Air Force Times article

Dear (name withheld),

Thanks for your service, and for your great article on the growing problem of illegal and unconstitutional proselytizing in the US military, which Mr. Weinstein of the MRFF forwarded me recently.

I am a veteran of the USMC (Vietnam), and have written as a volunteer for the MRFF on occasion. While it is true that Mr. Weinstein’s rhetoric can sometimes grow heated (an issue I have discussed with him on occasion), the problem is of such magnitude that one can understand his vehemence when one has experienced it first-hand. (I invite you to ask him to share some of the mail he receives, or look on the MRFF site, and see for yourself.)

Although some of the people the MRFF deals with are well-meaning, sincere Christians who sadly lack any deep knowledge of the actual history of our country (as opposed to the juvenile jingoistic and chauvinistic and mythology that is all too commonly pedaled), others are of a far darker tribe –the Dominionists, our own home-grown “American Taliban” who plan to establish both a religion — their twisted brand of Christianity — and a theocracy, first in the US (“by ballot or bullet” as they themselves have said), then world-wide, using a “Christianized” military. (I attach some information on this movement below for your convenience.)

Thanks for supporting the Constitution we all swore to uphold and defend, and for publicizing this tremendous cancer which is spreading in the body politic. I think if more Americans (of all faiths) know what is going on, the better chance we have of stopping these radical extremist zealots.

Semper Fidelis,

F. J. Taylor
USMC (Ret.)

http://sites.google.com/site/usmccaposcar

Dominion Theology

It would be tedious and lengthy in the extreme to detail the twisted eschatology of the people the MRFF is mainly dealing with (a radical and militant subset of evangelical Christianity), and unfortunately, there is not one simple term that covers them and their various sects, so the MRFF uses a term coined by various observers of this movement — “Dominionists.”

The MRFF sometimes also uses the term “radical” and / or “extremist fundamentalist.” (Some members of the group actually describe themselves as “radical fundamentalists.”) One writer coined the term “American Taliban” and essentially that is what they are — a “Christian” version of the Taliban, with a radical agenda that includes the take-over of the US from within, and the establishment of a harsh “Old Testament” version of Sharia-like religious law that would make an extremist Islamic fundamentalist mullah green with envy.

In violation of the Constitution, public law, and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Dominionists aggressively seek converts. Failing persuasion, they harass, bully, and attempt to intimidate under color of authority service members under their command or control, in order to attempt to proselytize even service members who have expressed their unwillingness.

When in command positions, they use tactics ranging from denying choice assignments and promotions to those they don’t consider Christian or “Christian enough” to giving poor performance reviews, and difficult, dirty, and dangerous tasks – including potentially deadly tasks in combat. (One of our clients was assigned as “permanent point” in a combat unit!)

They have advocated in both words and writing the overthrow or “replacement” of the Republic and Constitution (“by ballot or by bullet”), and replacing them with an Old Testament style theocracy, complete with “Biblical” Sharia-like laws, complete with public executions by stoning, sword, or other “Biblical” methods, with mandatory attendance and participation by the whole community – including children.

Anyone not considered not “Christian enough” by these people will (if they gain power) be forced to either convert to or accept their warped version of Christianity or die.

Some people might consider this another “tin-hat” conspiracy theory, or that they are just far-right fringe lunatics without a hope of acheiving power, but whatever their mental state, they exist in some numbers (estimated at between 12 and 20 million), and are gaining numbers and ground.

Operating “under the radar” for years, and protected by the very Constitution they seek to overturn, they are now firmly entrenched in every branch and MOS of our armed forces and government, at every level – and are getting bolder by the day.

Let’s examine the words of the individuals who founded the movement, such as the late Rousas John Rushdoony who wrote that they intend to “…lead them (non-believers) to Jesus – in chains, if necessary.”

Rushdoony also wrote that democracy is “heresy” and that Christians must remember that “a monarchy (referring to “God’s kingdom on earth”) is not a democracy.” and “Democracy is the great love of the failures and cowards of life.”

Rushdoony listed eighteen capital “crimes” including blasphemy, witchcraft, astrology, adultery, incorrigible delinquency, homosexuality, promiscuity or unchastity before marriage, wearing a red dress (for women – though one must suppose they would apply it to men too), and failure to keep a kosher kitchen.

Punishment for non-capital crimes would include whipping and indentured servitude or slavery (including for debt), and prisons would become temporary holding tanks while prisoners awai ted sentencing. Women and children would again become chattel property of men.

Rushdoony and other Dominionists have been aptly described elsewhere as “the American Taliban” as noted above. This is true in more ways than just their morbid interest in cruel and unusual punishment. They are extremely retrogressive socially and politically, and share many more beliefs in common with the Islamic fundamentalists than they do with the average American.

