Hail
Columbia

DC 40 has released the second and third parts of the prayer guide meant to coordinate the prayers of the national effort. It includes suggested prayers against pluralism and tolerance, with specific days about Freemasonry, Islam, “Baal worship,” public schools, and the environmental movement. Several themes from the first part show up here again as well, with the overall result being promotion of a culture and society that are permeated by extremely conservative Christian attitudes and requirements.

Day 13 is set aside for prayer against “Thinking that All Belief Systems are Equal,” which manifests itself in “the growth of syncretism and pluralism in our society.” Worshippers are warned against studying “false religions,” even for non-doctrinal kinds of wisdom.

On day 15, followers are directed to pray against “political correctness,” and the document is full of exhortations to believers to speak and act without being limited by concerns about “offending” others – often put in scare quotes like that. Such offense or pain is considered nothing compared to the “love” that is shown to others by preaching this message.

Readers are urged to take this attitude into every part of their lives and to shun venues that promote tolerance, especially public schools. Days 19 and 41 have specific directives for parents not to allow their children to be taught otherwise by public schools, which are described as “Anti-God and Anti-Constitution.” There is both some encouragement to reform schools and a subtle but distinct emphasis on home schooling, which has become more and more important among the Christian Patriarchy movement.

Three specific external forces are identified as problems: Freemasonry, Islam, and “Baal worship.” NAR leaders teach that Freemasonry is literally a form of swearing allegiance to the devil which creates “generational curses” that cause “barrenness” and birth defects. Day 26 is devoted to praying that Masons be excluded from the church and from society, and ultimately that lodges close and Freemasonry disappears, along with all other “secret societies.”

Day 32 is entitled “Culture has a Religious Basis (No Neutrality),” with the proposed solution of “realizing that every law that has ever been written has a religious foundation.” There is the by-now familiar claim that shari’a law is encroaching on the US, along with supposedly secular laws based in “Secular Humanism.” Believers are warned against “thinking that the Bible’s principles don’t apply to the unsaved,” and against “accepting the language of consensus (with the senses).” The only possible conclusion I can draw is that believers are supposed to push for all laws to be grounded in Christianity.

This attitude is much more concerning to me than all the rhetoric about “Baal-worship” and “the occult.” This prayer guide is full of outright enmity to tolerance, to pluralism, and to consensus. Combined with the frightening assertions that rights come from God, not the government, and that the US is “a Republic and not a Democracy,” (mentioned on day 20) whatever that might mean, it will lead those who follow it to refuse to participate in the kind of government that protects the rights of minorities and non-Christians and will support the kind of absolutism in both politics and religion that characterized Europe during the Thirty Years’ War, when different Christian groups decimated each other, each in the name of righteousness.

This kind of rhetoric is absolutely inimical to participation in a democracy, to accepting that sometimes political outcomes don’t match exactly what you want, and that you have to accept that in order to continue working within a government of, by, and for the people. Make no mistake: this prayer guide is a political document with specific targets in mind. People working towards those ends will strive to radically change the character not just of the US but of its fundamental institutions and processes.

The obsession with legalisms continues with day 48 being about “paying tribute to Islam,” which is at least in part a reference to the Treaty of Tripoli. The authors argue that any kind of submission, such as negotiated payments included in the treaty, gives Islam a hold over the United States. The usual scaremongering about shari’a law ensues. The proposed solution includes a statement that:

When there is an understanding that, since Christianity is voluntary, the legal structure which fosters an open relationship with Christ is one that allows everyone to have as much free choice as possible. (!is is why the United States doesn’t have civil laws forcing people to attend church.)

No explanation is given about whether other forms of worship would be prohibited. But it’s clear that the authors of this guide do not only want to reform the nation, they want to reform their own churches. In addition to many statements and concerns about purifying the church, the guide warns against “cultural acceptance of the occult that is so pervasive that it is even in the churches” as part of “Rampant Lawlessness and Rebellion” on day 18. A few more general statements about “the occult” are included, but none very illuminating.

Finally, as part of eliminating “Baal Worship in our Churches,” on day 24, the guide instructs people to repent for:

Mixing the holy celebration of Jesus’ resurrection with the pagan Easter holiday named after the Babylonian Baal named Ishtar; for mixing the holiness of the resurrection with the Easter bunny and Easter eggs, which glorify Ishtar’s attribute as the goddess of fertility and malign both Jesus’ godhead and the work of the cross.

They would probably be a little confused by the Venerable Bede’s description of Easter as derived from the name of the Germanic goddess Ostara. Regardless, they want to remove not only “the occult” but also what they see as its incorporations within Christianity, which should give mainstream Christians pause before they willingly collaborate with the NAR.

The environmental movement is also derided as a false religion, with cap and trade as its proposed “tithe.” Believers are exhorted to listen to scientists who deny climate change, whether or not they are validated by the vast majority of their scientific colleagues. This kind of rigid epistemological closure is another significant barrier to having followers participate as informed citizens in a functioning democracy.

This document concerns me as both a Witch and an American. Yes, there is a distinct animosity against my religious practices throughout this prayer guide, and people will be praying that I no longer have the freedoms that I hold dear. But more importantly, this guide is a way of teaching networks of people nationwide that they should not participate and cooperate – even grudgingly – in a democracy that allows and enforces such freedoms. That should concern us all – Pagan, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, atheist, Jew, and all. Awareness of and resistance to the NAR’s goal of dominion is crucial for us to continue to live in peace together. The Hail Columbia project will continue to lead the way with ideas and suggestions for how people can participate in ensuring that future.

Hail Columbia!