Arcane Gazebo

Is there hope for the U.S.?

Finally read that Harper's article on the Colorado Springs megachurch that's been drawing a lot of commentary on the liberal blogs. Result: I am scared. These people are crazy, and militant, and in control of all three branches of government.

Here are some sample thoughts from a man who "talks to President George W. Bush or his advisers every Monday":

So the Catholics are out, and the battle boils down to evangelicals versus Islam. “My fear,” [New Life Church Pastor Ted Haggard] says, “is that my children will grow up in an Islamic state.”

And that is why he believes spiritual war requires a virile, worldly counterpart. “I teach a strong ideology of the use of power,” he says, “of military might, as a public service.” He is for preemptive war, because he believes the Bible’s exhortations against sin set for us a preemptive paradigm, and he is for ferocious war, because “the Bible’s bloody. There’s a lot about blood.”

This is amazing—the notion that the U.S. could become an Islamic state is completely insane. The fact that anyone at all thinks the major threat of Islamic terrorism is that they will take over the country is deeply disturbing. And this isn't just anyone, he's a powerful religious figure who advocates drastic measures based on his hallucinatory delusions. Of course Islamic terrorists are a threat insofar as they could cause massive casualties in a successful attack, but the political threat is basically nil. On the other hand, Pastor Ted has succeeded in raising my concerns about the United States being ruled by religious extremists.

There's a second article in the series, this one on the National Religious Broadcasters, which I plan to read when I get a chance tonight.

Posted by Arcane Gazebo at June 14, 2005 3:48 PM | Tags:

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[This blog is part of the web version of a print newspaper based in Colorado Springs called The Toilet Paper] I just got done reading New Life Church Pastor Ted Haggard's Primary Purpose . While most of it is [Read More]

Tracked on June 14, 2005 5:45 PM