Dominionism

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This article is on the political-religious concept of dominionism. See Dominion (disambiguation) for other meanings of the word dominion

Part of the series on Dominionism

Ideas

Theonomy Reconstructionism Church-state separation Christian Zionism

Advocates of Dominionism

R. J. Rushdoony Greg Bahnsen Gary North Gary DeMar Kenneth Gentry David Chilton D. James Kennedy Marvin Olasky Paul Weyrich

Dominionist organizations

Chalcedon Foundation National Religious Broadcasters Free Congress Foundation

Influences on Dominionism

Abraham Kuyper John Cotton Francis Schaeffer

Critics and observers of Dominionism

TheocracyWatch Chip Berlet Chris Hedges Edmund Morgan Political Research Assoc

Financiers of Dominionism

Howard Ahmanson Jr

v • d • e

Dominionism is a trend in Protestant Christian evangelicalism and fundamentalism, primarily, though not exclusively, in the United States, that seeks to establish specific political policies based on religious beliefs.

It is most often used to describe politically active conservative Christians with a specific agenda. The term is rarely used as a self-description; many feel it is a loaded or pejorative term, and use of the term is primarily limited to critics of the Christian Right.

The term emerged in relation to the Christian Right in the mid-1990s, but became more widely known due in large part to the U.S. presidential election, 2004 where the media attributed Republican wins to Evangelical voters in Red states who voted for moral values.^[1] A number of authors, among them Andrew Sullivan, use the terms Christianism or Christianist in place of Dominionism in an attempt to "take back the word Christian (from) the religious right."^[2]

Contents 1 Origin of the term 1.1 Dominion 1.2 Christian Right influences 1.3 Varieties of Dominionism and Christian political participation 2 Roots and branches 3 Dominionism debated 3.1 Range of Dominionist ideas 4 Generic dominionism 5 Theocratic dominionism 5.1 Christian Reconstructionism 6 Christianism 7 Notes and references 8 Additional references 9 See also 10 External links

[edit] Origin of the term

[edit] Dominion

The dominionist interpretation sees adherents as heeding a command from God to all humankind to subject the world to the rule of the Word of God. The terminology of dominionism, and the broad concept of the trend described by critics, has been taken from the King James Version of the Bible, Genesis 1:26

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

Christians typically interpret this verse as meaning that God gave humankind responsibility over the Earth, but anti-Dominionist critics commonly point to this passage as a paradigm that influences Christian attitudes of Western domination over the Earth and everything in it.

[edit] Christian Right influences

Some influences on the Christian Right acknowledge looking to the New Testament to justify theocracy.^{[citation needed]} In Matthew 28:18, for example, Jesus is reported to have said, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. This verse is seen as an announcement by Jesus that he has assumed authority over all earthly authority. In that light, some theologians interpret the Great Commission as a command to exercise that authority in his name, bringing all things (including societies and cultures) into subjection under his commands. Rousas John Rushdoony, for example, interpreted the Great Commission as a republication of the "creation mandate" (The Institutes of Biblical Law, p. 729), referring to Genesis 1:28:

Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.

For Rushdoony, the idea of dominion implied a form of Christian theocracy or, more accurately, a theonomy. For example, he wrote that:

The purpose of Christ's coming was in terms of the creation mandate. . . . The redeemed are called to the original purpose of man, to exercise dominion under God, to be covenant-keepers, and to fulfil "the righteousness of the law" (Rom. 8:4). . . . Man is summoned to create the society God requires.^[3]

Elsewhere he wrote:

The man who is being progressively sanctified will inescapably sanctify his home, school, politics, economics, science, and all things else by understanding and interpreting all things in terms of the word of God and by bringing all things under the dominion of Christ the King.^[4]

According to sociologist and professor of religion William Martin[1], author of With God on Our Side, however:

