Group hopes to erase political, religious lines
Self-reliance, constitutional rights and reduced meddling from the federal government were among the topics presented by a Hamilton group last week at a rally in Libby that attracted about 50 people.
“We are here together to erase all of the political lines, to erase the religious lines that make you right and me wrong because that is one of the tools that they have used to divide us, to delude us and to conquer us,” said Carolya Bolinder, a Libby resident who invited the Hamilton speakers from Celebrating Conservatism.
Participation in the Hamilton-based group has grown tenfold over the past year, and similar groups have formed in other communities in the state and country, according to organizer Mona Docteur. The Tuesday event in Libby was one of five such meetings going on that night in Ronan, Missoula, Kalispell and Plains, Docteur said.
“Our vision is to have a meeting like this, at least one in every single county, 56 counties across the state of Montana, because eventually we’re going to be able to lock arms,” Docteur said. “That’s powerful, and I’m telling you what, they’re nervous.”
Bolinder said she was attracted to the ideals of Celebrating Conservatism because she grew up in a time before many social programs existed. With nine sisters and brothers on a family ranch in Wyoming, she said her family and people in her community worked hard and didn’t rely on the government to provide for them.
Self-reliance is especially key, she said, in instances of national crises, such as Hurricane Katrina.
“The only person we can really count on is ourselves and our community,” Bolinder said.
The Hamilton group encouraged Libby to follow its example and form committees to educate members on different topics, such as Constitution Studies, Preparedness, Right to Life and the Second Amendment.
Docteur entered the Ponderosa Room that evening with a handgun strapped to her waist – she encourages members to attend meetings armed – but the gun was missing when she went up to speak.
“I can’t even demonstrate my Second Amendment right in this room. I had to take my gun off,” Docteur said. “They are trying to take my rights away with their statutes and regulations.”
The Montana Human Rights Network criticized Celebrating Conservatism’s choice last year in speakers – Richard Mack and Jack McLamb – calling the men “militia agitators from the 1990s.”
Paul Stramer of Eureka’s Lincoln County Watch, a group that was unsuccessful in recalling Lincoln County Sheriff Daryl Anderson last year, spoke briefly at last week’s meeting, stating that he had been involved in the Patriot Movement for several decades.
“What they are doing here is spreading like wildfire over the United States,” Stramer said of Celebrating Conservatism.
Celebrating Conservatism speaker Jim Thayer argued that going back to the Constitution is “not a militant, angry philosophy,” and that members of Celebrating Conservatism just want a “less oppressive government.”
Docteur added that there are always critics when a movement gains momentum.
“The extremists on the other side want to demonize us as being the right-wing extremists and dangerous,” Docteur said. “Unfortunately for them, we’re not dangerous. We could be if we have to be, if provoked.”