does anyone want my sister ??

[Guava Jelly]

Love You James. And I understand how you feel. I too felt the same when President George Bush Sr. lost to Bill Clinton.

My view is different. War is not a good thing. But the Bible does tell us that there is a time for everything under heaven. A time for peace and a time for war.

As I type this the war is still raging against good and evil. It has not stopped since Lucifer betrayed God by wanting to be God. I do not like war. I believe this is one reason why we have death today. Satan sends the Grim Reaper to Blow out the Candles. Remember the song, "This little Light of Mine. I'm gonna let it shine. The Light of Mine is my soul Shining for God and Good not war but peace.

I never told you this before, but when I was in Glen Elder in 1986. I moved Mary and Lisa out there then and that was when Charles wanted the Divorce. Mom knew and Mary knows that we, Mary and I went for a walk to the city park and were sitting on a park bench. She was crying over Charles the loss of him was overwhelming. When all of a sudden there was an intense stillness. From behind us there was a huge wind that was not physical. From within the wind was a Black Horse and on the horse was something very mean and evil it was carrying a big long handled pointed arrow and a shield. It charged into me from behind and the long handled spear penetrated the park bench and my back and it went straight through my heart and it left as it came in a fierce wind and quickly and it was happy cause it had turned out my light. My candle was out. I was having an undocumented heart attack. My heart was pounding so fast it was out of control. Mary kept talking to me and I could not respond to her. I was in a war and I was fighting for my own life and for the future of my children. I was ambushed. So in my huge dispair, I cried out to my Creator, my Savior. I said the Lords Prayer. The Lord is my Shepard, I shall not want. I said the whole Prayer. All of a sudden it was me. I was a sheep and I was trapped on a Mountain and My feet were caught in the rocks. I was a goner, doomed to fall from the mountain and die. When at the very minute the spear pierced my heart. God was there. Just like Stretch Armstrong. His arms came forthward and lifted me up from the rocks and pulled me to the safeness of his chest he held me close to his heart and it was a miracle as I was held safely I could feel the flowing rivers like blood flowing through our bodies, by means of a heart. Gods blood flowed naturallly and did not need the heart organ. No pump needed.

I asked the one question. Why did I get attacked??????? The answer was because I was a bigger prize or trophy for Satan. Than Mary was and only because the measurement was in faith. I have more faith in God than that of Mary and now you know. I asked the second question???? My heart was speared straight through, I'm dead. Answer, I was being held by God. Third question??? Is my life over???? Well, I was left to choose to stay or go. I chose wisely. My children need me. This Little Light of mine can still shine. I said undocumented because it is. I never went to see the Doctor because of my answer. I was held by God so there was no damage. I was protected by the free flowing rivers the blood of Jesus Christ.

Goodness won that time. As I was not left a casualty. If I ever get attacked again, I am not sure how I will fair. But the war is never ending. Until the day when the trumpets sound. Because I am older than you are I was more exposed to the military also because of who I married he was in the Navy also. God will provide what is needed for his people. He will lift them up. Jocelyn has a good heart what she felt is compassion as well as disgust with the greediness of people. The expense of medicine is great and I did work at a church nursery once and I gave the money to a family so they could purchase medicine for their child who suffered with Autism. I am a builder. And not a destroyer.

I was very disappointed in seeing the video you sent of President Bush. His humor was in poor taste.

I would have voted for John Kerry if I believed what he was saying was attainable. It sure sounded good. But there is more at stake you just can't feasibly end a war that simple. There has to be compromise and there is not any from Osama bin Laden. Our troops are counting on us. It takes alot of time to end a war.

I am glad that you do stand up for your beliefs. You did vote. I am proud of you.

Love Always,

Brenda

oh fyi she also tried to lay hands on my dead embalmed niece
several years ago

[Sapphocrat]

1. Dude! Like... Whoah!

Wow. Speechless.

[Guava Jelly]

2. tell me about it

she is a fucking lunatic
i have three other sisters who voted bush they of course believe fox is telling them the truth
Oh and they live in kansas

[Sapphocrat]

9. I have a story for you...

Probably won't help, but it should sound vaguely familiar...

