Team Rugged?

[KingsGambit]

Does anybody here know anything about this "Team Rugged" group that a Washington state Rep. has been linked to? Reportedly it seeks to train children for a "holy war" and may have anti-Semitic connections. Given that most reporters don't get religion at all, I wanted to see if anybody here knows more about this group that is not reflected in this article, but I'll say from the outset that this doesn't look good.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle...t-in-holy-war/

Yes, I'm intentionally starting this thread here and not in Civics.

[Cow Poke]

[NorrinRadd]

I see no reason to avoid mentioning that the Rep's name is Matt Shea, given that virtually all Google hits related to "Team Rugged" refer to his association with them, and that his Wikipedia page contains a plethora of concerning facts and allegations about him.

If that page is mostly or even significantly accurate, it would seem to justify concerns about Team Rugged.

[demi-conservative]

demi is surprised, why so concerned? Antifa much much worse, militarised Christians to that is like weak reaction to action.

Or is problem cos this militia trains youths??

[DesertBerean]

Wow. The theological flags are really going up on this one...

[Teallaura]

I read a couple articles - the SPLC was cited in both which does not improve the article's credibility for me.

Facebook page was taken down.

[Thoughtful Monk]

I am getting use to a whole bunch of groups being called Christian that really shouldn't be. This has probably been since the beginning of Christianity. I remember it since Jim Jones and the Branch Davidaians. Regrettfully this will be used to smear all Christians.

[rogue06]

I am getting use to a whole bunch of groups being called Christian that really shouldn't be. This has probably been since the beginning of Christianity. I remember it since Jim Jones and the Branch Davidaians. Regrettfully this will be used to smear all Christians.

Jones would have been the first to tell anyone he wasn't a Christian. Heck he wasn't even a theist. The Wikipedia entry on him accurately describes him as a "civil rights preacher." And from that article:



He was an openly Marxist-Leninist atheist.

[Cow Poke]

Jones would have been the first to tell anyone he wasn't a Christian. Heck he wasn't even a theist. The Wikipedia entry on him accurately describes him as a "civil rights preacher." And from that article:



He was an openly Marxist-Leninist atheist.

Was he ever a Bible teacher? I thought he started out as one, then really weirded out.

[Teallaura]

Was he ever a Bible teacher? I thought he started out as one, then really weirded out.

That's what the movie showed but it's debated. Wikipedia doesn't support it - although he sought the pulpit with the Methodist church the Wiki article states he was attempting to infiltrate it.

[KingsGambit]

The teen study Bible my church youth group used 20 years claimed that he was genuinely convinced he was the Messiah.

[Teallaura]

The teen study Bible my church youth group used 20 years claimed that he was genuinely convinced he was the Messiah.

Who, Jones?

[KingsGambit]

Who, Jones?

Yes.

But I'd like to get the thread back on topic.

[Teallaura]

Yes.

But I'd like to get the thread back on topic.

Okay - but FYI other sources say he wasn't. More an adherent of Marx than the Bible.

About the other, I couldn't find any info. I'm dubious of anything put out by the SPLC but I have no real knowledge of the group so...

[rogue06]

Was he ever a Bible teacher? I thought he started out as one, then really weirded out.

From National Review:

Source: The Unburied Truth About Jim Jones

Source

© Copyright Original Source

He claims to have become an atheist when he was young, after the death of his mother: "I was an atheist even then, and at that funeral parlor they held me up to look at her, and when I got down, I was bitter." Major language warning for this link. Jones had a foul mouth.