Thursday, May 04, 2006

hell is for children and animals????

In reading through the Talk to Action piece, "Every Zygote Is Sacred", or "Can I have my BC already?", I came across this disgusting bit of information, via a commenter that provides the links as well. I'm taking the liberty of posting the entire comment here; yes, I've heard all of this disgusting stuff before and no doubt so have you, but I think it bears repeating OVER and OVER and the source links are provided in the well documented comment:

Good point, actually--not only do the Catholic hospital systems have a history of this, you are seeing dominionist denominations starting to buy up hospitals, too. (One of the things I'm carefully watching, in fact, is whether the Baptist Hospitals chain starts putting in religious-based restrictions. (We have five major hospital providers in Louisville aka the transplant research capital of the US :3. Three of these are religiously affiliated--Caritas (Catholic, specificially Sisters of Nazareth), Baptist Hospitals (Baptist, I suspect Southern Baptist but unsure) and Jewish Hospital (obviously affiliated with the Jewish congregations here, who largely seem to be Conservative Judaism).) One of the things I do make sure with doctors is that they have admitting privs to secular hospitals if need be.)

Regarding the dominionist war on family planning in general, I think it's actually a twofold issue:

a) There is very much a control aspect (in dominionist families, there is a very strict hierarchial setup in that the husband is supposed to be head of household, the wife is supposed to be completely submissive, and the kids are supposed to be completely submissive to the parents). I've posted the following in relation to this thread on Dark Christianity which was concerning longterm effects of abusive childrearing styles in dominionist households:

Heck, to give you an example of how bad this gets, this is from an actual A Beka civics book (specifically William R. Bowen et al., American Government in Christian Perspective, 2nd ed., (Pensacola, Fla.: A Beka, 1997), page 16):

The importance of the family is underscored again and again; however, the family must conform to God's mandate, which is linked, in turn, to the proper relationship of human beings to government. " The A Beka civics text notes, "Governmental authority flows from God to human institutions and to the individuals responsible for ruling others within those institutions [according to] a definite order of command from God to human leaders to their followers. For example, the husband is the head of the wife and the parents are God's representatives to rule their children. Individuals obey God when they submit to and obey the God-appointed authorities over them."

Yes, this is completely typical of dominionist groups (nearly all other dominionist curricula teach it, as do dominionist schools and even dominionist parenting programs).

Examples from the Pearls (which also have published a series of baby-beating manuals popular in the dominionist community and which are often included with the sale of chastening rods and similar "Biblical chastening devices"; they operate a website, No Greater Joy (also the title of one of their manuals on baby-beating the dominionist way) that promotes the same advise online; the Pearls are under investigation by the state of Tennessee for child abuse based on the material in their books):

woman is told to stay with abusive husband because "God hates divorce"

assertive women are accused of having a "Jezebel spirit" (in dominionist groups into "spiritual warfare" there are even exorcisms in attempts to drive "Jezebel spirits" out of women who are seen as being too "uppity" and not "staying in their place")

woman is literally told it is her HUSBAND'S decision, not HERS, whether or not she is to practice birth control and how many children she is to have

In some of the links at stoptherod.net noted above, it's detailed how the Pearls have advocated beating infants as young as eight months old with "chastening rods" for playing with their food and advocate pinching infants as young as four months.

To give you examples of their "childrearing" techniques that I've not already mentioned:

more on tyrant babies! (Did these people watch too much "Family Guy" or something?) Yes, this is very sadly a TYPICAL attitude)

techniques practiced in dominionist households to break will of kids (who are termed "Twinkie twerps" by the Pearls)

the Pearls (who, incidentially, are under investigation by the State of Tennessee for child abuse--in part because of material from the books) actually try to defend their child abuse manuals

advocates being extremely strict from birth; also claims kids being bullied somehow deserved it

yet more fantasies of babies plotting to take over the household from "parental rule"

advocating using a "chastening rod" on a seven-month-old child who will not get to sleep (it's on page two)

advocates beating of children with "chastening rods" made from PVC plumbing pipe for thumbsucking

claims that people who have criticised the Pearls for their extreme methods of childrearing are literally demon-possessed (sadly, a common form of "dead agenting"/"character assassination" in the dominionist community and one reason why it is at times next to impossible to debate dominionists heavily into "spiritual warfare")

Lest people think the Pearls are an abberation, even Dobson uses the beating of a Dachshund to demonstrate how children should have their wills broken (the manner in which he beat the dog is guaranteed to increase aggression).