Twenty-four (!) years ago, I was in a relationship with the lovely daughter of a couple with a bizarre history (that's not even worth going into). Her mother -- who was 4'7" and looked EXACTLY like a living, breathing Cabbage Patch doll -- was a seriously deluded Pentecostal. I thought for a while that my ex-gf and her dad just went along with the old lady to keep the peace -- until ex-gf SWORE she had spoken in tongues, and Dear Old Dad had been "slain in the spirit" -- and ex-gf had actually witnessed a real ANGEL hovering over Ol' Dad, with a bucket of water, which El Angelo poured right over Daddy's ever-Jesus-lovin' head. ("He was SOAKED," testified the ex-gf.)

OK, so no problem yet. As bizarre as all this was to me, I could handle it, and even give it all the benefit of the doubt. I may be one of those damned-to-hell, ex-Catholic heretics, but hey, I'm not so arrogant as to think I have all the answers either. If you're SURE the Holy Spirit has knocked you to the floor and made you roll around in the aisles like an extra from the cast of "The Snake Pit," who am I to disprove it? Besides, this Holy-Rollin' stuff never got in the way of the good, old-fashioned, lesbian thing between my ex-gf and me, so where was the harm? When things got too weird, I just tuned out and tuned in to the latest Devo LP on the turntable.

So, after YEARS of hanging around this family, Mrs. Cabbage Patch takes me aside and suddenly wants to "witness" to me. For the next twenty minutes, she tells me about the night she was moved to pray to the picture of Jesus on the wall above the TV (you know, the classic Bleeding-Sacred-Heart-Jesus-in-the-Garden picture)... and how -- and I quote -- she "saw his sweet little lips start to move."

Okaaaaaaaaaaaaay.

I never did hear exactly what the "sweet little lips of Jesus" said in response to her rapturous prayers, but then it's probably a good thing I didn't.

To make a long story even longer, I lasted six years with a lovely and kind girlfriend, until said lovely-and-kind-girlfriend started, um.... well, kinda "seeing" germs.

You ever see Jack Nicholson's portrayal of an OCD sufferer in "As Good As It Gets"? Yeah, well, multiply that by... a lot. And throw in some Mel Gibson/"Conspiracy Theory"-style paranoia -- as witnessed by the fact that she would not TOUCH the milk creamer on the table at Denny's, because she KNEW that someone has POISONED the milk, specifically to kill HER. (How she ever ate the food she ordered, I don't know. It was only the milk creamer that was out to get her.)

I couldn't make this stuff up.

At some point, it came out that ex-gf had seen "demons" standing at the foot of her bed while she slept. But, you know, it's the truest Christians who are plagued by demon visions at every turn, because only the truly righteous are the greatest challenge to The Evil One.

Yeah.

(Understand, I was raised strict-Catholic, so I should know from demons and angels and holy-miraculous visions and manifestations of stigmata and all that. But this was a bit much, even for my then-easily-stretched imagination.)

I got out.

Six years were all I could take. I wish I'd been kinder about the breakup, but at 24, I wasn't quite the compassionate soul I am now, nor was I thinking so clearly as to get this poor girl into the nearest psych ward, posthaste. My gut said -- no, screamed -- that if I didn't cut it quick and clean (and fast!), I would get sucked into a scary little world of which I wanted no part.

The upshot of this story is: Man, do I feel you. I feel more for you than I ever did for myself, 'cause this is your sister.

But, if nothing else, I hope this "I can relate" story is of at least a teeny-tiny little bit of comfort (in the commiseration department).

I won't pray for you -- I'm a five-year Siddha now, you see, so I'll just chant like mad for you, friend!

Ommmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

[txindy]

33. Words fail me. They really do.

:wow: Both your story and the original post boggle my mind. I believe you, absolutely, it's just kind of hard to take in, you know? Sheesh. Some people in this world are just living in their very own world, it seems. Sorry you've known more than one of them!

[buckettgirl]

16. where in kansas?

i'm from hays-born and raised. i now live in plainville. My parents live in ellis and my mom was raised around lebanon. My husband is from russell too. I hate being surrounded by so-called righteous christian conservative republians. Especially because I am not christian and they are not tolerant of me.

