I used a small snippet of one of our Charts© in the header of this web site when I changed the theme a couple of months ago. Since then I have received numerous emails asking if there was a way to see more of it. This considerable interest is encouraging as my co-researcher and I have been working on this project for several years and will be publishing thousands of connections in the form of link charts that we have created.
These will not be published until later this year, but in the meantime we recognize this as a perfect opportunity to ask for your help in making this a reality. There are significant costs around creation software, web servers and research time that go into this project and we have all but exhausted our personal resources.
So we are offering a sampling of The Charts© to those who donate to this effort. I am awful at asking for help, but given the push-back that we are getting in trying to explain the ties and demonstrate why this network of extremism is growing, The Charts© are needed now more than ever! We welcome even modest donations enabling us to continue forward. Your help is crucial. Even $5, $10 or $20 will be an enormous infusion that will enable us to adhere to these important deadlines in time for 2012. You can easily make a donation by clicking on the “Donate” button to the right of this post on our sidebar.
For those who send $25 or less I will send you a jpeg (photograph) of one of our link Charts. For Donations greater than $25 I will send you two of our Charts.
All Christians are Not Dominionist ~ While All Dominionists Claim Christianity
People spend more time arguing semantics and downplaying the power of Dominionism than trying to work toward the common goal of stopping it. It is imperative that we recognize when acts occur like that in Oslo, Norway that are borne out of this extremism and incorporate them into our understanding of how violent this zealotry can get left to run amok. There is no time to argue semantics.
Dominionism defined in terms that we apply it are referencing those politically conservative Christians who use Genesis 1:26-28 as not only their permission – but their Mandate – to impose Old Testament biblical law on entire populations through the use of legislation. They argue that the United States was narrowly founded as a Chrisitian Nation. Some of their leaders have even gone so far as to literally state that if you are not the “right kind of Christian” (a Dominionist) that freedom of religion does not apply to you in America. Bryan Fischer, of the recognized Dominionist hate organization, American Family Association lays out the argument that all others of faith (or no faith) are provided freedoms only as a “privilege” but not a right under the 4th Amendment.
To those of us who research this extremism almost every waking moment, even we find it nearly impossible to keep track of the numerous ties that cross-pollinate these factions and bring them together under the umbrella term of Dominionism. The numbers are daunting. In fact, for that very reason we this project that we call “The Charts©” containing over 3,000 verified connections including Dominionists, corporate, militarist and ideological supporters. This has translated into hundreds of individual charts to date with more in process. We anticipate being able to release a portion of these charts this Fall with the balance due out in the Spring of 2012 where they will have the greatest impact on the elections.
They are stunning in their visual power of connecting the dots. This slaughter in Norway would be better understood with the use of The Charts© due to the massive crossover of connections, ideologies, theologies and intended outcomes.
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These Charts are copyrighted works and cannot be distributed without our express permission.
Contact Email: leah@godsownparty.com
I hope you get more than enough to help this project along. You have $10 from me! I like the idea of getting a glimpse of this chart. The anticipation of having to wait until next spring was like reading a good book and finding the last chapter missing. However, there is a sense of dread that goes along with it too. Over 3,000 verified connections!?!? I thought the few groups mentioned thus far on this website were terrifying enough! I am almost scared to find out just how far and wide this goes! I am ready to assist in this fight in any way I can but you've got me thinking I need a back-up plan that includes possibly requesting political asylum in Sweden!
Thank you for your support. It truly is necessary and we will get this accomplished – together. I know that it is frightening, but exposure is the key to stopping them. They HATE recognition on these terms. And I have to tell you, that people seriously mention the act of moving elsewhere but I remind tham that if these zealots take control in the U.S., there won't be a place on the planet that would be safe. We must stay here and fight back. I am often reminded of the guy in Monty Python's Holy Grail who has no arms or legs but yells at his attackers to "come back and fight".
Leah,I am a big fan of yours ,and a regular reader. I love your blog,but ? No matter how many time you use the term Dominionists as if trying to hard too coin a phrase. This term is not ringing with me or anyone I have asked to read your blog. Truth is you are losing first time readers with this Dominionists phrase. I hate to criticize you; your a fine writer ,and a passionate blogger.And I support your cause so please take my humble opinion as merely an honest assessment. Please if you do not trust my feedback do a little self research if I am wrong I owe you a retraction. Keep up the fight ! Dominionist sounds too much like a sex Fetish.Just FYI . Every time you use this in a post I can hear Beavis & Butthead giggle in my head. And picture a Leather clad Dominatrix making some guy eat out of a dog bowl .And I'm not the only one .Like I said I am a fan so if you want to delete this comment it is fine with me. Just trying to help. I hope you don't hate me now,but someone had too say something.In fact please delete after reading,but think about ? Peace ,and long life Leah.
Very interesting…tell me more. Let me say that I am not the one who coined the Dominionist brand. This was put in play over the last 15 years by those who research and study Dominionism and Dominionists so it is appropriate to use it. Continuity is very important.
Can you share with us where the disconnect is with you and your friends? Is it that they have not heard the term before? Most people haven\’t – even those in the very congregations that are led by Dominionist leaders. Years ago when I asked a variety of people to see who had heard of this term – only one person said yes. And he was a landscaper who said he had a high school teacher that introduced his class to it when he tried to \”saving\” them.
My comment was not to criticize,or in any way antagonize. I was merely stating the reason this term has never caught on. I Wish I could offer an alternative. Continuity in the message is important,but this particular term was DOA 15 years ago because of the a fore mentioned reasons. To continue it's use is not Logical,and or productive .By your own comment the term is Vague,and nobody understands what it means other than you ,and the Gardener .
