Untitled Document

THE WARRIOR CULTURE

An Essay by Barbara Ehrenreich

(And the Church That Supports It...Revelation, chapter 17)

In what we like to think of as "primitive" warrior cultures, the passage to manhood requires the blooding of a spear, the taking of a scalp or head...Leadership too in a warrior culture is typically contingent on military prowess and wrapped in the mystique of death. In the Solomon Islands a chief's importance could be reckoned by the number of skulls posted around his door (The Skull and Crossbones)? and it was the duty of Aztec kings to nourish the gods with the hearts of human captives.

All warrior peoples have fought for the same high-sounding reasons: honor, glory or revenge. The nature of their real and perhaps not conscious motivation is a subject of much debate. Some anthropologists postulate a murderous instinct, almost unique among living species, in human males. (See John 8:43,44). Others discern a materialistic motive behind every fray: a need for slaves, grazing land or even human flesh to eat. Still others point to the similarities between war and other male pastimes--the hunt and outdoor sports--and suggest that it is boredom, ultimately, that stirs men to fight.

But in a warrior culture it hardly matters which motive is most basic. Aggressive behavior is rewarded whether or not it is innate to the human psyche. Shortages of resources are habitually taken as occasions for armed offensives...And war, to a warrior people, is of course the highest adventure, the surest antidote to malaise, the endlessly repeated theme of legend, song, religious myth and personal quest for meaning. It is how men die and what they find to live for.

"YOU MUST UNDERSTAND THAT AMERICANS ARE A WARRIOR NATION," Senator Patrick Moynihan told a group of Arab leaders...He said this proudly, and he may, without thinking through the ugly implications, have told the truth. In any ways, in outlook and behavior the U.S. has begun to act like a primitive warrior culture.

We seem to believe that leadership is expressed in no small part by a willingness to cause the death of others. After the U.S. invasion of Panama, President Bush exulted that no one could call him "timid;" he was at last a "macho man," (Joel 3:9,10). The press, in even more primal language, hailed him for succeeding in an "initiation rite" by demonstrating his "willingness to shed blood."

For lesser offices too we apply the standards of a warrior culture. Female candidates are routinely advised to overcome the handicap of their gender by "talking tough." Thus, for example, Dianne Fienstein has embraced capital punishment, while Colorado senatorial candidate Josie Heath has found it necessary to announce that although she is the mother of an 18-year-old son, she is prepared to vote for war. Male candidates in some of the fall contests are finding their military records under scrutiny. No one expects them, as elected officials in a civilian government, to pick up a spear or a sling and fight. But they must state, at least, their willingness to have another human killed.

Most tellingly, we are unnerved by peace and seem to find it boring. When the cold war ended, we found no reason to celebrate. Instead we heated up "the war on drugs." What should have been a public-health ca campaign, focused on the persistent shame of poverty, became a new occasion for martial rhetoric and muscle flexing. Months later, when the Berlin Wall fell and communism collapsed throughout Europe, we Americans did not dance in the streets. What we did, according to the networks, was change the channel to avoid the news. Nonviolent resolutions do not uplift us, and the loss of mortal enemies only seems to leave us empty and bereft.

Our collective fantasies center on mayhem, cruelty and violent death. Loving images of the human body--especially of bodies seeking pleasure or expressing love--inspire us with the urge to censor. Our preference is for warrior themes: the lone fighting man, bandoliers across the naked chest, mowing down lesser men in gusts of automatic-weapon fire. Only a real war seems to revive our interest in real events. With the Iraqi crisis, the networks report, ratings for news shows rose again--even higher than they were for Panama.

As in any primitive warrior culture, our warrior elite takes pride of place. Social crises multiply numbingly--homelessness, illiteracy, epidemic disease--and our leaders tell us solemnly that nothing can be done. There is no money. We are poor, not rich, a debtor nation. (Ecclesiastes 5:1-14). Meanwhile, nearly a third of the federal budget flows, even in moments of peace, to the warriors and their weaponmakers. When those priorities are questioned, some new "crisis" dutifully arises to serve as another occasion for armed and often unilateral intervention.

Now with Operation Desert Shield (Do we mean Operation Iraqi Freedom)? our leaders are reduced to begging foreign powers for the means to support our warrior class. It does not seem to occur to us that THE OTHER GREAT NORTHERN POWERS--Japan, Germany, the Soviet Union (France, Germany, Russia)--might not have found the stakes so high or the crisis quite so threatening. It has not penetrated our imagination that in a world where the powerful, industrialized nation-states are at last at peace, there might be other ways to face down a pint--size Third World warrior state than with massive force of arms. Nor have we begun to see what an anachronism we are in danger of becoming: a warrior nation in a world that pines for peace, a high-tech state with the values of a warrior band. (Please see the sub-chapter entitled Cain and Nimrod).

A leftists might blame "imperialism," a right-winger would call our problem "internationalism." But an anthropologist, taking the long view, might say this is just what warriors do. INTOXICATED (1 Thessalonians 5) by their own drumbeats and war songs, fascinated by the glint of steel and the prospect of blood, they will go forth time and again to war. Time.

I want to talk this evening about war--not the immediate threat of war against Iraq, but about how this conflict is an instance of a larger tendency toward warmaking endemic to our society. In other words, the phrase from the folksong, "I aint gonna study war no more," should be rethought, I think we do have to study war. Not to make war, but to understand more deeply how it is put together and about the awful choices that are now being thrust upon us.

These remarks have been stimulated by recent events, which have ancient roots, but which have taken on a new shape since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the rise of the second Bush administration, and the inception of the so-called "War on Terror." The shape is that of permanent warfare--warmaking that has no particular strategic goal except total US dominance over global society. Hence, a war without end and whose internal logic is to perpetuate itself.

We are, in other words, well into World War III, which will go on whether or not any other such state as Iraq is involved. It is quite probable that this administration will go to war in Iraq, inasmuch as certain very powerful people crave it. But it is not necessarily the case, given the fact that the war against Iraq is such a lunatic proposal that many other people in high places are against it--and too many people are marching against it. And while war against Iraq is a very serious matter that needs to be checked by massive popular resistance, equally serious are the structures now in place in the United States dictating that whether or not war in Iraq takes place, there will be another war to replace it, and others after that, unless some very basic changes take place.

The United States has always been a bellicose and expansive country, built on violent conquest and expropriation of native peoples. Since the forming of the American republic, military interventions have occurred at a rate of about once a year. Consider the case of Nicaragua, a country utterly incapable of being any kind of threat to its giant northern neighbor. Yet prior to the Sandanista revolution in 1979 (which was eventually crushed by proxy forces a decade later), our country had invaded Nicaragua no fewer than 14 times in the pursuit of its imperial interests.

A considerable number of contemporary states, such as Britain, South Africa, Russia and Israel, have been formed in just such a way. But one of the special conditions of the formation of America, despite its aggresivity, was an inhibition against a military machine as such. If you remember, no less a figure than George Washington warned us against having a standing army, and indeed the great bulk of US inventions prior to World War II were done without very much in the way of fixed military institutions. However, after WWII a basic change set in. War-weary America longed for demobilization, yet after a brief beginning in this direction, the process was halted and the permanent warfare state started to take shape.

In part, this was because policy planners knew quite well that massive wartime mobilization had been the one measure that finally lifted America out of the Great Depression. One of the lessons of that time was that propounded by the British economist John Maynard Keynes, to the effect that capitalist societies could ameliorate chronic (economic) crises by infusions of government spending. The Great War had certified this wisdom, and permanent military expenditure readily became the received wisdom. This was greatly reinforced by the drastic realignment of capitalist power as a result of the war. America was essentially the only capitalist power in 1945 that did not lay in ruins and/or have its empire shattered. The world has been realigned and the United States had assumed a global imperial role.

Policy planners like George Kennen lucidly realized that this meant safeguarding extreme inequalities in wealth, which implied a permanent garrison to preserve the order of things. The notion was especially compelling given that one other state, the Soviet Union, had emerged a great power from the war and was the bellwether of those forces that sought to break down the prevailing distribution of wealth. The final foundation stone for the new military order was was the emergence of frightful weapons of mass destruction, dominance over which became an essential element for world hegemony.

These factors crystallized into the Cold War, the nuclear arms race, and, domestically, into those structures that gave institutional stability and permanence to the system: the military-industrial complex (MIC). Previously the US had used militarism to secure economic advantage. Now two developments greatly transformed our militarism: the exigencies of global hegemony and the fact that militarism became the direct source of economic advantage, through the triangular relations of the MIC--with the great armament industries comprising one leg, the military establishment another, and the state the third--profits, power, and personnel could flow through the system and from the system.

Clearly this arrangement had the potential to greatly undermine American democracy. It was a "national security state" within the state but also extended beyond into the economy and society at large, virtually insulated from popular input, and had the power to direct events and generate threats. Another conservative war hero-become-president, Dwight Eisenhower, warned the nation in a speech in 1961 against the emerging permanent war machine, but this time, the admonitions were not heeded.

The machine made a kind of war against the Soviet system for 35 years. Although actual guns were not fired between the two adversaries, as many as 10 million people died in its varied peripheral conflicts, from Korea to Vietnam, Angola, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala. The Cold War divided the world into bipolar imperial camps, directed by gigantic superpowers that lived off each other's hostility. It was a terrible war whose immense suffering took place largely outside the view of the American people, but it also brought about an uneasy kind of stability in the world order, in part through the standoff in nuclear weapons.

During the Ford and Carter administrations, another great crisis seized the world capitalist economy Having matured past the rebuilding that followed the world war, a period of stagnation set in, which still has the global economy in its grip despite episodic flashes of vigor. Predictably, a spate of militarism was central to the response. A "Second Cold War" took place under Reagan, featuring an accelerated nuclear arms race, which was deliberately waged so as to encourage Soviet countermeasures in the hope that this would cause breakdown in the much weaker, bloated, and corrupt Russian system. The plan worked splendidly: by 1989-91, the mighty Soviet empire collapsed, and the bipolar world order became unipolar , setting a stage for the current phase.

The fall of the Soviet Union was widely expected to bring a "peace dividend." This would have been the case according to the official US line, parroted throughout the media and academe, that our military apparatus was purely defensive (after all, we have no Department of War, only one of "Defense") and reactive to Soviet expansionism and military/ nuclear threat. As this was no longer a factor, so the reasoning went indeed, as the us now stood bestride the world militarily as had no power since the Roman Empire---conventional logic predicted a general diminution in American militarism after 1991, with corresponding benefits to society.

The last decade has at least settled this question, for the effect on us aggression, interventionism, and the militarization of society has been precisely the opposite. In other words, instead of breaking, the machine accelerated.' Removal of Soviet power did not diminish America's imperial appetite: it removed inhibitions on its internally driven expansiveness. As a result, enhanced war-making has replaced the peace dividend.

The object of this machine has passed from dealing with Soviet Communism to a more complex and dispersed set of oil wars (Iraq I and now II), police actions against international miscreants (Kosovo), and now the ubiquitous War Against Terror, aimed variously at Islamic fundamentalists, Islam as a whole, or anybody irritated enough with the ruling order to take up some kind of arms against it. The comparison with the Roman Empire is here very exact. As the eminent economist and sociologist Joseph Schumpeter described Rome in 1919: "There was no comer of the known world where some interest was not alleged to be in danger or under actual attack. If the interests were not Roman, they were those of Rome's allies. And if Rome had no allies that existed, allies would be invented The fight was always invested with the order of legality, Rome was always being attacked by evil-minded neighbors

The logic of constant threat meshes with that of ruthless expansion,which we see everywhere in this epoch of unipolar world dominion. Currently, the military budget of the US is 334 billion dollars. The budget for the next fiscal year is 379 billion dollars--an increase of more than 10 percent. By 2007, the projected military budget of the US is to be an astounding 451 billion dollars: almost half a trillion dollar, without the presence of anything resembling a conventional war. The present military budget is greater than the sum of all other military budgets. In fact, it is greater than the entire federal budget of Russia, once America's immortal adversary and comprises more than half-52 percent-of all discretionary spending by the us government. (By comparison, education accounts for 8 percent of the federal budget)

A considerable portion of this is given over to "military Keynesianism ," according to the well-established paths of the MIC. Thus, although in the first years after the fall of the USSR certain firms like General Dynamics, which had played a large role in the nuclear arms race, suffered setbacks, that problem has been largely reversed for the entire class of firms fattening at the trough of militarism. It is fair to say, though, that the largesse is distributed over a wider scale, in accordance with the changing pattern of armaments.

US ARMIES TAKING ROOT EVERYWHERE

From having scarcely any standing army in 1940, American armies now stand everywhere. One feature of US military policy since WWII is to make war and then stay where war was made, rooting itself in foreign territory. Currently, the US has military bases in 113 countries, with 11 new ones formed since the beginning of the War Against Terror. The US now has bases in Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kurdistan, encircling China and creating new sources of military tension. On these bases, the US military has erected some 800,000 buildings. Imagine that: 800,000 buildings in foreign countries that are now occupied by us military establishments.

And America still maintains large forces in Germany, Japan, and Korea, with tens of thousands of troops permanently on duty (and making mischief, as two us servicemen recently ran over and killed two Korean girls, provoking massive demonstrations). After the first Gulf War the us military became installed in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, in which latter place it currently occupies one quarter of the country-750 square miles devoted to military activity This huge investment is no doubt determined by proximity to Iraq. Again, after going to war in Kosovo, the us left behind an enormous base in a place called Bondsteel.

These self-expanding sites of militarism are permanent goads to terrorist organizations. Recall that one of Osama bin Laden's professed motivations for al Qaeda's attacks on American facilities was the presence of us bases in his home country of Saudi Arabia. The bases are also permanent hazards to the environment--indeed, the US, with some 800,000 buildings on these military sites, is the world's largest polluter and the largest consumer of fossil fuels.

With territorial expansion of the US military apparatus, there is a corresponding expansion of mission. For instance, in Colombia, where billions of US dollars are spent in the "War on Drugs," US troops are now being asked to take care of pipelines through which vital oil reserves are passing. In addition, the War on Drugs is now subsumed into the War Against Terror. The signifier of Terror has virtually unlimited elasticity, for once an apparatus reaches the size of the US military machine, threats can be seen anywhere. With the inauguration of the new hard-line president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe, the US authorized the use of 1.7 billion dollars in military aid hitherto limited to anti-drug operations for direct attacks on deeply entrenched FARC guerrillas. This redirection of aid came after Colombian officials and their American supporters in the Congress and Bush administration argued that the change was needed as part of the global campaign against terrorism.

Within this overall picture, American armed forces are undergoing a qualitative shift of enormous proportion. In words read by President Bush: "Our forces in the next century must be agile, lethal, readily deployable, and must require a minimum of logistical support. We must be able to project our power over long distances in days or weeks rather than months. On land our heavy forces must be lighter, our light forces must be more lethal. All must be easier to deploy"

CROSSING WEAPONS BOUNDRIES--BOTH NUCLEAR AND CONVENTIONAL

As a result, many boundaries and limits of the bipolar era have been breached. For example, the distinction between nuclear and conventional weapons had always constituted a radical barrier. The standoff between the US and the USSR was epitomized by mind-numbing hydrogen bomb-missiles facing each other in a scenario called "Mutual Assured Destruction." In short, a strategic condition of deterrence prevailed, which made nuclear weapons seem unthinkable. With the demise of the USSR, deterrence no longer inhibits US nuclear weaponry, and the weapons themselves have proliferated downward, becoming miniaturized and
increasingly tactical rather than strategic.

Meanwhile, the genie of the weapons industries has developed ever more destructive "conventional" weapons. These include non-explosive devices of awesome power, such as laser beams, microwaves, and large-scale climate manipulation, along with a new generation of super-powerful explosive devices. Thus the strongest non-nuclear weapons are now considerably more lethal than the least powerful nuclear weapons, making the latter thinkable and eliminating a major barrier against their employment. These so-called conventional bombs have already been used, for example, in Afghanistan, where the US employed a gigantic explosive weapon, called a "Bunker Buster" to root out al-Qaeda combatants in underground bunkers. They are based upon the "daisy cutter," a giant bomb about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle and capable of destroying everything within a square kilometer. Significantly, the model used in Afghanistan, the B61-11, already employs nuclear technology, the infamous depleted uranium warhead, capable by virtue of its extreme density, of great penetrating power.