[Guava Jelly]

18. she lives in salina

and she has been this nutty for years

[CaptainCorc]

40. My God buckettgirl.....

Now I know your name AND where you live. Thank goodness I'm not a Bush goon and also that i have difficulty retaining things :-)

Truly...be more careful for your own sake and safety.

[indigo]

55. Hays, KS

Buckettgirl,

Late 80s was driving cross-country from east coast w/ a friend and stopped into a bar called 'The Saloon' on Main St. We were obvious strangers, outsiders. Everybody was very pleasant. Left to continue on to CO on 70W and after crossing the CO border realized that I'd lost my wallet somewhere ... It had my CC (only way to pay for flight home to DC from CA) and all my cash. Finally figured out I must have lost it ... in Hays.

Drove back at breakneck speed (took an hour), retraced steps and headed back to The Saloon (prolly around midnight). Upon walking in, I was immediately recognized, the bartender was holding my wallet turned in by a patron, nothing was missing, and *nobody* would take the reward I offered.

Sorry, OT, but I *rarely* 'bump' into someone from Hays.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

3. Not all of us came through the acid trips all in one piece

Joking, of course. But was she always this way? I've had several friends go crazy. One of them was just too smart for his own good. The other was pretty normal in every way until her mom got cancer, then she turned into a raving religious lunatic.

It's good to know God is like Stretch Armstrong.

[moez]

8. Oh Man!!!!

And I ripped a Strech Armstrong in half when I was a kid!

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

11. Ruh-roh

See ya in hell! :hi:

[Barad Simith]

4. this part is SO condescending...

"I am glad that you do stand up for your beliefs. You did vote. I am proud of you."

[Francesca]

5. I grew up with your sister...

I have been hearing this type of nonsense for years... its funny to other people but it's pretty hard for those of us who love our family and have to resist the occasional desire to strangle them... For the last few days I have been feeling murderous to the born again members of my family and then I feel guilty for hating them so much.. I am trying to find a middle ground.. Somehow I have to learn to deal with them.. I feel sorry for you and know exactly what it's like to have to deal with the frustration they bring on...

[Blue Gardener]

6. I already have my own sisters to deal

One a fundie, one a hypochondriac, but both irritate the crap out of me, just for different reasons.
Sounds like your sister needs some heavy medication if she's having visions.

[eleonora]

7. wow..she's nuts!

I'm sorry but I couldn't help laughing. This is too insane to be real, yet it is. Scary, there are people out there who really shouldn't vote.

[muchacho]

10. I hope your sister...

is able to return the ring to Mordor in time....

[henslee]

12. Oh my god.

[GoblinToe]

13. Frightening

GoP, I don't mean to say anything negative about your family at all, but it is pretty frightening to think people have been so brainwashed by religion that they will allow politicians to completely destroy their lives. Literally destroy, as in bullet to the head, you are dead...lying in the sand somewhere in the Middle East.

Very sad.

As an uplifitng note, I'm glad she at least mentioned Stretch Armstrong. *wink*

[Guava Jelly]

20. hey no offense taken

shes a nut and i am this close to severing ties with my siblings since my moms dead and my sperm donors estranged.

[primavera]

14. My sympathies

It must be hard having to separate the love you feel for a family member from the at best marginal respect one can have for such sadly misguided opinions. I wish you luck in your discussions with her.

[GOPBasher]

15. "A time for peace and a time for war"??????

Religious zealots are fucking crazy. Who are the moral relativists now?

[neener3]

17. Love your sister so much

you publish her private letter on the internet?

Tacky, dude.

[Guava Jelly]

22. oh stuff it shes a nutjob and i got your tacky hangen

nt

[sweetladybug]

25. neener3, I think he was trying to stress the type of people we are

dealing with who are controlling our country. I believe in God and I think God is beside me when I need to be strong, but I also think he gave me a brain to use and not be brainwashed by others. My friend, I think his sister is one of the brainwashed christians in this country and this is SCARY.

[neener3]

31. I disagree

She just seems as ardently committed to her position as are many on this site. Posting her letter on a forum available for the world to read is certainly not a step to reconciliation...

