Donate to or support
Talk to Action








The Indian River Incident : What You Can Do

link > The "Stop the ACLU Coalition" Shaming Project
How you can help stop "Stop The ACLU" just by sending a few emails



 'Left Behind' video game imageThe Shaming Project

does the violence of "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" bother you ? If so, what can you do ? Well, to begin with you can email Jonathan Hutson's stories to people you know. That will help to bring more public scrutiny of the game. Public shaming really works ! Just click on the "email" icon and link at the top or bottom of the story and you'll be taken to a form that will allow you email the first story, The Purpose Driven Life Takers or the latest installment without leaving this site. Thanks. 'Left Behind' video game image




Deconstructing the Dominionists, Part III
By Mahanoy Thu Oct 11, 2007 at 01:42:24 PM EST printable version print story
What is at stake here are two very different understandings of the Bible, American history, and Christianity itself, specifically what it means to be a Christian in a cosmopolitan society.  The Dominionists claim absolute validity and exclusivity for Christians, relegating adherents of any other religion to second-class status (or worse), they place the blame for America's failings and problems squarely at the feet of the political and social left, whom they regard as dangerous anti-Christian radicals.  The vast majority of American Christians, including progressive, moderate, and even many conservative Christians, celebrate the diversity of the world's religions while affirming our own commitment to the Christian tradition, we value and affirm the religious experience of our fellow Americans as well as their right to worship (or not worship) according to their own conscience, and we reaffirm our commitment to the principles of the Enlightenment and of the Founders - reason, tolerance, respect for science, personal liberty, and religious freedom.

Welcome to this third installment of my critical review of the booklet America, Return to God, edited by Thomas Wang.

Join me after the flip for more...


In this short installment we will explore an essay by the editor, Thomas Wang (dubbed "The Chinese Billy Graham"), entitled "The Neo-Pagan Drift."

Unfortunately, Wang never defines what he means by "neo-paganism," preferring to allow the term to speak for itself.  As we work through this short essay, we will soon see, however, that by "neo-paganism" Wang simply means any philosophy or ideology that is not explicitly rooted in his narrow interpretation of conservative Protestant Christianity:

In America today, a gigantic force is advancing swiftly and cunningly among every walk of life (including some Christian churches).  We call this devastating impetus the Neo-Pagan Drift.

If there be a day that America should decline and fall, it would not be due to enemy missiles or nuclear attack from the outside, but because of this neo-pagan drift from within America herself!

This "neo-pagan drift" is the reason for all of America's ills, as Wang repeatedly laments that America could again be great if only it would

go through a nation-wide self-examination, under the search light of the Spirit of God on her national purpose, integrity and allegiance to Jesus Christ.

It has been said here many times, and, sadly, it must be said again: America IS NOT and NEVER HAS BEEN a Christian nation. The fact that a majority of Americans may self-identify as Christian does not make America a Christian nation.  Any such claim is expressly forbidden by the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.  America owes no allegiance to Jesus Christ.  America owes allegiance only to its own Constitution, to the rule of law, and to the protection of the right of every citizen to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  

Wang suggests that America's fate lies in the religious conviction of its leaders.  He suggests that the President, Vice President, members of Congress, and Supreme Court Justices need only spend 15 minutes a day in prayer, and America will be healed:

Leaders of the United States must come back to God!  That old-time religion has to be once again accepted, honored, and practiced in the United States Capitol and by her people.  This is the thing that will surely save America!

To repeat: America is not a Christian nation.  It has never been a Christian nation.  At no time in the nation's history has the government of the United States sworn "allegiance to Jesus Christ."  At no time in the nation's history has any chief executive demanded faith in Jesus Christ for the salvation of the nation.  Wang's call for America's return to Christ is based on a myth, a misreading of American history, and a Dominionist ideology.  

What is most alarming in this collection of truly alarming statements by Wang is his claim that the Constitution must be subordinated to what he calls the "Constitution of God which governs the whole universe."  (I can only surmise that he means the Bible here - I've been studying theology for more than a decade and I've never heard of "God's Constitution.")

Let us be reminded that high above the Constitution of the United States is the CONSTITUTION of God which governs the whole universe!  Dare we tamper with it!  If prayer and Bible reading in our public schools are "unconstitutional," then our Constitution is unconstitutional under the Sovereign God!

Here we arrive at the true agenda of the Dominionists.  First they attempt to demonstrate a relationship between what they consider to be an unprecedented decline in American morality and the "de-Christianization" of America.  Next, they attempt to rewrite the history of the United States to emphasize its "Christian" character and issue a call for renewal.  Finally, they call for theocracy.  If the Constitution is shown to be "unbiblical" and incompatible with extreme conservative Protestant Christianity, then American constitutional democracy must be abolished and replaced with biblical law.  



Wang finally turns to public education as the prime example of America's decline:

Higher education today serves only to build up an apology for atheism.  Christian young people today continually confront human theories against the Bible; Darwin's Evolution or God's Creation?  We are not leading our young people to God through our current educational system.

[Snip]

Our education system should be operated on a God-honoring basis.  The knowledge and faith in God should be taught to our students starting from kindergarten.

This is the true intention of the Dominionists: replace the secular with the religious in every sphere of public life, including public education.  If the Establishment Clause forbids "leading our young people to God" through the public school curriculum, then the Establishment Clause should be overturned.  

The Dominionists are not content to limit religious education to the home and the church; it must be the priority of the public schools as well.  Never mind that there are adherents of other religious traditions also attending public schools.  If they do not confess Jesus Christ as their personal lord and savior, they must be converted.  Never mind that the purpose of public education is to prepare citizens for life in the secular democracy that is the United States.

Again, these Dominionist positions are rooted in the claim for Christian absolutism and exclusivity.  (I hasten to add here that not all Christian absolutists are Dominionists.  But all Dominionists are Christian absolutists.)  According to this way of thinking, Christianity is the sole true religion, and therefore all other religions are false and, by extension, manifestations of evil or, as Wang puts it, "neo-paganism."  Dominionists are not interested in religious pluralism of any type, nor are they interested in dialogue with other religious traditions or peaceful cohabitation.  They are interested in conversion and in a Christian government with free license to evangelize its citizens with public funds and public means.  



Progressive Christians and even many conservative Christians, unlike the Dominionists, tend to be religious pluralists, celebrating the diversity of human religious experience and the rich treasure of the world's religious traditions.  To Wang, anyone claiming to be a Christian while refusing to profess a Dominionist ideology is not a Christian at all.  They are the worst sort of impostor: neo-pagans in Christian disguise.  Christians who do not share the Dominionist ideology and agenda are every bit as Christian as the Dominionists (and many would argue are certainly more in line with the rich heritage of Christianity than the Dominionists ever will be).  We are Christians for a reason: we find truth in the gospel and our experience of The Divine is most effectively understood by means of the Christian tradition.  We do not require or assume that others will share this experience or understand their own religious experience in Christian terms.  We do not expect others to subscribe to our worldview before valuing them as human beings, before happily calling them fellow Americans, before working together with them for a better world.  We acknowledge with humility that our knowledge of God is limited by our finitude, by the limits of our reason, and by the conditions of history.  We do not denigrate science as anti-Christian; rather, we engage in earnest conversation with science in hopes of learning all we can about the physical universe and our place in it.  We do not feel threatened by a strict separation of church and state.  We honor the Constitution of the United States and the democratic ideals of our secular Republic.  We affirm the dignity of every human being, regardless of sex, race, class, religious belief or unbelief, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental ability, or national or ethnic identity.  Finally, it is our duty and delight to work tirelessly for peace, for justice, and for the equality of all people.

Which position looks more like the America we know and love?




Display:
Sorry for the unexplained absence last week. Computer issues know no schedule!

Thanks for dropping by.

by Mahanoy on Thu Oct 11, 2007 at 01:43:24 PM EST


Some of the Christian denominations I've had experience with, attending services regularly and occasionally: United Methodist Church, Southern Baptists, Latter Day Saints (the Mormons), Church of Christ, Church of the Nazarene, Gospel Outreach (non-denominational), Four-Square Gospel, United Pentecostal, Apostolic Faith, Seventh-Day Adventist, and others whose particular names I can't remember but distintincly recall being involved with. And most of those were during the time that I was between sixteen and twenty-two years of age. I'm fifty-two now. Around age twenty-three I did a close self-examination with this question in mind: with all that experience among such a diversified gamut of Christ-based religious faith and doctrine, could I find any reason, however tenuous, to believe that any of them were closer to the truth than any other? Additionally, was there any reason to believe in even their common foundation, the divinity of Jesus Christ? For that matter, and finally, was there any reason to believe that any such thing as a deity, however named, existed in fact? The answers I came up with: No, No, and No. Therefore, in all intellectual and personal integrity, I was compelled to shed any identity whatsoever as "Christian". I didn't call myself atheist at the time, but for many years now I have. At the same time, I have continued to study and follow religious issues and topics to a fair degree, so I consider myself informed on the subject. What's this got to do with Christian Dominionists? Just this: I understand where they're coming from, where they intend to go, how they intend to get there, and just how dangerous to society they are. In a way, at one time in my life I was a Dominionist. I sincerely believed that my role in life was to convert every single person I knew and met to my very narrow way of thinking, i.e. to fundamentalist Christianity. Furthermore it would be incumbent, upon every single convert that I made, to carry out this very same mission. That meant that eventually every single person in America would become a "Christian" also, in my very narrow definition of the term. Thus, America would finally be "won back for Jesus", and every sphere of American life political, educational, recreational, public, private, and spiritual, would finally be aligned with God's Plan. Fortunately, it didn't take me long to see what utter nonsense this all was, and I gave it up along with all religious faith whatsoever. I'm just glad I happen to live in a country where having no religious faith is allowed. So thank you, Mahanoy, for your work in Deconstructing the Dominionists. You do religious liberty and our country, and by extension all humanity at large, a good service with your honesty and compassion. Looking forward to Part IV.

by Forrest Prince on Thu Oct 11, 2007 at 03:06:38 PM EST
I think it's a fairly common one, too. It seems that all of the traditions you mention are on the conservative end of the spectrum, with the possible exception of the UMC (although some congregations in the UMC can be quite conservative). The good news is that there are Christian denominations out there who do not espouse anything even close to this type of ideology.

I appreciate the fact that you went through a period of sincere self-examination and came to the conclusions you did with a clear conscience. I went through a similar period during college, and I was able to work through that doubt with the help of a few theologians who raised the same questions that you did and gave answers based on the Christian tradition - and that kept me in the church. All that is to say that we each have our own story, and I thank you for sharing yours.

by Mahanoy on Thu Oct 11, 2007 at 03:28:16 PM EST
[ Parent ]




WWW Talk To Action


I'll Die Another Day
As many of you know, I am now recovering at home after two weeks in the hospital and some harrowing experiences. I am feeling......
By Frederick Clarkson (4 comments)
What Palin's "Jewish people will be flocking to Israel" statement really means
Stumping for her new autobiography, Sarah Palin has made a round of interviews with high profile media figures such as Oprah Winfrey and Barbara......
By Bruce Wilson (3 comments)
Render Unto Caesar: District Tax Officials End Free Ride For Religious Right's `C Street House'
Remember all the talk last summer about the mysterious "C Street house" in Washington, D.C.? The structure, owned by a clandestine evangelical Christian organization......
By Rob Boston (0 comments)
The Africa Connection to the Attack on the Mainline Churches
Three years ago, in an essay in The Public Eye magazine, I outlined how the neoconservative and Religious Right campaign to divide and conquer......
By Frederick Clarkson (2 comments)
Prevaricating Pastors: Mendacious Ministers Prove It's Still Legal To Be Bigots
It's no secret that I'm not a fan of the Religious Right. Through my work at Americans United, I've opposed this movement for 22......
By Rob Boston (2 comments)
Palin's Prayer Leader Hinted Terrorist Attack Could Make Sarah President
In the final weeks of the 2008 presidential election, one of the religious leaders closest to Sarah Palin hinted that the Alaska governor might......
By Bruce Wilson (7 comments)
Hagee, Rodriguez Embrace Signals Massive New Alignments On Christian Right
As JTA News has just reported, John Hagee's Christians United For Israel (CUFI), which represents many millions of American Christian Zionist evangelicals, has formed......
By Bruce Wilson (2 comments)
Archbishop Dolan Disparages Reform and Dissent As "Anti-Catholicism"
In posting on his blog site, recently installed Archbishop for the Diocese of New York, Timothy Dolan, accused The New York Times of anti-Catholicism.......
By Frank Cocozzelli (5 comments)
Bart Stupak, Family 'Minister', Wrapped in C Street Like a Bug in a Rug
Even while protesting that he isn't trying to kill health care reform, House Representative Bart Stupak (D-Mich), who has incurred the wrath of the......
By Bruce Wilson (2 comments)
Unhealthy Trend: House Action On Abortion Showcases Power Of Bishops' Lobby
When political pundits talk about the power of religious groups to affect public policy in Washington, most tend to focus on the Religious Right.......
By Rob Boston (1 comment)
Author of Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Bill and the "College of Prayer International"
The Uganda New Vision reports the latest on David Bahati, the MP behind the proposed draconian "Anti-Homosexuality Bill"; he was among attendees at a......
By Richard Bartholomew (3 comments)
Rick Warren Repudiates Martin Ssempa
From Warren Throckmorton's blog: STATEMENT FROM PASTOR RICK & KAY WARREN REGARDING ACTIVITIES OF MARTIN SSEMPA IN UGANDA Martin Ssempa does not represent me,......
By Richard Bartholomew (2 comments)
Dobson And Destiny: Will Religious Right Leader Turn His Focus To Electioneering?
James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family (FOF), is not a happy camper these days.  "What is happening in Washington right now is......
By Rob Boston (5 comments)
Resource Page on John Hagee and Christian Zionism
Special Focus:  Christian Zionism Following are a list of articles on Christian Zionism that have been posted on Talk2action.org over a period of several......
By Bruce Wilson (1 comment)
Progressive Catholics in Maine Push Back on Question One
On Tuesday November 3rd, voters in Maine can either vote yes or no on "Question One," a potential people's veto of recently enacted legislation......
By Frank Cocozzelli (7 comments)

Mark Silk on the Hagee / Rodriguez Entente
Mark Silk, at Spiritual Politics has picked up on my notice of the Hagee-Rodriguez embrace and zeroes in on what's certainly one of the most notable aspects: "The key thing to understand about the......
By Bruce Wilson (1 comment)
Inscribing Christian Values in our Children Before Birth?
Following the evolution of evangelical discourse as it re-defines homosexuality as evidence of "fallen creation", Terri Murray looks at how the Christian right have shifted their rhetoric to adapt to empirical research showing that......
By TMurray (0 comments)
US News & World Report Showcases Creationist Ray Comfort
US News and World Report's Dan Gilgoff has charitably provided evangelist Ray Comfort a media platform in the form of a US News & World "exclusive" through which Comfort defends his efforts to distribute,......
By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
Atheist billboard in Central Florida
The organization "Atheists of Florida" sponsored a billboard promoting atheism in Lakeland, Florida.  I, however, have some concerns. ......
By ArchaeoBob (1 comment)
Transcript: Billy Graham and Richard Nixon, February 21, 1973
The following is my own transcript of a 20 minute phone conversation between Richard Nixon and Billy Graham, on February 23, 1973. As far as I am aware this is the only publicly available,......
By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
Rifqa Bary being sent back to Ohio now
Well, there's a change in this case.  After the judge gets immigration documents and so on from the parents, he will send her back. ......
By ArchaeoBob (0 comments)
The War on The War on Christmas Goes To Pot
The first day of Fall could be considered the official launch date for the annual war on the war on Christmas, which represents a significant part of the the American Family Association business model......
By Bruce Wilson (1 comment)
School Officials off the hook
Today it is reported that the judge excused the school officials who violated the agreement they had over separation of Church and State. ......
By ArchaeoBob (0 comments)
Dominionists trying to outlaw birth control
Well, they're at it again in Florida. ......
By ArchaeoBob (2 comments)
No Danger for Rifqa Bary
The FDLE just completed an investigation and found "no credible reports of threats" against Rifqa Bary. ......
By ArchaeoBob (1 comment)
Truth hitting the mainstream!
I've despaired of ever seeing anything critical or exposing Dominionism hit the mainstream press.  There is now an exception. ......
By ArchaeoBob (0 comments)
Extremism?
The term extremism is currently in vogue to describe hate groups and other malcontents listed as such by knowledgeable monitors like SPLC and others in the T2A sidebar, but while we all know what......
By Jay Taber (2 comments)
My Netroots Nation Panel Talk
Where Do We Stand in the Bright Light of History? Netroots Nation August 14, 2009 Thank You, Professor Ledewitz, for initiating this discussion of a progressive vision for church and state -- and Netroots......
By Frederick Clarkson (0 comments)
Transcript, Jan. 18, 2009 Steven Anderson Sermon Excerpt
Note: the sermon excerpt video and transcript below, from a January 18, 2009 sermon by pastor Steven Anderson of the Tempe, Arizona Independent Baptist Church, begins at approximately 21:30 into Anderson's  one hour, four......
By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
More anti-Muslim provocation
The local paper reports that students in Gainsville, Florida are wearing T-shirts with "ISLAM IS OF THE DEVIL" printed on them. ......
By ArchaeoBob (1 comment)
Rifqa Bary to stay in Florida
The young ex-Muslim girl who ran away from her parents will be allowed to stay in Florida.  The news article has strong indications that this is purely political. ......
By ArchaeoBob (10 comments)
Framing Fascism
In her recent article, Sara Robinson argues the United States is well on its way to becoming a totalitarian, fascist state. As evidence of this inevitability, she cites current town hall disruptions and threats......
By Jay Taber (11 comments)
Rock Paper Scissors