Depleted uranium (DU) is a by-product of the nuclear power industry (chiefly being U-238 created in the extraction of U-235 from naturally occurring uranium ore). Over 500,000 tons of deadly DU have accumulated and 4,000 to 5,000 more tons are being produced every year. Like all products of the nuclear power industry, DU poses immense challenges of disposal. It has this peculiar property of being almost twice as dense as lead and it is radioactive with a half-life of 4.5 billion years. Wherever depleted uranium is used ,it has another peculiar property of exploding, vaporizing at 56 degrees centigrade, which is just like a little more than half the way to boiling water So it is very volatile, it explodes, it forms dust and powders that are inhaled, disburses widely and produces lethal cancers, birth defects, and so forth for 4.5 billion years.

In case of depleted uranium, the challenge of disposal was met by incorporating the refuse from the "peaceful" branch of nuclear technology into the war making branch. Already used in anti-tank projectiles in the first Iraq war (approximately 300 tons worth) and again in Yugoslavia (approximately 10-15 tons were used in each of the various Yugoslav wars), it is presumed, although the defense department coyly denies it, that this material was also used in the Afghanistan war. Depleted uranium has spread a plague of radioactivity and further rationalized the use of nuclear weapons as such. Consequently, the B61-11 is about to be replaced with the BLU113, where the bunker buster will now be a small nuclear weapon, almost certainly spear-tipped with DU.

POLLUTANTS TO EARTH AND SPACE

To the boundaries crossed between nuclear and non-nuclear weapons, and between the peaceful and militaristic uses of atomic technology, we need to add those between earth and its lower atmosphere on the one hand, and space on the other.

In November 2002, Bush proposed that NATO allies build missile defense systems, with components purchased, needless to add, from Boeing, Raytheon, etc, even as Congress was approving a fiscal 2003 defense budget containing $7.8 billion authorization for missile defense research and procurement as part of the $238 billion set aside for Star Wars over the next 20 years. The administrations , poised to realize the crackpot and deadly schemes of the Reagan administration to militarize space and to draw the rest of the world into the scheme, as client and victim. A new missile defense system bureaucracy has risen. It is currently developing such wild items as something called "brilliant pebbles" which involves the release of endless numbers of mini satellites into outer space.

All of this was to protect the world against the threat of rogue states such as North Korea. As the Seattle Times reported, the US expects the final declaration to, "express the need to examine options to protect allied forces, territories, and population centers against the full range of missile threats." As an official put it, "This will establish the framework within which NATO allies could work cooperatively toward fielding the required capabilities. With the US withdrawal this year from the anti-ballistic treaty with Russia, it is no longer a question of whether missile defense will be deployed. The relevant questions are now what, how, and when. The train is about to pull out of the station; we invite our friends, allies, and the Russian Federation to climb on board."

The destination of this train is defensive only in the Orwellian sense, as the missiles will be used to defend US troops in the field. In other words, they will be used to defend armies engaged in offensive activities. What is being "defended" by the Strategic Defense initiative (SDI) therefore, is the initiative to make war everywhere.

Space has now become the ultimate battlefield. And not just with use of these missiles. The High Frequency Active Aural Research Program (HARP) is also part of SDI. This amounts to weather warfare: deliberately manipulating climate to harm and destroy adversaries. A very dubious enterprise, to say the least, in an age when global warming and climate instability are already looming as two of the greatest problems facing civilization. The chief feature is a network of powerful antennas capable of creating controlled local modifications of the ionosphere and hence producing weather disturbances and so forth.

All of these technical interventions are accompanied by many kinds of institutional and political changes. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration, NASA, for instance, is now a partner in the development of this strategic defense initiative. The very way in which the United Nations was drawn into the resolution in the war against Iraq is a breach and a violation of the original UN Charter, which is to never make war; never to threaten to make war on any member state. The UN was a peacemaking institution, but now the superpower has forced it into its orbit.

The scrapping of the ABM and other elements of the treaty structure (non-proliferation, test-ban) that had organized the world of the Cold War is one part of a process of shedding whatever might inhibit the cancerous growth of militarism. It also creates an atmosphere of general lawlessness in the world. This is felt at all levels-from the rise of an ultra-militarist clique in the White House to the formal renunciation of no-first-use nuclear strategy, the flouting of numerous UN regulations, the doctrine of pre-emptive war, and, as the logical outcome of all these developments, the condition of Permanent War and its accompaniment of general lawlessness, media slavishness, and a wave of repression for whose parallel we have to go back to the Alien and Sedition acts of the 1790s, or Truman's loyalty oaths of 1947.

Militarism cannot be reduced to politics, economics, technology, culture, or psychology. All these are parts of the machine, make the machine go around, and are themselves produced by the actions of the machine. There is no doubt, in this regard, that the machine runs on natural resources (which have to be secured by economic, political, and military action), and that it is deeply embedded in the ruling corporate order. There is no contradiction here, but a set of meshing parts, driven by an insensate demand for fossil fuel energy. As a man from Amarillo, Texas put it when interviewed by NPR as to the correctness of Bush's plan to go to war in Iraq: "I agree with the president, because how else are we going to get the oil to fly the F- 16s?" We go to war, in other words, to get the oil needed to go to war.

A WHO'S WHO LIST OF MIC BENEFICIARIES

The fad that our government is front-loaded with oil magnates is another part of the machine. It is of interest, therefore, that Unocal, for example, celebrated Condoleezza Rice's ascendancy to the post of National Security Advisor by naming an oil tanker after her. Or that Dick Cheney, originally a poor boy, became a rich man after the first Gulf War, when he switched from being Secretary of Defense, in charge of destroying the Kuwait oil fields, to CEO of a then-smallish company, Halliburton, in charge of rebuilding the same oil fields. Or that G W Bush himself, aside from his failed venture with Harken Oil, is scion of a family and a dynasty that controls the Carlyle Group, founded in 1987 by a former Carter administration official. Carlyle is now worth over
$13 billion and its high officials include President Bush I, his Secretary of State (and fixer of the coup that put Bush II in power) James Baker; Reagan's Secretary of Defense Frank Carlucci, former British Prime Minister John Major, and former Phillipine President Fidel Ramos, among others.

The Carlyle Group has its fingers everywhere, including "defense", where it controls firms making vertical missile launch systems currently in use on US Navy ships in the Arabian sea, as well as a range of other weapons delivery systems and combat vehicles. And as a final touch which the world's people would be much better off for knowing, there are very definite connections between Carlyle and the family of Osama bin Laden- a Saudi power whose fortunes have been fused with those of the United States since the end of World War II. Thus the military-industrial complex lives, breathes, and takes on new dimensions.

There is a deep structural reason for the present explosion of US militarism, most clearly traceable in the activities of Vice President Cheney, made clear in the energy report that he introduced with the generous assistance of Enron executives in May 2001. According to the report, American reliance on imported oil will rise by from about 52 percent of total consumption in 2001 to an estimated 66 percent in 2020. The reason for this is that world production, in general, and domestic production in particular are going to remain flat (and, although the report does not discuss this, begin dropping within the next 20 years). Meanwhile consumption--which is a direct function of the relentless drive of capitalism to expand commodity production is to grow by some two-thirds.

Because the usage of oil must rise in the worldview of a Cheney, the US will actually have to import 60 percent more oil in 2020 to keep itself going than it does today. This means that imports will have to rise from their current rate of about 10.4 million barrels per day to about 16.7 million barrels per day. In the words of the report; "The only way to do this is persuade foreign supplier, to increase their production to sell more of their output to the US." The meaning of these words depends of course on the interpretation of "persuade", which in the US lexicon is to be read, I should think, as requiring a sufficient military machine to coerce foreign suppliers. At that point they might not even have to sell their output to the US, as it would already be possessed by the superpower. Here we locate the root material fact underlying recent us expansionism.

This may seem an extravagant conclusion. However an explicit connection to militarism--and Iraq--had been supplied the month before, in April , 2001, in another report prepared by James Baker and submitted to the Bush cabinet. This document, called "Strategic Energy Policy Challenges for the 21st Century" concludes with refreshing candor that "the US remains a prisoner of its energy dilemma, Iraq remains a destabilizing influence to the flow of oil to international markets from the middle East, Saddam Hussein has also demonstrated a willingness to threaten to use the oil weapon and to use his own export program to manipulate oil markets, therefore the US should conduct an immediate policy review toward Iraq, including military, energy, economic, and political diplomatic assessments." Note the absence of reference to "weapons of mass destruction," or aid to terrorism, convenient rationalizations that can be filled in later.

Clearly, however things turn out with Iraq, the fundamental structural dilemma driving the military machine pertains to the contradictions of an empire that drives toward the invasion of all social space and the total control over nature. Since the former goal meets up with unending resistance and the latter crashes against the finitude of the material world, there is no recourse except the ever-widening resort to force. But this, the military monster itself, ever seeking threats to feed upon, becomes a fresh source of danger, whether of nuclear war; terror, or ecological breakdown.

The situation is plainly unsustainable, a series of disasters, waiting to happen. It can only be checked and brought to rationality by a global uprising of people who demand an end to the regime of endless war. This is the only possible path by which we can pull ourselves away from the abyss into which the military machine is about
to plunge, dragging us all down with it.

AMERICAN SATYRICON: THE PERVERTING OF REALITY
A People Gone Bad (cheer) An Emperor Gone Mad

By John Kaminski
skylax@comcast.net

For some reason — perhaps it's just the passing of time — it has now become somewhat fashionable — or at least permissable — to criticize the utterly insane, totally criminal and horrifically inhuman performance by what is known colloquially in Washington these days as the Bush Administration.

Yet because of the eager cheering of the television networks covering up bestial carnage by U.S. troops upon hapless citizens of defenseless countries, and the continuing lawless behavior of those in charge of our nation's laws, nothing significant has yet been accomplished by those throwbacks like you and me still clinging to the faded, prostituted dream of liberty and justice for all upon which our country was ostensibly founded. True, there has been some tongue-wagging about how America dropped its radioactive torture on Afghanistan and Iraq after telling whoppers of lies that never would have gone unchallenged in an eighth-grade debate class, but nevertheless managed to hold spellbound the entire American populace while these evil massacres took place.

But the identification of the nub of the problem that has turned America from a promising melting pot of financial and social opportunity into a grim gulag of greed and graft is still very far from happening. And it may never happen. It never has yet. All those famous crimes we all talk about have never been solved. At least no actual perpetrator has ever been charged, though a few convenient patsies have been executed. The intense flag waving and hyped-up security measures — accompanied by the flaunted but bogus claims of less liberty means more safety — continue to inhibit public debate on these matters, as is evidenced by the focus on irrelevant issues by the current pack of Democratic presidential panderers, who like the rest of the country, are simply too insincere to admit that behind the red, white and blue bunting lies a bloodthirsty beast which is now cannibalizing even its own citizens in its desperate effort to sate the infinite appetites of the trillionaires who run the war machine.

Sure, questions are being asked about the lies used to justify the wars, but the men who do the lying continue to victimize the folks who do the dying, both at home and abroad. No one of any social consequence in the entire world has yet seriously questioned the single, suspicious event that enabled — by the patriotic mobilization of public opinion — America to come out of the closet as a worldwide murder-for-hire operation...

But foremost among the silently complicit are the brainwashed American people, who accept their watered down news like the prisoners they are, eating pathetic bioengineered gruel from cardboard boxes in their sad towns with abandoned department stores, no decent jobs, and starving senior citizens.

How is it that wide-eyed young journalists can graduate from America's finest colleges (not Harvard; that's an Israeli school now) and know about U.S. troops laughing during target practice on unarmed Iraqi civilians and simply turn their heads away and not write those stories because they accept the perverted propaganda of national security justifying the massacre of innocent civilians? How is it that churchgoing American parents can let their beloved children put on their proud uniforms when they know — or should know! — that those kids are going to be cursed with lifelong diseases caused by the vaccines they are forced to take and the poisonous ammunition they are commanded to handle?

How is that our most respected statesmen and religious leaders can remain silent when they know that the evidence of the biggest, most horrendous crime in American history was deliberately destroyed without a thorough forensic examination which could have revealed how that crime was committed, can remain silent when their government tells millions of people that their air is safe to breathe when it wasn't, can remain silent when the big pharmaceutical companies give court-ordered vaccinations to children that turn many of them into vegetables, and the grieving parents can't even sue the makers of the poison?

How is it that the American people can have available to them infrared footage of the Waco massacre that shows federal agents putting bullets into the heads of little children, that they can have documented evidence of respected generals explaining how multiple bombs were attached to the stanchions of that building in Oklahoma City, that they can see convincing photographs that prove that none of the three planes that took off full of happy people on that sunny morning of September 11, 2001 were the same planes that hit their bloody targets ... how is it the American people can turn away from these things and not go ... ?

Those well-meaning people around the world who carefully stipulate that it's not the behavior of the American people they object to, but the behavior of the American government that upsets them so ... those people are wrong. Something has curdled in the American bloodstream. Honesty and integrity of purpose are now merely historical relics in a seldom-visited museum that now also houses the American Constitution. (And how much more-so the Torah which abrogates all of man's legislative attempts).

Maybe there are too many nuclear power plants reducing the number of brain cells in the typical American cerebellum. Maybe it's the food additives, the antidepressants, the electric power lines, the cellphones, HAARP, subliminal images in advertising, backward masking in the music, the elimination of important historical facts in our school textbooks (anybody know about the Santa Clara decision? most important law change in American history), the childhood immunizations, the flouride in the water ... THIS LIST COULD FILL A BOOK (Let's Fill It)..

And everything on this list, from aspartame to phthlates, has had a debilitating effect on the American psyche, warped it in the minds of our soldiers from someone who would protect and defend the people's God-given rights to home and happiness to someone who mistakenly hallucinates real people with kerchiefs and lollipops into lifeless figures in a video game, which become lifeless figures on a forlorn desert roadway quickly forgotten on the way back to camp to get high. Certainly the schools have something to do with it, and the media as well, as both have altered the American psyche from one of compassionate seeker of justice to self-destructive, self-hating narcissist. Hmm, sounds like somebody we know, doesn't it? Can you say psycho-anal-y-sis?

And we arrive the big issue, the one they call you an anti-Semite for talking about. Think about it, my friends. All the media, all the schools, all the hospitals, all the movies, the entire nation's phone system. Much, very much of the government. The American mindset has changed over the past 40 years from live and let live to follow the orders of our leaders, even if we know they are lying. Did you ever wonder why that happened? Did you ever wonder who did that? Did you ever wonder who is working so hard to turn our teenage daughters into prostitutes on the covers of national magazines and the walkways of our glittering malls? Whom do you suppose owns those magazines, those malls?

In the same way we took worthless land in America and imprisoned our continent's original inhabitants, now in Israel they are building giant walls to quarantine the world's inconvenient people, the ones who used to own that land before it was stolen from them. When these same walls start going up in America, you'll know the game is really over. Right now, all we have are numerous chain-link fence enclosures topped with razor wire ready to contain our own inconvenient people. The future of the United States is already scrawled in blood-soaked grafitti on the hearts of its cowardly citizenry. Do not resist. There is nothing you can do. Narc on your neighbor.

American Satyricon, the story of an emperor gone mad cheered by a people gone bad, wrapped in the red, white and blue called Old Glory by some, but called something worse, something very much worse by most of the rest of the world.

John Kaminski is the author of "America's Autopsy Report," a collection of his internet essays published by Dandelion Books. To purchase a copy, so the author can continue to eat his canned green beans, click http://www.johnkaminski.com/
Or, if you prefer to read these essays for free, go to http://www.rudemacedon.ca/kaminski/kam-index.html and dig your way through the links.