Do unto others.... ya know.

[Guava Jelly]

32. You dont know my sister neener she tried to lay hands on my

dead embalmed niece like my niece was lazurus.
She votes how her church tells her to.
she thinks iraq was behind 911 shes a nut and I am angry that my family could be so stupid

[neener3]

34. I do not know her, true

and you cite some 'whacko things" but posting her private letter worldwide is a bad call on your part, IMO.

[meganmonkey]

41. seriously, neener3, do you get the point of DU?

or most other message boards, for that matter? I'm sure there are a lot of Brendas in Kansas. People come here to be with like-minded people, and sometimes they need to share some of the difficult things they deal with and get some support. This is a pretty anonymous place.

BTW, to call someone's personal struggle with a family member 'tacky' is kinda... er... tacky.

[neener3]

43. BTW, to call someone's personal struggle with a family member 'tacky'...

Reread my post. I called posting her letter tacky. I did not call the struggle tacky. I think the struggle is extremely sad.

This is not a private forum. Granted there is a measure of anonymity, but it sure isn't private.

[meganmonkey]

46. I reread your post

the original poster shared his sister's letter as part of his struggle. He posted it here to get some support, not to get grief from you. I still think your criticism of the original poster is tacky. The last thing he probably needs is the kind of crap you're dumping on this thread.

[neener3]

47. Take a chill pill

[Guava Jelly]

48. Actually you nailed it Megan

I posted this this mourning and i was pissed and amazed that after four years of anguish a few months of hope and one day of either another stolen election or my country becoming retarded the last thing i needed was a psychotic religous rant of a letter from a sister who hasnt a clue of what is actually going on.
Sorry if i insulted you neener you have a right to your opinion and so does my lunatic sister after all that is what we fight for.But i am going through alot of mental stress right now and religon isnt helping.
I cant look at a bush voter without wanting to rip thier head off and deposit last nights recycled burrito supreme down thier hollow gullable ignorant throats.I cant see this feeling going away in a sense I am becoming the enamy that i despise but for once i feel like fighting fire with fire and when in rome...

[meganmonkey]

49. Du is here to help you get through it, GoPsUx

I tried to PM neener about it instead of fouling up your thread but s/he doesn't have enough posts to get PMs (? I didn't even realize there was a post requirement for PMs).
I just felt s/he was missing the point.

Just remember that right now it still feels like this election is the most important thing in the world, and so everything is seen through its lens. But this too shall pass. And your relationship with your sister won't always be defined by politics. I can tell you love her and you're more worried about her on a personal level than on a political one. And I wish you the best in handling it.

:hug:

[Barad Simith]

53. you're not alone

My family believes in Adam and Eve in the garden, the pairs of animals on Noah's ark, the whole thing. Voted for Bush, they did.

It's hard to tell if they voted for him because they're fundies, or because they're just that fuckin stupid.

[BernieBear]

60. The Most Bizarre thing to me

Is Bush really isn't even a fundie...

He's a faux fundie....

He has no core, neither did GHWB, that family hasn't had an inner core, or inner conviction that was non-negotiable since Preston -- and even he had his weak points......

[RPM]

19. fucking weirdo

medicate her, post haste

[PSU84]

21. Schizophrenia

masked as religious belief. She is not to be trusted around children or the elderly. Seriously.

[TahitiNut]

23. One of the best arguments for a DOWRY I've ever seen.

It'd have to be HUGE ... and it still wouldn't be worth it.

[fryguy]

24. no offense to your family.....

but people with such fucked up/demented minds shouldn't be permitted in the voting booths....

[lilsourgoose]

26. If it wasn't Jesus,

she'd have gotten into Charles Manson.

[Felix Mala]

28. Vivid illustrations and vulnerable minds

Earlier in the year, when I read of people who claimed to have had religious conversions from viewing The Passion of the Christ, I suggested that these weak minded people stay away from viewing The Silence of the Lambs.

[Stephanie]

27. I would cut her off just for this:

His arms came forthward

[wrate]

29. Your ideology determines your vision of the world. Your sister probably

had a pretty bad case of indigestion and her religious beliefs prompted her mind to interpret things in such strange ways. For her, this experience makes her living proof of her beliefs. She herself is testimony of what she so believes in.

