tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post6837349526220654002..comments2024-03-22T20:34:13.792-05:00Comments on Indomitable | The online home of Chauncey DeVega: How Does a Former Military Intelligence Analyst Make Sense of Dylann Roof, the White Right, and Domestic Terrorism?Lady Zora, Chauncey DeVega, and Gordon Gartrellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09138154899923808806noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-8080169116648498522015-07-03T09:52:38.075-05:002015-07-03T09:52:38.075-05:00I would argue that the implosion of the USSR was a...I would argue that the implosion of the USSR was a crucial factor in the rise of global neo-Nazism. Jonathan Lethem and CD discuss this very topic in the latest WARN podcast. <br /><br />I agree with your contention that the US right wing expands automatically regardless of international events and the same rule applies internationally. But certainly the crisis in leftist thought caused by the implosion of USSR acted to catalyze domestic and international rightists.joe manningnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-31644818780377404732015-07-02T13:28:17.188-05:002015-07-02T13:28:17.188-05:00The fall of the soviet union did not create a vacu...The fall of the soviet union did not create a vacuum of leftist ideology in the United States. Once the Soviet Union collapsed the ruling elites in America were no longer faced with the need to artificially prop up a white working middle class as a propaganda tool in their fight against soviet communist expansion.<br /><br />Thus the fiscal safety net was systemically pulled from under the white middle class which facilitated far right extremism entry into a large portion of their body politic. <br /><br />Simply stated I'm having a hard time making it somebody has to be there blame<br />those others not quite americans.mr. pop popnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-66675462422505960972015-07-01T19:09:16.497-05:002015-07-01T19:09:16.497-05:00Right. It only took enough wind to blow in the opp...Right. It only took enough wind to blow in the opposite direction for a sect or two, to change course. Have to corner the markets, right? IMO you are the same. Only one thing is paramount to you and that is the spread of your religion. If you have to take positions on either side of an issue, you do and will. However, after centuries of being the predominate force upon this planet, the world is still in a horrible state, if not worse.seeknsanitynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-60867997518036093052015-07-01T15:42:06.935-05:002015-07-01T15:42:06.935-05:00Protestantism has at least two, if not three "...Protestantism has at least two, if not three "End Times" scenarios. Two are known as premillennialism and postmillennialism. And, I think there is an in-between one. All Protestants believe in some kinds of "End Times." That is not disputable. The premillennialists who think they are going to raptured tend not to be activists. The postmillennialists who think they are going to stick around for the tribulations, tend to be politically active. The Christian Right has managed to span both tendencies and call for all to do their best to build the kingdom here-and-now while kicking butt on liberals and secularists, and waiting for the supernatural Jesus. The Christian Right dwarfs the Christian Identity movement and is the driving force of right-wing and Republican politics. The rest is just noise.James Scaminaci III, PhDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-31774289068422820092015-07-01T12:25:41.586-05:002015-07-01T12:25:41.586-05:00I'm guessing that you disagree with my saying ...I'm guessing that you disagree with my saying that the demise of the USSR caused a political vacuum which the right entered since there was no longer any leftest counter-ideology. Jonathan Lethem's recent podcast on WARN corroborates and explains this contention. wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_Lethem/ <br /><br />And I should qualify my statement that the FBI set up most of the KKK chapters during the 60's by pointing that they supposedly did so in order to plant informants. Even so, it appears that the FBI has and does coddle, nurture, and protect the RW. For example as recently as last week the FBI director said the Charleston massacre was not a hate crime. examiner.com/article/fbi-director-gets-it-wrong<br /><br />While The Family is an important dissemanater of recondite theocratic propaganda according to most sociological "power theorists" the power elite holds the balance. wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_Elitejoe manningnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-8097971546258986552015-07-01T09:22:21.925-05:002015-07-01T09:22:21.925-05:00Moderate no more. Every one of the mainline Prote...Moderate no more. Every one of the mainline Protestant denominations has adopted a powerful position on social justice including LGBT equality, and it is for these reasons they are being seen by the religious right as a major threat to their planning. There are few within mainline progressive Christianity who are Biblical literalists - it's antithetical to their view that questioning and lifelong pursuit of understanding is paramount. You do need to unpack your assumptions about faith communities - they are NOT all the