes Masonry, Masonry in its purity, derived as it is from the old Hebrew Kaballa as a part of the great universal religion of the remotest antiquity.” (J. D. Buck, “Mystic Masonry,” page 119)

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On the surface, Freemasonry looks wholesome. There is fellowship, loyalty, and the support of good causes such as burn units in hospitals. The masonic motto is “Making good men better”.

Few men understand what they are getting into when they become Masons. Most Masons join because they trust friends, family members, or church members who invite them. Others join for business connections or political votes. Some men join because of masonic charities. Most men who join have no idea that, during their initiation, they will be required to make solemn blood oaths.

American Freemasonry includes local Lodges, Scottish Rite Temples, York Rite, and the Shriners. Prince Hall is a masonic order for black men.

The Eastern Star is an auxiliary organization for wives and adult daughters of Masons. There are also masonic organizations for children — DeMolay (for boys), Job’s Daughters, and Rainbow Girls. These are known as “adoptive” masonry, which means that wives, sisters, daughters and sons of Masons are spiritually adopted into the masonic order. As a result, they are under the spiritual authority of Freemasonry. (William Schnoebelen, Masonry: Beyond the Light, page 104)

MASONS ARE DECEIVED

For the vast majority of Masons, Freemasonry is a lifelong succession of deceptions. Most Lodge leaders do not realize that they are deceiving their members. For the most part, they are simply reciting the same things they have heard and said, over and over, assuming that they are right and good. However, the Princes and Adepts of Freemasonry deliberately deceive the Masons under them. (See Tom C. McKenney, “Please Tell Me…Questions People Ask About Freemasonry — and the Answers,” pages 123-133.)

Masons take blood oaths, but are told that they are only symbolic. They participate in rituals that they don’t understand, assuming that they must be alright because their masonic friends have done it.

This paper contains quotations which would shock most Masons because they have never read what the highest Masons say about Freemasonry. Masonry is a system that confuses, deceives and controls men, getting them to do things that they would not do if they understood them.

The highest-level Masons (Princes and Adepts) deliberately deceive the Masons under them. For example, Albert Pike was one of the highest authorities in American Masonry. He was Grand Commander of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry from 1859 to 1891. He was also Grand Commander of the Thirty-Third Degree, as well as a Prince Adept. His book “Morals and Dogma” is given to men when they reach the 32nd degree. The following quotations from Pike’s “Morals and Dogma” show that Masons of the highest level deliberately deceive the Masons below them.

“Part of the symbols are displayed there to the initiate, but he is intentionally misled by false interpretations. It is not intended that he shall understand them; but it is intended that he shall imagine he understands them.” (Albert Pike, “Morals and Dogma,” page 819)

“There must always be a commonplace interpretation for the mass of initiates, of the symbols that are eloquent to the Adepts.” (Albert Pike, “Morals and Dogma,” page 819) [The “Adept” are Thirty-Third Degree and above.]

Even a Thirty-Second Degree Mason will have limited understanding unless he studies the Secret Doctrine and the writings of the Princes and Adepts of Masonry. It is difficult for a man to turn away from Freemasonry because of the many blood oaths which he has made in order to obtain his degrees. Furthermore, he has invested a lot of time, effort and money into Masonry, and many of his friendships and business connections are with fellow Masons.

Freemasonry is a religion. Masons meet in temples, such as the Scottish Rite Temple. They have an altar and there is a “holy book” on it. They have prayers, deacons, and religious titles for their leaders, such as High Priest and Worshipful Master. They say that they bring men from spiritual darkness to spiritual light. In some Masonic degrees, they even serve communion. Although Freemasonry is a religion, most Masons deny it. They use double talk and say “We are an order of religious men, but not a religion.” Most of them are quite sincere about this. (Tom C. McKenney, “Please Tell Me,” pages 81-82)

Most Masons sincerely (but wrongly) believe that Freemasonry is not a religion. How can they be so wrong when they are so sincere? Tom McKenney says, “…they were told upon entering the Lodge that, whatever their religion, Masonry would not conflict with or contradict it. They believed this because sincere men told them so. Those sincere men who told them so believed it because an earlier generation of sincere men had told them the very same thing. And so, this deception, which originated as a lie in Masonry’s dark beginnings, is perpetuated generation after generation.” (Tom C. McKenney, “Please Tell Me,” page 82)

MASONRY CLAIMS TO BE SUPERIOR TO CHRISTIANITY

Not only is Freemasonry a religion, its highest authorities claim that it is superior to Christianity. Freemasonry is considered to be the highest and purest form of religion:

“Freemasonry is not Christianity, nor a substitute for it. It does not meddle with sectarian creeds or doctrines, but teaches fundamental religious truth.“ (Albert G. Mackey, “Encyclopedia of Freemasonry,” page 162)

Christianity is even considered to be Freemasonry which has become encrusted with inflexible Biblical doctrines or “theological barnacles”.

“Drop the theological barnacles from the religion of Jesus, as taught by Him, and by the Essenes and Gnostics of the first centuries, and it becomes Masonry, Masonry in its purity, derived as it is from the old Hebrew Kaballa as a part of the great universal religion of the remotest antiquity.” (J. D. Buck, “Mystic Masonry,” page 119)

To better understand Mr. Buck’s statement, it is necessary to understand what the Kaballa is. (Kaballa can also be spelled Kaballah, Kabala or Cabala.) Webster’s dictionary defines it as:

“1. A kind or system of occult theosophy or mystial interpretation of the Scriptures among Jewish rabbis and certain medieval Christians. 2. Secret or esoteric doctrine or science, in general; occultism; mystic art; mystery.” (“Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary,” Fifth Edition, 1947)

The following definitions give clarity to the above definition of the Kaballa:

“Occult. Of, pertaining to, concerned with, or designating alchemy, magic, astrology and other arts and practices involving use of divination, incantation, magical formulae, etc.” (“Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary,” Fifth Edition, 1947)

“Occultism. Occult theory or practice; belief in hidden or mysterious powers and the possibility of human control of them.” (“Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Fifth Edition, 1947)

Albert Pike also stresses the fundamental importance of the Kaballa to Freemasonry:

“All truly dogmatic religions have issued from the Kaballah and return to it; everything scientific and grand in the religious dreams of all the Illuminati, Jacob Boeheme, Swedenborg, Saint Martin, and others, is borrowed from the Kabalah; all Masonic associations owe to it their Secrets and their Symbols.” (Albert Pike, “Morals and Dogma,” page 744)

MASONRY IS ANTI-CHRISTIAN

Considering Freemasonry’s roots in the Kaballa, it is not surprising that it opposes Christianity. The writings of Masonry’s highest authorities clearly show that it actually is antagonistic to Christianity, to the point that Masons are not supposed to mention the name of Jesus in the Lodge.

“A Christian Mason is not permitted to introduce his own peculiar opinions with regards to Christ’s mediatorial office into the lodge.” (Albert G. Mackey, “Lexicon of Freemasonry,” page 404)

“Whether you swear or take God’s name in vain don’t matter so much. Of course the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, as you know, don’t amount to anything, but Mah-hah-bone–O, horror! You must never, on any account, speak that awful name aloud. That would be a most heinous crime–unmasonic–unpardonable.” (Edmond Ronayne, “Masonic Handbook,” page 184)

James Shaw, a former Thirty-Third Degree Mason, was appointed Chaplain in the Scottish Rite. Since at that time he didn’t know how to pray, he got a book of John Wesley’s prayers and read one, ending “in Christ’s name”. For that he was sharply rebuked by his Commander and reported to the Secretary of the Scottish Rite, who told him that he was never to end a prayer “in Jesus’ name” or “in Christ’s name.” (Tom McKenney, “Please Tell Me,” page 72)

MASONRY CLAIMS TO PROVIDE SALVATION WITHOUT JESUS

The following quotation shows that Freemasonry promises “assurance of a future life” apart from Jesus. Most people familiar with salvation would take this to be a promise of salvation. However, eternity in hell is a form of “future life.” Everybody has a future life. The question is, will they spend it in Heaven or in hell?

“The symbolism of the Master’s Degree, as we have it now, is necessarily restricted to the First Temple and to the present life; although it reaches a climax in the assurance of a future life all without the aid of the Bible, God, Jesus Christ or the church.” (John A. Hertel Company, “The Masonic Bible,’ pages 10-11)

MASONS WORSHIP PAGAN GODS

When Masons first join a lodge, they worship G.A.O.T.U, which they are told is the god of their own religion. When they have progressed, they are told that G.A.O.T.U. stands for the Grand Architect of the Universe. Then they search for the true name of God, which they are told was lost. In the process, they are taught that the God of the Bible is the same as the old pagan gods:

“The masonic doctrine of the unity of God teaches that: (1) The names of the different nature gods (Brahma, Baal, Om, On, Dagon, Osiris, Allah, Molech, and Shango), along with Jehovah, all denote the generative (reproductive) principle in nature. (2) All religions are essentially the same in their ideas of the divine. (3) It is for this express purpose that the simple Mason is instructed to look upon every man’s religion as his own.” (C. F. McQuaig and James D. Shaw, “The Masonic Report,” page 8)

In the Royal Arch Degree (13th degree), the Mason is given a three-syllable name for God. Each syllable stands for a different god. The first stands for Jehovah, the God of the Bible. The second stands for Baal. The third stands for a Chaldean (Babylonian) god. This name signifies that the God of the Bible and Baal are one and the same, being different facets of the same god. (See page 97 of Martin L. Wagner’s “Interpretation of Freemasonry” and pages 8-9 of “The Masonic Report” by C. F. McQuaig and James D. Shaw).

According to the Bible, pagan gods are really demons. The conflict between Elijah and the prophets of Baal demonstrates that Baal worship and worship of the God of the Bible are incompatible. (See 1 Kings, chapter 18) Christians are warned that they cannot worship both the God of the Bible and pagan gods.

“What am I saying then? That an idol is anything, or what is offered to idols is anything? Rather, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to have fellowship with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.” (1 Corinthians 10:19-21)

The Royal Arch Degree shows that Masons are really Baal worshipers. Most Masons do it without realizing it by participating in rituals that they really don’t understand. However, a few top-level Masons (those in highest authority) know exactly what they are doing.

