Texe Marrs: But Seriously

I've come up with a few good reasons not to, which can be pretty much summed up as Because He's Nuts, That's Why. Despite his many predictions, the good citizens of the USA have yet to be herded into concentration camps, forced to move to UN-approved cities, made to worship Baal or Edward Bronfman or Maurice Strong (yay Canada!), or shot by overzealous darkies in the US Parks Service. Even the purchase of Moon Goddess Barbie dolls is still, in most circles, voluntary.

Enough things have either failed to come to pass, or are completely ridiculous, or are so overblown by Texe, that he seems to have lost any claim to crediblity. And in many ways, I think that's both true and fair.

But there are reasons not to dismiss Texe Marrs, or the people and ideas he represents, completely out of hand. There are reasons why, if we need not respect his views, we should still listen to them. There are reasons why writing him off completely can be short-sighted at best, and truly dangerous at worst.

1. Some of the points he raises are valid.

   Notice that I said some.

   They tend to be, in the Texe Pantheon (heh heh heh...) of Ideas, pretty minor: like his point that restoring America environmentally to an unspecified "what it once was" begs the question of just how far back you should go. (Texe may just be setting up a straw man; I haven't heard any environmental groups being this vague. Mind you, I haven't done any research on it just yet. Patience, my precious, patience...) And I do agree that Customs Canada needs to drastically curtail its fascination with censorship.

   But there are larger issues Texe brings up that deserve thought, discussion and consideration, despite their source:

   • the over-reaching ambition, bureaucratization and empire-building that seem to be inherent in government law-enforcement agencies -- especially as they relate to the Branch Davidian disaster;
   • the problem of ensuring accountability in a world-wide government -- especially important given the shameful behaviour of Canadian and Belgian UN peacekeepers in Somalia, and the problems all countries face in merely making sure that their own police and army forces remain accountable and humane;
   • the lack of perceptible difference between the Republican and Democratic Parties;
   • and the continuing proclivity of President Clinton (indeed, seemingly every President since Roosevelt) to rule by Emergency Order, leaving the door dangerously open to subversion of the Constitution.

   Sure, these concerns aren't unique to Texe, or even to the political right. Yes, there are others who are considerably better voices for these opinions -- others whose signal-to-noise ratio isn't nearly so low. But my point is that Texe hasn't completely lost sight of what's important (to me, natch), and that some of these points (accountability in world government, for example, or the steady stream of Executive Orders and National Emergencies from the office of the U.S. President) are rarely seen on the political left. If Texe is bringing up valid points that our liberal heroes don't mention, what does that tell us?

2. He's not alone.

   I don't know what the circulation of Texe's newsletter is, or how many videos, books and audiotapes his ministry sells, but he's got to be doing pretty good business. A monthly six-page newsletter (free to whoever asks), plus inserts, plus a weekly radio program -- these all cost. Since I doubt he's being funded by the Rockefellers, the money must be coming in from somewhere...and I'm guessing that there's an awful lot of "love gifts" being delivered daily, in return for the many tapes, videos, and books produced by Living Truth/Power of Prophecy ministries.

   He's not the only one doing this, either. The concerns he raises (whether or not people like you and I think they're valid) are raised by many across the spectrum of the political right. If you look at more than a few websites -- or newsletters, or books, or talk shows -- like Texe's, you begin to realize how alike they all are, and how many of the same issues concern them all. Sure, that can make it boring. But it represents no less valid a share of people's hearts and minds than more conventional viewpoints.

   It's true: a lot of what Texe says is insane. But if we don't pay attention to what is being said, and how, and by who, then we won't be aware of it. And we won't be aware of the people who agree. And that can be disastrous.

3. Oklahoma City.

   Yeah, that's harsh. But true.

   First: No, Texe did not bomb the Murrah Building, nor was he connected with those who did. No, Texe did not tell people to do it, nor call for similar actions. Yes, Texe was probably as horrified as anyone else by the carnage.

   But Texe spoke then, and continues to speak, about the same conspiracies that drove Timothy McVeigh to kill: the imminent rounding-up of American patriots; foreign troops within the USA, ready to set up concentration camps for citizens; all of this being presaged by the events at Waco.

   There are doubtless many reasons for the lapse in security -- indeed, for the insitutional blindness -- that allowed the tragedy in Oklahoma City. But how much closer to preventing it would we have been if more people in the mainstream had listened to Texe, and realized the anger and fear that he's part of?

What the hell. I've always been bad at conclusions anyway.