Tapping Clergy Again

[ebonypearl]

It looks like the government is tapping the clergy again to encourage the pastors to guide their congregations into passivity and compliance with illegal governmental operations, and to be a conduit of information from the congregations to the government.

Comments

[laughterdance]

Hmmm. Interesting. Psycho warfare against your own. You're right, tho, some of it did seem good.

They really said that violence against women was appropriate, to be expected, and should be accepted? That's so backwards it's scary. All that is actually in the document is the Bible story.

Whoever posted that document left the county name on one of the pages, in case you know them and would like to point it out.

[ebonypearl]

Yeah, the pamphlet and other print documents were relatively (if highly Christo-centric) reasonable, it's the seminar accompanying it to teach how to use the material that was disturbing - the phrases we were to emphasize, the bible passages and prayer quotes we were to use, the redefinition of words (like "community center" - that one will anger me for a very long time), the preaching of submissiveness to governmental authority, and so on.

[dulcinbradbury]

hey really said that violence against women was appropriate, to be expected, and should be accepted? That's so backwards it's scary. All that is actually in the document is the Bible story.

I know, that was tough judging *solely* from the document. Honestly, I wasn't sure *what* the point of the story was. While violence against women may increase during a crisis (statistically speaking), I can't imagine condoning it. There's a difference between saying "Okay, this is likely to happen, so I should be prepared to help people through the aftermath" and "Well... people get upset & rape is just an outlet that people should get over." Or whatever bullshit justification they were giving.

[ebonypearl]

According to the presenters, the purpose of the story was to show how violence against women could be used to weaken the enemy. Whatever harm women take is acceptable because that harm can be used to get back at the enemy, or to lure them out to be discovered. They never came right out and said it, but I got the feeling that women were to be viewed as expnedable tools, not people.

And really, they weren't much better towards men - men were to either become submissive to governmental authority which would exert their strength on behalf of the weak meek citizens.

Sickened and Appalled

[wordweaverlynn]

I'm amazed they didn't suggest adding Thorazine to the communion wine.

Re: Sickened and Appalled

[ebonypearl]

Probably only because not enough churches do communion.

[sunfell]

Damn... just... damn. My nighmares are taking shape in the real world. I think that the Pagan community needs to know about this, that's for sure. And everyone else.

The violence against women seriously disturbs me on many levels. Women are the voice of reason in times of crisis, and their intuitive capacity is often very acute during difficult times. 'Subduing' them through either silence or violence assures that no 'dissent' will be heard. In a crisis, the women should be the first group to be protected not ditched to the wolves.

This is so not good...

[ebonypearl]

I am deeply disturbed by the lack of humanity in all of this. Every bit of the presentation annoyed me.

The whole thing was a very weird combination of "praise god"s, paranoia, and good practical advice. It was almost like a church service, what with all the Bible quotes and Bible stories and prayers and hymns and such. It was particularly disconcerting because it was presented by government agencies and officials.

That I was one of exactly 2 women attending didn't escape my notice, either.

[sunfell]

I am going to go over the document and see if I can shake any coherent thoughts out of my mind. It's almost like this is the foundation or preparation for that world in "A Handmaid's Tale".

[ebonypearl]

Actually, it reminded me strongly of the stories my aunts and mother told me of growing up in Germany before and during WWII.

[ladyfox7oaks]

I hope you don't mind, I'd like to link this on my own journal?

[ebonypearl]

Please go ahead, it's all posted publicly.

[ladyfox7oaks]

Thank you!

[sunfell]

This got my attention:

"We were told that pastors were not equipped to deal with anxiety, nor was our pastoral education, training and experience adequate to deal with disasters. We were to prepare and give over our congregants to government specialists."

That is very interesting, and plays upon the 'sheep/shepherd' paradigm common in Christian teachings. Sheep obey the shepherd, and the shepherds (pastors) become the sheep when the 'real' shepherds (the 'god-given' authority of the government) step in. This is theocracy in motion. This is how they are going to 'flip' the Constitution and subdue the people. The pastoral shepherds are in fact leading their congregational sheep to the governmental slaughterhouse.

[ebonypearl]

Yes, that struck me very much, too. The clergy are channels, conduits, not to take action on their own but to give information so those "properly trained" can handle things.

Very reminiscent of what we were told after Katrina, isn't it? "All you do-gooders stay away, let the trained government profesionals handle it."

It went well, didn't it? Kind of a foretaste of what's coming down.