Dispensationalism and Extremism

[toddaa]

I posted this in the General Discussion area, but I think it's more appropriate here.



When I was a child, my family belonged to the Exclusive Brethren. If you don't know who these people are, they were founded by John Nelson Darby, who split with the very conservative Plymouth Brethren to form the even more extremist group. Darby is the one who pulled various snippets of text out of the books of Daniel and Revelation to create an overarching end times philosophy that has overtaken mainline Protestant and Baptist beliefs.

If you want some background on who these people are and how their strange beliefs have become mainstream, check out the following links. If you are only familiar with Rushdoony and the Reconstructionalists, you are missing a crucial piece of the American Theocratic puzzle.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/subdivisions/brethren/ - Great introduction and historical background on the group.

http://peebs.net - Main hub for former Exclusive Brethren. Lot's of info, but you have to talk Peeb (slang for Plymouth Brethren) to understand all of it.

http://www.behind-closed-doors.org/ - Former EB member details her life in the group in a book you can purchase here. Haven't read it, but from its description, it sounds a lot like my childhood.

Despite being forbidden to vote, EB higher ups have put together their own 527 and contributed a pretty sizable donation to the Bush campaign. This is the scariest part of the story. EBs are often very successful businessmen and are recognized by social conservatives as being very knowledgeable on both economic and theological matters. Given how they treat their own members and former members with psychological brainwashing and thought control, its only a matter of time before these End Timers ideas on group control becomes a part of mainstream conservative Christian practice.

[Cell Whitman]

1. I believe that the conservative movement is a political cult already.

I am not saying they got together and said "let's use some mind control techniques on our fellow citizens." Some likely saw it but the point is the accumulative affect of their efforts amounts to the use of mind control techniques. I fear that what Lakoff is doing, though necessary, his framing, may be just another form of it. However, Lakoff, if I understand correctly, is really trying to reclaim the meaning of words. He certainly doesn't have all the other MC technique baggage the right lays on people. That is why I can't stand the cult of conservatism; you are forced to deal with them or your country and world go to hell.

Anywho, that is what the right's strategies the last 25 years did. They didn't convince the nation of the value of their ideas because their ideas would bankrupt the nation and any honest debate revealed that to be so. What they did was con the nation, manipulate the nation's minds, deceive them. It has worked.
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http://www.au.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=5684&abbr=cs_
Frederick Clarkson, a journalist who has studied Moon and other far-right movements, notes that Moon specializes in the creation of "Astroturf organizations" groups that appear to have grassroots power but that in reality speak mostly for Moon. Moon has used these groups to curry favor with Republicans for more than 30 years, Clarkson said, and is revving them up again to help the new Bush administration.

"Whenever the conservatives identify an issue as important to their agenda, Moon creates an Astroturf organization to create the appearance of grassroots support for these initiatives," Clarkson said.
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If you look at today's conservative, what do you see? They protect the leader, they block out any info which contradicts the cult of conservatism, they demonize those not in the cult, they think G-d takes a personal interest in THEIR view of the world, they believe it is alright to deceive if it helps them reach their goals and protect the cult. They have turned their critical thinking over to Savage, Rush, and Hannity. Rush, for instance, has fed them a steady diet of half truths and lies for 3 hours a day, 5 days a week, for 15 years, never a contradictory word. Day in day out. Koresh didn't talk to his cult that much!!

check these out, who do you see?

Ten Mind Control Distinctives

Eight Marks of a Mind-Control Cult

Very important post, toddaa, thank you.

Why does this line from the BBC article in your post not surprise me?

James Taylor jr was found in bed with one of his female followers in 1970. He protested his innocence but the scandal damaged the movement and 8,000 members left, splitting many families.



http://cellwhitman.blogspot.com/

[norml]

2. Yes, they are a cult. Thanks for the info!

I'm kicking this, so that I can find it, and check it out more tomorrow.

[ultraist]

3. Excellent posts!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Interesting this is posted, I posted earlier the characteristics of cult followers and the Profile of a Sociopath which fits Bush to a tee. Cult leaders more often than not are sociopaths.

I see MANY parallels between the Bush flock and cults. Just as we can identify cult characteristics within the Nazi movement, we can clearly see many here as well.

[toddaa]

4. Separate from the World mentality

The thought control aspects are important, but you have to also realize that Dispensationalism teaches that Christians have no responsibility for this world as they are separate from it. This is the most dangerous component of dispensationalism and has led to the rise of Christian Supremist teachings in conservative circles. Christian Supremists believe that they and only they are entitled to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Until you acknowledge that you believe as they do, you have no rights. This is right out of J.N. Darby's teachings.