Dangers of Dominionism
AN EXPLANATION OF DOMINIONISM
Dominionism is also known as Christian Reconstructionism, Christian Identity, Christian Nationalism, Covenant Theology, Christian Zionism, Post Millennialism, Dispensationalist, and Armageddonism.
This plague on
Dominionism goes well beyond conservative evangelism. Dominionists’ overarching goal is to rule the
Extremist Islamist militants have their own version of this, but since it is quite different from what we cover in this particular article, their version shall be laid out in a separate article.
While all of these groups have three common goals (1: Replacement of the U.S. Government with a Christian Theocracy; 2: Replacement of our laws with Old Testament Law, which will reinstate slavery, subjugate women; 3: Triggering a nuclear war and thus Armageddon in the Middle East, after which they believe Jews will either convert or be sent to Hell and Christians will rule the world), the groups do not all have every single little point of their theology set in concrete. The movement’s participants make for strange bedfellows, ranging from extreme fundamentalist Christians to atheist Jews that support Eretz Y’Israel (expanding Israel to the biblical borders, requiring the conquest of the lands of the Palestinian Territories, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Saudi Arabia; replacing Israel’s government with a theocracy), to neo-Nazis, White Supremacists (who are a big part of this movement), skinheads, the KKK, tax protestors, “Moonies”, even anarchists. Dominionists have established training camps for young children to train them as “Holy Warriors”, and suicide bombers (more on that later, including video from the training camps.) While not all Dominionist groups share the same religious theology and tradition (for example, extremist Christian, atheism, paganism and Odinism), they all share the same theology of triggering a final war in the
FBI Director Louis Freeh testified to Congress that this movement is considered the most dangerous domestic terrorist movement in the
What follows is a very brief summary of some of their beliefs and a listing of a small portion of their organizations and leadership. Many of these groups and people can be found as prominent racists on the Chasing Evil site by using the Search box at the top or in the left column.
What remains a mystery is the connection of so many of the leading individuals to child pornography. We will continue to explore that connection and report back on our findings.
There are five basic principles of Christian Reconstructionism, summarized here:
First, Dominionists believe that God should be at the center of every activity, not just spiritual ones. Faith should be applied to art, education, and politics "no less than to church, prayer, evangelism, and Bible study."
Second, Dominionists are theonomists (theonomy: "God's Law"), meaning that laws are only righteous and just when they follow what the Bible -- primarily the Old Testament -- says. Law should serve three purposes: 1) To make other people Christian, 2) To provide a standard set of rules for all Christians, and 3) to maintain civil order. This has several frightening implications. Dominionists believe that non-Christian religions will be suppressed, that women will have their political rights stripped away, and that a return to slavery would be fulfilling God's will.
Third, Dominionists do not try and rationally come to a conclusion about whether the Bible is true or not. They believe in its infallibility regardless of evidence or reason. The Bible, being (they believe) the word of God, is above questioning. Similar to fundamentalist Muslims who believe the only book of any import is the Koran, Dominionists believe the Bible is the ultimate arbiter in all disputes, minor or major.
Fourth, Dominionists believe in the imminent return of Christ and a kingdom in his name will be established. The Left Behind series of books by LaHaye are a good summation of this belief. This ties into their literal interpretation and absolute belief in the Bible: some interpretations of the book of Revelation in the Bible purport to predict such a future. Due to their belief that the world must first be prepared for Jesus’ return, they zealously pursue their political goals.
Finally, Dominionists are Dominionists. In the context of modern
Beliefs of Dominionists
Civil Liberties -
Constitution – (
Death Penalty - Since the Hebrew Scriptures have many offenses whose punishment is death, Dominionists are staunch supporters of the death penalty. They feel the death penalty should also be given to adulterers, blasphemers, heretics, homosexuals, prostitutes, witches, abortionists, idolaters, heretics, etc., as proscribed by the Old Testament. The death penalty would apply for such offenses as children being rude to their parents, anyone wearing clothing of mixed fabrics, eating shellfish, letting different foods touch on one’s plate, and working on the Sabbath.
