Are we looking forward to a future of food riots, civil war, and the breakup of the union by 2012? Some trends experts think so.
It may be mostly schadenfreude, but Russian economist Igor Panarin is convinced that the current economic crisis has a political component which will eventually break the United States apart into as many as six separate nations. He's not alone in this belief. It has long been a staple belief of racist extremist groups and is now being predicted by some on the religious right who are ready with plans for how to rearrange the nation in the face of the Obama presidency. Conspiracy monger Alex Jones even got in on the act on his radio show this weekend, suggesting that there is an active globalist plot to weaken America by breaking it into several smaller nations.…
Article comments
76 - Dave Nalle
That's just it, MrB. If a conspiracy is big (involves a lot of people) and long term (more than just one immediate goal) and has a significant agenda, then it either gets exposed and destroyed or it goes public and becomes an institution in the open.
The classic example would be the Catholic church, which did manage to survive as a sort of secret conspiracy for a couple of hundred years before going public and becoming an institution. As an institution it has lasted for 1500 years, and we know it has secrets, but we're generally not worried about how evil and dangerous its agenda is. The only other kind with any long-term history are relatively minor conspiracies to cover up some event. They can survive if the event happened once, was relatively trivial and involved few people. The classic example of this would be the press's semi-coverup of the fact that FDR could not walk.
Dave
77 - Dr Dreadful
Dave,
If your aim was not to set the conspiracy nuts off again, then the Roman Catholic Church is probably the worst possible illustration of your point you could have picked.
There are people who believe that Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code are non-fiction, you know.
(Hark! I hear approaching running footsteps. ...Pablo?)
78 - Dave Nalle
I've seen interviews with Dan Brown where he expresses his dismay and bweilderment at some of his more deluded fans.
Dave
79 - Dr Dreadful
Dan Brown specifically claimed in the forewords of both novels that everything but the actual narrative was factual and accurate. In fact, 90% of it is an amalgam of urban legends, made-up nonsense or claims that can be debunked with a couple of minutes' research.
He brought it on himself. He's like the kid that puts a dead spider in Auntie Muriel's lemonade and then wonders why everyone's mad at him.
80 - Dave Nalle
Well, the Catholic Church and Opus Dei DO exist. So does Da Vinci's The Last Supper. I rest my case.
Dave
81 - Silas Kain
Well, if the prophecy of St. Malachy comes to pass the successor to the present Pope shall be the last sitting Pope of the Roman Church. If that does happen I will get a line of Can Can girls to dance to Happy Days Are Here Again on the altar of the local Cathedral.
82 - Dan(Miller)
Dave,
The classic example of ... [a conspiracy] would be the press's semi-coverup of the fact that FDR could not walk. That is absurd. I have always heard that FDR not only walked, but did so on water. You should be ashamed of yourself.
Dan(Miller)
83 - Dr Dreadful
Silas, all that the prophecy of St Malachi means is that at the end of Benedict XVI's tenure the papal throne will get stolen, the Vatican will have lost so much money in the stock market crash that it won't be able to afford a replacement, and so future popes will have to conduct business while standing.
84 - Silas Kain
Verily I say unto Thee, Doc, that the Roman Church shall fall as all religions do. The Abrahamaic religions are about to bite the dust and they are hanging on for dear life. One hundred years from now Christianity, Judaism and Islam shall be like Mormons at an NAACP convention.
85 - Dr Dreadful
What do you mean, all religions fall? By the celestial brow ridge of Gnug the Almighty, I call upon him to smite thee with his Club of Fire!
86 - Jet
ahhhhhhhhhh uuuuuuuuuuuuhm ahhhhhhhhhh uuuuuhm
87 - Silas Kain
Jet you're a man of few um,
words syllablesgrunts.88 - Dr Dreadful
Silas, I do believe Jet was going for a Cro-Magnon mantra.
OMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMcrunch
(The sound of a prehistoric thinker experiencing a rapid metamorphosis from man of faith to leopard's lunch)
89 - Dolorosa
It is all happening because it is punishment for the sins of mankind. The gates of Hell will never destroy the Roman Catholic Church because it was founded by Jesus Christ. Read the last book of the Bible for the plagues which will inflict the world and think now about saving your soul before it's too late. Prophecy is written that Communism will soon rule the world and Comrade Obama, who is a socialist, who both communists and freemasons (who are having a First Ever Masonic Ball for him) have welcomed him with open arms.
90 - Silas Kain
With all due respect, WHICH Bible? I refuse to submit to the post-Nicene version of the New Testament. Jesus Christ never established a religion. He was a Jew - first and foremost. For the Roman Church to imply that it was founded by Christ Himself is an insult to the remainder of Christiandom. The Roman Church was established by Pauline Christians who saw the monetary value of the message they spread. Like Amway salespeople they spread out with their so-called "Good News" message.
I highly recommend the movie. It is my favorite movie of the last 25 years. But back to the message of Jesus -- He taught us to question things from the Torah to government. Sanctimony was something He did not tolerate as is evidenced in Matthew 7:1 but like Saul of Tarsus, right-winged Christians pick and choose those teachings which fit their respective lifestyle. Remember, God gave humanity free will. That is His will. And His will is done.Dolorosa, there is a line of dialog from the movie The Man From Earth which sums up Jesus' message very simply:
91 - Jack D
#90 " January 6, 2009 @ 19:28PM " Silas Kain
Matthew 7:1 Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. 3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?
Silas, you do what you claim others do.
92 - Silas Kain
And I make no apologies for it.
93 - Cindy D
Blimey mate, I fink I've got a speck in me eye.
94 - Silas Kain
Dang, Cindy! Is that a plank in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
95 - Jack D
#92 " January 6, 2009 @ 22:17PM " Silas Kain ]
"And I make no apologies for it."
Spoken like a true pontificating evangelist.
96 - Cindy D
The sweet sounds of Jesus' loving followers.
97 - Jack D
#96 " January 6, 2009 @ 22:44PM " Cindy D
"The sweet sounds of Jesus' loving followers"
What, another pontificator?
98 - Cindy D
Silas,
That is no plank. That is my 10-foot pole. I'd use it but Jack seems to be covered in small red circular marks already.
99 - Frosteetoes
baba booey, baba booey
100 - Silas Kain
I've never been called a pontificator before. Is that a sexual perversion? All of a sudden I keep replaying a Mother Goose type rhyme in me head:
Jack be nimble,
Jack be quick,
Cindy's gonna beat you,
Wit' her big stick.
And here you thought I was gonna go in the direction of Dice, huh?
And then I am labeled evangelist? I'm not THAT "good" of a person. And, besides, I've always maintained the position that the good old "Oh What a Friend We Have in Jesus" was written by a group of non-Christian merchants counting up their receipts on Christmas morning. Prepare Ye the way of the Obama nation...
101 - Cindy D
Pink Protesters Pother Pontificators
Prayer had just finished when men and women stood up in pockets across the congregation, on the main floor and in the balcony. "Jesus was gay," they shouted among other profanities and blasphemies as they rushed the stage. Some forced their way through rows of women and kids to try to hang a profane banner from the balcony while others began tossing fliers into the air. Two women made their way to the pulpit and began to kiss.