I Was Trained for the Culture Wars in Home School, Awaiting Someone Like Mike Pence as a Messiah

[G_j]

https://www.autostraddle.com/i-was-trained-for-the-culture-wars-in-home-school-awaiting-someone-like-mike-pence-as-a-messiah-367057/


Posted by Kieryn Darkwater on January 26, 2017 at 8:40am UTC
--

I grew up in the far-right evangelical conservative (Christofascist) movement; specifically, I was homeschooled and my parents were part of a subculture called Quiverfull, whose aim is to outbreed everyone for Jesus. I spent my teen years being a political activist. I was taught by every pastor I encountered that it was our job as Christians to outbreed the secularists (anyone not a far-right evangelical Protestant) and take over the government through sheer numbers. I was part of TeenPact, Generation Joshua and my local Teenage Republicans (TARS).

When the Tea Party rose in 2009, that was my culture. The Tea Party was step one. I was laying the groundwork for those elections in 2006. These people didn’t come out of the blue like it seemed. This plan, this Christofascist takeover of the US government, has been in the works for decades. When evangelical conservatism started becoming popular and more mainstream around the 1970s, the foundation was being laid for the tragedy playing out right now.

Evangelical conservatives started taking over their local republican parties and founding organizations like Operation Rescue, Homeschool Legal Defense Association, Family Research Council and Focus on the Family, just to name a few.

Michael Farris founded HSLDA in 1983 as a way to ensure that homeschooling was legal, but what he’s been striving for is the wild west. His organization is trying to keep homeschooling away from any interference so the children he trains through his sister organization, Generation Joshua, would be able to fly under the radar. Generation Joshua started in 2003, primarily catering to children homeschooled by extremely religious rightwing adults. Its purpose was to train us to fight in what the Christofascists have been calling the “Culture Wars.” It’s a loose and ambiguous term that basically means anything or anyone that doesn’t align with this very specific view of Christianity must not be allowed to continue.

..more..

[malaise]

1. Get thee to the greatest page

Interesting read

[yardwork]

2. This is what we're up against. We are not prepared.

While entitled twits are whining that the Democratic candidates don't "inspire" them and therefore don't "deserve" their votes, the radical dominionists are taking over.

[Cha]

40. Precisely, yardwork.

[yardwork]

43. Thanks, Cha.

As you can see, we even have posters here who still sincerely don't get it. By the time they realize how deadly this situation is, I'm afraid it will be too late.

I've never felt so worried for our country.

[Cracklin Charlie]

3. Kick

[Baitball Blogger]

4. One of the main dangers of homeschool. You create tribal thinking that plays by a different

set of rules.

[guillaumeb]

26. All schooling creates tribal thinking in that the educational system is designed

to teach the national myths that are considered history.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

34. Absolutely spot on. nt

[vanlassie]

27. Seriously? That's what you got?

[Baitball Blogger]

29. Let me rephrase: I'm sure that most homeschool moms are teaching their children

a broad curriculum that takes in the cultures and differences that abound in our great country...but there are a few that are over-sheltering them to produce children who feel complete in a very limited hemisphere.

And, generally, it doesn't bother me unless they are part of a compound mentality that exists in small towns. You know, much like you find in red counties.

[vanlassie]

30. .

[Achilleaze]

5. The ugly reality of fear-and-hate-based inverted Christianity: KristoFascism (IKGOPR*)

* Illegitimate KGOP Regime, Inc.

[lapislzi]

6. Are we lucky to have escaped a Ted Cruz?

Is having an actual crazy man in charge with a christofascist at his back a better option? I am both horrified and terrified.

I simply don't know any more.

[MyOwnPeace]

7. The march continues......

look who Drumpf has nominated for Dept. of Education - gotta' be at least a colonel in that "army!"

That woman CANNOT be placed in that position - it will continue the "game plan" for the Christofascists!

[blueseas]

8. Thanks for posting

We need to know about how we overcome this...

[SHRED]

9. Frank warned us of this in the 1980s

[90-percent]

11. They're goal is to take over the United States,

the way the Ayatollah took over Iran.

FZ - idol of my youth.

-90% Jimmy

[GliderGuider]

20. Almost.

Their goal is actually to destroy the US. At least in terms of it being a liberal democracy and a hegemon on the world stage. And by "they" I mean "the Russians".

[AJT]

10. Saw this takeover starting in the 80s

In Sacramento a religious fanatic was elected to the school board, he did it by sounding so logical and caring. When the board started meeting the crazy hate came out. That was the begining and they got better at getting elected as time went on and infiltrated more and more local elected positions. At the same time far right pastors began taking over mainstream churches, and militay pastorships. Friends and family said I was overreacting, they aren't saying that anymore.

Patience, organization and financing.