"It is difficult to assess the influence of Reconstructionist thought with any accuracy. Because it is so genuinely radical, most leaders of the Religious Right are careful to distance themselves from it. At the same time, it clearly holds some appeal for many of them. One undoubtedly spoke for others when he confessed, 'Though we hide their books under the bed, we read them just the same.' In addition, several key leaders have acknowledged an intellectual debt to the theonomists. Jerry Falwell and D. James Kennedy have endorsed Reconstructionist books. Rushdoony has appeared on Kennedy's television program and the 700 Club several times. Pat Robertson makes frequent use of 'dominion' language; his book, The Secret Kingdom, has often been cited for its theonomy elements; and pluralists were made uncomfortable when, during his presidential campaign, he said he 'would only bring Christians and Jews into the government,' as well as when he later wrote, 'There will never be world peace until God's house and God's people are given their rightful place of leadership at the top of the world.' And Jay Grimstead, who leads the Coalition on Revival, which brings Reconstructionists together with more mainstream evangelicals, has said, 'I don't call myself [a Reconstructionist],' but 'A lot of us are coming to realize that the Bible is God's standard of morality . . . in all points of history . . . and for all societies, Christian and non-Christian alike. . . . It so happens that Rushdoony, Bahnsen, and North understood that sooner.' He added, 'There are a lot of us floating around in Christian leadership James Kennedy is one of them-who don't go all the way with the theonomy thing, but who want to rebuild America based on the Bible.'" (Martin 1996:354)

Political groups and individuals that worry about how, and to what extent, dominionism influences the Christian Right include People for the American Way, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Interfaith Alliance, and the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Joan Bokaer[2] and Katherine Yurica [3].

Sara Diamond warns, however, that while dominionism has influenced the Christian Right, liberals too often use hyperbolic language to describe the activities and goals of the Christian Right.[4]

The term "Dominionism" - with its close affiliation with notions of theocracy - can be used pejoratively to inaccurately describe the philosophical underpinnings of some individuals who identify themselves with the Christian Right. Very few of these see the Christian Right as an eschatological political movement designed to usher in the Kingdom of God; for them, the Christian Right articulates the traditional cultural critiques of paleoconservatives in the context of a worldview informed by orthodox Christian teaching.^{[citation needed]} Moreover, many policies endorsed by the Christian Right contradict Dominionist notions. For example, the avid support of school vouchers by the Christian Right could lead to greater plurality in educational institutions, rather than a monolithic education system shaped by Dominionist ideas.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Varieties of Dominionism and Christian political participation

Some organizations and writers who are called "dominionist" disagree with the categorization of their beliefs as a political ideology.^{[citation needed]} They acknowledge that their Christian beliefs influence their vote but deny that they seek political domination. Many so-called dominionists say that voting one's moral convictions is entirely consistent with Democracy, and that criticizing Christians for doing so is hypocritical.^{[citation needed]}

There are many varieties of belief described as Dominionism, some of which never refer to the idea of "dominion" at all. Several of the major books on the subject argue that of the varieties of Dominionism, more radical forms have had a direct influence upon the more moderate Christian Right (Diamond, Barron, Clarkson).

Dominionism often has other forms. In the United States, some Christians see in various Biblical mandates an implied obligation to be responsible managers of resources. On that basis they argue for conservation measures, and believe that the obligation to care for the earth, and for non-human creatures, rests on all people but especially on Christians. In the environmental movement, these Christians call for stewardship of the planet.

[edit] Roots and branches

A variety of forms of Dominionism have appeared in Canada, and several European countries, as well as the United States, where it might at some point raise issues of separation of church and state.

Dominionism as a trend in the late 1970s and 1980s was sparked in part by a series of books and films featuring Francis A. Schaeffer, a popular Evangelical apologist and founder of L'Abri, a Christian community in Huemoz-sur-Ollon, Switzerland. Some evangelical authors question whether or not Schaeffer has the dominionist views with which he is credited. ^[5] The theological works of Cornelius Van Til are sometimes cited as inspiring certain proponents of Dominionism or Dominion Theology, although Van Til himself disavowed entanglement of his work with political movements like these.

In order to encompass most religiously motivated political conservatives within the scope of their criticism, the sociologists suggest that a dominionist-envisioned program can range from urging political activism in civic society under the banner of "family values" or "traditional values," to involvement for more explicitly Christian and biblical reasons. For example, similar agendas are advocated by groups such as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Unification Church, and conservative Catholics, with whom most Evangelicals deny religious commonality; however, the Christian Right is a political coalition based on common cause shared by otherwise differently motivated groups.

