Did you stop to wonder how the political arena in the US got so top heavy with fundamentalist Christians? Indeed, as the social fabric began to fray under the multiplicity of stressors associated with modernization, a parallel movement of “back to fundamentals” began to emerge in all three Abrahamic religions. It is not only Islam that has birthed its own variety of fundamentalism. Orthodox synagogues are seeing a swelling of congregations, and a new strain of Christianity, which is both fiercely political as well as militant in its promotion of theocracy has emerged as a potent force on the American scene.
Christian Reconstructionism (CR) has been called “the American Taliban.”
Its ideology calls for the institution of a government under Biblical law. This mandate is called “Dominionism.” Christian Reconstructionists believe that the authority to exert political control in the material world is provided in Genesis, where it is written that: “Let them [man] have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
According to CR, this dominion is also to be executed over nations, specifically the American nation, which is seen as the instrument for God’s plan to rule the world.
Heady stuff, and somewhat redolent of the belief system inherent in Islamic fundamentalism and the concomitant Sharia law. Under the mantle of a religious call to political action, CR has taken on a number of quasi- moral political issues. Not only anti-abortion, CR is also anti-welfare, anti-social programs and anti-public education.…
Rousas Rushdoony… was the founder of CR. Rushdoony wrote prolifically on the necessity for Christians to become politically active in order to secure the planet for the Almighty.
Wrote Rushdoony, “All law is religious in nature, and every non-Biblical law-order represents an anti-Christian religion.” He continues, “Every law-order is a state of war against the enemies of that order, and all law is a form of warfare.” Rushdoony, who died in 2001, was succeeded by his son in law, Gary North, as the fountainhead of literature on CR.
North, who has a PhD in History from the University of California, has laid down both economic and social principles for theonomy, or life under Biblical law. …Easy to dismiss this as "the crazy," they are gaining political momentum in the GOP and have been doing so for some time. CR and similar groups have been successful since they have a plan and are working it. It's a lesson for the Left. If these whackos can get political traction, a well-organzed Left should be able to do a lot better in that polls show that Americans at large agree more with leftist positions than rightist.
Ignore at your peril.
In fact, the “rippling surface” has become a tsunami. As reported in Theocracy Watch, “Before the midterm elections of 2006, dominionists controlled both houses of the U.S. Congress, the White House and four out of nine seats on the U.S. Supreme Court. They were one seat away from holding a solid majority on the Supreme Court.” Today, Dominionists have virtually taken over the Tea Party and their philosophy can be seen manifesting in multiple Republican party heavy weights, some publicly associated with Dominionism and others simply promoting its message: former US Senator and 2012 Presidential hopeful Rick Santorum, US Senator Ted Cruz, US Senator Rand Paul, former Presidential candidate and Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin, to name a few on the national scene. On local levels, politicians waving the CR banner are legion.
Dominionism constitutes a radical departure from traditional Christianity, in which believers await Christ’s return for a millennial reign. CR teaches that the world must come under Biblical law before Christ will return. Along with its inherent bias towards unchecked capitalism and disregard for the needy, Christian Reconstructionism provides a philosophical underpinning for world domination by rich, Christian American males.
As George Grant wrote in The Changing of the Guard , Biblical Principles for Political Action: “Christians have an obligation, a mandate, a commission, a holy responsibility to reclaim the land for Jesus Christ — to have dominion in civil structures, just as in every other aspect of life and godliness. But it is dominion we are after. Not just a voice. It is dominion we are after. Not just influence. It is dominion we are after. Not just equal time. It is dominion we are after. World conquest.”
In a world increasingly dominated by United States and its political agenda, these words might raise a level of concern. If the Dominionists have their way, we may see the old battle cry of “Making the world safe for democracy” morph into its opposite: “Making the world safe for theocracy.”The upshot is that while all fellow travelers are not Dominionists, they are influenced by it and promote its work of gradual takeover by stealth.