same.Churchlady320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-35142247059680100812015-07-01T09:18:45.904-05:002015-07-01T09:18:45.904-05:00Seriously that is incorrect history and review of ...Seriously that is incorrect history and review of today's policies. Do catch up - the DOJ is investigating Charleston and the church arsons and many other issues as RW terrorism. To understand the foundations of post WW II RW power you need to read Jeff Sharlet's book, "The Family" that shows the relationship between the so-called C Street people and corporate leaders and some elected officials. They are the most powerful force globally and are the factor behind the spread of RW religious views into the Southern hemisphere, the source of the 'death to gays' laws everywhere.Churchlady320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-51299456716550287182015-07-01T09:13:55.307-05:002015-07-01T09:13:55.307-05:00That would be inaccurate of mainline Protestantism...That would be inaccurate of mainline Protestantism that has come from a very different base and committed not to personal salvation but social justice. One has only to see the support for marriage equality among them to know that they do not fit this End Times view. Protestantism like Catholicism or even Judaism has wide variations in the split between the 'wisdom tradition' and the more publicized personal salvation cum rightwing politics version that is, by the way, shrinking not growing.Churchlady320noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-8498923918820350072015-06-29T11:37:15.852-05:002015-06-29T11:37:15.852-05:00You are entitled to your opinion. You misstated w...You are entitled to your opinion. You misstated what I had written. Quite frankly, there is a ton of literature that the "End Times" beliefs is common to all variants of Protestantism. I'm not going to debate a tiny theological point to satisfy your ego.James Scaminaci III, PhDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-82740640146781322122015-06-28T11:22:08.917-05:002015-06-28T11:22:08.917-05:00Your claim was that white supremacy today was an ...Your claim was that white supremacy today was an offshoot of Christians believing in "end times." Most people who believe in that theology are black Africans. I know, I live and work in Ghana most of the year. I am a member of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and was in fact baptised in that church recently. Being as that the fundamentalist theology you claim as the basis of white supremacy today is only followed by a few million white people versus hundreds of millions of black Africans I think your claim is worthless.j.ottopohlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-19623958399689388152015-06-28T10:08:00.695-05:002015-06-28T10:08:00.695-05:00I do not understand what "this claim" re...I do not understand what "this claim" refers to. "End Times" is a general belief among all Protestants. In the United States, religious adherents have not had to change their "End Times" beliefs. The leadership of the Christian Right, coming from the four major strands of Protestantism, became "operational" Christian Reconstructionists. What I mean by that is that they agreed to work in the here-and-now to achieve the kingdom on earth while waiting for the rapture.<br /><br /><br />The New Apostolic Reformation is very active in South America challenging the Catholic Church and in Africa. For more information, see for example, the Talk to Action articles and book on how the Christian Right is promoting extermination of homosexuals in Africa, particularly Uganda.<br /><br /><br />Second, there is research that the Christian Right or NAR went to Africa to influence African Methodists on the gay rights issue. They then tried to manipulate the African Methodists into voting at the annual meeting to dislodge the more liberal American Methodists from the leadership.<br /><br /><br />For that, see Frederick Clarkson, I believe. But, there are articles on that.<br /><br /><br />The Black Church in America is much more of a traditional Protestant "End Times" waiting for the rapture. Since 1980, the Black Church has also adopted the Reaganism-on-steroids "prosperity gospel" or the "name-and-claim-it" gospel.<br /><br /><br />My own personal view, biased as it is and not based on research, is that while some Black churches are involved in Moral Monday protests and the like, for the most part, the Black Church has been politically inert. That may change as Black churches come under arson attacks; as Black Lives Matter activists reach out to Black pastors; as Black politicians in the South are singled out for racist attacks over the Confederate flag (this morning in Pensacola there was one); and, perhaps a realization among Black women who are the Black Church that sitting in their pews on Sunday is not accomplishing anything.James Scaminaci III, PhDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-47041943389311120602015-06-28T06:09:00.106-05:002015-06-28T06:09:00.106-05:00How do you reconcile this claim with the fact that...How do you reconcile this claim with the fact that largest number of "end times" believers (Pentacostals) are black Africans? There are hundreds of millions of more such believers among blacks in Africa than among whites in the US.j.ottopohlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-26855301866773194332015-06-27T20:02:51.025-05:002015-06-27T20:02:51.025-05:00Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Sam Brownback, Bob...Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Sam Brownback, Bobby Jindal and Paul Weyrich are all Catholics. Weyrich was a Byzantine Melkite and not a Roman rite Catholic. How did they and the US Conference of Catholic Bishops get aligned with the Christian Right in this movement? What is their end game in being allies with these groups? I know that the Reagan administration was involved with the Pope John Paul II in thwarting the Liberation Theology movements in Central America back in the 1980's. What is the goal for these Catholics now though?john fremontnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-1100466579662401452015-06-27T10:06:17.081-05:002015-06-27T10:06:17.081-05:00No, with a caveat. The Republicans do not speak i...No, with a caveat. The Republicans do not speak in terms of dominionism. Some do like Michelle Bachmann and Ted Cruz and Rick Santorum. But, their presidential candidates incorporate many of the key ideas of dominionism into their rhetoric.<br /><br />The national GOP has become a religious party. Even former Republicans have reported that as the reason they left. This is a political party that has been captured by the Christian Right.<br /><br />At some point in the past, Republican leaders may have thought they could use the Christian Right to pursue their own goals. That backfired. The Christan Right and its neo-Confederate allies own the Republican Party. <br /><br />The Southern Strategy combined with its Christian strategy has essentially made the Republican Party an anti-system political party. Read the conclusion to the book, It's Even Worse Than<br />It Looks: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics<br />of Extremism. Those two moderate scholars think of the GOP as an anti-system party, with only the Democratic Party dedicated to maintaining the constitutional structures and protections. (See my Introduction on academia.edu where I discuss this more fully)<br /><br />Not all state-level Republican parties are as extreme as the Texas GOP. For example, I looked at the Texas GOP platform and the Missouri GOP platform, and there is not much overlap in terms of the religious ideology.<br /><br />However, Republican candidates do use the rhetoric of the Christian Right, to wit, their use of the same language regarding "religious liberty." They do oppose abortion in all cases. They are opposed to same-sex marriage rights. They will talk about bringing religion into the public square and some will talk about the "myth of the separation of church and state."<br /><br />The national and many state-level GOP parties use the pseudo-historian David Barton to spread his "Christian nation" and other ideological beliefs into the base.<br /><br />Some of the major GOP presidential candidates are aligned with the New Apostolic Reformation, for example, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, Sam Brownback, Ted Cruz, Bobby Jindal, and others.<br /><br />While Mitt Romney was awkward for many personal reasons, one reason for his awkwardness is that he was a relatively sane, moderately conservative Republican trying to appeal to a very conservative, very Christian, right-wing religious-political base. He just really could not pull it off.James Scaminaci III, PhDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-50643069679065669742015-06-27T09:47:50.327-05:002015-06-27T09:47:50.327-05:00You are certainly correct that Christian Identity ...You are certainly correct that Christian Identity had a significant effect on the Hard Right, especially the KKK. The neo-Nazis are more influenced by Odinism. It took my several chapters to demonstrate that the Christian Right essentially had the same ideas and has come to express the same ideology in a less virulently racist and anti-Semitic form. The greatest danger is not Christian Identity, which is essentially a dead religion, literally, but the Christian Right.<br /><br /><br />They have a well developed ideology that millions of Christians believe and are mobilized to act upon. Their "End Times" beliefs are much more orientated to the here-and-now rather than a future rapture. Whether the issue is reproductive rights or gay rights, they work themselves up into a frenzy of a persecution complex. They are using the pretext of an assault on "religious liberty" to instill fear and paranoia in their base and the Republican Party base. The Patriot militia is their armed wing, not Christian Identity's. The neo-Nazis follow the Christian Right's strategic program, not Christian Identity's or the Odinists.<br /><br /><br />It took me several chapters of my book to document that the greatest danger to America is the Christian Right, not Christian Identity, though there has been a blending of their ideologies. I demonstrated that the Christian Right definitely moved to the right and that the Christian Identity leaders definitely signalled their approval of many Christian Right ideological positions. See my Chapter 11 posted on academia.edu for details.James Scaminaci III, PhDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-38359686549061128142015-06-27T09:38:32.785-05:002015-06-27T09:38:32.785-05:00No, I don't mind.No, I don't mind.James Scaminaci III, PhDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-64043540023538317962015-06-27T05:29:08.627-05:002015-06-27T05:29:08.627-05:00Do you see any signs of any GOP factions moving aw...Do you see any signs of any GOP factions