Extremely Unctuous

07-12-2011 • TruthDig.com

Take a look at fundamentalist, Dominionist Christianity. They’re the bunch, per writer and researcher Chris Berlet, who are called not only to be “active political participants in civic society, but also seek to dominate the political process as part of a mandate from God.” Or, as sociologist Sara Diamond puts it, they “alone are biblically mandated to occupy all secular institutions until Christ returns—and there is no consensus on when that might be.” A mandate from God that the adherents of this particular One True Faith should take over our nation’s institutions? Yup. And I’m afraid it’s easy to dismiss the idea as arrogant posturing and just laugh. OK, maybe wince when that clown in Florida burns the Quran, or shake our heads when a Christian organizer says gays are Nazis, or, per another more recent source, “barbarians.” Maybe you scoffed when a Christian leader said 9/11 was God’s punishment for creeping secularism, but these folks are serious. For example, one of the secular institutions on which this bunch is working its wiles is our armed forces. Hard to imagine, isn’t it, that a cult-like extremist group could quietly weave its way into control of the command structure of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines? But think about it: Did the “Jesus rifles” just happen by accident? Remember the 800,000 high-powered rifle sights engraved with Bible codes proclaiming “Jesus as the light of the world” and other quotes that our troops unwittingly carried into battle in two primarily Muslim countries? Just a fluke? Ya’ think? Just an innocent mistake, the unfortunate mix of a zealous Christian manufacturer and a sleepy Pentagon acquisitions officer? Hard to imagine, isn’t it? How could religious zealots possibly infiltrate and gain control over our military? Well, for one, you might start with the military academies in West Point, Colorado Springs and Annapolis, the institutions where young Americans train to become the commanding officers who control the kids carrying those rifles.