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Stephanie S.

Preface: While I certainly disagree with various aspects of Christianity, I chose to share this out of sincere concern for the rights of all people in this and other countries, not to bash Christianity. The "religious right" has an agenda I'm not sure most people are aware of. I don't think that this is a small group of people, I think it's a vast "conspiracy" to rule this country under a Christian Doctrine.
While Christianity is the dominant religion in the U.S., it's place is not, I think, in our government.

The president of the United States, George W. Bush has been advised and taught by some of the most zealous leaders of the Dominionsism movement and that fact is disconcerting. It's pretty simple to be fair and just to all people without religion. I'm afraid that Bush isn't familiar with this concept though.


Religious Tolerance

(A.K.A. CHRISTIAN RECONSTRUCTIONISM, DOMINION THEOLOGY, AND THEONOMY)

History:
Dominionism, Dominion Theology, Christian Reconstructionism, Theocratic Dominionism, and Theonomy are not denominations or faith groups. Rather, they are interrelated beliefs which are followed by members of a wide range of Christian denominations. They have no connection at all to Reconstructionist Judaism, which is a liberal group within Judaism.

Generally speaking:

Dominionism & Dominion Theology are derived from Genesis 1:26 of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament): "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'" (NIV)

Most Christians interpret this verse as meaning that God gave mankind dominion over the animal kingdom. Dominion theologians believe that that this verse commands Christians to bring all societies, around the world, under the rule of the Word of God.

Theonomy (Greek for "God's Law") includes the concept that "God’s revealed standing laws are a reflection of His immutable moral character and, as such, are absolute in the sense of being nonarbitrary, objective, universal, and established in advance of particular circumstances (thus applicable to general types of moral situations)." 6,7 Thus, each of the 613 laws given to Moses and recorded in the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Hebrew Scriptures) are binding on people of all nations, cultures, and religions forever, except for those laws which have been specifically rescinded or modified by further revelation.

Christian Reconstructionism arose out of conservative Presbyterianism in the early 1970's. Followers believe "that every area dominated by sin must be 'reconstructed' in terms of the Bible." 1

The term Reconstructionism has been used to refer to various combinations of the preceding three terms. This type of confusion is common in the field of religion. Many theological terms such as Christian, Fundamentalist, Occult, New Age, Reconstructionism, Unitarian etc. have been assigned so many different interpretations by different groups in different eras that they are almost meaningless.

Its most common form, Dominionism, represents one of the most extreme forms of Fundamentalist Christianity thought. Its followers, called Dominionists, are attempting to peacefully convert the laws of United States so that they match those of the Hebrew Scriptures. They intend to achieve this by using the freedom of religion in the US to train a generation of children in private Christian religious schools. Later, their graduates will be charged with the responsibility of creating a new Bible-based political, religious and social order. One of the first tasks of this order will be to eliminate religious choice and freedom. Their eventual goal is to achieve the "Kingdom of God" in which much of the world is converted to Christianity. They feel that the power of God's word will bring about this conversion. No armed force or insurrection will be needed; in fact, they believe that there will be little opposition to their plan. People will willingly accept it. All that needs to be done is to properly explain it to them.

All religious organizations, congregations etc. other than strictly Fundamentalist Christianity would be suppressed. Nonconforming Evangelical, main line and liberal Christian religious institutions would no longer be allowed to hold services, organize, proselytize, etc. Society would revert to the laws and punishments of the Hebrew Scriptures. Any person who advocated or practiced other religious beliefs outside of their home would be tried for idolatry and executed. Blasphemy, adultery and homosexual behavior would be criminalized; those found guilty would also be executed. At that time that this essay was originally written, this was the only religious movement in North America of which we were aware which advocates genocide for followers of minority religions and non-conforming members of their own religion. Since then, we have learned of two conservative Christian pastors in Texas who have advocated the execution of all Wiccans. Ralph Reed, the executive director of the conservative public policy group the Christian Coalition has criticized Reconstructionism as "an authoritarian ideology that threatens the most basic civil liberties of a free and democratic society."

