"The Despoiling of America"

[athelind]

Okay, at least two people have given me credit for pointing out This Article -- before I'd read it myself. So, now that I have read it, let me point it out. It pretty well sums up a lot of trends and information I've seen over the years -- not just the Bush-2 years, but over the decades.

Does anyone else remember Nehemiah Scudder?

Comments

[hydra-velsen.livejournal.com]

I can't even pronounce it.

[cargoweasel.livejournal.com]

Yeah, pretty much. I'm not scared so much by stories like that anymore as resigned.

The United States is going to be taken over at first politically and then forcefully by a Christian Taliban at some point in the next few decades, and will have to go through that crucible. It will be Civil War Two, it will go down between now and 2035 (my estimate), it will feature every horror we can conceive of brought to fruition, and then it will end, and twenty years after that, Americans will say "Why were we so stupid" "how could we let this happen" and "let's get that horrible episode behind us" and then twenty years after that it will crop up again. Dubya is not the linchpin of this, he is just the latest wave. We had Nixon - rebuffed due to his own corruption. We had Reagan - couldn't make it last. We have W.Bush - Too stupid and incompetent to make it work, although he's close. The next faith-based White House will be a man everyone loves, someone smart and folksy and quick-witted and religious but not so you'd alienate swing voters, and vicious and brutal. And Diebold and Sproul will get him elected. And hellfire and damnation will come to us all. They are patient, they are wealthy, they are intelligent, they are motivated, they want all of us freaks-ALL OF US- in the ovens to convince their Jesus to return to their America that has paved the way for his return, an America of their dreams and horrible prayers, and America governed by the parts of the Bible Reverend Phelps likes to read.

Americans will have to experience their own holocaust before they will convincingly reject it. It's going to have to happen sooner or later.

I am God-fearing in this respect. I fear those who believe God is on their side most of all.

[araquan.livejournal.com]

Bush too stupid... Maybe... But... I've never been fully convinced that he's running the show anyway when it comes to a lot of things. This is where I see Cheney and Ashcroft working behind the scenes with Bush rubber-stamping things. He is, after all, folksy enough and way too many people seem to love him in spite of all he's done. Maybe he won't be the one to seal the deal with regard to theocracy, but he's already done much to lay the kind of foundation someone else can build on... He'll do a lot more next term if he's 'elected'.

[hedgegoth.livejournal.com]

Step One
Open up any RAH book you have with the 'future history' timeline and see what it says will be occuring in America at this time.

Step Two
Blink

[athelind.livejournal.com]

:gives Urb a cookie:

[hedgegoth.livejournal.com]

Crazy Years. Yup.
A Religious wossname takes over the US, constitituion is thrown out.

it's not the fact that he projected this, it's that the years in the timeline are uncannily accurate.

[hydra-velsen.livejournal.com]

Got a link to the timeline, or at least the years of key events? I googled RAH and only found a lifespan chart for chacters.

and yes I've felt for years that America would be siezed by an ayatollah. After all, we were founded by the rest of the world's evangelical religious filfth no one else could tolerate.

[hedgegoth.livejournal.com]

What an offensive way to put it.

Go to a book store, buy the past through tomorrow, it has the timeline.

[hydra-velsen.livejournal.com]

I'm not much good at political correctness. >:)

[araquan.livejournal.com]

As athelind can attest, I've started picking up RAH lately. My copy of Assignment in Eternity (which I have not actually read yet) has that timeline. And yes, when I discovered it and looked at what it said, I was all *blinkblink* and stuff.

[paka.livejournal.com]

Yes, Revolt in 2100 was my bathroom reading a month and a half ago.

[araquan.livejournal.com]

*grin* I'll admit that I hadn't finished reading it by the time I posted the link, but I was about a third of the way in- enough to think it worth passing along to others.

I've been thinking about this article in conjunction with one or two of the folks I know who are ardent Bush supporters. The type of people who think he's done no wrong and has done wonderful good for everyone and everything. Generally they're the type of people I thought should be able to know better. In some cases people who did know better in years past. I couldn't see a common denominator among those folks until this article. Some of them are more firebrandish about it than others, but they're all rather strongly religious. One or two seem to have a persecution complex about their faith. Now, to be fair, some of my closer friends are devout Christians who are horrified at what Bush has done, but the whole religion thing seems to be one of the few things that links my own Bush-supporting associates together.