moving away from the right wing/Christian Dominionist agenda?drspittlenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-86057471402262571152015-06-26T21:59:16.616-05:002015-06-26T21:59:16.616-05:00James, I have felt that some type of coup would ul...James, I have felt that some type of coup would ultimately happen, and that it would involve the convergence of Right Wing politics, religion, and Patriotism. My sense was that the country was in danger of becoming a Theocracy, and that we are moving in the direction of Fascism. Thank you for this post, and providing some great resources.anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-81670218925437820722015-06-26T21:49:36.814-05:002015-06-26T21:49:36.814-05:00There is one thing that connects all strains of to...There is one thing that connects all strains of today's virulent "white" movements. It is the twisted quasi-Christian end-times mythology of a looming apocalytpic "race" war. This is a prophesied national Civil-War scale convulsion in which a besieged "white" population will take up arms against hordes of rioting "blacks", finally exterminating all "blacks" (and Jewish people) to achieve a pure new paradise of "whiteness".<br />The source of this violent racist fantasy is the self-styled Christian Identity novement - a "white" supremacist religious extremeist group from the 60s. Their doctrine is a corrupted bastardisation of the Old Testament. "Whites" are the original pure people; Jewish people are deceivers, descendants of Satan, and "black" people are "mud people", subhumans - literally "Untermenschen". Their end-times eschatology is the "Race" War: something I trace to the 18th century nightmares of "whites" who lived perpeturally in fear of an uprising of their enslaved populations. In 1861, South Carolina's enslaved "black" population outnumbered its "white" population by 100,000. It is not hard to see how the Christian Identity "race" war apocalypse was born in such a cauldron - embracing the terror but reversing the roles of the victimisers.<br />The lineage of this "race" war paranoia back to the Confederacy is what interweaves "white"-racism, gun fetishisation, and hatred of the Federal Government.<br />The Christian Identity movement dispersed into all of America's "white" nationalist movements in the 1970s, seeding them with variants of this apocalyptic narrative. Every sediment around America's fault-line of "White" insanity contains a layer of this dangerously potent "race" war delusion. Charles Manson was no flower-child. He called his "race" war "Helter Skelter" - and designed his 1960 massacres to trigger it. Timothy McVeigh was an acolyte of the same Christian Identity movement. When arrested after detonating a truck-bomb that killed 168 people, McVeigh had in his car pages from the "Turner Diaries": a "white" nationalist novel/bible that vividly imagines the "race" war. <br /><br />This terror/aching lust for a looming "race" war has become seeded into the very consciousness of "Whiteness" today. It is not just the deadly true-believers - it is in every fearful suburban "white" person who seeks ever remoter suburbs from the "inner cities". It is the NRA and the militarization of American "whiteness" via gun culture. "Race" war is the slime that lies underneath today's predominantly "white" Doomsday Prepper culture. Consciously to most (subsconsciously to some) the prepping is for that apocalypse when hoardes of "blacks" will pour out of the inner cities, and the "white" get to open fire. It is also behind the cultural currency of Zombies - from target practice to the most popular TV show in America. Zombies are a psychological stand-in for the coming "black" hordes. This is quite literally expressed on hate sites, where references to "zombies" and discussions of the best guns to use against them are a sly code for "black" people and the coming "race" war.<br />This is the cancer that erupted as Dylann Storm Roof. It is now fully metastasized in American culture. It radicalises 17 year-old "Walking Dead" fans as well as 65 year-old Nixon Democrats. All of them live in this ancient "white"-guilt-fueled nightmare of slave uprising - which Christian Identity cunningly re-directed into forgiving prophesies of a righteous "race" war. This is why so many "white" people must arm, remain vigilant, and prepare to fight to reclaim "their country".balitwilightnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-6537749063413370142015-06-26T20:24:29.350-05:002015-06-26T20:24:29.350-05:00BTW, I've shared a link to this page on Rawsto...BTW, I've shared a link to this page on Rawstory, I hope you don't mind.seeknsanitynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-20714946691714424392015-06-26T20:03:29.507-05:002015-06-26T20:03:29.507-05:00No, I suppose it wouldn't be as obvious. Thank...No, I suppose it wouldn't be as obvious. Thanks for the reply and the article.seeknsanitynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-72571295624740245842015-06-26T19:59:52.333-05:002015-06-26T19:59:52.333-05:00When I was in intelligence there were conservative...When I was in intelligence there were conservatives, but nothing like this. For example, I worked for BG Glen Schaffer when he was chief of intelligence at EUCOM. I did not know if he was or was not a Christian at EUCOM. He never spoke about religion. He was all business and he was a great, terrific boss. I could not have asked for a more supportive and protective boss.