Let me feel you all in with the background of this story. One of the largest Churches in the Pinevillie-Alexandria area of Rapides Parish, which is located right in the center of the state, is a Church Called Pentecostals of Alexandria, POA, you can look them up online.

Now, two unnamed relatives of mine, (through my uncle's marriage), go this church devotededly and attend these Bible Study classes that they hold. What the family found out recently was shocking, and it literally tore it apart. More below.

There is being quite a lot of shock posted on a recent statement that Mike Huckabee made here in Louisville a few hours ago at the NRA conference--namely, Huck made a comment on how a supposed sound was Barack Obama ducking in an attempt to keep from being shot at.

For some of us--especially those of us who have followed Huckabee's extensive links with the highly militaristic "Joel's Army"/"Joshua Generation" neopente dominionist movement--this is but the latest and one of the more blatant of his statements of this type, and probably not even the most extreme of them.

In today's special edition post, we give a bit of history on this.

As one of my continuing "side series" (along with the Gothard research), I've been writing up on the virulently anti-LGBT "Joel's Army" group "Watchmen At The Walls"--a group linked with no less than one death and multiple assaults as well as an attempted progrom against a Pride parade in Riga, Latvia, and which is now officially listed as a hate group by Southern Poverty Law Center.

One thing I've focused on is the rather disturbing official support by Assemblies of God regional head Joseph Fuiten--and those of you who've read my previous articles know Fuiten is far from the only virulently anti-LGBT leader in the Assemblies.

Now comes disturbing news that the Assemblies of God may be embracing hate as a whole--it turns out the Latvian head of "Watchmen" was front and center at a major conference of Assemblies preachers in Atlanta recently.  (Apologies to readers--we do have a lot to cover here, so pardon the length.)

Greenwood Cemetery, from the westermost road inside the cemetery.  In the background is First Baptist Church, a "megachurch" whose street address is Canal Blvd., on the opposite side of the cemetery.  Behind the photographer is I-10, heading into downtown New Orleans.

The megachurch is a relative newcomer to the neighborhood, having moved from Uptown in 2004.  Now that they're Lakeview/Mid City neighbors, they're taking actions that will ruin an important part of the soul of New Orleans.

(explanation and photos below the fold)

In yesterday's post--which I refer to as "The Big List, California Edition"--I recommended that people specifically not give to a number of "charity fronts" linked with the Assemblies of God.  Not only does the group have a history of coercive tactics (look throughout this diary for examples) but are also pretty explicitly dominionist.

There is another reason not to give money, though, even if the legacy of the walking wounded of "Joel's Army" and worries about dominionism aren't enough--it turns out that, even after the hate group "Watchmen On The Walls" was exposed--their Northwest regional head (who's called for all non-dominionists to be stripped of citizenship) has given them his official blessing...and this is, by far, not unusual at all for the Assemblies.

In other words, you may well want to add "I don't wish to support a hate group" to your list of reasons not to donate to the Bad Guys...

The DailyKos diary entries I've made the past few days--on the neopentecostal dominionist group "Watchmen On The Walls" (linked with hate crimes both here and in Latvia, and which is known for promotion of frank Holocaust revisionism regarding LGBT people of the sort you would expect to hear on the neo-nazi Stormfront webpage) and their American aiders and abbetters (including, notably, official support by the Assemblies and possible support from the present administration)- reveal something that has been very much "under the surface" in neopente dominionist circles ("Watchmen On The Walls" is a rare public glimpse of the private face of neopente dominionists and their attitudes towards LGBT people).

I don't just post this stuff to scare folks, though.  My hope is that people will get mad as hell and do something.  And in fact, this diary is all about getting mad as hell and taking action--namely, counterprotests and things you can do even if you aren't in the Seattle area.

In yesterday's post on DailyKos, I noted how the group "Watchmen on the Walls"--a neopentecostal dominionist group promoted in ex-USSR countries that promotes literal Holocaust revisionism and has become infamous for such acts as literally throwing feces at protesters and kicking a gay Fijian national to death--is in fact essentially an especially violent "Joel's Army" group, spawned from the Assemblies of God's first attempt at "steeplejacking" of a church.

Today, we don our Internet hip-waders as we explore the actual website of "Watchers On The Walls"--with the help of a bit of the modern miracle that is Google Language Tools--and also go in-depth into supporters of "Watchmen On The Walls" who will be attending a conference in Lynnwood, WA less than a day from this posting.  Some of the supporters include the Assemblies on an official level...and, disturbingly, possibly elements of the Bush administration as well.

I have touched before on the major role that Russia and Iran play in "Joel's Army" end-time theology--and whilst this is very important, I'm actually going to focus on a rather different way "Joel's Army" has targeted the former USSR...and the bloody fruit it is bearing in the US as well as in many of the countries formerly part of the USSR.

Namely, it seems neopentecostal dominionism--of a particular Russian and Latvian variety that was the fruit of the world's first steeplejack and which has been lovingly fed by the most extreme anti-LGBT troopers of "Joel's Army"--is a major motivating force behind a wave of hate crimes targeting LGBT people both here and abroad.

It was Jesus himself who noted "By their fruits ye shall know them"...and in this post, I document how an "orchard" was planted by American dominionist groups to produce bitter fruit indeed, both here in the US and abroad.

You might remember that a bunch of conservative Ohio ministers banded together to overtly support both George W. Bush in 2004 and even more overtly to support Ken Blackwell's bid for Governor in 2006. Blackwell was Secretary of State and ran the vote in Ohio in 2004--and of course, was the state's Bush for Ohio co-chair.

One of those ministers is leaving his church ostensibly to work as a fund-raiser for his alma mater.  Or perhaps to spend more time with his family. Or to work on his defense ...

More below the fold.

I have had a bit of an evidentiary katamari that I've been rolling up for some time, and--whilst I've embargoed it on here, I've posted it on a few less formal forums just to make sure the concept isn't completely on crack.

However, Bruce Wilson's recent post noting George W. Bush's recent promotion of explicit Assemblies of God endtime theology has convinced me not to embargo this post anymore.

Namely, I have found a rather large amount of evidence--to suggest that George W. Bush is "Methodist In Name Only"--and his true loyalties may lie with the neopentecostals, and specifically with the Assemblies of God...a terrifying concept indeed, seeing as the Assemblies is a primary promoter of the steeplejacking of the military and in fact is the ultimate source of "Joel's Army" theology.

I learned about this story at MSNBC how megachurch High Point in Arlington, Texas denied a funeral service it offered to a Gulf War veteran (Cecil Howard Sinclair) when they found out the man (whose Brother was a church janitor according to AP & Houston Chronicle but Dallas News says he was actually a member) was openly gay.  

The day of the ribbon cutting ceremony finally came. I was dreading it but mothers can be very persuasive and mine is no different. This day was important to her. She wanted me to come share in the glory of what her "church family" had built.

I pulled into the pristine parking lot -- the curbs and blacktop still clean and smooth from lack of use. Parts of the grounds had no sod yet but the building it surrounded was a massive wall of masonry with a towering stainless steel crucifix that divided the building in half as it reached into the mid-western sky.

A surprisingly small crowd had congregated in front of the main entrance where a pink ribbon stretched between the two brick pillars leading to the "worship center." (Apparently it's no longer called a chapel. I later understood why).

Cross-posted from Biblical America Resistance Front (barf.org)

'Tis the season when it's not unusual to receive a holiday card inscribed, "Peace on Earth."  It's easy to sometimes assume that this sentiment is a universal one, or if it's not, that it's at least shared by one's neighbors, or among Christians.

But if there's one overarching, most important thing I've learned in recent years, it's that one's assumptions can't be trusted when assessing what's going on among American Christians today.

From time to time, you'll see a report from someone who visited a church and experienced something we would consider jarring and unexpected, or, as in my case, came across a blog entry from a member of a church, who's simply relating what they saw, and how much they thought it was just a wonderful thing.

Yesterday I read one such blog entry, which might serve as an indicator of where some portion of American Christianity is headed - and where it very well may end up.

Interesting AP article on how Megachurchgoers can get left in the lurch when their spiritual svengalis turn out to be hucksters.

The good news is, as soon as one preacher gets exposed as a crank-addled john, there's another one ready to take his place, pre-equipped with a brand new series of books on tape explaining how God wants them to be rich.

The process includes counseling, in groups and alone, and prayer. Each restoration is unique, with a program tailored for the needs of the participant.

"From the Christian perspective, we think in terms of prayer, we think in terms of what we call godly counsel, where godly men who are clean themselves insert themselves in the life of the one who is struggling," London said.

This is the second in an installment that I hope will continue not in the immediate future, but hopefully sometime during the general elections in November. Granted, the church community at The Crossing strikes me as being a very nice one; but I am curious about what tack they will take once the general election starts to kick in, especially after seeing the Voting Guides the church had on display.

More at the jump.

For more on my experience, join me at the jump.

America wasn't founded as a theocracy,... America was founded by people trying to escape theocracies. Never in history have we had a Christian theocracy where it wasn't bloody and barbaric. That's why our Constitution wisely put in a separation of church and state.