caveslayer asked this question on 3/31/2000:
Greetings all...this was sent to me from a friend and fellow expert Pharoahmoan. I thought it was important to pass this along to as many as possible. It is not a questions, but please feel free to send me your feedback...Bright Blessings to you all....
RALPH REED AND THE SIX MIND-TOOLS by Rev. Ed Hubbard
Ralph Reed is the most dedicated Christian Strategist in the country, working closely with the Religious Right and the current elections. He writes and formulates policies on elections and issues for Christian Organizations and Government Officials. And his decisions come with millions of dollars of Christian Coalition Special Interest Dollars.
Who is Ralph Reed? Ralph Reed is the protege of Pat Robertson. Brought on as a director of the Christian Coalition, being a position nominally abandoned by Pat Robertson during his presidential campaign, Ralph Reed has become the chief advocate of the Religious Christian Community. Currently, he is a campaign consultant to George W. Bush, and openly speaks out about the need to be a religious advocate. Ralph has moved out of pure religious organizations to become director of Century Strategies http://www.censstrat.com, which allows him to work fully in the political field without constraints.
Why am I mentioning Ralph Reed? Because he allegedly commissioned a report recently, on laws pertaining to Witchcraft throughout the United States for the purpose of incremental enforcement of laws on the federal basis. Further, according to sources seeks to denounce Witchcraft as a legal religion through the courts if necessary. He is a long term strategist, and he is only 38 years old. And he sees the Pagan Community as a potential voting issue and media attention attractor. He is just waiting for the right moment and then he will use us to further his cause. Never forget, George Bush Jr. has made promises to eliminate Wicca from the Military, as President. Mr. Reed would assure Bush carries out that promise. I mention him [so you will] know those who would take from you your rights in the name of God.
How will he do it? Here are the six mind-tools used by social propagandists, political consultants, and governmental officials to incite the public.
These are the tools of the Media War.
Mind-tool One is Atrocity Allegations. In it's most common form, it is the accusal of ritual murder, infanticide, rape, sexual depravity, mass murder and so on. This can go deeper, with unfounded and untrue statements as well as true statements of small numbers of people, left to fester. Remember, an Atrocity accusation can even be as simple as they wear black because they are afraid of the light, as long as it isolates the community member.
Mind-tool Two is Hyperbolic Inflation of the Stakes. This recently took form in Bosnia when NATO stated if we do not stop Serbia we will have another Hitler, and fight a larger war. For us, If children are allowed to wear Pentagrams soon all our children will be. Further, If children are allowed to practice Wicca then they will become involved with *put you own derogatory here*.
These first two mind-tools create a powerful argument, no matter how true or false. Simply put, atrocity and Hyperbolic inflation assures that even if you are not sure it is true, you don't dare defend them in case it is true, and you certainly don't become involved.
The Third mind-tool is Demonetization and Dehumanization. In every conflict, the enemy must not have a human face. Broad brushes are used to slander and deprive human feelings for the attacked, otherwise one would have to consider them as individuals. For Wiccans it was Satan Worship, but lately we are all said to be nudists and we do not believe in God or State.
The fourth is Polarization, "Those not for us are against Us." Simple and is the basis for all manner of fights. The Fifth is the Claim of Divine Sanction, which frames all arguments, out of the human context and instead places it on God, Allah, or some other authority in charge of the action. Further the power to forgive for any excess of zeal is gained. This assures no matter how much one would feel the action is wrong, the person committing it is secure because God told them to do it.
The Sixth mind-tool is Meta-propaganda, and the most powerful. This discredits the other sides propaganda not by challenging the veracity of a single story, but by repeating holes and mistakes on the whole argument and discredit everything coming from the enemy. The aim is to produce wholesale disbelief and close doors to redress.
Being aware of the tools being used by Ralph Reed and other consultants, "Spiritual Warriors", and "Prayer Soldiers", we will be able to understand how they reached their world-view and prepare our statements accordingly. After all, Ralph Reed has already begun.
Laddool gave this response on 3/31/2000:
This is another witch hunt. Witchcraft is a legal religion protected under the First and Fourteenth amendments.We are non-oroselytizing;we don't seek to convert anyone.We feel that all religions are equally valid,and that you should be free to choose the one with which you are most comfortable with!!!!
The average rating for this answer is 4.
caveslayer rated this answer a 4.
I agree, I am just warning everyone of their newest "crusade," it makes me sick that they won't just leave us be. Thanks for your feedback! Bright Blessings...