Sunday, January 22nd, 2006
Expose: The “Christian” Mafia, Parts 1 & 2
By Wayne Madsen

Journalist, columnist, and television commentator Bill Moyers recently wrote that “for the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in Washington.” Ever since Abraham Vereide, a misguided immigrant to this country who brought very un-American ideas of Nazism and Fascism with him in his steamer trunk, the so-called “Christian” Right has long waited to take the biggest prize of all – the White House. Moyers correctly sees the Dominionists or “End Timers” as being behind the invasion of Iraq. Moyers also rightly sees fundamentalist thought behind Bush’s “faith-based initiatives” and the rolling back of environmental regulations.

Hundreds of millions of people around the world no longer feel the United States is a country that can be trusted. They feel the people who run the affairs of state are out of control and dangerous. Considering the hold the Fellowship and their like-minded ilk have on the United States (and some of its allies) they are correct in their fears.

The political and religious dynasties who have embraced the Fellowship, Vereide, Fascism, Moon, Buchman, Moral Rearmament and all of their current and past manifestations, hatreds, and phobias show no sign of ceding power any time soon. There are many such father-son dynasties that hope to ensure a continuation of their shameful racketeering and political chicanery under the corporate “logo” of Jesus: George H. W. Bush to George W. Bush; Douglas Coe to David Coe; Billy Graham to Franklin Graham; Oral Roberts to Richard Roberts, Pat Robertson to Gordon Robertson; Jerry Falwell to Jonathan Falwell; Jeb Bush to George P. Bush; Robert Schuller Sr. to Robert Schuller, Jr., and Sun Myung Moon to at least nine sons (who are known about).

For them and their followers, they should keep in mind something Jesus said, “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit.”

Amen

http://firedoglake.com/2008/08…..f-the-week

- she is the one that grabbed and fondled Bush at the SOTU speech
- her competitors ActBlue is just over 150k since the show

Elwyn Tinklenberg (MN-06)
http://www.tinklenberg08.com/

- petition for censure:
http://www.censurebachmann.com/

etc, etc.

This latest event actually got her in the local news and got some people to dump her, most of the other gems of her’s go unsporrted which shows how critical the buy off of the media has been (and where not possible its hobbling).

Thank god for the web. We have global communication…if we can keep it.

On its face, the case of the U.S. government vs. Living Word Christian Center in Brooklyn Park seems like an esoteric argument over obscure issues in the tax code and the organizational chart of the Internal Revenue Service.

But attorneys for the church and its pastor, the Rev. Mac Hammond, argued in U.S. District Court on Thursday that the case is about the First Amendment, separation of church and state and the reach of the government into the actions of religious organizations.

Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Keyes took the issue seriously enough to ask for more information from both parties. “It’s an issue I could see moving a long way through the courts,” he said.

The IRS has filed a petition in U.S. District Court to force the church to answer a demand for detailed financial information. The church declined to comply with an IRS summons in March, arguing that the request was overly broad, and that the law states the request must come from a “high-ranking official” of the IRS. The U.S. attorney’s office then sued to force compliance.

The IRS is interested in compensation for Hammond and the details of a relationship in which the church bought a jet for the pastor and founder of Living Word, which he then leased back to the church at a profit. The deal was questioned by a Washington watchdog group.

Hammond originally drew attention to himself by endorsing now-U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann for Congress from the pulpit, which violates rules for tax-exempt organizations. He later apologized.

Hammond is a proponent of the “prosperity Gospel,” which teaches that a life dedicated to Christ will result in spiritual and material riches for its members. He owns homes and property worth millions of dollars.

Pickard said the church was concerned about the potential for misuse of information about donors and members, as well as the broad net cast by the IRS inquiry into Hammond’s personal finances.

“He clearly is a target,” Pickard said.

Amy Rotenberg, another attorney representing Living Word, said the church is fighting the case for all religious organizations, not just itself.

“Living Word’s position is that it’s an unlawful government intrusion into the church,” Rotenberg said. “The impact on all faith communities is quite significant.”

Source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune