1b. It's a Slippery Slope, Believing You're the Christ
Previously titled "Before the Donald Crows"
Welcome to Safe White Space :)
Previously, we were introduced to Donald Howard and his decrepit brain-child, Accelerated Christian Education. We approached him in God Votes Republican from an outside perspective, and examined a glaring contradiction within his philosophy of “Absolutes.”
The material in this post contains content that may exasperate religious trauma. This is a trigger warning.
In this post, I’m going to demonstrate that Donald struggled with a narcissistic personality disorder at least as early as 1979, which is before he had authored most of the PACEs. I intimated in the last post that, later in his life, Donald loses touch with reality and writes about himself in ways that would require a rewrite of the Bible, and make him more important than Jesus Himself. This post is going to cover the early years of this delusion taking hold, and draw some direct lines between him, Bill Gothard, and content found in the PACEs. It also has to do with his efforts to curate a cult-like personality, born of a desperation for attention and adoration. If pale stale males conflating themselves with the Christ keep you up at night, take this one with care.
And there is a little racism, as expressed by the author.
Here is Accelerated Christian Education’s origin story:
Exhibit 8
The Hope of Our Republic
During the fall of 1964, I sat late one night in the office with one of my seminary professors, Dr James Bellis, with our academic feet propped up, solving all the world’s problems. That night we concluded that “it would take at least 10,000 Christian schools in our nation and a completely Christian curriculum just to begin to turn the nation around.”
Rebirth of Our Nation, page 270
All it took was one late night with “propped up” feet to figure out how to save the country. Lest you think “solving all the world’s problems” was his attempt at humor, this Exhibit originally appears in his first manifesto To Save a Nation, and comes from the chapter “A Remedy from the Right: TO SAVE A NATION”1, and immediately under the banner THE HOPE OF OUR REPUBLIC. Both versions of the story are followed by a long-winded brag about how far he personally has brought Christian education since 1964.
He went on to explain that Christian Education, specifically ACE, was how God chose to intervene in history. Which obligates you to both recognize that fact, and to give him your full support (money, labor, and children) so that he can do God’s will. Instead of providing evidence, he employed emotional manipulation and just stayed on that tune.
To really emphasis this off the top, he compared himself to someone from the Bible:
Exhibit 9
Recognize what God is doing today.
“He came unto His own and His own received him not”; they flat missed out, because they did not recognize what God was doing in their day. And you can miss out also. RECOGNIZE what God is doing.
Rebirth of Our Nation, page 305
If you don’t RECOGNIZE Donald, that’s totally just like that time when they didn’t RECOGNIZE Jesus.
He continues:
Exhibit 10
I’m not going to live in an age where more Christian curriculum is published and shipped across America in just one year than the first 70 years of this century and not recognize it. I’m not going to live in an age like that and not recognize what God is doing. Do you realize that just ACE materials alone, now there are other publishers printing Christian materials, but A.C.E. alone, published and shipped 5 million PACE’s, tons and tons of curriculum in the last twelve to thirteen weeks?
Rebirth of Our Nation, page 306
‘Are you gonna live in this age and not recognize me happening right in front of you?’ As hard as he tried to talk about what God was doing, he couldn’t stop talking about what he was doing.
Just in case you aren’t sold on Donald’s importance:
Exhibit 11
If you can’t be happy serving the Lord today, if you can’t keep from criticizing, and be loyal, if you can’t thank God for the privilege of serving Him today and be victorious today, you couldn’t be happy and loyal serving God in any age, at any time! And if you don’t recognize that privilege that is ours in this age, in this decade that God is intervening, if you don’t recognize that God is doing something great you will miss out on history. And I will tell you what will happen. The day will come when, with an unsteady hand you will take an old book from the shelf, and you will wipe the dust from its covers and with a faltering step you will inch your way to an old rocking chair. You’ll painfully lower yourself and with a clumsy, arthritic finger, you will thumb your way through that old book. With dimmed eyes you’ll read of a Christian education reform of the 1980’s and 1990’s. You will read of a great rebirth movement of fundamentalism and you will read about the pilgrims of the 1900’s. And with a broken voice you will confess, "Hey, I was there, I was part of it, and I didn’t even recognize it.” You’ll miss out on history.
Recognize what God is doing today. Recognize it. “His own received him not.” They were there and they saw, but they did not recognize it.
Rebirth of Our Nation, page 308, 309
On he goes, comparing himself to Jesus. It is your privilege to serve Donald serving God. Alternatively, you’ll get arthritis in your hand-sausages. Donald was how God chose to intervene. Donald was who you should keep from criticizing, and who you should be loyal to. This is a wanna-be cult leader getting upset at the very idea that someone might not “RECOGNIZE” just how special he is.
This is also the first time in his manifestos that he intimates the Bible will be rewritten to include himself and his work. There is no other way to take that - FOMO into Donald or regret it for always and eeterrrrnity..
