Partly because of a recent post on Salon Magazine regarding Justice Sunday III and other replies I've made on this subject, I've decided it's time to do a dedicated post on a subject that--if we could promote this to the world at large--has the potential to blow the dominionist movement apart.

That subject is the longstanding connections between dominionism, especially the "premillenial dispensationalist" and Christian Reconstructionist flavours of dominionism--and hardcore racist groups like the Klan, Neo-Nazi groups, and Christian Identity.

And yes, this even includes one of the speakers at Justice Sunday III who has done speeches for Christian Identity churches and "Christian Militia" groups tied to them.

Last week, on the eve of GOP superlobbyist Jack Abramoff's guilty pleas in a widening federal corruption probe, I summarized the relationship between Abramoff, several religious right leaders, and Abramoff's lobbying campaign on behalf of eLottery, an internet gambling company. Abramoff funneled eLottery cash to three religious right entitities as part of his campaign to derail the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act of 2000. A company headed by Ralph Reed, the founding executive director of the Christian Coalition had received $150,000; The Traditional Values Coalition, headed by Rev. Lou Sheldon, received $25,000; and Toward Tradition, an Orthodox Jewish foundation based in Seattle and headed by Rabbi Daniel Lapin, receieved $25,000 each from eLottery. Abramoff was a board member and former board chairman of Toward Tradition.

Now, The Seattle Times reports further details about the role of Toward Tradition in the growing scandal.

Darksyde, a featured writer over at The Daily Kos, has a thoughtful profile of one of the leaders of the intelligent design movement:  

Know Your Intelligent Design Creationists: Phillip Johnson

Here is an excerpt:

There is clearly a difference between claiming to be "pro-life" and actually being pro-life. In the case of one the featured speakers for tomorrow's Justice Sunday III it is more a case of "talking the talk" than "walking the walk."

I would like to introduce myself to all of you. My name is Frank and I am a progressive Catholic in the mode of Pope John XXIII. My other religious heroes are Monsignor John A. Ryan, Dorothy Day, Dietrich Bonhoffer, Reinhold Niebuhr and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thanks to People for the American Way for catching Pat Robertson's inflammatory comments on the 700 Club regarding Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon's recent stroke. Robertson said the stroke was just God expressing his "enmity against those who 'divide my land,'" no doubt a reference to the hawkish Sharon's withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza and his recent decision to reengage in land-for-peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority. Robertson and the Christian Coalition have long advocated for a "greater Israel" that would include every last inch of Palestinian-controlled land. The relevant transcript follows.

There is tragic irony in the Christian Right's Justice Sunday extravaganza occurring the week before the national celebration of the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Today on his 700 Club, Pat Robertson said that Ariel Sharon had invited God's wrath. These were his words ( "700 Club." ABC Family. Thurs Jan 5, 2006):

Now Ariel Sharon who ...  was a very likeable person, a delightful person to be with, I prayed with him personally, but here he's at the point of death. He was dividing Gods land and I would say woe unto any Prime Minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the EU, the United Nations, or the United States of America. God says "this land belongs to me. You'd better leave it alone."

Pat had good reason to be upset with Sharon. Sharon had single-handedly broken the back of a powerful union dating back to 1978, the year Prime Minister Menachem Begin personally invited Jerry Falwell to visit Israel.

Today Pat Robertson revealed that no matter what Ariel Sharon's doctors might think, the true genesis of the Israeli leader's massive stroke was the terrible swift sword of the Lord, delivered in retaliation for Sharon's impudence in "dividing God's land."

"God considers this land to be his," Robertson said on his TV program "The 700 Club." "You read the Bible and he says `This is my land,' and for any prime minister of Israel who decides he is going to carve it up and give it away, God says, `No, this is mine.'"

According to Robertson, Yitzhak Rabin was struck down for the same transgression, so you'd think Sharon would have thought twice before risking the Lord's wrath by doing it again.

It's enough to make you wonder whether the Lord feels the same way about Robertson's plans to carve off a chunk of the Holy Land as a theme park for vacationing evangelicals.

Yup -- it appears that the program that is sending billions of taxpayer dollars straight into the hands of theocrats is making its way to the local level.



Of course, it's Colorado Springs that hopes to spearhead the effort.  From the Colorado Springs Gazette:

A letter will land soon on church doorsteps across Colorado Springs heralding the arrival of what Lionel Rivera hopes will be the signature program of his mayorship.

Rivera, the mayor since 2003, is kicking off the Mayor's Faith Based and Community Initiatives program he first mentioned in July's State of the City Address. He wants it up and running by February and plans to mark the launch with a community luncheon.

Article goes on to mention that the program is not solely limited to church participation, but that Mayor Rivera "wants to go to the places where he thinks he can cull the most volunteers and find people to help charities."

According to a press release issued by Americans United for Separation of Church and State,Pastor Herb Lusk, host of the Religious Right's "Justice Sunday III" rally this weekend in Philadelphia, "has a long history of partisan activity on behalf of Republicans and has been awarded more than $1 million in 'faith-based' grants by the Bush administration."

Concerned Women for America charged that Mattel Corporation's Barbie Doll was promoting gender confusion because of an online poll.  The poll asked children to state their gender, and offered three options.  Girl, boy, or I don't know.

That was enough to set off Bob Knight, CWA spokesperson, of supporting a homosexual agenda -- or even a transgender agenda.

"It's the idea that well, maybe people aren't born a particular biological sex, or they are but that shouldn't determine their gender identity," Robert Knight, director of CWA's Culture & Family Institute, told the Christian Post. "And that's a very big component of the homosexual activist agenda now."

Mattel quickly denied the charges, and changed the poll to say Girl, Boy, I Don't Want to Say according to WorldNet.

Only two weeks ago, Mattel was under attack by the religious right for its American Girl Doll products -- as I noted in Tis the Season to Boycott. There, religious right groups objected to a cross promotion with Girls, Inc., which supports girls, regardless of sexual orientation, and supports full reproductive health care.

In that case, Mattel was more cagey.  When the fringe anti-abortion group Pro-Life Action League claimed victory and said that Mattel had backed down, Mattel refused to comment.