Leading writers in the movement are:

Greg L. Bahnsen of the Southern California Center for Christian Studies.
David Chilton. He adopted hyper-preterism, (a.k.a. full or complete perterism) a particular belief about end time events. He was basically ostracized from the Christian Reconstruction camp afterwards.
Gary DeMar.
Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.
Gary North of the Institute for Christian Economics. He is a prolific author.
Larry Pratt: head of the Gun Owners of America and English First, a group opposed to non-English speaking immigrants and bilingual education. Author of "Armed People Victorious" which documents Guatemalan and Philippine militias and para-military death squads. He was campaign co-chair of the Buchanan presidential campaign in 1996.
John Quade.
Rousas John Rushdoony of the Chalcedon Foundation is often considered the founder of Christian Reconstructionism. Author of Institutes of Biblical Law. Rev. Andrew Sandlin.


Beliefs:
According to Gary DeMar, a popular Reconstructionist author, the foundation of Reconstructionism is a unique combination of three Biblical doctrines:

Regeneration of the individual, through an intimate relationship with Christ
Individuals guiding their lives closely by following a specified subset of Biblical laws
Promoting of the world-wide Kingdom of God. 2
Specific beliefs include

A rejection of Antinomianism: the belief that salvation is obtained totally through faith and not through performing good works and living a moral life
Presuppositionalism: the acceptance on faith that the Bible is true. They do not attempt to prove that God exists or that the Bible is true.
Inerrancy: the belief that the Bible, as originally written, is totally free of error.
Postmillennialism: the belief that Christ will not return to earth until much of the world has converted to Christianity. This will not take place for some considerable time; it will not be a painless transition. Most Fundamentalists and other Evangelists hold to a different view. They are Premillenialists and believe that all (or almost all) of the preconditions of Christ's return have been met. They expect Jesus' second coming to occur very soon.

The 613 laws contained in the Hebrew Scriptures' Mosaic Code can be divided into two classes: moral and ceremonial. Christians are not required to follow the ceremonial laws, because Jesus has liberated them from that responsibility. However, all persons must follow those moral laws which were not specifically modified or cancelled by further revelation --generally in the Christian Scriptures (New Testament). In contrast: Non-reconstructionist Christians generally divide these laws into three classes: moral, civil and ceremonial law, and generally believe that most Old Testament laws are no longer binding on Christians.

Jews generally believe that the Mosaic Code is binding only on Jews.

The moral laws given by God to the ancient Israelites reflect of God's character, which is unchangeable. Most of the laws are intended for all nations, cultures, societies, religions and all eras, including the present time. However, there are a few laws, in such areas as personal safety and sanitation, which are no longer applicable because of changes in architecture and sewage disposal. These do not need to be obeyed.

The primacy of the Hebrew Scriptures, relative to the Christian Scriptures (New Testament). All of the Hebrew Scriptures' non-ceremonial laws are still in force, unless they have been specifically rescinded or modified by verses in the Christian Scriptures. "Only if we find an explicit abandonment of an Old Testament law in the New Testament, because of the historic fulfillment of the Old Testament shadow, can we legitimately abandon a detail of the Mosaic law." 3 This is largely supported by their interpretation of Matthew 5:17: "Do you think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." (NIV)

Civil laws must be changed to match the Bible's moral rules. That is, anything that is immoral (by their standards) is also to be criminalized.
The only valid legislation, social theory, spiritual beliefs, economic theory are those derived from the Bible
In every aspect of life, there are only two options: God-centered or man-centered; Theonomy or autonomy. Their political goal is to ban the latter, everywhere. Each individual, family, church, government and society must be reconstructed to eliminate sin. Each Christian has the responsibility to contribute to this conversion.

They oppose inter-faith, inter-racial, and same-sex marriages. R.J. Rushdoony wrote about opposition to:"inter-religious, inter-racial, and inter-cultural marriages, in that they normally go against the very community which marriage is designed to establish." 4

Rushdoony's condemnation of inter-racial marriage appears to have been his own and unrelated to the biblical text. It was not shared by other Reconstructionists.


Reconstructionists regard the Gods and Goddesses of all other religions to be "the devil," and their teachings to be false. They would attempt to replace all religions with their version of Christianity. For example, David Chilton wrote about Judaism: "The god of Judaism is the devil. The Jew will not be recognized by God as one of His chosen people until he abandons his demonic religion and returns to the faith of his fathers--the faith which embraces Jesus Christ and His Gospel." 5


click link above for more info.

peace

__________________
"See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." —George W. Bush, Greece, N.Y., May 24, 2005 (Listen to audio)

 

Stephanie S.