RIP one of the greats.
Exhibits 9-11 really highlight how central Donald believed himself to be to God’s plans, and how frustrated he became over the mere idea that you might not agree. They also demonstrate that, under even theoretical criticism, his whole worldview crumbled into “You’ll rue the day you didn’t purchase any of my products!”
A man of God would properly address these criticisms with the grace of the Father. He wouldn’t screech about loyalty while comparing himself to the Son.
While authoring ACE, Donald collaborated with Bill the pedophile Gothard by picking 60 verses that embody the character traits of a good Christian child. They’re called “Character Objectives.” Each PACE has a scripture verse the student is suppose to memorize, and include comic strips where the characters demonstrate that character trait. Every school year students complete ~60 PACEs, so, ideally, they get all 60 verses in a year’s education.
Parents weren’t the only target of Donald’s creepy manipulation tactics.
//Edit 10/13/24: The comics are corrupted by what these two fuckwits envision as “good Christian kids.” There are too many examples in future posts to list them all here, but this shorter post contains a few comics that are specifically sexist.//
These next Exhibits demonstrate how he wanted children to treat him and revere him:
Exhibit 12
35. Loyal
Confirming my commitment to a person or cause in time of adversity.
John 15:13
"greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
Rebirth of Our Nation, Appendix C (Also various PACE’s)
What about, and I’m just spit balling here, loyalty to God? Maybe just mention it?
The “Objective” is to get each student to mold their personality around Donald’s idea of loyal “militant fundamentalists,” willing to be the “leaders and martyrs of tomorrow.”
This one just feels.. icky:
Exhibit 13
48. Respectful
A feeling of deep respect and honor mixed with wonder, awe, and love for the person that God is using in my life to produce the character of Christ in me
1 Thessalonians 5:12-13
"And we beseech you brethren, to know them which labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you.; And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be of peace among yourselves."
Rebirth of Our Nation, Appendix C (Also various PACE’s)
If anyone treated me with “A feeling of deep respect and honor mixed with wonder, awe, and love,” I would insist they have me mistaken for someone else. You’re a weirdo if you need this kind of adoration, especially from children.
It doesn’t get better:
Exhibit 14
53. Submissive
An inward attitude (meek) that yields to the power, control, and authority, of another; obedient (the action of submissiveness).
Hebrews 13:17
"Obey them that have rules over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you."
Rebirth of Our Nation, Appendix C (Also various PACE’s)
In the context that Donald actively decried any sort of children’s rights or advocacy as Satanic Communism, this is really problematic.
If children aren’t taught the difference between abuse and discipline, than they have no clue how to speak up for themselves. This is a topic we’ll explore more later, but at ACE schools, parents sign waivers agreeing that they will side with (and believe) the school staff over their own child. Without getting into the weeds right now, I can tell you that I was believed zero times when it was my word vs. a teacher’s.
It’s extremely dangerous to be blanketly teaching children to submit with wondrous awe to those who have “power, control, and authority” over them. There has to be a counter-balance of some sort, like an awareness of boundaries.
This potential for abuse in ACE schools isn’t a bug in the system. It’s a feature.
A willingness to die and submission to Donald’s power aren’t enough. Them kids have to go a step further and make sure he doesn’t get offended while they serve him:
Exhibit 15
15. Deferent
Controlling my privileges and preferences in order not to offend those God has called me to serve (putting their wishes or opinions before mine).
1 Corinthians 10:33
"Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved."
Rebirth of Our Nation, Appendix C (Also various PACE’s)
If Donald was a socialist, this verse would be the founding of the party, comrade.
Instead, he’s an easily offended, pearl-clutching, far-right dork. Here is a short detour. Being black was something that offended him:
Exhibit 16
From 1969 and on through the 1970’s, the philosophy of humanism is emerging paramount. Did you ever use the “Scholastic News Citizen”? It is used by hundreds of children in all grades over America. The March 19, 1973 issue for 5th graders (ten-year-olds) has a cover picture of a little girl with an afro-hair style wearing a peace symbol and holding up a clenched fist. She is smiling and under the picture it says, “Have you got rights?..”
To Save a Nation, page 105
//EDIT 10/13/2024: Since posting this, I wrote 4a. Upsetting God's Natural Order Heralds the Apocalypse of Our Lord. It’s got tons of examples of racism and Donald’s latestage mania. It’s a good one to read after this.//
Donald was wildly opposed to children having any sort of say in their own lives. Especially if that child was packaged in non-white skin. Up until recently ACE completely disallowed “afro-hair.” Today, ACE guidelines read:
Exhibit 17
No braided or spiked hair styles. For boys with curly hair or afros, the cut needs to be short, not to exceed one inch in length.