[calimary]

35. Ralph Reed was the guy who started advocating this during the 70s and 80s.

Baby-faced head of the Christian Coalition. He urged his minions to start the takeover by running for office. Little, minor, small-time positions like the school board. He actually specified running for the school board. You get in at that low level and you start building from there. You can influence and/or change policy, affect what our kids are taught (or indoctrinated with), and because it's a low-level job, there are relatively few people around to keep track of what you're up to. That becomes the start of your power base, but low enough that you can also fly under the radar. And in a few years, you start climbing. City Council maybe. Then state legislature. Or Congress. And who knows where you can go from there?

Little ol' Ralph Reed did well enough to catch Ronald Reagan's eye, and man did he climb up the power ladder. It made him a player.

[jmbar2]

12. I saw this in TX when dominionists started infiltrating community college leadership positions

They were ruthless in forcing out good folks to replace them with unqualified fanatics. They thought Rick Perry was going to be their Messiah, and then Ted Cruz. Trump is just their useful idiot.

In digging through the links provided by G-j, I saw a lot on Christian debate and apologetics. The resistance needs to read up on the debate tactics, and the underlying philosophies. Religionists seem to believe they have a god-given right/obligation to control and dominate others not in their tribe. Not much different from the Taliban.

So G_j, how do we argue against this belief structure?

Thanks for a great post.

[Efilroft Sul]

22. Welcome to Democratic Underground!

Thanks for your local insight on this topic. I never knew about the Dominionists infiltrating community colleges.

[calimary]

37. Oh yeah! That's another good low-key place to start.

Definitely! You go into the school system, you get the kids. And you can influence how and what they're taught - and NOT taught. What they're exposed to and what's kept from them. You can infect lots of kids, keep their minds closed, and steer them toward how you want them to think and what you want them to think about. You can build new republi-CONS that way. MAN, you can do some serious damage on your way up the political ambition ladder.

You can even influence what's in and what's censored out of text books. Like they've done in Texas - and that shit has been allowed to spread nationwide. Texas is a MAJOR school book supplier. You can influence kids on evolution and other non-Biblical ideas, you can rewrite history, rename and re characterize things, sanitize things, and other strategic editing.

[calimary]

39. Welcome to DU, jmbar2!

Yeah, it's a great thread!

And YES we have to develop strategies to confront religionists.

One thing I've noticed as a lifelong Catholic who started in Catholic school:
We were taught about the parable of the rich young man who asked Jesus how he could get into Heaven ("go, sell all your worldly goods and give the money to the poor, and come follow Me&quot .
We learned the parable of the poor widow and the rich dude in church - he goes parading down the center aisle with a big bag of gold, to plop it down flamboyantly in front of the altar, so everybody can see and admire. The widow hides in the shadows over to the side, ashamed she could only scrape together a couple of pennies. Jesus said HERS was the donation God found far more pleasing.
We learned about the Beatitudes, in the Sermon on the Mount. The whole "Blessed are the meek, the poor in spirit, the peacemakers" thing.
My favorite is Matthew 25:45 - the one with the (pardon me) "phrase that pays" - "whatever you do to the least of these, you do to ME." Actually that quote is more on the negative - "whatever you DON'T do to the least of these (like not feeding the hungry, comforting the afflicted, sheltering the homeless, or visiting the sick and/or imprisoned), you don't do to Me."

Paul Ryan wraps himself all over the Bible, professing what a loyal devoted Catholic he is. St. Paul talks about the "noisy gong and clanging cymbal" in one of his letters to the Corinthians. Which he says is what you are if you talk the talk but don't walk the walk. Sounds like it fits Paul Ryan. I'd love to corner him someday and ask him how he can be a Catholic AND a republi-CON (keep cutting those taxes on the wealthy, and cutting programs to help the poor and needy)? I don't think it's really possible to be a true follower of Jesus if your job is to take supports away from people, to balance the budget on the backs of the poor, the disadvantaged, the homeless, the handicapped. Aren't those the "least of these" to whom Jesus was referring? I'd love to confront him and others who carry on about morals and religion and faith and invoke God at every turn - like Mike Pence does. And what does he use his power and authority to do? Push for tax cuts that help those who don't need any help, while screwing and nickel-and-diming those who do. I'd love to shove their sanctimonious hypocrisy back down their throats. I'd love to go up to Paul Ryan and sneer - "YOU, sir, are NO Catholic! A true Catholic wouldn't be pushing what you do.

Sorry to be preachy. Lots of Catholic school. Lots of indoctrination. Those nuns and Jesuits never missed an opportunity...

[Pisces]

13. I do not think states should pay homeschooling parents money from taxpayers. If you want to

Homeschool then you should have to pay for the curriculum out of your pocket as well as pay for the person who comes to monitor that you are keeping up with state guidelines. Homeschooling should be available but not funded with taxpayer dollars.

