Feature Index

Also see the Boardroom/Soapbox Archive

Feature Articles

Articles published here

• Deconstructing John Ashcroft (January 16, 2001)
  A speech by Ashcroft in which he praises an instance of religious intolerance suggests that, as Attorney General, he would pursue a supremacist ideology, threatening the civil rights of many Americans.

• Norma McCorvey's Strange Bedfellows (November 13, 1999)
  The “Jane Roe” of Roe v. Wade is now a fixture on the “pro-life” talk circuit. She’s also been quite friendly with the racist editor of a newspaper closely associated with the Christian Identity movement, whose ideas and associations are abhorrent to most people.

• Four Themes of Biblical America - The Bastard Nation Video (January 20, 1999)
  We've found that the best way to describe Biblical America begins by showing some of the video we've collected. Here for the first time, we've selected video clips that we've gathered over the past year to illustrate four obvious themes of this social movement. The most basic theme, from which this web page gets its name, is the assumption that America must be based on their particular literal interpretation of the Bible. We also show how they use military imagery and terms to promote their agenda, demonize their opponents and all those whose lifestyles don't conform to their demands, and how they manipulate human reproduction to advance and grow their movement. Produced as part of a presentation at the Bastard Nation annual conference in San Francisco, July 1998.

• Choice: An Obsolete Strategy (January 20, 1999)
  On the eve of the twenty-sixth anniversary of the Roe versus Wade decision, it's time to come to terms with where we are. 'Choice' as a euphemism for abortion is dead. It's part of a flawed and obsolete strategy; we should instead ask for what we really want: unrestricted access to abortion.

• From the Clinics to the Special Prosecutor: The Legitimization of the Inquisition (January 20, 1999)
  The tactics that have been used by Special Prosecutor Ken Starr, which have resulted in the impeachment of President Clinton, seem very familiar to some of us who work around issues of reproductive freedom. Why? Those same tactics are the very same ones that have been honed for years through attacks on reproductive health clinics and abortion providers.

• Countering the Promise Keepers: Practical Methods (part 2)  (January 20, 1999)
  While many people are uneasy with the Promise Keepers movement, attempts to counter the PK influence are frustrated by a persistent scarcity of credible criticism and effective practical methods. We continue our exploration of the ideology of the Promise Keeper movement and propose several methods of explaining and exposing the more disturbing aspects of the PK agenda, with a particular emphasis on showing how much of that agenda is abhorrent to most Americans.

• Next Step on the Road to Dominion: Why is Operation Rescue Targeting Disney? (May 27, 1998)
  This is the most persistent question we hear when talking about the most recent actions by Operation Rescue. We dig through the theology and history of the leadership of ORN and much of Biblical America in our effort to develop an explanation for this anticipated and unprecedented event.

• Promise Keepers and the Process of Extremism (May 2, 1998)
  We were surprised and honored to be invited to appear on a panel discussion entitled "Tracking and Combatting the Right: Focus on the Promise Keepers," at a conference hosted by Hampshire College in early April. We presented a broad overview of the Promise Keepers, the broader movement that they're a part of, and where we think it's going.

• The extremist in Rutherford's closet (February 9, 1998)
  The founder and head of the Rutherford Institute, while financing Paula Jones' attack on the President, insists that he's "not out to get Bill Clinton." The same can't be said for his close friend, associate, and onetime Rutherford board member Frank Schaeffer, who has called Clinton and the Democratic Party the "spearhead of the new neo-Nazi eugenic movement." Schaeffer made these comments at an event organized by a group whose leader advocates the formation of militias and violence against abortion providers.

• What to expect on January 22 (January 18, 1998)
  25 years of demonization of the Supreme Court, frustration with the pace of anti-abortion progress, and a call to take the steps of the Court may lead to an unprecedented demonstration there following the annual March for Life.

• The Twisted Ethics of Dr. Bernard Nathanson (January 18, 1998)
  The producer of the "Silent Scream" film now puts himself forward as a bioethicist. How does he respond when he's called to account for his own questionable ethics? And what does he really think about abortion prohibition, or the nature of secular government? We caught up to Nathanson at a recent event in Philadelphia, where even we were surprised by his answers.

• Countering the Promise Keepers: Practical Methods
  While many people are uneasy with the Promise Keepers movement, attempts to counter the PK influence are frustrated by a persistent scarcity of credible criticism and effective practical methods. In the first of this series, we present an overview of the Promise Keepers ideology, its place in a broader context of a Biblical America movement, and the coercive methods used by PK that may open it up to effective criticism and scrutiny. As published in the Body Politic, March/April 1998.

• Roe v. Wade - 25 Years After
  (the Body Politic, January-February 1998, by Mike Doughney and Lauren Sabina Kneisly)

• Promise Keepers, Compulsory Pregnancy Advocates, and the 'Biblical America' movement
  (the Body Politic, December 1997, by Mike Doughney and Lauren Sabina Kneisly)

• Holding churches accountable (January 19, 1998, by Lauren Sabina Kneisly)

• Pro-Lifers Ignore Embryo Deaths! (January 14, 1998, by Mike Doughney)

• More Rumors??? Re: LA Gang Connections to McCartney (December 14, 1997, by Mike Doughney)

• Reports of LA Gang Connections to McCartney (December 8, 1997, by Mike Doughney)

• NJ LP Gubernatorial candidate (Sabrin) supports anti-abortion laws! (October 28, 1997, by Mike Doughney, on a Libertarian Party candidate's alliance with 'pro-life' groups)

• Promise Creepers Cult (October 6, 1997, by Mike Doughney)
  Written two days after the Promise Keeper gathering in Washington, DC, this article was the basis for the subsequent article published in the Body Politic.

Last updated October 28, 1999