Go read the three columns submitted to Truthdig by Sunsara Taylor on her experiences attending the three day Christian evangelical youth movement known as BattleCry:
If you’ve been waiting to get alarmed until the Christian fascist movement started filling stadiums with young people and hyping them up to do battle in “God’s army,” wait no longer.
In recent weeks, BattleCry, a Christian fundamentalist youth movement, has attracted more than 25,000 people to mega-rally rock concerts in San Francisco and Detroit, and this weekend it plans to fill Wachovia Stadium in Philadelphia.
The leaders of BattleCry claim that their religion and values are under attack, but amid spectacular light shows, Hummers, Navy SEALs and military imagery on stage, it is BattleCry that has declared war on everyone else. Its leader, Ron Luce, insists: “This is war. And Jesus invites us to get into the action, telling us that the violent—the ‘forceful’ ones—will lay hold of the kingdom.”
Here’s page 2 and page 3 and I highly suggest you read them all. It’ll probably scare the shit out of you.
There is a definite attempt taking place by the Christian Evangelicals to get ‘em while their young and get them ready to literally shed blood in the fight to turn America into a theocracy. This is where we’re going to see the next round of domestic terrorism come forth and our President is fully behind the effort all the way:
This was the letter that opened the event. Its author was George W. Bush. Yes, the president of the United States sent a letter of support, greeting, prayer and encouragement to the BattleCry event held at Wachovia Spectrum Stadium in Philadelphia on May 12. Immediately afterward, a preacher took the microphone and led the crowd in prayer. Among other things, he asked the attendees to “Thank God for giving us George Bush.”
On his cue, about 17,000 youths from upward of 2,000 churches across America and Canada directed their thanks heavenward in unison.
Throughout the three and a half hours of BattleCry’s first session, I thought of only one analogy that fit the experience: This must have been what it felt like to watch the Hitler Youth, filled with self-righteous pride, proclaim the supremacy of their beliefs and their willingness to shed blood for them.
You’d like to think this kind of shit can’t happen in America, but there’s no reason it can’t. Who’s to say that someday this country will be the one all the other countries are banding together to defeat? If these people have their way that day may come sooner than later.
Original link found via Pharyngula.
Didn’t we have an extended debate about this approximately two years ago, during which our earnest opponent finally lapsed into plagiarizing entire pages of CS Lewis?
Every once in a while, I go looking for that thread, but I think it’s buried so far in the archives at this point that it may never be seen again.