"Know Your Enemy" Project: Christian demon beliefs and the religious right wing

Learn about the connections between Christian demon beliefs and the theocratic mindset. Learn about the mega-exorcism happening now in Newark, New Jersey -- endorsed by police and the mayor! -- with potential to turn into major police harassment of non-Christians (http://www.meetup.com/nyarbb/messages/boards/thread/8436947). Learn about the growing danger of religious fanatics using the power of the police to harass their perceived enemies.

Learn about these and other egregious breaches of church/state separation, brought about by a new and rapidly-growing neo-Pentecostal Christian religious movement which explicitly aims for outright theocracy, and whose leaders pride themselves on driving “witches” out of town. That religious movement is the “Third Wave of the Holy Spirit,” now coalescing into the New Apostolic Reformation, of which Sarah Palin is an adherent.

Diane, the founder of this group, will discuss the demon beliefs and Devil beliefs of those branches of Christianity that are most heavily involved in the religious right wing -- including the extremely aggressive "spiritual warfare" doctrines of the New Apostolic Reformation. The NAR's doctrines and practices are still unfamiliar to most Christians, but are popular within the fastest-growing branch of Christianity, the independent neo-charismatic churches -- with dangerous consequences for GLBT people and for all non-Christians. (See our message board threads about Witchhunts in Africa and Asia (http://www.meetup.com/nyarbb/messages/boards/thread/7563607) and Witchhunts here in the U.S.A. today (literal witchhunts, I mean) (http://www.meetup.com/nyarbb/messages/boards/thread/7974495).) We'll also discuss the more traditional demon and Devil beliefs of the Catholic Church, Mormons, and various kinds of evangelicals.

This topic is a natural lead-in to next month's meeting about witchhunts in Africa and Asia, given the ties between some African witchhunters and some American religious right wingers. Today's new forms of exorcism ("strategic level spiritual warfare" and "occult level spiritual warfare") naturally tend to encourage witchhunts as well as extreme homophobia and bigotry against all non-Christians.

More details will be posted here later.

Location and how to find us: We'll be meeting at a diner on 23rd Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, closer to 7th. (The exact address, and other details, will be visible to you once you join this Meetup group.) The nearest subway stop is 23rd Street on the 1, 2, and 3 lines (7th Avenue). Other nearby subway stops are 23rd Street on the F line (6th Avenue), and 23 Street on the E and C lines (8th Avenue). For those coming from outside the city, the diner is also near the PATH train station at 23rd Street and 6th Avenue, and it is approximately a 10-minute walk from Penn Station.

Ask a waiter for "New Yorkers Against Religion-Based Bigotry."

We'll be at a table (or possibly a booth) near the BACK of the diner. There will be some NYARBB literature on the table.