|
AfroCubaWeb
|
|
The Christian Right in the Americas and Africa
|
How extremist Christian theology is driving the right-wing assault on democracy 10/31/2021 Salon: "As
detailed by Randall Balmer in "Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the Religious
Right," the religious right wasn't initially fueled by opposition to the Roe v.
Wade decision in 1973, but by opposition to a lesser-known decision in 1971,
Green v. Connally, which threatened the tax-exempt status of racially
discriminatory institutions, most famously the evangelical stronghold Bob Jones
University. Anti-abortion activists have long sought not just to bury that past
but to stand it on its head, somehow equating Roe v. Wade with the notorious
Dred Scott decision of 1857 and claiming the moral heritage of abolitionism."
Religion scholar Anthea Butler on "White Christianity" and its role in fueling
fascism 10/19/2021 Salon
How the evangelical Christian right seeded the false, yet surprisingly
resilient, theory that vaccines contain microchips 9/24/2021 Business
Insider: "Andrew Whitehead, an expert on the Christian right who teaches at
Indiana University, said: "One reason some groups and individuals on the
Christian right champion anti-vax views is their skepticism or even outright
rejection of science as a trustworthy source of authority. "In their view,
science competes with the supremacy of Biblicist authority. Not any and all
claims of science, though, just those they perceive to be religiously contested
or politically motivated. Vaccines, and especially the COVID-19 vaccine, is in
this realm.""
‘Pray for the Christians’: Graham Urges School Boards to Fight the ‘Godless
Socialist Agenda’ of CRT 6/23/2021 The New Civil Rights
Movement: "Evangelical and anti-LGBTQ activist Franklin Graham is urging
Americans to “pray for the Christians” who are fighting what he calls a “godless
socialist agenda,” an agenda he says now includes critical race theory and
“concerning transgender policies.”"
Christian Defends Name of Robert E. Lee High: Jesus “Never Condemned Slavery” 3/26/2021 Friendly
Atheist: "The board is even holding community meetings to discuss the changes
and allow people to offer their own input… and the racists are exposing
themselves. Like this guy, Joey Stevens (or Stephens), who lashed out at
Christians who cited their faith in defense of why the school should change its
name."
Christian-Right Council for National Policy Linked to Violent Breach of Capitol 1/12/2021 Truthout: "Tea
Party Patriots co-founder and CNP executive committee member Jenny Beth Martin
promoted the rally and was listedas a speaker. Last November, Tea Party Patriots
Action announced that it was “working with FreedomWorks, Turning Points,
Heritage, and countless social media influencers” to promote and hold “Protect
the Vote” rallies in Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, CMD
reported."
Expert details the secretive ‘shadow network’ behind America's radical right for
the past 40 years 10/23/2020 Bill Moyers: "Southern Baptists had long
believed in the inerrancy of the Bible, that the Bible is literally God's word.
But my generation of Baptists were discovering historical criticism of the Bible
and began to change the denomination. And what Paige Patterson and Paul Pressler
did was to alarm the Baptists who still believed in the literal meaning of the
Bible and said, “They're going to take it away from you if you're not careful."
And so they were able to drive the moderate leaders out of the Southern Baptist
Convention and replace them with literalist, fundamentalist pastors from
churches around the country, including some very large churches. And before we
knew it, the Southern Baptist Convention had become a radically conservative
Republican denomination."
Inside the campaign to 'pizzagate' Hunter Biden 10/22/2020 NBC: "Keenan
Chen, a First Draft researcher who has been monitoring the spread of the Hunter
Biden rumors, said that they appeared to have originated from Dinggang Wang, an
anti-Chinese government YouTube personality known for spreading misinformation
about Covid-19. Wang is connected to Bannon, the 2016 Trump campaign CEO, and
Giuliani through Guo Wengui, a billionaire who fled China amid accusations of
bribery and other crimes. The three men are board members of the Rule of Law
Society, a nonprofit with a mission to "expose corruption, obstruction,
illegality, brutality, false imprisonment, excessive sentencing, harassment and
inhumanity" in China."
The White Supremacist
Roots of American Christianity 10/17/2020 David Pakman Show: "Robert P.
Jones, CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute and author of the new book
"White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity," joins
David to discuss white supremacy in American Christianity and more."
The GOP has become a death cult 4/17/2020 Alternet: "“Long live death!”
That was the defiant cry of José Millán-Astray y Terreros, a general in
Francisco Franco’s fascist army during the Spanish civil war. It could just as
well suit Trump’s foot soldiers."
Meet the right-wing groups protesting against social distancing and stay-at-home
orders: report 4/17/2020 Alternet: “While protesters in Michigan, Ohio,
Kentucky and other states claim to speak for ordinary citizens, many are also
supported by street-fighting right-wing groups like the Proud Boys, conservative
armed militia groups, religious fundamentalists, anti-vaccination groups and
other elements of the radical right,” Wilson explains.
How the coronavirus pandemic shows that Christian white nationalism is a much
greater threat to the US than radical Islam 4/17/2020 Alternet: "Islamist
terror groups like ISIS and al-Qaeda encourage suicide bombing, which — as
countless anti-terror Muslims will point out — is an insult to Islam because the
Qu’ran is very anti-suicide. For that matter, Christianity is equally
anti-suicide. And yet, the Christian Right and many of President Donald Trump’s
far-right white evangelical supporters have been encouraging behavior that is
suicidal. When far-right white evangelicals, white nationalists and coronavirus
truthers rail against social distancing and encourage large gatherings, they are
encouraging suicidal behavior. And there have been many examples."
Louisiana Pastor - If Parishioners Die After Contracting COVID-19 ... It's a
Sacrifice for God and Freedom!!! 4/8/2020 TMZ: "Tony Spell, leader of Life
Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge, tells TMZ ... he thinks true Christians do not
mind dying from COVID-19. He insists that what they fear instead is living in
fear. As he puts it, "People that can prefer tyranny over freedom do not deserve
freedom." He's also not flinching at medical experts suggesting most of the
nation will eventually contract the virus, even if only mildly. Spell's reaction
is, "Let's get on with life.""
Trump's evangelical supporters want China to pay a price for coronavirus 4/8/2020 Politico: "One
popular proposal in evangelical circles, where some Trump allies remain wary of
drastic retaliatory actions such as new sanctions, is for China to forgive a
significant portion of the $1.1 trillion the U.S. government owes to it. The
idea has been circulated by several Republican lawmakers, including Blackburn
and South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who said “the whole world should send
China a bill for the pandemic” during a Fox News appearance Monday night."
The rightwing Christian preachers in deep denial over Covid-19's danger 4/4/2020 Guardian: "André
Gagne, an associate professor of theological studies at Concordia University,
and a researcher of the Christian right, recently published on the phenomenon of
coronavirus denialism among evangelicals. Asked why evangelical leaders are
committed to taking such a risk in denying the reality of the infection, or even
assisting its spread, Gagne said it was rooted in their theology. “Many of these
preachers believe Christians shouldn’t be controlled by a ‘spirit of fear’,”
Gagne said. “They often quote biblical texts which promise God’s healing and
protection to those who have faith. They are confident that God is in control;
that this is part of his overall plan before a great end-times spiritual
revival.” He said: “There are those who also understand this in terms of
‘spiritual warfare’, and that Jesus gave Christians authority over every demon
and sickness. And if a Christian dies, no worries: he or she will ‘be with the
Lord’.”"
The South Doesn’t Want to Self-Isolate 4/2/2020 Washington
Monthly: "Whether religiosity explains it, or a probably related skepticism
toward scientific expert advice, or maybe something to do with their car
culture, I don’t know. But their slowness to respond to this outbreak has
undermined the effectiveness of the efforts of the areas that did respond. And,
because of the nature of this disease, we’re all going to be paying for that for
the foreseeable future."
Christian pastor who thought COVID-19 is just ‘mass hysteria’ among the first in
Virginia to die from virus 3/26/2020 Raw Story: "On March 13, Spradlin
shared a misleading meme that compared coronavirus deaths to swine flu deaths
and suggested the media is using the pandemic to hurt Trump. In the comments,
Spradlin acknowledged that the outbreak is a “real issue,” but added that he
believes “the media is pumping out fear and doing more harm than good”. “It will
come and it will go,” he wrote. That same day, he shared a post from another
pastor that told the story of a missionary in South Africa who “protected”
himself from the bubonic plague with the “Spirit of God.”"
Pentecostal Pastor Won’t Stop Church for COVID-19 3/19/2020 Christianity
Today: "A pastor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, says he will defy government orders
intended to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The Oneness Pentecostal congregation
met on Tuesday, despite the declaration of a state-wide public health emergency
banning gatherings of 50 or more people. Life Tabernacle Church plans to meet
again on Sunday, setting up a possible legal clash between religious liberty
protections and the state’s authority to respond to a pandemic."
Anti-LGBTQ evangelical pastor heads organization handing out envelopes of cash
to black voters 1/29/2020 Alternet: "The Wall Street Journal reports 20% or
more would hand the election to Trump. “Allies of Donald Trump have begun
holding events in black communities where organizers lavish praise on the
president as they hand out tens of thousands of dollars to lucky attendees,”
Politico reports. “The first giveaway took place last month in Cleveland, where
recipients whose winning tickets were drawn from a bin landed cash gifts in
increments of several hundred dollars, stuffed into envelopes.”"
Onward, Christian Fascists 12/30/2019 TruthDig: "Fascism would come to
America not in the guise of stiff-armed, marching brownshirts and Nazi swastikas
but in mass recitations of the Pledge of Allegiance, the biblical sanctification
of the state and the sacralization of American militarism. Adams was the first
person I heard label the extremists of the Christian right as fascists.
Liberals, he warned, as in Nazi Germany, were blind to the tragic dimension of
history and radical evil. They would not react until it was too late."
CURA BENDICE ARMAS ASESINAS EN BOLIVIA 12/8/2019 Juan Antonio Mejia
Guerra: "Maldito el pastor que bendice las armas destinadas a matar indígenas, a
los pobres, a los negros, a las mujeres, a los jóvenes. Malditos sean cuando se
acuestan y cuando se levantan. Malditas sean sus vidas y sus actos. Malditos
todos ellos, malditos."
Bolivia’s Coup Government Is a Far-Right Horror Show 12/3/2019 Jacobin: "As
for the OAS, it has yet to deliver a final election report, much less produce
concrete evidence demonstrating that Morales and his party committed electoral
fraud in the October 20 election. And yet after negotiating with the
MAS-controlled Congress, Añez passed a new electoral law that prohibits Morales
and his former vice-president, Álvaro García Linera, from participating as
candidates in the upcoming election (the date for which has not been set).
Shortly after blocking Morales’s candidacy, Añez reopened diplomatic relations
with the US, signaling the imminent return of the Drug Enforcement Agency — and
with it, counter-insurgency and the consequent deaths of innocents in the coca
fields of the Chapare and Yungas."
Mujeres indígenas responden a Rita Segato 11/20/2019 Matria: "La gestión
Trump y su artefacto hegemónico pretende recuperar Latinoamérica con el brazo
evangélico mesiánico, con los poderes mediáticos que construyen relatos
mentirosos y claramente con las fuerzas represivas policiales y militares que
fueron oradadas a fuerza de inyección de dineros pocos sanctos en las almas
turbias de la indianidad. Están saliendo a luz, cada día, las pruebas que surgen
respecto de la planificación extrema que tuvo este golpe."
“Hay un plan para transformar a América Latina en un Medio Oriente” 11/18/2019 Socompa: por
Rita Segato - "Estos sectores evangélicos fundamentalistas han importado las
estrategias del faccionalismo religioso que destruyó el Medio Oriente haciéndolo
ingresar a nuestra región del mundo. Estoy hablando de una conspiración y creo
que hay un plan realmente de transformar a América Latina en un Medio Oriente y
uno de los métodos es la guerra religiosa, es el faccionalismo religioso. Veo
diversos indicios, no puedo hablar de ellos ahora, de que esto está siendo así."
Grupos evangélicos son la nueva arma de EE.UU. para los golpes en Latinoamérica 11/15/2019 El
Ciudadano: "El filósofo y teólogo Enrique Dussel sostiene que Estados Unidos
propicia una “guerra santa” para provocar derrocamientos en la región. "Se
propone que el hombre deje sus costumbres ancestrales y se proponga trabajar y
entrar en la sociedad consumista capitalista buguesa", reflexionó... No hay
herramientas intelectuales suficientes para analizar la guerra santa que está
utilizando Estados Unidos para sustentar golpes de Estado en países de
Latinoamérica. Así puede resumirse la tesis de Enrique Dussel, académico,
filósofo, historiador y teólogo, al analizar el derrocamiento de Evo Morales en
Bolivia y el panorama político regional."
Jerry Falwell, Wally Hilliard, & Transnational Organized Crime 10/13/2019 Mad
Cow: "Kurds are being slaughtered in Syria, there’s a tsunami in Japan, hundreds
of ISIS fighters have escaped from jail, and Attorney General Bill Barr, who
according to numerous witnesses while working for the CIA enabled cocaine
trafficking through Mena, Arkansas during the 1980’s, was delivering a speech at
Notre Dame blaming “the decline of religion” and the “destruction of moral
order” in the U.S. for the drug abuse he helped create. So why should anyone
care about the latest corrupt conservative Christian evangelical, Jerry Falwell
Jr., President of Liberty University, his wife, and a pool boy in Miami?"
The Christian converts who are setting fire to sacred Aboriginal objects 9/24/2019 ABC,
Australia: ""Most of them, they was shouting and happy," she said. "It was
really exciting for them." "The most important thing for me is to see the people
happy and free not to live in bondage anymore." She said she started viewing
traditional Aboriginal beliefs as devil-worship after arriving in the Kimberley
and meeting local people. "When they talk, and share the type of spirit they're
using, I can say is very demonic. "I've been seeing that is all connected to
witchcraft — that is not from God, that's all from the devil." Some local
Aboriginal women like Olive Knight agree. She helps run the small but strong
Christian fellowship still operating in Wangkatjungka."
Facebook removed doctors' fact-check of false anti-abortion video because Ted
Cruz complained 9/14/2019 Salon: "The videos in question featured Lila
Rose, the founder of the anti-abortion group Live Action. Both videos falsely
claimed that “abortion is never medically necessary.” Three doctors authored a
fact-check for Health Feedback, an organization that seeks to debunk misleading
medical coverage. The fact-check deemed the video “inaccurate,” noting that
“certain medical conditions such as placenta previa and HELLP syndrome can make
abortion a necessary medical procedure in order to prevent the mother’s death.”"
The US a
Christian nation? Not according to the Founders 9/8/2019 History News
Network: "Only the Declaration of Independence even mentions God--in a single
ambiguous reference in the opening paragraph to what Deists rather than
practicing Christians called “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God.” "
LA LUCHA DE LOS VENEZOLANOS ES UN ACTO DE FE IRRENUNCIABLE 9/6/2019 Chucho
Garcia: "En el sector Los Corales de la Parroquia Caraballeda, Estado La Guaira,
la Fundación Luz de Vargas conjuntamente con el Movimiento afrorevolucionario
Juan Ramon Lugo, hicieron un foro, el pasado miércoles 4 de septiembre, para
intercambiar opiniones sobre la situación del país y el papel de la
espiritualidad cristiana en su rol de reforzar la esperanza para salir de la
incertidumbre que en estos momentos sacude el país debido a factores externos
como el bloqueo y la necesidad de redefinir políticas del Estado que contribuya
al autodesarrollo del pueblo en el campo socioeconómico."
Pilots, Pedophiles, a Lingerie Model, & ‘The Pirate of Prague’ 9/1/2019 Mad
Cow: "Like Virginia, Amanda didn’t have the luxury of career counseling. If she
had, someone might have been waved away from becoming an outcall lingerie model
at Fantasies & Lingerie, and, briefly, the girlfriend of Mohamed Atta. But
because she survived it, today we know that a close associate of Mohamed Atta’s
in Southwest Florida was a German pilot named Wolfgang Bohringer. We know that
Bohringer was the personal pilot of Russian Mob-connected oligarch Viktor
Kozeny, who at one point after the fall of communism in Eastern Europe,
controlled fully one-third of the entire economy of the nation of
Czechoslovakia."
The racist roots of the anti-abortion movement explained 5/17/2019 The
Grio: "Balmer says that evangelical leaders waited a whole six years after Roe
V. Wade to organize against abortion because the movement wasn’t truly about
abortion, but political power. He says a similar desire for political power
today, has allowed them to give a pass to President Donald Trump."
Alabama’s Abortion Bill Is Great News For White Supremacists 5/15/2019 Huff
Post: "Many white supremacists subscribe to the bogus conspiracy theory that
white people are going extinct due to immigration and falling birthrates among
white women. To them, the strict abortion bill that passed the Alabama Senate on
Tuesday - which aims to challenge a woman’s constitutional right to choose to
end a pregnancy - represents a huge victory in their effort to propagate the
“white race.”"
The Pro-Life Movement was Born from Racism 5/8/2019 The Salt
Collective: "Angered by the government’s interference in ‘christian’ affairs, 2
white men in particular – 1st conservative activist Paul Weyrich and later
Christian Fundamentalist Jerry Falwell – worked to create a movement to prevent
the government from violating evangelicals’ “religious freedom” to discriminate
against whoever from enrolling in their schools while still benefiting from
federal tax breaks. The only problem was that by the 70s nobody was going to
publicly plant their flag on a hill of racism and discrimination, so white
evangelicals didn’t coalesce en masse. They needed another, more digestible
issue to “rally the base.” And so the single-issue, pro-life movement was born.
Mind you, it wasn’t until SIX YEARS after Roe v. Wade that abortion was even
mentioned as a political issue by christians."
America’s Biggest Christian Charity Funnels Tens of Millions to Hate Groups 3/19/2019 Sludge: "The
nation’s eighth-largest public charity is pouring tens of millions of dollars
each year into a number of mostly anti-LGBT hate groups, a Sludge investigation
shows. According to the three most recent available tax filings—which cover
2015-17—it has donated $56.1 million on behalf of its clients to 23 nonprofits
identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate groups."
Cuba’s evangelical alliance leads crusade against gay marriage 2/24/2019 Guardian: "“Pentecostals
have been highly adept at integrating national rhythms into their services,”
said Andrew Chesnut, religious studies professor at Virginia Commonwealth
University. “Afro-Cuban rhythms, which are heavy on percussion, animate
Pentecostal services. Likewise, dance which is an important part of Cuban
culture, has been integrated into services.” …Deep pockets in times of hardship
have also been key. Pereira said his church receives around $200,000 annually
from churches in Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, and the US."
American Evangelicalism has varieties — and these are the ones you should be
worried about 1/29/2019 Alternet: "The five groups are described as
Trump-vangelicals, Neo-fundamentalist evangelicals, iVangelicals, Kingdom
Christians, and Peace and Justice evangelicals."