[azmom]

24. That's not correct.

Families engaged in home-based education are not dependent on public, tax-funded resources for their children’s education. The finances associated with their homeschooling likely represent over $27 billion that American taxpayers do not have to spend, annually, since these children are not in public schools

Taxpayers spend an average of $11,732 per pupil in public schools, plus capital expenditures. Taxpayers spend nothing on most homeschool students and homeschool families spend an average of $600 per student for their education.

https://www.nheri.org/research/research-facts-on-homeschooling.html

[Pisces]

25. I know someone who homeschooled in Ca. And

they absolutely get money from the state for curriculum and p.e. classes. I don't think they should get $1

[Fantastic Anarchist]

33. My Fiance homeschools her daughter ...

... not for religious reasons, but because her daughter has severe social anxiety. She doesn't get a penny from the State or Federal Government.

[Locrian]

14. great post

I guess sharia law really is coming to the US....

[Dave in VA]

15. Thanks for posting

We absolutely have a lot of catching up to do. Hope that we are up to the task.

[onlyadream]

16. Post this to your FB accounts

Even right wingers need to know their party's ultimate goal. I doubt they'd be on board.

[sinkingfeeling]

17. I've been saying this for over a decade.

[LittleGirl]

18. Yep

I've seen this. grew up in a red state and have several 'friends' from there that homeschooled their kids. I would bank that they are involved like this.
ugh.

[joanbarnes]

19. Have some of these 'harmless' nuts in my family!

[3_Limes]

21. Proud Basic Youth grad here,

dropping in to encourage more discussion on the topic. I've been trying to get the word out about the dangers of Dominionism for a while now and I haven't met with much interest from Dems willing to take it seriously. We may be having the same kind of awakening in the mainstream as we've seen w/ $cientology in the last decade though. Which would really be great!


(And, I'm not really all that proud of my Basic Youth experiences. But damn, do I wish I could get that red binder back, just to scare the shit out of my kids!!)

[vanlassie]

28. And TLC glorifies these people.

Duggers.

[bluestateboomer]

31. Kicked and Kicked

[Fantastic Anarchist]

32. "They are scared of anything newer than the 18th century"

Funny but terrifying at the same time.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

36. Many years ago I saw something by a Muslim

who was estranged from his mother, in large part because she, because of her religious beliefs, sincerely thought that all worthwhile literature, poetry, music, and art in all forms had already been composed, made, whatever. There was simply nothing new that could be made.

The man understood that all art (in whatever form) had not simply come to an end some centuries before, but his mother believed that it had.

And that difference between that mother and son is an encapsulated version of what so many of the Christian Right believe.

Me? While I'm not crazy about rap or hip-hop, I know that culture and art evolve, and continue to evolve, and we need to at least understand that, even if we don't embrace specific manifestations of that evolution.

[Fantastic Anarchist]

46. Absolutely agree ...

...things evolve continuously. It can be daunting, out can even be terrifying, but we have to adapt, or fall behind.

These people fell behind, and now they want to build an ideological time machine to bring things back that give them comfort.

It's kind of tragic.

[appleannie1943]

38. My sister is one of them. So are her two kids and her brainwashed grandchildren.

The only thing that does not ring true is their choice of Trump. The only thing I can figure out is they are waiting until he loses it and they can put Pence in the driver's seat. They knew they had no one to beat Hillary and they sucked Trump into the fold because they knew he had the TV crowd in his pocket so they gambled on him knowing his propensity to work a crowd and figured they could control him with flattery.
But when it becomes obvious, even to his base, that there is something out of focus in his head, they will step in, have him impeached and put their golden child Pence where they want him. And he is every bit as dangerous as Trump is.

[oasis]

42. +1

[bora13]

41. weirdos

I was spending time as a 12 - 14 yr old back in the late 70's
with my father and step-mother. I would spend random weekends with them
and eventually stayed with them for a year.

During my brief stays, they were going to a church several times a week.
I had no notion of churches good or bad.
While they the adults went to adult bible study, the children were required to
be involved in a separate bible study.
I can recall watching some bizarre videos that somehow questioned the need for societal laws.
Some of the videos described how in later days sinners would be involved in "black"
music with godless lyrics and moves (rap i guess). Many other secular activities
were covered and forbidden.

Ultimately my involvement in getting caught partying at the public high school I went to
led to many visits to "pastors" house and even making me go to church on Saturdays.

In the end, all my hallowed rock albums were taken out to the driveway, poured gas onto, and then i
was forced to light a match to them.

The final straw (before getting in serious trouble for having a neighbor girl in my room (innocently),
was the meeting with a "special" pastor to talk about me having an exorcism.

That was it and I ran away back to my mother's house.

They sent me back and I was ultimately placed in a drug hospital at the age of 14.

Trust me when I say, these people want their rapture and they want it Pence-side up!

[oberliner]

44. The person who wrote this has a very interesting life story

"I didn’t know I was trans until my mid 20’s. I didn’t have the language or the context to explain what I felt growing up. My writing over the last 8 years has actually thoroughly documented parts of that process. Coming to terms with my gender and what that means to me."

Worth learning more!

[Lunabell]

45. This is absolutely the truth.

And what is going to happen is that Trump will be impeached by his own party so that they may be seen as saviors and they will install Pence as ruler for their christian dominion government. Mark my words The Handmaids Tale is coming true.