Slavery - There is debate among Dominionists about whether or not slavery should be reinstituted, but the general consensus is that blacks would be forced into slavery, deported or held in concentration camps where they could “breed” new slaves.
Women - Would have their status reduced to that of a slave and would be absolutely required to be subservient to men. Women would be considered “chattel” (property) of men. Women would not be allowed to ever contradict or teach men. Women would be required to wear head-to-toe covering at all times, and would be prohibited from wearing makeup or jewelry or any kind. Any woman who is not a virgin on her wedding night would be executed.
Voting – Only white Dominionist men would be allowed to vote.
Homosexuals – Would be summarily executed.
Evolution - Since evolution flatly contradicts a strict interpretation of the creationist story told in Genesis, Dominionists are in deep opposition to it, and would require the teaching of Young Earth Creationism.
Jews – In Dominionist beliefs, once they (the Dominionists) bring Jesus back to earth at Armageddon, He will force all Jews to either convert to Christianity or be sent to hell. The final result is the end of Judaism.
Income Taxes - For Dominionists, income taxes are antithetical to Old Testament teachings, and are therefore to be eliminated. Further, lowering the income received by the government will hasten a crisis which, they believe, will allow them an opportunity to replace much of the existent federal government with a more theocratic state.
Non-Dominionists – Would be offered the choice of converting to Dominionism, be imprisoned in concentration camps, or forcibly deported. (“Ethnic Cleansing”)
Rep. Tom DeLay, Rep. Joseph R. Pitts, Rep. Ron Young, Sen. Sam Brownback, and others are all supporters of the Dominionist agenda. Pres. Bush's policies are more often than not in total synchrony with Dominionist desires, and he has been energetically embraced by them. Most of the current administration's policies can be tied together under a common thread when looked at as an execution of Dominionist thought, and this is truly frightening for Americans of all religious traditions.
These evangelicals believe in a relatively new and controversial theological view of the last things called Dispensationalism. This is a view popularized by the visions of a Scottish girl in 1830. John Darby of the Plymouth Brethren adopted and adapted her visions to form a kind of premillennialism known as pretribulationism.
This type of eschatology has been popularized by the Scofield Reference Bible, Hal Lindsey’s The Late, Great Planet Earth, and Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind series. The view that was widely taught was this: the Second Coming is a single event when all history is
consummated: Christ appears, all the dead (believers and unbelievers) are resurrected and judged, and eternity in the new heaven and new earth begins. This is what is known as amillennialism, which regards the thousand years of Revelation 20:1-6 as symbolic of a very long, but complete, period of time – the “last days” or “last hour” between the two comings of Christ (Acts 2:16-17; 1 Cor. 10:11; Heb. 1:2; 9:26; 1 Pet. 1:20; 1 John 2:18).
If Rousas Rushdoony (said to be the father of Dominionist theology, who founded the Chalcedon Foundation ) and his disciples had their way, democracy would be abolished and a Christian theocracy would be established. A theocracy based on the Bible along the lines of John Cotton’s Massachusetts Bay Colony. Openly identifying with Rushdoony and the Dominionist movement is problematic for people in the public eye because Rushdoony was an adamant opponent of the First Amendment to the constitution. His magnum opus, published in 1973, is an 800 page tome patterned after Calvin’s Institutes of the Christian Religion that Rushdoony entitled The Institutes of Biblical Law. On page 294, Rushdoony gives an indication why he believes that the American system of pluralistic democracy is heresy. He wrote, “In the name of toleration, the believer is asked to associate on a common level of total acceptance with the atheist, the pervert, the criminal, and the adherents of other religions.”
Rushdoony wrote, “The only true order is founded on Biblical Law. All law is religious in nature, and every non-Biblical law-order represents an anti-Christian religion.” (p. 113) He also made it clear that he expects that force will be necessary to impose such order, “Every law-order is in a state of war against the enemies of that order, and all law is a form of warfare.” (p. 93)
At its root, Reconstructionism is a militant Biblicism. In many ways, it is a revival of the holy war theology of the Hebrew Bible under the guise of Christianity. The chief difference being that Dominionists believe they have a mandate to claim more than the
The United States Constitution calls for three branches of government. In order to impose their agenda on the country, Religious Right legislators have been attempting to undermine one of the branches of government -- an independent judiciary.