Both reporter Chris Hedges^[6] and Frederick Clarkson, author of Eternal Hostility: the Struggle between Theocracy and Democracy, considers dominionism one of the defining issues of the culture wars.^[7]

In their report Funding the Culture Wars^[8] the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy^[9] lists the Family Research Council, the Christian Coalition and Focus on the Family as prominent organizations that fund the activities of the Christian Right. TheocracyWatch lists all three as "dominionist" organizations.^{[10] [11]}

[edit] Dominionism debated

Frederick Clarkson, the author of Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy, is fearful that as this coalition of religious people grows, democracy and pluralism will be increasingly under attack. During the administration of George W. Bush, critics of the Dominionist idea have sometimes claimed the trend is representative of all Christians of a Republican or politically conservative orientation. Former New York Times reporter Chris Hedges has equated the sermons of James Dobson to the rhetoric used in the former Yugoslavia to justify the slaughter of Muslims by Serbian Christians, and he has characterized federally-funded Christian charities as "parallel indoctrination systems."^{[citation needed]}

According to the conservative Washington Times, some "liberal" critics of dominionism express "hostility toward Christian conservatives." ^[12]

Stanley Kurtz, in the conservative forum, National Review online, complained that discussion about Dominionism (at a conference in New York and in articles in Harper's Magazine) often linked average Christian evangelicals with extremism, such as views found at the fringes of the very small movement known as Christian Reconstructionism:

The notion that conservative Christians want to reinstitute slavery and rule by genocide is not just crazy, it’s downright dangerous. The most disturbing part of the Harper’s cover story (the one by Chris Hedges) was the attempt to link Christian conservatives with Hitler and fascism. Once we acknowledge the similarity between conservative Christians and fascists, Hedges appears to suggest, we can confront Christian evil by setting aside 'the old polite rules of democracy.' So wild conspiracy theories and visions of genocide are really excuses for the Left to disregard the rules of democracy and defeat conservative Christians — by any means necessary. [5]

One conference speaker criticized by Kurtz is Katherine Yurica, who has written about the rise of Dominionism as a theocratic tendency in the Christian Right.[6][7] Yurica responded to Kurtz, saying she has not used the term "Christian Fascism" in her writings.[8] Yurica has noted fascistic tendencies in Christian Right Dominionism, but she does not consider the Christian Right to be "Christian."

Christian conservatives, however, are not the only people who suggest that some criticism of dominionism is hyperbolic. Even some progressive researchers warn of the tendency. ^[13] For example, two progressive websites that challenge the Christian Right but urge respectful rhetoric are Talk to Action and Campaign to Defend the Constitution.

[edit] Range of Dominionist ideas

Francis Schaeffer is sometimes called one of the founders of the Christian Right movement, which some have labeled a Dominionist movement. Schaeffer was influenced by the writings of R. J. Rushdoony, the intellectual founder of Christian Reconstructionism, a postmillennialist form of Theocratic Dominionism. Schaeffer and Rushdoony read each others' writings, and even met. Schaeffer led a study of Rushdoony's writings at Schaeffer's institute in Switzerland. Schaeffer and other premillennialists picked up themes of dominionism from the postmillennialist Rushdoony, and adapted them to premillennial theology. Some commentators emphasize Schaeffer's differences with Christian Reconstructionism, and with R.J. Rushdoony. A systematic difference was his rejection of theocracy. In the book, A Christian Manifesto, Schaeffer writes, "There is no New Testament basis for a linking of church and state until Christ, the King returns." Critical writers however, emphasize the similarities and overlapping influence of Schaeffer and the Reconstructionists, on the formation of the Christian Right.

[edit] Generic dominionism

Within the Christian Right, concern over social, cultural, and political issues such as abortion, euthanasia, same-sex marriage, sympathy for Israel sometimes expressed as Christian Zionism, the banning of teacher-led prayer in the public schools, and the reduction of overtly fundamentalist Christian perspectives in the public square has prompted participation in elections since the 1970s. Activists and intellectuals in the Christian Right work in a coalition of religious conservatives, operating through the Republican Party to promote their influence. These dominionists sometimes make the claim that "America is a Christian nation." Some mean by this that Christian participation in the public sphere at one time was not feared, and was even the norm. It is also possible that the phrase may be referring to demographic analysis which claims that 76.5% of adult Americans claim to be "Christian" (weighted estimate, 2001)[9]. Considering themselves underrepresented, these individuals feel the need to re-assert their presence as religious people with a valid perspective in the democratic political process and the institutions of the culture. Few, however, articulate a position that could be called theocratic.

