It is only meet and right that we do so

Observing the one week anniversary of Bradlee Dean's plunge from the heights

The more that is revealed about Bradlee Dean and Jake McAuley's little medicine side show, the more it seems like Jim Jones meets Hare Krishna (see esp. the section on preaching activities).

That Dean seeks the status of a cult figure can hardly be doubted; he and his wife Stephanie Joy call themselves (Biblical) overseers of their "ministry." Most readers here have seen a lifetime supply of photos of Dean himself, but many of you have not seen a photo, on the website, of Stephanie Joy.

According to the webpage at the link, Stephanie Joy, who looks like an extra for the movie adaptation of Margaret Atwood's A Handmaid's Tale, leads the "virtues program for the girls." The Deans are quite open about the religious tyranny they would like to see imposed in the United States.

Like most cults, it relies on a cadre of useful idiots, manipulated by the Deans, to raise money. These are the "street teams." These teams have been in the news quite a lot this last week:

When Julia Miller pulled into the BP station on Lexington and St. Anthony in St. Paul last month, she was immediately approached by a young man from an organization called You Can Run But You Cannot Hide International.

The fellow told Ms. Miller that the organization was raising money for "suicide prevention." But as City Pages' Nick Pinto's story at the link reports, the real purpose of the organization is stated in its most recent tax-exempt organization return:

"To reshape America by redirecting our youth morally and spiritually through education. (Hosea 4:6) The ministry's street teams spoke to over 250,000 people last year concerning their spiritual destiny and our nation's religious history."

Pinto also makes this observation about Dean's "ministry":

Soon [after Dean's dive into the tank last week] the major news outlets were discovering what many bloggers have known for years: Dean and his ministry are spectacularly homophobic. Dean has called for gays to be arrested and jailed, and has said Muslim extremists are "more moral" than American Christians because they call for the execution of homosexuals.

We need to put Dump Michele Bachmann (for there is a connection between Michele Bachmann and Bradlee Dean) and Ripple in Stillwater right at the top of the list of bloggers who have been on Dean's case for a long time.

It isn't only gas stations where the street teams set up their card tables; it was Walmart, too. But who are these people? Dean's non-profit filing helps us out again:

According to Dean, all of his petty grifters have religious credentials, including ordination. Maybe Judy ordained everybody, but Judy's not talking.

The dénouement of a cult's life is usually bizarre and sometimes violent. I'm not predicting that here, but it is worth taking a look at this photo of Jake McAuley, also from their website: