Slog
News & ArtsSunday, March 28, 2010
Religion O They Will Know We Are Christians...
Posted by Dan Savage on Sun, Mar 28, 2010 at 4:53 PM
...by the way we're persecuted by the federal government...
At least seven people, including some from Michigan, have been arrested in raids by a FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana as part of an investigation into an Adrian-based Christian militia group, a person familiar with the matter said.... Sources have said the FBI was in the second day of raids around the southeastern Michigan city of Adrian that are connected to a militia group, known as the Hutaree, an Adrian-based group whose members describe themselves as Christian soldiers preparing for the arrival and battle with the anti-Christ.
These Christian patriots were just minding their own business, preparing to do battle with the anti-Christ, and here comes our fascist federal government which seems to have a problem with doing battle with the anti-Chist—you could even say that the federal government is pro-anti-Christ—or, um, maybe the feds objected to the line of pipe bombs these Christian patriots were selling? Could it have been that?
4
When I lived in Ann Arbor I wrote a lefty letter to the editor to the daily paper. A few days later I got some Christian militia hate mail. Lovely folks, these.
5
How lazy must homegrown terrorists be before they're not even willing to build their own pipe bombs? In my day...
6
Jesus TOTALLY said that the ends justify the means, and any good Christian knows that Jesus IS the end(s), so being ostentatiously Christian justifies anything, including manufacturing pipe bombs to blow up the gubmint because the gubmint levies unfair taxes and we all know that Jesus hated moneychangers, which clearly are tax men because these fellas hate tax men too! Like Jesus! Therefore, render unto Caesar improvised explosive devices.
Q.E.D.
Q.E.D.
7
I thought it was in the Second Amendment, "the right to keep and bear arms." The Second Amendment doesn't limit what those arms are to be. Could be anything from a knife to a nuclear bomb. If it's an arm, it's you're right to keep and bear it. So, weren't the Christian militia just exercising their patriotic rights by keeping and bearing a line of pipe bombs? I would love to see someone challenge that in court, where a judge will certainly say that there are limits to the Second Amendment, which would then set precedent for a ban on handguns ...
8
@7: What planet have you been living on? It's already been ruled on. See Heller v. District of Colombia. Soon to be even further clarified by McDonald v. Chicago, and very probably Heller II, which is on its way to the D.C. circuit court as we speak.
9
Dan, ever considering applying to the Obama Administration to be the 21st century's J. Edgar Hoover?
10
/begin unoriginal talking points argument
Yeah, Dan, you're all forgiving and tolerant except when Barrack Obamber's AMERISTAN is oppressing the rights of Christian Conservatives. How dare they challenge the liberal party line!
These liberals. They want rights for everyone but those they disagree with. It's obvious what's going on here, can't you see??
First they came for the christian militants, and I didnt' speak up because I wasn't a christian mislitant. Next, they'll come for you!
You can keep the CHANGE, Dan! Welcome to Obama-stan Socailsm!!
//end unoriginal talking points argument.
Now that's pre-empted, maybe we'll dodge the fly-by snarky unregistered commenter who was bound to spew that vitriol. We'll see.
Yeah, Dan, you're all forgiving and tolerant except when Barrack Obamber's AMERISTAN is oppressing the rights of Christian Conservatives. How dare they challenge the liberal party line!
These liberals. They want rights for everyone but those they disagree with. It's obvious what's going on here, can't you see??
First they came for the christian militants, and I didnt' speak up because I wasn't a christian mislitant. Next, they'll come for you!
You can keep the CHANGE, Dan! Welcome to Obama-stan Socailsm!!
//end unoriginal talking points argument.
Now that's pre-empted, maybe we'll dodge the fly-by snarky unregistered commenter who was bound to spew that vitriol. We'll see.
13
Whoooo Lord, I went and checked. you gotta check out the Beast Watch section. Got to.
