Date: Fri, 07 Sep 2001 11:32:29 -0400 From: Paul Kneisel <tallpaul-AT-nyct.net> Subject: The Internet Anti-Fascist: Tues, 28 Aug 2001 -- 5:68 1/2 (#591) __________________________________________________________________________ The Internet Anti-Fascist: Tuesday, 28 August 2001 Vol. 5, Number 68 1/2 (#591) __________________________________________________________________________ Fascism In the News AA News, "Legislator Apologizes After Forwarding Christian Identity Hate Mail," 23 Aug 01 Mickey Ciokajlo (Chicago Tribune), "Foes target white supremacist's visit: Schaumburg cops gear up for speech," 23 Aug 01 Book Review: Brenda Cossman and Ratna Kapur, "Secularism's Last Sigh? -- Hindutva and the [Mis] Rule of Law," Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2001 Real Political Correctness: AA News, "Good God! Faith-Based Scams Proliferate, Raise Questions About Federal, Local Funding Initiatives: 'I've seen more money stolen in the name of God than in any other way,' says securities official," 11 Aug 01 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- FASCISM IN THE NEWS: Legislator Apologizes After Forwarding Christian Identity Hate Mail AA News 23 Aug 01 A North Carolina State legislator apologized to fellow lawmakers and the public yesterday after distributing an e-mail post advocating white supremacy and Christian Identity religious views. Rep. Don Davis denied that he was or at ever been a racist. Earlier in the week, however, Davis had used the state e-mail system to forward a message from an individual associated with GOAL, or God's Order Affirmed in Love, which declared: "Two things made this country great: White men & Christianity ... Every problem that has arisen can be directly traced back to our departure from God's law and the disenfranchisement of White men." When asked why he had distributed the message to all House and Senate members late Monday night, Davis stated, "I think there is a lot of truth in that. The white men came from England and made this country great." Davis added, "I thought that this is interesting information. I don't know whether I agree altogether, but it makes you think ... there is a lot of factual information .... I don't see a thing in there that should offend anybody." The original e-mail was traced to a "Rick Savage," whose internet addressed listed the GOAL web site. The group states that it is for "Reconstructing a National identity for Christians," and adds: "We seek to rebuild the foundations and re-establish a new bold vision for the Christian ethic in the world today... We were called to take dominion and subdue the Earth for God's glory." Savage is listed as the author of a section titled "F.A.Q. On Christian Identity." Other links include racist web sites, and pages associated with the Christian Identity movement." The e-mail also said that America was founded on the Christian Bible and the Ten Commandments. The News & Observer newspaper added: "Another passage says that Catholicism and state churches enslaved Europe with what it calls their compromise and perversion of the Bible." By late yesterday, Davis was singing a different tune as both Democrats and Republicans in the legislature reacted with dismay, even outrage. Bill Peasless, an office with the North Carolina Republican party, called Davis' move "regrettable." "Needless to say, representative Davis does not speak for the North Carolina Republican Party. State Sen. William Martin, a black Democrat asked: "Whose brand of Christianity is this? It's not mine." Forsyth County Democrat Larry Womble was even more direct. "Those kind of statements border on the philosophy that the Ku Klux Klan used to espouse and maybe still espouses today. " Rep. Joanne Bowie, Greensboro Republican, said that Davis' apology was insufficient, and that her fellow lawmaker should repudiate the contents of the e-mail entirely. "As a member of the Catholic faith in this body," said Bowie, "it did offend Catholics. We are at a very difficult time. I think it's appalling that this type of information is circulated... Rep. Davis, I am offended and very hurt." Davis is described in the N&O press accounts as "a retired military officer and businessman aligned with the House's Christian conservatives" who is "not new to controversy." "He previously expressed concerns about funds earmarked for abstinence- until-marriage programs going to comprehensive sex education, and he defended tough questions about schools funding in 1998, saying he knew it was upsetting 'the socialists and the liberals.'" Christian Identity is an extreme racialist-Biblical theology linked to the Aryan Nations movement. Believers adhere to a bizarre "two seed" view of the Old Testament, where the ancestors of Anglo Saxons are the chosen people, and Jews the offspring of an illegitimate union between the devil and Eve. They also see themselves locked in a cosmic struggle against Jews and non-White "mud people," and say that America will be the site of an apocalyptic Armageddon or Racial Holy War (RAHOWA). The movement was founded in 1970 by Rev. Richard Butler, who established a whites-only redoubt in Idaho. - - - - - Foes target white supremacist's visit: Schaumburg cops gear up for speech Mickey Ciokajlo (Chicago Tribune) 23 Aug 01 Schaumburg