Critics argue the claim that the United States is a Christian nation is of questionable historic validity (often pointing out the deist beliefs of various founding fathers -- Thomas Jefferson's[10] in particular) , is ethnocentric, and reduces secularists and members of other religions (such as Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism) to second-class status. They cite the Treaty with Tripoli (1796) passed by the United States Senate, which stated that the United States government "is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion,"[11] and George Washington's letter to Moses Seixas, in which Washington defended religious freedom for Jews ("For happily, the government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance"[12]).

Religious historians, like Nathan Hatch, Mark Noll and others, also suggest that modern fundamentalists are nostalgic for a time that never really existed as they imagine it: a time in the indefinite past, before the turbulent sixties, when wholesomeness, and sanity, and harmony prevailed under a benevolent religion much as they conceive their own to be.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Theocratic dominionism

Main article: Dominion theology

The terms Theocratic Dominionism or Hard Dominionism, are used by some to describe forms of Dominionism which evidently envision, and work toward, a future in which all the institutions of society will be governed by the principles of their form of Christian faith.

Hard Dominionism is primarily associated with certain Calvinists who hold a postmillennialist eschatology. John Calvin's Geneva, and the Puritans are considered antecedents of this strain. Some Christians who speak of America as a Christian Nation are referring to this theocratic ideal, such as Kevin Clauson of the National Reform Association.

America and other nations can be Christian if they adopt biblical laws in state, church, family, and all other entities and associations. We cannot trust man (individually or collectively); we must trust God and His immutable law. If civil magistrates will not apply the Old Testament law, then what will they apply? The law of man. If we will not be ruled by God, we will be ruled by tyrants. (see p. 67, God and Politics: Four Views on the Reformation of Civil Government, ed. Gary Scott Smith (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and Reformed, 1989).

Several small movements fit this description, the influence of one of which began to be noticed in the 1970s, called Christian Reconstructionism. Although the number of ideologically self-conscious advocates is small, this movement, by virtue of the blunt consistency of its rhetoric, has exercised influence far out of proportion to the number of self-identifying adherents. [13]

In recent years, another type of Dominionism has developed among premillennialist Evangelicals, primarily charismatics. This version is essentially pessimistic concerning general society. Christian activism is seen as a sort of holding action against the inevitable coming of the Antichrist. This group differs from the first in key areas such as support for Israel. (The conservative television personality Pat Robertson is usually considered an example of this second type.[14])

[edit] Christian Reconstructionism

Main article: Christian Reconstructionism

The flag-ship institution of Christian Reconstructionism is the Chalcedon Foundation, founded by R.J. Rushdoony. From their website, Chalcedon answers critics who characterize them as an orchestrator of a clandestine, politically motivated conspiracy:

Our critics sometimes imply or state outright that we are engaged in a subtle, covert attempt to capture conservative, right-wing politics in order to gain political power, which we will then use to "spring" Biblical law on our nation. This is flatly false. We do not believe that politics or the state are a chief sphere of dominion.

Critics note that politics is the chief sphere in which Reconstructionism's influence is perceived, and consequently feel justified in characterizing it as primarily political, in fact even if not in ideal theory. For instance, some critics go so far as to point to a phrase from Chalcedon's website, "'Proclaiming the Authority of God’s Word Over Every Area of Life and Thought.' Catch the vision. . ." charging that phrases such as this demonstrate nefarious motives on behalf of the Chalcedon Foundation. Critics such as Frederick Clarkson identify it as totalitarian, comparable to other right-wing and political movements inspired by religious fundamentalism. Proponents of Reconstructionism claim that, on the contrary, they stand in opposition to tyranny:

The great problem with modern politics is that it is used as an instrument of social change. We at Chalcedon passionately oppose this. The role of the state is in essence to defend and protect, in the words of the early American Republic, life, liberty, and property. It is to reward the externally obedient by protecting them from the externally disobedient (Romans 13:1-7). Its role is not to make men virtuous; we have a name for civil governments that attempt to create a virtuous society: totalitarian. [15]

Some theocratic Dominionists argue that the United States was originally envisioned as a society based on Biblical law. [16] They also contend that theonomy is not the same thing as Erastianism or Papalism.

