Dominionism Deniers Must Be Getting the Vapors
Frederick Clarkson printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Mon Oct 21, 2013 at 12:02:19 AM EST
Pity the poor pundits who have staked their professional reputations on dominionism denial.  Like their analogues in the climate denial industry, and the media conveyor belts of denialist opinion, we have seen the likes of Ross Douthat, Lisa Miller, and Michael Gerson variously claim that dominionism is a myth; its significance is wildly exaggerated; or that those of us who write about it are trying to paint all evangelicals with a broad brush.  

The Centers for Disease Control may need to launch an epidemiological investigation should members of this august company become disoriented in the face of actual journalism.  Fortunately, we can save the CDC the taxpayer dimes it would take to learn what those in the throes of a contemporary strain of the vapors already know: One of their own, veteran religion writer and co-founder of BeliefNet Deborah Caldwell has authored a story at The Huffington Post that attributes the shutdown of the federal government (at least in part) to Christian Reconstructionism -- AKA dominionism.  

But before we discuss this remarkable development, let's do a quick look back:

Much has been written about dominionism and its variants for three decades -- by me and by many others -- as a driving and unifying ideological element of the Christian Right.  

Two years ago last summer, a media barrage was leveled at those of us who had been writing about dominionism over the years. The dominionist views, background, and associates of GOP presidential contenders Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX), Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), were getting some serious media attention.  Readers of the smear articles were variously told that dominionism did not exist; or that if it did exist, its adherents were few; but that in any case, everyone should go on about their business, nothing to see here.

Rachel Tabachnick, currently a Fellow with Political Research Associates, but then one of the main targets of the smear campaign -- got the best revenge, however, in publishing a major essay in The Public Eye magazine: Spiritual Warriors with an Antigay Mission: The New Apostolic Reformation.  The piece discussed, among other things, the New Apostolic Reformation's roots in and advocacy of dominionism -- making it very hard to deny (although I have no doubt that some will continue to try).  (Columnist Bill Berkowitz wrote about this important work, here.) Check out an excerpt from Tabachnick's essay, below.

In the United States, among the most significant and far-reaching parts of the NAR infrastructure is its "prayer warrior" networks. Today, all 50 states have a network under the authority of a statewide apostolic leader. The prayer warrior networks regularly distribute guides in preparation for elections, "educating" participants on political issues. They also sponsor training events and conferences and serve as a link between individuals and various NAR ministries.

Calls for prayer, especially public displays of prayer and repentance, are the movement's most vital organizing and energizing tool. One of the NAR's most influential institutions, the International House of Prayer (IHOP or IHOPKC), is headquartered in Kansas City and organizes 2,000 people (staff, students, and interns) to maintaining prayer sessions that are open to the public 24 hours a day, seven days a week. According to its mission statement, IHOP "is committed to praying for the release of the fullness of God's power and purpose, as we actively win the lost, heal the sick, feed the poor, make disciples, and impact every sphere of society--family, education, government, economy, arts, media, religion. IHOP claims that its volunteers work fifty hours a week "as they go from the prayer room to the classroom and then to ministry outreaches and works of service."  Lou Engle is part of IHOP's leadership team and IHOP's founder, Mike Bickle, was part of Peter Wagner's original Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders. Bickle's work in Kansas City has been the model for more than 400 more "houses of prayer" in the U.S.

To date, the most highly publicized of NAR's calls to prayer or "solemn assemblies" took place in Houston in the summer of 2011. Texas Gov. Rick Perry aggressively promoted it at a time when he was a leading contender for the Republican Party's presidential nomination. The rally attracted 30,000 people and was broadcast to churches around the world. Several familiar figures from the Christian Right appeared on stage with Perry and leaders of the NAR. The result was that apostles and prophets who had for years remained under the radar were suddenly subjected to scrutiny from the media, including an interview with me conducted by Terry Gross on the NPR program Fresh Air.

Exposed to this scrutiny, NAR's leaders publicly distanced themselves from some of their more radical ideology. Webpages were removed and websites were amended to explain that the NAR's apostles are either not Dominionists, or that the term simply means to gain influence in society. Peter Wagner himself granted two unprecedented interviews with mainstream media outlets in October 2011. He explained to Terry Gross, for example, that the NAR respected religious pluralism and that Dominionism was not about ruling: "In terms of taking dominion, we don't--we wouldn't want to--we use the word dominion, but we wouldn't want to say that we have dominion as if we're the owners or we're the rulers of, let's say, the arts and entertainment mountain."

Compare that explanation with what Wagner said about Dominionism at an NAR conference in 2008: "Dominion has to do with control. Dominion has to do with rulership. Dominion has to do with authority and subduing and it relates to society. In other words . . . what the values are in Heaven need to be made manifest here on earth. Dominion means being the head and not the tail. Dominion means ruling as kings. It says in Revelation Chapter 1:6 that He has made us kings and priests--and check the rest of that verse; it says for dominion. So we are kings for dominion."