In Old Testament times, the Canaanites worshipped Baal by having men have sexual intercourse with temple prostitutes (both male and female, including children), and by burning babies alive. Other pagan gods were worshipped in similar ways. In some countries, this kind of pagan worship continues to this day. For example, according to eye-witness accounts, children in India are still being drowned in the Ganges River as sacrifices to pagan gods. In this century, Amy Carmichael and her coworkers rescued children from temple prostitution in India.

Most Masons don’t understand that they are really worshipping demons when they worship pagan gods. They also have little or no knowledge of the atrocities that men have committed in pagan worship.

MASONIC INITIATION

Before being initiated, candidates for membership do not know that any oath will be involved, much less the bloody nature of the oath. They take the oath a few words at a time, repeating the words as the Worshipful Master says them. Before they start saying the oath, they are assured that nothing they are going to say will in any way conflict with their religion.

At the time that he is led in the oath, the candidate is disoriented, blindfolded, half naked, confused, afraid, and humiliated. He has been stripped of all his clothes and his wedding ring, and has put on something similar to pajamas, with one leg rolled up and the shirt half off his torso. He has been blindfolded with a hood, and had a rope put around his neck. He has been led around during the initiation ritual like a blind dog on a leash. He has no idea who is watching him or how many men there are. He has been told that he is in darkness and must depend on Masonry to give him light.

After having been pressured into taking an oath that he never expected to take — and which he only partly understood because he was disoriented and only heard a few words at a time — the initiate is given a written copy of the oath. He is required to memorize it word for word. This is similar to being pressured into signing a blank check, and later finding out what it is going to cost you.

All of this is a powerful means of subjugation and mind control. It can bind men to the Lodge and its authority both mentally and spiritually. (See Tom C. McKenney, “Please Tell Me,” pages 66-69 and 124).

MASONIC OATHS

The first degree, or Entered Apprentice, swears, with his hand on the sacred book of his religion (the Bible, Koran, etc.). His oath states various obligations, and concludes:

“I do most solemnly and sincerely promise and swear, without the least equivocation, mental reservation, or self evasion of mind in me whatever; binding myself under no less penalty than to have my throat cut across, my tongue torn out by the roots, and my body buried in the rough sands of the sea at low watermark, where the tide ebbs and flows twice in twenty-four hours; so help me God, and keep me steadfast in the due performance of the same.” (Captain Morgan, “Freemasonry Exposed,” pages 21-22.)

Penalties for violating oaths of the next two degrees include having his heart ripped out, and being cut in two and disembowelled. A Christian Mason makes these vows with his hand on the Bible, asking God to keep him steadfast in performing it.

Once a man becomes a Master Mason, he is eligible to join the Scottish Rite or the York Rite. Scottish Rite Masonry has twenty-nine more degrees and York Rite has ten more degrees. Each of these degrees includes initiation, with a blood oath. A Thirty-Second Degree Mason is a man who reached the Third Degree (Master Mason) in his local Lodge, and then went through twenty-nine more degrees in the Scottish Rite.

Thirty-Second Degree Masons are eligible to join the Shriners (an American order of Freemasonry). Initiation into the Shriners includes a taking blood oath and swearing allegiance to Allah. (Allah is not another name for the God of the Bible. It is the name of another god, a pagan god.) (C. F. McQuaig and James D. Shaw, “The Masonic Report,” page 72)

Membership in the Thirty-Third Degree is by invitation only. Initiation includes drinking wine out of a human skull and taking a solemn oath that their primary allegiance is to the Thirty-Third Degree Masons. (Jim Shaw and Tom McKenney, “The Deadly Deception,” page 104)

MASONIC SECRETS

Masons spend their lives carefully guarding secrets — initiation rituals, secret words, “obligations” (oaths), “signs” (special body language), and secret distress signals (the Grand Hailing Sign, and the question: “Is there no help for the widow’s son?”) They take blood oaths, promising to allow themselves to be killed if they betray any of these secrets. However, most of these secrets have been matters of public record for over a century.

In 1826, Captain William Morgan (a Mason of the Royal Arch Degree) renounced Freemasonry. He then wrote “Freemasonry Exposed”, a book revealing masonic oaths and secrets. He and his publisher were kidnapped by Masons. Captain Morgan was murdered, but his publisher escaped and told people about the murder. As a result of Captain Morgan’s Murder, thousands of Masons became disillusioned and renounced Freemasonry. Some of them testified in court, thus revealing more masonic secrets. These written court records have been available to the public since 1826. (See the section of this paper on “Masonic Morals” for further information regarding Captain Morgan’s murder.)