<br /><br /><br /><br />I was shocked when I read the GQ (May 2009) that now Major General Shaffer, chief of intelligence for the Joint Chiefs and SecDef, was described as a Christian who put biblical scripture on the covers of the Daily Brief sent around to the principals like SecDef, SecState, etc. That is so unprofessional.<br /><br /><br />But, Glen Shaffer would have been the last person I would have suspected doing that. He must have gone "Christian" in DC. I am still not sure whether he actually believed the stuff he put on the Daily Briefing books or just put it on because Rumsfeld told him to in order to butter up President Bush who thought he was on a "mission from God."James Scaminaci III, PhDnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-73481393646888706842015-06-26T19:10:27.325-05:002015-06-26T19:10:27.325-05:00Thank you for your reply and sharing the teachings...Thank you for your reply and sharing the teachings of your particular sect. I suppose I am one of those whose non-belief deserves a greater level of hatred. An attitude which is prevalent among christians, according to recent studies.<br /><br /><br />It seems, despite the various sects using the same literature, no matter who you speak to, the other isn't truly the embodiment of the religion. Yet, curiously, that party can still gain the support of nearly half the country. Which is then justified by the individual issues.<br /> <br />I supposed, it had to do with that umbrella like organizational structure explained above, where they can exercise influence without direct intervention. These guys, being authoritarians on christianity are not operating in a vacuum. And I believe most of the individual sects get their messaging from above via conferences, etc. which they can then impart to their moderate congregation by reinfocing or emphasizing certain scripture, by design.<br /><br /><br />So, my point, if I have one, is that we need moderates to recognize that they play a role in the success of these cretins. Not providing a blanket denial, but by recognizing to what end their religious sentiment is being manipulated.seeknsanitynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-40055623782501645542015-06-26T18:24:17.257-05:002015-06-26T18:24:17.257-05:00I'm not sure if I classify as a 'moderate&...I'm not sure if I classify as a 'moderate' Christian but I am one of, if not the only Christians who frequently comments on this blog. I can't speak for all Christians anymore than I can speak for all black people so my comments are reflective of myself alone. As a Seventh Day Adventist I have no secret affinity for dominionist theology. Nor do I believe that there is legitimate support for it found in the Bible. Since the late 1800's our church has taught that the Bible prophesies that America will become a theocracy in the future and will force its citizens and the world to give allegiance to its apostate form of Christianity under penalty of death. The SDA church has preached and fought for separation of church and state from its inception. http://www.oakwood.edu/historyportal/ejah/2011/blair.htm<br />This is not something that we see as an inevibility that cannot be fought but we were encouraged by a woman who we believe was a prophet to fight it at all cost<br /><br />"We are not doing the will of God if we sit in quietude, doing nothing to preserve liberty of conscience. Fervent, effectual prayer should be ascending to heaven that this calamity may be deferred until we can accomplish the work which has so long been neglected. Let there be most earnest prayer and then let us work in harmony with our prayers."—Testimonies for the Church 5:714 (1889). – {LDE 127.2}<br /><br />"There are many who are at ease, who are, as it were, asleep. They say, “If prophecy has foretold the enforcement of Sunday observance the law will surely be enacted,” and having come to this conclusion they sit down in a calm expectation of the event, comforting themselves with the thought that God will protect His people in the day of trouble. But God will not save us if we make no effort to do the work He has committed to our charge...." – {LDE 127.3}<br /><br />And before anyone brings up Ben Carson let me bring up Judas and remind us all that there are always betrayers in our midst.<br /><br />Personally I see the current movements of the 'Christian' right as fullfillment of Bible prophecy and that earths history is about to close. Yes yes I know, magical thinking that some here have no use for. But, I would rather be hated for something I do believe rather than something I do not.KissedByTheSunnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57113078446695664.post-40832516316351560942015-06-26T18:08:38.764-05:002015-06-26T18:08:38.764-05:00You've provide a lot of information to digest,...You've provide a lot of information to digest, I've only just finished filling the various links into a 'to read later' file. <br /><br /><br />Having worked in the intelligence agency do you/have you noticed the infiltration of these types? A couple years ago, I believe there was a comment on one of the progressives sites, might have been Common Dreams, who was as rabid right as they come. He would qualify his opinion with having worked in the intelligence department, which got me to wondering, just how many of these fanatics, making decisions about who or what to go to war over, there are?seeknsanitynoreply@blogger.com