http://www.hutaree.com/ezrafiles.htm
http://www.hutaree.com/ezrafiles.htm
14
A quote:
670 - Approximate number of the Beast
DCLXVI - Roman numeral of the Beast
666.0000000 - Number of the High Precision Beast
665.9999954 - Number of the Pentium Beast
0.666 - Number of the Millibeast
/666 - Beast Common Denominator
666 x sq. rt (-1) - Imaginary number of the Beast
1010011010 - Binary of the Beast
1-666 - Area code of the Beast
00666 - Zip code of the Beast
1-900-666-0666 - Live Beasts! Call Now! Only $6.66/minute. (Must be over 18)
$665.95 - Retail price of the Beast
$710.36 - Price of the Beast plus 6.66% state sales tax
$769.95 - Price of the Beast with all accessories and replacement soul
$606.66 - Price of the Beast at Wal-Mart
$566.66 - Price of the Beast at Costco
Phillips 666 - Gasoline of the Beast
Route 666 - Way of the Beast
666 F - Oven temperature for roast Beast
666k - Retirement plan of the Beast
666 mg - Recommended Daily Allowance of Beast
6.66 % - 5 year CD interest rate at First Beast of Hell National Bank ($666 minimum deposit)
6-6-6.xls - Spreadsheet of the Beast
Word 6.66 - Word Processor of the Beast
666i - BMW of the Beast
DSM-666 (revised) - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the Beast
668 - Next-door neighbor of the Beast
670 - Approximate number of the Beast
DCLXVI - Roman numeral of the Beast
666.0000000 - Number of the High Precision Beast
665.9999954 - Number of the Pentium Beast
0.666 - Number of the Millibeast
/666 - Beast Common Denominator
666 x sq. rt (-1) - Imaginary number of the Beast
1010011010 - Binary of the Beast
1-666 - Area code of the Beast
00666 - Zip code of the Beast
1-900-666-0666 - Live Beasts! Call Now! Only $6.66/minute. (Must be over 18)
$665.95 - Retail price of the Beast
$710.36 - Price of the Beast plus 6.66% state sales tax
$769.95 - Price of the Beast with all accessories and replacement soul
$606.66 - Price of the Beast at Wal-Mart
$566.66 - Price of the Beast at Costco
Phillips 666 - Gasoline of the Beast
Route 666 - Way of the Beast
666 F - Oven temperature for roast Beast
666k - Retirement plan of the Beast
666 mg - Recommended Daily Allowance of Beast
6.66 % - 5 year CD interest rate at First Beast of Hell National Bank ($666 minimum deposit)
6-6-6.xls - Spreadsheet of the Beast
Word 6.66 - Word Processor of the Beast
666i - BMW of the Beast
DSM-666 (revised) - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the Beast
668 - Next-door neighbor of the Beast
17
omg @14 - I thought you were joking...but it's true. That website would be funny if it weren't so scary. Though ya should check out the "ranks of the Hutaree". Bizarre.
19
Just checked the Huffington Post.
Apparently, these wack jobs were planning to kill a police officer (possibly by luring one in with a phony 911 call), and then bomb the colleagues gathered at his funeral. They figured that they'd start an uprising against the government that way.
Can you believe these psychos?
Apparently, these wack jobs were planning to kill a police officer (possibly by luring one in with a phony 911 call), and then bomb the colleagues gathered at his funeral. They figured that they'd start an uprising against the government that way.
Can you believe these psychos?
20
What kind of wimpy anti-Christ could be taken out with a pipe bomb? If anybody had a reliable security retinue, the Devil would.
22
I always found it interesting that many scholars believe 666 stands for the Roman Emperor Nero. After all, the Book of Revelations is dated around 70 CE and that is when Rome had the Temple in Jerusalem destroyed, if memory serves correctly.
^ a b Fearful hope, Paul S. Boyer
^ a b The Book of Revelation, Catherine A. Cory
^ Revelation, Alan John Philip Garrow
^ a b c Catholic Youth Bible, 1699
^ Hillers, D. R. (1963). "Revelation 13:18 and a Scroll from Murabba’at". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 170: 65. doi:10.2307/1355990. Retrieved 2006-08-07. Note: website requires subscription.The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Ed. Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1990. 1009
^ Just, Felix (2002-02-02). "666: The Number of the Beast". Retrieved 2006-06-06.
^ a b Fearful hope, Paul S. Boyer
^ a b The Book of Revelation, Catherine A. Cory
^ Revelation, Alan John Philip Garrow
^ a b c Catholic Youth Bible, 1699
^ Hillers, D. R. (1963). "Revelation 13:18 and a Scroll from Murabba’at". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 170: 65. doi:10.2307/1355990. Retrieved 2006-08-07. Note: website requires subscription.The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Ed. Raymond E. Brown, Joseph A. Fitzmyer, and Roland E. Murphy. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1990. 1009
^ Just, Felix (2002-02-02). "666: The Number of the Beast". Retrieved 2006-06-06.
24
I'm not sure what I feel more compelled to do: assume that the acts of a handful of crazies represent the, literally, billions who share their religious beliefs or petition to round up everyone with religious beliefs and place them in camps. Wait, wasn't there a country that tried the latter last century? The acts of eight people neither justify nor warrant broad-sweeping scorn. If their acts justify us labeling them as a "typical" Christian, then why didn't we all applaud those who targeted Muslims post 9/11? Please people, I'd like to believe Slog readers are slightly more insightful than the crap that's been posted.
25
@2 No, Christians are not bad bad men. People who actually follow what Jesus actually talked about (peace, loving your neighbor, helping the poor) are, 99% of the time, very good men. As are all the Christians that no one seems to think exist- ones who worship quietly and don't force their beliefs on others. Those who take organized religion to the extreme and harm others are a very very sad minority who deserve what they get. You saying Christians as a whole are bad shows not only your ignorance, but your own bias/hatred as well.
The religious folk as a whole get a lot of shit for what crazy people do in the name of God. Thats because stories about the many Christians who are actually out there doing good for the world don't sell as many newspapers, do they....
The religious folk as a whole get a lot of shit for what crazy people do in the name of God. Thats because stories about the many Christians who are actually out there doing good for the world don't sell as many newspapers, do they....
26
@25: I agree. As to why we only hear about the bad Christians, though, I'd say the fact that the Catholic hierarchy seems intent on covering up molestation cases doesn't help; they're supposed to set a good example for Catholics everywhere, which they've historically done a piss-poor job of doing.
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