La Iglesia Metodista de 25 y K 1/13/2019 Julio César González Pagés: "La
Iglesia Metodista de 25 y K que lideró un movimiento en contra del matrimonio
entre personas del mismo sexo, avanza y sus cultos de domingo se trasmiten desde
dos pantallas exteriores y un audio que se oye desde la parada del Céntrico
Copelia. El culto de hoy refuerza sus posiciones contra el matrimonio
igualitario, el aborto y la ideología de género, país que no despierta
.....seguimos por un mundo mejor, diverso e inclusivo.¡Tú voz es fundamental
contra los fundamentalismos¡"
Scientists have established a link between brain damage and religious
fundamentalism 1/6/2019 Alternet: "The findings suggest that damage to
particular areas of the prefrontal cortex indirectly promotes religious
fundamentalism by diminishing cognitive flexibility and openness—a psychology
term that describes a personality trait which involves dimensions like
curiosity, creativity, and open-mindedness."
Brazil's New Minister: Boys Wear Blue and Girls Wear Pink 1/4/2019 teleSUR: "Brazil's
new Minister for Women, Family, and HumanRights threatens the LGBTQ community."
[The Israeli flag is the backdrop, showing the alliance between the Israeli
right and the evangelicals, which is driving a lot of conflict throughout Latin
America as they seek to firm up colonial settler culture.]
Brazil’s Bolsonaro targets LGBT people, racial minorities on 1st day in office 1/3/2019 AP: "Newly
installed President Jair Bolsonaro targeted Brazil’s indigenous groups,
descendants of slaves and the LGBT community with executive orders in the first
hours of his administration, moving quickly after a campaign in which the
far-right leader said he would radically overhaul many aspects of life in Latin
America’s largest nation… The Justice Ministry previously handled demarcation of
indigenous lands through the FUNAI agency, which also oversees other initiatives
for indigenous groups such as health care, housing and language preservation.
Bolsonaro's order is raising uncertainties about FUNAI by shifting it to a new
ministry for family, women and human rights that is headed by an
ultraconservative evangelical pastor."
Evangelicals: God Sent Trump to Be King 1/1/2019 Church and
State: "Unbeknownst to people with even a tenuous grip on reality, prior to the
midterms a thousand theaters showed “The Trump Prophecy,” a film about a
firefighter who, in a blinding orgiastic epiphany, picks up a Bible and turns to
Isaiah 45, “which describes the anointment of King Cyrus by God.” Get it, Isaiah
“45” — Trump “45”? What more proof do you need, right?"
Why Trump Reigns as King Cyrus 12/31/2018 NYT: "The identification of the
45th president with an ancient Middle Eastern potentate isn’t a fringe thing.
“The Trump Prophecy” was produced with the help of professors and students at
Liberty University, whose president, Jerry Falwell Jr., has been instrumental in
rallying evangelical support for Mr. Trump. Jeanine Pirro of Fox News has picked
up on the meme, as has Ron Dermer, the Israeli ambassador to the United States,
among many others."
Black Florida State Representative Proposes Law to Prevent the Erasure of
Confederate Monuments 12/22/2018 Atlanta Black Star: "The Florida
Panhandle’s first Black representative since the Civil War just proposed a bill
that would make it a crime to remove Confederate memorials, names and symbols in
the state, not to mention that any intentional damaging of said memorials would
be treated as a third-degree felony. Rep. Mike Hill (R-Pensacola) insists Gen.
Robert E. Lee was more than just “some racist” and lauded him as “a gentleman, a
Christian, and a man of great valor who” deserved to be revered, as should all
Confederate leaders, the Broward Palm Beach New Times reported."
¿Ya no habrá
matrimonio igualitario en Cuba? 12/19/2018 Tremenda Nota: "“Grupos de
fundamentalistas religiosos están tratando de chantajear al Gobierno cubano con
que no van a votar a favor de la Constitución si se deja el artículo relativo al
matrimonio entre dos personas”, aseguró en entrevista publicada este 17 de
diciembre por el diario Gara, del País Vasco, y reproducida luego en el blog La
Pupila Insomne."
Avant le
déluge: El Salvador election will drive more asylum-seekers north 12/17/2018 Wayne
Madsen Report: "In every country where leftist governments are plagued by
right-wing insurgencies—Nicaragua, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Cuba—the right-wing
forces are backed by the Israelis and U.S. fundamentalist groups. These U.S.
groups, such as those led by pastors John Hagee, Robert Jeffress, Paula White,
and Jerry Falwell, Jr., are in lockstep with the Trump administration and
Israel. These groups and individuals, all favoring Trump’s southern border
“wall,” are largely responsible for supporting Central American autocracies,
propped up by Protestant fundamentalists, that are driving refugees to the U.S.
southern border."
Christian nationalists are trying to seize power — but progressives have a plan
to fight back 12/16/2018 Salon: "This week, new exit-poll data from this
year's midterm elections re-emphasized how much the Trump-led GOP depends on
evangelical voters, as opposed to the much more discussed "white working class."
Among white non-evangelicals, non-college-educated men voted for Republicans, 53
to 44 percent, while women voted Democratic by 57 to 41 percent. But among white
evangelicals there was virtually no difference between college and non-college
voters in their GOP support: 78 percent among men for both groups, and 73 and 71
percent, respectively, for women."
Fundamentalismo religioso en Cuba amenaza a la comunidad LGBTI 12/16/2018 IPS: "Libertad
religiosa, garantías a los derechos de personas no heterosexuales y la alianza
de iglesias fundamentalistas contra la propuesta no discriminatoria y por el
matrimonio igualitario de la reforma constitucional, centraron la VI Jornada
Socioteológica Identidades sexuales y de género no hegemónicas. El espacio de
debate tuvo como sede el Centro Internacional de Salud La Pradera, de esta
capital, y fue convocado por el proyecto Abriendo Brechas de Colores (ABC), que
defiende la justicia social y la igualdad, además de que considera la diversidad
de identidades sexuales y de género como un don divino y un derecho humano
fundamental."
Lo que el fundamentalismo religioso quiere negar 11/30/2018 El
Toque: "Existen muchas personas cristianas pertenecientes a los colectivos
LGBTIQ+, cuya voz es invisibilizada por el estigma que rodea a sus identidades
sexuales en los contextos religiosos y las propias prácticas discriminatorias de
las comunidades a las que pertenecen."
The Missionary Threat to Uncontacted Tribes: John Chau, the Sentinelese Tribe
and the Risk of Epidemics 11/29/2018 Counterpunch: "Mary Ho, the head of
the missionary agency which supported John Chau, is now claiming that he was not
a risk to the Sentinelese tribe. She says, “We are talking about a different
time here, we’re talking about a time right now when there is modern medicine,
when there is antibiotics.” This displays an extraordinary level of ignorance
which highlights why it’s so dangerous for such people to be anywhere near
uncontacted tribes."
Meet the pastors behind Brazil’s new pro-Israel foreign policy 11/29/2018 Cleaveland
Jewish News: "One of those supporters, Dr. Josimar Salum, met with Bolsonaro
multiple times, worked on his campaign and has been part of a group of pastors
who urged Bolsonaro not to waver on Jerusalem. “We had a meeting with Jair
Bolsonaro in October 2017 in New England that included about 70 Brazilian
pastors,” said Salum. “In the same time period that President [Donald] Trump was
speaking about moving the American embassy to Jerusalem, we were able to make
the case that Brazil needed to change its foreign policy towards Israel and move
its embassy to Jerusalem.” Asked to explain their goals, Salum said: “Brazilian
Christian Zionism is a movement to bless Israel not only with words, but with
concrete actions. It is no use merely to carry the flag of Israel, to sing songs
and to speak good words about Israel. Christian Zionists must engage in the
daily defense of Israel, be defenders of the Nation of Israel in their spheres
of influence, and stand against anti-Semitism around them.”"
For Latin America’s Evangelicals, Bolsonaro Is Just the Start 11/12/2018 Americas
Quarterly: "Instead, a backlash against the perceived liberalization of
traditional family and gender roles has sparked rapid and fierce political
action among Latin America’s evangelicals. In the Brazilian campaign, fallacious
viral rumors circulated through WhatsApp messages in evangelical communities,
accusing Bolsonaro’s opponent Fernando Haddad of supporting sexual education
programs that would manipulate young children to become gay or transgender.
Anger over what evangelicals call “gender ideology” has fused with intensifying
opposition to Haddad’s center-left Workers’ Party."
Evangélicos en América Latina: ¿El poder a toda costa? (En los 501 años de la
Reforma Luterana) 11/3/2018 Protestante Digital: "Lo que hoy pasa por
protestantismo no es más que una negación persistente, triunfalista y que se
está orientando hacia el integrismo, de los ideales anticonstantinianos propios
del anabautismo radical."
¿El futuro de América Latina está en manos de conservadores y evangélicos? 11/3/2018 La
Republica: "Los evangélicos componen, según el NY Times, el 20% de la población
de Latinoamérica. Se explica la influencia de la religión debido al soporte
espiritual e incluso económico que brindan a sus miembros. Se presentan con una
actitud paternalista y ofrecen solucionar los problemas de los ciudadanos. Si un
miembro se queda sin trabajo, sabe que puede contar con el apoyo de su
comunidad, porque hay un fondo económico de respaldo."
El peligro de las iglesias evangélicas en la política latinoamericana 10/25/2018 El
Mostrador: "En una investigación del Centro Estratégico Latinoamericano de
Geopolítica (CELAG), titulada “Iglesias evangélicas y el poder conservador en
Latinoamérica”, se establece que el evangelismo explota políticamente su gran
despliegue mediático, gracias a sus propias emisoras, canales de televisión y
redes sociales, que deja en desventaja a los demás candidatos del sistema
político, ayudadas de una "gran capacidad económica ligada al aporte-convicción
de sus feligreses" y son fervientes "defensores del neoliberalismo y la sociedad
de consumo"."