AMERICAN EMPIRE

By Ivo Daalder and James M. Lindsay

The 100,000 American troops patrolling Baghdad and other Iraqi cities retain "absolute authority within Iraq," declared their commander, Lt. Gen. David McKiernan. At the same time, AMERICAN FORCES ARE BEING DEPLOYED IN A GRAND CRESCENT SURROUNDING THE GREATER MIDDLE EAST, FROM THE BALKANS SOUTHEST TO DIJIBOUTI, EAST THROUGH THE PERSIAND GULF REGION INTO PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN, AND NORTH INTO UZBEKISTAN AND KRYGYZTAN.

Little wonder that commentators at home and abroad continually speak of a new American empire. In the last six months alone, as debate on Iraq peaked, the phrase "American empire" was mentioned nearly 1,000 times in news stories, while bookstores have been quickly filling their shelves with freshly minted tomes on the subject.

On one side are those who urge Washington to reject the imperial temptation. These voices can be found on both the far right and the far left. Pat Buchanan, author of "Republic or Empire?" and editor of the new American Conservative Weekly, is concerned that the "conservative movement has been hijacked and turned into a globalist, interventionist, open borders ideology," which, he says, is a far cry from the conservative movement he grew up with. Noam Chomsky, whose "Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Domination" is scheduled for publication in the fall, warns that the BUSH ADMINISTRATION'S "FORTHRIGHT DECLARATION THAT IT INTENDS TO RULE THE WORLD BY FORCE"amounts to fanaticism.

On the other side are the so-called neoconservatives, who sayTHE UNITED STATES HAS THE OPPORTUNITY TO REMAKE THE WORLD IN ITS OWN IMAGE. The syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer, for example, says American foreign policy should seek to transform the unipolar moment of the 1990's into "the unipolar era." William Kristol, the editor of the conservative Weekly Standard, told Fox News recently: "WE NEED TO ERR ON THE SIDE OF BEING STRONG. And if people want to say we're an imperial power, fine."

Some commentators go even further, arguing that the problem is not too much American imperialism but too little. In their eyes, Afghanistan taught that failed and failing states threaten American security by providing safe havens for terrorists, drug traffickers, transnational criminal networks and other no-goodniks. "Given the historical baggage that `imperialism' carries, there's no need for the U.S. government to embrace the term," Max Boot, author of "These Savage Wars of Peace" (Basic Books), wrote this week in USA Today. "But it should definitely embrace the practice." In Iraq this "means imposing the rule of law, property rights and other guarantees, at gunpoint if need be."

The British historian Niall Ferguson makes a similar argument for an imperial America in his new book, "Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British World Order and the Lessons for Global Power." The Bush administration and its supporters, not surprisingly, recoil at any suggestion that their foreign policy is or should be imperial. "The metaphor is seductive yet vicious," complains Philip Zelikow, director of the University of Virginia's Miller Center of Public Affairs and someone who helped draft the administration's national security strategy, which was articulated last September.

President Bush has been less direct but no less definitive. In a speech to the American Enterprise Institute in February, he committed the United States to rebuilding Iraq after the war. "America has made and kept this kind of commitment before — in the peace that followed a world war. After defeating enemies, we did not leave behind occupying armies, we left constitutions and parliaments."

Yet for all the debate over whether or not the United States should be an empire, that question is beside the point. Like it or not, the power and reach of the United States have already turned it into an empire. Indeed, it has been one in some form or another for more than 100 years, ever since the United States triumphed in the Spanish-American War and American troops occupied Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Philippines.

.And the American imperium did not stop there. In 1903 Teddy Roosevelt engineered Panama's rebellion against Colombia. The next year he asserted the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. Washington not only had the right to keep European powers out of the Western Hemisphere, it also had the right to exercise "an international police power" against any country in the Americas engaged in "chronic wrongdoing." Over the next three decades, the Marines conducted long occupations of the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Nicaragua while fulfilling Roosevelt's charge to restore "the ties of civilized society."

THE UNITED STATES DID GO MARCHING HOME AGAIN AFTER WORLD WAR I. BUT IT DIDN'T AFTER WORLD WAR II. INSTEAD WASHINGTON BUILT A WEB OF PERMANENTLY ENTANGLING ALLIANCES THAT STRETCHED AROUND THE GLOBE. AT ONE POINT THE UNITED STATES HAD MILITARY BASES IN MORE THAN 70 COUNTRIES.

TODAY NO OTHER COUNTRY CAN BEGIN TO MATCH THE REACH AND LETHALITY OF THE AMERICAN ARMED FORCES. Only the United States can send bombers from its heartland on a round-trip mission to attack targets anywhere around the globe and do so with great stealth, precision and destructive force. Only the United States can quickly dispatch ground forces in large numbers to any battlefield in the world and defeat any traditional foe. Only the United States can deploy a truly blue-water navy across every ocean, with 12 mammoth aircraft carriers each housing a modern air armada larger than the entire air force of most countries.

There is no doubt that the United States can afford this vast military might. The American economy accounts for 31 percent of the world's total output, as much as it did in the 1950's. It is larger than that of the four next-largest national economies (Japan, Germany, France and Britain) combined, and it accounts for almost half the gross domestic product of the G-7 countries (which also include Canada and Italy). At the same time, military spending consumes a smaller share of the American gross domestic product today than it did a decade ago, and only about half of what it did during the height of the cold war. "Being No. 1 at great cost is one thing," the Yale University historian Paul Kennedy marvels. "BEING THE WORLD'S SINGLE SUPERPOWER on the cheap is astonishing."

The real debate, then, is not whether to have an empire, but what kind. Should America pursue a go-it-alone strategy as it did in 1910, when the United States exerted its power largely at the point of the bayonet and ignored the views of others? Or should it be the empire of 1950, when Washington embedded American power in multilateral institutions that reflected American interests but also constrained its freedom of action?

This question was the crux of the dispute with the United Nations over whether to invade Iraq and the one preoccupying the world now as the reconstruction begins. President Bush has made it clear since Sept. 11 that he intends to lead, and other countries can follow or get out of the way. HE AND HIS SUPPORTERS SAY THE UNITED STATES EMBODIES A UNIQUE BLEND OF MIGHT AND RIGHT THAT CAN DELIVER A WORLD OF PEACE AND PROSPERITY FOR ALL. To forsake that opportunity in a fit of self-doubt or excessive modesty, they say, will only make Americans and all other peoples less secure.

Critics, by contrast, favor an empire built on international cooperation, alliances and law. They argue that is the only way to reassure countries fearful of American dominance AND KEEP THEM FROM USING THEIR diplomatic and ECONOMIC POWER TO CONTAIN THE UNITED STATES.

As the Iraq war underscored, the United States' great power enables it to act alone and still achieve many of its goals swiftly and effectively. But over time such a unilateral exercise of power will breed more and more resentment abroad to the point that other states may decide to work together to obstruct the chosen American course. THEN, THE UNITED STATES COULD STAND ALONE, A GREAT POWER FRUSTRATED IN THE PURSUIT OF ITS MOST IMPORTANT GOALS.

(ISAIAH, CHAPTERS 13 AND 14).

AND THE UNHOLY ALLIANCE

Between The Church and the State

This Woman has lain in bed with the powers of the East in ancient time. She has lain in bed with the powers of Europe since the time of Christ. She has now made a bed for herself among the ruling powers of the American Empire. She is Jewish, and she is Christian, she is Religion. (Ezekiel 16; Rev.17).

Most everyone has heard of these groups and some of the conspiracy theories surrounding them regarding the development of the 'New World Order.' Now imagine for a moment there is something to this (and there appears to be no lack of documented material justifying these theories). That would mean that at almost every elevated level of business and government, world wide, (certain) men and women have infiltrated, become the controlling administrators and are working to effectively control every aspect of the life of the "world citizen." One aspect of this that has not been properly searched out is the "religious" connection. Surely, given that much of the world is religious, and in the currently reigning SuperPower nation of the U.S., predominantly "Christian," then it would only make sense that these organizations have infiltrated the Church itself and are also actively leading it to into the New World Order as well. Do the world's leading Christian evangelicals have ties to these organizations? Yes they do, and it is thoroughly documented.

REV. SUN MYUNG MOON (The Moonies), AND THE UNIFICATION CHURCH

For those few of you who are not familiar with the Rev. Moon, in the 60s both he and his Unification Church were universally regarded as a dangerous cult. The abuse his followers suffered at the hands of their mind manipulating master is indeed very well established. His claims include stating that Christ failed His mission, and that Moon himself is the "new messiah" who is come to fulfill the mission of God. He also claims that it is his mission to 'unite the world through uniting religious forces'. But would it shock you to know that nearly all the big name Christian evangelicals have extremely strong ties to him?

One such Church leader and internationally recognized evangelical Christian, Jerry Falwell, readily admits that he accepted 2.5 million dollars from Moon in 1994 in order to bail out his Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. This was funneled through a Moon organization known as the 'Womens Federation for World Peace' which has been chaired by Beverly LaHaye, Wife of Timothy LaHaye, who is the popular co-author of the "Left Behind" Christian fictional book series and a well known evangelical Christian. The Womens Federation for World Peace paid 3.5 million to the Christian Heritage Foundation, which in turn bought Falwell's $73 million debt, and then frankly wrote it off. The Heritage Foundation then seems to have paid themselves a fee of one million dollars for their trouble.

Since that time Falwell has spoken at many of Moons functions, embracing the cult-leader with unabashed reverence and friendship. Even writings from Moons' Church confirm Falwells comradeship with 'the new messiah' and his cult. Moon has even been a guest speaker in mainline denominational Churches in the past few years. Falwell further praised Rev. Moon calling him, "An unsung hero to the cause of freedom, who is to be commended for his determination and courage and endurance in support of his beliefs."

According to official court records of a lawsuit that was filed in Bedford County Circuit Court (West Virginia), it was alleged that Falwell and an associate flew to South Korea, January 9, 1994 to meet with Unification Church officials. This trip came shortly before Falwell was awarded the Moon money. Falwell stated openly, "If the American Atheists Society or Saddam Hussein himself ever sent an unrestricted gift to any of my ministries, be assured I will operate on Billy Sunday's philosophy: The Devil's had it long enough, and quickly cash the check."

Falwell is not the only evangelical reported to have accepted money from Rev. Moon. Other notable speakers for Moon's organizations and affairs receiving as much as $80,000 to $150,000 have included Ralph Reed, Beverly LaHaye, Gary Bauer, and Robert Schuller, well known for his "Crystal Cathedral" in Southern California and "Hour of Power" 'positive-thinking' television ministry.

THE COUNCIL OF NATIONAL POLICY (CNP)

Another Moon sponsored organization is the Council of National Policy founded in 1981 by Tim LaHaye, the aforementioned co-author of the "Left Behind" book series. It is reported that he received $500,000 from a Mr. Bo Hi Pak, Moons #1 man, and a former Korean CIA officer. Though a tape exists showing that LaHaye thanked Pak for the money, LaHaye never denied the charge but verbally attacked the sources verifying the allegation with a barrage of insult.

Other members of the CNP have included Beverly and Lee LaHaye, also associated with Moons CWA group. Gary Bauer, Bill Bright, James Dobson (Focus On The Family), Bob Dugan, Ron Godwin, Robert Grant, Rebecca Hagelin, Bob Jones the 3rd (Bob Jones University), Alan Keyes (Outspoken ultra-conservative black talk show host and author), Dr. D. James Kennedy (noted television evangelist and Pastor), Peter Marshall, Sam Moore of Thomas Nelson Publishing, Pat Robertson (founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network and former Presidential aspirant), Rev. Duane Motley, Ralph Reed, Oliver North (formerly with the National Security Council), Phyllis Schlafly (ultra-right columnist and pundit), Rev. Jim Woodall, John Ankerberg (internationally recognized Christian television personality), Rev. E.V. Hill, James Robison, Jay Sekulow (Attorney and activist for ultra-right/Christian causes), Pat Boone, Larry Burkett, Reed Larson, and many others. Some of the political leaders involved with the Moon sponsored CNP group include Senators Jesse Helms, Don Nickles, and Trent Lott. Also Representatives Tom DeLay, Dan Burton, and Bob Dornan.

Looking into some of the CNP officers we find not only a just a strong association with Moon, but also powerful ties with the CIA and the Council on Foreign Relations, not to mention association with high level Freemasonry for which many conspiracy theorists have more than a mere elementary knowledge related to the NWO. Another past President of CNP is Rich DeVoss, co-founder of Amway (and 33rd degree Mason).

COALITION FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM (CRF)

Another past Moon organization was the 'Coalition for Religious Freedom' where again, Tim LaHaye held a paid position as Chairman. It was formed by LaHaye after Moon was arrested for tax evasion. Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, James Robison, James Kennedy and Rex Humbard, have all served as executive committee members. Other notables to serve in Moons CRF include Hal Lindsey (Author of "The Late Great Planet Earth"), Paul Crouch (Head of the Trinity Broadcasting Network), Dr. D. James Kennedy and Don Wildman to name a few. CRF President Don Sills admits that CRF has received no less than $500,000 from Moon sources. In 1984, despite forces in government opposing the move, Moon was jailed for tax evasion (sentenced to 18 Months in prison and fined $25,000). In a CRF sponsored rally Tim Lahaye asked that people go to jail with Moon in protest.

KINGPINS IN THE UNHOLY ALLIANCE

Evangelists & Politicians: Rev. Sun Myung Moon, founder, leader & self-proclaimed 'Messiah' to the Unification Church & the world. Tim LaHaye, evangelist & Christian author of best-selling series "Left Behind." Beverly LaHaye, wife of Tim LaHaye, author and spokesperson for several Moon funded "Christian" orgs. Paul Crouch, Founder and Chairman of Trinity Broadcasting Network, one of the largest tele-evangelical corporations. Bill Bright, Founder and head of the international evangelical association, 'Campus Crusades for Christ.' Robert Schuller, Pastor and Tele-evangelist from the famous 'Crystal Cathedral' in Southern California. Rev. Billy Graham, recognized world-wide as one of the most influential evangelical preachers; author and syndicated religious columnist. Pat Robertson, Television Evangelist, Founder of the Christian Broadcasting Network & 700 Club anchor; founder of Operation Blessing; one time presidential candidate. Rev. James Kennedy, founder & pastor of Coral Ridge Ministries, outspoken television evangelist. Rev. James Robison, TV evangelist; Life Outreach International Ministries; associated with many Moon organizations. Ralph Reed, former director of the Christian Coalition and member of the conservative think-tank "Heritage Foundation" Gary Bauer, Conservative politician and Executive Director of the Christian Coalition; unsuccessful Presidential candidate. Dr. James Dobson, Pediatrician, author and publisher, head of Focus On The Family, a Christ-centric organization and magazine. Phyllis Schlafly, Christian political activist who says a woman's place is in the home...even though she's not. Jay Sekulow, Christian political activist and attorney involved in family values issues from abortion to parents rights.

AMERICAN FREEDOM COALITION

Led by Dr. Robert Grant and also a Moonie organization. In a period of a little over 2 years they received nearly 6 million dollars from Moon organizations and enterprises. This group includes Paul Crouch, Rex Humbard, James Robinson and many more, names well known among the evangelical Christian community.

CONCERNED WOMEN OF AMERICA

Headed by Beverly LaHaye. The wife of Tim LaHaye, She too has been a public speaker for Moon functions.

WOMAN'S FEDERATION FOR WORLD PEACE

Also headed by Beverly LaHaye and recipient of Moon funding. Former President George Bush Sr. (and one time former CIA Director) received an undisclosed amount for speaking engagements from this organization and his fee is lost somewhere in the 13.5 million dollar conference expense-line according to IRS records.

FAMILY FEDERATION FOR WORLD PEACE

Another Moon organization which held a meeting in Washington in 1996. Among the speakers at this event were Beverly LaHaye and Ralph Reed. Over 1500 notables from around the world attended.

NATIONAL RELIGIOUS BROADCASTERS

Members include Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Jimmy Swaggart, Tim LaHaye, Billy Graham, Bill Bright and many others...

Pat Robertson in the early 80s, as Oliver North was trading guns and ammo (and who knows what else) in Nicaragua, was coordinating efforts to use "Operation Blessing" to help supply goods to the Contras. Allegedly these goods included hard cash and gasoline for Contra vehicles. The head of Operation Blessing was Captain Robert Warren, who was also formerly associated with a CIA group called "Operation Phoenix." Allegedly this was an assassination group that operated in Vietnam. Also associated with this group was...surprise, Oliver North.