In 1869, Evangelist Charles Finney (a former Mason) published a book further exposing Freemasonry. In this book (which was published 130 years ago), Rev. Finney discusses eight books which had already been published by former Masons. One of them was a comprehensive book written by a committee of sixteen former Masons, which gives the signs, tokens, grips, sacred words, passwords, oaths, and hieroglyphics of forty-eight degrees of Freemasonry. It also has diagrams of lodges and drawings representing signs and ceremonies. Another book covers sixty-two degrees of Freemasonry. In addition to the Blue Lodge degrees (which go through Master Mason) and the Scottish Rite and York Rite degrees, a number of European degrees are also described in these books. (Charles G. Finney, “The Character, Claims and Practical Workings of Freemasonry,” pages 174-176) Since then, other former Masons have written books exposing Freemasonry.

In 1988, Jim Shaw (a former Thirty-Third Degree Mason) wrote about his personal experience in “The Deadly Deception,” a book which he co-authored with Tom McKenney. This autobiography shows the human, experiential side of Freemasonry through the Thirty-Third Degree, in addition to giving secrets, oaths, and rituals. It shows love for the men, while exposing the system.

In 1991, William Schnoebelen wrote “Masonry: Beyond the Light,” which describes his personal experience in an “esoteric” degree which is even higher than the Thirty-Third Degree. (This degree is so secret that most Masons have never heard of it.)

MASONIC MORALS

Master Masons promise not to cheat, defraud, or do violence to a Master Mason. They promise not to commit adultery with the wife of a Master Mason or seduce his sister, daughter, or other female relative. These promises only apply to fellow Master Masons. They do not protect non-Masons, Entered Apprentices, or Fellow Crafts and their families.

Masons are required to tell lies and even perjure themselves to protect other Masons. They are also required to obey even orders which they know to be immoral:

“You must conceal all the crimes of your brother Masons, except murder and treason, and these only at your own option, and should you be summoned as a witness against a brother Mason be always sure to shield him. Prevaricate [falsify], don’t tell the whole truth in his case, keep his secrets, forget the most important points. It may be perjury to do this, it is true, but you’re keeping your obligations, and remember if you live up to your obligation strictly, you’ll be free from sin.” (Edmond Ronayne, “Masonic Handbook,” page 183)

“Right or wrong his very existence as a Mason hangs upon obedience to the powers immediately set above him. The one unpardonable crime in a Mason is contumacy [insubordination] or disobedience.” (Robert Morris, “Webb’s Monitor of Freemasonry,” page 169)

According to masonic oaths, Masons are to be killed if they reveal masonic secrets. In 1826, Captain William Morgan, a high-degree Mason, made masonic secrets public in his book “Freemasonry Exposed.” According to the “Masonic Handbook,” he was murdered for it.

“When a brother reveals any of our great secrets; whenever, for instance, he tells anything about Boaz, or Tubalcain, or Jachin, or that awful Mah-hah-bone, or even whenever a minister prays in the name of Christ in any of our assemblies, you must always hold yourself in readiness, if called upon, to cut his throat from ear to ear, pull out his tongue by the roots, and bury his body at the bottom of some lake or pond. Of course, all this must be done in secret, as it was in the case of that notorious man Morgan, for both law and civilization are opposed to such barbarous crimes, but then, you know you must live up to your obligation, and so long as you have sworn to do it, by being very strict and obedient in the matter, you’ll be free from sin.” (Edmond Ronayne, “Masonic Handbook,” page 74)

The murder of Captain Morgan — and the kidnapping and attempted murder of his publisher, David Miller — are described in detail (with extensive quotations from original sources) in the Introduction to the 1998 reprint of “The Character, Claims and Practical Workings of Freemasonry” by Charles G. Finney (pages xxi through xxxviii). (This book was first published in 1869. In 1998 it was reprinted with a Foreword by Ed Decker and an Introduction and Epilog by John Daniel). Pages 6-10 give the death-bed confession of one of Captain Morgan’s murderers.

Masons still murder people. In the Foreword to “The Character, Claims and Practical Workings of Freemasonry,” Ed Decker tells how he survived attempted murder by Masons (pages i to iii).

MASONRY’S RELATIONSHIP TO THE MAFIA AND THE KU KLUX KLAN

Giuseppe Mazzini, a Thirty-Third Degree Mason, founded a group of revolutionaries called Young Italy. Their goal was to free Italy from the control of monarchy and the Pope. They succeeded, and Mazzini is honored as a patriot in Italy. However, in the process, the Mafia was born. The Young Italy revolutionaries needed money, and they:

“…supported themselves by robbing banks, looting or burning businesses if protection money was not paid, and kidnapping for ransom. Throughout Italy the word spread that “Mazzini autorizza furti, incendi e attentati,” meaning, ‘Mazzini authorizes theft, arson, and kidnapping.’ This phrase was shortened to the acronym, M.A.F.I.A. Organized crime was born.” (John Daniel, “Scarlet and the Beast,” Vol. I., pages 330-331)

Albert Pike was Grand Commander the Thirty-Third Degree, as well as Grand Commander of the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry. He was also a Confederate general. Pike was influenced by Mazzini. Both were military men who were good at fomenting rebellion. (William Schnoebelen, “Masonry,” pages 191-192.)

