The Republican Party and the Radical Religious Right Agenda Exposed.
Enforced Uniformity of Religion by the Radical Religious Right and the Breakdown of Democracy in the United States.
It was religious
persecution that drove settlers from Europe to the British North American
Colonies in the seventeenth century which sprang from the conviction held by
Protestants and Catholics alike, that uniformity of religion must exist in any
given society. This conviction rested on
the belief that there was one true religion and that it was the duty of the
civil authorities to impose it, forcibly if necessary, in the interest of
saving the souls of all citizens. Nonconformists could expect no mercy and
might be executed as heretics. The
dominance of the concept, denounced by Roger Williams as "enforced
uniformity of religion," meant majority religious groups who controlled
political power punished dissenters in their midst. In some areas Catholics
persecuted Protestants, in others Protestants persecuted Catholics, and in
still others Catholics and Protestants persecuted wayward coreligionists.
Even though our colonies were founded on Christian values and
were a “Religious Refuge” our government was not founded on the Christian
Religion, that is to say,
America is not a Christian
theocracy or a state where the church has political power, as the religious
authorities in other nations have power -- which is something no one argues for
America and yet here in the 21st Century we are dangerously close to
the same persecutions from the “Christian Right” as they were in the old
country (Europe).
Fortunately for us on December 15, 1791 our founding fathers
ratified the “Bill Of Rights”. THE Conventions of a number of the
States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a
desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that
further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as
extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure
the beneficent ends of its institution.
Amendment I
Congress
shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or
the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government
for a redress of grievances.
Twenty-five
years ago, dominionists
targeted the Republican Party as the vehicle through which they could
advance their agenda. At the same time, a small group of Republican strategists
targeted fundamentalist, Pentecostal and charismatic churches to expand the
base of the Republican Party. This is not about traditional Republicans or
conservative Christians. It is about the manipulation of people of a certain
faith for political power. It is about the rise of dominionists in the U.S.
federal government.
As
we listen to the current cadre of Republican candidates vying for their party’s
nomination for President of the United States, be aware of their sermons and identify
where they are as dominionists. Learn to
recognize the signs that define and identify the dominionists. We have all heard statements coming from the
mouths of the candidates as they speak to their Evangelical Religious Right base
and supporters since the beginning of their campaigns that identify them as
Dominionists of one definition or another.
Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio, Carly Fiorino just to
name the top few.
TRIUMPHALISM.
: An attitude or feeling of victory or superiority: as. A: the attitude that
one religious creed is superior to all others. B: smug or boastful pride in the
success or dominance of one's nation or ideology over others.
DOMINIONISM. is defined
as the tendency of politically active conservative Christians to try to control the government. Christians should rule the
world.
Soft
Dominionists are Christian nationalists. They believe that
Biblically-defined immorality and sin breed chaos and anarchy. They fear that
America's greatness as God's chosen land has been undermined by liberal secular
humanists, feminists, and homosexuals. Purists want litmus tests for issues of
abortion, tolerance of gays and lesbians, and prayer in schools. Their vision
has elements of theocracy, but they stop short of calling for supplanting the
Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Hard
Dominionists believe all of this, but they want the United States to
be a Christian theocracy. For them the Constitution and Bill of Rights are
merely addendums to Old Testament Biblical law. They claim that Christian MEN with specific theological beliefs
are ordained by God to run society. Christians and others who do not accept
their theological beliefs would be second-class citizens. This sector includes
Christian Reconstructionists, but it has a growing number of adherents in the
leadership of the Christian Right.
Dominion Theology or Theocracy: is a theocratic
ideology that seeks to implement a nation governed by conservative
Christians
ruling over the rest of society based on their understanding of biblical law, , to reclaim
America for Christ, whatever the cost. As the vice regents of God, they are to
exercise godly dominion and influence over our neighborhoods, our schools, our
government, our literature and arts, our sports arenas, our entertainment
media, our news media, our scientific endeavors -- in short, over every aspect
and institution of human society. Dominion Theology is related to theonomy,
though it does not necessarily advocate Mosaic Law
as the basis of government.
Theonomy: Biblical Law
is applicable to civil law, and theonomists propose Biblical law as the
standard by which the laws of nations may be measured, and to which they ought
to be conformed.
Christian Reconstructionism: advocate theocracy and the restoration of Mosaic Law. Christian Reconstructionism advocates
the restoration of Old Testament civil and moral laws in order to
reconstruct present American society into an Old
Testament type Mosaic form and that the three main areas of society – family,
church, government – should all be biblically modeled, the Bible being the sole
standard. This
would include severe punishments for law breakers. Some Christian Reconstructionists would
advocate death for adulterers, abortionists, idolaters, murderers, homosexuals,
rapists, etc.
Today's hard right seeks total dominion. It's packing
the courts and rigging the rules. The target is not the Democrats but democracy
itself.
Dominionists were very close to controlling all three
branches of the federal government from which they could impose their narrow
interpretation of scripture on the rest of society. People so close to full
political power are not going to go away. The American people need to maintain
vigilance and understand the history of how dominionists came to
political power. And we need to embrace democracy with a passion -- for it
was voter apathy that allowed
leaders like Pat Robertson to get so many dominionists elected to Congress in
the first place.
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