Massachusetts PEACE Program: Defining who is extremist and mentally ill?

The Associated Press reports:

"Massachusetts this month recast its controversial Countering Violent Extremism, or CVE, program in Boston as Promoting Engagement, Acceptance and Community Empowerment, or PEACE.

The move comes after Minneapolis — another city where such efforts are underway — rebranded its program last year as Building Community Resilience. The Department of Homeland Security also created the Office of Community Partnerships to advance CVE efforts.

Pilot programs in Boston, Minneapolis and Los Angeles were launched to fanfare by President Barack Obama in 2014 as a modest part of his administration's broader strategy to combat extremist thinking before it results in violence."

And who defines what constitutes "extremist thinking"?

Back in 2009, in a document entitled the "Domestic Extremism Lexicon," which was issued to the Department of Homeland Security, the Obama administration defined pro-life advocates as follows: "A movement of groups or individuals who are virulently anti-abortion and advocate violence against providers of abortion-related services, their employees, and their facilities. Some cite various racist and anti-Semitic beliefs to justify their criminal activities."

And, although this terrorism dictionary has since been recalled and Homeland Security spokeswoman Amy Kudwa told the Washington Times the lexicon "was not an authorized..product," still, one has to wonder whether the Department of Homeland Security had pro-life advocates in mind when it crafted the following paragraph:

"The terrorist threat to the Homeland is not restricted to violent Islamic extremist groups. We also confront an ongoing threat posed by domestic terrorists based and operating strictly within the United States. Often referred to as 'single-issue' groups, they include white supremacists groups, animal rights extremists, and eco-terrorist groups, among others."

It's this phrase "among others" that concerns me. Is there really any doubt that pro-lifers are being lumped into this grouping? Especially after the release of the "Domestic Extremism Lexicon"? Gradually the "ideologically unwanted" must be silenced as our nation slips into totalitarianism.


Will those who oppose homosexuality on moral grounds soon be silenced and treated as "extremists" who suffer from "mental health issues"?  An article which appeared in Psychology Today notes that:


"In a statement that would be funny if its consequences were not so dire, one so-called expert says he thinks that research on how to identify future terrorists should include attention to mental health issues. “I’m convinced that a good chunk of these cases that we’ve seen here in the United States have roots in some sort of social dysfunction or mental health issue.  I’m not a professional psychologist but that’s what I believe in my bones."  This same individual runs an organization that has received, according to his resume, $11.5 million dollars in federal grants.  "

President Obama has already gone on record as saying that Americans who oppose homosexuality because of Revelation or the Natural Law are backward thinking and clinging to "worn out attitudes."  See here.

Does this mean that we will soon be categorized as potentially violent extremists suffering from mental health issues?