Christian Coalition activists "absolutely despise the federal courts," according to author and journalist Rob Boston who attended the Coalition's most recent Road to Victory gathering.
And they want their fundamentalist religious viewpoint to be the law of the land for everyone.
Rob Boston reports in Church and State, November, 2004:
Despite the Christian Coalition's best efforts, those pesky federal courts keep upholding the Bill of Rights and the separation of church and state. But not to worry, the group has a plan to fix that: take away the right of the courts to hear those cases in the first place. This bold gambit, called "court stripping," is all the rage among the Religious Right these days.
Katherine Yurica has transcripts of Pat Robertson's television show, the 700 Club from 1985 where he explained his strategy to strip the federal judiciary of its constitutional powers:
Robertson wanted to reduce or eliminate the power of the judiciary. He denied that the Constitution provides a system of checks and balances between three separate and equal branches of government...
In fact, Robertson went further: he denied that the judiciary is a co-equal branch of the government. Instead, he saw the judiciary as a department of the legislative branch, which he believed was the dominant center of power in the nation. His reasoning went like this: Since Congress has complete authority to establish the lower federal courts and to establish "the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court," the court system is necessarily subordinate to the legislative. Robertson's idea was that congress could control the court by using its power to intimidate. For example, he said, "Congress could say 'There's a whole class of cases you can't hear' and there's nobody can do anything about it!"
Representative John Hostetler, R-IN, said at the recent Christian Coalition gathering: "When the courts make unconstitutional decisions, we should not enforce them," he told attendees. "Federal courts have no army or navy. The court can opine, decide, talk about, sing, whatever it wants to do. We're not saying they can't do that. At the end of the day, we're saying the court can't enforce its opinions."
The Hostettler Amendment and Marriage Protection Act:
Hostettler authored two court-stripping bills that passed the House. On July 23, 2003, the U.S. House of Representatives approved by a vote of 260-161 an amendment to an appropriations bill that bars the use of federal funds to enforce the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that ordered the removal of a two-ton Ten Commandments monument from the
One year later, almost to the day, he drafted the Marriage Protection Act. On July 23, 2004, with strong backing from the Bush administration, the Marriage Protection Act was adopted in the U.S. House of Representatives 233 to 194. The bill would strip the federal courts of jurisdiction over legal challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a federal law passed in 1996 that purports to leave the recognition of same-sex marriage entirely to each state.
To read comments on the Marriage Protection Act, Click here.
The Constitution Restoration Act of 2004, is the ultimate court-stripping measure introduced into both houses of Congress on February 11, 2004. Contrary to the intentions of the framers of the U.S. Constitution who wrote a Godless Constitution, it includes the acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law, and threatens with "impeachment" and "conviction" judges who uphold church state separation. To read the Thomas Report from the Library of Congress click here.
This link lists the thirty-nine original cosponsors of the Constitution Restoration Act as of September 22, 2004. (Two have since retired.)
To read about the Constitution Restoration Act, 2005, click here. The sponsor is Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL). For the five co-sponsors, click here.
The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments are the foundation of Biblical Law, so placing them in public buildings has great symbolic value.
A Presbyterian Minister by the name of Rousas Rushdoony spearheaded the Christian Reconstruction movement when his book, The Institutes of Biblical Law, was published in 1973. The three-volume, 1,894 page treatise examines each commandment of the Decalogue in detail, showing the application and implications of each.
A Constitution that conforms to Biblical Law will rely on the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament as its guiding source. Dominionist lawmakers are trying to pass legislation in various state legislatures that would allow government posting of the Ten Commandments in public buildings.
