The state of Ohio was being set up as a battleground for the forces of theocracy. The dominionists, you might say. Parsley and others were not even secretive about their intent. They did work quietly to achieve it with leaders of the Republican party. We knew, but we did not really take in the implications about what would happen there in Ohio.
From Theocracy Watch, some statements by Bill Moyers.
Ohio's Patriot PastorsLet's take a brief detour to Ohio and I'll show you what I am talking about. In recent weeks a movement called the Ohio Restoration Project has been launched to identify and train thousands of "Patriot Pastors" to get out the conservative religious vote next year. According to press reports, the leader of the movement- the senior pastor of a large church in suburban Columbus-casts the 2006 elections as an apocalyptic clash between "the forces of righteousness and the hordes of hell." The fear and loathing in his message is palpable: He denounces public schools that won't teach creationism, require teachers to read the Bible in class, or allow children to pray. He rails against the "secular jihadists" who have "hijacked" America and prevent school kids from learning that Hitler was "an avid evolutionist." He links abortion to children who murder their parents. He blasts the "pagan left" for trying to redefine marriage. He declares that "homosexual rights" will bring "a flood of demonic oppression." On his church website you read that "Reclaiming the teaching of our Christian heritage among America's youth is paramount to a sense of national destiny that God has invested into this nation."
At a press conference in 2005 Parsley
revealed his plans for Ohio. I was watching "So Goes the Nation" this week, and his plan appears to have worked. One couple even admitted they voted against their own economic interests because it was better to have "live babies" than "full wallets." They got their agenda across very successfully.
For about 90 minutes, Parsley, standing in front of U.S., Ohio and Christian flags, ran through an almost seamless presentation.
``The vision of our country's founding generation and the inspiration of great reformers of the past are colliding with unprecedented moral decay and cultural decline,'' Parsley told the crowd. ``Today we come to declare a new movement that is an answer to the crisis of our times.''
Ohio will be a training ground that will launch a national reformation, he said. At his call, the crowd repeated several times the Ohio state motto, ``With God, all things are possible,'' with a volume that reverberated against the tall buildings surrounding the Statehouse. He brought with him his own security, a media relations firm, singers, rappers and television cameras. A big-screen television near Parsley played a three-minute video on the effort to save Ohio, including the institution of marriage.
Parsley said he has a three-fold plan: evangelize at least a million people, one in 10 of whom will become converts; help the disadvantaged; and register up to 400,000 new Ohio voters over the next four years.
I believe in "So Goes the Nation" that Paul Begala stated the GOP had come up with 11 million votes and caught the Democrats off guard.
Moyers stated that the
Patriot Pastors idea is spreading.For the complete stories from which this information has been extracted, see: "An evening with Rod Parsley, by Marley Greiner, FreePress, July 20, 2005; Patriot Pastors," Marilyn Warfield, Cleveland Jewish News , July 29, 2005; "Ohio televangelist has plenty of influence, but he wants more", Ted Wendling, Religion News Service , Chicago Tribune, July 1, 2005; "Shaping Politics from the pulpits," Susan Page, USA Today , Aug. 3, 2005; "Religion and Politics Should Be Mixed Says Ohio Secretary of State," WTOL-TV Toledo, October 29, 2004.
The Ohio Restoration Project is spreading. In one month alone last year in the president's home state of Texas, a single Baptist preacher added 2000 "Patriot Pastors" to the rolls. On his website he now encourages pastors to "speak out on the great moral issues of our day.to restore and reclaim America for Christ."
Texas was one of the main states in which this movement arose. The Republicans there actually put it in their Platform.
More from the
Texas Republican Party Platform. This is alarming.
Highlights
Tax Cuts, p. 17 - "The Party urges the IRS be abolished," and the following taxes eliminated: "income tax, inheritance tax, gift tax, capital gains, corporate income tax, payroll tax and property tax."
Tax cuts are accompanied by Downsizing the Federal Government on p. 19 -
We support the abolition of ... the Bureau of Tobacco and Firearms, the position of Surgeon General, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Departments of Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Education, Commerce and Labor. We also call for the de-funding or abolition of the National Endowment for the Arts, and Public Broadcasting System.
Deregulation - Adherents of Dominion Theology support deregulation of industry. They use terms such as "unfettered" or "unhampered" by regulation. The first three agencies listed in the above paragraph are all regulatory agencies. The Texas GOP Platform calls for business to be "unencumbered by excessive government regulation." (p.1, preamble)
Biblical Law - Dominion theology calls for a government based on Biblical Law, relying on the Ten Commandments as its guiding source. Therefore, posting of the Ten Commandments in public buildings has great symbolic value.
I also watched Jesus Camp this week on A&E network. I thought how good it had been shut down. But they are not done yet. They may be a minority, but they are powerful and well-funded.
We can not afford to sit back and not take it seriously. I saw it happen in my Southern Baptist church before I could even take it all in. That fervor, that push even for war, that use of the word "unpatriotic" against those of us who spoke out and left the church.
That is why I have a lot of skepticism about this new push for
unity and bipartisanship.
They will not give up their agenda, period. We can not compromise with them because they will win.