Perhaps one reason they hate the Islamist fascists is that they have so much in common with them — battles between kindred are always the worst. One can only hope that they never recognize their true kinship, lest they join forces in a truly unholy alliance.

Rushdoony’s Chalcedon Foundation also helped establish The Rutherford Institute, a legal organization to promote their agenda through the very courts they plan to supersede once in power, so although Rushdoony died, his organization and legacy of theocracy lives on.

Gary North, Rushdoony’s son-in-law, espouses (publicly) a slightly less draconian version, stating, “I don’t want to kill homosexuals–I would be happy just driving them back into the closet.” However, he also espouses stoning for blasphemers and those who curse their parents, and has stated that public stoning of “malefactors” would be “a great way to bring communities together.”

A stunning example of their theology (and ultimate plans for everyone not of their belief) is the statement of US Army chaplain MAJ James Linzey, who, in a 1999 video, described mainstream Protestant churches as “demonic, dastardly creatures from the pit of hell ” that should be “stomped out.”

The Council of Full Gospel Churches (Linzey’s accrediting agency founded by retired Army COL Ammerman) not only didn’t pull his accreditation, but supported this egregious violation of his mission and orders as a military chaplain, and of his oath as an officer.(Of course, Ammerman is as bad or worse.)

The CFGC, COL Ammerman, MAJ Linzey, and their cohorts have also denigrated Judaism and Catholicism, as well as mainstream Protestant churches.

COL Ammerman and MAJ Linzey have also spread conspiracy theories about “Satanic forces” in the U.S. government for years aiding a military takeover aided by unnamed “foreign” (presumably UN) troops.

In 2008, COL Ammerman said that four presidential candidates (US Senators Obama, Clinton, Biden and Dodd) should be hanged for treason – for not voting to designate English as America’s official language. He also stated that President Obama would be assassinated as a “secret Muslim.” (In the late 1990s, he had also called for the execution of then-president Clinton for treason.)

CFGC and its chaplains have repeatedly and egregiously violated the Constitution and the laws and regulations regarding chaplaincies, including those on interfaith cooperation, bans on membership in&n bsp;organizations with religious or racial supremacist principles, especially those espousing violence, and that active military personnel cannot make disloyal or contemptuous statements about officials.

This problem, as stated, is very wide-spread and deeply entrenched, not only in the military but in many areas of government and indeed, other nations.

These people are very clever, subtle, well-organized, and well-funded. They are gaining ground in many areas – including the military and the Service Academies.

These people are our main opponents, and regular violators of the very Constitution which guarantees them freedom of religion and pluralism, which they call upon to defend themselve s as they attack and undermine the very principles which allow them to exist and operate.

While we accept their right to believe as they please, within the framework of the Constitution and public law, we balk at allowing them to proselytize unwilling service personnel under their command “under color of authority” and to undermine and work to destroy the Constitution that many of our members (most of whom are former or serving members of the US Armed Forces), swore to “uphold and defend.”

The Dominionists and their allied sects are committing egregious assaults on the Constitution and on the rights of servicemen and women daily. We expose to the clear light of day their violations, as well as those of any other individuals or groups who attempt the same. Unfortunat ely, this group constitutes the bulk of the complaints we receive.

Mr. Weinstein determined that this movement, far from being a few relatively harmless religious lunatics, had developed into a highly dangerous and credible threat to the Constitution and to the Republic itself. He determined that there was no way he could stand aside and let them continue their rise to power. He left his employment, and founded MRFF, using all his own money and mortgaging his possessions, borrowing from friends, family and anyone he could convince of the need to battle this threat. He quite literally has wagered his “life, fortune, and sacred honor” to defend the Constitution he swore (like all of us who have served) to “uphold and defend against all enemies, foreign and domestic.” That is why he and the MRFF do what they do. In return, he and the MRFF staff are demonized, vilified, and daily threatened with death and violence — mostly by these same self-described “Christians.”

FYI, some Online sources of information on Dominionism:

http://www.mainstreambaptists.org/mob4/dominionism.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominionism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_Theology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christofascism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rousas_John_Rushdoony

http://www.religioustolerance.org/reconstr.htm

http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/TheDespoilingOfAmerica.htm

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dominionism

http://www.publiceye.org/christian_right/cr_intro.html#dominion

http://www.theocracywatch.org/dominionism.htm

http://www.jewsonfirst.org/dominionism.html

http://www.rwor.org/a/033/dominionism-be-very-afraid.htm

Pat Robertson’s “The Secret Kingdom” outlines his own plans for a theocracy.