One such bill, The Ten Commandments Defense Act, H.R. 2045, has 116 sponsors in the U.S. House of Representatives. Rep. Robert B. Aderholt, (R-Ala.) author of the bill said during an interview with TV preacher Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network, "The Supreme Court does not always have the final authority over the interpretation of the Constitution." At last reading, the bill had 116 sponsors.
Enforcing Biblical Law
Journalist Frederick Clarkson reports on the views of Rev. Joseph Morecraft, pastor of the Dominionist Chalcedon Presbyterian Church in
"In his book, and especially when speaking at the 1993 Biblical World View and Christian Education Conference, Morecraft discussed with relish the police power of the state. His belief in the persecution of nonbelievers and those who are insufficiently orthodox is crystal clear. Morecraft described democracy as "mob rule," and stated that the purpose of "civil government" is to "terrorize evil doers. . . to be an avenger!" he shouted, "To bring down the wrath of God to bear on all those who practice evil!"
"And how do you terrorize an evil doer?" he asked. "You enforce Biblical law!" The purpose of government, he said, is "to protect the
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
Supreme Court Justice Scalia is the person who could have the greatest impact in helping the Religious Right establish its sovereignty. President Bush has talked about Scalia as the justice he admires the most.
In an article published in First Things, a journal of religion and public life, in May, 2002, Scalia quotes
"...Government...derives its moral authority from God. It is the minister of God with powers to "avenge" to "execute wrath" including even wrath by the sword (which is unmistakenly a reference to the death penalty)."
Scalia appears hostile to Democracy: The "consensus" [that government is the minister of God]
"has been upset, I think by the emergence of democracy...It is much more difficult to see the hand of God...behind the fools and rogues...we ourselves elect of our own free will."
He sees democracy as obscuring the divine authority:
"the reaction of people of faith to this tendency of democracy to obscure divine authority...should [be] the resolution to combat it as effectively as possible."
Scalia views the United States Constitution as "dead" rather than as a living document that evolves along with society.
"...the Constitution that I interpret is not living but dead...It means today not what current society (much less the Court) thinks it ought to mean, but what it meant when it was adopted."
This view of the US Constitution as "dead" could become the basis of a strategy to dismantle the separation of church and state. In a speech on January 12, 2003, at a Religious Freedom Day event, Scalia said that the principle was not imbedded in the constitution and therefore should be added democratically, which means through a constitutional amendment. An amendment to the Constitution on church-state separation would be impossible to achieve in the current political climate, so the argument is disingenuous.
Scalia, speaking to a crowd of about 150 in
"Scalia sounds like a TV preacher, not a Supreme Court justice," said the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United. "His job is to uphold the Constitution, not promote religiosity."
Scalia, States Rights, and "Legitimate Medical Procedures", Talk To Action, January 23, 2006
Supreme Zealotry (Post editorial about Supreme Court Justice Scalia), Washington Post, March 8, 2005
ORGANIZATIONS that have been described as Dominionist (theocratic) or are closely allied with Dominionist goals include (but are not limited to):
American Family Association[29]
Council for National Policy[26]
Family Research Council[20][29]
National Religious Broadcasters[20][15]
Ohio Restoration Project[20][24]
Council of Conservative Citizens
Traditional Values Coalition[23]
Aryan Nations
ACT! For
Christians United for
Regnery Publishers
Castle Rock Foundation
Kingdom Ministries
Center for Security Policy
Stop the Madrassa
National
Stormfront
Combat 18
The Order
The Remnant
Tim LaHaye Ministries
Concerned Women for
United American Committee
Jews for Jesus
Campus Crusade for Christ's Military Ministry
Marshall Minutes Military Ministries
In Pursuit! Ministries
Heritage Foundation
Foundation for the Defense of Democracies
The Minutemen
Army of God
INDIVIDUALS that have been indentified as Dominionist leaders or closely allied with Dominionist goals (not an all inclusive list):
Eric Robert Rudolph
Jesse Petrilla
Bo Gritz
Meir Weinstein (aka Meir Halevi)
Michael Marshal
Cristy Li
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
http://www.kuro5hin.org/story/2004/5/21/13392/6893%20
Christian Reconstructionism - A general description and history
Fanatics of the far right - Older article describing the interplay between high government officials and various Dominionist groups
Christian Reconstruction - Copy of a post made to soc.religion.christian
Christian Reconstructionism, Dominion Theology, And Theonomy
Operation Potomac - How Dominionists are taking advantage of the current trend towards "faith based" charities
For a primer on Christian nationalism, see: History is Powerful: Why the Christian Right Distorts History and Why it Matters.