THE WASHINGTON TIMES FOUNDATION

A pro-Bush Inaugural luncheon, held in Washington D.C. was sponsored by the Washington Times Foundation, another Moon founded group. Among the attendees were Paul Crouch, founder of Trinity Broadcast Network, Robert Schuller, Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Falwell, Don Argue, past president of the National Association of Evangelicals, Pat Boone, a former T.B.N. board member, Billy McCormack (who was a Christian Coalition board member who actually presented Moon with an award) and Southern Baptist Convention President James Merritt.

COUNCIL OF 56 OF THE RELIGIOUS ROUNDTABLE

Another Moon associated group is called the 'Council of 56 of the Religious Roundtable'. This group is made up of many of the same members from Rev. Moons' CNP and CRF organizations. It marries leading Moon associated evangelicals to the CIA, the Council for Foreign relations, the Trilateral Commission and Freemasonry. CFR, and TLC are closely tied to the Bilderberg group. The following list of members of the Council of 56 of the Religious Roundtable can be found here http://www.pir.org/gw/rrt.txt.

GroupWatch was compiled by
The Interhemispheric Resource Center,
Box 4506,
Albuquerque, NM 87196.
http://www.irc-online.org/

GroupWatch files are available at http://www.pir.org/gw/Group:
Religious Roundtable File Name: rrt.txt
Last Updated: 4/93

Principles: Members of the board of directors of the Roundtable were: Ed McAteer, founder and Pres; Jack Stewart, Vice Pres; Bob Amis, M.D.; John Beckett, Intercessors of America; Othal E. Brand; T. Cullen Davis; Nancy DeMoss; Rev. Del Fehsenfeld, Jr., LifeAction Ministries; Dr. E.V. Hill, pastor at Mt. Zion Baptist Church; Rev. Richard Hogue, Nelson Bunker Hunt, Dr. D. James Kennedy, Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church; J.P. Mills; Dr. Paige Patterson, Criswell Center for Biblical Studies; Rev. James Robison, James Robison Evangelistic Association; D.G. Seago, Jr., Mid-Continent, Inc; and Dr. Charles F. Stanley, First Baptist Church of Atlanta.(2,11) In 1986, Dr. James Robison was Vice President and John Beckett was secretary/treasurer.(14) Former Michigan Congressman Mark Siljander has served on the Roundtable board.

Past members of the Council of 56 include: Jack Amis, M.D.; Ben Armstrong, executive director of National Religious Broadcasters; Rev. Raymond W. Barber, Worth Baptist Church; John Beckett,Intercessors of America; Dr. George Benson, President emeritus of Harding College; Morton Blackwell, President of the Leadership Institute; Neal Blair, President of Free the Eagle; Tim Bobbit; Dick Bott, President of Bott Broadcasting; Dave Breese, President of Christian Destiny; Paul Broadhead; William Bronson; Rev. Fletcher Brothers, Gates Community Chapel; Judy Brown, American Life League; Dr. Roland Byrd; Dr. David E. Calvin, West Ridge Baptist Church; Clay Claiborne, executive director of the Black Silent Majority; Dr. E.M. Cohron; Dale Collins; W.A. Criswell, Criswell Center for Biblical Studies; Paul Crouch, President of Trinity Broadcasting Network; Mary Crowley; Dr. Paul Cunningham, pastor of Nazarene College Church; Dick Dingman, Republican Study Commission; Dr. Jerry Falwell, Moral Majority, Old Time Gospel Hour and Thomas Road Baptist Church; Rev. Charles Firoe, John Fisher,American Security Council; Charles Fitzgerald, director of Operation Lifeline; Ken Fonas, the Fonas Corporation; Richard Ford, Coordinated Consulting; Rev. Roger Fulton, Neighborhood Church of New York; Peter B. Gamma, Jr., National Pro-Life PAC; Ellen Garwood; General Daniel Graham, President of High Frontier; R.M.Goddard; Robert Grant, Christian Voice; Lloyd Hansen; Dr. Roy Harthern, Calvary Assembly; Richard Headrick; Senator Jesse Helms(R-NC); Steve Herring; Rev. Melvin Hodges, 1st Baptist Church of Glen Oakes; Don Howard, Accelerated Christian Education; Mildred Faye Jefferson, M.D.; Congressman James Jeffries; Representative Louis (Woody) Jenkins, Friends of the Americas; George B. Jones; Dan S. Kauffman; General George Keegan, Jr.; James Kennedy, pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church; Bill Keyes, Black PAC; General Albion Knight, Jr.; Beverly LaHaye, President Concerned Women for America; Dr. Tim LaHaye, Scott Memorial Baptist Church; Reed Larson, President of Right to Work; Larry Lea, pastor of Church on the Rock; Marian Maddox, Point of View Radio; Connie Marshner, President of the Family Coalition; Don McAlvany, President of the International Collectors Associates; Bob McCustion, chairman of Faith Ministries; Dr. William H. Marshner, chairman of the Department of Theology at Christendom College; Congressman Larry McDonald (deceased); Jay Menefee, Robert Metcalf; Dr. Bobby Moore, Broadway Baptist Church; Dr. Gary North, Christian Economics Foundation; Larry Parish; Paige Patterson, President of the Criswell Institute; Howard Phillips, The Conservative Caucus; Dr. William A. Powell, Sr., Editor of the Southern Baptist Journal; Randall R. Rader, deputy counsel to the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution; Dr. Ross Rhoads, Calvary Presbyterian Church; Bill Richardson, California State Senate; Bobby Richardson, Ben LippenSchool; Gary Richardson; Rev. Tom Riner; Phyllis Schlafly, President of the Eagle Forum; Earl Seall, White's Ferry Road Church of Christ; Cory SerVaas, editor and publisher of the Saturday Evening Post; Doug Shadoux, National Republican Party; William S.Smith; Scott Stanley, editor of Conservative Digest; Rev. George Swanson; Helen Marie Taylor, U.S. Representative to the United Nations; William Taylor; Bob Tilton, Bob Tilton Television Ministry; Michael Valerio; Bob Weiner, President of Maranatha Ministries; Paul Weyrich, President of the Free Congress Foundation; Earl E. Whitwell, Kim Wickes, Kim's Ministries; Don Wildmon, President of the National Federation for Decency; Rev.John Wilkerson, Bethel Temple; Rev. Ralph Wilkerson, Melodyland Church, J.C. Willke, M.D., President of National Right to Life, and Jack Wilson, executive director of the Council for National Policy.(2,12).
The following are a few shortened bios from the same source, associated with this Roundtable of 56...

Govt. Connections: Major General George J. Keegan, Jr. was the chief of the U.S. Air Defense Intelligence and member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, worked for the CIA from 1963-1966. General Daniel Graham (ret.) During the Vietnam war from 1967-1968 he was chief of the Army's military intelligence estimates. In 1971 Graham served as director of collections for the Defense Intelligence Agency, the pentagon's version of the CIA. In 1973 Graham served as a deputy to CIA Director William Colby and from 1974-1976 he was the director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.

Groups belonging to the Roundtable include: The Christian Broadcasting Network, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Moral Majority, Christian Voice,Church League of America, National Religious Broadcasters, Campus Crusade for Christ, Plymouth Rock Foundation, National Association of Evangelicals, Gideon Bible, Wycliffe Bible Associates, and Intercessors for America.(15) Ed McAteer was sales marketing manager for Colgate-Palmolive Company when he retired to become the national field director of the Christian Freedom Foundation (CFF), and organization devoted to training evangelicals for places of leadership in government. From there McAteer moved to the righting Conservative Caucus where he served as national field director until founding the Religious Roundtable.(1) He is or was a member of the board of the evangelical Wycliffe Bible Associates.

UNITY: A ONE WORLD RELIGION?

In light of the ties between nearly all Christian "evangelicals" with Rev. Moon, the CIA, the Council for Foreign Relations, the Trilateral commission, the Bush family and Bush Sr's "New World Order", is it any wonder that after the September 11th tragedy, Billy Graham prayed in the name of God, and Allah, as dignitaries from many faiths were gathered before him? This prayer was broadcast the world over. His call was for religious cooperation and 'unity of all faiths...Franklin Graham's (son of world renowned evangelist Rev. Billy Graham, and heir to the very lucrative and influential Billy Graham Evangelistic Ministries) answer to a question by NBC's Tom Brokaw, ..."it's very important that all the faiths, all the denominations are coming together, cooperating together, working together; it is a wonderful testimony to the spirit of America, and the dedication of the American people."

Moon also owns the Washington Times, THE conservative voice of the nation. Though this establishment should have gone under several years ago, Moon pours multi-millions of dollars annually into this paper. He also owns the publication "Insight". He indeed owns many businesses and operates in media of several nations worldwide. In Central America He is the owner of the "Tiempos del Mundo" (Times of the World), another leading news publication, making him the conservative voice there as well. In the early 1980s, Moon was shooting for the acclaim of all of Central and South America. He met political opposition from Carlos Menem, Argentinas President. His rescue came in the form of one man. That man was George Bush Sr. former director of the CIA, former Vice President, and former President of the United States of America. Bush was the principal speaker at the Sheraton Hotel at a Moon sponsored event, with 800 to 900 guests in attendance giving this manipulative operative remarkable credibility overnight. Bush declared enthusiastically; "...The editors of The Washington Times tell me that never once has the man with the vision interfered with the running of the paper, a paper that in my view brings sanity to Washington, D.C. I am convinced that Tiempos del Mundo is going to do the same thing."

Both George and Barbara Bush made several speeches in Asia in 1995. In Tokyo, Japan during one Moon rallying function, over 50,000 pro-Moon advocates were addressed by the two. This was sponsored by the Womens Federation for World peace.
It has also been speculated that Moon and Bush were seeking joint business ventures in South America. An interesting fact is that despite over 30 years of allegations (from some U.S. government officials seemingly out of the loop) of Moons connections with the Korean CIA (and as we can now see the American counterpart as well) no steps have been taken to deport him, let alone prosecute him.

CONCLUSION

What do Rev. Moon, leading Christian evangelicals and the American government have in common? And, just what does this have to do with the "New World Order," as (re)coined by George Bush Sr.? There can be no doubt that these dark elements of government, industry, banking, and intelligence are leading us into their new world order, and their influence has been extended to nearly every Christian in the world through these leading evangelicals who claim to represent Christ. Perhaps this Rev. Moon quote from August 4th 1996 may give us a little more "insight"..."Americans who continue to maintain their privacy and extreme individualism are foolish people... The world will reject Americans who continue to be so foolish. Once you have this great power of love, which is big enough to swallow entire America, there may be some individuals who complain inside your stomach. However, they will be digested."

Could this be the 'falling away' of the Church so often preached by these same evangelicals? The great 'apostasy' which will, in the last days render much of the Christian Church faithless to their original calling and subject to the manipulation, will and prophesied plans of the 'Antichrist'?

Malachi, chapter 4. (KJV).

US leaders now see themselves as priests of a divine mission to rid the world of its demons...

"The death of Uday and Qusay," the commander of the ground forces in Iraq told reporters on Wednesday, "is definitely going to be a turning point for the resistance." Well, it was a turning point, but unfortunately not of the kind he envisaged. On the day he made his announcement, Iraqi insurgents killed one US soldier and wounded six others. On the following day, they killed another three; over the weekend they assassinated five and injured seven. Yesterday they slaughtered one more and wounded three. This has been the worst week for US soldiers in Iraq since George Bush declared that the war there was over.

Few people believe that the resistance in that country is being coordinated by Saddam Hussein and his noxious family, or that it will come to an end when those people are killed. But the few appear to include the military and civilian command of the United States armed forces. For the hundredth time since the US invaded Iraq, the predictions made by those with access to intelligence have proved less reliable than the predictions made by those without. And, for the hundredth time, the inaccuracy of the official forecasts has been blamed on "intelligence failures".

The explanation is wearing a little thin. Are we really expected to believe that the members of the US security services are the only people who cannot see that many Iraqis wish to rid themselves of the US army as fervently as they wished to rid themselves of Saddam Hussein? What is lacking in the Pentagon and the White House is not intelligence (or not, at any rate, of the kind we are considering here), but receptivity. Theirs is not a failure of information, but a failure of ideology.

To understand why this failure persists, we must first grasp a reality which has seldom been discussed in print. THE UNITED STATES IS NO LONGER JUST A NATION. IT IS NOW A RELIGION. Its soldiers have entered Iraq to liberate its people not only from their dictator, their oil and their sovereignty, BUT ALSO FROM THEIR DARKNESS. As George Bush told his troops on the day he announced victory: "Wherever you go, you carry a message of hope - a message that is ancient and ever new. IN THE WORDS OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH, 'TO THE CAPTIVES, "COME OUT," AND TO THOSE IN DARKNESS, "BE FREE."'

So American soldiers are no longer merely terrestrial combatants; THEY HAVE BECOME MISSIONARIES. They are no longer simply killing enemies; THEY ARE CASTING OUT DEMONS. The people who reconstructed the faces of Uday and Qusay Hussein carelessly forgot to restore the pair of little horns on each brow, but the understanding that these were opponents from a different realm was transmitted nonetheless. Like all those who send missionaries abroad, THE HIGH PRIESTS OF AMERICA conceive that the infidels might resist through their own free will; if they refuse to convert, it is the work of the devil, in his current guise as the former dictator of Iraq.

As Clifford Longley shows in his fascinating book Chosen People, published last year, the founding fathers of the USA, though they sometimes professed otherwise, sensed that they were guided by a divine purpose. THOMAS JEFFERSON ARUGUED THAT THE GREAT SEAL OF THE UNITED STATES SHOULD DEPICT THE ISRAELITES, "LED BY A CLOUD BY DAY AND A PILLAR OF FIRE BY NIGHT". George Washington claimed, in his inaugural address, that every step towards independence was "distinguished by some token of providential agency". Longley argues that the formation of the American identity was part of a process of "supersession". The Roman Catholic church claimed that it had supplanted the Jews as the elect, as the Jews had been repudiated by God. The English Protestants accused the Catholics of breaking faith, and claimed that they had become the beloved of God. The American revolutionaries believed that the English, in turn, had broken their covenant: THAT AMERICANS HAD NOW BECOME THE CHOSEN PEOPLE, WITH A DIVINE DUTY TO DELIVER THE WORLD TO GOD'S DOMINION. Six weeks ago, as if to show that this belief persists, GEORGE BUSH RECALLED A REMARK OF WOODROW WILSON'S. "AMERICA," HE QUOTED, "HAS A SPIRITUAL ENERGY IN HER WHICH NO OTHER NATION CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THE LIBERATION OF MANKIND."

Gradually this notion of election has been conflated with another, still more dangerous idea. It is not just that the Americans are God's chosen people; America itself is now perceived as a divine project. In his farewell presidential address, RONALD REAGAN SPOKE OF HIS COUNTRY AS A "SHINING CITY ON A HILL" A REFERENCE TO THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. But what Jesus was describing was not a temporal Jerusalem, but the kingdom of heaven. Not only, in Reagan's account, was God's kingdom to be found in the United States of America, but the kingdom of hell could also now be located on earth: the "evil empire" of the Soviet Union, AGAINST WHICH HIS HOLY WARRIORS WERE PITCHED.

SINCE THE ATTACKS ON NEW YORK, THIS NOTION OF AMERICA THE DIVINE HAS BEEN EXTENDED AND REFINED. In December 2001, Rudy Giuliani, the mayor of that city, delivered his last mayoral speech IN ST. PAUL'S CHAPEL, close to the site of the shattered twin towers. "All that matters," he claimed, "is that you embrace America and understand its ideals and what it's all about. Abraham Lincoln used to say THAT THE TEST OF YOUR AMERICANISM WAS...HOW MUCH YOU BELIEVED IN AMERICA. BECAUSE WE'RE LIKE A RELIGION REALLY. A SECULAR RELIGION." The chapel in which he spoke had been consecrated not just by God, but by the fact that George Washington had once prayed there. It was, he said, now "sacred ground to people who feel what America is all about". The United States of America no longer needs to call upon God; it is God, and those who go abroad to spread the light do so in the name of a celestial domain. THE FLAG HAS BECOME AS SACRED AS THE BIBLE; THE NAME OF THE NATION AS HOLY AS THE NAME OF GOD.THE PRESIDENCY IS TURNING INTO A PRIESTHOOD. (Of course it already was the pulpit of the Wicked Priest...See the chapter entitled The Teacher of (Un)Righteousness)...

