"You don't choose your family, but you choose what church you want to attend." said Hillary Clinton, to reporters and editors of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review on Tuesday the 25th.
This is an interesting choice of words, since -- while we mostly hear about her Methodist upbringing -- Hillary Clinton has chosen to associate herself with The Family (also known as the Fellowship), a very conservative, fundamentalist organization started by Abraham Vereide...
"...an immigrant preacher who in 1935 organized a small group of businessmen sympathetic to European fascism, fusing the Far Right with his own polite but authoritarian faith. From that core, Vereide built an international network of fundamentalists who spoke the language of establishment power, a "family" that thrives to this day. In public, they host prayer breakfasts; in private they preach a gospel of "biblical capitalism," military might, and American empire. Citing Hitler, Lenin, and Mao, Doug Coe, the Family's current leader, declares, "We work with power where we can, build new power where we can't."
This quote is taken from the book on The Family by the same name which will be published in May... a book which claims to
"...dramatically challenge conventional wisdom about American fundamentalism, revealing its crucial role in the unraveling of the New Deal, the waging of the Cold War, and the no-holds-barred economics of globalization. The question Sharlet believes we must ask is not "What do fundamentalists want?" but "What have they already done?"
A long article was written about Hillary Clinton's participation in this organization last September in Mother Jones, and The Family, itself, was the subject of an extensive article in Harper's in March of 2003. And on March 21st, The Nation published an article on Hillary and The Family by Barbara Ehrenreich that was published on The Huffington Post and CBS News' web site.
The Family avoids the word Christian but worships Jesus, though not the Jesus who promised the earth to the "meek." They believe that, in mass societies, it's only the elites who matter, the political leaders who can build God's "dominion" on earth. Insofar as The Family has a consistent philosophy, it's all about power - cultivating it, building it and networking it together into ever-stronger units, or "cells."...wrote Ms.Ehrenreich.
Is it possible that Hillary's participation in this fundamentalist group -- which apparently preaches the "gospel of military might" -- would help explain her vote in favor of authorizing President Bush to attack Iraq? Is it possible her pro-NAFTA stance during her husband's administration comes from its embrace of "the no-holds-barred economics of globalization"? Is it possible that the sense some get that Hillary feels entitled to be president comes in part from this group's belief that "it's only the elites who matter"?
I encourage any reporter covering Hillary's campaign to ask her about all this.
At a time when so many people are wondering what sort of effect the Rev. Wright's sermons may have had on Barack Obama, I think it's only fair to ask what sort of effect The Family's fundamentalist mission has had - and continues to have - on Hillary Clinton. We know that George Bush engages in truly fundamentalist thinking. There is no person or new information capable of challenging his belief that what he already knows is right. Is Hillary Clinton like this in some way? I am not sure.
But the opinion I have formed from this is that - while Hillary Clinton may be considered a Liberal by many - on the inside she is a deeply Conservative person... possibly as close to being a Republican today as she was when she was a young woman supporting Senator Goldwater. This helps explain, to me, why she and John McCain are such good friends. They are both drawn to the use of military power and free market capitalism... and to taking money from lobbyists. The other opinion I have formed is that those who say there are no policy differences between Hillary and Barack haven't taken into account how their religious differences might impact the policies they would actually seek to implement as president.
Finally, getting back to Hillary addressing the subject of the Rev. Wright's sermons, I was taken by the carefully crafted language she used during her press conference on Tuesday afternoon, where she said, "Given all we have heard and seen, he would not have been my pastor.". At the risk of going off-topic, I would like to offer you all a chance to hear what I have now "heard and seen" of one of Rev. Wright's controversial sermons. When you watch the video below -- and Hillary, if you see this, I hope you will watch it too -- you will learn that at least in this instance what the Rev. Wright said ("America's chickens have come home to roost.") was taken completely out of context. Rev. Wright was quoting someone else when he said those words, and he said much of value during the 10 minutes I found on YouTube.
I urge you to give the cause of truth the 10 minutes it will take you to watch this too.
UPDATE: Wednesday morning
For those who want the link to this video, you can find it on YouTube here. It was posted to YouTube by the Trinity United Church of Christ Chicago, which has its own YouTube home page. You can watch other videos showing Rev. Wright's words in complete context there as well.