GOP-sponsored vigilantism has happened before. It is an integral part of domestic terrorism aimed at ethnic minorities and other sub-populations targeted by White Nationalism and Christian Fundamentalism. Catholics, Jews, Blacks, and Native Americans have......
By Jay Taber (3 comments)
PA Shooter's Church taught: "You can commit mass murder, then still go to heaven"
George Sodini, the 48-year-old misogynist who shot up a Pennsylvania Gym full of women on Aug. 4th, killing three women before turning the gun on himself, believed God wouldn't judge him by his actions.......
By Stacey Tallitsch (0 comments)
Vatican grilling Catholic sisters
While I am not Catholic, I accidentally ran across this article which is of interest to us on this blog - it involves Vatican actions that concern attempts at political control... ......
By ArchaeoBob (3 comments)
Sect Controls Women's Destinies
by Carolyn Jessop and Laura Palmer On The Issues Magazine Had I not escaped one night five years ago with my eight children from the manipulation and control of the FLDS (Fundamentalist Church of......
By On The Issues Magazine (4 comments)
The Religion of Fear
<h2> Living on Guard</h2> In The Religion of Fear, Jason C. Bivins examines conservative evangelical culture as it intersects with America's love affair with spectacular violence and the popular culture of fright that has......
By Jay Taber (2 comments)
Monvee: Profiles of the Mega-churched.
[ed: updated from diary section] Over the last 20 years, a consolidation from the small protestant church has given way to the "Mega-church" where community fellowship goes to die, and prosperity-gospel-rock-concerts are born. Just......
By Stacey Tallitsch (12 comments)
Woman Shoots ex-Husband in Groin, To "Let The Demons Out"
An investigating detective read an entry from a three ring binder, written shortly before the crime: "I know now what I have to do. There are three demonic spirits in (Dr. Loher), one assigned......
By Bruce Wilson (0 comments)
Separation of Church and State attacked in Florida
A Central Florida organization, "The Community Issues Council" has funded a number of billboards attacking the separation of Church and State, using "Quotes" from some of the Founding Fathers. ......
By ArchaeoBob (5 comments)
Radio host: We're only united through Christianity
Most of you in Indiana may know about Peter Heck, who hosts a daily radio show in Kokomo and puts out a column that appears in several newspapers across the state and in OneNewsNow.......
By Christian Dem in NC (2 comments)
Cindy Jacobs--the new leader of the NAR
You may remember that Lou Engle has made moves of late to position himself as the new power in the religious right.  He's a member of the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders, a group......
By Christian Dem in NC (3 comments)
James F. Linzey Espouses anti-Semitic, White Racialist Conspiracy Theory
James F. Linzey is a prominent, active duty chaplain in the United States military. Linzey has stated that he was the command chaplain for the Operation Iraqi Freedom troop mobilization prior to the US......
By Bruce Wilson (4 comments)
White Supremacist named as Holocaust Museum Shooter
An 89 year old, vehemently antiSemitic  Ron Paul supporter has been named by police as the gunman who opened fire in the Holocaust Museum shortly after noon today: Gunman, guard shot at Holocaust museum......
By CynthiaGee (0 comments)
From Focus On The Family to La Familia Michoacana
I didn't think my work on the religous right would converge with what I'm doing on the narcoguerra in Mexico...but here it is: the Faith-Based Cartel. ......
By julydogs (2 comments)

More Diaries...


Donate to or support
Talk to Action

Left Behind: Eternal Forces: Installments of Jonathan Hutson's Talk To Action expose series on the "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game have been viewed by up to 1/2 million people. See our site section featuring Over 35 original articles covering the controversial "Left Behind: Eternal Forces" video game that has provoked a boycott by a coalition of religious groups and a letter writing campaign urging Walmart to stop selling the game. Media inquiries click here
(image: detail from Francoise Dubois' rendition of the Bartholomew's Day Massacre reveals the actual nature of religious warfare)