RParsley (OH theocracy movement): "US founded to defeat Islam"

[bobbieinok]

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2006/10/4/123818/632

The theocracy movement in Ohio
By Renee in Ohio Wed Oct 04, 2006 at 12:38:18 PM EST

....

But the real celebrity of the group, and certainly for us here because he's a local boy, is Rod Parsley. He is the pastor of the World Harvest Church and also the founder and leader of the Center for Moral Clarity and of Reformation Ohio. World Harvest and the Rod Parsley empire have a 40 million dollar a year budget, 12,000 congregants, a 5200 seat church, which is visually stunning and state of the art--I've been there. His weekly television show Breakthrough airs on 1400 cable stations and affiliates. He's got a prep school a Bible college, a mission program, and a church jet.

He's a recent arrival to the spotlight, but it's not that he's only now becoming politically active. He was active throughouth the 80s, any time a movie theater would show an LGBT themed film, he would protest and get people out. But he credits his recent activism to 2003 when he was invited to the White House, not for the first and not for the last time, to attend the president's signing of the partial birth abortion ban.
....

Real quickly, I'll run through some of Parsley's basic beliefs. From my recent reading of his book, Silent No More, Parsley believes that the media is aiding a secular effort to silence and persecute Christians, that separation of church and state is a lie that has been foisted on Americans, that our founding fathers did intend to found a Christian nation. He believe that Mohammed was possessed by demons and has called Islam a false religion. The quote again, "I do not believe that our country can truly fulfill its divine purpose until we understand that America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion destroyed.

He interestingly enough goes on to suggest that our early 19th century conflicts with the Barbary pirates off the northern coast of Africa, was America's opening salvo in this conflict with Islam. And what's informative about that--what we need to remember--is these people have in created their own version of American history in some cases. And once you've done that, it's not that far of a stretch to believe that you can create the future if you have already remodeled the past into your worldview. They have a very effective narrative going.

..

There are a number of national groups with which Parsley and Johnson are affiliated that do pull in your Falwells and your Robertsons. The acronyms of the groups are confusing and I can't remember them, but many of the national groups that Parsley and Johnson are involved with, their prime function is to lobby the White House for a harsher policy on Iran and the Middle East in general, in order to lead to the rapture.

[Demeter]

1. There's A Sucker Born Every Minute

and Parsley built a nice big sucker trap. What slime!

[enlightenment]

2. Pastor Celery (pardon - Parsley) has obviously not

bothered to READ any history -- including the Treaty of Tripoli:

Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

http://www.stephenjaygould.org/ctrl/treaty_tripoli.html

Guh. I am SO sick of these idjits.

[htuttle]

5. I was going to bring that treaty up

If 'Paster Parsley' (if that really is his name) is right, then that treaty would seem to mean that we surrendered a few hundred years ago...

:eyes:

[Richard Steele]

3. Important to remember; we really just can't repeat it often enough:

"And what's informative about that--what we need to remember--is these
people have in (fact) created their own version of American history
in some cases."

It will never be possible to understand those who follow
people like this until we accept the fact that they are
living in a self-serving FANTASY WORLD.

[sarcasmo]

4. The snake oil salesman have used Terror to their advantage.