It's really sad and incomprehensible for the rest of us but this people literally live in a different dimension.

I personally have no problem with someone feeling this way except that they surrender their mind to the pastor/tel-Evangelist who of course takes advantage of this in order to gain political power, money, etc. etc. This is why most religions exist for, to create a power pyramid where the leader can control the believers.

Falwell, Robertson, Van Impe, etc. are the people with whom I REALLY HAVE A PROBLEM. Because all this people "interpret" the Bible in ways that create division, discrimination, intolerance, hatred, fear, etc. They are the real enemy for the secular population in America (read reality based) and they control 50% of American's minds and votes and with that, they control everything else.

[RevCheesehead]

45. I don't think Jesus is impressed by them, either.

Matthew 7:21-23

Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?" Then I will declare to them, "I never knew you; go away from me, you evil-doers."

[GreenPartyVoter]

30. Send her my Christianity page, babe

------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIGHT! Take this country back one town and state at a time!
http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/

[rockydem]

35. There is a cultishness to it

I don't know your sister so I don't know here "voice" so to speak. But it seems to me that she is trying to sound like someone else. She's trying to sound 'Biblical'. It doesn't sound authentic to me. That's what happens to people in cults they lose their own voice.

[slackmaster]

36. Post the pics

This thread is useless without pictures.

[On the Road]

37. I Used to Actually Admire That Kind of Experience

I was a Pentecostal for awhile when I was young, and boy, did I wish I had visions and experiences like that. But it just didn't work for me.

If you put belief over reason and admire people who report spiritual experiences, delusion is almost inevitable. People do come out of it, and it's hard to say why. The key is in starting to become skeptical of their own thoughts and to begin judging them again reality.

I read a book by a guy called Boisen, I think, who underwent a psychotic break. At one point, he was sitting on a screen porch looking at the moon and the rays from the moon took on the shape of the cross. Then he looked more closely and saw that it was an effect caused by the way the moonlight came through the screen. At that point his recovery began.

I know something of what you feel -- my mother is a part-time phone counselor for the 700 club. It's alienating and exasperating to the point where you want to never see her again. But if there's a way to back off quietly, give her five years. She might come around.

[slappypan]

38. Some people have visions because they are suffering from schizophrenia ...

But some people just want to feel special and get attention so they just make up crazy shit. She's your sister, only you know for sure which is the case here.

[Doohickie]

39. Is she single?

She sounds like quite a gal!

[Guava Jelly]

42. I have been posting here for a few years now

this is the longest any of my post have ever stayed alive I posted this around 5:30 am this morning and it keeps poping up without shameless kicks
Either this letter is part of the root problem of our democracy or people are really bored
oh fyi so far only one taker
Paul_h you are sick and twisted LOL just kidden

[Lorien]

44. Sounds like my mom

Born agains are cult members-it's impossible to reason with them.

[jjanpundt]

50. When I lived in Georgia my husband (now ex)

took me to a tent revival of some very fundamental evangelical sect of something or other. There were 1,000s of people there like your sister. My ex thought it was great theater, I thought it sad and scary. The only tolerable part for me was the singing. Good voices. Never want to be around people like that again ever. I can't begin to imagine what it would be like to have a sister like that.

[salin]

52. Have to agree - with the "sad" part

I felt the same thing with the description of the young men in Pakistan who went through religious madra's... no, (at this point) the politicized religious right are not as repressive as the taliban... but in Pakistan there was little gov investment in public education - but there was private funding for the Madrases. We have seen the pictures of young, illiterate men memorizing selective (and slanted) parts of the Koran... rocking in beats to the rote chants... these young men, who started out with some faith, were led by "religious" leaders into a radical form of the religion which in practice is at extreme odds with the actual tenets of the religion. But these boys were looking towards religion and religious leaders to lead them closer to God, but instead were manipulated to act in ways that led them further from God. Sound familiar? I think that this is the story of some politicized, power hungry religious leaders of the "religious right" (as in power corrupts absolutely)... that their message leads naive "faithful" people further away from God by preaching a message that is on many serious points in extreme opposition to the actual teachings of their religion. Those leaders, imo, are evil (in both cases.) Just as the followers of southern churches were for decades (centuries) as their churches taught messages that gave comfort in Slavery and later repressive systems of Jim Crow (and worse, of lynchings and arson of whole communities.) In the name of God - these folks were led in ways that led them further and further away from God. Tragic for the individuals... and when these folks take hold of governments...then it is tragic for those societies.

