Battlecry/ Teen Mania Ministries article plus an Ohio resource

This will be a very brief diary entry, as I wanted to draw additional attention to both a specific article and the ongoing work of a researcher.

Marley Greiner, a researcher, activist, writer for the Columbus, Ohio Free Press and blogger behind
Theoconia: a Central Ohio Theocon Report has written an important initial article in the Free Press on Ron Luce and the Teen Mania Ministries Battlecry initiative:

photo credit: Marley Griener

And the article itself-
Teen Mania: Lift the Banner by Marley Greiner

   

She has been researching Teen Mania since 1999 and to our knowlege, was the only researcher other than us (Mike Doughney and I, authors of Acquire the Evidence.com) who  was present for their largest event, "Day One" (70,000) back in 1999 at the Pontiac Silverdome.

Be sure to check out her blog as well- it's a wonderful resource, both reporting on ongoing events and as an introduction to the who's who of central Ohio theonomists.

crossposted at Talk to Action and Booman Tribune

•  The photo

  is of Ron Luce, head of Teen Mania at the rally in Philadelphia, outside the Independence Visitor's Center, May 2006.

  by stormcoming on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 08:43:46 PM PDT

  •  I'm afraid the photo doesn't load for me.

    I forgot to mention that below.

    by Arken on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 09:17:44 PM PDT

    •  Fixed

      Had to move some things around, sorry. Should work now.

      by stormcoming on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 09:20:50 PM PDT

      •  Works fine now.

        by Arken on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 09:22:34 PM PDT

•  Sorry, I'm out of the loop...

  What is Teen Mania?

  by Arken on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 08:44:16 PM PDT

  •  Scary as hell is what they are

    Here's a recent Frederick Clarkson diary on them with links to more info, and a series of reports by an event attendee.

    by Cecrops Tangaroa on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 09:01:58 PM PDT

    •  Thanks.

      by Arken on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 09:04:54 PM PDT

    •  Some scary pictures on that second link.

      Scary as hell indeed.

      by Arken on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 09:08:38 PM PDT

    •  As for that second link.

      Much of the initial blogosphere noise generation on Teen Mania came as a result of World Can't Wait and Sunsara Taylor (of WCW and writer for Revolution.)

      Keep in mind that WCW is trying to build its own movement, and finds organizations like Teen Mania useful to thier own organizing. Ms. Taylor's writings reflect that.

      Speaking as a longtime observer and researcher on Teen Mania (among other groups), I'll simply let my partner, Mike Doughney's diary at Talk to Action express some of my many concerns.

      by stormcoming on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 09:42:23 PM PDT

  •  Not so easy to answer

    They themselves have self described as a/the "pentagon for youth ministry". I have seen them at times described as the largest youth ministry in the country.

    TMM is made up of several components-

    *Acquire the Fire conventions that travel the country weekend after weekend throughout the fall and spring

    *Global Expeditions- their mission trips- aimed at creating 'life changing events' that change their own people- who in turn return and work toward domestic change

    *The Center for Creative Media- an attempt to pump out idealogically "pure" graduates into media production and Hollywood

    *Honor Academy- Their own campus 'internship' program, in which the kids pay for the privilige of telemarketing among other things

    and
    *Extreme camps- an on campus summer program

    They are one of the major national youth initiatives supported by people such as Pat Robertson, Ted Haggard, Jerry Falwell, etc. You can find a list of their supporters here. They have a roughly $25 million a year budget. Despite thier size, budget and high profile supporters, they remain realitively unknown and unexamined.

    The 3 National Battlecry events received some attention, here on dKos and other places in light of the militarism in the events. (In part via the appearance of the Force Ministries team" at the events. Use the search function to find some of the older materials if you like.

    A look through the Battlecry coalition website is a good starting place.

    Or go look through our ATE site, our site critical of TMM for more detail.

    by stormcoming on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 09:15:42 PM PDT

    •  Thanks for the summary.

      I'm checking links, etc.

      by Arken on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 09:17:19 PM PDT

      •  For a little more detail

        My partner, Mike Doughney,and I wrote a brief summary on some of the Teen Mania basics here about half way down in own article "Your Assumptions Will Not Save Your Skin". starting with

        Lately much has been published on Teen Mania's "BattleCry" campaign.

        Specifically, see this-

        The purpose of Teen Mania, and the "BattleCry" campaign, is actually quite simple. Baby boomers have been building churches, Christian institutions, parachurch ministries, and businesses over the past few decades, and they fear, correctly or not, that they face a period of decline and fall due to changing demographics. They see a need to aggressively set the conditions such that today's teenagers will become involved with this subculture and stay inside it for the rest of their lives. The desire to live and make a living inside this subculture full-time, interacting with the secular world only on their terms, may be one of the primary drivers of this movement. For this and other reasons we cannot expect it, like other industries past their prime, to go out of business and quietly fade away. (Much of this is evident in Teen Mania's own promotional materials aimed at churches, like this one.)

        by stormcoming on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 09:31:14 PM PDT

        •  Thanks.

          I've passed all this along to my atheist social group's listserv.

          by Arken on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 09:32:41 PM PDT

          •  Glad you found it useful.

            Can I ask where (with a link, if it's publicly available) so I can follow the conversation there?

            Thanks.

            by stormcoming on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 10:03:35 PM PDT

    •  recommended diary because of this statement:

      Despite thier size, budget and high profile supporters, they remain realitively unknown and unexamined.

      thanks for the diary!

      by sc kitty on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 09:42:45 PM PDT

      •  Also,

        I should mention they have been around, and well under the radar for almost 20 years now. Almost any attention it has gotten has been for the most part, puff pieces about kids having rock concerts and listening to abstinence speakers, or puff pieces in hometown papers about kids going on mission trips.

        Whatever slight attention has been paid to this kind of organizing has gone towards groups such as Promise Keepers. Unfortunately, when it's come to the youth organizing end, efforts are often dismissed as 'oh they're just kids'.

        Keep in mind, Teen Mania has Randy Phillips, head of Promise Keepers on its President's Council. He has been an active promoter of TMM.

        by stormcoming on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 09:57:01 PM PDT

        •  this is really creepy

          and that's putting it mildly.  

          thank you for your diary.

          i volunteer with teens at a little baptist church here in SC. on other nights there's a class on the purpose driven life for the adults.  i alerted the folks about the video game, and needless to say, they were very upset and appalled by it.

          now i will keep an eye out on this stuff you cited in your diary.  

          by sc kitty on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 10:16:39 PM PDT

          •  Rick Warren/ Purpose Driven Life

            ain't exactly any better.

            by stormcoming on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 11:09:54 PM PDT

•  Legislative

  I should also be sure to point out the legislative component to the Battlecry campaign.

  by stormcoming on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 10:09:30 PM PDT

•  these teens of Teen Mania / BattleCry

  seem like they are perfect market for the "Left Behind" video games

  by sc kitty on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 10:10:07 PM PDT

  •  perhaps

    but keep in mind, WHEN the game becomes actual product (right now it's still in development), its primary users may in fact be adults.

    by stormcoming on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 10:17:10 PM PDT

•  A diary entry I done on BattleCry has video

  footage link you might be interested in.

  StormingAmerican It is a great inside look video. I done this diary a while back on this Battle Cry group. Figured you'd want to have a look at it.

  by StormingAmerican on Sun Jul 30, 2006 at 11:11:59 PM PDT