The best form [of government] was theocracy. . .which meant separate but parallel civil and ecclesiastical organizations framed on the evidence of the Scriptures. Church and state. . .were of the same genus, "order," with the same author, "God," and the same end, "God's glory." On the level of species, however, the two diverged. Here the end of the church was salvation of souls while that of the state was the preservation of society in justice.^[14]

[edit] Christianism

In recent years, some authors have used the terms "Christianism" or "Christianist" in place of "Dominionism."

The term "Christianist" is referred to as early as 1992 in a book Europe. La voie romaine by Rémi Brague. In an essay from November, 2004 by Gianni Valente in the English version of the Italy based 30 Days in the Church and the world, Valente credits Professor Brague, Professor of Arabic philosophy at the Sorbonne with the terminology distinction.

"Christianist" was also used by Ruth Walker on May 20, 2005 Christian Science Monitor providing a separate term for political Christians in an article entitled "Onward, Christianist Soldiers?".

According to Andrew Sullivan, "The term 'people of faith' has been co-opted almost entirely in our (political) discourse by those who see Christianity as compatible with only one political party, the Republicans, and believe that their religious doctrines should determine public policy for everyone. So let me suggest that we take back the word Christian while giving the religious right a new adjective: Christianist." ^[15] The word Christianism evolved in western media outlets, particularly liberal-oriented blogs, ^[16][17][18] as a counterpoint to the term "Islamist." As Andrew Sullivan said, "Christianism is an ideology, politics, an ism. The distinction between Christian and Christianist echoes the distinction we make between Muslim and Islamist. Muslims are those who follow Islam. Islamists are those who want to wield Islam as a political force and conflate state and mosque." ^[19]

[edit] Notes and references

[edit] Additional references

• Barron, Bruce. 1992. Heaven on Earth? The Social & Political Agendas of Dominion Theology. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan. ISBN 0-310-53611-1
• Clarkson, Frederick. 1997. Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Theocracy and Democracy. Monroe, Maine: Common Courage. ISBN 1-56751-088-4
• Clarkson, Frederick. "Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence" from PublicEye.org, March/June 1994.
• Diamond, Sara. 1995. Roads to Dominion: Right-Wing Movements and Political Power in the United States. New York: Guilford Press. ISBN 0-89862-864-4
• Douthat, Ross. 2006. "Theocracy, Theocracy, Theocracy" from First Things 165 (August/September 2006): pp. 23-30.
• Goldberg, Michelle. 2006. Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism. New York: Norton. ISBN 0-393-06094-2
• Leslie, Sarah. "Dominionism and the Rise of Christian Imperialism" from Discernment-Ministries.org. Retrieved September 17, 2006.
• Morgan, Edmund S., (ed.). 1965. Puritan Political Ideas. Indianapolis, Ind.: Bobbs-Merrill.
• Rudin, James. 2006. The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right's Plans for the Rest of Us. New York: Thunder's Mouth Press.
• Schaeffer, Francis A. 1970. Pollution and the Death of Man. Tyndale House Publishers. ISBN 0-89107-686-7

[edit] See also

• Theocracy
• Theonomy
• Dominion Theology
• Christian Zionism
• Christian Heritage Party of Canada, a Canadian political party often claimed to be Dominionist
• Christian Reconstructionism
• Christian Supremacy
• Jesus Camp, Award-winning documentary on Evangelical Christian right children in the United States
• Calvinism
• Evangelicalism
• Fundamentalism
• Kingdom Now theology
• Christian Right
• Separation of church and state
• Islamism
• Reconstructionist Postmillennialism vs Revivalist Postmillennialism
• Summary of Christian eschatological differences
• Christianism

[edit] External links

• Example of a Proposed Theocratic Constitution (John Cotton)
• Article by Sara Diamond
• Theocracy Watch
• Christian Reconstructionism, Dominion Theology, and Theonomy
• The Yurica Report
• Christian Reconstructionism - The Foundation of Modern Conservatism
• The Chalcedon Foundation
• Religious Movements: Christian Reconstructionism
• Soldiers Of Christ I and Soldiers Of Christ II: articles on militant right-wing activism from Harper's Magazine, May 2005.
• Interview with journalist Michelle Goldberg, author of Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism, May 2006.