Beware of false prophets... Indeed.

[salin]

51. she lost me with the "my faith was stronger than that of Mary"...

(my paraphrase). This is the funky thing that happens to 'superficial/selfserving' bornagains (note - not all bornagains just those that fit the modifier.) These folks seem to think that the only important thing is their self and their self's salvation. In that belief their self-importance grows to huge proportions. So she was MORE challenged in her faith than Mary - in historic context, Mary's faith would have had to have been incredibly strong to whether challenges not comparable in today's American society. Completely self-revealing.

[Dem2theMax]

54. When I just read the subject line of your thread,

I was going to reply, "wanna trade for my brother?" -- then I read your post. Nope. No trade. WOW. I mean, I believe in God. Yep. I'm one of those crazy, liberal Christian people.
But, um, well, now I understand what some people mean when they say they 'voted their faith.'

God gave me faith. But he also gave me a brain. And I use it.

I hope I'm not sounding mean. That's not what I want to do. But she is really out there. It actually helps that you shared this with us. It makes it a lot clearer why so many people will not vote for Kerry no matter what * does wrong. No one but Jesus Himself could have taken that vote away from * as far as these people are concerned.

In the meantime, I'll adopt you as my brother if you want an extra sister. :) I'm just normally :crazy: :)

[Trahurn]

56. You Need Professional Help

You need professional help and I mean asap as your sense of reality is so badly skewed now who knows what it will be in 24 more hours. Luckily there is medication that can moderate such insanity. Good luck,

[Carolab]

57. The spear in the heart...

I hate when that happens.

[bling bling]

58. If only your sister could see that she is being *used*

by the anti-christians. They have persuaded her to follow them using Jesus as their vessel.

It wasn't us that drug Jesus down into the gutter of war and politics to advance an agenda of hatred. But I hope we can fix it because the people I know who are like you're sister are multiplying like crazy.

[Godhumor]

59. My little College experience

When I was an undergrad in 1997, I did a computer art piece where you ask questions to an "Angel" in the computer. My version of Heaven did not exactly coincide with the normal Fundie ideal, and something pretty amusing would happen if the person playing on the computer questioned the presented version of the afterlife. Basically, the voice of the angel would say, "No one knows exactly what happens after we stop breathing; you have to die with an open mind."

Much to my surprise, I was denounced by the on-campus student Christian movement and appeared as one of the names on their semi-annual "Lost Souls" newsletter.

It is about that time I started using GodHumor as my username online.

[Petrodollar Warfare]

61. I recommend a book for those who want to understand...

...how we arrived at this bizarre place. The individual in this letter does not operate in the world of reason or rationale thought. This letter typifies a pre-Enlightment type of worldview, and is something the founders of this nation fought hard to expunge from political discourse. You simply can not have a rationale conversion with this individual anymore than you can have a rationale conversation with a fundamentalist Islamist, a point that would be obvious to many, but not to the irrationale mindset.

Anyhow, a few weeks ago I bought a book by David Domke that offers a meticulous analysis of what has happened over the last 3 years in this country. We are witness the emergence of what the founding fathers feared - the merging of politics with a righteous religious framework to form what Domke calls "political fundamentalism." This development is the very antithesis of what Jefferson, Madison and Washington stated the United States should stand for. In fact, religious fundamentalism is the enemy of democracy and freee thought.

Here's press release of a speech by Domke:

Scholar Analyzes Religious Influence, Political Impact of Bush Administration's
Strategic Communications in New Book, Sept. 30 Lecture at Whitworth College
http://www.whitworth.edu/News/2004_2005/Fall/DomkeLecture.htm

"George W. Bush successfully influenced media coverage and public opinion to advance his national security policy agenda by merging religion and politics like no other president in modern U.S. history, according to University of Washington communication scholar David Domke."