Because of my ignorance, I had to google “african hair styles,” and “black hair styles.” The internet says that (among many others) African Threads, Afros, Amasunzu, Box braids, Cornrows, Bantu knots, Dreadlocks, Fulani Braids, Twists, and Wave(s?) are popular traditional African hair styles. With the exception of a less-than-one-inch afro, every hairstyle I scrolled through is banned from ACE conventions in 2024. Black folks are allowed at ACE conventions, provided they don’t offend anyone with their blackness. Cool.
If there is a more appropriate way to phrase the above paragraph, please let me know. I don’t want to misrepresent anyone. My intention is to show that there was only enough tolerance within this charlatan to avoid the IRS punishing him/ACE. If you don’t threaten rich people’s pocket books, you’ll never see positive cultural change.
In the name of Jesus, eat them.
By the time you finish Rebirth, Donald’s message is clear. ‘I worked out how to save America in one night. Everyone else is out to get you and hook your children on crack and homosexuality. Shut up and be thankful for me. Don’t criticize me. Give me everything you got, and look at me with wonder in your eyes. Your place in this hierarchy is submission to my power.’
ACE students are made in the image of Donald. Not God.
Unfortunately, it’s not enough to require that students look like him and look at him with awe. They have to serve Donald with expediency, as good cogs in the militant machine:
Exhibit 18
21. Efficient
Preparing myself and environment so that I will accomplish the greatest productivity
Ephesians 5:16
"Redeeming the time, because the days are evil."
Rebirth of Our Nation, Appendix C (Also various PACE’s)
Donald subconsciously betrayed his exploitation of the Bible at every turn. Have you noticed that his take on each verse/character trait comes before the verse? To Donald, his take does come before God’s. This is demonstrated time and again.2
Donald didn’t read the Bible to glean God’s perspective and then share that with the world. He used the Bible to co-opt God’s authority. Donald had a vision for the ideal (straight white) worker bee and the damage they could do to the human rights movements of the latter 20th century.
The Bible’s only function was to secure that commodity for himself:
Exhibit 19
3. Available
Scheduling my priorities to fit the desires of others
Matthew 9:9
"And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he [Jesus] saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him."
Rebirth of Our Nation, Appendix C (Also various PACE’s)
Ayyyye, that’s three times he’s conflated himself with Jesus. Cocka-Donaldoo!
Donald wanted so badly for you to know that the “he” in this verse is Jesus that Donald put [brackets] in to clarify. Like it wasn’t obvious. Also, Matthew didn’t schedule his priorities around Jesus here. Mattie boy was working late at the IRS (“the receipt of custom”) and Jesus was like ‘you coming bro??’ and Matthew was like ‘yaaah dude.’
That was it. That’s the story.
But no, you should absolutely keep your calendar wide open, just in case Donald has some chores for you.
With two exceptions, all of these Exhibits were sourced from Rebirth of Our Nation (1979). This tells me that as early as the 1970’s, Donald was conflating God’s will with his own. His baseline perspective was that of superiority over the rest of the flock. Like many cult leaders before him, he interpreted the Bible to put himself at the right hand of God, and then sold God’s will for a profit.
Recall Exhibit 3 and 118, where he wrote “Righteousness is an absolute expressing God's character, measuring the mark of deity.” This isn’t an unfortunate gaff, Donald truly believed that the further Right you go on the Left-Right political slider, the closer to God you physically/mentally become, until the two of you are indistinguishable.
We’re going to have a few more posts in the 1.x series. I feel I need to spend little more time in this introduction phase. This will help streamline the 2.x series. It’s necessary to be thorough and to do the conversation justice, but I don’t want to platform vitriolic homophobia any longer than I have to. With a little more Donald-context, I’ll be able to keep the conversation concise.
Donald signed his manifestos, and hand wrote Jeremiah 33:3. I gagged when I read the verse. It’s the voice of the Lord, speaking to Jeremiah. Which makes this the fourth time (so far) that Donald assumed the position of Jesus or God:
Exhibit 20a3
Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.
Jeremiah 33:3
This picture comes from the original version of this story, which appeared in To Save a Nation, page 182. Take that first paragraph in the most racist way possible. He would have wanted you to:
Exhibit 21:
Exhibit 22:
"Is socialism and welfare unscriptural? From twenty years of experience it is safe to say that it perpetuates non-productivity, it destroys initiative, and it destroys self-respect. These are the obvious effects and an economic impass is the results. But to avoid only being pragmatic, here is the principle: Genesis declares that man is to earn bread by the sweat of his brow, not by another man's (Genesis 3:19)
To Save a Nation, page 37
Here, he defers to the Bible merely to “avoid only being pragmatic.” Which, he wasn’t even being pragmatic. Also, Genesis 3:19 absolutely doesn't mention “another man's” anything. Not implicitly, not explicitly. The context is that God was punishing Adam and Eve for committing the original sin. God isn’t establishing labor laws.
Exhibit 20b:
*that’s my doodling in the bottom right
**Thumbnail from copied from study.com