CHRISTOFASCISM: an
arrogant, totalitarian, imperialistic attitude, characteristic of the church in
Germany under Nazism. - definition by
Dorothy Solle, entry in wikipedia.
"Advancing
Faith, Family Freedom" has never looked so ... sinister.
Jeremy
Hooper of Good As You was privy to the latest fundraising
request of the Family Research Council. As with all their fundraising screeds,
it emphasizes just how important its work is in battling the so-called
"homosexual agenda" and religious freedom. And while not quite as
damning as the National Organization for Marriage's "Drive-a-Wedge"
memo, it is frightening in its strategies: very little reading between the
lines is necessary.
Counter to all its self deprecation as a
"small organization" with limited resources, the Family Research
Council is instrumental in rallying churches and electing politicians: it's
Values Voters Summit is a must-attend event for all Republican candidates,
Right Wing pundits, 38 "socially conservative" organizations, think
tanks, and 2000 attendees. It's "straw poll" and endorsements are
considered more important than the Republican National Convention and the
accompanying conferences attack subjects like "Overcoming The Homosexual
Agenda." It is during the summit that elements of Christofascism are
clearly met by people such as Phyllis Schlafly, Mike Huckabee and uber-bigot
Bryan Fischer of The American Family Association (also listed as a hate group
by the Southern Poverty Law Center).
Besides the extreme homophobic element of
the FRC, the group opposes all things liberal on the grounds of being "pro
life" and defending "religious freedom": pro-choice, feminist,
non-Christian groups are excoriated to the nth degree. It is perhaps the most
religiously intolerant of Christian Right organizations in the country and has
backed the screeds of people like Michele Bachmann and Frank Gaffney in
furthering Islamophobia.
The key strategy elements are: the spread
of faulty research and false propaganda, indoctrination of youth, election of
socially conservative politicians, and expanding its base of hate groups and
churches. And if all that sounds fascist... An OpEdNews article titled: The
Elephant In The Room: Christofascism Defined points out just how close
organizations like the Family research Council are in the definition.
And this latest list of strategies places
the FRC squarely in the center of it:
ON THE ATTACK
Amplifying The Conservative Christian Voice In The Public Arena - $13 million
RC
has consistently played great defense. But at this "moment of critical mass"
for this and the next generation, we must go on the offense to advance the
Christian worldview as America's only hope. We must double our impact!
Beneath
this "amplification strategy" is another telling strategy:
"subtotal of $4.4 million in forming policies and conducting
research":
Society
listens to academic research, so we must use the language the secular world
understands to prove that marriage and worship are foundational to a healthy
society and economy. The left has many large institutes manufacturing faulty
research to support their anti-family agenda, pro-family conservatives need a
social science research powerhouse.
We
must also recruit lawyers to write influential policy briefs.
Of all the strategies, this is the most egregious: the reason the FRC has been
listed as a "hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center is
because it has for years disseminated totally false and faulty "research,"
especially considering the bogus "homosexual agenda." Discredited
researchers such as Paul Cameron and George "rent-boy" Rekers have
been touted as "experts" and research conducted by reputable
researchers has been twisted beyond recognition.*
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