Msg # 481 Date: 02 May 92 02:54:00 To: All Subj: stoned 1 _ MSGID: 1:112/2020 3e02f9c1 A
Msg # 481
Date: 02 May 92 02:54:00
From: Ken Cusick
To: All
Subj: stoned 1
____________________________________________________________________________
MSGID: 1:112/2020 3e02f9c1
A caller sent this to me and I thought you might like to see it.
The Nature of the Beast
Knowing your enemy is one of the fundamental principles of any
confrontation. Here in Gainesville, confrontation has been brewing for
months
in the form of the Alachua County Commision's ongoing anti-discrimination
ordinance saga. The brouhaha has drawn many factions of society out of the
closet -- including the American Family Association. I took it upon myself
to
investigate the AFA, and what I unearthed was troubling.
Most of us know the American Family Association and groups like it. We
know they're the ones picketing and protesting loudly against not just gay
rights but sex and AIDS education and abortion as well. But few of us know
that there is a concrete, relatively new, and all-encompassing ideology
guiding the actions and beliefs of these groups. The name of this school of
thought is Christian Reconstructionism (sometimes also referred to as
Theonomy
or Dominion Theology), and its followers are growing in number. Many other
Christians may be influenced by it without their knowledge.
An explicit definition of Christian Reconstructionism (aka CR) is an
elusive, complex mixture of politics and religion. In its simplest terms, it
amounts to just what its name implies: a grass-roots religio-political
movement whose ultimate goal is the structuring of America's political and
social system to bring it into agreement with Old Testament Mosaic Law. The
basic belief underlying this movement is the idea that the kingdom of God was
initiated by Christ 2,000 years ago. This is in direct contrast to the
Econventional, mainstream Christian belief that God's kingdom will be
inaugurated with Christ's second coming some time in the future.
An absolutely literal, dogmat interpretation of the Bible (or at least
most passages) is at the heart of CR, so if you aren't up on Mosaic Law,
here are CR's goals in a nutshell: God's law as taught in the Bible should
govern all aspects of life. Local governments should have absolute
sovereignty. Prisons should be be eliminated by executing all serious
offenders and forcing others to work to make restitution for their crimes.
Schools should be family- or church-run. Husbands should head every
household, with women and children subsequent. The death penalty, carried
out by stoning, should be the punishment for murder, negligence resulting in
the death of another, rape, homosexuality (of course), adultery, apostasy
(the
abandonment of one's religious or political faith or cause), idolatry, and
incorrigibility in children. (For a more in-depth definition, articles on
this subject can be found in Christianity Today.)
These goals are usually not stated in black and white, and as such some
ad ents to some or all of these tenets may be either unaware of the ultimate
ideology guiding their beliefs or unwilling to admit to what their political
leanings imply. And though when stated openly these goals sound incredible,
this movement is not populated by just a small minority of fringe-group
radicals. It is a large, well-organized, and growing network of individuals
and groups who spend their time, energy, and money working toward these
goals.
At the h the CR movement is the Coalition on Revival (COR), a sort
of umbrella organization with a broad-based focus that has, at its heart, a
steering committee comprised of some 112 well-known fundamentalist Christian
leaders; their director is a man named Jay Grimstead. It is this
organization
that has been the most influential in working toward CR's goals by
orchestrating communication between organizations. The COR has been quietly
pulling together the strings of the various born-again, evangelical, and
fundamentalist movements to form a broad consensus among sects ranging from
Pentecostal to Orthodox Presbyterian and Assemblies of God.
But the COR is not by itself a highly visible organization. In fact, CR
is a movement intent on motivating change from the ground up. Its followers
hope to accomplish this by working hardest to legislate morality and religion
at the local level -- hence the AFA's loud and offensive objections to
Alachua
County's proposed ordinance. There are organizations, however, that target
for and have been successful in capturing national attention as well. The
NAFA, an organization that first became well-known for pressuring the
sponsors
of selected television shows, is among them. Their leader, the Rev. Donald
Wildmon, is a member of the COR steering committee. Another group, the
Traditional Values Coalition, has most recently gained media attention for
their loud protests against public school condom distribution and their hand
in securing a gubernatorial veto of California's gay rights bill. Focus on
the Family is yet another similar organization, with sibling organizations,
each known by their own name, in roughly twenty states. And Concerned Women
for America, headed by Beverly LaHaye (another COR member), is known for
campaigning against sex and AIDS education in public schools.