police aren't the only ones preparing for white supremacist Matt Hale's appearance Saturday at the village library. As officers plot ways to prevent outbreaks of violence that have plagued Hale's appearances this year Downstate and in Connecticut, opponents are gearing up for possible confrontation. "We will have sufficient people there to do what needs to be done," said Tzvi Ben Aaron, chairman of the Chicago chapter of the Jewish Defense League. "I will do anything I can legally to prevent him from speaking. Peacefully if we can, forcefully if we must." Fearing damage to the three-year-old library, board members initially rejected a Hoffman Estates woman's request for Hale to speak there. Hale sued, and the Library Board relented this month after a federal judge refused to dismiss Hale's claim. Hale will be permitted to speak at 7:30 p.m., more than two hours after the library closes, in a second-floor room that can be accessed from outdoors by an emergency stairway. Schaumburg police are saying little about how they intend to keep the peace. "We are taking the adequate measures necessary to ensure the public safety," Lt. Dennis Carroll said. "Do we have preparations? Yes. But we're not getting into it." In March, three people were arrested in Peoria after a melee that included stink bombs and pepper spray broke out between Hale's supporters and counter-demonstrators in the public library's basement. Two weeks earlier, police in riot gear broke up a clash at a Hale appearance in Wallingford, Conn. Hale, the leader of East Peoria-based World Church of the Creator, gained notoriety two years ago when a self-proclaimed follower, Benjamin Smith, went on a shooting spree across the Midwest that left two people dead, including former Northwestern basketball coach Ricky Byrdsong, and injured nine others. Hale's last major Chicago-area appearance was in January 2000 on Northwestern University's Evanston campus, where several hundred protesters pelted him with snowballs. Kathleen Robertazzo, who invited Hale to speak at the Schaumburg Township District Library, said she fears becoming the target of violence. A group called Anti-Racist Action, whose members clashed with Hale in Peoria, mailed fliers to Robertazzo's neighborhood in the past week with her address and telephone number in an attempt to intimidate her, she said. "They have no right nor invitation to come out into my area and tell me what to do or say," Robertazzo said. "If I want to bring in Matt Hale to stir up things with our local politicians, it's none of their business." Anti-Racist Action representatives could not be reached for comment. Robertazzo has said she invited Hale because of concerns about the increasingly diverse population in the northwest suburbs. Recent census data show black, Hispanic and Asian populations are increasing in that area. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- BOOK/MOVIE REVIEWS: Brenda Cossman and Ratna Kapur, "Secularism's Last Sigh? -- Hindutva and the [Mis] Rule of Law," Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2001 Reviewed by: Yoginder Sikand (South Asia Citizens Wire) 20 Aug 01 As Hindutva worms its way into every sector of civil society, its logic threatens to take on the form of accepted and incontestable truth. Not content simply with capturing political power, Hindutva has now spread its tentacles to establish a firm presence in the bureaucracy, the media, education, the police and so on, through a variety of seemingly innocuous frontal organisations. Hindutva ideologues have even targetted the legal system, calling for replacing the present Constitution by what they see as one true to Hindu principles and teachings as they understand them. The growing challenge of Hindutva, and the extreme dangers that this poses for prospects of genuine secularism in India, is what this timely, well- researched and thought-provoking book is all about. Cossman and Kapur take as their point of departure the decision by the Supreme Court in a case in 1995 involving accusations against candidates of the Shiv Sena/ Bharatiya Janata Party in the Maharashtra state elections in 1987. They were accused of inciting hatred against Muslims, advocating a Hindu Rashtra, a state based on the ideology of Hindutva, and thereby violating the law for appealing for votes in the name of religion. The decision of the Supreme Court in the case came as a shock to secular opinion. The accusation of misusing religion in the name of Hindutva levelled against the Shiva Sena/ BJP candidates was dismissed. Predictably, the Hindutva combine welcomed the decision with glee and rejoicing. The authors regard the decision of the Supreme Court as tragic for the country, and as having only served to further embolden the advocates of a fascist Hindutva state. They argue that the Court's opinion that appeal to Hindutva did not constitute misuse of religion on the grounds that, allegedly, Hindutva represents 'the way of life of the people of the subcontinent" is wholly incorrect. The Court, they say, has failed in actually ascertaining what exactly Hindutva means to its protagonists and the relation it bears to what is known as Hinduism. Critically examining the writings of the ioneers of the Hindutva movement, including such figures as Savarkar, founder of the Hindu Mahasabha, and Golwalkar, chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, they show that Hindutva is based on a fascist agenda that is vehemently opposed to the rights and identity of non-Hindu groups, particularly Muslims and Christians. In other words, appeal to Hindutva in election campaigns does actually constitute a gross violation of all secular principles, which the Supreme Court is actually meant to uphold. That the Court, in its wisdom, decided otherwise the authors regard as ominous for the future of India as a plural, democratic and genuinely secular and democratic society. While the Supreme Court decision forms the crux of the book, the authors also reflect on an appropriate model of secularism for India today. They dismiss Hindutva claims of standing for what it calls 'positive secularism' as actually representing a thinly-veiled 'majoritarianism' They also critique a passive understanding of secularism as mere tolerance of diverse faiths, which again, they opine, reflects a 'majoritarian' ethos. They appeal for a radical substantive equality of different religious groups, which might require special safeguards for minorities to offset in-built disadvantages and discrimination. They also point to the need for inter-faith dialogue initiatives for promoting better understanding between followers of different faiths, and to offset the tendency of what they call the 'majority community' to impose its own vision of equality and tolerance on the rest. The point is well taken in principle, but in the Indian context, where the 'Hindu' identity, consisting of numerous, often mutually opposed castes, is itself a flimsy construction, the notion of a 'majority community' is misleading. Indeed, one can argue that by going along with the understanding of 'Hindus' as a monolithic 'majority community' the authors and other 'secularists' like them only play into the hands of their Hindutva foes. The radical Dalit critique of Hinduism and Hindutva as Brahminism is completely ignored, as is the Ambedkarite understanding of the 'Hindu' 'majority community' identity as an edifice constructed by the 'upper' caste minority to promote its own interests using the logic of majoritarian rule. That fundamental flaw aside, this book excels, a timely warning of the impending dangers of sanctified terror that threatens to plunge India into irretrievable chaos. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- REAL POLITICAL CORRECTNESS: It's from the rightwing authoritarians and always has been Good God! Faith-Based Scams Proliferate, Raise Questions About Federal, Local Funding Initiatives: 'I've seen more money stolen in the name of God than in any other way,' says securities official AA News 11 Aug 01 With President Bush and lawmakers proposing multi-billion dollar funding schemes to operate faith-based social services, others are warning of a proliferation in scams involving congregations and religious groups throughout the country. In a statement released earlier this week, the North American Securities Administrators Association said that religion-based investment fraud is becoming more common and more sophisticated. "Who could people trust more than someone who sits next to them in church every week?" asked Deborah Bortner, president of the Washington, D.C.- based organization. Bortner also serves as Securities Director for the state of Washington. "I've been a securities regulator for 20 years and I've seen more money stolen in the name of God than in any other way." For American Atheists President Ellen Johnson, the prospect of pouring billions of dollars into the coffers of religious groups not only jeopardizes the separation of church and state, but invites fraud and abuse. "Churches say they want taxpayer funding, but they don't want the type of regulatory oversight and accountability that is designed to protect the public," she said. "Bush is proposing the biggest transfer of wealth in the history of this country between churches and the U.S. Treasury, which is going to create more fraud and theft than ever before." Much of the scamming now going on inside houses of worship is described by regulators as "affinity fraud," since it involves using religion as a tool in gaining trust and money. It was first recognized as a problem in 1989, when the NASAA and the Council of Better Business Bureaus co-sponsored a report examining how over $450 million was lost by 15,000 investors during the previous five years. Since then, the number of scams has skyrocketed. Over the past three years alone, officials in 27 states have hauled individuals or companies operating under the veil of religion into court in actions involving more than 90,000 investors, some of whom lost their life savings. Among them: * Washington state investigators shut down the Island Mortgage Company/Northwestern Investment Company which sold over $14 million in fraudulent promissory notes. The combine also collected more than $26 million in premiums from the Society of Friends (Quakers) for nonexistent health insurance policies. According to the Seattle Times, the founder of the company and his son "led lavish lifestyles that included waterfront homes, car collections and condos in Hawaii." In 1997, the pair