http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/2/27/184755/291
http://www.countercurrents.org/sikand110608.htm
http://www.mainstreambaptists.org/mob4/dominionism.htm
http://www.publiceye.org/top_antidem.html
Home Page for The Christian Right and Theocracy
The Christian Right Seeks Dominion: On the Road to Political Power & Theocracy (Sara Diamond)
Christian Reconstructionism [very, very long] (Frederick Clarkson)
Behind the Culture War to Restore Traditional Values [very long] (Chip Berlet & Margaret Quigley)
Top Theocratic Right Groups (Institute for First Amendment Studies)
Who's Behind the Culture Wars? (Mark Schapiro)
Dominionists, Militias & Racists
ARTICLES
A MARRIAGE MADE FOR HEAVEN
By Daniel Levitas
Reform Judaism Magazine, SUMMER 2003 Vol. 31, No. 4
Religious Right Relishing Road Map's Collapse:
Fundamentalist Leaders Want Bush To Add Palestinians To List Of Targets For War Against Terrorism
By Bill Berkowitz
Online column, Working for Change, November 21, 2003.
Gershom Gorenberg, 2002, "Unorthodox Alliance: Israeli And Jewish Interests Are Better Served By Keeping A Polite Distance From The Christian Right," Washington Post, October 11, p. A37, online archive, http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A10067-2002Oct10
Ann E. Hafften, 2003, "Challenge the Implications of 'Christian Zionism,'" Journal of Lutheran Ethics, February 19, onlinehttp://www.elca.org/jle/articles/contemporary_issues/article.hafften_ann_e.html
Corinne Whitlatch, 2003, "Christian Commitment to Peacemaking is Distorted by Christian Zionists," Churches for Middle East Peace Newsletter, online http://www.cmep.org/newsletter/2003June.htm
Practice Safe Politics
Conceptual Art Action
Jewish Women Watching
Meet the new Zionists
The Guardian/UK
The members of the Christian Coalition of
Unorthodox Alliance
Israeli and Jewish interests are better served by keeping a polite distance from the Christian right.
By Gershom Gorenberg
Will fundamentalist Christians and Jews ignite apocalypse?
By MARGOT PATTERSON
National Catholic reporter
An Unholy Alliance in Support of Israel
by Jo-Ann Mort
Why do Christian Zionists support Israel?
The Rapture Factor:
Why conservative Christians' love of
By Deborah Caldwell
Khurram Husain, 2003, "Neocons: The Men Behind The Curtain," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, November/December, Vol. 59, No. 6, pp. 62–71;http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2003/nd03/nd03husain.html
Chip Berlet, 1998, "Dances with Devils: How Apocalyptic and Millennialist Themes Influence Right Wing Scapegoating and Conspiracism," The Public Eye, Vol. 12, Nos. 2 & 3, Fall, revised version online, http://www.publiceye.org/apocalyptic/Dances_with_Devils_1.html
There are still some Protestant apocalyptics that see the
Apocalypticism, Christian Evangelicalism, & God's War Plans
Culture, Religion, Apocalypse, and Middle East Foreign Policy, Berlet & Aziz
Apocalypticism and Millennialism
MISCELLANEOUS REFERENCES
Dobson's Family Research Council is identified as an dominionist organization by TheocracyWatch[10][11], which says that the Congressional scorecard of the Family Research Council illustrates its success and the strength of dominionists in Congress.[12] It is claimed that Dobson's teachings include many tenets of the Dominionist movement.[13] He was also identified as a dominionist by Molly Ivins[14] and Chris Hedges.[15]
In a Salon.com column, Joe Conason says that Huckabee alluded to his Dominionist intentions when he stated, "I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God, and that's what we need to do is to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards." while campaigning in Michigan in January, 2008.[17] An associated Salon.com article says Huckabee has also been associated with several prominent dominionists including D. James Kennedy and George Grant.[18]
Kennedy was considered a conservative evangelical minister who was often involved in political activities within the Christian right and has been identified as a leader of the Dominionism movement.[19][20][21][22] He wrote and coauthored several political works such as What if America Were a Christian Nation Again? and The Rewriting of America's History, arguing that the United States was founded as a Christian nation.