The magazine Charisma, owned and published by a former member of Wagner's International Coalition of Apostles, published an issue of articles about the growing influence of Pentecostals within American politics. Charisma attributed the negative press to "anti-Pentecostal bias" and the Left's demonization of "any high-profile leader who takes a stand for Christian values." Writing for the Washington Post, Lisa Miller quoted the head of the largest evangelical public-relations firm in the nation: "You would be hard-pressed to find one in 1,000 Christians in America who could even wager a guess at what dominionism is"--though knowing the definition of Dominionism is hardly relevant to following the lead of apostles in religious and political activism.

After Rick Perry's campaign for president began to visibly collapse, interest in the NAR waned, and it was back to business as usual.

And here we are, just two years since the season of the smear, and Deborah Caldwell writes that the  "leaders of a little-known far-right movement called Christian Reconstructionism" have been planning to topple the federal government for decades and were deeply involved in the government shut down. Caldwell accurately reported that their goal is "to eradicate the U.S. government so that a theocratic Christian nation emerges to enforce biblical laws."

That's right -- laws out of the Book of Leviticus prohibiting adultery, homosexuality, and abortion, with penalties including death by stoning.

The key leader of this movement is Gary North, founder of the Institute for Christian Economics in Tyler, Texas. He's a long-time associate of Ron Paul, intellectual godfather of the Tea Party movement -- the very people responsible for Congressional deadlock over the government shutdown and debt ceiling debate.

Paul and North go way back. North served on Paul's first congressional staff in 1976, and North describes himself as Paul's "original staff economist." Earlier this year, Paul announced plans for a curriculum for home schoolers that will teach "biblical" concepts. The director of curriculum development for the program? Gary North.

Caldwell adds:

And what of the connection between this group and Republican Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, who almost singlehandedly created the government shutdown and debt ceiling crisis?

Cruz is the son of Rafael Cruz, a Texas pastor who directs Purifying Fire Ministries. According to a biography page for the True the Vote summit in April 2013, Rafael Cruz became active in politics during the 1980 presidential campaign, joining the Religious Roundtable, founded in 1979 to involve conservative Christians in politics. "The Religious Roundtable was a Judeo-Christian organization that mobilized millions of Christians all across the United States and helped elect Ronald Reagan," Cruz said. "It was a precursor of the Tea Party, even before the Moral Majority."

What to make of all of this? For the last few weeks Tea Party-leaning members of Congress have been described as "kooks" and "crazies" by the Washington establishment, liberals, moderate Republican leaders, and the media. The name-calling might be satisfying to those who oppose the Tea Party, but it's entirely untrue. These are people who are patient, determined, deliberate, and rational.

That last sentence can be hard for many to take seriously, I know. There are plenty of people on the Christian Right who say crazy sounding things.  But I would invite people to consider that at least some of this is crazy only in the sense of crazy like a fox. Caldwell is spot-on in concluding that the people who have crafted this movement are "patient, determined, deliberate, and rational."  

This being the case, Caldwell may very well have given the Guardians of the Conventional Wisdom the vapors. Serious reporting in this area seems to have that effect on some people.  Although Caldwell and others (such as Rachel Tabachnick and Bruce Wilson) are right to surface this hidden-in-plain-sight element of the contemporary rightwing populist movement that shut down the government for more than two weeks -- this subject remains one of the most significant underreported as well as misreported stories of our time.




Display:

WWW Talk To Action


Cognitive Dissonance & Dominionism Denial
There is new research on why people are averse to hearing or learning about the views of ideological opponents. Based on evaluation of five......
By Frederick Clarkson (374 comments)
Will the Air Force Do Anything To Rein In Its Dynamic Duo of Gay-Bashing, Misogynistic Bloggers?
"I always get nervous when I see female pastors/chaplains. Here is why everyone should as well: "First, women are not called to be pastors,......
By Chris Rodda (195 comments)
The Legacy of Big Oil
The media is ablaze with the upcoming publication of David Grann's book, Killers of the Flower Moon. The shocking non fiction account of the......
By wilkyjr (110 comments)
Gimme That Old Time Dominionism Denial
Over the years, I have written a great deal here and in other venues about the explicitly theocratic movement called dominionism -- which has......
By Frederick Clarkson (101 comments)
History Advisor to Members of Congress Completely Twists Jefferson's Words to Support Muslim Ban
Pseudo-historian David Barton, best known for his misquoting of our country's founders to promote the notion that America was founded as a Christian nation,......
By Chris Rodda (113 comments)
"Christian Fighter Pilot" Calls First Lesbian Air Force Academy Commandant a Liar
In a new post on his "Christian Fighter Pilot" blog titled "BGen Kristin Goodwin and the USAFA Honor Code," Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan......
By Chris Rodda (144 comments)
Catholic Right Leader Unapologetic about Call for 'Death to Liberal Professors' -- UPDATED
Today, Donald Trump appointed C-FAM Executive Vice President Lisa Correnti to the US Delegation To UN Commission On Status Of Women. (C-FAM is a......
By Frederick Clarkson (126 comments)
Controlling Information
     Yesterday I listened to Russ Limbaugh.  Rush advised listeners it would be best that they not listen to CNN,MSNBC, ABC, CBS and......
By wilkyjr (118 comments)
Is Bannon Fifth-Columning the Pope?
In December 2016 I wrote about how White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who likes to flash his Catholic credentials when it comes to......
By Frank Cocozzelli (250 comments)
Ross Douthat's Hackery on the Seemingly Incongruous Alliance of Bannon & Burke
Conservative Catholic writer Ross Douthat has dissembled again. This time, in a February 15, 2017 New York Times op-ed titled The Trump Era's Catholic......
By Frank Cocozzelli (64 comments)
`So-Called Patriots' Attack The Rule Of Law
Every so often, right-wing commentator Pat Buchanan lurches out of the far-right fever swamp where he has resided for the past 50 years to......
By Rob Boston (161 comments)
Bad Faith from Focus on the Family
Here is one from the archives, Feb 12, 2011, that serves as a reminder of how deeply disingenuous people can be. Appeals to seek......
By Frederick Clarkson (176 comments)
The Legacy of George Wallace
"One need not accept any of those views to agree that they had appealed to real concerns of real people, not to mindless, unreasoning......
By wilkyjr (70 comments)
Betsy DeVos's Mudsill View of Public Education
My Talk to Action colleague Rachel Tabachnick has been doing yeoman's work in explaining Betsy DeVos's long-term strategy for decimating universal public education. If......
By Frank Cocozzelli (80 comments)
Prince and DeVos Families at Intersection of Radical Free Market Privatizers and Religious Right
This post from 2011 surfaces important information about President-Elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. -- FC Erik Prince, Brother of Betsy......
By Rachel Tabachnick (218 comments)

Respect for Others? or Political Correctness?
The term "political correctness" as used by Conservatives and Republicans has often puzzled me: what exactly do they mean by it? After reading Chip Berlin's piece here-- http://www.talk2action.org/story/2016/7/21/04356/9417 I thought about what he explained......
MTOLincoln (253 comments)
Fear
What I'm feeling now is fear.  I swear that it seems my nightmares are coming true with this new "president".  I'm also frustrated because so many people are not connecting all the dots! I've......
ArchaeoBob (107 comments)
"America - love it or LEAVE!"
I've been hearing that and similar sentiments fairly frequently in the last few days - far FAR more often than ever before.  Hearing about "consequences for burning the flag (actions) from Trump is chilling!......
ArchaeoBob (211 comments)
"Faked!" Meme
Keep your eyes and ears open for a possible move to try to discredit the people openly opposing Trump and the bigots, especially people who have experienced terrorism from the "Right"  (Christian Terrorism is......
ArchaeoBob (165 comments)
More aggressive proselytizing
My wife told me today of an experience she had this last week, where she was proselytized by a McDonald's employee while in the store. ......
ArchaeoBob (163 comments)
See if you recognize names on this list
This comes from the local newspaper, which was conservative before and took a hard right turn after it was sold. Hint: Sarah Palin's name is on it!  (It's also connected to Trump.) ......
ArchaeoBob (169 comments)
Unions: A Labor Day Discussion
This is a revision of an article which I posted on my personal board and also on Dailykos. I had an interesting discussion on a discussion board concerning Unions. I tried to piece it......
Xulon (156 comments)
Extremely obnoxious protesters at WitchsFest NYC: connected to NAR?
In July of this year, some extremely loud, obnoxious Christian-identified protesters showed up at WitchsFest, an annual Pagan street fair here in NYC.  Here's an account of the protest by Pagan writer Heather Greene......
Diane Vera (130 comments)
Capitalism and the Attack on the Imago Dei
I joined this site today, having been linked here by Crooksandliars' Blog Roundup. I thought I'd put up something I put up previously on my Wordpress blog and also at the DailyKos. As will......
Xulon (329 comments)
History of attitudes towards poverty and the churches.
Jesus is said to have stated that "The Poor will always be with you" and some Christians have used that to refuse to try to help the poor, because "they will always be with......
ArchaeoBob (148 comments)
Alternate economy medical treatment
Dogemperor wrote several times about the alternate economy structure that dominionists have built.  Well, it's actually made the news.  Pretty good article, although it doesn't get into how bad people could be (have been)......
ArchaeoBob (90 comments)
Evidence violence is more common than believed
Think I've been making things up about experiencing Christian Terrorism or exaggerating, or that it was an isolated incident?  I suggest you read this article (linked below in body), which is about our great......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)

More Diaries...




All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments, posts, stories, and all other content are owned by the authors. Everything else © 2005 Talk to Action, LLC.