To simplify....here are some examples of Christianity seeping into politics.
Religion & Government just don't work together. I believe this to be true for the US and in places like Israel where religion shapes the laws, IMO, unfairly to non-Jews.

The Republican Party reaffirms the United States of America is a Christian Nation -GOP Platform document 2002

G_d told me to strike at Al Qaida, and I struck them..and then He instructed me to strike at Saddam, and I did and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. -George W. Bush (The White House nor Bush himself have not denied this statement though there is controversy that something was lost in translation. I dunno...Allah, Adonai, G-d..all mean the same thing.)

Americans have no king but Jesus. ~Attorney General John Ashcroft

Tom DeLay said that God is using him to promote "a biblical worldview" in American politics.

"God speaks through me," George Bush (Reported in Lancaster New Era, July 16, 2004)

"I believe God has called us into action. Our country has got a responsibility, we are a great nation, we are a wealthy nation, we have a responsibility to help a neighbour in need, a brother and sister in crisis." -George W. Bush 11/7/03

"I also have this belief, strong belief, that freedom is not this country's gift to the world; freedom is the Almighty's gift to every man and woman in this world. And as the greatest power on the face of the Earth, we have an obligation to help the spread of freedom." -George W. Bush RE: War in Iraq


peace

smoke_j

I have a few theonomist friends. I personally am undecided on the issue, but I do know that Dr. Greg Bahnsen (who you mentioned) is a genius. He has debated many of the country's top atheist minds about the existance of God and he always seems to mop the floor with them. I think you can find a recording of one of the debates online.

Lots of the people quoted in your second post (especially George W) are not very good Christian examples regardless of what they say. I know they are not theonomists.

Arcturus

There was a great article along these lines in the Village Voice (in NYC) over the summer. The long and short of it is that there is no practical way of seperating Church and State when the Executive branch is convinced that the end times are near, ala the book of Revelations.

The guy with his hand on the button believes in fairy tales. Anyone worried?

edit: What's a theonomist?

smoke_j

A theonomist is someone who believes that certain OT laws are still binding today and that we should strive to institute an OT style government.

Theonomists and the "Christian right" are not necessarily the same thing. The Christian right are looking for Christian political solutions. Theonomists are looking for civil law based entirely on biblical law (which they see as the only justifiable civil government). Also, unlike the "Christian right" many theonomists are not usually Bush fans and they aren't super conservative in the way you normally think of the word. They typically drink and smoke (even swear...oooh) like many Americans.

They do not want the church ruling over the state (which would be an ecclesiocracy). Instead they want both church and state to independantly reform to God's law.

There is more but I am too tired to type...

 

MickityMike

I'm not convinced that statements from the US administration affirming their beliefs in Christianity equate to the building of a Christian theocracy. Sure, the less religious among us and perhaps those of differing faiths will find this sort of thing annoying (and understandably so), but it seems that there exists scant evidence to justify any reaction much above mere annoyance and eye-rolling.

I’ll be worried when going to church becomes mandatory, all non-Christians are removed to camps at the edge of town, and the Statue of Liberty is replaced with a giant statue of Jesus.

__________________
I'd be delighted to live in a country where happily married gay couples had closets full of assault weapons. - Glenn Reynolds

Puffer

Originally posted by Stephanie S.:
And George Duhbya Bush!

God is also teaching Tom DeLay political ethics.

If true, then God must be an idiot. Or is Duhbya just passing the buck?

Should the religious reformers have their way, you can bet we're headed back to the dark ages.

__________________
Just say "know" to marijuana!

Stephanie S.

This concerns me:
"The Republican Party reaffirms the United States of America is a Christian Nation" -GOP Platform document 2002


So, after those things happen, then you'll worry? With the majority political party in the US making statements like, "The US is a Christian nation," I worry. Yes, this country was founded in large part by Christians (I don't know the exact religious make-up of all of the pilgrims.), but the fact that Christianity is the majority religion in the US doesn't mean our country and its laws should be shaped by a Christian Doctrine.

