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August 29, 2005

Waxing fondly for the Bhagwan

As a girl growing up in the 70s and 80s in a small, Eastern Oregon ranching/timber town, I was aware of the Bhagwan Shree Rashneesh.

In 1981, The Bhagwan and his followers (we called them Rashneeshees) purchased a ranch in the community of Antelope, Oregon.

Sometimes the Rashneeshees would come into our town for supplies. They always wore red or orange. And they almost always had a beaded necklace with a photo of the Bhagwan hanging down from it as a prominent charm. My neighbors clucked about their free love and commune lifestyle. In our small, conservative town it was the biggest news ever.

After a few years, the Rashneesh and his followers took over the City Council in Antelope. Later they brought in homeless people from around the US, registering them to vote in the county. Eventually it was discovered that the Rashneeshees had attempted to poison people in The Dalles, Oregon. The Bhagwan fled but was captured and arrested along with some of his followers.

Most dispersed after that. A few eventually followed the Bhagwan back to his native India.

In a move reminiscent of the Rashneeshees comes the Christian Exodus:

At a time when evangelicals are exerting influence on the national political stage — having helped secure President Bush's reelection — Christian Exodus believes that people of faith have failed to assert their moral agenda: Abortion is legal. School prayer is banned. There are limits on public displays of the Ten Commandments. Gays and lesbians can marry in Massachusetts.

Christian Exodus activists plan to take control of sheriff's offices, city councils and school boards. Eventually, they say, they will control South Carolina. They will pass godly legislation, defying Supreme Court rulings on the separation of church and state.

"We're going to force a constitutional crisis," said Cory Burnell, 29, an investment advisor who founded the group in November 2003.

"If necessary," he said, "we will secede from the union."

I personally enjoy a good secession discussion. While legal experts in South Carolina are skeptical that the Exodus folks will gain a lot of steam, I'm hoping they'll succeed.

I hope they create their own theocratic nation right smack in the middle of the American south. Let them build and maintain their own infrastructure. Let them build and maintain their own defense. They can collect taxes to build a big 10 Commandments homage in their town square. They can make abortion illegal...even drowning the witches who have them like the Salem of old. Let them "reform" their gay and lesbian children...teaching them to live a life of misery.

Christian Exodus Utopia.

Nothing teaches better than doing. Just ask the former Rashneeshees.

Posted by Carla at August 29, 2005 10:03 AM