A School Board Takeover?
Conspiracy Theories, Religious Uprising and Radical Politics Infiltrating Coronado
“God Sent Me to San Diego”
According to an exposé in the Voice of San Diego, Australian Jurgen Matthesius, lead pastor of Awaken Church in San Diego, claims that God personally sent him to San Diego in 2005 to build a religious movement that appears far more political than theological.
From the pulpit, Matthesius preaches conspiracy theories in the same vein as the QAnon cult, including warnings of global cabals, demonic forces, child trafficking, and long-debunked claims of election fraud. His political diatribes and culture wars, according to Voice of San Diego, have led to suspensions from Twitter and Instagram.
Some Awaken pastors and congregations members have even been exposed on social media for participating in the January 6th Capitol insurrection.
Now, Awaken and its so called “Warriors of Liberty” are pulling out all the stops in a political campaign to take over school boards, including here in Coronado… and they have Mayor Richard Bailey on their side helping to train their candidates.
Guns, Knives, Crossbows and God
The RMNNT:Warriors of Liberty, noted in the graphic above, is the “political ministry” of Awaken Church. It claims that “God is raising up a RMNNT (remnant) of warriors to save this nation,” and that taking up arms to force a viewpoint on the government is acceptable… if it conforms with their extremist interpretation of scripture.
The premiere video on the RMNNT website portrays a couple armed with an assault rifle, crossbow, large hunting knife and other weapons, moving stealthily through wooded foothills. The narrator describes a "Remnant of People” willing to seize political power at any cost - apparently with violence if need be (a link to this video is at the end of this blog post).
On social media, the RMNNT attacks public schools, condemn gay people, calls the pandemic a hoax, and claims the presidential election was stolen… all while promoting their religious revolution.
Instead of recognizing America’s constitutional principle of separation of church and state, it appears that RMNNT and Awaken want the church to dominate the state… Their church of course, with their radical views imposed upon others. Central to this mission is supporting, and often grooming, school board candidates throughout San Diego County.
The RMNNT 2022 voter guide includes three candidates for Coronado School Board: Lisa Meglioli, Scot Youngblood and Gerri Machin… the very same people supported by Mayor Richard Bailey.
The stars by candidate Meglioli’s name indicate she has received the Awaken/RMNNT Candidate Training that Mayor Bailey has been involved with as a “special guest.”
Awaken/RMNNT endorsed candidate Gerri Machin heads up “We the Parents Coronado” (WTPC), a group that in no way represents a majority of parents in our community. Over the past two years, Machin and other WTPC members have harangued the Coronado School Board, promoting disinformation and conspiracy theories aligned with those preached by Awaken/RMNNT. She and her group have condemned trustees, opposed school programs to mitigate bullying and racism on campus, and vociferously denounced the principles of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion that are embraced by the US Military, many Fortune 500 companies, and numerous highly successful public schools across the country.
Ms. Machin speaks often about the need for more academic excellence in our Coronado Public Schools, yet her group’s website is linked to a well-funded movement fomenting culture wars against public school boards across the nation with the ultimate goal of defunding public schools altogether.
Let me emphasize that again:
DEFUNDING PUBLIC SCHOOLS ALTOGETHER
This means putting an end to public schools across the country while using tax dollars to fund private and religious schools that teach their brand of theology. This can best be summed up as White Christian Nationalism and includes a curriculum that disdains other races and religions, denies our true history, restricts access to books that don’t pass their religious litmus test, and is decidedly anti-LGBTQ.
Candidate Scot Youngblood, also endorsed by Awaken/RMNNT, acknowledges a relationship with “We the Parents” and notes he has attended an unspecified number of their meetings, yet he repeatedly states that he is running a nonpartisan campaign and is not affiliated with any groups.
Youngblood’s campaign also recently paid the San Diego GOP $670 for a mailer that endorses him. Candidate Machin has done likewise. The SD GOP is endorsing numerous other candidates countywide that are promoted by Awaken/RMNNT.
Youngblood has regularly appeared before the school board, and in other forums, claiming that the use of masks during the pandemic is useless, a culture war argument also embraced by Awaken/RMNNT and WTPC.
A retired orthopedic surgeon with no apparent credentials in infectious disease, epidemiology or pandemics, he further asserts that the World Health Organization agrees with him. But the WHO states this on its website:
“If COVID-19 is spreading in your community, stay safe by taking some simple precautions, such as physical distancing, wearing a mask, keeping rooms well ventilated, avoiding crowds, cleaning your hands, and coughing into a bent elbow or tissue.”
World Health OrganizationI think it safe to assume that Dr. Youngblood wore a mask every time he performed surgery and required all support personnel in the operating theater to do the same. This is because the medical establishment has known since the late 1800s that face masks help prevent the spread of pathogens.
The Mayor
Traditionally, our school board elections have been nonpartisan, so it’s unusual that Mayor Bailey is so deeply involved, especially with an extremist group like Awaken/RMNNT.
Over the past century, Coronado has had numerous mayors with vastly different political perspectives, but they all shared one thing in common: They put our community first and partisan politics were kept on the back burner. Most of our mayors were longtime residents with deep ties to Coronado and no further political ambitions... but not so today.
While the mayor enjoys a First Amendment right to engage in this behavior, the citizens of Coronado also have the right to know what their mayor is up to.
Coronado: We Are Better Than This
DO THE RESIDENTS OF CORONADO WANT A SCHOOL BOARD WHOSE TRUSTEES WILL SERVE ALL OF OUR STUDENTS, OR ONE ENDORSED BY A RADICAL RELIGIOUS/POLITICAL GROUP SEEKING TO IMPOSE ITS WILL UPON OTHERS?
Our Coronado Public Schools, which my son attended from K-12, have long provided a high level of academic excellence and form an integral part of the fabric of our wonderful community.
The pandemic presented our schools, teachers, and students with unprecedented challenges that were greatly exacerbated by the relentless attacks on our school board. Now it’s far past time to put an end to the harangues, disruptions and disinformation and support our schools as they move forward into the future.
This means saying a resounding NO to the Awaken/RMNNT endorsed candidates and electing mature, responsible Coronado residents who will dedicate themselves to lifting up public education in our community instead of tearing it down.
My recommendations for Coronado School Board:
FULL TERM
Stephanie Anderson | Alexia Palacios Peters | Mal Sandie
PARTIAL TERM
Renee Cavanaugh
Electing these well-qualified, dedicated, highly experienced community members will send a positive message to our schools, our teachers, and most importantly, to our students, letting them know that we have their best interests in mind.
It also signals that true “local control” includes not allowing our school board to be influenced by an outside group run by an eccentric preacher from another country who claims God sent him here to play politics as part of a radical quasi-religious revolution.
It’s up to us Coronado. We truly are better than this.
Read the Voice of San Diego Expose on Awaken Church
View the RMNNT Paramilitary Video
NOTE: I contacted Coronado Mayor Richard Bailey and asked if he is a member of Awaken, if he subscribes to its political philosophy and the militant stance of RMNNT, and if he has trained/advised any Coronado candidates. As of the publishing of this post he has not provided any answers.
I also have reached out to candidates Meglioli, Youngblood and Machin.
Mr. Youngblood has responded, “I have never met or spoken with any representative of this group, solicited an endorsement, or actually had even heard of this organization. Thus, I politely declined their endorsement.” However, his name remains on the RMNNT endorsement guide. Youngblood also calls the RMNNT video “off-putting,” and adds, “To the extent they are implying any sort of insurrection or conflict, I certainly reject that.”
As of the publishing of this post, I have not received responses from Meglioli or Machin. I will update this blog if/when they, or the mayor, respond.