New Age Spiritual Leader Risks 'Ridicule' To Support Wash. Democrats
She is perhaps the Northwest’s most famous new age spiritual leader. JZ Knight of the Ramtha School of Enlightenment in Southwest Washington. Now Knight has a new role: major political donor. She recently wrote a $50,000 check to the state Democratic Party.
JZ Knight says she’s always been political. But she was reluctant to associate herself with the candidates she supports.
“Here’s bluntly the reason. I have not wanted to openly support candidates because I was worried that the backlash because I supported them would hurt them because of people’s ignorant perceptions about me.”
Knight draws students from all over the world to her walled academy in Yelm, Washington where she says she channels the spirit of Ramtha. Ramtha is described on the school’s website as a 35,000-year-old human from the ancient continent of Lemuria.
Washington Republicans had some fun with this. They sent out an email with a link to an old video of JZ Knight channeling Ramtha on the Merv Griffin show. Knight takes it personally.
“The sadness I have is that though I’m a taxpaying citizen of Washington state, that I’m ridiculed for what I’m doing.”
Knight is concerned about a range of issues including: women’s rights, the environment, and voter ID laws. In recent years, she says she’s become a significant donor to national Democratic causes.
The gate to Ramtha's School of Enlightenment, Yelm, Washington. Photo by Richard David Ramsey via Wikipedia hide caption
But this year -– for the first time -- she’s also putting her money into Washington state politics, including direct contributions to a few individual candidates.
“I just felt like it was time to give the Democrats equal funding to what the donors of the Republican Party are throwing into this state.”
Knight says she strongly supports Democratic candidate for Governor Jay Inslee but did not instruct the Party on how to spend her $50,000 check. So far the Party has given Inslee more than $1 million. A party spokesman says he would not discuss specific donors.
On the Web: http://www.ramtha.com/content/faq.aspx
Copyright 2012 Northwest News Network