Can confirm. I lived in C. Springs in 98-99, and sporadically for years after that, when fate brought me through.

Focus on the Family had its claws DEEP in that town, at every level, and especially in the military families stationed there.

For years, including my own military service, FOTF was my yardstick for crazy, over-the-top evangelical conservatives.

Until I met a particularly memorable Air Force chaplain, who opined that he felt Rev. Dobson didn't go nearly far enough.
And I grew up in Indiana, a hotbed of Christianity-motivated murders and mutilations.

Like, parents cutting off their own kids' hands to keep them from masturbating. That kind of crazy.

But back home it was individuals going off the rails. Not massive, organized megachurches.
The Air Force Academy is a place where people enter as children, are immediately thrust into a deeply traumatic environment, their personalities assaulted and broken down from all sides, then built back up to be leaders.
Anyone going through that experiemce--ANYONE--will reach out for any emotional lifeline they can find.

And a lifeline of unconditional love and salvation sounds mighty good when the rest of your life is people screaming at you for being a worthless failure.
The community gets into people, becomes a habit. A foundation. A rock to stand on when their whole world is blood and chaos. It gives them the strength to do what they could never do alone.

But when the foundation of your personality is poisoned, you have no defense against it.
I was an Army chaplain assistant. In summer/fall of 2000 I was the ONLY U.S. chaplain assistant stationed in the Middle East.

I was flown around, loaned out to every branch, every religion, even allies from other countries. I heard confessions that still keep me awake at night.
And the common thread running through it all was a simple need for acceptance.

People. Flawed, scarred, terrified people, needed to know that somebody loved them, despite everything they'd done.

And if you're the one selling acceptance, you will have no shortage of customers.
Community is a powerful force. Maybe the most powerful in human experience.

If you can sell someone an identity, you can make them do anything.

ANYTHING.

And none of us are immune.

More from History

This is THEFT!

Indians had Algebra BEFORE Mμslim prophet & religion was even born.

Here is Bakhshali Manuscript dating back to 3rd century CE. It is an Algebraic treatise. Have you anything like this from the Arabian desert? No, you simply plagiarized Algebra from Indians! https://t.co/cWXRNYMgDt


The Bakhshali manuscript, which has been carbon dated to 3rd century CE, is an ancient Hindu treatise on Arithmetic and Algebra.

The Algebraic problems deal with simultaneous equations, quadratic equations, arithmetic
geometric progressions & quadratic indeterminate equations.


Bakhshali isn't earliest Indian Algebraic treatise. Early Algebra is found in Shulba Sutras dating back to at least 800 BC. Traditional Algebra reached its pinnacle in the works of Aryabhata & Bhaskara.

What makes Bakhshali special is it offers mathematical proof to its theories


It is surprising to see that even after the ancient Indian algebraic treatise has been carbon dated to 3rd century CE by Oxford, they persist with "oh we invented Algebra. It is Halal".

A brief examination of the origins of "Halal Algebra" follows

https://t.co/eFIZ98FDrI


The earliest work of "Arabic Algebra" is the "Al-Kitāb Al-Jabr wal-muqābala" by Al Khwarizmi. The term "Algebra" comes from this book ("Al Jabr").

Before writing his treatise, Al Khwarizmi visited India. His book is a plagiarism from Indian Mathematics and an obvious one at that

You May Also Like

First thread of the year because I have time during MCO. As requested, a thread on the gods and spirits of Malay folk religion. Some are indigenous, some are of Indian origin, some have Islamic


Before I begin, it might be worth explaining the Malay conception of the spirit world. At its deepest level, Malay religious belief is animist. All living beings and even certain objects are said to have a soul. Natural phenomena are either controlled by or personified as spirits

Although these beings had to be respected, not all of them were powerful enough to be considered gods. Offerings would be made to the spirits that had greater influence on human life. Spells and incantations would invoke their


Two known examples of such elemental spirits that had god-like status are Raja Angin (king of the wind) and Mambang Tali Arus (spirit of river currents). There were undoubtedly many more which have been lost to time

Contact with ancient India brought the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism to SEA. What we now call Hinduism similarly developed in India out of native animism and the more formal Vedic tradition. This can be seen in the multitude of sacred animals and location-specific Hindu gods
I think a plausible explanation is that whatever Corbyn says or does, his critics will denounce - no matter how much hypocrisy it necessitates.


Corbyn opposes the exploitation of foreign sweatshop-workers - Labour MPs complain he's like Nigel

He speaks up in defence of migrants - Labour MPs whinge that he's not listening to the public's very real concerns about immigration:

He's wrong to prioritise Labour Party members over the public:

He's wrong to prioritise the public over Labour Party