Dominionism in American Politics – "Expanding the discussion behind the Headlines"
What IS Dominionism?
In a word - theocracy.
Think of this word as a big umbrella. Under the umbrella of Political Dominionism are numerous "franchises" or sects of radical Christian belief whose goal it is to take "dominion" over all things secular.
Pastor Howard Bess is someone I have the privilege of speaking with, and who I admire as a mainstream Christian who demonstrates all the reverence, faith and compassion that represents what many of us view as true Christianity. He writes wonderful newsletters and this one I just have to share! I will pop back in tomorrow and share with you how things went in L.A. It’s good to be home!
Pastor Bess
BEHIND THE SCENE, SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
By Howard Bess
As we watch the news, the top stories are about issues such as health care, deficit spending, jobs, the Winter Olympics, and earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. There are other topics of great importance that never reach the pages of newspapers in Alaska.
As a Baptist my attention is drawn to every action of churches, every action of Congress, every action of the White House administration, every action of the U.S. Supreme Court that relates to church-state relationships.
Under the administration of President George W. Bush, without a single vote by Congress, a whole new federal social service arm was created. It was called The Faith Based Initiative. Under its auspices billions of federal public assistance dollars were distributed to and through faith based organizations. From the beginning of the program it was attacked as an unconstitutional fostering of religion in violation of the establishment clause of the First Amendment.
With the election of Barack Obama many critics anticipated the demise of the program. Obama surprised almost everyone by announcing the continuation of the program with a promise of a major revision of the operation. He named a 25 member Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Community Partnerships to oversee the conduct of the program. The membership of the Council was very diverse. They have been active and have set down new rules for the agency. To illustrate the tensions involved, the Council adopted a resolution that religious organizations must form new 501 c 3 tax exempt not-for-profit corporations to receive monies from the agency. The move was seen as necessary to insure that the religious activity of a church and its social services were kept separate. The supporting vote was 13-12.
The vote indicates that a vigorous debate still rages in the United States about the separation of church and state.
In another little noticed news item, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs has recommended that the U.S. Government develop a strategy to make religion “integral” to American foreign policy. The Chicago Council is a powerful organization that was formed in the 1920s to influence and shape American foreign policy. The Chicago Council has no official standing, but its influence over the years has been enormous. Should American foreign policy get religion?
Americans have become quite accustomed to arguing about issues of separation of church and state in domestic affairs; but issues of separation of church and state have little history in foreign affairs. The last time any hint of the issue occurred was when President Ronald Reagan appointed an ambassador to the Vatican in 1984. There were a lot of unhappy Protestants when Mr. Reagan made the appointment. Make a note, the recommendation of the Chicago Council marks a much larger step into the separation issue. Does the First Amendment have a necessary application to foreign policy?
Brent Walker, a member of the Supreme Court Bar and the executive of a powerful Baptist separation lobby, believes the First Amendment’s Establishment Clause does apply to the conduct of U.S. foreign policy. Walker acknowledges that the U.S. may of necessity deal with religious bodies in the conduct of foreign policy. However the First Amendment puts constraints on the U.S. approach in all our relationships.
The United States is a secular nation that embraces no religion in particular. There are many Americans who argue the truth of that statement and would like to bring about a dramatic change. Those who argue against separation of church and state are growing stronger every day. Their movement is often called Christian Triumphalism or Christian Nationalism. Advocates are sometimes referred to as dominionists. While they have formed many different groups, one prominent organizational name appears with regularity. It is the New Apostolic Reformation. Cells of participants now cover the nation. Adherents include a long list of prominent religious and political leaders. Among their central convictions is that separation of church and state must cease. The establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth must take place. The process must begin with the United States. Their great enemy is separation of church and state.
Two social issues refuse to take leave of our national attention. The first is the issue of abortion. It is a prime example of religious groups that are determined to force their religious beliefs on a secular nation. I have deep respect for those who believe an abortion is always a violation of the will of God. Devout people are completely free to reject birth control measures. They are free to convince others of their religious convictions about when life begins. Legal banning of all abortions would be a matter of government taking the religious convictions of certain people and forcing it on all citizens. The First Amendment is our protection from government interference in religion.
