Did you stop to wonder how the political arena in the US got so top heavy with fundamentalist Christians? Indeed, as the social fabric began to fray under the multiplicity of stressors associated with modernization, a parallel movement of “back to fundamentals” began to emerge in all three Abrahamic religions. It is not only Islam that has birthed its own variety of fundamentalism. Orthodox synagogues are seeing a swelling of congregations, and a new strain of Christianity, which is both fiercely political as well as militant in its promotion of theocracy has emerged as a potent force on the American scene.
Christian Reconstructionism (CR) has been called “the American Taliban.”
Its ideology calls for the institution of a government under Biblical law. This mandate is called “Dominionism.” Christian Reconstructionists believe that the authority to exert political control in the material world is provided in Genesis, where it is written that: “Let them [man] have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
According to CR, this dominion is also to be executed over nations, specifically the American nation, which is seen as the instrument for God’s plan to rule the world.
Heady stuff, and somewhat redolent of the belief system inherent in Islamic fundamentalism and the concomitant Sharia law. Under the mantle of a religious call to political action, CR has taken on a number of quasi- moral political issues. Not only anti-abortion, CR is also anti-welfare, anti-social programs and anti-public education.…
Rousas Rushdoony… was the founder of CR. Rushdoony wrote prolifically on the necessity for Christians to become politically active in order to secure the planet for the Almighty.
Wrote Rushdoony, “All law is religious in nature, and every non-Biblical law-order represents an anti-Christian religion.” He continues, “Every law-order is a state of war against the enemies of that order, and all law is a form of warfare.” Rushdoony, who died in 2001, was succeeded by his son in law, Gary North, as the fountainhead of literature on CR.
North, who has a PhD in History from the University of California, has laid down both economic and social principles for theonomy, or life under Biblical law. …Easy to dismiss this as "the crazy," they are gaining political momentum in the GOP and have been doing so for some time. CR and similar groups have been successful since they have a plan and are working it. It's a lesson for the Left. If these whackos can get political traction, a well-organzed Left should be able to do a lot better in that polls show that Americans at large agree more with leftist positions than rightist.
Ignore at your peril.
In fact, the “rippling surface” has become a tsunami. As reported in Theocracy Watch, “Before the midterm elections of 2006, dominionists controlled both houses of the U.S. Congress, the White House and four out of nine seats on the U.S. Supreme Court. They were one seat away from holding a solid majority on the Supreme Court.” Today, Dominionists have virtually taken over the Tea Party and their philosophy can be seen manifesting in multiple Republican party heavy weights, some publicly associated with Dominionism and others simply promoting its message: former US Senator and 2012 Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, US Senator Ted Cruz, US Senator Rand Paul, former Presidential candidate and Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin, to name a few on the national scene. On local levels, politicians waving the CR banner are legion.
Dominionism constitutes a radical departure from traditional Christianity, in which believers await Christ’s return for a millennial reign. CR teaches that the world must come under Biblical law before Christ will return. Along with its inherent bias towards unchecked capitalism and disregard for the needy, Christian Reconstructionism provides a philosophical underpinning for world domination by rich, Christian American males.
As George Grant wrote in The Changing of the Guard , Biblical Principles for Political Action: “Christians have an obligation, a mandate, a commission, a holy responsibility to reclaim the land for Jesus Christ — to have dominion in civil structures, just as in every other aspect of life and godliness. But it is dominion we are after. Not just a voice. It is dominion we are after. Not just influence. It is dominion we are after. Not just equal time. It is dominion we are after. World conquest.”
In a world increasingly dominated by United States and its political agenda, these words might raise a level of concern. If the Dominionists have their way, we may see the old battle cry of “Making the world safe for democracy” morph into its opposite: “Making the world safe for theocracy.”The upshot is that while all fellow travelers are not Dominionists, they are influenced by it and promote its work of gradual takeover by stealth.
10 comments:
So their plan to dominate the world is a race to the bottom? Or is that they will just invest in the MIC? Or are this nutjobs determined to start a nuclear war?
Moronfest.
BTW this gang looks far more dangerous: The Rehabilitationists - How a small band of determined legal academics set out to persuade the Supreme Court to undo the New Deal—and have almost won..
Ignacio imo what happens is the harder they try (human works to attempt self justification...), the more it gets f-ed up...
They turn it into a soup kitchen brigade 'to help the poor' and poverty increases...
They turn it into a marriage machine and then hetero people stop getting married while gltbs all want to get married.... (this one is really currently driving them crazy right now over here....)
they want the 'focus on the family' and then the divorce rates sky-rocket....
Etc.... then they blame it on 'el diabolo' or something .... rsp,
So we have growing divisions between liberal western ideology and these orthodox conservative movements? Around the world and within our own country. Given the strength of these conservative movements in the US, it seems like Europe is the cultural center of liberal western ideology because they have little opposition to the dominant paradigm.
Why is it significant? In a historical and philosophical context what does it indicate about us, our future, our ideas and our politics and do you think it will come to a head in a larger conflict? Those are the questions I have after reading hundreds of these posts you've had. We want to know what deeper truth Tom Hickey is getting at, or grappling with, it seems to me like you are framing these conflicts in the expectation of something much larger to form.
Religious fundamentalism - faux symbiosis
"Darwin's Cathedral" David Sloan Wilson
No more playing the religious nuts like a fiddle? Bad news for 'moderate' Republicans.
Which way are the refugees running?
Re: Heady stuff, and somewhat redolent of the belief system inherent in Islamic fundamentalism and the concomitant Sharia law.
Just a little correction. Islam, like Judaism and Hinduism comprises a revealed Law. Christianity, like Buddhism, does not. So the Islamic idea that the Shariah should be the governing law of a land is not "fundamentalism," but simply part and parcel of the religion.
As is obvious, religions, as human phenomena, vary in depth. There is somethink like an abyss between the mentality of a John Hagee, a Pat Robertson, or a Jerry Falwell, and a St. Francis or a St. Thomas Aquinas, or a St. Maximus the Confessor.
@ James
Right. The Dominionist position is "Biblical law," by which they mean the Hebrew scriptures.
'For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled."
Mt 5:18
I have read widely about Dominion Theology and its adherents. Dominionist Christians are a very dangerous group. Their intent is to establish a fascist theocratic state in America. They have absolutely no respect for the Constitution and lie about the "religious foundation" of America.
You will never defeat the Dominionists through peaceful means. They will never give up, and they will never go away on their own. Dominionism is a clear and present danger that needs a more proper response: Confrontation. What is needed to confront Dominionism head on and defeat it is a body, an organization of like-minded people who understand this danger and is willing to come together to stop it. It needs to be a movement against Dominionism, with teeth, willing to scrap with Dominionists head on, eye-ball to eye-ball and toe-to-toe, uncompromising, unmerciful, and with the gumption and will to do what is necessary to stop them. The Dominionists are at war with Secular America. It is time that people clearly understand that and act accordingly. We need to go to war with our enemy: Dominionism.
Post a Comment