Follow Steven G. Brant on Twitter: www.twitter.com/SteveBrant
Thank you America for finally WAKING UP! I've been asking you all to WAKE UP for so long and now I feel that you are finally seeing what the media and those in charge have been hiding and lying for so very long. America is better than this and we must let the world know that WE ARE BETTER THAN THIS!
http://www.theird.org/NETCOMMUNITY/Page.aspx?pid=581&srcid=183
Washington, DC—Several groups within the 7.9 million member United Methodist Church are targeting Israel with divestment proposals and hostile publications.
* The United Methodist Board of Church and Society (GBCS), the church’s official Washington-based lobbying office, is urging church members and church agencies to divest from Caterpillar, Inc. Their resolution, which will go before the United Methodist General Conference in April 2008, accuses Peoria-based Caterpillar of facilitating Israel’s destruction of Palestinian property. Five regional annual conferences within United Methodism have passed similar resolutions.
* The New York-based United Methodist Women’s Division has published a children’s book containing anti-Israel themes, “From Palestine to Seattle; Becoming Neighbors and Friends.” The booklet portrays Israel as an oppressor of Palestinians while omitting nearly all mention of terrorism.
* The Washington-based Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA), a liberal caucus group within United Methodism, has outdone the church’s official lobby office by calling for divestment against ALL "companies supporting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and other violations of human rights in Israel/Palestine."
* The United Methodist Women’s Division also has released a mission study for 2007-2008 that portrays Israel as virtually the sole aggressor in the Middle East. The study is for use by nearly 700,000 United Methodist Women’s members across the nation.
BRAVO to the Methodists!
http://www.ifamericansknew.org/us_ints/index.html
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/EC20Ak07.ht
http://www.viewzone.com/dualcitizen.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2535310,00.html
It seems that Hillary is counting on some form of political capital to steal the nomination at this point. She has her friends get together and threaten Nancy Pelosi that she better go out in public and say that the superdelegates can vote for whomever they choose or they will not give any more money to her or the democratci party....
As somone in the media pointed out... with such massive public participation and small donors making up huge amounts in small donations... these old money mongers don't have the same powier in this election.
OBAMA '08
Any help?
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form11b.html?2
I encourage any reporter covering Hillary's campaign to ask her about all this."
YES.
ASK HER.
OFTEN.
This information connects quite a few dots I've been researching in the past 8 years.
And believe me, the truth is MUCH stranger than any fiction that could be thought up.
Aldous Huxley would be in shock and awe.
Epistemology.
The intersection of government and religion is language. You can’t talk about right and wrong without using the same language as does religion. Religious law, having preceded secular manifestations of law, can therefore claim to be the founding and moral authority for law, it’s history.
The problem is that religious law does not evolve. It is anchored in an indisputable authority of antiquity. It cannot be proven or disproved. It is, ethically, stuck in the past, because the textual basis of it is not subject to revision, and for many arguments, there is an equal and opposite counter argument that lives on and cannot be repealed.
So the moral authority of the church can only take us so far, to a point where I believe the founders decided to jump ship, realizing that the religious ship was just going around in circles. The Constitution, and law derived from that basis, is then a living and growing body of thought on government that religion could never be.
Even more important might have been the realization that when you are not going forward, the possibility of going backward is very much greater. Indeed, the circular and irresolvable nature of religious arguments practically guarantees moral recidivism. Moral and ethical recidivism was the cause of the Dark Ages.
http://www.docstrangelove.com/2008/03/20/bill-clinton-to-reverend-jeremiah-wright-i-have-sinned/
Hillary was also in attendence.
I cannot find the link - I wish I had saved it - but Bill also had private meetings with Rev. Wright during this time frame. If anyone finds the link, please post it.
In short, Hillary is a hypocrite - she slams Rev. Wright when he was there for their needs. And now The Family - a strictly conservative-based religion - is Hillary's church. My, my. A Republican wearing a Democratic cloak.
The values I am critiquing are putting the power of "elites" over the power of "we, the people".. of seeing military force as the "first response" to global problems... of pushing free market economic at the expense of the environment.
Are those the values you say a very large number of Americans identify with?
I appreciate your link to Bono speaking at one of The Family's National Prayer Breakfasts, but that does not make him a participant in The Family as Hillary is. My perspective is that the National Prayer Breakfast is The Family's "public face", through which it appears to be nothing more than another pro-God organization. In reality, The Family is much more than that.
Bono is, to me, a real bridge builder. He really listens to people. Hillary acts like she is listening. But it's all largely an act. Otherwise she wouldn't attack or use sarcasm when asked a tough question. She already believes she is "the smartest person in the room". That's fundamentalist thinking, pure and simple. No self doubt. Never - except under extreme circumstances - admits to making a mistake. Just like George Bush.