Evangelicals wield voting power across Latin America, including Brazil 10/6/2018 Times
of Israel: "Evangelism has played a key role in some of the biggest political
upheavals in the region in recent years, said Gaspard Estrada, a specialist in
Latin American politics at Paris’ Science Po university. They include the
impeachment of Brazil’s president Dilma Rousseff, the “No” vote in the Colombian
referendum on the 2016 FARC peace deal, and Guatemala’s recent decision to move
its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem… According to evangelists, Jews
should rebuild their biblical temple in Jerusalem, which is a key step in a
series of events that will lead to a second coming of Jesus Christ on Earth."
Luces para un desembarco: ¿fundamentalismo religioso en Cuba? 7/23/2018 Azamblea
Feminista: "Desde artículos digitales, campañas, post, redes sociales, videos y
el púlpito se va propagando la crítica a la “ideología de género”. Son
frecuentes frases como “el patriarcado no existe”, “es un atentado contra la
familia y el diseño original”, “es un ataque y persecución religiosa”. ¿Qué
lectura podemos hacer de estos discursos? ¿Cuáles pueden ser sus verdaderas
intenciones?"
Editorial: ¿De qué modo se oponen las iglesias cubanas al matrimonio homosexual? 7/18/2018 Diario
de Cuba: "Carteles contra del matrimonio homosexual en La Habana. (ALIANZA
AFRO-CUBANA/FACEBOOK)"
Iglesias evangélicas, un poder que crece en Latinoamérica 6/3/2018 El
Tiempo: "Un caso más curioso es el de Colombia, donde los evangélicos
contribuyeron visiblemente a la victoria del No a los acuerdos de paz en el
plebiscito sobre la paz en el 2016. “Jesucristo es el único que puede traer la
paz que tanto anhelamos”, decía el mensaje del jugador de fútbol Daniel Torres,
que rechazaba los acuerdos firmados entre el presidente Juan Manuel Santos y las
Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (Farc). La mención a los derechos
LGBT en las negociaciones de paz puso en alerta y movilización a las iglesias y
los pastores."
White fear elected Trump: Political scientist Diana Mutz on the “status threat”
hypothesis 5/7/2018 Salon: "I find that those who believe dominant groups
such as men, whites and Christians are now discriminated against were very
attracted to Trump. Interestingly, the racial attitudes that mattered in 2016
were not the kind that first come to mind, such as racial animosity or the
stereotyping of minorities as poor or unintelligent. Instead, in the post-Obama
era, what many whites fear is successful minorities in powerful social and
political positions. Because status is a relative concept, it is difficult for
people to imagine that others’ group status has improved without hurting the
status of their own group. Status, like international trade, tends to be
perceived as zero-sum."
Study Shows Trump Voters Were Motivated by Fear of Losing Privileged Status—Not
Economic Anxiety 4/24/2018 Alternet: "The actual correlation she uncovered
involved a “social dominance orientation,” which measures whether people see
hierarchy as a good and natural way to organize society. White people who had
that view gravitated towards Trump. “It used to be a pretty good deal to be a
white, Christian male in America, but things have changed and I think they do
feel threatened,” Mutz said."
Trump Voters Driven by Fear of Losing Status, Not Economic Anxiety, Study Finds 4/24/2018 NYT: "For
example, Trump support was linked to a belief that high-status groups, such as
whites, Christians or men, faced more discrimination than low-status groups,
like minorities, Muslims or women, according to Dr. Mutz’s analysis of the
University of Chicago study. What does it matter which kind of anxiety —
cultural or economic — explains Mr. Trump’s appeal? If wrong, the prevailing
economic theory lends unfounded virtue to his victory, crediting it to the
disaffected masses, Dr. Mutz argues. More important, she said, it would teach
the wrong lesson to elected officials, who often look to voting patterns in
enacting new policy."
"La fuerza política más nueva": cómo los evangélicos emergen en el mapa de poder
en América Latina 4/17/2018 BBC: ""Ofrecen servicios comunitarios, entonces
esto les trae un seguimiento muy grande: tienen una adhesión que ningún partido,
ninguna ONG, ni otro movimiento es capaz de igualar", explica Corrales. Además
cuentan con radios, canales de TV y fuerte presencia en las redes sociales. Y la
fidelidad que logran la hacen valer cada vez más en la arena política, a veces
con acuerdos electorales, otras impulsando sus propios candidatos. "
La fe evangélica abraza las urnas en América Latina 4/13/2018 El Pais: "Dos
meses antes de las elecciones más disputadas de la historia de Brasil, en 2014,
la entonces presidenta, Dilma Rousseff, del Partido de los Trabajadores (PT),
una exguerrillera agnóstica declarada, se desplazó hasta São Paulo para asistir
a un culto evangélico de casi tres horas. El acto incluyó el discurso de un
pastor que rememoró la época en que fumaba “hasta cien piedras de crack por
noche” y atribuía el vicio a “un espíritu que domina el sistema nervioso”. Se
curó “gracias a la fe”, explicó el pastor ante un auditorio que, además de
Rousseff, reunía a la crema del poder brasileño: el entonces vicepresidente y
ahora presidente, Michel Temer, ministros, el gobernador y el alcalde de São
Paulo —también del izquierdista PT— y los miembros más importantes del Congreso
Nacional. Era la inauguración del Templo de Salomón, una megaiglesia de 100.000
metros cuadrados con capacidad para recibir hasta 10.000 fieles construida en el
centro de la mayor ciudad del país."
Cientos de miembros de las iglesias evangélicas de Granma salen a la calle para
protestar en contra del matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo que propone la
nueva Constitución cubana 4/12/2018 Isla Local: "Como una muestra de
expresar su desacuerdo con lo reflejado en el artículo 68 del nuevo proyecto
constitucional, un grupo de Metodistas de Manzanilo en la provincia de Granma se
lanzaron a las calles para hacer pública su postura. En esta ocasión los fieles
traspasaron las paredes de su templo para expresar su deseo de que se mantenga
el diseño original de la familia."
Women’s Empowerment Was a Big Deal In African Societies, Before Christianity and
Islam 3/23/2018 Atlanta Black Star: "Aside from being empowered in
marriage, precolonial African society had several avenues for women to exercise
power. Throughout African history we have numerous examples of woman as queens
who ruled, warriors who shed blood, and traders and merchants who built immense
fortunes. Vanderbilt professor Dr. Sandra Barnes, posits that “women in Africa
were “one of history’s most politically viable female populations.” Queens such
as Egypt’s Hatshepsut and Ethiopia’s Makeda (thought to be the biblical queen of
Sheba) were known for using their leadership and wisdom to protect, expand, and
enhance their nations."
Christian Dominionists Meet at Trump's Washington Hotel to Answer the "Divine
Call to War" 3/9/2018 Truth Out: "Those leaders, according to People for
the American Way's Right Wing Watch, "are associated with the New Apostolic
Reformation, which believes a triumphant, dominion-taking church will help bring
about the return of Christ, and many are part of POTUS Shield, a network of
self-described apostles and prophets who believe President Trump was anointed by
God to help bring that all about."
How Christian Slaveholders Used the Bible to Justify Slavery 2/23/2018 Time: "During
the period of American slavery, how did slaveholders manage to balance their
religious beliefs with the cruel facts of the “peculiar institution“? As shown
by the following passages — adapted from Noel Rae’s new book The Great Stain,
which uses firsthand accounts to tell the story of slavery in America — for some
of them that rationalization was right there in the Bible."
Long, uneasy love affair of Israel and U.S. evangelicals may have peaked 1/28/2018 WaPo: "The
Trump administration's recent decision to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's
capital and the subsequent visit of the evangelical vice president to Israel
mark the culmination of a long, complicated and sometimes uneasy alliance
between Israeli leaders and Christian evangelicals that dates to before the
establishment of the state. But the high-water mark comes just as younger
American evangelicals are growing less attached to Israel. Recent polls have
sparked anxiety among Israeli officials and Christian Zionist groups, which are
trying to reverse the decline. Faced with the dip in support, Israel is
increasingly looking to evangelical communities in Latin America, Africa and
elsewhere to build international support. Guatemala, where President Jimmy
Morales is an avowed evangelical, was the first country to follow suit after the
U.S. recognition of Jerusalem."
White Supremacy and the Pro-Life Movement: Slanted Subtweets During #ScaryStats 1/26/2018 Reproaction: "The
“pro-life” movement loves jumping on repro hashtags, but Human Coalition
leadership specifically had a few clumsy contributions to the tweetstorm that
got me thinking about how their movement has tried – and in some cases, made
headway – in coopting social justice and human rights language while furthering
misogynist and white supremacist ideals. Their expression of these sentiments
isn’t always direct, but sometimes is masked behind supposed allyship or
solidarity with the struggles of people of color."
The Lies Around Voodoo and Santeria Being Demonic Worship 12/26/2017 Level: "These
Afro-Latinx religions have several things in common — they all involve singing
and dancing, sacred drumming, worshipping the spirits, and the belief that
mortals are possessed by the supernatural. The Christian church and slaveowners
referred to their ceremonies as wicked acts."
Gen. Kelly's Civil War Story Derives From 19th-Century Pro-Slavery
Evangelicalism 11/9/2017 Alternet: "This framework asserts that the Civil
War was not primarily about slavery, that slavery itself was not nearly as bad
as we are led to believe (in fact it was a “positive good” in that it exposed
Africans to the Gospel and to a “biblical family”). The war was framed as a
theological conflict in which Southern culture was an expression of a Godly
civilization battling against a materialistic “humanistic” one."
