The new propaganda agenda

[Chris James]

I see little difference between these two:

http://youtu.be/Hbe4Rxj-s4c

When will we ever learn?????

[EleCivil]

I never went to a Battle Cry rally when I was a kid (I think I was 18 by the time they started), but there were a lot of similar groups. Dress up the Bible with a lot of (generic) rock music, lasers, sports. Throw in a bunch of talk about fighting, war, battle, us vs. them. It takes some serious mental kung-fu to convince yourself that Christians are a persecuted minority in America, but they manage to do it. Add qualifiers like "Real, Bible-believeing, Evangelical Christians" - things that are all defined in the head of the definer - and say that the rest of those "so-called Christians" are just pretenders, working against the cause.

Even at my most hardcore religious phase, this stuff left a bad taste in my mouth. All flash, no substance...and when you're dealing in answers to the ultimate questions, I wanted substance. "Let's all shout and watch lasers!" didn't appeal to me as much as "Let's look at the original Greek to see if this could be interpreted differently!"

[DesDownunder]

I see little difference between these two:

http://youtu.be/Hbe4Rxj-s4c

When will we ever learn?????

Apparently never, Chris.

That is why we must be vigilant in not becoming like them.

Compare those links with this prophetic speech at the end of The Great Dictator (1940). Watch through to the end.

For those who have not seen the whole film it is here in HD, and well worth the time to watch.

[FreeThinker]

This is the direction in which America is headed. A new poll shows 50% of the country is now anti-choice. With the Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court, unlimited and unreported secret money can now be poured into political campaigns, and by uniting religion and politics, by combining opposition to the teaching of evolution with opposition to the science of climate change and science in other areas, America is headed down a dangerous and slippery path. Kids need and want guidance and when that guidance is left to the ilk of this man, someone who takes advantage of the fact that kids haven't developed sufficient abilities to think critically and control their emotions, then the danger is even greater.

[DesDownunder]

It's not so much a slippery path as it is falling into an abyss straight down to the Dark Ages of ignorance, stupidity and superstitious nonsense.

[Cole Parker]

Religion is an opiate to control the masses. If someone is controlling the masses, I would guess many megalomaniacs are vying for the top spot, to be the top controller. Right?

C

[EleCivil]

Religion is an opiate to control the masses.

I like to think of it as "The Old Sky-Cake Dodge":

[Paul_and_Paco]

One of my brothers has a very stiff-collared religious background, which he has almost given up since coming to live with us. Even when he looked at those he shook his head and uttered one word... Crazy!