VIDEO/AUDIO REFERENCES & RESOURCES
"Are We Becoming a Theocracy?"
Joan Bokaer's talk at the
Play the Real Video version. Works best on faster connections.
(Check the TheocracyWatch Materials page to get a copy of this video on DVD.)
"Christian Zionists: Major Players in the Middle-East"
recorded April 18, 2005, 32 minutes
Play the MP3 audio version.
Play the Real Audio version
"The Rise of Dominionism"
Recorded October 11, 2004, 44 minutes
Play the Real Video version. Works best on faster connections. Dialup users can try the audio only version.
Play the (Windows) WMV Video version. This is a full motion, but low resolution video for 256Kbps or faster connections.
View the QuickTime Video version.
(Check the TheocracyWatch Materials page to get a copy of this video on DVD.)
"The Rise of Dominionism"
Recorded October 6, 2004, 41 minutes
Play the MP3 audio version.
Play the Real Audio version.
(Check the TheocracyWatch Materials page to get a copy of this presentation on audio CD.)
FOOTNOTES AND MORE REFERENCES
1. Sandlin, Andrew. "The Creed of Christian Reconstructionism". Retrieved 23 September 2007.
2. ^ Sandlin, Andrew, 1998. "A Reconstructionist Manifesto". Retrieved 23 September 2007.
3. ^ An interview with R. J. Rushdoony. Accessed June 9, 2007.
4. ^ William Edgar. "The passing of R. J. Rushdoony". First Things. August/September 2001.
5. ^ Gary North. "R. J. Rushdoony, R.I.P.". LewRockwell.com. Feb. 10, 2001.
6. ^ a b c d Clarkson, Frederick. 1995. Christian Reconstructionism: Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence. Pp. 59-80 in Eyes Right! Challenging the Right Wing Backlash. South End Press. ISBN 0896085236
7. ^ a b c d e f Diamond, Sara. 1995. Dominion Theology: The Truth About the Christian Right's Bid for Power. Z Magazine, reprinted by PublicEye.
8. ^ Novak, Robert D. "Baptists Not on Board", Washington Post, December 20, 2007. Retrieved on2007-12-24.
9. ^
10. ^ The Rise of the Religious Right in the Republican Party [1]TheocracyWatch, Last updated: March 2006; URL accessed April 29, 2006.
11. ^ Taking Over the Republican PartyTheocracyWatch, Last updated: February 2005; URL accessedApril 29, 2006.
12. ^ "Dominionist Influence in The U.S. Congress", TheocracyWatch, Last updated: December 2005; URL accessed April 23, 2006.
13. ^ Goldberg, Michelle (2007-01-08), “The holy blitz rolls on”, Salon
14. ^ All Hail James Dobson Molly Ivins. Daily Camera (
15. ^ a b c Hedges, Chris. "Feeling the hate with the National Religious Broadcasters", Harper's, May 2005. Retrieved on 2007-04-11.
16. ^ The Changing Of The Guard: Biblical Principles for Political Action, 1987, pp. 50 - 51"Christians have an obligation, a mandate, a commission, a holy responsibility to reclaim the land for Jesus Christ – to have dominion in the civil structures, just as in every other aspect of life and godliness....World conquest. That's what Christ has commissioned us to accomplish. We must win the world with the power of the Gospel. And we must never settle for anything less....Thus, Christian politics has as its primary intent the conquest of the land – of men, families, institutions, bureaucracies, courts, and governments for the