There is evidence that this has carried over into official government policy with dominionists, in particular with the Abu Ghraib scandal. Actually, there is an EXPLICIT link between dominionism and Abu Ghraib (and, probably, between the generally abusive dynamics and Abu Ghraib); as it turns out, Gen. Boykin is one of the persons behind some of the policies there.

Common Dreams
http://www.yuricareport.com
http://www.yuricareport.com Prison Torture Directory
http://blog.au.org

General Boykin is associated with the AoG and is strongly associated with the increasing dominionist infiltration of the military as well as the hijacking of the chaplaincy system by dominionists:

Daily Howler
http://www.pluralism.org
http://www.yuricareport.com ~ Dominionism
http://www.yuricareport.com ~ Iraq Pentecostal In Charge of Interrogation

So yes, dominionism has been specifically linked to abuse both at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib--in fact, one of the major players seems to have been a major ringleader of the abuse.

In all of these cases, I'm fairly convinced this is an extension of an underlying coercive dynamic in many, if not most, dominionist churches (it is my sincere belief that most dominionist churches, in particular the pente/charismatic churches affiliated with dominionist movements, are explicitly spiritually abusive and the general patterns of spiritual abuse are starting to show up even in congregations with a recent history of dominionism such as the Southern Baptist Convention).

b) One thing, too, that is a major factor in the dominionist war on family planning is that in many dominionist churches it is explicitly taught as part of the "dominion mandate" that they must "be fruitful and multiply" and that any interference with this is at best a willful act of disobedience towards God. In some circles, women are even explicitly encouraged to have as many children as possible to breed "Christian Soldiers" and women with a "bushel full of kids" are held up to high praise. (Of course, the longterm health consequences of popping out kids every 9-12 months--not to mention the financial consequences--aren't touched upon.)

by dogemperor on Mon Dec 05, 2005 at 08:10:44 AM EST

Not too terribly long ago I was taken to task by a fellow commenter at another site, because I stated that as much as I don't like believing it, it has become clear to me that the reproductive issues that get tangled up within the minds of these people leads to one and only one goal, whether those who are trying to implement it, can or will admit it or not: and that is to control women's bodies and then, as well as any offspring that results from that control.

Reading this reinforces that belief and why I have come to believe that it is so; and I cannot express fully enough my complete and utter contempt for anyone who would claim to be Right to Life and adhere to the childrearing tenets of the repugnant Pearls and the dog-beating psychopath James Dobson. And, it is after moments of reading about the utterly loathsome behaviours of these people, that I am ashamed to say that I wish I believed in Hellfire and Damnation, if only to watch these evil creatures squirm.

God/dess forgive me that; the rage-filled momentary fantasy of Dachshunds eternally tearing Dobson limb to limb and cherubic babes overpowering their monstrous caretakers and beating them unconscious passes and I feel horrid revulsion afterwards... but I find that cannot help the sheer momentary hatred I feel for these people, who claim to love life so much but have absolutely no compassion or regard for the most innocent among us once they are here.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE???? Some things I'm pretty darn sure of: these people don't know the meaning behind the words culture of life. They certainly can't even begin to comprehend the essence of providing and graciously accepting in return a mutual and benign sort of quality of life for all of God's creatures, including and especially those most vulnerable. And since they show no mercy over that which they believe that they have been instructed to be custodians of, I'm thinking they'd better pray like HELL that God is the merciful Father that they don't even pretend to emulate. Because what they deserve is something far less charitable.

Oh, and I'm sorry but I'm still seething a little bit and I just can't help asking: Have you ever wondered how those with the most might and the greatest ability to wreak havoc upon us all, somehow ended up being in the ultimate image of God??? And those who seem to be accused of embuing satanic qualities are those who just happen to be physically weaker and more vulnerable? Isn't it funny how it worked out that way? Umm, yeah... rant over. For today, anyway...
Posted by etherealfire :: 11:54 AM :: 8 Comments:

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