So those who question George Bush's foreign policy are no longer merely critics; they are blasphemers, or "anti-Americans". Those foreign states which seek to change this policy are wasting their time: you can negotiate with politicians; you cannot negotiate with priests. THE US HAS A DIVINE MISSION, AS BUSH SUGGESTED IN JANUARY, "TO DEFEND...THE HOPES OF ALL MANKIND", and woe betide those who hope for something other than the American way of life.

The dangers of national divinity scarcely require explanation. Japan went to war in the 1930s convinced, like George Bush, that it possessed a heaven-sent mission to "liberate" Asia and extend the realm of its divine imperium. It would, the fascist theoretician Kita Ikki predicted: "LIGHT THE DARKNESS OF THE ENTIRE WORLD". Those who seek to drag heaven down to earth are destined only to engineer a hell.

The Induction of Civic Insanity In The 'Age of Pharaoh'

By Michael A. Hoffman II

OSAMA CALLED BUSH PHARAOH WHILE THE PENTAGON ADOPTED PHARAOH'S SYMBOL

"For this end was I born and for this cause came I into the world,
that I should bear witness unto the truth."

In a November communiqué attributed to "Osama bin Laden," President George W. Bush was referred to as "the Pharaoh of this Age." Of course we have no way of knowing if the communique (in the form of an audio-tape) actually comes from bin Laden, or rather from the stellar nether regions of the Cryptocracy's drawer 13. We content ourselves with analyzing the symbolism of the message itself and its intended effect on its target audience.

The signature symbolism of the western secret society known as Freemasonry is derived from the icons of ancient Egypt, for example, the pyramid and sphinx and the golden funeral mask of Tutankhamen. When Dr. Charles Eliot Norton of Harvard University analyzed the Great Seal of the United States and pronounced it "a dull emblem of a masonic fraternity," he was pointing out that one need not be a Harvard professor to grasp the blatant symbolism of the eye-over-the-pyramid icon most famously reproduced on the U.S. one dollar currency. The image on the dollar bill is of an unfinished monument of the Pharaohs. When the top tier or capstone of the monument is put into place by means of the panoptican surveillance system represented by the disembodied "All-Seeing" Eye at the top of the pyramid, Pharaoh's rule will have been reimposed upon the world.

Homeland Security - DARPA'S All-Seeing Eye

Among Biblically-literate people, "Pharaoh" has been a synonym for rule characterized by chattel slavery and tyranny. "Osama" bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network are said by the White House, the Establishment press and their papal and Protestant partners in crime, to be Satanic and opposed to God and the Bible. Yet the communique attributed to bin Laden this month makes a Biblical identification of George W. Bush, as "the Pharaoh of the Age."

"Osama" bin Laden's well-publicized identification of Bush with Pharaoh coincided with publicity in November for the Pentagon's "Information Awareness Office" Surveillance System (IAO-SS). This massive, all-seeing eye enterprise is part of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), headed by Admiral John Poindexter, the Reagan administration's arms purveyor to the Islamic Republic of Iran. IAO-SS purports to capture a person's "information signature" so that the government can track "potential terrorists" and "criminals" involved in what it terms,"low-intensity/low-density" forms of crime and warfare.

The stated goal of this System is to track individuals throughout the earth by using computer algorithms to detect "potential terrorist activity." The System aims to implement "revolutionary technology for ultra-large, all-source information repositories," which would create a "virtual, centralized, grand database." This database would include "transaction data" contained in current databases, such as financial records, medical records, telephone, mail, business and travel records, as well as unnamed "new sources of information." Intelligence data would also be fed into the database.

A crucial component of the project is the development of data "mining" and "knowledge discovery tools" that can sift through the vast information glut to discern "patterns and associations." Another item on the Pentagon's surveillance agenda is the deployment of biometric technology to enable the identification and tracking of people. For example, DARPA funds the "Human ID at a Distance" program, which aims to positively identify people through technologies such as face recognition and "gait" (walking pattern) recognition.

The FDA recently approved the use of Applied Digital Solutions' VeriChip in humans. The VeriChip is a tiny subcutaneous device that emits a 125-kilohertz radio frequency signal containing a code number detectable by scanners up to four feet away. The scanned code number is then downloaded to a computer file containing all relevant data on the subject. The biochip implants are officially said to be limited to tracking "at risk" children and those with life-threatening ailments, but classified portions of the Pentagon's biometric technology program include studies on the feasibility of biochip implants in persons labeled "unlawful combatants, terrorists, criminals" and "networked fund-raisers and sympathizers."

The motto of the Pentagon's Information Awareness Office Surveillance System is "Scientia est Potentia" (knowledge is power). The motto appears in Latin in order to instill awe and by such priestcraft "ad captandum vulgus" (dazzle the mob). The symbol of this new Pentagon agency is unmistakably Pharaonic, exceeding even the pyramid on the dollar bill in the boldness of its revelatory daring. The icon of the Information Awareness Office is an adaptation of the familiar All-Seeing Eye atop the pyramid, but with a newly added and paradoxical feature -- rays from the Eye are shown irradiating the earth's western hemisphere, rather than the Middle East. The exclusively western range of the Eye pertains to masonic doctrine concerning the geographic domain of Anubis, the dog-headed deity of Egypt's astronomic state religion.

While it may not take a Harvard professor to recognize that this symbol is thoroughly inimical to the God of the Bible and Christianity, the symbolic import of the Pentagon's new icon, will indeed be consciously lost (though subconsciously registered) on the masses of Judeo-Christians herded by their pulpit-pounding crypto-rabbis into the delusion that George W. Bush is the paladin of Christendom and goodness, and the Islamic resistance the paradigm of deviltry and darkness.

Throughout my writing about subjects such as the Cryptocracy, the "loyal opposition" of people like Pat Buchanan, the 9/11 conspiracy and lately, the D.C. Sniper(s), I have directed readers' attention toward the curious mechanism of the Making Manifest of All that is Hidden, wherein our rulers symbolically reveal the evil nature of their rule to us. One purpose of this Revelation of the Method is to instill a bipolar orientation and double-mind in the populace, in the expectation that the people will not consciously face the consequences of the revelation, and hence will continue to follow and obey the ruler even in the wake of the revelation that the ruler is another Pharaoh. The ruler then harvests and exploits the resulting, inevitable, profound emotional and intellectual malaise and psychological disturbance for his own purposes. The unchallenged, successful induction of this civic insanity is a hallmark on the path to the reimposition of Pharaoh's rule.

The Pentagon is on record boasting of the stealth, deception and psychological warfare it uses on its enemies. If one considers the possibility, in the wake of government atrocities such as Ruby Ridge and Waco, that the US government regards the American people themselves as a potential enemy, in that they pose at least a distant threat of resistance and revolt, one might reasonably consider the likelihood that some form of psychological warfare is being directed at us by "our own" government.

The recognition of the existence of this induced civic insanity and its arcane provenance, is the key to understanding why the American people cheer their own executioners; why online "conservatives" like Joseph Farah, who claim to be implacable foes of Big Brother tyranny, are complicit in ensuring the implementation of that tyranny by crusading for a war on terror that is pursued with state terror.

This induced insanity could also account for the behavior of a "populist dissident" like Mr. Buchanan, who wishes to be identified with opposition to Zionist zealotry and alien immigration, yet who repeatedly drapes himself in the mantle and mantra of Ronald Reagan, the president whom Yitzhak Shamir called the best friend Israel ever had; the president who ignited the greatest land invasion of American territory in our nation's history with the Simpson-Mazzoli amnesty act.

This may also explain the suppression of this writer's books which reveal, as never before, the inner pyrotechnics of the <>secret societies, of the <>religion of Judaism and the <>Israeli holocaust against the Palestinians. These books are tightly suppressed not only by the usual suspects, but even by alleged allies who supposedly are fervently desirous of obtaining the most potent antidote to the toxins poisoning our people in this, the desperate last stand for the future of our children. They know of me and of the work, yet they have neglected to use their positions to lend a hand and spread the word. Some have even engaged in active obstruction. As Ezra Pound observed, "A man often fails when his friends fail him."

As stated at the outset, it's not cetain that the November "bin Laden terror tape" is authentic. What is of interest is the high media profile accorded it, and the title "Pharaoh of the Age," and the tape's ascription of that title to our President. Given the Bush administration's Pentagon enhancement of American Freemasonry's historic Pharaonic edifice-complex, it seems that the statement about Bush which has been attributed to bin Laden, contains a startling truth about the President of the United States from an unlikely source, indeed, from the very planetary bogeyman currently haunting our dreams; though I would not be surprised to learn that the tape actually emanated, by a circuitous route, from psyop impersonators within DARPA itself, as part of the Revelation of the Method.

Behind the facade of ordinariness in which our "news" and "current events" are situated, is a pageant, and within that pageant is a psychodrama whose subterranean root is a game, Kim's "great game." And who was Kim, but a scion of Walsingham, Cecil, Dee and the Maharal. And until such stuff as men are made of (as Shakespeare said of noble Brutus), arise again to break the pattern and smash this process by single-minded devotion, we shall continue to squirm in double-minded awe at the thrilling role assigned us, as pawns in Pharaoh's game.

Further Research: The Pharaonic sign of the military wing of the administration of George W. Bush located (as of Nov. 20, 2002) at the Pentagon's own web page: <http://www.darpa.mil/iao/index.htm>http://www.darpa.mil/iao/index.htm

The HOFFMAN WIRE IS available by e-mail free of charge as a public service.
<mailto:HoffmanWire-subscribe@topica.com>Subscribe to the Hoffman Wire (unsubscribe at any time)
Independent History & Research, Box 849, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho 83816 USA

A PRICE TOO HIGH

By Bob Herbert

Deuteronomy 32:4-9, 18; I Samuel 2:1-10; Psalm 18:6-15; Isaiah 30:25; Isaiah 63:1-4; Isa.66:1-18; 2 Thessalonians 1:6-10; Revelation 15:1-4; Revelation 19:11-16.

Bob Woodward's deferent, perhaps even obeisant homage to "Dubya" in his recent book, Bush at War, contains this troubling observation: "The President was casting his mission and that of the country in the grand vision of God's Master Plan." This frightening perception followed the President's declamation, "We will export death and violence to the four corners of the earth in defense of this great country and rid the world of evil."

Considering how Bush Jr. grew up beneath the Reagan/Bush baldacchino and then helped guide his father's ascension to the throne, his connections with the Christian Right has a long and deep history, including familiarity with the pseudo-prophet, Hal Lindsey, a frequent visitor to the Reagan White House.

Lindsey, the New York Times "Best Selling Author" of the past three decades, author of at least 20 books like The Late Great Planet Earth, and influential Father of Christian Zionism, foresees the imminent and unavoidable great battle of Armageddon, the fulfillment of John's prophecy in the Book of Revelation, the cataclysmic conflict between the forces of Good against the forces of Evil, climaxing in our lifetime. Jesus Christ, King of the Jews, will return to rule the world from the rebuilt temple in the reclaimed nation of Israel according to the prophecies, and we will witness the inevitable suffering and global holocaust. Lindsey proclaims deliverance from Armageddon depends on understanding God's purposes for the Jews including the restoration of Israel as a nation in the land of Judea and Samaria.

Lindsey also proclaims that he purposefully writes these books to shock people into believing in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. And like any good insurance salesman, he instills fear as he threatens his customers with the plagues revealed in the Acts of the Apostles and the Book of Revelation: "... The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood....With Justice he judges and makes war ... He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood and his name is the word of God ... Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down nations. .so you may eat the flesh of kings, generals, and mighty men, of horses and their riders, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, small and great" The Messiah slays the Antichrist and "creates a new heaven and a new earth" and He judges the dead, saves the Christians, and casts the rest into eternal perdition.

Lindsey accepts as reality that his interpretations of the prophecies come directly to him from God, "I believe that the Spirit of God gave me a special insight, not only into how John described what he actually experienced, but also into how this whole phenomenon encoded the prophecies so that they could be fully understood only when their fulfillment drew near ... I prayerfully sought for a confirmation for my apocalypse code theory..." This self-proclaimed, God inspired interpreter of the Bible has had a profound influence on American and British Christians and Jews. Since Ronald Reagan's Christian based regime of the '80s which included access to the President by not only Lindsey, but Jerry Falwell and the Christian Zionist televangelist Mike Evans, the interests of Zionism as an integral component of prophetic lure have been central in policy formation toward Israel in particular and the mid-east generally in both America and the United Kingdom. The current administration, even more so than Reagan's, is rife with right-wing reliance on the coming revival predicted in the Book of Revelation.

Consider observations made by Paul Krugman of the New York Times December 18, 2002: "Tom DeLay soon to be House majority leader, told a church group that: 'Only Christianity offers a way to live in response to the realities that we find in this world only Christianity.' He also said he was on a mission from God to promote a 'biblical worldview' in American politics." This from the most powerful man in the Congress! And he is not alone. According to Krugman, many leading Congressional Republicans belong to the "secretive" Council for National Policy, an organization founded by Tim LaHaye, co-author of the apocalyptic "Left Behind" novels. Members include Pat Robertson, Ralph Reed, Sen. Jesse Helms, Congressman Dick Armey and Tom DeLay of Texas, Howard Phillips, and many, many others. This fundamentalist group listens, in private, to none other than the self-proclaimed "Born Again" Christian, George W. Bush. Consider also the appointment of John Ashcroft to the position of Attorney General, a vocal Christian fundamentalist who "gives every appearance of placing his biblical worldview above secular concerns..." Add to this the neo-cons in the administration like Rumsfeld, Cheney, Wolfowitz, Pearle, Feith, and many others, and one understands that the ties that bind the neocon Christian right, read Christian Zionists, to the Zionist orthodox Jew cement mentalities that embrace myths as truth and behavior directed by superstitious beliefs, regardless of those who do not share their zeal.

I believe that the views expressed by Hal Lindsey as they are reflective of beliefs held by "Dominionists," including Dr. Tony Evans, founder of Promise Keepers, Dr. Martin Hawkins, Assistant to Evans, James Ryle of the Vineyard Movement among others, permeate the Bush administration's major figures, most especially the President, guide their approach to foreign policy, and transform their perception of themselves as executers of God's will. The potential destructive power inherent in this mentality, that accepts as truth interpretations of mythological stories or willingly uses those interpretations to exhort others to action, can be understood and can be thwarted before such devastation occurs. That conclusion we can draw from history should we consider the destructive power of myth as it was wielded by Urban II as he inaugurated the Crusades to liberate Jerusalem, Innocent III when he exterminated the Cathar sect in the 12th and 13th centuries, the Puritan divines when they slaughtered the Pequot Indians in 1636-37, and the elimination of the beliefs extant in northern Europe before the onslaught of Christianity in the middle ages, to offer a few examples. When the elite few who gain power in a country or over a group of people accept myths as truth, or when they insidiously and ruthlessly use the beliefs people hold to affect their ends, devastation follows. An enlightened American public can thwart the myth driven elite.

Michael Ortiz Hill, author of Dreaming the End of the World, characterizes Bush, in his essay in CounterPunch January 4, 2003, as "...delusional and the shape of his delusion is specifically apocalyptical in belief and intent." By apocalyptical Hill means that "All systems are supposed to go down so the Messiah can come and Bush, seemingly, has taken on the role of the one who brings this to pass." "God sovereignly controls all aspects of life" according to this view, and that understanding is inherent in the teachings of the Promise Keepers Movement and its founder, Dr. Tony Evans, and the perspective of Billy Graham, two of the prominent right-wing Christians who have influenced Bush. Graham is credited with Bush's rebirth in Christ and Dr. Tony Evans is pastor of a large Dallas church where Bush heard a great deal about "how the world should be seen from a divine viewpoint" according to Dr. Martin Hawkins, assistant to Evans. (Hill).