What troubles me is that I know a few of them would take the Despoiling article as a direct attack on their religion. Well, no, it's about the people- the Dominionists- who would pervert that faith for political ends... But then again, maybe they believe that what's laid out in that article is what's Right, and that speaking out against it really is heresy. It really does make me want to get out of the country sometimes- save that if this comes to pass, it won't stay contained here. Hell, ask the Iraqis- it's not staying contained here now.

[kolchis.livejournal.com]

'Does anyone else remember Nehemiah Scudder?'

Only too well, I'm afraid.

For my part, I wish that RAH had found the time to write "The Stone Pillow" which describes the rise of Scudder... that would be interesting to read, I think.

Not that anyone asked my opinion...but....

[kavri.livejournal.com]

Um, sort of wandered in here from elsewhere, and felt compelled to add my two cents worth (er, well 2 cents Canadian, that is *grin*).

First, thanks for the excellent article. It's funny how 'conspiracy theory' it can sound, until you realize that a bit of research shows how much of this is going on.

Second, it is only certain segments of Christianity, and though the Protestants (in particular the Southern Baptist leadership) are leading the way, it is within Roman Catholicism too. Check out some of the critiques on "Opus Dei" (a google will bring up lots).

Third, I'm not sure that it will be a complete take over, as some suggest. I don't think a comparison with the Taliban really holds weight, but yes, there may very well be some difficult and violent times ahead. It is important to remember that there are still masses of humanitarian/socialist/liberal/good-hearted middle-of-the-road christians out there, who might be quiet now, but will likely become more vocal the more the right-wing agenda comes into view.

Fourth, hydra_velsen said the following: "and yes I've felt for years that America would be siezed by an ayatollah. After all, we were founded by the rest of the world's evangelical religious filfth no one else could tolerate."

It's a bit of a pet peeve of mine, but Americans seem to be continually mixed up about their own history regarding Puritans, the founding fathers (of whom few if any were Puritans), and the founding of the United States of America. The Puritans weren't "evangelical religious filth"...they were incredibly orthodox and conservative though, and severly oppressed. The saddest thing, is they truly thought they could recreate some kind of 'kingdom of heaven on earth' by ruling a settlement through biblical precepts. Unfortunately, the bible doesn't have all the answers when it comes to what to do when Farmer Joe steals Farmer Zeke's pig. Also, as more colonies sprung up, within a generation or two from the original Puritan settlers, people were more concerned about how the towns were run, how land was inherited, and what to do about the "Indian problem" than trying to be God's village on earth. Basically, a grandiose idea failed, and then sort of regrew itself more pragmatically, within a few generations. The founding fathers included a lot of diests (basically, god made us, and then left us to deal on our own, and is not a 'personal' diety...though they were often fairly moral men) and many were amateur scientists. They were generally academic and somewhat 'of the world' types of men. Washington spent time in Paris. Benjamin Franklin was into all sorts of stuff: farming, science, writing. This was the man that said if your going to take a lover, make it an older woman, the sex is better (they are more 'grateful' you see) and no worries about accidental kidlets....hardly a Puritan *grin*. The United States itself was founded by a number of people other than the Puritans, as well. There was the influence of the already existing Native American Indians. There was the influence of the French and Dutch. There were Roman Catholics, Quakers (huge influence), Mennonites, Baptists, Calvinists, and the list goes on and on. I wish more Americans embraced the diversity of their past, instead of rewriting it as if it didn't exist. Part of what I see great about the United States (and being a Canadian, I tend to bash the US on a regular basis, but I have dual citizenship, so I figure I have more leeway too *grin*) is its diversity, its democracy, its varied and mixed history. I hate seeing the cookie-cutter view of things that is taking over...and its happening more and more in Canada too.

Um, sorry for barging in. *sheepish look...quietly tip-toes out of the room*