Allegories Gone Wild - Waiting For NESARA

Cross posted at God is for Suckers!

That old whore Christianity has mated many times, sometimes dropping from its womb madmen and monsters, other times, squalid lonely little sports that briefly squall, and pass away quietly into sewers of history.

This then, is the story of one of those sports. A bastard grandchild, to stretch the simile.

I picked up the DVD, because for ten bucks, it was cheap laugh. Here's the clip on Youtube. Here's their actual website.

For a little back story, the Wiki entry reads thusly:

NESARA is an acronym for the National Economic Stabilization and Recovery Act, a set of economic reforms proposed during the 1990s by Dr. Harvey Barnard. Barnard claimed that the proposals, which included replacing the income tax with a national sales tax, abolishing compound interest on secured loans, and returning to a bimetallic currency, would result in 0% inflation and a more stable economy. The proposals were never introduced before congress, and the only congressman known to have commented on the bill is Ron Paul, dismissively, and through a spokesman.^[1] NESARA has since become better known as the subject of a conspiracy theory promoted by Shaini Goodwin, who claims that the act was passed with additional provisions as the National Economic Security and Reformation Act, and then suppressed by George W. Bush administration and the Supreme Court. Other people have adopted and embellished Goodwin's ideas.

The following gives us ample reason to distrust someone based on their educational background:

Dr. Harvey Barnard, a Louisiana graduate in systems philosophy, and an engineering consultant and teacher, created the NESARA proposal during the late 1980s and early 1990s. He printed 1000 copies of his proposal in 1996 and sent copies to members of Congress, believing it would pass quickly on its merits. Based on a theory that debt is the number one economic factor inhibiting the growth of the economy, and compound interest the number one "moral evil" and reason for debt, Barnard made several other attempts during the 1990s to draw political attention to the problems that face our economy, and his resulting economic recovery proposal based on the root causes he determined. After these did not succeed, he decided in 2000 to release the proposal to the public domain and publish it on the internet. Barnard also established the NESARA Institute in 2001.

Wiping all debt out in a single act of Congress? Yeah, I'll bet that wouldn't mess up the economy, no sirree!

The idea of forgiving any and all debt got latched on to, and with a singular vengeance. Hand in hand it went, with some whackinoid with an axe to grind, and too many missing brain cells:

Soon after Barnard released NESARA on the internet, a user known as "Dove of Oneness" began posting about it in internet forums. "Dove of Oneness" has since been identified as Shaini Goodwin, a former student of The Ramtha School Of Enlightenment. According to Goodwin's web site, the NESARA bill languished in Congress before finally being passed by a secret session in March 2000 and signed by President Bill Clinton. It was to be announced in 2001, but the Supreme Court issued a gag order that prohibited any official or private source from discussing it, under penalty of death. Goodwin refers to "White Knights," most of them high-ranking military officials, who have since been struggling to have the law implemented despite opposition by President George W. Bush. Goodwin believes that Bush orchestrated the September 11, 2001 attacks and the Iraq War as distractions from NESARA. Goodwin's description of NESARA goes beyond Barnard's proposal by canceling all personal debts, abolishing the Internal Revenue Service, declaring world peace, and requiring new presidential and congressional elections. Goodwin often claims that Bush officials are attempting to hack into and bring down her web site to prevent her from publicizing the law.

The film in question, an Indieflix production, has the crew following the NESARA folks around. Ordinary, 'down home folks', you'd think, passing them in the streets. That is, until you watch Goodwin hold these meetings (in a KFC restaurant at first, then moving it around a bit, complaining about the weird looks they received at certain places. Ya think?)

A bunch of strange ex-Mormons (apparently the majority have no access to modern dental facilities - most of them had black, rotted teeth) talking about 'White Nights', St. Germaine coming down from the heavens with an armada of UFOs to pre-empt the Iraqi war. Yeah, I kid you not in the least, dear reader: one clip in the film has Goodwin explaining how the armada would teleport all the US troops into their spaceships (sans equipment) to keep the US out of Iraq! Another clip, Goodwin blathers on about how people who have more reptilian DNA will be more easily influenced by the 'darkness', and cites the reptilian hindbrain as his proof. A claim is made that there was indeed a 'hybrid' that attended one of their meetings (alas, said chimera was not present for the filming. What a shock!).

These predictions were made sometime in 2002. Did they come true? Obviously not. Further clips from the film illustrate Goodwin trying to explain just exactly why the 'prophecies' didn't come true - there was a liberal mix-'n-matching from cultural referents (the bible, the Prime Directive from Star Trek, I kid you not!), some dithering about with 'free will', and more or less, a complete disconnect from reality.

To his credit, Barnard completely disassociated himself from the movement, continuing on with the original Wiki entry:

Barnard became aware of Goodwin's description of NESARA before his death in 2005. He denied that NESARA had been enacted into law or even assigned a tracking number, and condemned Goodwin's allegations as a disinformation campaign. Goodwin, for his part, dismisses the NESARA Institute as a disinformation front for the Bush family.

Goodwin apparently is still bilking his followers:

Some NESARA detractors claim that NESARA is a cult designed primarily to provide an income to Goodwin and others. They point to the fact that Goodwin, Lee, and Nidle frequently ask their readers to donate money. Goodwin, who also asks readers to donate their frequent flyer miles,claims that she needs and has used the funds to travel to various locations around the world to secretly meet with high-level government officials about getting NESARA announced.

Some NESARA supporters also make the claim that otherworldly beings are working to get NESARA announced. These include a "channeled spirit" called "Hatonn", and another called "Sananda" (claiming to be Jesus) along with Saint Germain, a deity borrowed from The I AM Movement and the Church Universal and Triumphant. Benevolent aliens are also frequently mentioned, most prominently by Nidle, as working towards the NESARA announcement. The designation of George W. Bush as a reptilian often co-occurs with this claim. Goodwin has claimed that Saint Germain has come down from heaven to physically meet with heads of banks and world leaders regarding the NESARA announcement.

The prominence of failed prophecy also lends support to the cult theory. NESARA supporters often tell their readers that the NESARA announcement is going to happen in a matter of days. These claims have been made too many times to enumerate, without ever coming to fruition. According to the documentary Waiting For NESARA, the claim was also made prior to March 2003 that George Bush was planning the war with Iraq only to further delay the NESARA announcement. It was prophesied that spiritual beings and UFOs would intervene with Bush's plans and prevent the war.

A June 2006 complaint to the Washington consumer protection division accused Goodwin of using the NESARA story to defraud a 64-year-old San Francisco woman of at least $10,000. The woman's daughter said the actual amount is much larger, in the hundreds of thousands.

In closing, it is a hard, hard thing, to be outcast, to be pariah. But to be tossed out of a weird cult (because let's face it, folks, they're all weird little cults, whether it be Christianity, LDS, Islam, etc) because you're too bugfuck crazy for the irrational majority you are a part of (or maybe it's just the lack of dental hygiene; who knows?) - well, it has to be somewhat unsettling, especially for the feeble-minded. So you modernize your craziness. Throw in some science-fiction fodder, a sprinkle of this baroque meritocracy, a smattering of that psychotropic belief-system, heavy doses of some stupid 'holy book', and voila! You gots yourself some damn fine messianic stew (that is, if all your tastebuds are solely in your mouth).

Shaking my head, I take your leave now. I love humanity, but aye, caramba! What a ridiculous species we is.

Till the next post, then.