Both the Promise Keepers and the Vineyard Movements according to Gary Gilley in "The Vineyard Movement" accept the doctrine of "end time" or "dominionism" that believes there will be a seizure of earthly power by God's people (read Christians) to restore the earth to God's control. Dominion theology teaches that Christ restored dominion over life to the followers of Christ, but the church now has the obligation of redeeming society in order to bring about the Second Coming. They also contend that the kingdom of God is now and they have the responsibility to manifest God's power before the entire world. Taking control of the earth must happen before Christ will return to usher in the physical kingdom on earth over which He will reign.

But Christian Zionists also believe that, before Christ can return, the Jews must return to Israel. Many evangelical Christians cite Genesis 12 and 13 to demonstrate that "the Jews have title deed to Israel and that the land must not be given back to the Palestinians," according to Thomas Williamson in his article "To Whom Does the Land of Palestine Belong?" Christian Zionists, according to Williamson, "regard God's covenant with Abraham, including the land grant, as an unconditional covenant." More frighteningly, "Every act taken by Israel is orchestrated by God, and should be condoned, supported, and even praised by the rest of us," notes Grace Halsell in her article "Israeli Extremists and Christian Fundamentalists: The Alliance." Not all Christians accept this interpretation, but for those who do, the reestablishment of Israel in 1948 ushered in the conditions necessary to bring about the rapture: Jewish control of Jerusalem and rebuilding the temple. Then and only then can the final, great battle called Armageddon begin. Estimates vary, but Halsell claims "10 to 40 million Americans believe Palestine is God's chosen land for the Jews"(1). Maintenance of Israel as a nation becomes an obligation on the part of Christian Zionists if Biblical prophecy is to be fulfilled.

That places George W. Bush in a unique position as a leader of the world's mightiest military power: to bring about the fulfillment of God's prophecy. Hill claims that Bush has accepted this eschatology through which he sees himself "as an agent of God who has been called by him to 'restore the earth to God's control'" (2). S.R. Shearer of Antipas Ministries, notes Hill, calls this delusional. Hill refers to Bob Woodward's new book, Bush at War, to give substance to this Messianic view of the President. Woodward observes "The president was casting his mission and that of the country in the grand vision of God's Master Plan" (2). Add to these comments the closing sentence of his 2003 State of the Union Speech, "The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity," and we can sense his Messianic fervor as he leads the world against the "man-made" forces of evil.

Unfortunately, the determination of that evil resides in the beliefs of those interpreting the "prophecies" and those who accept those interpretations as truth. For Lindsey and the Vineyard ministers, God's covenant with the Jews is truth and it translates, according to Stephen R. Sizer, into the need for America to "continue military and economic funding of Israel," for Israel to "resist negotiating land for peace," "maintain their apartheid policies," and incite fundamentalist groups to destroy the Dome of the Rock so the new temple can be built. Lindsey accuses those who refuse to accept this eschatology as anti-Semitic. This transition from biblical prophecy to current events translates myth into international policy emphasizing the potential destructive power of mythology. Who are these self-appointed servants of the Almighty who give direction to Israeli and US leaders regarding the establishment of nation states, the conception and determination of evil, and the righteousness of actions taken on behalf of their interpretation of God's word?

Lindsey believes, as we have noted, that the Spirit of God has given him special insight "into how this whole phenomenon encoded the prophecies" Others like James Ryle of Promise Keepers find God giving revelation through dreams and visions; in Hippo in the Garden, he notes that he was called to preach through a prophetic word situation (91). In either case, their interpretations come from an indeterminable source, yet a source of vast power and consequence. Lindsey writes "Only now, as mankind approaches the third millennium, do I feel like the Holy Spirit has provided me with the proper perspective the Big Picture, so to speak on the mind blowing experiences of the modern world" (Planet Earth 2000 A.D.). And what are those "mind blowing experiences"? "I am certain The Second Advent will occur in the next few years probably in your lifetime." And, "the greatest threat to freedom and world peace today is Islamic fundamentalism" (The Final Battle). Acceptance of these modern day prophets and their beliefs by the elite in power portends disaster for American policy in the mid-east in particular and for American interests generally. But, as we have seen, these ministers of God have the ear of those in power in the current administration.

Two issues arise immediately: why should America determine its future course based on interpretations of God's word as contained in documents 2500 years old, designed and written for civilizations long dead? And, second, what is the evil that these modern day prophets determine as the threat against God's predictions?

Plainly, the Books of Genesis, Daniel, and Revelation, the primary sources for "end-time theology," for "Dominionism," for the Apocalyptic perspective, and for Armageddon, while accepted by literalists as the word of God, are in fact derivatives of stories and ideas from other cultures that anti-date Moses by hundreds of years and John, the purported author of Revelation, by more than 1700 years. How then can they be the word of God? How can Americans take seriously the interpretations of Pseudo-prophets who claim to know the meaning of prophecies when they are only the latest in a series of such claimants that date back to Joachim of Fiore, an Italian monk of the 12th century, Christopher Columbus in the early 1500s, Martin Luther, Thomas Muentzer in the 16th century, the Puritans in America, the interpretations arising out of Nazism and Marxism, William Miller and John Darby to mention a few who appeared before the most recent group headed by Lindsey (PBS).

There can be no doubt that the Book of Revelation has had a searing impact on the American conscience that dates back to the establishment of God's "city on a hill" given to the Puritan's by God Himself. The absolute acceptance of the forces of good and evil as extant and operative in the world, concepts that date back to influences from ancient Greece and Persia in the 5th to 3rd centuries before Christ, existed without question in the Puritan mind. Hope in the eventual victory of the forces of good over evil, however, existed long before the 5th century BCE in the "Enuma and Elish" stories of the struggles between chaos and order that date to 1780 BCE in Mesopotamia. These myths tell of Marduk, the God of light, struggling against Tiamat, the force of evil, to bring order out of chaos and peace to the world (www.gatewaystobabylon.com). The influence of these myths on the Book of Genesis, purportedly written by Moses who was born in 1571, is unmistakable and conveyed directly in Psalm 74:14,15,16. But Marduk is not Yahweh, yet current pseudo-prophets will declare the accuracy of their visions as direct from God who speaks to humankind from the pages of the Old and New Testaments. They fail to account for the origins of God's word that comes from non-Jewish sources. Many ancient myths influenced the Bible: the burning of the world by the Hindu God, Shiva; the Akkadian prophecies from Mesopotamia; the messiah-like king that takes over the world, rewards the just, and rules forever from the Uruk Prophecy; and the judgment of the dead by the Egyptian god Maat for the good and evil they performed in their lifetime. (Patricia Eddy, "The Persian Connection: the End of the World Begins")

Judaism also borrowed "angels, the holy spirit, paradise in heaven, eternal life, Judgment Day, the resurrection of the dead, a fiery hell, a messianic savior, and man's personal responsibility to do God's will" from Persia (http://www.alsopreview.com)/. These same concepts exist in Zoroaster's faith that prevailed in the 6th century BCE. He designed a monotheistic God, Ahura Mazda, considered by some as a precursor of the God of the Judaic Bible. Zoroaster's last battle between the forces of good and evil, the biblical Armageddon, is headed by a messiah known as Saoshyant; upon victory, he would herald in a millennium of peace and plenty. An apocalypse preceded that last battle to gain the attention of the people. Indeed, the Book of Revelation enlarges upon Zoroaster's end of the world concepts as do sections in the Dead Sea Scrolls discovered in 1947 at Nag Hammadi and date to the 1st and 2nd centuries CE.

Unfortunately, Christians reading this literature have focused on the necessary and inevitable return of the Jews to Judea-Samaria as conveyed in one source written by a monk in 950 CE, Adso of Montier-En-Der at the request of Queen Gerbera of France as he interpreted biblical passages. He also noted that there would arise "the Last World Emperor" who would unite Christianity and defeat Muslims before the Antichrist arises (PBS). This Christian Zionist focus that requires the fulfillment of the covenant between God and His chosen people arises from two broad predictions in the Old Testament: predictions of a return to Palestine from the Babylonian exile and promises of Palestine as the land given by God to the Jews.

Scholars argue about these predictions, some claiming that God fulfilled His promises when the Jews returned to Palestine, rebuilt the Temple and the Walls of Jerusalem, and restored the religious life of the community under the Maccabees; others disagree (http://www.users.cloud9.net/). Citations of God's promises to "the descendants of Abraham" for land appear in Genesis 12:7, 13:15, 15:18, 28:13-14 among others. The dispute caused by these passages has to do with the "seed" to which God promised the land. Zionists argue that God's promise was to Jews only; others argue that the seed of Abraham includes Arabs (www.mideastfacts.com). Regardless of these indeterminable disputes, "prominent evangelists preach to their followers that God never fulfilled "His promise of giving all the land of Palestine to the Jews" (http://www.mideastfacts.com/) and, consequently, support "whatever action necessary, even nuclear war, to obtain Arab lands in the Middle East and give them to Jews." [emphasis mine] (mideastfacts) Obviously, such interpretations bring the world to the brink of nuclear holocaust and represent to many in the Christian community a backward step in theology.

Is it possible to believe in the 21st century that a God, designed by a small tribe of nomadic Semites 3500 years ago from stories and myths that existed centuries before in the literatures of Mesopotamia, Persia, Egypt, Canaan, and elsewhere, could dictate to Americans how they should conduct foreign policy? Myths after all are stories that explain for a people how they perceive their existence in a world filled with mystery and awe. They create reference points for the people to see connections between their condition and forces greater than themselves or to understand how they must relate to the society that surrounds them or to grapple with the internal energies that reside within themselves. Yet we have in the union of Christian Zionists and Jewish Zionists mentalities that find absolute truth in these myths and willingly inflict them on the American populace. These beliefs bring ancient prophecies from myths into today's political arena as this comment from Lindsey's Planet makes all too clear: "The dispute to trigger the war of Armageddon will arise between the Arabs and Israelis over the Temple Mount and Old Jerusalem (Zachariah 12:2-3), the most contested and strategic piece of real estate in the world Two religions, Judaism and Islam, thus are on a collision course with global and heavenly repercussions. Islam will never accept Jerusalem as the undivided capital of the Jewish state, and Israel will never agree to give it up"(155).

Consider the comments of Margot Patterson in the National Catholic Reporter last October 11, 2002: "Thousands of Christian Zionists met in Jerusalem for the Jewish holiday of Sukkot to cheer Sharon and to declare their unconditional support for the state of Israel." These people embrace "end-time" theology and are supported in turn by right-wing Israelis who like the economic and political support they bring to the Israeli cause. Christian fundamentalists and Jewish Messianic settlers, according to Patterson, promise formation of a "Greater Israel" that will usher in Armageddon. They, too, see war between Muslims and Jews as bringing about the Second Coming.

Patterson quotes a variety of sources to enforce her perception of the political impact these interpreters of God's word have on America's policies toward Israel and Palestine. James Zogby, President of the Arab American Institute, argues "despite disclaimers to the contrary the US is waging a war on Islam at home and abroad even as it tacitly supports extremist settlers in the occupied territories Israel controls." Lewis Roth, President of Americans for Peace Now, says "You have a number of very conservative Christian groups that support settlements because they see this as a way of strengthening Jewish hold on the land of Israel because in their mind this is important for end-of-time theology and part of hastening the Second Coming and the conversion of the Jews" Since Jews have their own Messianic reading of the biblical sources, different from the Christian Zionists except in the necessity of fulfilling God's covenant to return the Jews to Judea-Samaria, they find support of the Christian Zionists helpful in bringing about the creation of Greater Israel that would include not only the borders of the present state but the entire land of Israel described in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Consider as well Robert Kaiser's February 9, 2003 article "Bush and Sharon Nearly Identical on Mideast Policy" in the Washington Post. Kaiser quotes Richard Pearle, chairman of the Pentagon's Defense Policy Board, "Israel should insist on Arab recognition of its claim to the biblical land of Israel and should focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq;" this despite multiple UNSC resolutions that declare Israel in defiance of international law by holding on to these lands. But there's more! Douglas Feith, undersecretary of defense for policy, has written extensively on Israeli-Arab issues, and argues, according to Kaiser, "that Israel has as legitimate a claim to the West Bank territories seized after the Six-Day War as it has to the land that was part of the U.N. mandated Israel created in 1948." Indeed, Donald Rumsfeld has made the same claim even as he demands that the UN force nations that defy UN resolutions to comply: "There was a war and they (neighboring countries) lost a lot of real estate to Israel because Israel prevailed in that conflict." Here are America's Defense Department spokesmen directly contradicting the UN resolutions demanding that Israel comply with international law and the Geneva Conventions.

Why do these individuals speak for America in this manner? Kaiser quotes a senior official of the first Bush administration as saying "Sharon played the president like a violin: 'I'm fighting your war, terrorism is terrorism,' and so on, Sharon did a masterful job." Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, also quoted by Kaiser, claims "President Bush's policy stems from his core as a Christian, his perceptions of right and wrong, good and evil, and of the need to stand up and fight against evilI personally believe it is very personal, not a political maneuver on his part." Rev. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention echoed those sentiments when he noted how important evangelical support for the president is and claimed, "We need to bless Israel more than America needs Israel's blessing because Israel has a far greater ally than the United States of America, God Almighty." That observation, you will recall, ended the President's State of the Union address as quoted above. In short, America has at its helm a man who understands his role in God's plan and is determined to carry forward regardless of the views of world leaders or the American people. As Dr. Lower points out in Counterpunch, "Bush's war version of God 'has two dangerous implications' One is that those who have lost their lives in service to God and country (Astronauts) 'weren't actually taking risks or showing bravery because their fate was in God's hands. The other implication is that tragedies are God's will.' This is in the tradition of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell who suggested that the September 11th tragedy happened because God had removed his active protection from an immoral United States."

Bush is furthered in his drive to Armageddon by those who surround him, both secular zealots intent on ensuring Israel's expansion to the biblical lands given it by the covenant or by the religious right that supports Sharon and controls great Jewish influence in America. Perhaps the most recent evidence of this control on America's mid-east policy comes in the person of Elliott Abrams, the recently appointed director of Mideast Affairs for the National Security Council. Abrams has stated categorically: "The Palestinian leadership does not want peace with Israel, and there will be no peace." Given his current position, we know the future of American policy in Palestine. Abrams' prophecy of no peace allows the Christian Zionists and the Jewish Zionists to usher in the forces of their perceived good against the forces of their perceived evil, the Muslims. All of which makes possible the scenario prophesied by Hal Lindsey in The Final Battle, making fiction truth and truth fiction.

William Cook is a professor of English at the University of La Verne in southern California. His new book, Psalms for the 21st Century, will be published by Mellen Press in January. He can be reached at: cookb@ULV.EDU

Having received the green light from "above, " Christian George is about to unleash a holiness that just might Armageddon all of us...All of us know that Osama bin Laden is a Muslim religious fanatic hell-bent on implementing his demented version of Armageddon in the Middle East. What we are not sure about, however, is whether or not George Bush is a Christian religious fanatic hell-bent on his demented version of Armageddon in the Middle East. It's a scary thought planted in the air of public consciousness that our timid mainstream media has begun to explore, lightly explore, delicately dancing around the edges to avoid setting off a land mine of religion.

Two week ago in the Christian Science Monitor, Francine Kiefer wrote that "Bush's religious beliefs are emerging as the central influence to his politics and policies." "For Bush, Kiefer continued," "who reads his Bible every morning, faith extends beyond the national catharsis of the moment. By his own admission, his religious views shape much of who he is and, by extension, experts say, some of his most important decision-making."

"Bush has always preferred his poison straight up or down, good vs. bad, dead or alive, you're either with us or you're with the terrorists," Michael Duffy, reporting for Time, wrote. "In one horrifying two-hour period (on September 11), the world shuddered and conformed to his way of thinking: there was good and there was evil, and it wasn't hard to tell the difference." Then Duffy added: "Privately Bush even talked on being chosen by God to lead at this moment." (Please understand the foregoing chapters in this work that have to do with the number Six Hundred, Sixty and Six ).