How a Growing Christian Movement Is Seeking to Transform America With
Supernatural Miracles and Divine Interventions 10/12/2017 Alternet: "INC
Christianity is led by a network of popular independent religious entrepreneurs,
often referred to as “apostles.” They have close ties, we found, to conservative
U.S. politicians, including Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry
and more recently President Donald Trump.INC Christianity is led by a network of
popular independent religious entrepreneurs, often referred to as “apostles.”
They have close ties, we found, to conservative U.S. politicians, including
Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Bobby Jindal, Rick Perry and more recently President
Donald Trump."
Drug traffickers and pastors united by prejudice? Is Evangelical demonizing of
Afro-Brazilian religions to blame for recent violent assaults? 10/2/2017 Black
Women of Brazil: "In one attack in August, 65-year old Maria da Conceição
Cerqueira da Silva suffered injuries to her face, mouth and arm when she was
stoned in Nova Iguaçu, in suburban Rio. According to her family, she was a
victim of religious intolerance. One of the principal culprits of this
increasing violence against Afro-Brazilian religious followers is the
Evangelical church, whose rhetoric and demonizing of these religions, lead
followers who claim to represent Jesus, to violently oppress, threaten and
attack followers of a religion they consider to be “of the devil”."
Urgent Letter to
International Journalists and Organizations: Afro-Brazilian Religions Under
Attack 9/30/2017 Rioonwatch: "By means of this letter, I kindly ask
international bodies or even the UN itself to take action against the cases of
violence, destruction, death, beatings, and torture that black people who follow
Afro-Brazilian religions are facing. There have been such cases all over the
country. The State of Rio de Janeiro is the leader in that ill-omened ranking.
Many municipalities have been under attack. Armed men with machine guns and
rifles invade religious houses and force religious leaders to break all of the
objects in the houses as well as sacred artifacts. Those men beat people up or
torture them with threats of severing their hands off if they do not obey."
The Religious Right Moves to Cement Political Power Under President Trump 9/2/2017 Alternet: "During
his campaign, Trump offered conservative evangelicals a deal: help him take the
White House and he would make them more politically powerful than ever before.
They took the deal, urged voters to overlook his glaring character flaws, and
helped put him in office. Trump’s conservative Christian cheerleaders have told
him repeatedly that he is on a divine mission and that God intervened in the
election. Religious right leaders upheld their end of the deal and delivered an
overwhelming majority of white evangelical votes to Trump. Now he’s upholding
his end by giving them more than they might have expected even from a President
Pence."
'God Will Wipe Them Out': White Supremacist Preacher Promises 'Bloodshed' at
Future Rallies 8/31/2017 Alternet: "In a video, Puckett also said that
“God’s going to wipe them out one day anyway,” referring to anti-racist and
anti-fascist counter-protesters who have marched against white supremacist
groups in recent months. He also professed a belief that those who organize such
rallies shouldn’t cancel them for fear of violent retaliation, but should be
“patriots” willing to “fight” in the streets for their white supremacist
beliefs."
The Missing Black History At Some Civil War Memorials 8/31/2017 Black
Agenda Report: "Though I haven’t been to the site of Chicago’s Camp Douglas
monument since the 1980s I’m willing to bet the memorial exhibit says nothing
about the reason those four or five thousand white boys in Chicago and fifty
thousand more white boys in the other camps north and south died. They died
because by 1863 the federal armies began fielding regiments of black troops. By
war’s end there were more than 200,000 black soldiers in the Union Army, most of
them former slaves. The Confederates refused to treat captured black soldiers as
prisoners of war. Captured black soldiers were murdered on the spot, or sold
into slavery. White officers and noncoms leading black troops were supposed to
be tried and summarily executed for leading slave insurrection, a capital
offense, so they also took pains not to be captured alive."
Televangelist Jim Bakker: Christians will start a civil war if Trump is
impeached 8/29/2017 The Hill: ""If it happens, there will be a civil war in
the United States of America. The Christians will finally come out of the
shadows, because we are going to be shut up permanently if we're not careful,"
he said on "The Jim Bakker Show" in a clip highlighted by Right Wing Watch."
Nearly Half of Trump Voters Think Whites, Christians Are Most Oppressed Groups 8/25/2017 Truth
Out: "However, Trump's approval rating is not as low as some assume it is. It
continues to hover just below 40 percent, even as calls for Congress to censure
or impeach the president for capitalizing on racial animus and supporting white
supremacy grow louder and louder. How can this be? White people, and
particularly white Christians, are the group that Trump does not lash out
against, and if you ask the Trump fans filling his ears with applause at
rallies, they will likely to tell you that white Christians are the most
oppressed people in the country."
How White Christians Used The Bible — And Confederate Flag — To Oppress Black
People 6/22/2017 Huff Post: "White Christians in the South didn’t just
support slavery — the Southern church was the backbone of the Confederacy and
its attempts to keep African Americans in bondage, according to Harry Stout,
Jonathan Edwards Professor of American Religious History at Yale University."
Candomblé, Afro-Brazilian Women, and African Religiosity in Brazil 6/15/2017 Black
Perspectives: "Africana women — in particular, Afro-Brazilian women — who
practice African indigenous religiosity both historically and contemporarily
play a pivotal role in Black women’s political mobilization in Brazil. By
embracing Candomblé — a Pan-African spiritual subset of Ifá — Black Brazilian
women who practice African religious customs are not only asserting their
socio-political agency, but more importantly, they are promoting an
intersectional stance that focuses on their race, gender, and the social
injustices that impact their livelihoods."
Cuban religious freedom activist threatened after visit to US, says Christian
Solidarity Worldwide 5/4/2017 Sight: "A 20-year-old religious freedom
activist and university student was detained and threatened by Cuban state
security agents after a visit to the US to raise concerns about religious
freedom violations in Cuba, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide."
Cuban religious freedom activist threatened 5/2/2017 Christian Solidarity
Worldwide: "F?lix Yuniel Llerena López, A 20 year-old religious freedom activist
and university student, was detained and threatened on his return to Cuba
following a visit to the US, which included advocacy meetings arranged by
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) in Washington, DC to raise concerns about
continued violations of religious freedom in Cuba."
Cabinet Is Riddled With "Christian" Wingnuts Who Want To Eliminate Secular
Government-Ours 4/20/2017 Daily Kos
Cuba: Activist sentenced to three years in jail after criticising Fidel Castro 3/21/2017 Amnesty
International: "A three year sentence against the leader of a Christian
pro-democracy movement after he criticized Fidel Castro is a stark illustration
of ongoing restrictions to the right to free expression in Cuba, said Amnesty
International. Dr. Eduardo Cardet Concepción, leader of the Christian Liberation
Movement (Movimiento Cristiano Liberación, MCL) was sentenced on Monday 20
March, his wife told Amnesty International."
Trump’s Supporters Believe a False Narrative of White Victimhood—and the Data
Proves It 2/12/2017 Alternet: "The rhetoric of victimization has costs —
white supremacists are committing unspeakable violenceto combat the perceived
threat of immigrants, Muslims and people of color. For the next four years, we
are likely to have a government driven by perceptions of white Christian
victimhood."
“This Evil Is All Around Us” 1/12/2017 Slate: "Amid the fire hose of lunacy
that is the Trump transition, however, Pompeo’s extremism has been overlooked.
It’s worth pausing to appreciate the fact that America’s CIA will shortly be run
by a man who appears to view American foreign policy as a vehicle for holy war."
Operativos contra Damas de Blanco y multa de 2.000 pesos a un opositor 12/5/2016 Diario
de Cuba: "Disidentes, Damas de Blanco y periodistas independientes de diferentes
lugares del país han sido víctimas de hostigamiento y arrestos en los días del
"duelo nacional" decretado por el régimen por la muerte de Fidel Castro. Entre
los casos más graves estarían los del coordinador nacional del Movimiento
Cristiano Liberación (MCL), Eduardo Cardet, en Holguín, y el grafitero Danilo
Maldonado (El Sexto), en La Habana. Ambos fueron golpeados y llevan varios días
presos."
Cristianismo y Uribismo: una mezcla peligrosa 10/23/2016 Las 2 Orillas: "La
relación entre la Iglesia y el Estado ha sido considerado un tema crucial desde
los orígenes de la historia del cristianismo. En los primeros cristianos no se
encuentra ninguna evidencia de cooperación con el Estado en sus guerras, ni en
aquello que atentara contra sus valores durante los primeros 170 an~os[8]. Se
puede identificar dos posibles razones. La primera es que los cristianos se
negaron a entrar al ejército para evitar los ritos idolátricos del culto al
emperador, y la segunda es que los cristianos rehusaron entrar en el ejército y
cooperar con el emperador porque consideraban que la violencia, la matanza, así
como otras prácticas eran incompatibles con el seguimiento de Jesús[9]. Cuando
Constantino asumió el control del Imperio Romano y luego se ‘convirtió’ al
cristianismo, durante la segunda década del siglo cuarto, marco´ un cambio de
actitud de los cristianos en su relación con el Estado y, por ende, hacia la
guerra. En la práctica, el cristianismo se vuelve la religión estatal impuesta y
se empieza a pensar que obedecer al Estado es igual que obedecer a Dios."
¡Fuera Testigos de Jehova y Pentecostales de nuestro territorio! Fue la decisión
de los indígenas Wiwa 10/21/2016 Las 2 Orillas: "Los Wiwas se cansaron de
las prédicas encendidas que contribuían al exterminio físico, cultural y
espiritual de su etnia, de ser llamados paganos, infieles y adoradores de
Satanás. Por eso están decididos decididos a sacar de sus tierras a los pastores
que han construido recientemente una iglesia para testigos de Jehová y otra para
pentecostales en la cuenca del río Ranchería en el pueblo de La Laguna. No era
la primera vez que un pueblo indígena se atrevía a echar de su territorio
sagrado a religiosos que no comparten sus creencias. En 1998 los arhuacos, sus
primos, expulsaron a un grupo de evangélicos que habían llegado en la década del
cincuenta con una mujer de su propia etnia, María Eugenia Solis acompañada por
su esposo, un pastor protestante."