When the Confederacy surrendered to the Union forces, Albert Pike was determined to start another Civil War so that South could win. He founded the Ku Klux Klan, which instigated riots throughout the South in an attempt to disrupt reconstruction and incite a second Civil War. Pike gave Klansman Jesse James the assignment of robbing Northern banks in order to get money to fund this war. It is estimated that Jesse James and other Klansmen buried seven billion dollars in gold all over the western states. (“Scarlet and the Beast,” Vol. 3, pages 76-77)

“Pike the old Confederate general, was a wily strategist who knew that if he could leave behind a secret terrorist society in the south to fight against freedom for black people as a rear guard action, the south’s defeat might not be in vain.” (“Masonry,” page 192)

Two books from the turn of the twentieth century document Pike’s direct involvement in founding the Klan: “Ku Klux Klan: Its’ Origin, Growth and Disbandment” (1905) by J. C. Lester and D. L. Wilson; and “Authentic History: Ku Klux Klan 1865-1877″ (1924) by Susan Lawrence Davis.” (“Scarlet and the Beast,” Vol. 3, page 76)

In considering this, we should remember that Mazzini and Pike probably saw what they did as doing “whatever it takes” to accomplish goals that were important to them. This is a practical application of the philosophy that “the end justifies the means”. Mazzini successfully used guerilla warfare and civil disruption to instigate a civil war in Italy, in order to win freedom from control by the monarchy and the papacy. Pike attempted to do a similar kind of thing in the South, in order to win freedom from control by the North, but he failed.

MASONRY’S INFLUENCE ON AMERICA

The majority of Supreme Court justices were Masons from 1941 to 1971. During this time, prayer and Bible reading were prohibited in schools, and pornography was redefined to allow things that had previously been considered indecent.

Sixteen presidents were Masons. Many judges and politicians are Masons. In 1950, one out of every twelve American men was a Mason, but membership has been decreasing since then.

MASONRY’S INFLUENCE ON THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN AMERICA

According to a tract produced by Concerned Southern Baptists in 1994, twenty-six percent of Southern Baptist men are Masons, and the percentage is even higher among leadership. Masons are also common in other denominations. For example, Dr. C. F. McQuaig, an Assemblies of God pastor, had so many Masons in his congregation that he did extensive research and wrote “The Masonic Report.”

FREEMASONRY AND CULTS

Joseph Smith founded the Mormon church, which is also called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Smith and his followers were Masons. Mormon priests go through the rituals of the first three degrees of Masonry. Mormon sources claim that Masons murdered Joseph Smith. As a result, Mormons aren’t allowed to join masonic lodges, even though their origin is masonic. (“Scarlet and the Beast,” Vol. 1, pages 41-42)

Masons founded the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Church of Scientology. Mary Baker Eddie, the founder of Christian Science, was strongly influenced by Freemasonry. Madame Blavatsky, the founder of Theosophy, was a Mason. (Some European lodges have admitted women.) Theosophy is foundational to much of the New Age movement. (“Scarlet and the Beast,” Vol. 1, pages 42 and 649-650).

In 1951, a Mason named Gerald B. Gardner introduced Wicca to mainstream society. Gardner was the first fully public witch of modern times. He made witchcraft more socially acceptable by changing its name to Wicca and calling it an ancient religion. There is evidence that Gardner’s witchcraft texts were his personal creation rather than being documents handed down from ancient tradition. This would make Wicca a modern Masonic invention rather than the resurrection of an ancient pagan religion. (For a discussion of this, see “Goddess Unmasked” by Philip G. Davis, pages 327-343.)

PRIMARY LOYALTY

When Jim Shaw became a Thirty-Third Degree Mason, all of the candidates swore that their allegiance to Freemasonry took priority over all other commitments. Among those present at this initiation were some highly influential men.

“We then swore true allegiance to the Supreme Council of the 33rd Degree, above all other allegiances, and swore never to recognize any other brother as being a member of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry unless he also recognizes the supreme authority of ‘this Supreme Council.’ . . . There were some extremely prominent men there that day, including a Scandinavian King, two former presidents of the United States, an internationally prominent evangelist, two other internationally prominent clergymen, and a very high official of the federal government, the one who actually presented me with the certificate of the 33rd Degree.” (Jim Shaw and Tom McKenney, “The Deadly Deception,” pages 104-105)

The initiation consisted of two parts. The first involved things that were acted out. One of the candidates went through that, representing the entire group. The second part of the ritual was taking the oath. All of the men formally made the oath, which was sealed by drinking wine out of a human skull.

“One of the Conductors then handed the ‘candidate’ [the man who represented all of the candidates] a human skull, upside down, with wine in it.

“With all of us candidates repeating after him, he sealed the oath, ‘May this wine I now drink become a deadly poison to me, as the Hemlock juice drunk by Socrates, should I ever knowingly or willfully violate the same’ (the oath).

“He then drank the wine. A skeleton (one of the brothers dressed like one — he looked very convincing) then stepped out of the shadows and threw his arms around the ‘candidate.’ Then he (and we) continued the sealing of the obligation by saying, ‘And may these cold arms forever encircle me should I ever knowingly or willfully violate the same.'” (Jim Shaw and Tom McKenney, “The Deadly Deception,” pages 104-105)

CAN CHRISTIANS BE MASONS?