The second thorny social issue in the U.S. is the legal rights of gay persons. Gay people would have had full legal rights years ago except for the attempt of religious people to force their theological beliefs on the nation. Legal rights for our gay citizens has nothing to do with any passage from the Bible. No interpretation of the Bible has any relevance to the laws of our land. Yet religious people insist their particular beliefs be established as the law of the land. Religious people can maintain their religious beliefs about sexual orientation and sexual behavior. I respect their decisions and commitments.
To ask government to force the convictions of one group onto all citizens is not compatible with First Amendment rights.
The United States is a great experiment. Central to that experiment is the encouragement of diversity, beginning with religion. May it ever be so.
THE END
I am going to post Pastor Bess’s articles periodically because he does represent mainstream Christians and their concerns about the Dominionist faction who misrepresent the views and beliefs of most Christians. Frankly, Dominionists are giving Christianity a very bad rap!
This voice from a mainstream Christian is like a glass of cool water after a struggle across a searing desert . I have been working my way through your suggested reading list (I have some miles to go). It is slow going because at times I have had to go away and think about other things. I get exhausted. I appreciate this. We cannot bury our heads in the sand. These people are determined.
Isn't it though? I really need to share more of his newsletters…he is a graduate of Wheaton and taught at the University level about critically understanding the Bible. I am grateful for his presence.
I know that my critics love to paint me as an anti-Christian, but that is just not so. I am just not what they view as the "right kind of Christian".
I absolutely understand the need to bite this off in pieces, but the fact that you persevere is admirable because they are indeed determined…as am I.
Wonderful article. It is comforting to know that some pastors will openly express a positive opinion on separation of state and church.
Thanks Leah for your effort. I often see your website acknowledged in other articles. I shall also link it when appropriate.
Thank you very much, that would be helpful. And I will start posting more not only from Pastor Bess but other mainstream Christians in America that are as concerned about growing Dominionism/New Apostolic Reformation/Nationalism as we are.
Ain't that the best?! To not be ashamed of calling yourself a Christian…go figure that we would have to be up against these zealots that try to redefine Christianity….who the "f" are they anyway?
I have no words for the hope that people like Mr. Bess give me. Regardless of being a christian or not, I can read his words and feel hope that all people that practice his particular religion are not crazy or deranged.
I sometimes feel that just as in the media coverage of celebrities, that only the salacious and extraordinary are found newsworthy, yet the boring middle of the road folks, which are perhaps the majority, are not given a voice.
Thank you for posting this voice of reason from a person of christian faith.
The separation of church and state is so important. What if the state dictated what religion a people had to be? Lutheran, Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, Pentecostal? Nobody would agree. It is as important for the religious as for the non-religious.
I could nit pick points but i wont. Rev,Bess is a breath of fresh air in a stinking sewer of hate filled Xian separatists. Thank you sir i look forward to your contributing.
Dear rev. Social engineering has been going on for more than 2000 years. today it is just faster.
Halleluiah! An evangelical who definitely "gets it." I remember reading about him in Max Blumenthal's "Republican Gomorrah." He's the author of "Pastor, I am Gay," which Sarah Palin tried to get banned from the local library. If I remember correctly, when Blumenthal visited the library during his research mission in Alaska and asked the librarian where the book was. She replied that it had been "moved" to another library out of space concerns. He found, however, that there was plenty of space for the entire "Left Behind" series.
Blech! (I'm trying hard to curb my tendency to say dirty words!)
Thank you pastor Bess for your voice of clarity and reason on this very important topic.. I wish more Christian leaders would speak out against the growing threat of extreme fundamentalism within the Church. Many of them have expressed the desire to hear from Muslims on the threat of militant Islam, yet fail to see the parallel dangers within their own ranks.
As a Jew, I fear the growing encroachment of religion on our government at all levels. People who would advocate tearing down the wall that separates Church and State in this country are blinded by an arrogant sense of superiority in their beliefs. These are the same people who often couch their religious agenda in slogans of freedom and patriotism, and their followers are destined to become victims of what would follow.
They are misinformed and spout that we are indeed a Christian nation. No amount of specific and fact-filled arguing will deter them from clinging to this belief. Therefore, our energies and efforts are better utilized enlightening the rest of our citizenry that we do in fact have our own religious zealots here at home to combat.
I really did. I thought it went quite well. And yes, I will post more of Pastor Bess's newsletters. They are all equally as thoughtful and informed. Thank you…
The second thorny social issue in the U.S. is the legal rights of gay persons. Gay people would have had full legal rights years ago except for the attempt of religious people to force their theological beliefs on the nation. Legal rights for our gay citizens has nothing to do with any passage from the Bible. No interpretation of the Bible has any relevance to the laws of our land. Yet religious people insist their particular beliefs be established as the law of the land. Religious people can maintain their religious beliefs about sexual orientation and sexual behavior. I respect their decisions and commitments.