We've Reached the End of White Christian America 10/13/2016 The
Atlantic: "The United States is no longer a majority white, Christian country,
and that is already beginning to have profound social and political
implications. At 45 percent of the population, white Christians are a shrinking
demographic—and the backlash from many members of the group against the
increasing diversification of America has been swift and bitter. “People fight
like that when they are losing a sense of place, a sense of belonging, and a
sense of the country that they understand and love,” says Robert P. Jones, the
author of The End of White Christian America, in this animated interview. “How
do they reengage in public life when they can’t be the majority?”"
El día que los evangélicos derrotaron al gobierno Santos 10/3/2016 Las 2
Orillas: "Uno de los errores más comunes de los gobiernos frente a la feligresía
cristiana es creer que la iglesia cristiana es homogénea, el cristianismo es
heterogéneo, los cristianos son católicos, protestantes, menonitas, evangélicos,
ortodoxos, entre otros. Colombia fue colonizada por el catolicismo romano, todos
conocen la historia, para bien o para mal el catolicismo delineo la moral y la
ética pública de las mayorías colombianas. Pero no solo los católicos existen en
Colombia, en los albores de la república el general Santander pretendió promover
el protestantismo, incluso se quiso generar una política pública de
alfabetización en cabeza de misioneros ingleses esto fue por allá en 1825, el
catolicismo rápidamente sofoco esta idea. A lo largo de la historia los otros
cristianos, los evangélicos, que se agrupan en diversos grupos, con semejanzas y
hondas diferencias irrumpieron en no pocas oportunidades al territorio nacional,
se tiene noticia de que la Iglesia Bautista de San Andrés fue el primer templo
evangélico en Colombia, data de 1847."
Black and White Race in American Denominations 3/1/2016 NAE: "The statement
by Martin Luther King, Jr., that “It is appalling that the most segregated hour
of Christian America is eleven o’clock on Sunday morning” still rings true."
Proslavery Ideology: Christian Beliefs 11/30/2015 University of Georgia
Did Religion Make the American Civil War Worse? 8/23/2015 Atlantic: "Above
all, it was a time when Christianity allied itself, in the most unambiguous and
unconditional fashion, to the actual waging of a war. In 1775, American soldiers
sang Yankee Doodle; in 1861, it was Glory, glory, hallelujah! As Stout argues,
the Civil War “would require not only a war of troops and armaments … it would
have to be augmented by moral and spiritual arguments that could steel millions
of men to the bloody business of killing one another...” Stout concentrates on
describing how Northerners, in particular, were bloated with this certainty."
Christian Soldiers 2/10/2015 Slate: "Many other defenders of lynching
understood their acts as a Christian duty, consecrated as God’s will against
racial transgression. “After Smith’s lynching,” Wood notes, “another defender
wrote, ‘It was nothing but the vengeance of an outraged God, meted out to him,
through the instrumentality of the people that caused the cremation.’ ” As
UNC–Chapel Hill Professor Emeritus Donald G. Mathews writes in the Journal of
Southern Religion, “Religion permeated communal lynching because the act
occurred within the context of a sacred order designed to sustain holiness.” The
“sacred order” was white supremacy and the “holiness” was white virtue. I should
emphasize that blacks of the era understood lynching as rooted in the Christian
practice of white southerners. “It is exceedingly doubtful if lynching could
possibly exist under any other religion than Christianity,” wrote NAACP leader
Walter White in 1929, “No person who is familiar with the Bible-beating,
acrobatic, fanatical preachers of hell-fire in the South, and who has seen the
orgies of emotion created by them, can doubt for a moment that dangerous
passions are released which contribute to emotional instability and play a part
in lynching.”"
Afro-Brazilian religions struggle against Evangelical hostility 2/6/2015 WaPo: "Candomblé
survived centuries of slavery, but the quasi-respectability it has gained in
recent decades is now under concentrated attack from radical Evangelical
Christians, a growing force in Catholic Brazil, who regard it as the devil’s
work and its priests and priestesses as little more than neighborhood witches.
Tactics range from propaganda blitzkriegs launched on blogs and YouTube videos
to threats, violence and expulsions from drug gangs. Afro-Brazilian religious
leaders and sympathizers are fighting back in court. A low-intensity war is
being fought for Brazilian souls."
The Real Origins of the Religious Right 5/27/2014 Politico: "Some of these
anti- Roe crusaders even went so far as to call themselves “new abolitionists,”
invoking their antebellum predecessors who had fought to eradicate slavery. But
the abortion myth quickly collapses under historical scrutiny. In fact, it
wasn’t until 1979—a full six years after Roe—that evangelical leaders, at the
behest of conservative activist Paul Weyrich, seized on abortion not for moral
reasons, but as a rallying-cry to deny President Jimmy Carter a second term.
Why? Because the anti-abortion crusade was more palatable than the religious
right’s real motive: protecting segregated schools."
The Indoctrinated West 3/7/2014 CounterPunch: "Christianity, that symbol of
Western civilization, brought torture and slavery; it blessed the men and the
deeds that murdered millions. So far, there has been no attempt to declare
Christianity illegal because of the genocides it performed, strictly based on
crimes against humanity."
The Christian Right’s Anti-Sex Campaign in Africa 8/3/2012 CounterPunch: "The
Christian right’s sex war in sub-Sahara Africa is being waged on two fronts –
against homosexuality and a woman’s right to control her pregnancy. It is
spearheaded by an informal coalition of right-wing Roman Catholic, Mormon and
Protestant evangelical groups that few have heard of. Foremost is the American
Center for Law & Justice (ACLJ), originally founded by Pat Robertson; led by
right-wing evangelicals, it operates two centers in Kenya and Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe’s president, Robert Mugabe, encouraged the ACLJ to open an office and
assist in drafting the constitution to reflect “Christian values.” Other groups
promoting Christian intolerance in Africa are the Family Watch International
(led by the Mormon activist, Sharon Slater), the Human Life International (a
Roman Catholic group) and the World Congress of Families (an umbrella group
promoting “pro-family” values)."
The Truth About Religion in America: The Founders Loathed Superstition and We
Were Never a Christian Nation 6/15/2012 Alternet: "The Founding Fathers
weren’t all Christian. Some, of course, were: Patrick Henry (Episcopalian), John
Hancock (Congregationalist), John Jay (Episcopalian), and Sam Adams
(Congregationalist), for example, were all devout and pretty conventional
Christians. But the big players in the founding of the United States—such men as
Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James
Madison, John Adams, and probably Alexander Hamilton—weren’t. Each of them was
much more comfortable with a deistic understanding of God than a Christian one.
For them, the deity was an impersonal First Cause who created a rationally
patterned natural order and who was best worshiped through the exercise of
reason and virtue."
Why Non-Slaveholding Southerners Fought 1/25/2011 Civil War
Trust: "Southern clergy defended the morality of slavery through an elaborate
scriptural defense built on the infallibility of the Bible, which they held up
as the universal and objective standard for moral issues. Religious messages
from pulpit and from a growing religious press accounted in large part for the
extreme, uncompromising, ideological atmosphere of the time."
How Radical Christian Conservatives May Succeed in Destroying Democracy 10/15/2010 Alternet: "The
huge amount of taxpayer money doled out to Wall Street, investment banks, the
oil and natural gas industry and the defense industry, along with the
dismantling of our manufacturing sector, is why we are impoverished. It is why
our houses are being foreclosed on. It is why some 45 million Americans are
denied medical care. It is why our infrastructure, from public schools to
bridges, is rotting. It is why many of us cannot find jobs. We are being
fleeced. The flagrant theft of public funds and rise of an obscenely rich
oligarchic class is masked by the tough talk of demagogues, themselves
millionaires, who use fear and bombast to keep us afraid, confused and
enslaved."
TRAVESTY in Haiti : A true account of Christian missions, orphanages, fraud,
food aid and drug trafficking 12/10/2009 Marguerite Laurent
Grupo
"evangelico" anuncia presencia del general golpista Vásquez en Miami 7/23/2009 Aporrea: "El
General golpista Romeo Vásquez, quien secuestró y expulsó de Honduras al
Presidente Constitucional Manuel Zelaya, estaría en Miami este de 22 de julio
para participar en un encuentro convocado por un tal "profeta" Jaime Chávez en
el Centro de Convenciones de esa ciudad norteamericana. La presencia en
territorio de Estados Unidos del jefe de las Fuerzas Armadas de Honduras fue
anunciada por los organizadores del "IV Congreso MIGApartners" que tendría lugar
bajo el tema "El Gobierno del Reino en Miami"." Jean Guy Allard
The Fellowship, Governor Mark Sanford’s Secretive Christian Landlords On C
Street 6/25/2009 Guanabee: "1984 The Fellowship brought former Salvadoran
Gen. Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova to the prayer breakfast. In 2002, Casanova
was found liable for the torture of thousands of civilians in the 1980s.
Casanova attended the breakfast along with Gen. Gustavo Alvarez Martinez, then
the head of the Honduran armed forces. Alvarez, later linked to the CIA and a
secret death squad, became an evangelical missionary before he was assassinated
in 1989."
The Most Influential (and Self-Promotional) Christian Zionist You've Never Heard
Of 2/24/2009 IPS News
Judeo Christian conclave to be held in Grand Bahama 10/3/2008 Freeport
News, Bahamas: "He noted that the economy of the Caribbean has benefited from
Israel with the introduction of the sugar cane, Jewish influences and pioneers
of national development. "Solomon Kerzner who is the biggest employer in The
Bahamas has parents who are Russian Jews and Mick Harrison of Carnival Cruise
Lines has also descended from Israel," Wallace said. Tony Gee, president of the
Freeport Hebrew Congrega-tion, has welcomed the message of SCI and is focused on
fostering a positive relationship with the Hebrew community."
