In Reply to: Re: Aimed at Children, Nationally Distributed Christian Comic Book Called a "Training Manual" For "The Next Pogrom Against Jews" posted by Passin on June 02, 2008 at 23:05:59:
Your response gives me an opportunity to respond to the accusation (not from this site) that I'm anti-American. Certain articles I've posted links to here, as well as on my personal website might lead some to think that I carry with me still the anti-Americanism preached in TF cult. That is not true.
I bring this up here because your response includes what I assume is a reference to the so-called prophecy made by Berg's mother and distributed by TF in the early years called the "warning tract". If my assumption is wrong, and you are merely making a play on words with "killing" and "red, red", forgive me. However, it kind of surprised me to read that, as I immediately thought of that prophecy and wondered why you would quote cult dogma. And I couldn't help wonder if you still retain some of TF's anti-Americanism, America the Whore/Babylon the Great nonsense, which is completely hypocritical on their part since they are more than willing to "bleed the beast" by taking advantage of its tax exemptions and other benefits and protections deriving from the American state.
So why do I keep a page on my site dedicated to links to articles that detail the decline of American democracy? Because I care, is one simple answer. Another is that as a Canadian, the U.S. is the “elephant in the room” that we both love and fear so we pay close attention to what goes on there. But I need to back-track a bit to give a more complete answer.
When I left the cult my exit strategy was to reject all things I had learned in TF and get a true education, as I had dropped out of grade 11 to join the cult. While its not possible to ever wipe the slate completely clean, I think I did a fairly good job. My sense of history, for example, is now vastly superior to any of the garbage Berg taught. With regard to the U.S., I am now able to see value in the American promise of equal freedoms, equal opportunities and equal protections, for example. So when I see those equalities broken or denied it saddens and frightens me. Yes, frightened. So much so that I will no longer cross the U.S. border until the madness that is currently reigning there subsides. But saddened even more by what the U.S. has become and where it might be headed, possibly dragging Canada or the world with it.
So when I read how the U.S. is becoming less a democratic and more a corporate state, how it imprisons more of its population than any other country, how it spies on and lies to its own citizens, how it tortures and otherwise violates both domestic and international law, how it wages illegal wars, etc, etc, I do not rejoice that “god” is punishing America or that these are signs of the end. Instead, I want to say to my American friends, “wake up – do something now to save your country before its too late.” One way I can do that is to make available on my website some of the evidence that their democracy is in a dangerous decline. That page is one of the most visited ones on my website, and most visitors are American, so its not a completely wasted effort.
I do not hate America, as I was taught to in TF cult. I do not wish to see the demise of American democracy or the American state. What I do wish is that the American people will somehow eventually fulfill the promise of freedom and equality for all. I don't know if Barack Obama will be the vehicle for fulfilling that promise, but for a brief moment last night I had a very visceral reaction listening to his speech claiming victory in the nomination process. It was a mixed reaction of hope and fear: hope for a better America, which would help make a better world, and fear for his life as he exited the crowd surrounded by security agents, ever mindful of Robert Kennedy. I mean I actually felt anxious for him at that moment.
As an aside, since this thread started with mention of Manga propaganda comics, here's another interesting story of a propaganda Manga
US hopes comics soothe Japan worries on warship