"...For his book, Domke and his research team carefully analyzed the language and themes of 15 national addresses and 220 other public communications by Bush during the 20 months between Sept. 11, 2001, and the end of major combat in Iraq on May 1, 2003. In addition, he analyzed more than 100 public statements by Attorney General John Ashcroft, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

Next, Domke reviewed news and editorial coverage in 20 leading and geographically diverse newspapers as well as on the evening newscasts of ABC, CBS and NBC. He focused on how the news media covered the Bush administration's agenda related to combating terrorism, passage of the U.S.A. Patriot Act, creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and congressional and United Nations resolutions on Iraq.

This analysis revealed that news media consistently echoed the words and ideas of the president and other administration leaders and thereby framed public discourse along the administration's terms, according to Domke. For example, he says, only two of more than 300 editorials responding to the president's national addresses criticized the administration's description of the campaign against terrorism as an epic struggle of good vs. evil. None questioned his explicit declarations of God's will, the research shows.

(Amazon.com - 3 good reviews)

God Willing : Political Fundamentalism in the White House, the 'War on Terror' and the Echoing Press
by David Domke
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0745323057/qid=1100014359/sr=8-1/ref=pd_csp_1/104-7039696-5921549?v=glance&s=books&n=507846


"U.S. news media substantially echoed the public communications of the Bush administration in the period between September 11 and the Iraq war in spring 2003. Across the wide range of administration communications examined, the news media consistently gave voice to the words and ideas of the president and other administration leaders. To be clear, news media sometimes disagreed with the administration and occasionally were strongly critical, as we saw in the response to the administration's dissent squelching. Some press criticism was willingly tolerated by the administration, because the consistent echoing of the president's and administration's language disseminated and encouraged a certain conception of the world--a conception grounded in a conservative religious worldview that enacted a particular political agenda. Following the terrorist attacks, news coverage--and, in turn, public opinion--about U.S. politics was constructed, described, delimited and circumscribed by the Bush administration, particularly the president. The administration's strategic language choices and communication approaches were the key factors in prompting this outcome. However, certain normative and structural characteristics of the U.S. news media system also were of importance in facilitating the press' echoing of administration communications. In particular, two central features of the American news media, one regarding the routines and practices of journalism and one regarding ownership, were crucially important."


"...The ultimate loser in this relationship is democracy. When political leadership and the press both stand to benefit from the framing of an event or set of ideas as a crisis, any dissonant voices among the public are easily ignored by political leaders. Indeed, this is what happened during the buildup to the war in Iraq, when hundreds of thousands of Americans protested publicly in February 2003, the largest public demonstrations since the Vietnam War era. The press covered these protests, to be sure. But when the president dismissed these demonstrations (claiming that he welcomed their right to protest, but that their views were wrong) and made clear that the administration would not veer from its impending conflict with Iraq, the press returned to echoing the administration's messages--and not the dissonant public outcry. The implication is substantial: opinions of the public, inevitably lacking the authority inherent in the voices of government officials, have little realistic chance to challenge a governmental narrative in news discourse. In particular, news coverage in crisis contexts will almost always be supportive of the government; only after the crisis diminishes will the press exert independent authority to examine governmental claims and actions, as indeed occurred in summer and autumn 2003 when the U.S. mainstream press began to inspect the administration's claims regarding Iraq and alleged weapons of mass destruction. While such press scrutiny is still useful even at the later date, it comes far too late for military members committed to the field and for individuals or nations who are on the receiving end of an administration's actions. An echoing press, therefore, is not a neutral press.

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Here's an ironic yet tragic reminder of why the founder's warned against the mixture of poltics, religion, and coprorate power...

“But besides the danger of a direct mixture of Religion & civil Government, there is an evil, which ought to be guarded against in the indefinite accumulation of property from the capacity of holding it in perpetuity by … corporations. The power of all corporations ought to be limited in this respect. The growing wealth acquired by them never fails to be a source of abuses."

- James Madison, Detached Memoranda

[Carl Brennan]

62. Religion=mental illness. nt