--- GEcho/beta
* Origin: Aether (1:112/2020)
SEEN-BY: 13/13 102/890 112/36 42 2020 135/41 151/606 1000 1003 152/20
SEEN-BY: 243/11 371/1304 373/2 374/1 12 14 98 377/10 681/857 3641/1
PATH: 112/2020 36 151/1000 1003 374/1 14
Msg # 482
Date: 02 May 92 02:55:01
From: Ken Cusick
To: All
Subj: stoned 2
____________________________________________________________________________
MSGID: 1:112/2020 3e02f9c2
Propaganda abounds -- most of us have heard the AFA or a similar group
use a term like "traditional family values" to lend itself legitimacy, and
these groups often also use ridiculously skewed statistics and almost comical
assertions about the "average" homosexual. The AFA's recent letter to the
editor of the Gainesville Sun presents us with a prime example of the way
these groups do business. Mr. Jim Johnston, writer of the letter and
president of the local AFA chapter, starts off by weeping and moaning over
the demise of the "family." He then makes the mystifying claim that in
reality
only 1-3% of the population is homosexual, as if discrimination against us
could be made less wrong by the claim that we are fewer. (To say the least,
I
question the impartiality of his statistics.) He goes on to announce that
homosexuality "is such a public problem" that families are unsafe in parks,
the restrooms at UF, and those at the mall. He apparently believes we are
(or
at least wants to portray us to others as) hordes of deranged homosexuals
prowling public restrooms and parks preying on innocent children. This
distorted world view is simultaneously amusing, sad, and alarming.
And, as we are all too aware, print is not the only medium CR uses: even
after
all the scandal of the 1980's, televangelism remains a very
effective front on which fundamentalists wage their war against "sin". Jerry
Falwell's Liberty Foundation recently mailed to its supporters a booklet
asking for (surprise!) money to help defeat the "wicked goals" of "radical
homosexuals," even crying out that "we cannot allow the homosexuals to rule
America!"
By far the most widely-known Christian Reconstructionist, however, is
1988 presidential candidate Pat Robertson. Rev. Robertson, who heads the
Christian Broadcasting Network (aka The Family Channel) is seen daily on his
network's "700 Club." In his 1988 book Salvation Sale, Gerard Straub
details CBN as an organization devoid of shades of gray wherein the slightest
transgression was grounds for firing. Employees could not smoke or drink,
even in their own homes; scientific or intellectual inquiry was denounced as
Satan's handiwork, and homosexuals, adulterers, and other "undesirables" were
immediately terminated upon discovery. Employees were encouraged to spy on
and turn in coworkers who disobeyed.
Rev. Robertson tis political ambitions toward the presidency as a
means of fulfilling the goals of CR. And Mr. Straub, once an insider high up
in CBN, plainly stated that though at first, "I simply considered him
misguided but harmless," he now knows better: "I was wrong. He is not
harmless; he is dangerous." The same could be said of CR is general. The
entire gist of this movement is dangerous, and particularly dangerous is its
unassuming approach. Around the country, people who embrace the philosophies
of CR are working quietly through their churches and community action groups
to legislate their own particular brand of morality into law at the local
level.
And, of course, CR's workhorse groups have together emerged as the one
insistent minority opposed to all attempts by the gay community to secure
protections and/or freedoms under the law. The issue of our rights has
become
one of the most visible fronts in the escalating war b en reason and
religion. It is the one issue that brings CR's ultimately fascist nature
into
sharpest focus, because it is on this issue that many of CR's proponents have
been drawn out into the limelight. It is here that they have made their most
heinous and telling public statements. Groups guided by CR have consistently
opposed everything from domestic partner ordinances to even simple hate
crimes
legislation. They have worked hard to foster fear, hatred, intolerance, and
misunderstanding through propaganda and prejudiced stereotyping. Jay
Grimstead himself is quoted in Penthouse as saying, "The Bible has something
like 11 reasons for capital punishment. And murder was one. And
homosexuality [was another]...The actual punishments we don't have agreement
on, but we think that homosexuality...should be outlawed." Similarly, Jimmy
Swaggart has long advocated death not only for homosexuals, but also for
those
who would defend them. By advocating death or, at the very least,
incarceration for homosexuals, they encourage attitudes that make gay-bashing
acceptable, even desirable, behavior. Hiding behind the pulpit, they help to
turn a war of words and legislation into a true war at its most primitive
level.
