Wednesday, December 14, 2005

spheres of influence: a map of the religious right

expanding universe

fascinating to see the ways that ministries give birth to media, think tanks, PACs and educational institutions. whoever said the religious right was just a bunch of country hicks was wrong.

and whoever says the religious right is persecuted is wrong, too. you can't be persecuted if you're controlling the conversation.

(but, dude. what's up with including the reverend moon?? he's a nutbag.)

7 comments:

Wasp Jerky said...

Moon may a nutbag, but he's also a nutbag who is in bed with a lot of RepubliChristians. In 1994, for example, one of Moon's front organization's gave Jerry Falwell's Liberty University $3.5 million and otherwise forgave millions of dollars in debt. I blogged a bit about this earlier this year. See here.

Delia Christina said...

i also rememeber when the rev. moon and his wife were 'crowned' in the lobby of the capitol, or something, a couple of years ago.

truly bizarre and disturbing that the religious right is connected to a total nutbag.

Anonymous said...

how do you know if you're part of the religious right? is there a quiz? can you be part of the religious-middle-really-close-to-the-right?
or is it like being in love. . . you'll just "know"

;)

Delia Christina said...

i think there is a quiz and one of the questions is:

24. Reverend Moon, despite being a noted cult leader and crazy person, is a part of our coalition because:
a) he hates gays
b) he was crowned supreme emperor in our nation's capitol
c) he has a kickass newspaper that just so happens to repeat GOP talking points
d) all of the above

if someone gets this question right (D) then i think they're well on their way!

Anonymous said...

other than thinking the guy's a nutter i can't really say i know anything about him. hmmm. . . now how can i say he's a nutter if i don't really know anything about him? the shame! i need to do some homework! but he can't be the only criteria for a religious right test, can he? 'cuz if he is, i think i just passed!

Wasp Jerky said...

JC,

Here's a pretty good crash course on the Rev. Moon.

Delia Christina said...

all joking aside, moon's ideologies and the workings of his church have been pretty well-documented since the 70s. the Moonies fulfill the definition of a cult: its belief system is based on a crazily illogical closed-mindedness; it's heavily invested in the personality of its founder (the cult's personality and organization basically derives from the personality of Moon); it's socially and ideologically isolated from scrutiny (and enforces this among its members), making it a heavily authoritarian organization.

any similarities between the the GOP and Moonies, of course, are purely coincidental.

(heh. i kid! i kid! no i don't. yes! i kid!)