So Bush is chosen by God, but not by the U.S. Congress and not by the United Nations, to lead an invasion of Iraq...And just a few days ago, the New York Times reported a new Bush doctrine whereby the chosen-by-God Bush can unilaterally declare war on any country he deems is run by evil-doers...Let's face it, our chosen-by-God leader is in a modern Christian crusade frame of mind...

With 9/11 as revelation, the President of the United States, personally chosen by God, is about to lead us, sisters and brothers, saints and sinners, into what he believes will be Armageddon. In the New Testament Armageddon is described in Revelations "as the place where the kings of the Earth UNDER DEMONIC LEADERSHIP will wage war on the forces of God at the end of world history. God's heavenly armies will defeat the demonic forces of evil."...

If the chosen-by-God George Bush invades demonic Iraq he may very well ignite a larger war...leading us to the conclusion of Armageddon with both God's forces and Satan's army all going down to defeat...So sisters and brothers, saints and sinners, hang on because revelation is bringing a revolution and we just may end up back in the stone age...Neoconservatives are preparing the groundwork for far-reaching and interminable US involvement in the Middle East. Norman Podhoretz makes the case in the current issue of Commentary, that it is not enough for the United States to attack only Afghanistan and Iraq...The challenge that President Bush faces, says Podhoretz, is "to fight World War IV...

How many sons, husbands, fathers, brothers, grandsons, uncles, cousins and friends are Americans willing to give to a war, the object of which is the social and political reconstruction of the Middle East? ...Trying to create a small Jewish state in a sea of Muslims was a 20th century mistake. Trying to reconstruct the Middle East would be a bigger mistake...

I asked Cal Thomas a few months ago why so many Christians were so enthusiastic about war with Iraq, if the Pope was so resolutely against it. He answered, "I have no idea." You can say that again.

Mr. Thomas, normally a sensible man writing from an evangelical Christian point of view, has just announced that the biblical "Time for war" is at hand. Invoking Woodrow Wilson, that most peaceable, honest, Christian creature, Thomas explains that "Peace is a byproduct - a benefit - when evil is vanquished.

Mr. Thomas is probably the most widely-syndicated Christian columnist in America. So he merits our attention. He is sounding a clarion call to those who regard him as their authority on political questions. He has now told them that evil can be vanquished, that it will only take one little war, and that, when it is over we can have peace.

Now Karl Marx believed that, but Jesus Christ didn't...which is another way of saying,"Hogwash!" Since this disputed assumption about the nature of evil and peace constitutes the defective ingredient at the foundation of Mr. Thomas's case, it begs a bit of belaboring. Marx taught that the revolution would end with a version of heaven on earth, but only after the dictatorship of the proletariat, the last stage of history and Marx's materialist counterpart of the Second Coming of Christ and the ensuing establishment of a new heaven and a new earth. For Marx, "peace" would prevail after the emergence of "truly socialist man."...Evil (for Marx, the past) would be vanquished and the tension of history resolved.

Christ told us otherwise: Good men and bad men would cohabit the earth until the end times. The wheat and the tares would never be separated out from one another (until then). There would be wars and rumors of wars. And Christ cautioned his followers even further, in a warning fraught with political implications: "In the world you will have trouble, but be brave, for I have conquered the world." (John 16:). Please note for the record, that Christ said that he had ALREADY conquered the world, and still warned his followers that they (and we) would have trouble in it. This might prove to be somewhat troubling indeed, to those who were hoping with Mr. Thomas, to enjoy true peace if only we would embark on this one manageable little world war in the Middle East first.

Mr. Thomas dismisses that knotty problem, however, with his discovery of two new godlings who redefine evil in a nice, manageable human sort of way, and...rearrange human nature altogether. Embracing their treatise that redefines good and evil, Mr. Thomas announces: "Listen Up, Christians! Evil can be conquered, even without the United Nations." (Now this is another knotty problem. One that the establishment-liberals will have to face It will still be man against God...Ezekiel 21:27).

It comes as no surprise, alas, that these sources of the new definition of good and evil are Lawrence F. Kaplan and William Kristol. I refer to them as godlings to be consistent with the words of temptation in Genesis. "You shall be as gods, knowing the difference between good and evil." In their new ordering of good and evil, Mr. Thomas finds sufficient justification...to condemn entire nations, dehumanize millions of people, elevate to semi-divinity those who agree with him, and reject out of hand any rational discourse, all in 800 words...

But Mr. Thomas ignores the truth that is staring him in his face: The language he applauds here is clearly non-Christian; in fact, it is Hegelian. Not only does it claim to be a new source of good and evil, it even endows the godlings with the authority to dispense justice, as they..."indict" entire countries, organizations, and even public officials because it appears these barbarians disagree with them. The gnostic conceit is palpable: if you disagree with us, you have "lost your capacity to identify evil and to act against it." First the verdict, then the trial. We godlings are above it all. Bombs away.

While I do not find it necessary, nor even noble, to resort to deprecations, the following anecdote that came across the internet carries a deeply imbedded message that speaks to the heart and soul of both the children of Light and the children of Darkness. It speaks directly to the story of Lazarus and Dives (Luke 16:20-31):

Hypocrisy in a politician is universally held to be a very bad thing, religious hypocrisy worst of all. Alas, to Americans holding post-Enlightenment world-views, it has come down to this: either we must earnestly pray that George W. Bush is a cunning opportunist merely throwing hay to the great lowing herd of pious cattle (please understand Malachi, chapter 4) who confuse the evening news with the Book of Revelation, or face the prospect that the United States has embarked upon a faith-based foreign policy as distant from reality as the ranting of Osama bin Laden.

Many commentators have noticed that Bush has repeatedly cast the conflict with al Qaeda and Iraq in purely biblical terms--good against evil, "the forces of darkness" against the forces of light, etc. In a speech on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, as Bruce Nolan's article in Sunday's Democrat-Gazette noted, Bush hinted that God was stage-managing the "war on terrorism" for divine purposes. "I believe there is a reason that history has matched this nation with this time," Bush said. (Which is quite true of course, for reasons that Bush and those who support him can hardly realize).

According to Bob Woodward's book, "Bush at War" even in one-on-one interviews "[t]he President was casting his mission and that of the country in the grand vision of God's Master Plan." This observation followed Bush's pronouncement that "WE WILL EXPORT DEATH AND VIOLENCE TO THE FOUR CORNERS OF THE EARTH IN DEFENSE OF THIS GREAT COUNTRY AND RID THE WORLD OF EVIL."

CONQUERING EVIL IS BIN LADEN'S PLAN TOO. Even fighting beside the "socialist infidel" Saddam Hussein, he hinted in a taped statement Feb. 11, was permissible "to establish the rule of God on earth." Quoting the Koran, he assured his followers that "'those who believe fight in the cause of Allah, and those who reject faith fight in the cause of evil.' So fight ye against the friends of Satan: feeble indeed is the cunning of Satan."

So have we really been transported back to the 12th century A.D. with Bush as Richard the Lionhearted and Osama/Saddam as Saladin, in a replay of the Third Holy Crusade? We'd better hope not, because although medieval prophets convinced Richard that recapturing Jerusalem from the Muslims would bring about the Second Coming and usher in the millennium, he dragged back to England defeated in 1192.

To bin Laden, who rails against American "crusaders," this happened the day before yesterday. Bush only plays into his hands with statements like the closing line of his 2003 State of the Union speech contending that "the liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world, it is God's gift to humanity."

To Saddam Hussein, a garden variety criminal psychopath and reportedly a big fan of the "Godfather" movies, it's unlikely this signifies much. As grandiose as Stalin, Saddam gives no sign of confusing himself with the deity. The origins of Bush's flirtation with End Times rhetoric, however, are no more remote than the New York Times Best Seller List, specifically the prophetic novels of Hal Lindsey ("Blood Moon") and Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins' "Left Behind" series. Selling in the millions, these books are a florid updating of a 19th century school of bible-based soothsaying called "premillenial dispensationalism." Radio and TV evangelists, including the ubiquitous Jerry Falwell peddle this gibberish to millions.

Adepts believe, writes historian Paul S. Boyer, that a series of last day signs including "wars, natural disasters, rampant immorality, the rise of a world political and economic order, and the return of the Jews to the land promised by God to Abraham" will signal the Rapture. True Believers will be magically whisked off to heaven, the Antichrist will seize world power--through the United Nations, naturally--thus ushering in the Second Coming, Armageddon and the Millenium. Ironically, the incomprehensible imagery in Revelation was borrowed from Babylonian (Iraqi) and Zoroastrian (Iranian) myth in the first place. Bush's flirtation with End Times rhetoric makes some suspect that he actually perceives himself as God's instrument. Many Europeans fear they're trapped
between rival fundamentalist zealots whose messianic delusions threaten World War III.

Call me naïve, but I hold with hypocrisy. Everything known about Bush apart from his political rhetoric suggests belief in a conventional rich man's God. His idea of paradise is a country club golf course. His public religiosity is precisely calculated to enthrall fundamentalist Christians whose failure to turn out in 1992 led to his father's defeat--the only Armageddon Junior seriously anticipates.

I have to confess. The outrageous in-your-face behavior of the neocons finally got to me - as Armageddon approaches, after seeing more and more references to it (albeit usually wacky), I recently downloaded the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Guiltily, mind you, as if it were Mein Kampf or porno. I bet you haven't dared (or bothered) to read it.

So, what is this best-selling political tract of the 20th century, the reading of which carried the death penalty in Stalinist Russia, lauded by the likes of Henry Ford and Winston Churchill, and then loudly condemned for the past 60 years since it was briefly declared an anti-Semitic forgery (in a Swiss court in 1935 overturned by the Appeals Court in 1937)? The bile aside, it is in fact an series of 24 mostly articulate, well-argued lectures outlining a plan for world capitalist domination, with sharp political and social analysis, lots of Machiavelli and a Marxian sophistication in its understanding of capitalism and historical processes. Briefly, it outlines a plan of world conquest by first establishing world government by consent. As with any brilliant political analysis, it has been denounced, dismissed, misinterpreted and banned. And made very good use of by those lusting for world power.

What immediately struck me was that with a little dusting off, abridging and updating, it could easily be the handbook of the neocons. With the wonders of modern computers, you can download a free copy from the Internet, cleanse it of anti-Semitism by replacing "fellow Jews" with "neocons" and make sense of what's happening in the world today.

Though its origins are still unknown, it was clearly inspired by the French revolution and its aftermath, the then-popular Masonic order, and most of all the nascent 19th century Zionist movement. All that we know is that it was written in France and brought to Russia, supposedly in 1884. It first appeared in print in St Petersburg in 1903, but reached the West only after the Russian revolution. It caused an immediate sensation, originally crudely interpreted as foretelling the Bolshevik revolution as the crucial link in a Jewish conspiracy to rule the world. As such, it was admired by the likes of Churchill and Ford, both confirmed anti-communists and anti-Semites.

True, it has the prescience to allow for an anti-capitalist revolution on the way to its final goal, but there's nothing even vaguely socialist in it. It's firmly founded on a plan for capitalist domination through Jewish control of international finance and just happened to appear at the very moment of the founding of the Zionist movement, with its goal of establishing as soon as possible a Jewish state in Palestine, backed by powerful worldwide Ashkenazy Jewish economic interests.

It's as if an especially ruthless and well-read 19th c Zionist, inspired by the Rothschilds and other great Jewish financiers of the time, wrote it or most of it, as I am sure is the case. Really, it reads as if it were written by the Jungian shadow of the likes of Zionism's founder, Theodore Herzl, or any of Israel's notables from Ben Gurion to Ariel Sharon. Its anti-goyim callousness certainly indicate it was not written for public consumption, and after Hitler, it was relegated to the Forbidden Shelf in ALL libraries along with Mein Kampf and naked bottoms. But it is very hard to believe that it is a spoof or a mere provocation, as it is just too impressive in detail and understanding of the logic of late 19th century capitalism.

Did Hitler read it? I bet the Nazis read it carefully. They certainly followed much of its advice, from how to use the press, to how to manipulate both politicians and the masses in consolidating their political hold. It's also clear why destruction of the Jews became Hitler's tragic obsession. His New World Order (NWO) would have to exclude a group even remotely connected with such a scheme for world domination. As the neocons warn today: "You are either with us or against us."

The trouble with the Protocols is that it has been interpreted since it was published to suit the prejudices of the moment. In pre-revolutionary Russia, it provided fuel for the already widespread Russian anti-Semitism. In post-WWI Europe and America, it provided fuel against the Russian revolution. In the post-WWII world, it became the Bible of American isolationists and racists who see the poor UN as the dreaded "World Government," backed by the Soviet Union and 3rd world revolutions. Now it is read by Muslims as proof of the conspiracy by US imperialism to destroy them.

Another problem is that there have been many variations on the theme of the NWO ever since the collapse of the Roman Empire. The French revolution and Napoleonic conquests, the Masonic lodges, imperial Germany and England all have had their own NWO fantasy. The Russian revolution was the most radical attempt at a NWO, and even can be distinguished for the large number of Jews who took part, but despite the fact that the Protocols was first published in Russia and strictly banned during the Soviet period, the Soviet experiment was not even remotely the final World Government of the Protocols, as it was anti-capitalist in its essence.

The red herring in it is of course 'Jewish', which is supposed to refer to a race. The Jews referred to in the Protocols are the European Ashkenazy Jews, who had been traditionally usurers and who were in the 19th century becoming increasing wealthy and part of the mainstream European culture. From them sprang the Zionists, who transformed a religion where God is to bring them to the 'promised land' someday into an active plan to seize Palestine based on their growing international economic and financial might. So it is this group that is the real inspiration behind the Protocols and not some amorphous Jewish RACE. Think of the authors as the neocons of the day. For by the 19th century, usury was the norm, and the rapid spread of capitalism meant that the Western world effectively became Jewish, as Marx put it, and adopted the Jewish idea of success.

Yet another problem. It is loudly dismissed as a forgery. Hello? It was anonymous, so how can it be a forgery. Who forged what? No wonder the Swiss Appeals Court threw the case out. In that case we can dismiss the Bible as a forgery. And who cares who wrote the Psalms anyway? They stand on their own merits, as does the Protocols stripped of a few provocative phrases here and there, which could have been slipped in by anyone.

You may well protest: "The Protocols attributes the conscious machinations of Jews to be behind all historical developments. I don't believe the Zionists are either so powerful, or so far-sighted." In answer: It's not necessary for our actions to be premeditated. The logic of world capitalism sweeps us along, whether we like it or not. Some players are more conscious (and ruthless) than others. They become the Herzls, the Wolfowitzes, the Sharons. The rest of us get swept along, either yielding to, or fighting the current: the Bushes and the Schwartzeneggers or the goyim. The Protocols (or its original, if it is indeed a forgery) was inspired by the new economic system sweeping the world, and composed by the 19th century equivalent of the neocons. It hasn't played itself out yet, just as capitalism hasn't played itself out. We ignore it at our peril.

Contrast the Zionist movement with the other great attempt at a NWO from the 19th century on -- the world socialist movement. It is far weaker, split by nationalism and hundreds of ideological splinters, and motivated by social justice, a far less competitive motivation that money, wealth and power-for-its-own-sake. The Protocols is quite clear about this: "Our triumph has been rendered easier by the fact that in our relations with the men whom we wanted we have always worked upon the most sensitive chords of the human mind, upon the cash account, upon the cupidity, upon the insatiability for material needs of man: and each one of these human weaknesses, taken alone, is sufficient to paralyze initiative, for it hands over the will of men to the disposition of him who has bought their activities." (I)

There is no fear of the dangerous effective of democracy: "The abstraction of freedom has enabled us to persuade the mob in all countries that their government is nothing but the steward of the people who are the owners of the country, and that the steward may be replaced like a worn-out glove. It is this possibility of replacing the representatives of the people which has placed them at our disposal, and, as it were, given us the power of appointment." (I)

Socialism never had a chance against this corrosive Machiavellianism, though, just in case, the Protocols had a plan: "The hour strikes when, not for the sake of attaining the good, not even to win wealth, but solely out of hatred towards the privileged, the lower classes of the goyim will follow our lead against our rivals for power, the intellectuals of the goyim." (IV) This is the only reference to the use of a revolt of the masses, which was seized upon to associate the Protocols with the Russian revolution. Rather slim pickings, and it reveals the strategy is to undermine the "intellectuals of the goyim", i.e., the socialist opposition to world capitalism.