If one does not know how to "do the right thing" regardless of their religious belief, the one will just have a screwed up country. When an entire political party professes to "reaffirm" that the US is a Christian nation...well, I see a need to begin some kind of action to ensure that the State and the Church remain quite separate institutions.

Our public schools create a haven for people to profess their religious beliefs to students. Well before I began my journey into Judaism on more than one occasion, I've seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears teachers say out loud to their entire class, "Pray to Jesus, boys & girls...." Once after a boy flipped over in his chair and left the room bleeding, those were the exact words of the teacher. On another occasion, the entire staff of a fairly large school district outside Houston joined together the day before school began and among other topics covered that day, was a moment of prayer, in the school auditorium, lead by the local Baptist preacher..and "In Jesus' name we pray....amen." I was stunned. I could go on naming events where school staff promote religion in the public schools. There is enough to teach and enough for students to learn without shoving religious doctrine down their throats. If Christianity so dominates within our schools, is Taught in our schools, then I have worries that it has certainly seeped into other aspects of our public, government institutions.

Mine is not a concern for people of different religions so much as I'm concerned for the sake of autonomy, people just doing the right thing, make laws and run this country based on the will of the people, not the will of their religion.

peace

MickityMike

Is that referring to the foundations of our society, a general philosophy, or a desire to implement some sort of Christian theocratic state? I find that statement a bit cliched and tiresome, but not worrying.

Are they advocating that a state religion be adopted, or just that our laws be shaped by reflecting a Christian philosophy? Again, I can see how that might be offensive to those who aren’t Christian and even to those who are (and yeah, I’m Christian, but politicians advocating Christian-based morality in laws kinda irritates me), but I just don’t find this worrisome.

What is doing the “right thing” based on? One’s individual set of morals? Well, if that’s the case, then where do people get their morals? I’d say that a fairly large percentage of people get their morality from their Faith – be that “Faith” part of a traditional religion or not, most of us do have morals, and morals are very difficult to pin down to one specific source.

You want evidence to support something that’s not happening? What sort of evidence would you need? If I see evidence to support the belief held by some that the GOP is trying to turn the country into a Christian theocracy, then I’ll be concerned.

I’ve gone to public school all my life and never once can remember anyone bringing up Jesus, God, Mohammed, Sasquatch, Satan, a mystical asteroid (no Kool-Aid for me, thanks), or any other religious figure.

Mine too. And so far, I’ve seen tons more instances of legislators and jurists enacting and interpreting legislation based upon the Constitution and the rule of law than I have anyone’s ideal religion. Sure, it does happen, but when it does, it doesn’t seem to last too long. I think gay marriage bans are an example of this. I think most people who are against gay marriage are mainly so because of their personal beliefs. But looking at the demographics, that too will change eventually.

Maybe I’m totally wrong and any day now I’ll be shipped off into the not-Christian-enough reeducation camps at the edge of town, but I’m also not going to hold my breath waiting for it to happen.

Stephanie S.

Well, I have this silly fantasy where everyone comes to the basic understanding of the concept of Karma. Not so much in the, "Wow man, you're aura is like, pink," sense as in the simple understanding of the principles of energy, that what you put out into the world is pretty much what you get back, etc. I and lots of other people I know developed this understanding without religion.

When/if an elected official or other public servant allows religious belief to shape decisions in their workplace, they are, in essence, bringing the pulpit onto the workplace.

Mike, you've implied before that you were taught by nuns (maybe you were joking?) and say here that you've never heard a teacher infuse his or her religious beliefs into their teaching. Well, I've observed and or participated in dozens of teachers' classes, in rural, suburban and inner city schools. I've been to the "good side of town" and the "bad side of town" schools and the number of times I've heard and/or seen a public school employee infuse their religious belief into their teaching is well, I dunno the exact number, I've just seen it a lot, dozens of times. My son's Christmas program was nothing but Christmas music, the principal sang the second verse of Silent Night for the love of Pete, singing his praises to Christ, in the school. (I personally teach "Holiday's Around the World" during December, it's not necessary to sing a praise to Jesus in school and really, it's against the law.)

peace