Anti-Gay Movement of
Immigrant Fundamentalist Christians Threatens Western States 10/5/2007 Alternet: "In
recent months, as energetic Russian-speaking "Russian Baptists" and Pentecostals
in these states have organized to bring thousands to anti-gay protests, gay
rights activists in Sacramento have picketed Slavic anti-gay churches, requested
more police patrols in gay neighborhoods and distributed information cards
warning gays and lesbians about the hostile Slavic evangelicals who they say
have roughed up participants at gay pride events. Singh's death was the
realization of their worst fears. "After a couple years of fundamentalist and
Slavic Christian virulent anti-gay protests at almost every Sacramento gay event
in the region," said local gay rights activist Michael Gorman, "what the gay
community has feared for some time has finally happened." …A growing and
ferocious anti-gay movement in the Sacramento Valley is centered among Russian-
and Ukrainian-speaking immigrants. Many of them are members of an international
extremist anti-gay movement whose adherents call themselves the Watchmen on the
Walls. In Latvia, the Watchmen are popular among Christian fundamentalists and
ethnic Russians, and are known for presiding over anti-gay rallies where gays
and lesbians are pelted with bags of excrement. In the Western U.S., the
Watchmen have a following among Russian-speaking evangelicals from the former
Soviet Union. Members are increasingly active in several cities long known as
gay-friendly enclaves, including Sacramento, Seattle and Portland, Ore."
Pope Thinks Indians Were Waiting for Christianity to Arrive 5/20/2007 InfoShop: "The
pope said Sunday that indigenous people of Latin American and the Caribbean were
seeking Christ without realizing it. "Christ is the savior for whom they were
silently longing," Benedict told a regional conference of bishops in Brazil.
"It's arrogant and disrespectful to consider our cultural heritage secondary to
theirs," said Jecinaldo Satere Mawe, chief coordinator of the Amazon Indian
group Coiab. Mawe said the Pope's remarks made no mention of the violent history
that followed or the documented decimation of native cultures in favor of the
Christian model Conquistadors and other Europeans colonizers. Benedict not only
upset many Indians but also Catholic priests who have joined their struggle,
said Sandro Tuxa, who heads the movement of northeastern tribes. "We repudiate
the Pope's comments," Tuxa said. "To say the cultural decimation of our people
represents a purification is offensive, and frankly, frightening."
Christian Evangelicals and U.S. Foreign Policy 8/22/2006 Council on Foreign
Relations: "Evangelical Christians are believed to represent the single largest
religious group in the United States, and as their numbers have grown, there are
signs of increasing activism in U.S. foreign policy. Opinion surveys show
evangelicals overwhelmingly supported President George W. Bush’s reelection, are
among the country’s staunchest defenders of Israel, and remain supporters of the
U.S. military campaign in Iraq. But experts say it is wrong to think of
evangelicals as a monolithic force in lockstep with the Bush administration. A
major evangelical group recently issued an appeal for more activism to prevent
global warming and fight poverty, and evangelicals have pressed the
administration and Congress to adopt a range of humanitarian and human rights
initiatives."
Christian Right Steps Up Pro-Israel Lobbying 8/10/2006 Dissident
Voice: ''In mid-July, while the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict continued to
escalate, Christians United for Israel (CUFI) -- an organization founded less
than six months ago by Texas evangelist Rev. John C. Hagee, pastor of the
18,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, and the author of
"Jerusalem Countdown," a 2006 book about a nuclear-armed Iran -- rolled into
Washington, D.C., for its first major get-together. More than 3,400 delegates
from across the country attended the inaugural meeting. CUFI kicked off the
gathering on July 19 with its "A Night to Honor Israel" banquet at the grand
ballroom in the Washington Hilton. The festivities attracted a number of
high-profile Israeli and US political leaders, including Israeli Ambassador
Daniel Ayalon, retired Israeli defense chief Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon, and
Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman. According to a report posted
at Israpundit, Hagee read greetings from President George W. Bush and Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. While Bush urged "God [to] bless and stand by the
people of Israel and ... bless the United States," Olmert's letter referred to
CUFI's "'bold stand at this crisis time,' and the group's acknowledgment of
Israel's biblical 'birthright.'" The following day, at a well-attended press
conference, Hagee said that “The dots are there to be connected, and it is not
some big thing called terrorism. It is Islamic fascism -- all of the various
things and forces that we've seen around the world are not merely hot spots but
they are all part of a theme -- a war against Western civilization.”''
Additional ties between southern Christian fundamentalists, Texas oil interests,
and Russian-Israeli mobsters and weapons smugglers uncovered 12/11/2005 Wayne
Madsen Report: "According to informed Washington insiders, there is
increasing evidence of financial links between key "Christian Right" GOP
notables and an international ring of Russian-Ukrainian-Israeli mobsters tied to
notorious Russian weapons smuggler Viktor Vasilevich (aka Anatoliyevich) Bout.
Bout, whose U.S. assets were frozen by the Treasury Department, continues to
provide various contractor services in Iraq and is considered by Condoleezza
Rice to be out-of-bounds for U.S. law enforcement authorities. When she was
National Security Adviser, Rice pre-empted an attempt by Sharjah, United Arab
Emirates authorities to arrest Bout. To U.S. law enforcement and intelligence
agencies, Rice was very clear when it comes to Bout: "Look, but don't touch" was
her direct order to the CIA and FBI."
EXPOSÉ: THE “CHRISTIAN” MAFIA 11/16/2005 Insider
Evangelical Christians dominate Air Force Academy, report says 4/30/2005 Seattle
Times: "Religious intolerance is systemic and pervasive at the Air Force Academy
and, if nothing changes, it could result in "prolonged and costly" litigation,
according to a report issued by a group advocating strict separation of church
and state. The 14-page report, released Thursday, listed incidents of mandatory
prayers, proselytizing by teachers, insensitivity to religious minorities and
allegations that evangelical Christianity is the preferred faith at the
institution. "I think this is the most serious, military-related systemic
problem I have ever seen in the decades I've been doing this work," said Barry
Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
"There is a clear preference for Christianity at the academy, so that everyone
else feels like a second-class citizen." "
Villagers furious with Christian Missionaries 1/16/2005 AIN: :Rage and fury
has gripped this tsunami-hit tiny Hindu village in India's southern Tamil Nadu
after a group of Christian missionaries allegedly refused them aid for not
agreeing to follow their religion.:
"Fighting for the Work of the Lord" - Everybody's Talkin' About Christian
Fascism 1/12/2005 CounterPunch
Bush,
the Neocons and Evangelical Christian Fiction 11/18/2004 CounterPunch: "The
otherwise vacuous figure of George W. Bush represents a crucial link or
structural pivot between these two powerful factions, helping to tie them
together: Bush presents the Neocons' radical foreign policy in a guise that is
acceptable to his large base of support in the Christian Right, even as he
reassures his Christian base that their moral agendas (anti-abortion, anti-gay
marriage, faith-based initiatives, etc) will be given powerful political
support. In Bush, America as the benevolent hegemon of the Neocons and the
American-led "Tribulation Force" of LaHaye's wildly popular novels come together
in a disturbing, yet surprisingly successful way."
US Christian right exultant after Bush re-election 11/5/2004 AP
Reagan-Bush: el factor religioso 6/15/2004 Jiribilla: "Los funerales de
Ronald Reagan, que introducirán al ex presidente de Estados Unidos en el nicho
del mítico folclore imperial, servirán al actual jefe de la Casa Blanca, George
W. Bush, para reforzar la doctrina del destino manifiesto y su teología de la
guerra sin fin, con la mirada puesta en millones de votantes cristianos
neoconservadores católicos y protestantes y evangélicos fundamentalistas, que
podrían asegurarle un nuevo mandato al frente de la Oficina Oval."
"The Republican Party
of Texas affirms that the United States is a Christian nation." Texas Republican
Party Platform, 2002, 3/10/2004 Theocracy Watch
Bush's
"Christian" Blood Cult 4/22/2003 CounterPunch: "Bush mocked Tucker's appeal
for clemency. In an interview with Talk magazine, Bush imitated Tucker's appeal
for him to spare her life - pursing his lips, squinting his eyes, and in a
squeaky voice saying, "Please don't kill me." "
Christian
fundamentalists and American hegemony 12/12/2002 Arab News: "The American
writer Grace Halsell did not exaggerate when she said that Christian Zionists in
Washington were more dangerous than the Zionist lobby. In 1989, Muhammad Sammak
translated Halsell’s book “Prophecy and Politics” into Arabic. The book
discussed the dangers posed by militant Christian fundamentalists to the Arab
world but Arab policy-makers did not pay much attention to her warnings."
Christian
Coalition Boosts Israel 10/24/2002 CounterPunch
Falwell Remarks Prompt India Riots 10/11/2002 AP
Christian Coalition latches onto Israel 8/9/2002 Working for
Change: "Nearly left for dead by a string of controversies and mishaps over the
past few years, the Christian Coalition may yet rise again. In its recent
history, the organization has experienced a sharp decline in membership, gone
through a series of unexplained personnel changes, and had to deal with the
resignation of its founder, Pat Robertson. Now it's pinning its comeback hopes
on Israel and Ariel Sharon. According to executive director Roberta Combs, the
Christian Coalition is planning a massive pro-Israel rally in Washington on the
afternoon of October 11 to "press for increased support for Israel's fight
against terror and oppose the Bush administration's call for the establishment
of a Palestinian state," reports the Jerusalem Post. The rally, titled "Israel,
You Are Not Alone," will be held on the Ellipse near the White House, and
organizers told the Washington Post that they hope to bring out "a minimum of
100,000 supporters."