This voice from a mainstream Christian is like a glass of cool water after a struggle across a searing desert . I have been working my way through your suggested reading list (I have some miles to go). It is slow going because at times I have had to go away and think about other things. I get exhausted. I appreciate this. We cannot bury our heads in the sand. These people are determined.
Isn't it though? I really need to share more of his newsletters…he is a graduate of Wheaton and taught at the University level about critically understanding the Bible. I am grateful for his presence.
I know that my critics love to paint me as an anti-Christian, but that is just not so. I am just not what they view as the "right kind of Christian".
I absolutely understand the need to bite this off in pieces, but the fact that you persevere is admirable because they are indeed determined…as am I.
Wonderful article. It is comforting to know that some pastors will openly express a positive opinion on separation of state and church.
Thanks Leah for your effort. I often see your website acknowledged in other articles. I shall also link it when appropriate.
Thank you very much, that would be helpful. And I will start posting more not only from Pastor Bess but other mainstream Christians in America that are as concerned about growing Dominionism/New Apostolic Reformation/Nationalism as we are.
Thank you both, Ms. Burton and Rev. Bess. Please keep up the good work so that one day I'll be able to admit to trying to be a Christian.
Ain't that the best?! To not be ashamed of calling yourself a Christian…go figure that we would have to be up against these zealots that try to redefine Christianity….who the "f" are they anyway?
Hear, hear.
I have no words for the hope that people like Mr. Bess give me. Regardless of being a christian or not, I can read his words and feel hope that all people that practice his particular religion are not crazy or deranged.
I sometimes feel that just as in the media coverage of celebrities, that only the salacious and extraordinary are found newsworthy, yet the boring middle of the road folks, which are perhaps the majority, are not given a voice.
Thank you for posting this voice of reason from a person of christian faith.
The separation of church and state is so important. What if the state dictated what religion a people had to be? Lutheran, Catholic, Presbyterian, Methodist, Pentecostal? Nobody would agree. It is as important for the religious as for the non-religious.
…which is the whole point as to why we exist here!
Absolutely!
I could nit pick points but i wont. Rev,Bess is a breath of fresh air in a stinking sewer of hate filled Xian separatists. Thank you sir i look forward to your contributing.
Dear rev. Social engineering has been going on for more than 2000 years. today it is just faster.
Halleluiah! An evangelical who definitely "gets it." I remember reading about him in Max Blumenthal's "Republican Gomorrah." He's the author of "Pastor, I am Gay," which Sarah Palin tried to get banned from the local library. If I remember correctly, when Blumenthal visited the library during his research mission in Alaska and asked the librarian where the book was. She replied that it had been "moved" to another library out of space concerns. He found, however, that there was plenty of space for the entire "Left Behind" series.
Blech! (I'm trying hard to curb my tendency to say dirty words!)
I sympathize…I often fight that same urge.
Thank you pastor Bess for your voice of clarity and reason on this very important topic.. I wish more Christian leaders would speak out against the growing threat of extreme fundamentalism within the Church. Many of them have expressed the desire to hear from Muslims on the threat of militant Islam, yet fail to see the parallel dangers within their own ranks.
As a Jew, I fear the growing encroachment of religion on our government at all levels. People who would advocate tearing down the wall that separates Church and State in this country are blinded by an arrogant sense of superiority in their beliefs. These are the same people who often couch their religious agenda in slogans of freedom and patriotism, and their followers are destined to become victims of what would follow.
They are misinformed and spout that we are indeed a Christian nation. No amount of specific and fact-filled arguing will deter them from clinging to this belief. Therefore, our energies and efforts are better utilized enlightening the rest of our citizenry that we do in fact have our own religious zealots here at home to combat.
"Never mind the facts, I got ghed!"
Thanks for sharing this, Leah. Very thoughtful and interesting perspective from the pastor.
Hope you enjoyed L.A.
I really did. I thought it went quite well. And yes, I will post more of Pastor Bess's newsletters. They are all equally as thoughtful and informed. Thank you…
The church probably thought this design for one of their stained glass windows was a good idea at the time:
http://www.berkshiresbest.com/probably.jpg