were sentenced to prison on multiple counts of fraud and tax evasion. * One of the biggest scams involved the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, which used a maze of over 120 front corporations to bilk 13,000 investors out of $590 million. BFA managed church building funds and retirement account savings, pouring the cash into an inflated real estate market and then using an elaborate web of shell companies and transactions to cover losses. The Foundation began aggressively raising money from new investors, using some of it to pay off previous obligations. Mark Sendrow, director of securities for the Arizona Corporations Commission said, "That the Foundation's senior management could solicit hundreds of millions of dollars from investors, knowing that what they were running was nothing but a huge Ponzi scheme, is unconscionable." In May, 2001, officials of the BFA including treasurer Donald Deardoff, pleaded guilty to charges of fraud. Five others are awaiting trial on 32 counts each of theft and racketeering. * Last week's warning from the securities group came within hours of the sentencing of Gerald Payne, a founder of the Greater Ministries International Church on charges of fraud and conspiracy. Payne's church raised $580 million between 1993 and 1998 with lavish promises of huge returns for backers through "divinely inspired" investments in the volatile currency arbitrage and precious metals markets. Investors were also lured by ownership interest in foreign shipping lines, and were told by Greater Ministries that the program was "anointed." Payne frequently cited Bible verses like Luke 6:38 -- "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom." Joseph Borg of the Alabama Securities Commission charged, "Gerald Payne and his associates made faith in God synonymous with faith in their investment program. Sadly, while Payne was telling people to put every penny they could get their hands on -- equity, assets and loans -- into his scam, he also told them they lacked faith if they tried to get even the most basic information on their investment." Evidence uncovered during the probe into Greater Ministries include video showed Gerald Payne at a pulpit informing backers that his group had become the "mineral bank" of a certain un-named foreign country with abundant natural resources. "Glory to God!" Payne declares on the tape. For their role in defrauding followers, the 65-year-old minister was sentenced this week to 27 years in prison. Wife Betty Payne received a 13 year prison term for her part in the scheme. According to the Seattle Times, "Investigators have yet to find the missing millions, which they believe might be stashed in secret, offshore accounts." * Another example of faith-based fraud was the IRM Corporation, which bilked investors in five states of approximately $400 million. The company offered bogus promissory notes and participation in limited partnership schemes in the California real estate market. Regulators in Michigan shut down the company's activities there in May, 1999 but not before over 2,400 investors had been recruited, many through church-based organizations or by ads airing on religious radio and television programs, including the "Back to God Hour." Like the Baptist Foundation of Arizona, IRM used a network of over 100 fronts to operate what investigators say was a classic Ponzi scheme, siphoning off money and paying previous investors with cash from new partners. * Capital Plus Worldwide Financial Services recruited over 100 investors through a network of African American houses of worship before regulators in Tennessee ended the scheme. The firm promised clients that their money would be used in an extensive reconstruction effort throughout the African continent, and still return up to 120% annually from joint ventures and fraudulent "bank debentures" from European financial institutions. Worshippers lost $3.9 million, while company founder Ricardo Gant used $2.3 million in Capital Plus Worldwide revenue to go on vacation, accumulate a collection of antiques, expensive clothing, horse farms and take casino junkets. * In July, acting as the Washington state securities regulator, Ms. Bortner's department issued a cease-and-desist order against Tri-Ject International and its chairman, Peter Lemin. Lemin had joined an Episcopal congregation, where he enticed parishioners to invest in the "ENSI Safety Syringe," a disposal syringe with a retractable needle that would supposedly reduce the risk of accident needle sticks. According to the Puyallup (Washington) Herald newspaper, 250 investors poured in over $500,000 in return for stock which Lemin said that been issued in accordance with federal Securities and Exchange Commission regulations. In fact, the company had not registered with either the Washington State Securities Division or the SEC. The matter is still under investigation. From Armageddon To The Prosperity Gospel According the North American Securities Administrators Association, con artists tailor their schemes to specifically exploit religious groups. * One method involves warning congregations that doomsday, Armageddon and other disasters are immanent, and that investments will act as a hedge against times of crisis. Gold, silver, platinum