On the contrary, the Russian revolution seemed to really shake the very foundations of the plan for world capitalist domination. Curiously in its first 30 years the SU had the Zionists split. Why? Well, no doubt partly because many rank-and-file Zionists were socialist by persuasion, truly wanted the SU to succeed and hoped for a socialist Israel as a bonus (Herzl's utopian novel depicts a socialist Israel). But for the Zionist fanatics of the Protocols, their fence-sitting was because achieving their own state was the main priority, and required the support of both the communist and capitalist camps.

And as for the softer versions of socialism which have surfaced occasionally in the West, their headway has always been kept well in check, and social democratic reforms were rolled back very easily after the collapse of the SU, via the tactics envisaged in the Protocols. So the plan of the Protocols should not be confused with the many variations on a socialist/ communist NWO.

The Protocols also lauds "the successes we arranged for Darwinism, Marxism, Nietzscheism." (II) Why promote such radicals? Because of the "disintegrating importance these directives have had upon the minds of the goyim." Just how central to Marx's success these Zionists were is debatable.

But it's become clear to me that Zionists have penetrated and tried to control all the NWO fantasies, from left to right, to further their own cause. It is not surprise then that they have been at the center of the present neocon insurgency from the start. And as for the EU-as-NWO, Sharon even suggested Israel should join the EU since 'we share common ideals'. In spite of Israel's loathing for the UN, it is at the very heart of THAT beleaguered, clumsy organization too (with a stake in hand just in case, it can be argued). It has recently been revealed that Zionists are even involved with extreme right anti-Semitic movements in Europe and with the creation of Hamas. After all, anti-Semitism is the Zionist's best defense. "The Jewish group has thrived on oppression and on the antagonism it has forever met in the world." (Albert Einstein, Collier's Magazine, November 26, 1938)

True, anti-Semitism got out of control under Hitler and it even looked like it was touch-and-go for a while for the Ashkenazy Jews of Europe, but fascism was in turn destroyed by a capitalist-communist alliance, with Zionists at its heart, as the Protocols so brilliantly foretold: "For a time perhaps we might be successfully dealt with by a coalition of the goyim of all the world: but from this danger we are secured by the discord existing among them whose roots are so deeply seated that they can never now be plucked up." (VI) Divide and rule!

The Holocaust gave the fanatical Zionists their long-sought state, which allowed them to discard any socialist pretensions and nurture the capitalist-Zionist alliance essential to the goal of world domination. The defining moment is perhaps the triumph of the neocons under Reagan in the 1980s. The Zionists had consolidated their hold on American foreign policy under Democrat Carter, and were ready to make the alliance official under Republican Reagan. It is at this point that the very term Zionist and even Jew can be discarded. As I have argued elsewhere, 'We are all Jews now.' (http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Articles4/Jones_Palestine.htm) And with the Bush coup in 2000, we all (for the present at least) have become neocons (or goyim). As the opposition grows weaker, with the shield of the Holocaust at the ready, the neocon-Zionist alliance has begun to act more and more brazenly to consolidate its hold on the world and destroy the last meaningful resistance - the Islamic world.

Not only was the Holocaust and the way to defeat it foreseen in the Protocols, but, like the anti-Semitism that gave rise to it, it has been turned into the ultimate defense of the Zionist cause. A kind of perverse win-win situation for the Zionists. It transformed important anti-Semites into Judeophiles overnight. While Churchill was an enthusiastic reader of the Protocols before WWII, he became an enthusiastic supporter of the foundation of Israel after, and shifted his anti-Semitism onto the Arabs. Stalin, also a confirmed anti-Semite, provided the key vote at the UN to approve the foundation of Israel and supplied crucial arms via Czechoslovakia to the beleaguered state, foolishly thinking he could ultimately manipulate. Ha, ha! Finally it became the linchpin in consolidating today's neocon-Zionist alliance, and a brilliant defense for all manner of Zionist crimes: "We can do anything to defend ourselves after the Holocaust!"

The icing on the cake is the impressive Holocaust museum which blends in tastefully with the Lincoln and Washington memorials in the heart of Washington, D.C. (Note: There is no museum to the Holocaust against the native peoples or the blacks.)

While 'Old Europe' has made some noises about this lethal NWO, the governments are nonetheless beholden to it, and can do little but try to carve a slightly bigger piece of the pie. No, the only meaningful remaining resistance to the neocon-Zionist NWO is the as yet unbrainwashed goyim of the world - the peace movement and the Islamic world, strange bedfellows at best. However, there are some disturbing ripples in the NWO waters. Bush/ Sharon have chosen the warpath, while the Soros branch, which includes Europe, wants a more peaceful transition. The reckless policies of the erstwhile "servile administrator" in Washington are quite possibly endangering the very economic foundation of the NWO. The Protocols foresees such chaos, though it presumes to be in control of it: "We shall soon begin to establish huge monopolies, reservoirs of colossal riches, upon which even large fortunes of the GOYIM will depend to such an extent that they will go to the bottom together with the credit of the States on the day after the political smash...." (VI)

Such a collapse of the present world financial system is not at all beyond the realm of possibility. And if it comes, it could take down the US government and the neocons with it. It is here that the PROTOCOLS begins to unravel. The Protocols assumes the corporate financial cabal controlling the world economy will be invited to take over bankrupt governments with their World Government, as indeed has been happening under the guise of IMF restructuring programs and more recently by direct invasion. But the bankrupt and invaded countries, such as Argentina, most of Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq for starters are proving to be problematic, more than the cabal can digest.

Maybe, just maybe, the neocons' gamble will trip them up before they reach the finish line and they will end up along side the despised GOYIM at the bottom. A switch to a gold dinar in the Muslim world and oil-euros for the rest would seriously endanger the NWO, as would a massive ecological disaster, natural or man-made. The mild neocons (Soros etal) see this clearly and are scurrying to minimize collateral damage. Theirs is a strategy closer to the spirit of the Protocols - no overt wars, a careful amassing of power through education and the control of the press, no dangerous splits in the capitalist-Zionist alliance, achieving victory through financial and trade blackmail. Have a look at the Protocols yourself. It's all there.

So, are these cowboy jackboot high jinks a momentary glitch in the triumphal march to the neocon-Zionist paradise? Will a Howard Dean, urged on by Soros, put the out-of-control steamroller back on its proper path? Or has the Protocols played itself out? Is our present apocalyptic scenario instead a crack that gives us hope of emerging from this nightmarish plot?

I don't know about the Elders, the Symbolic Snake, the actual killing off of the goyim, whether the line of King David will be re-established to rule the world, the importance of the Masons, or whether the French Revolution "was wholly the work of our hands". There's surprisingly little of such bile for a work of such notoriety, and it can be easily edited out so as not to distract from the sharp analysis. Perhaps it was added by an anti-Semite as a provocation. Who knows? As for the Masons, come to think of it, the popularity of them, the Yale Skull and Bones, and other such Monty-Pythonesque groups shows a stubborn inclination by would-be GOYIM leaders to voluntarily (i.e., consciously or unconsciously) make themselves part of a world conspiracy, however idiotic.

That's not so much the problem. The major flaw behind the logic of the Protocols is its basic premise - that there is a Jewish race. There is only one race, the human race. Just have a look at Israeli society if you think there is a racial basis to Judaism. But hey! Scientists are discovering that there are genes which are responsible for skin color, that define risk-takers or those susceptible to various diseases Maybe there's a gene for these would-be Elders of Zion. Perhaps the NY Times will post the following soon: The Zionist-neocons now welcome to their fold those who share their lust for capitalist world domination. All those with gene DN145, please sign up here. We are all equal before Mammon. MBA schools will go crazy.

The Masonic lodges, Skull and Bones fraternities, the Jewish 'race' itself are just foils in this march of world capitalism, gathering in like-minded wanabes as it makes its final push for total control. It is somehow fitting that the once reviled Jew should sit one day on the world's golden throne surrounded by his neocon minions. That is the Protocols' vision of the end of history. Eat your heart out Fukuyama!

Simon Jones is a Canadian freelance journalist living in Uzbekistan. He writes for Peace Magazine (Toronto) and has published pieces in Counterpunch and YellowTimes.org. He can be contacted at sj958@yahoo.com

THE AMERICAN RELIGION

The Emergence of the Post-Christian Nation

by Harold Bloom

INVOCATION: THE EVENING LAND

Freedom, in the context of the American Religion, means being alone with God or with Jesus, the American God or the American Christ. In social reality, this translates as solitude, at least in the inmost sense. The soul stands apart, and something deeper than the soul, the Real Me or self or spark, thus is made free to be utterly alone with a God who is also quite separate and solitary, that is, a free God or God of freedom. What makes it possible for the self and God to commune so freely is that the self already is of God; unlike the body and even soul, the American self is no part of the Creation, or of evolution through the ages. The American self is not the Adam of Genesis but is a more primordial Adam, a Man before there were men or woman. Higher and earlier than the angels, this true Adam is as old as God, older than the Bible, and is free of time, unstained by mortality. Whatever the social and political consequences of this vision, its imaginative strength is extraordinary....

Our war against Iraq, just completed, was a true religious war...It was the war of the American Religion (and of the American Religion abroad, even among our Arab allies) against whatever denies the self's status and function as the true standard of being and of value. Democracy is not at issue here, and even private property is not at the center. President George Bush, generally not considered overdevout, followed President Reagan and other precursors (Nixon, Ford, Carter) by summoning Billy Graham as an emblem of the American Religion. Appearing, Bible perpetually in hand, at the President's side, Graham implicitly certified the war as having biblical sanction. (pp.15-17).

CANE RIDGE THROUGH BILLY GRAHAM

What this book terms the American Religion will not end until the nation ends, and yet did not come into full existence for nearly a generation after the nation began. I remember, in the summer of 1969, brooding on the Woodstock rock festival, and finding in it many of the stigmata of the great camp meeting of American revival tradition. The first Woodstock, and the most extraordinary camp meeting ever, took place at Cane Ridge, Kentucky, starting on August 6, 1801, and going on for a week afterwards. Perhaps as many as twenty-five thousand experienced the ecstasies of Cane Ridge...

The backwoodsmen and their families, like the young Americans at Woodstock, underwent a singular experience of blending into Orphic unison, in which denominational differences dissolved. Presbyterians, Baptists, Methodists at once became American Religionists, rapt by ecstasy. Barton Stone, then a Presbyterian minister, came out of Cane Ridge as an incipient Restorationist, searching again for the Primitive Church...Most simply, the American Jesus was born at Cane Ridge, and is with us still, in Nashville and Salt Lake City (Bloom takes the Mormon story in another esoteric, kabbalistic direction, contrasts and compares it to the Roman Catholic, Islamic, and Southern Baptist religions, and then skillfully blends it back to the same great American state of mind), in New Orleans and in East Harlem storefronts. He is the Jesus who barely was crucified, and whose Forty days of Resurrection upon earth never have ended. Or if he ascended, he has come back and keeps coming back in the pouring out of Spirit. He cannot be known in or through a church, but only one on one, and then indeed he is known, with far more immediacy evidently than even heightened sexual experience can provide, more even than frontier violence can provide. AMERICAN REVIVALISM, WITH ITS ENDLESS GREAT AWAKENINGS, IS AS RECURRENT A PHENOMENON AS AMERICAN VIOLENCE. We don't have crime waves any more than we have Great Awakenings; VIOLENT CRIME AND RELIGIOUS REVIVALISM ARE CONSTANT THROUGHOUT OUR HISTORY (understand Ephesians 6:10-12)...both conceal the troubling near identity between the religion of violence and the violence of religion. CANE RIDGE SET THE PATTERN OF ADDICTION IN WHICH AMERICANS BEAR AWAY THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN BY VIOLENCE. (pp.59-64).

SOUTHERN BAPTISTS

The crushing of the Confederacy by superior force led to a trauma in the Southern Baptist spirit, evidently a more severe aftershock than the other Southern denominations experienced. PRECISELY WHY THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN SO IS RATHER A MYSTERY, AND I HAVE FOUND NO PERSUASIVE EXPLANATION FOR IT...

But I would hazard again the suggestion that Baptists were unique in having no founder, no overwhelming visionary and leader in their past. (They had rejected the voice and reasonings of Roger Williams). The Southern Presbyterians had Calvin, the Southern Methodists had Wesley, but the Southern Baptists had found their heroic figures in the great generals of the Confederacy, in Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee, neither of whom were Baptists but both of whom assumed a kind of angelic status. A vehement nostalgia was combined with a rejection of subsequent history, so that nearly every new idea of the last third of the nineteenth century came to be rejected by Southern Baptists, with the unhappy consequence that no other American denomination entered the twentieth century with so pervasive an investment in anti-intellectualism.

That investment has overdetermined the nature of the Fundamentalists in the Southern Baptist Convention, and has led to the current, more-than-justified despair of the Moderates. THE CRUSADE OF THE TEXAS FUNDAMENTALISTS HAS TURNED INTO A DRIVE AGAINST THOUGHT ITSELF, IN A FINAL REVENGE UPON HISTORY FOR THE REFUSAL OF GOD TO GIVE VICTORY TO THE SOUTH...

But there have been many negative instances of Baptist triumphalism in between...and had produced the rather dreadful Hard-Shell Baptists, headed by a peculiar Gnostic, Daniel Parker, who brought many of the Hard-Shellers together under the dominion of his "TWO-SEED-IN-THE-SPIRIT" ideology. This doctrine, an extraordinary throwback to second-century Sethian Gnosticism (about which Parker knew absolutely nothing), amounted to a savage predeterminarianism. God had implanted one seed in Eve, and Satan another in the unfortunate mother of mankind. The good seed, the ancient Gnostics would have said, resulted in Seth, who replaced poor Abel, while the bad gave us Cain (the tiller of the soil). Since everyone is the product of one or the other seed, effort or missionary work is irrelevant; one is seeded either elect or damned. (pp.197,198)

How does the authentic (read Moderate) Southern Baptist reconcile a fanatical emphasis upon the absolute necessity for a personal, experiential encounter of conversion with the resurrected Jesus with a total devotion to Scripture? Both these terms are experiential, and so they are not dialectical. (But yes they are). You may have the experience, but what you know is your interpretation of the experience. You may read Scripture, but what you have is your interpretation of Scripture...

I have said this earlier, but place it now at the center of the Southern Baptist enigma. The experience in each mode is purely inward; you talk to Jesus, you sense him, you receive emotional assurance, but unlike Joseph Smith you do not see Jesus or hear the sound of his voice. And yet you are saved, once and for all; you receive certainty. Even the Mormons did not outdo (the Baptists) in the assurance of freedom, AND IN THE ASSIGNMENT OF THE ACHIEVED IMAGE OF GOD TO THE ARENA OF AMERICA...

George Bush, in his post-Gulf War victory speech to the Southern Baptist Convention, did not exactly promise to make the world safe for (the American Religion) but as an Episcopalian he presumably was not any more versed in the (meaning of things) than were his triumphantalists Fundamentalist hosts...The profound point is again what (Baptists) so strangely share with the prophet Joseph Smith, and what neither share with the mainline Reformed churches. Call it man-godhood, or theomorphism, or what you will, but both (Baptists) and (Mormons) exalted in the image of the human. Baptist freedom, like the freedom of the Mormons' Restored Gospel, is the freedom to come very close to the divinity as well as the manhood of Jesus...

The Moderate Southern Baptist, in what is taken (rightly or wrongly) as an imitation of Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus road, presses for his or her soul's encounter with Jesus...No Southern Baptist, of any camp, will believe me when I tell them that they are subject and object of their own quest. This most aggressive of Protestantisms is no Protestantism at all, BUT A PURE OUTFLARING AGAIN OF THE ANCIENT GNOSIS. The Jesus who is sought is already both principle and particle in the soul that seeks him. Nothing that I have perceived of the American Religion is more persuasive THAN THE IMAGE OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST ALONE IN THE GARDEN WITH JESUS. (pp.216,217).