I'm sad to say that my political party, the GOP, though never without it's flaws, has largely become a parody of what it used to be, a "Kramer" circa 1997-98, with the Religious Right now the primary voting bloc in it's constituency. All a candidate has to do is jump up and holler "I'm a Christian! Family values here!" and a Religious Right stampede ensues to jump on his or her bandwagon. "Down with those mean ole godless liberals!!!"
The heroes of late? Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee. Here's a couple of links for my blog's audience to consider. Discernment should be a quality that matters in a candidate to those who vote or are politically influenced from a spiritual perspective. Beyond that statement, check out the links and draw your own conclusions.
I've got to say, the idea of Sarah Palin being even remotely fond of Gothard flies in the face of logic. This paragraph from the second link: "Meanwhile, the question here is if Sarah Palin, being pitched to us as an empowered woman, believes the viciously anti-woman lies Gothard is spreading?" kind of makes me laugh. Is that a real question? Let's see, the woman is a feminist (member of Feminists for Life), a working mom, and a female politican, so perhaps that could give us a clue. :D
ReplyDeleteHuckabee... that tie seems a bit more legitimate. I'd cut him some slack as being simply ignorant (after all, on the surface IBLP is pretty normal) but that just raises questions of honesty. He calls himself a "long-time admirer" but is unaware of the controsvery surrounding Gothard?
I can't say I have ever been a fan of either Huckabee or Palin - for many, many reasons. Thanks for the links. :)
ReplyDeleteOh no you didn't! Kramer was always hilarious in my opinion. I'll agree that the show got a little zany after Larry David left and the physical humor was more grandiose. But I still loved it. The only real way it suffered was that the writers no longer understood the character of George Costanza. He just wasn't as in depth in those last couple seasons. That was likely because Larry David wrote George to be like himself.
ReplyDeleteAs for the GOP, I don't care. I'm just mad you dissed my Seinfeld. ;oP
lol Esther. My apologies;)
ReplyDeleteMy political views: Yadda yadda yadda.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't aware of Sarah's extensive ties to Gothard. Last week, I read several articles online that link her to the Dominionist movement. That was briefly mentioned also in one of the links Lewis posted. The Dominionist movement believes something like Jesus can't return until these 7 areas have been taken over by christians...or something like that. The 7 areas are arts, entertainment, religion, education, family, government and 1 more that I can't remember at the moment. You can google Dominionism, Joel's Army or New Apostalic Reformation to get the exact explanation of what it is. I would stay away from that movement altogether.
ReplyDeleteAlso, another concern about Sarah Palin is that she spoke over the weekend at Glenn Beck's Restoring Honor in America rally in Washington. Glenn Beck is a mormon. The article I read yesterday said that this wasn't a political event but a God event. That sounds nice, but Mormons have a different belief in Jesus. How can we align ourselves with others in a "God event" when the speakers don't serve the same God? You can't.
Thanks for posting those links about Sarah Palin.
Linda Reynolds
I do not know how reliable Leah Burton is (www.godsownparty.com), but she claims that Sarah is shepherded and that Todd attends all important meetings as her "male covering." Leah claims that Sarah takes orders from those who shepherd her, not much unlike Mitt Romney would have taken orders from Salt Lake City if he'd been elected. On Vyckie Garrison's last blog radio interview on GodDiscussion.com, Leah mentioned the name of the person who disciples Sarah Palin. So do you think I'm surprised to hear that Palin is connected to Gothard?
ReplyDeleteI do not fear these dominionists, of either the postmillennial or the pre-trib rapture variety. I believe that God is sovereign and that He is working His plan and purpose. If the post-Christian era is meant to end in America, it is not going to come from the Religious Right, patriocentricity's birthing of the covenant community ala Gary North (nothing more than social Darwinism), nor is it going to come from a Christian President of the US. It will start in the hearts of the people who will change their communities, run Christian candidates and then elect them. As as far as the Joel's Army and that Oak Initiative, personally I think that they will be all writhing on the floor, laughing in the "spirit," and manifesting other post-hypnotic states to be very effective.
When God "opens the door" to change things, and if He actually does, there will not be a force powerful enough to close that door. We won't need these religious authorities or politicians or anyone else to jerk the evangelical church around like a dog on a choke chain to make that happen. It may happen, and it may not. Jesus said that His kingdom was not of this world, and we are in a post-Christian era. I'm looking to Him only to change the hearts of people so that society can be changed, not the election of a political savior.
I should state that I think that Americans should be good stewards and should investigate their candidates as well as vote. Sometimes, if I don't know enough about a particular candidate before I go to the voting station, I do not enter a vote. (I have other people that I love dearly who vote against the incumbent or just vote party line. It is personal freedom and preference, one of the great blessings our founding fathers gave us.)
ReplyDeleteAs a Christian, I also pray for wisdom, guidance and mercy for our elected leaders. I pray sometimes that in spite of them and the decisions they might make that God shows them loving mercy on behalf of people, or sometimes on behalf of those who have come before us.
I just don't put too much stock in men's systems and the Ishmaels that we create, waiting for God's gift of His promise.
I'm inclined to agree with Eric. Too many 'angels of light' in politics, and I'm suspicious of all of them.
ReplyDeleteThere is a small city near here which has these character words posted along the streets. I am also seeing them on public school markees. Wouldn't be such a bad idea, if not for the Gothard connection.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI came across your blog by way of Quivering Daughters. I am trying to find out about this movement as one of my family members has embraced it about 9 months ago and I began to search for more information about this belief system.
I have been a Christian for 38 years and just can't support all of the beliefs. After reading about Hilary, it made sense to me why I feel grief over my family joining this crowd, even though they appear happy.
On another note, I did not realize that Sara Palin is a Gothard fan~not good. Huckabee too? Glen Beck a mormon? Whew~lots of praying to do! God bless~~
jseven...Nice to have you here. Please stop by and join in the conversation anytime.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I am very happy to find other people who see some the T.V. preachers as "snake oil" salesmen. Spiritual abuse is not foreign to me as well as past spouse abuse and I am on a journey of discovering that Jesus is not at all like those people. Thank God! He is love~
ReplyDelete