and other "precious metals" are often touted as "security" against volatile real estate and stock markets. Others might offer parcels of land for speculative purposes or use "in times of crisis." * Operators can claim that a portion of the profits will benefit a worthwhile cause, and even help religious institutions while still delivering handsome profits to investors. One example was the New Era Philanthropy which in May, 1995 collapsed after conducting a huge Ponzi -style scheme which enticed more than 1,200 non-profit groups --many of them religious or religion-affiliated -- to invest. (In a Ponzi or pyramid scheme, payments from late investors are used to pay large returns to earlier investors.) In September, 1996, the U.S. government filed an 82-count indictment against New Era's President, John Bennet Jr., who was convicted of diverting millions of dollars for his personal use over a six-year period. Scores of religious organizations and leaders including the Lancaster Bible College, Southfield Christian School, United Kingdom Charities Board, Young River Ministries, Maranatha Bible & Missionary Conference, and even Sir John Templeton of the Templeton Prize were enticed with promises of huge profits from their investment. New Era declared that for every dollar put into the fund, $2 would be earned in less than a year. Bennet was convicted, though many investors never saw their principle again. Why are faith-based scams becoming so popular? Is there an inherent problem if religious groups suddenly enjoy an infusion of billions of dollars from the public treasury in order to operate social programs? It all raises questions of accountability and oversight. "Cloaking an investment with religion can give it a false aura of safety," says Brad Skolnik, Indiana Securities Commissioner. "It's one thing to tithe or give an offering so that your money is used for good works, it's another thing if you're led to believe you'll get a monetary return...." Just as money can disappear in a Ponzi scheme cloaked under the mantle of religious respectability, though, some worry that faith-based social programs -- often unregulated and unmonitored -- are an invitation for fraud and abuse. There are already disturbing hints that this could be taking place: * Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's "Front Porch" program is already experiencing trouble. The outreach involved heavy emphasis on recruiting houses of worship to operate faith-based community initiatives. In one case, though, money from a Department of Justice grant for a "revitalization" program ended up in the hands of a man with a 12-year history of drug and weapons convictions. In another case, a Health Department program review uncovered thousands of dollars being used for "indirect" and "other" expenses. And the Tampa Tribune newspaper raised questions about a "faith-based Trojan horse" bill in the legislature which would increase the number of religious groups receiving funding. * In Philadelphia, the man hired by Mayor John Street to coordinate the city's aggressive faith-based partnership program has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of theft, but still continued to draw his $96,000 -a-year salary even after being quietly dismissed 10 months earlier. Philadelphia has been a bellwether city in using public money to subsidize houses or worship conducting community service programs. The former manager, Rev. Randall E. McCaskill, had been tapped for the job "to promote volunteer and religious efforts to foster youth mentoring, clean up blighted neighborhoods, and welcome returning prisoners to their community." He was a founder of the influential Black Clergy of Philadelphia and Vicinity in 1981, a religious group which supports political candidates, including Mayor Street and former Mayor Ed Rendell. The intersection between faith-based scams and the potential gold mine of government funding of religious social programs has yet to emerge as an issue in the media, or on Capitol Hill. "It's difficult enough holding religious organizations accountable now," warned Ms. Johnson. "Faith-based groups are already receiving direct and indirect government assistance, and it is next to impossible to keep track of it all." She pointed to the situation in Texas, where the director of a faith-based program, the Community Enrichment Center, boasted that his organization would not hire Atheists despite receiving much of its annual budget from taxpayers. A state official was quoted in the Star-Telegram newspaper, noting: "No one tracks all the religious groups that receive federal funds or how much money is distributed through North Texas because the process is too decentralized and the sources of financing too varied." "No one's keeping track," said Ellen Johnson. "We're just handing out the money, and it's there for the taking." * * * * * In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. __________________________________________________________________________ FASCISM: We have no ethical right to forgive, no historical right to forget. (No permission required for noncommercial reproduction) - - - - - back issues archived via: <ftp://ftp.nyct.net/pub/users/tallpaul/publish/tinaf/>
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