The Power Behind the Power, or We'll Make Conservative Christians Out of Y'all Yet!

I don't normally put links in my posts, but two items caught my attention yesterday, and I wanted my readers to be able to view the source documents so they can read them for themselves. The first was a story on NPR titled "The Evangelicals Engaged in Spiritual Warfare." You can read the article here: http://www.npr.org/2011/08/24/139781021/the-evangelicals-engaged-in-spiritual-warfare?ps=cprs.
The second was a review of the book The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power by Jeff Sharlet. You can find the review here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120746516.

I found both of these articles intensely creepy. According to the first one:

An emerging Christian movement that seeks to take dominion over politics, business and culture in preparation for the end times and the return of Jesus, is becoming more of a presence in American politics. The leaders are considered apostles and prophets, gifted by God for this role.

Now, I dunno about the rest of you, but this frightens me. This group, known as the New Apostolic Reformation, or NAR, has declared a spiritual war on the rest of America - and the world too for that matter. They have defined what they call the "seven mountains of culture" and have determined that these mountains of culture are currently under demonic possession. These mountains include: arts and entertainment, business, family, government, media, religion, and education. Well that sums up just about the whole of society, with the possible exception of the military, which is apparently not under demonic possession. This group of self-declared "prophets and apostles" have decided that they are going to exorcise us from our demonic possession. Other groups that they also feel are possessed by demons include gays and lesbians, Jews and Muslims. This demonic possession is, according to the NAR, the reason Jews and Muslims refuse to convert to Christianity. They have therefore declared "spiritual warfare" against these groups too. Their aim is simply to take over all of the "seven mountains of culture." They believe in a philosophy of "dominionism," which states that "Christians of this belief system must take control over the various institutions of society and government." And then what? Well, apparently they would like to exorcise all of our demons and convert us all to their brand of Christianity. Are you Jewish? Are you Islamic? Are you Mormon? Are you Atheist? Are you Buddhist or Hindu? Are you gay or lesbian? Beware of the NAR. These people do not believe in a philosophy of live and let live. The NAR was one of the prime backers of a bill in Uganda that outlawed homosexuality. The punishment? Death. Anybody else creeped out by this? Anybody doubt this group could get any traction? Well, Rick Perry is VERY closely associated with them, as is Sarah Palin. And Barbara Bachman's not far away from them.

The second article is a review of a book about a secret society called The Family. It consists of prominent business leaders, politicians, and world leaders. It too is an ultra conservative Christian organization that works behind the scenes in the halls of power to bring their own agenda into play. According to Family leader, Doug Coe, the organization...

...functions invisibly like the mafia. ... They keep their organization invisible. Everything visible is transitory. Everything invisible is permanent and lasts forever. The more you can make your organization invisible, the more influence it will have.

Okay, if you weren't creeped out before, you should be by now. And what do they do? They buy people in power in order to get their right-wing Christian agenda in place. They believe that God has chosen them to lead the not just this nation, but the entire world as well. You disagree? They don't care. You don't wanna live under their brand of Christian rule? Too bad for you. Thought you lived in a free and fair democracy? Not so, because these folks think democracy is too clunky and unstable, so they manipulate people behind the scenes and get them to vote the way The Family wants them to vote.

Okay, so about now you're thinking that I'm just another one of those conspiracy nuts raving about secret societies. But I'm not making this stuff up. According to NPR, Jeff Sharlet, the author of The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power,

...has been an associate research scholar at New York University's Center for Religion and Media, where he has taught graduate seminars in journalism and the history of American religion. He has also spoken on religion, politics and media at colleges and universities across the country. At NYU, Sharlet created TheRevealer.org, a review of religion and the media.

This guy is no crank pounding out conspiracy theories in his basement. He's a respected researcher in the filed of religion and media. He's done his research. He knows of what he speaks. And as for the first group - NAR - they make no secret at all about their activities. They're on a mission from God. They've decided that they're "prophets and apostles." They don't care what you think or feel or believe. Don't agree with them? That's because you're possessed by demons. But don't worry. They can take care of you too.