Christian Coalition to rally for Israel 7/14/2002 World Net Daily: "The
Christian Coalition said in a statement that it is "committed to Israel's
survival." The organization does not believe Israel can survive if a Palestinian
state is built." These good "christians" wish to condemn Palestinians to
perpetual servitude and ethnic cleansing.
U.S. Christians find cause to aid Israel - Evangelicals financing immigrants,
settlements 7/10/2002 San Francisco Chronicle: "The largest contingent of
American Jewish immigrants in years stepped off the El Al charter flight at Ben
Gurion International Airport on Tuesday, overjoyed at the chance to begin their
new lives in Israel. Forgotten amid all the excitement was the fact that many of
the 371 newcomers had been bankrolled by grants from U.S. evangelical
Christians, who regard the return of Jews to the Holy Land as part of an
apocalyptic prophecy foretold in the Bible. "What I'm seeing is the Scriptures
being fulfilled right before our very eyes," said Bishop Huey Harris, whose
First Pentecostal Tabernacle Church in Elkton, Md., raised $2,500 from its
congregation to help finance the American Jews' journey."
Israel wins support on Christian Right 5/8/2002 Telegraph, UK: "Some very
interesting alliances are forming," said Gary Bauer, a prominent Christian
conservative. "Many evangelicals believe that the land of Israel is Covenant
land that was promised by God to the Jewish people. I believe Israel and the
United States have got a confluence of interest. We're both democracies, and I
see Israel, as I see Great Britain, as a defender of Western civilisation." For
the time being, differences with Jewish groups over issues such as abortion has
been set aside."
Evangelical
Christians and the Sharon lobby 4/27/2002 Asia Times, Hong Kong: "The
strategy worked so well that many political analysts credit Carter's defeat by
Ronald Reagan with Carter's loss of evangelical Christian support three years
later and the forging of an effective alliance between neo-conservative US Jews
and the Christian right that has grown more and more powerful over the past two
decades."
The
Christian Right, the Rapture, and one former Christian broadcaster 4/9/2002 Unknown
News: Cheryl's Daily Diatribe: viva Cheryl!
Sharon dazzles Christian Zionists 4/4/2002 Jerusalem Post: Oct 2000 article
Ann Coulter Calls Christian Soldiers to Arms 9/15/2001 Inside
La Paz and Bogota
The capitals of Bolivia and Colombia -- La Paz and Bogota -- have become an new virtual axis for not only far-right wing governments but centers for high-level narcotics trafficking. It is not only cocaine and ultra-conservative leaders these two countries now have in common, but Christian fundamentalist political leadership.
The new acting president of Bolivia, Jeanine Áñez Chávez, who was installed following a far-right military coup against socialist president Evo Morales, a putsch green-lighted by Donald Trump and Christian fundie Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, is a bible-toting member of a Christian fundamentalist sect. Áñez is on record as saying the indigenous Aymara, along with scores of other indigenous peoples of the Andean nation, practice "satanism" as part of their tribal rituals. She has paid only lip service in condemning her fellow right-wing vigilantes for tearing down and burning the Wiphala flag, the second official Bolivian flag, which represents the Bolivian indigenous tribes.
Áñez's beef with the Aymara and other tribes is that Morales, Bolivia's first indigenous president, legalized the growing and possession of coca leaves, which the natives use for medicines and tea. That move put a crimp in the operations of Bolivia's and the rest of Latin America's drug cartels, which have links to the military; "counter-narcotics" agencies, including the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and mostly U.S.-based Christian fundamentalist huckster sects that, along with the Central Intelligence Agency, rely on missionaries in Latin America to bring about street unrest and coups like that which was just experienced in Bolivia.
Áñez is married to Héctor Hernando Hincapié Carvajal, a
Colombian politician who is a member of the Colombian Conservative Party.
Carvajal and his party are allies of Democratic Center, the inaptly-named
far-right party of former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe that morphed into its
presence form from two other right-wing parties, Colombia First and Democratic
Colombia.
Described as a "narcopol" by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, Uribe is the
political godfather of current far-right Colombian President Ivan Duque. Uribe
is closely tied to the Medellin narcotics cartel and he was a close friend of
the late chieftain of that syndicate, Pablo Escobar. Uribe is also a cousin of
Fabio Ochoa, the former leader of the Ochoa narcotics clan and a partner of
Pablo Escobar's Medellin cartel. Ochoa is currently serving a 30-year sentence
in a U.S. prison for drug trafficking. Uribe's brother, Santiago Uribe, was the
leader of a notorious death squad called the Twelve Apostles. Only in right-wing
world, can those who ostensibly call themselves Christians name a death squad
after the twelve apostles of Jesus. Mario Uribe Escobar, Alvaro Uribe's cousin,
is also linked to several death squads.
Alvaro Uribe has been a valued member of the CIA's narcotics network since the 1980s, when, as Director of Civil Aviation in Colombia, he granted aircraft and airline licenses to several narcotics traffickers.
Áñez's political connections to Uribe and Duque are not her only links to Colombian narcotics traffickers. On October 16, 2017, Áñez's nephew, Carlos Andrés Añez Dorado, was arrested in Brazil's Mato Grosso state along with Fabio Andrade Lima Lobo of the Cali cartel. The pair was arrested while in possession of 1,058 pounds of pure cocaine, which had a street value of over $60 million. Morales's Interior Minister, Carlos Romero, launched an investigation to determine if the cocaine was being used to fund Bolivia's anti-Morales political movement. Since the coup, the Bolivian right has placed a bounty on Romero's head, leading to Argentine President-elect Alberto Fernández to call on lame duck President Mauricio Macri to extend political asylum to Romero.
Another Bolivian coup leader is Luis Fernando Camacho, described as a Christian fascist. Camacho is linked to Branko Marinkovic, a dual Bolivian and Croatian citizen who is described as a supporter of the Croatian Ustaše, the Nazi party that governed Croatia after Adolf Hitler's invasion of Yugoslavia. Several Ustaše, including Marinkovic's father, fled to Latin America after the war.
One of the first and most notorious Christo-fascist leaders in
Latin America was Guatemala dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, also known as “Brother
Efraín.” Montt was a member of the Guatemalan chapter of the Gospel Outreach
Church of Eureka, California. Montt and the church had close ties to U.S.
evangelist leaders, including Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. In 2013, Montt
was convicted by a Guatemalan court of ordering the genocide of the entire Ixil
ethnic group of indigenous Mayans. Montt died last year at the age of 91. In
1982, while Alvaro Uribe was granting air licenses to the Colombian cartels with
the thanks of the CIA, President Ronald Reagan praised Montt. Reagan said, "I
know that President Ríos Montt is a man of great personal integrity and
commitment . . . I know he wants to improve the quality of life for all
Guatemalans and to promote social justice. My administration will do all it can
to support his progressive efforts.” Reagan added that Montt was "getting a bum
rap on human rights."
Montt, like some of the generals who launched the coup against Morales in
Bolivia, graduated from the infamous U.S. Army's "School of the Americas," now
called the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC).
Brazil's neo-Nazi President Jair Bolsonaro is a member of the
fundamentalist Assembly of God church. It, along with the Universal Church of the
Kingdom of God (UCKG), account for most of the Pentecostal members of
Bolsonaro's far-right political "base" in Brazil. The founder of the UCKG, Edir
Macedo, who carries both a U.S. passport and a Brazilian diplomatic passport,
also happens to own the second largest television network in Brazil, Record TV,
and his own bank, Banco Renner. The Universal Church also has its own political
party, unsurprisingly named the Brazilian Republican Party. One of the church's
bishops, Marcelo Crivella, Macedo's nephew, has been elected the mayor of Rio de
Janeiro. Macedo has also been linked to the Cali cartel. In 2002, the Colombian
national police arrested Cali cartel lieutenant Victor Patiño. One of Patiño's
long-term guests at one of his many properties was none other than Maria
Hernández Ospina, the top official of Macedo's UCKG in Colombia.
Another fundamentalist Brazilian guru, who has links to Bolsonaro and Macedo is the Richmond, Virginia-based Olavo de Carvalho. In addition to Bolsonaro, Carvalho, a self-described Christian fundamentalist, has two other powerful disciples in the Brazilian government: Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo and Education Minister Abraham Weintraub. Carvalho also identifies as an astrologer who doubts the Earth revolves around the sun and harbors a strong belief that the Earth is actually flat. Although Carvalho has not been linked to the drug trade, like many of his fellow Latin American Christo-fascists, his belief that the Earth may be flat may indicate that he has access to some pretty powerful narcotics.
www.facebook.com/abriendobrechasdecolores/ defensores contra el fundamentalismo, dentro de una iglesia bautista
www.politicalresearch.org/issues/portal-page-religious-freedom
Portal Page
Religious freedom is a central issue of our time. The rights of individual
conscience, religious pluralism and separation of church and state are under
sustained assault by the Religious Right. And the rest of society has some
catching up to do.
The Founding Fathers, Deism, and Christianity - Encyclopedia Britannica
When Abortion Was a Crime, Leslie Reagan, online text
Christianity in the Service of Slavery: the Far Right Churches
Psychology and White Supremacy
Ku Klux Klan, Nazis, and other American White Supremacists
Antifa
Colonized Progressives: Why do
so many progressive authors render afrodescendants invisible?
Council for National Policy (CNP): Command and Control for the US Right
[AfroCubaWeb] [Site Map] [Music] [Arts] [Authors] [News] [Search this site]