Christian Book Touting Manly Aggression Inspires Violent Fundamentalist Meth Trafficking Cult

“My boys chew their graham crackers into the shape of handguns at the breakfast table.” – John Eldredge, from Wild At Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul
What if your million copy-plus bestselling inspirational book calling on men to act more manly, aggressive, even violent became a key source of inspiration for a ruthless cultic Christian paramilitary fundamentalist crime syndicate that controls most of the Crystal Meth traffic in the US and is fond of tossing severed heads into Mexican discos ? You’d probably feel awful. Or at least a bit embarrassed. As a June 25th column in the Colorado Springs Gazette that sounds like it could have been written by satirists from The Onion, Local Christian author laments popularity of his book among ruthless Mexican gang, (the post has since been re-titled, to the milder “Mexican drug cartel co-opts Springs writer’s message”) notes, “Writers can’t control how readers interpret the words they write.” Very true. But has La Familia really “co-opted” John Eldredge’s paean to the glory of male aggression ?
We’ll have a look at the book in question, Wild At Heart, by John Eldredge, in a moment. But first, a bit about the ruthless cultic Christian paramilitary fundamentalist crime syndicate fond of tossing severed heads into Mexican discos.
As Tim Johnson details, in a recent McClatchy News/Seattle Times story that’s helped put La Familia back in the spotlight this summer, La Familia leader Nazario Moreno just came out with a 104 page booklet, Thoughts, with advice such as, “If you want to say ‘I love you!’ to those who surround you and to your friends, say it today.” It’s like a Hallmark card but, as Johnson details, a little incongruous too:

If it seems bizarre for the leader of a drug gang that beheads or quarters enemies to offer advice on Christian living, well, maybe. However, the gang known as La Familia Michoacana is a pseudo-Christian posse that mixes zeal and inspiring slogans in its pronouncements. Members are ordered to study the Bible and pray the rosary, even as they gun down police, dismember opponents and manufacture highly addictive crystal methamphetamine...

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B.E.Wilson @'Alternet'