Visibility is perhaps our most important weapon in combating those who
adhere to this destructive and ethically indefensible ideology. By showing
our families, friends, ners, co-workers, and the community at large that
we are sound, stable, productive individuals who just happen to be lesbian or
gay, we do a lot to dispel the hysteria of the Religious Right. By reminding
those around us that we are people first and lesbian/gay second, we emphasize
our individuality and humanity. And our fundamental humanity is what will
protect us in the end against those who would dehumanize, label, and shun us.
--- GEcho/beta
* Origin: Aether (1:112/2020)
SEEN-BY: 13/13 102/890 112/36 42 2020 135/41 151/606 1000 1003 152/20
SEEN-BY: 243/11 371/1304 373/2 374/1 12 14 98 377/10 681/857 3641/1
PATH: 112/2020 36 151/1000 1003 374/1 14
Msg # 483
Date: 02 May 92 02:55:02
From: Ken Cusick
To: All
Subj: stoned 3
____________________________________________________________________________
MSGID: 1:112/2020 3e02f9c3
Speak out. Here in Alachua County there is no time like the present.
Let the Alachua County Commission, the American Family Association, and the
community at large know how you feel. Expose the AFA for what it is; let
them
know their ideology is offensive, as is their contention that they speak for
all Christians. Tell them that their theft of the term "family" is an
affront
not just to families with gay or lesbian members or struggling gay
co-parents,
but to single-parent families, step-families, mixed-race families, foster
families, and all other so-called "non-traditional" families as well.
Above all, keep a vigilant eye on groups like the AFA. They are an
organized danger, a cancer marring the fabric of society, and they show no
signs of disappearing.
(c) 1992 Natasha Mohr printed March 1992 in MAMA RAGA
Coalition on Revival steering committee member
Christian Reconstructionist legal foundation
ORION PEOPLE ----------------------------------
------------------------------------
Forceful Men organization
Orthodox Presbyterian Sect
Leonard Coppes (Denver)
American Family Association
Donald Wildmon
Bay Area Council of Pastors (Calif.)
Pentecostal Sect
Paul Cain
Rutherford Institute
R.J. Rushdoony
Focus on the Family
Dr. James Dobson (Has 20 state offices, each operating
(Christian psychologist) under its own name)
Pennsylvania Family Instutitue
Michael Geer (Penn. section of FotF. Puts out CITIZEN magazine.)
National Family Legal Foundation
Alan Sears Christian Coalition
Traditional Values Coalition
CHARISMA & CHRISTIAN LIFE magazine Stephen Strang
Assemblies of God Sect
(Youth Alive high school ministry teaches aggressive
"recruiting" tactics.
Uses FIRST HOUR BIBLE STUDIES which includes a section on
"Five Ways to Use Your Classroom for Christ.")
Youth Invasion Ministries(Offers seminars on teen evangelism,
similar aggressive tactics. Goal is "to raise up Holy Ghost SWAT
teams
us who will lead the campus to God."
Citizens for Excellence in Education Robert L. Simonds
National Association of Christian Educators
Robert L. Simonds (Against the teaching of sex education,
Thomas Tancredo (Denver) international relations, humanism,
evolution, values clarification, and sexual-gender orientation
[acceptance of gays])
publishes EDUCATION NEWSLINE magazine
HOW TO ELECT CHRISTIANS TO PUBLIC OFFICE
(be considerable damage to Denver public school system.
ARTICLES: Christian Reconstructionism:
CHRISTIAN CENTURY, 10/4/89, p880
CHRISTIANITY TODAY, 9/2/89, p52
Coalition on Revival:
MOTHER JONES, 11-12/90, p11
CHRISTIANITY TODAY, 11/19/90, p57
CHRISTIANITY TODAY, 3/5/90, p42
Christian Educators:
EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP, 10/89, p61
Donald Wildmon:
NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE, 9/2/90, p22
TIME, 6/19/89, p54
VARIETY, 1/21/91, p27
BROADCASTING, 7/31/89, p74
Paul Cain:
CHRISTIANITY TODAY, 1/14/91, p18
Pentecostalism:
CHRISTIAN CENT 10/17/90, p93
------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for reading a text on the Aether BBS, 904-757-3182
------------------------------------------------------------
- - - -----===< * >===----- - - -
--- GEcho/beta
* Origin: Aether (1:112/2020)
SEEN-BY: 13/13 102/890 112/36 42 2020 135/41 151/606 1000 1003 152/20
SEEN-BY: 243/11 371/1304 373/2 374/1 12 14 98 377/10 681/857 3641/1
PATH: 112/2020 36 151/1000 1003 374/1 14
E-Mail Fredric L. Rice / The Skeptic Tank