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I never cease to be amazed at the insanity that manages to gain a foothold in the United States. Recently I had the pleasure of stumbling onto this video of shock jock Alex Jones ranting about the police, 911, and “foreign bankers”. For your viewing pleasure:
Now consider: this man is syndicated on over 60 radio networks, AM / FM and shortwave. He also likely makes a pretty penny from his conspiracy theorist followers who would surely consider his online store to be the mother-load of “truth”, with such gripping titles as “Callous disregard: Autism and Vaccines”, “Police State 4: The rise of FEMA” and “The Obama Deception”. He also hocks gold like it’s going out of style, so make sure you get yours before the world’s economic system falls to pieces.
Not dissimilar to this angry, angry man is Glenn Beck, though he is perhaps a little more reserved. He’s nevertheless far more insidious, and has taken it upon himself to re-educate the American people about progressivism and the danger it poses to America:
One might wonder if these men, and others like them, signify the beginning of the end for the US political system. The rise in prominence of the Tea Party loonies, with their anti-government, anti-Wall-Street yet confusingly pro-Republican stance give credence to the idea that this conspiracist clowns have some sort of legitimacy with the American people. Indeed, even long-standing Republicans are losing in the primaries to candidates who have the support of the Tea Party fringe. Senator Bob Bennet, a conservative Republican from Utah, was judged to not be enough so and lost out to two other candidates (primary still ongoing). In Kentucky, Rand Paul won preselection with Tea Party support and has recently come out and stated his opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, arguing that private business owners should have the right to segregate on the basis of race.
It is actually quite interesting to consider that there are numerous precedents throughout US history which saw paranoid conspiracy theorists greeted with public support. One of the most prominent examples is of course that of Joseph McCarthy, who made numerous unsubstantiated claims about extensive communist and soviet infiltration within the United States Federal government and elsewhere throughout the country. After successfully ruining the lives of many, he was sidelined and eventually drank himself to death.
A more appropriate historical example for Glenn Beck and his ilk can be seen in the John Birch society. Founded in 1958, it espouses anti-communist, anti-socialist and anti-totalitarian values, seeking to defend the “original intention” of the US Constitution with a firm basis in Christian values. The society is also against the Civil Rights Act, “one world government”, free trade agreements, the United Nations, globalization, and the possibility of a North-American Union. Sounds like Glenn Beck’s handbook to me. Oh, wouldn’t you know it, Glenn Beck just happened to be the keynote speaker this year at the Conservative Political Action Conference they host.
In essence, all I am trying to convey is that these right-wing conspiracy nutjobs are nothing new in America. There are much earlier examples than McCarthy or the John Birch society of conspiracist paranoia directed against the Freemasons, the Jesuits, and other groups. Perhaps all of this is simply a natural evolution of the puritanical mindset of the original American settlers. Maybe one day they really will build that city upon a hill – ban abortion, enforce the teaching of creationism in public schools, and rewrite history. Hell, they’re already halfway there in Texas.
I don’t even need to watch those crazy videos. I pretty much know what they’re going to say.
And this, are there churches here who agree with that? This one has a Bible College recognised by the state of Minnesota:
“Inasmuch as some segments of liberal Christianity have expressed a willingness to accept the so-called “gay rights” movement as a legitimate lifestyle, and
“Whereas the inerrant, inspired Word of God emphatically declares, in Romans chapter I, homosexuality to be vile, unclean, unnatural, unseemly, and an abomination in the sight of God, and
“Whereas the United Pentecostal Church International is a fundamental Bible-believing organism entrusted with a divine destiny to provide spiritual direction to a wayward world,
“Let us therefore resolve that the United Pentecostal Church International go on public record as absolutely opposed to homosexuality and condemn it as a moral decadence and sin, and do hereby encourage prayer for the deliverance of those enslaved by that satanic snare.
UPCI ”
http://www.upci.org/doctrine/homosexuality.asp
Just one example.
It is only a matter of time before Americans make themselves completely irrelevant to the rest of the world politically. I really don’t see what Obama can do to stem that.
I recommend watching that first video smokey, just for the hilarity factor. He really is one very angry angry angry man. Or a very good actor. Probably the latter considering how blatantly he markets himself.
What about the Catch the Fire Ministries in Victoria? Didn’t they say something similar? We’ve got the pentecostals here too, I think they’re just a little smarter about what public statements they make. I believe Hillsong preach homophobic views. I seem to remember something about a scandal in regards to their domestic violence classes where they forced women to forgive violent husbands
Ha ha ha……. I’m laughing now just at the expectation of watching the first vid. The other half of me simultaneously recoils at the very thought of watching it.
Yep, the Pentecostal loonys have exported themselves from America to save us all poor dear unfortunates. IMO it’s mostly trying to save us from not being in the particularly American society that just that crap can exist.
I do however pray to the secular gods of war that THOSE poor dear souls may become enlightened by us.
We have a saying in Australia “Only in America” Need I say any more