Because some Christians are Masons, many people sincerely believe that Freemasonry is compatible with Christianity. Unfortunately, just being sincere does not protect Christian Masons from having their Christian faith and fervor become weakened by Freemasonry. Christians who become Masons are under two opposing spiritual influences — Jesus Christ and paganism. The Bible calls this being double minded. The Apostle Paul said:

“Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God.” (2 Corinthians 6:14-16)

FREEMASONS CURSE THEMSELVES AND THEIR FAMILIES

Freemasonry is actually a pagan religion, the worship of pagan gods. It is idolatry. In the Commandment dealing with idolatry, God says:

“…you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me.” (Exodus 20:5)

BOOKS CITED

Books by masonic authors are available at lodge libraries and masonic distributors. Most of them are only sold to Masons. However, they can sometimes be found at used book stores and yard sales. Albert Pike’s “Morals and Dogma” is difficult to obtain. All quotations from books by masonic authors can be found in “The Masonic Report,” which is described in the Bibliography.

The books in the Bibliography are all written by Christians. With the exception of Tom McKenney, the authors are former Masons who renounced Freemasonry. The first two books are available at Amazon.com and regular bookstores. Information for ordering the other three books is given in the Bibliography.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

“The Deadly Deception” by Jim Shaw and Tom McKenny (1988, Huntington House, Inc., Lafayette, Louisiana). This book describes Jim Shaw’s experience as a Thirty-Third Degree Mason, his discovery of Jesus Christ, and his deliverance from Freemasonry.

“Please Tell Me…Questions People Ask About Freemasonry — and the Answers,” by Tom C. McKenney (1994, Huntington House Publishers, Lafayette, Louisiana). After Deadly Deception was published, Tom McKenny was invited to answer questions on several hundred talk shows. This book answers the most frequently asked questions about Freemasonry. It is compassionately written and avoids gory details. If you are only going to get one book about Freemasonry, this is a good one to get. It is easy to read, covers the questions that people ask in real life, and doesn’t go into a lot of gory details.

“The Masonic Report: New Revised Pastor’s Edition” by C. F. McQuaig, with James D. Shaw (1976, Answer Books and Tapes, P.O. Box 1316, Norcross, GA 30091-1316) (Shaw was a former Thirty-Third Degree Mason; McQuaig was a former Thirty-Second Degree Mason.) This book includes many quotations from high-ranking masonic authorities, books that would be difficult for non-Masons to obtain.

“The Character, Claims and Practical Workings of Freemasonry” by Rev. Charles G. Finney. This book was first published in 1869. In 1998 it was reprinted with a Foreword by Ed Decker, an Introduction and Epilog by John Daniel, and an Appendix by four pastors. (Jon Kregel Inc. dba JKI Publishing, P.O. Box 131480, Tyler, Texas 75713; Phone: 800-333-5344.)

“Scarlet and the Beast” by John Daniel (2nd edition, 1995) is a comprehensive, three-volume work totalling over 1,400 pages. It is extensively documented. (The first volume contains 84 pages of Notes, a 13-page Bibliography, an Index, and 11 Appendixes.) This trilogy shows the influence of Freemasonry on world history. It also contains the author’s perspective on some end-time prophecies. (Whatever you may think of the author’s eschatology, his historical research and documentation are impressive.) Volume 1 shows Freemasonry’s influence on American and world history. Volume 2 studies the occult history of Freemasonry. Volume 3 further elaborates on some topics which were covered in Volume 1, including Freemasonry’s influence on international finance, drugs, the American Civil War, and assassinations. Individual volumes and the three-volume set can be ordered from JKI Publishing, P.O. Box 131480, Tyler, Texas 75713 (Phone: 800-333-5344).

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Trouble in Narnia: The Occult Side of C.S. Lewis

