The Church of Global Warming-New Religion of the Left

The Church of Global Warming sounds like a joke, but it has all the earmarks of a cult.
1. There's a somewhat charismatic leader (If Gore could be called that...)
2. Celebrities are friends and supporters of said charismatic leader.
3. The code of belief brooks no doubts-you either accept every word, or you are an infidel.
4. The "church" and its leaders believe they are the only holders of "the truth".
5. The "church" believes that unnamed conspirators are acting behind the scenes to discredit them.
6. Secrets from within the "church" are believed to give the faithful access to the truth.
7. Initiation in the way of restraint, recycling, regression from technology and other isolation results in adherents blindly following the leaders.
8. A belief that endless supplies of money, all of which is to be turned over without question (by the taxpayers?) is to be spent on "special programs" to alleviate or appease the climate gods.
9. The belief that questioning any of these goals, any of the programs or any of the methods of obtaining money is equal to apostasy.
10. The belief that the "little people" should suffer deprivation for the good of the "special people" (See Barbara Streisand's house and ask yourself if this is a balanced use of resources according to the opinions of the Church of Global Warming)

Global Warming: The Cult, an update

Global Warming has all the earmarks of a religious cult. The link connected to the heading discusses this more specifically. I encourage you to read through the website and ask yourself if your friendly neighboring environmental nut isn't carrying on just a bit too much.

• The cult claims that they have the only way -- the only way to Heaven, or to salvation, or spirituality, or eternal bliss, or higher knowledge, or sanity, or mental powers, or recovery, or whatever it is that the cult promises to deliver...

• And then there is Denigration of competing sects, cults, or religions. A corollary to cults' claims of having The Only Way is the assertion that "the other people" do not have The Way. "They" are all misguided and missing the boat, and "they" won't be going to Heaven.

• Thus the cult encourages an isolationist "us versus them" mindset, which naturally seques into an attitude that

• The cult members are special -- they are morally and spiritually superior to the common rabble who haven't been "saved" and who don't have The Big Answer....

• Another common cult characteristic the we have seen is the demand for Surrender to the Cult. You can't just join the group; you have to surrender to the cult and give it everything -- your life, your mind, your heart, your loyalty, your obedience, and even your soul. (And all of your money will be welcome too.) An Oxford theologian observed that the students who became involved with Buchmanism were obsessed with it:

  The Groupers are unable to give their heart and soul to any other organization whatever: for his heart and soul is given to the group, whose sole immediate task is to attack sin.
  C. R. Morris, page 85, writing in
  Oxford and the Groups; The Influence of the Groups considered by Rev. Geoffrey F. Allen, John Maud, Miss B. E. Gwyer, C. R. Morris, W. H. Auden, R. H. S. Crossman, Dr. L. P. Jacks, Rev. E. R. Micklem, Rev. J. W. C. Wand, Rev. M. C. D'Arcy, S.J., Professor L. W. Grensted. Edited by R. H. S. Crossman. Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1934.

• Then there are the constant put-downs -- the cult characteristic of You Are Always Wrong: "You have been defeated by sin", "You are so sinful that you are insane", and "You are hiding some giant sin that keeps you separated from God".

• The constant put-downs also reveal the the mind-bending technique of Guilt Induction, and the use of guilt to manipulate cult members.

• Channeled or occult sources of 'wisdom', like 'Guidance' psychically received during a 'Quiet Time', is common in cult religions.

• A hierarchical, authoritarian system of control of members is very typical of cults.
  

• So is Pseudo-democracy. The Oxford Groups supposedly offered people "true democracy", where nobody voted and everybody followed orders without question. Curiously, Frank Buchman simultaneously declared that he was giving people "the true dictatorship of the living God", and "the dictatorship of the spirit of God". It takes some fancy semantic tap-dancing to reconcile "true democracy" and "true dictatorship".

• The doctrine that you cannot trust your own mind or your own thoughts, and must turn to the cult's mentors or elders for guidance is anther standard cult practice.

• And thus, so is a system of mentors.

• As is Intrusiveness -- they want to hear about every sin you ever committed, and they claim the right to tell you how to live, what to do, and what to believe.

• And so is the attitude that newcomers can't think right.
  

• And so is the deceit that "we have no structure or system", when in fact they have a very despotic system of control.

• And then there is Deceptive Recruiting.

• The End Justifies The Means.

• And You must change your beliefs to conform to the group's beliefs.

• Thought-Stopping Language. Thought-terminating clichés and slogans.

• Inability To Tolerate Criticism, and Personal Attacks On Critics.

• Dishonesty, deceit, and wild exaggeration of successes and praise, accompanied by minimization and denial of faults and criticism.

• The Cult is Money-Grubbing.

