Until the recent news stories broke covering the arrest of the nine members of the Hutaree Militia charged with "seditious conspiracy" (which has a maximum of life in prison, if convicted), I'd totally forgotten about this ultra-conservative, fundamentalist and militant form of Christianity. It seems that I've so surrounded myself in a progressive Christian bubble that, with the exception of the few news stories covered in the media wires I follow, I've been rather blind to these Christian-centric, extra-fervent militia groups.For those who haven't been able to follow the media coverage, The Christian Soldiers of the Apocalypse (another name for the Hutaree) is an organization that believes that the end of history spoken of in Revelation and elsewhere in the Bible is imminently approaching, along with the appearance of the Anti-Christ who will be the inlet for Satan and the downfall of humanity. Thus, they, as well as all Christians, are obliged to know this and prepare by forming armies for Christ. This is part and parcel of a fear of all government and especially of what has been termed the New World Order, where all nations and peoples are united (and controlled) by a central command (which will eventually be the seat of the aforementioned Anti-Christ). Apparently, their rhetoric and preparation has caught the attention of the U.S. government, which is prepared to crack down this seditious conspiracy to overthrow the current government and establish a purely Christian system of governance, one which harkens back what they call the Colonial Christian Republic before the establishment of the U.S.A. (Source: www.hutaree.com)
This dangerously intolerant and divisive movement is not only an affront and radical distortion and misunderstanding of the teachings of Jesus Christ and the doctrines and values of the Church since the 1st century, but it's also a manifestation of the changing times we're living in. There have always been radicals (sometimes violent and hateful) on both sides of the spectrum, but it seems to have intensified lately due to the turbulent socio-political and economic situation. To me, this militant Christian movement is in the same categorical camp as militant fundamentalists in Islam or Hinduism or any other religion. Fundamentalism, as a reaction against the cultural changes and progression toward greater tolerance, diversity, pluralism, and equality, is grounded psychologically in fear and theologically in a misappropriation and misinterpretation of the inclusive and forbearing messages of the founders/leaders of the various religious traditions.
It's sad to see these violent and hateful movements develop and influence people toward intolerance of differing others, but the most we can do is to become more informed about the groups and issues, promote dialogue with religious and cultural others, and stand up to injustices, inequalities, and hatred wherever we experience them.
For an informative and thought-provoking essay on the Hutaree, apocalypticism, and fundamentalism see Chip Berlet's article at Religion Dispatches.
Above image from Religion Dispatches website.
I love that they asked for “Public Defenders”, now they know about the undercover FBI agent. The simpleton Tea baggers keep missing the point. These are the same whiners that were crying when the McCain/Bailin ticket lost. Now they are crying again because their yelling (because they are haters not debaters) did not stop health care from passing. They think they can scare, intimidate and force others to go along with them by comments like “This time we came unarmed”, let me tell you something they are not the only ones that are armed and not all ex-military join the fringe militia crazies who don’t pay taxes and run around with face paint in the parks playing commando, the majority are mature and understand that the world is more complicated and grey then the black and white that these simpleton make it out to be and that my friend is the point. Do not cry when regular people openly laugh at your group when they see on TV that your leaders are Sarah Bailin, Orly Taitz, Victoria Jackson, Michele Bachmann and that turn coat Glenn Beck from the LDS. They do more to discredit you on TV (powerful) than any of my comments do in the blog sphere.
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