Unequal Contenders in the Spiritual War

Emerging ‘Christianity’ — Part 2: From Gnostic Roots to Occult Revival 

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OUR CHRISTIAN ARMY

Building God’s (Christian) Army   By Jane Lampman, Christian Science Monitor Posted on October 19, 2007, Printed on October 19, 2007 http://www.alternet.org/story/65597/ At Speicher base in Iraq, U.S. Army Spec. Jeremy Hall got permission from a chaplain in August to post fliers announcing a meeting for atheists and other nonbelievers. When the group gathered, Specialist Hall alleges, his Army major supervisor disrupted the meeting and threatened to retaliate against him, including blocking his reenlistment in the Army. Months earlier, Hall charges, he had been publicly berated by a staff sergeant for not agreeing to join in a Thanksgiving Day prayer. On Sept. 17, the soldier and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) filed suit against Army Maj. Freddy Welborn and US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, charging violations of Hall’s constitutional rights, including being forced to submit to a religious test to qualify as a soldier. The MRFF plans more lawsuits in coming weeks, says Michael “Mikey” Weinstein, who founded the military watchdog group in 2005. The aim is “to show there is a pattern and practice of constitutionally impermissible promotions of religious beliefs within the Department of Defense.” For Mr. Weinstein — a former Air Force judge advocate and assistant counsel in the Reagan White House — more is involved than isolated cases of discrimination. He charges that several incidents in recent years — and more than 5,000 complaints his group has received from active-duty and retired military personnel — point to a growing willingness inside the military to support a particular brand of Christianity and to permit improper evangelizing in the ranks. More than 95 percent of those complaints come from other Christians, he says. Others agree on the need for the watchdog group, but question the conspiratorial view and some of its tactics. They say dealing with religious issues is a complex matter, and the military is trying to address them appropriately. At the Defense Department, spokeswoman Cynthia Smith says the DOD doesn’t comment on litigation, but “places a high value on the rights of members of the Armed Forces to observe the tenets of their respective religions.” Since the Revolutionary War, the armed services have tried to ensure that soldiers can practice their faiths, and that chaplains serve not only those of their own sect but all who may need pastoral care. The services have also sought to adhere to the First Amendment prohibition of any government “establishment of religion.” In the 1990s, for instance, the Air Force’s Little Blue Book of core values highlighted religious tolerance, emphasizing that military professionals “must not take it upon themselves to change or coercively influence the religious views of subordinates.” Weinstein insists, however, that there are improper actions at high levels that not only infringe on soldiers’ rights but, at a very dangerous time, also send the wrong message to people in the Middle East that those in the US military see themselves engaged in Christian warfare. For example, he says, Lt. Gen. William Boykin, who gave speeches at churches while in uniform that disparaged Islam and defined the war on terror in fundamentalist, “end times” terms, was not fired but promoted. (Speaking of a Muslim warlord he had pursued, Lt. Gen. Boykin said, “I knew my God was a real God and his was an idol.” And our enemies “will only be defeated if we come against them in the name of Jesus.”) “There’s an eschatologically obsessed version of Christianity that … is trying to make American foreign and domestic policy conterminous with their biblical worldview,” Weinstein charges. And “there’s improper pressure within the military command structure to make members join them.” The most serious allegations from the field cannot be corroborated for this article. A few will be raised in the lawsuits, but some incidents have been documented. Perhaps the most visible situation — and the one that set Weinstein off on his mission — involved the evangelizing of cadets on the part of some faculty and staff at the Air Force Academy (AFA) in Colorado Springs, Colo., which came to light in 2004. Congress held hearings, DOD conducted an investigation, and the head of the academy acknowledged significant problems. Weinstein’s cadet son experienced the pressures as a Jew. Col. David Antoon (ret.), another alumnus of the AFA and now a 747 commercial pilot, says his heart was broken when he took his son, Ryan, to an orientation at the academy in the spring of 2004. An overt evangelistic approach during part of the orientation so upset them, he says, that they decided his son would reject the treasured appointment and instead go to Ohio State University. “My son had dreamed of doing what I had done, but it was no longer the institution I went to,” Colonel Antoon says, his voice cracking with emotion. The Air Force set about reaffirming basic principles in religion guidelines, as a basis for widespread training, but a pushback by Evangelicals later led to Congress setting them aside until hearings could be held. The hearings have not taken place. In 2006, MRFF learned of a video produced by Christian Embassy, a group that conducts Bible studies at the Pentagon and seeks to evangelize within the armed services. Aimed at fundraising for the group, the video was improperly taped in the Pentagon and involved endorsements by Army and Air Force generals in uniform. MRFF’s public alert spurred a DOD investigation. In a report critical of the senior officers, the Inspector General said they gave the appearance of speaking for the military. One general defended his role by saying “Christian Embassy had become a quasi-federal entity.” The report noted that Maj. Gen. Paul Sutton participated while he served as chief of the US Office of Defense Cooperation in Turkey, a largely Muslim nation whose military takes pride in protecting the country’s secular status. After a Turkish newspaper wrote about the video as promoting a “fundamentalist sect,” General Sutton was called in and questioned by members of the Turkish General Staff. “They had to give him a lesson in the separation of church and state,” Weinstein says. “Imagine the propaganda bonanza! And how this upset Muslims.” The DOD report on the video recommended “appropriate corrective action” be taken against the officers. According to Army spokesman Paul Boyce, “The Army has not yet completed any planned actions associated with the Christian Embassy review.” MRFF claims a victory in the case of the evangelical group Operation Stand Up. Earlier this year, OSU was preparing to send “freedom packages” to soldiers in Iraq as part of an Army program. Along with socks and snacks, the packages included proselytizing materials in English and Arabic, and the apocalyptic video game, “Left Behind: Eternal Forces.” In it, Christians carry on warfare against people of other faiths. After the plans were made public, the Pentagon announced in August that the materials would not be mailed. OSU did not respond to a request for comment. Weinstein — an intense, voluble attorney who prizes blunt, no-holds-barred language — has struck more than one nerve with his bird-dogging. He says numerous threats have been made on his life. Last week, the front window of his house was shot out for the second time. After the lawsuit was filed, talk of “fragging” (killing) Specialist Hall surfaced on some military blogs. The Army is investigating. Others sympathetic to Weinstein’s concerns say some tactics undermine his efforts, and they question aims. “He’s uncovered some very disturbing stuff that shouldn’t be going on in the armed forces,” says Marc Stern, a religious liberty expert at American Jewish Congress. “But it’s important that you not go too far.” Mr. Stern disagrees, for instance, with Weinstein’s stance on the Air Force guidelines, such as preventing military supervisors from ever speaking of religion to people under their command. “He did a disservice to his and our cause by taking a position beyond what the law requires, and in fact may intrude on people’s rights,” Stern adds. Several conservative Christian ministries publicly proclaim an evangelistic aim “to transform the nations of the world through the militaries of the world,” and they are active at US military installations in many countries. (See www.militaryministry.org or militarymissionsnetwork.org.) MRFF sees that as a harbinger of a volunteer military falling under the sway of increasing numbers of Christian soldiers. Others see a military leadership, with the exception of a few generals here or there, well aware of its constitutional responsibilities, but challenged by the demands of training on these issues in a military of millions. A group such as MRFF can provide a crucial service, they say, if it is willing to work with the military. Right now, Weinstein is counting on a set of lawsuits to bring serious issues to the fore. The question is whether those suits will go beyond individual cases of discrimination to prove an unconstitutional pattern within the armed forces. Jane Lampman is a staff writer at the Christian Science Monitor. © 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved. View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/65597/