• The cult leader is not held accountable for his actions.

• The Guru Is Extra-Special.

• Everybody else needs the guru to boss him around, but nobody bosses the guru around.

• The guru criticizes everybody else, but nobody criticizes the guru.

• And the problems of Disturbed Guru, Mentally Ill Leader,

• New Identity -- Redefinition of Self -- Revision of Personal History

• The cult wants to own you.

• Demands For Compliance With The Group

• Grandiose existence. Bombastic, Grandiose Claims.

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This Time, It's Serious-Immigration

Here's a copy of an open letter I sent to Diane Feinstein. I don't expect her to read it. Actually what I expect is for some third level political flunky to either delete it, or to send me a snarky form letter. While I have held these views for awhile, they came to a head when I read the series from San Antonio that is linked in the headline. Please read it. Please. This is important for our safety, for our security and for our future. I hate to sound so dramatic, but these are dangerous times. And this could be our last chance to change things.

"I know that I am not a constituent, but as a Congressional representative, you do have the obligation to hear opposing thoughts on the issues of the day. Texas is on the front lines in this dispute and as a teacher I can assure you, we are suffering due to the sporous condition of our borders. I would invite you to read the series in the San Antonio newspaper regarding the infiltration of OTM's under the guise of Mexican immigrants. It is a very scary situation and I think it is a time bomb waiting to go off.

I am a native Texan and I am VERY concerned about Congress negligence and lack of foresight on the illegal immigration issue. First and foremost, we have lost our national security since it is documented that the designation "other than Mexican" is one that includes known activists in terrorism and that some have crossed our borders with impunity.

Domestically, we have an erosion of local economies, such as is happening in Farmers Branch, wherein absentee landlords rent to people without even knowing how many people live in that house. Where the taxes on one single family house provides roads, water, sewage, education and health benefits, it is not equitable when two, three or four families live in the same house or apartment. Landlords have few tools to control this. Schools and social/welfare offices are swamped with giving aide and special programs for these illegal immigrants. In addition, if they are working on the books, they have to be using fraudulent ID's and that is IDENTITY THEFT, which could seriously ruin someone's retirement.

Finally, I think that there are some members of Congress who are intent on making it possible for illegal immigrants to vote. It is already happening on a local level, although it should be denied by the Supreme court. How can we be sure that people are voting legally when we can't even ask for a valid ID? If we can do criminal background checks on PTSA moms, soccer coach dads and Sunday School teachers, then we should be able to LEGALLY expect identification for something as serious as voting. I am very concerned and I am NOT ALONE. I will be watching to see what is done in regards to this issue.

As I said before, I know I am not your specific constiguent, but I am a voter. And I am a blogger. And I do as much as I can to get information into the hands of those who will vote. While you may be able to wrap up California for your candidate on this issue, I promise you that in Texas, it won't be that easy, because we are running out of money, out of time, and out of patience.

Define ExtraCurricular

Extracurricular-Adj. That which is outside the normal curriculum.

What happened to the idea of extracurricular activities. Athletics, band, cheerleading were all things that you elected to do as something BEYOND the basic realm of classes. Yet now we have actual classes, with, I assume, actual curriculums, syllabi and standards. Why is this? Is it that we have caved in to the parents who want their children's every breath given credit weight? Or have administrators become so dazzled by the reflected glory on the ball field that they throw huge amounts of money for staffing, equipment and facilities toward these non-academic pastimes. And that is what they are. Like it or not, cheerleading is NOT a class. It's an activity. Like it or not football and baseball and basketball are all activities-not classes. Sure, you can learn to block, or learn to hit, or learn to throw a layup-but it's still not intellectually stimulating. Now I know many kids think this is the only way for them to get a college education. And that is the fault of a society which is so enamored with celebrities that we now have celebrities that are famous for such things as behaving badly, going to rehab and wrecking cars. This worshipful attitude towards those who are seen as talented has got to change. People often wonder where these young athletes and stars develop such horrible personalities. Maybe it's because rather than teaching them to read and think, all their schools and parents concentrated on what how cute they were, how talented they were or how good they were at athletics. Some kids are really good at working this type of minor fame into excuses for dismissing ignorance, stupidity and out and out self-centered behavior. If they are talented enough they work their ways through college being coddled for their fame until they either graduate or move onto some major league or field of work where such hubris is appreciated. What are we teaching them when we value those superficial things over the real meat of education? When was the last time your school had a pep rally for the Debate team? Or the Math Club? Or the Academic Decathalon team? I know my school hasn't and probably never will since almost all of the administrators in my district are ex-coaches. I am not saying athletics and such aren't important, but as the Greeks said, in all things "balance". And we are dreadfully unbalanced right now.