Baptists want law declaring WILL OF CHRIST supreme

NOTICE IT DOESN’T SAY JESUS CHRIST. IT SAYS CHRIST. BIG DIFFERENCE IF YOU ARE AWARE OF WHAT IS GOING ON HERE. YES, THERE IS A SECOND CHRIST. IT’S NOT REALLY THE SECOND COMNG, IT’S THE SECOND CHRIST.  THE MEMBERSHIP ARE LIKELY NOT AWARE, BUT THE BIG BOYS SURE ARE. Southern Baptists Seek Laws Making ‘Will Of Christ’ Supreme   By , Church and State Posted on October 13, 2007, Printed on October 13, 2007 http://www.alternet.org/story/64844/   The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the nation’s largest Protestant denomination whose leadership is a bulwark of far-right fundamentalism, is ratcheting up its political operations. The Christian Index, Georgia’s state Baptist newspaper, recently carried an interesting and unusually frank report on the SBC’s lobbying outpost in Washington, D.C., just four blocks from the Capitol. “It is in this environment,” says the newspaper, “that Southern Baptists have a significant presence through the ministry of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). Richard Land, president of the ERLC, visits Washington often from his primary office in Nashville and is wielding an ever-increasing influence in his efforts to make the will of Christ supreme in public affairs.” Apparently the “will of Christ” just happens to dovetail with the policy goals of the far right. According to the ERLC Web site, the unit takes stands on legislation and pushes for the confirmation of Bush court appointees. The issues tackled run the usual Religious Right gamut — opposing legal abortion, gay rights, hate-crimes laws and stem-cell research and supporting “court-stripping” legislation and other efforts to make it harder to pursue church-state separation claims in federal court. ERLC’s goal, the story notes, is to turn the 16-million-member religious group into a disciplined political machine. “The primary point I want to stress,” ERLC’s Barrett Duke told The Index, “is the need to build a grassroots base of support for these issues that are important to the foundation and fabric of our nation. There are 16,000,000 Southern Baptists and we should be able to shut down the congressional switchboard all by ourselves when there is a need to voice our convictions on a certain issue.” ERLC’s Land, who has been one of the most faithful cheerleaders for the Bush administration and who is now pushing former senator Fred Thompson for president, is blunt about the group’s religious-political agenda. In an essay on ERLC’s Web site, he insists, “We must convince Christians to run for elected offices at every level, then encourage them to act on their faith-based convictions while they are in office. We must walk, talk, and vote our values.” (Religious Right activists like Land use the word “Christian” in a narrow sense, referring to those who share their religious-political agenda.) Land denies that Southern Baptists want a government that gets involved in religion, but his own words seem to belie that claim. “When we preach that Gospel,” he writes, “and God has blessed it and people’s hearts and minds have been changed, then they have the right as citizens to come forth in the public arena and say, ‘This is wrong, and we want it stopped.'” “For example,” he continued, “abortion is the murder of babies, and we want laws to change it. When we convince a majority of Americans that we are right, that’s not called a theocracy, that’s called the democratic process.” Land then insists that all he seeks is “a level playing field.” “Does that mean,” asks Land, “that false religions have the same rights to express their opinions and their beliefs as we do? Sure. Let them come. I never saw Elijah backing away from a confrontation with the prophets of Baal. He just showed them the power of the One True God!” Joseph L. Conn, director of communications for Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, notes that Land’s example might not be the best one. “According to the scriptures, after Elijah won the contest over whose God was the true one, he had all the false priests of Baal slain. (I Kings 18:40),” wrote Conn. “Somehow, I’m not feeling the ecumenical love.” Added Conn, “Southern Baptists, historically, were ardent supporters of church-state separation. Many still are. We will count on those dissenters to help us see that Land and company do not achieve their megalomaniacal goals.” © 2007 Independent Media Institute. All rights reserved. View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/64844/