If I may chime in here – I too have had difficulty getting people to pay any attention to this topic and in part because the terms 'dominionists' and 'dominionism' simply don't ring any bells. I think that this will remain the case until some kind of mainstream media gets the term into the national dialog. The Charts should be an excellent tool for that goal. But for now, lets face it, this sounds like a conspiracy theory that is so cliched that you couldn't pitch it as the the plot for a Hollywood movie. People really do think you are a bit whacked when you start talking about this stuff.
In addition, the societal/cultural tendency to not poke our noses into other people's religion is still very very strong. This is something that is well understood by dominionist planners. They are counting on it! So how to overcome that?
Rob,Dominionist planners ? " They are counting on it " ? Who are they ? Thanks for making my point ." So how do you over come that ?" Here's a start Stop using the term Dominionist ! It really is a silly ,vague ,suit' o intellectual B/S term that is meaningless in the debate on Secular government . It carries no meaning for the general public,and serves only to confuse or muddy the waters. Trust me, I just talked to my Landscaper ! PS by Landscaper, I mean the guy who cuts my grass.
I used to hang out with students from the local dominionist ersatz "University" (Bible College), and took part in planning sessions on how they were going to infiltrate and take over other churches. The fact is, a lot of what they do isn't spur-of-the-moment, but deliberately and carefully planned, often at high levels and even involving their students/trainees.
BTW, these students were being taught to invade other churches and try to take them over by some of their so-called "professors". They even pointed them out to me, with strict words to NEVER tell anyone that the Assemblies of God were deliberately training their ministry students on how to take over other denominations/churches. The training even went to the point of learning specifically what to say/do and what NOT to say/do for each denomination, and the most effective way to gain "positions" within those churches. I sat and talked with them during those planning sessions, and I suspect they thought I was going to go into their "ministry track".
The Episcopal church we used to attend USED to throw out between 8 and 12 people a year, dominionists who were caught trying to redirect church members to the local dominionist megachurches. Then the priest finally fell under their control and started accepting their lies, and next thing we heard was advocacy (from lay leaders) for murdering gays, promotion of "Intelligent Design", and so on. That was only a few years ago.. so they've been doing it for decades.
The term Dominionist/Dominionism has been used by those researching the movement since long before I became aware that it WAS a movement and that it had a name. They would prefer to have everyone think of them as "Christian", but what they teach is considered by most REAL Christians to be an inversion of Christianity.
BTW… I was Pentecostal/Dominionist for 3 years, back around1980. They've been deliberately planning "stuff" every since then and the evidence is they were doing so long before.
sbj
Even as the term "dominionist" has validity in terms of the world-view espoused by the folks under discussion here, my instinct is with you, as a descriptive term it's not helping to widen the discourse.
This is the US, so marketing matters, which means labeling matters too.
Many writers on this topic are at pains to distinguish "dominionism" from "mainstream christianity" – I suppose to avoid accusing perfectly ordinary people of faith, who don't have lunatic and unconstitutional ideas, with simple-minded bible idolatry.
For myself I don't care who I offend – for my money mainstream christians who fail to denounce this madness forfeit their right to have me make an effort not to be insulting, much in the same way that mainstream muslims who do not denounce the wingnuts that they have in their midst also don't deserve any efforts for politeness.
An alternative terminology could be helpful, I agree, and like you I'm having difficulty coming up with something. Something suitable for use in the mainstream media that is – I can come up with plenty of the other kind.
I think that if you can get someone to search for the term ‘dominionist’ and ‘dominionism’ especially if in conjunction with ’7 mountains mandate’ or ’7 pillars mandate’ then they will be presented with tons of information! So to stop using those terms at this point in time would be absolutely foolish. As always in a situation like this, it is not the term itself that needs to change but instead it is the awareness level of the term and what the term stands for that needs to change. This train left the station a long time ago.
Precisely! And that is a very helpful suggestion, Robby. I will, indeed, point people toward doing their own search work and as you say, they will see that this is a term we have worked hard to develop as a "brand" in order to have a general and understandable term to reference the discussion. Thanks again!
I think you'll find it is the same thing I encounter: "But it's a CHURCH, they can't be THAT BAD!!!". The American public has been programmed to think of churches as always a good thing, and people just don't want (or can't) get their heads around the idea that a church can be as evil as the dominionists/extreme fundamentalists are.
A friend once suggested when people come across with "But it's a CHURCH!", to say "Jim Jones had a nice church but the people drank the Kool-Aid".
I would like to know how many Chartsⓒ you will eventually produce, how they will be organized, and what your arrangements might be for their distribution and use on other websites that have an interest in spreading the word about the Christers. (I actually like that term better than dominionist, it was coined by Gore Vidal I think, but no matter)
I would certainly be willing to help defray your costs if they are formatted in such a way that they could be used as a visual aid to a written article on my own blog, for example, though it is by no means dedicated to this important topic.
I have already done a series on dominionism in several parts, with more planned, and such a resource could well be invaluable, especially if there would be a way to make them interactive, so the "nodes" on the chart become hyperlinks to further detailed analysis for example.
Leah,
While I realize that this project is a hugely time-consuming endeavor and will no doubt cost $$$, why would you copyright it to the extent that it cannot be distributed without permission? If the purpose is to get the word out (particularly before the next election), wouldn't you want people to be able to distribute the information freely? There's such a thing as a creative commons license, whereby you can stipulate use and attribution requirements. Just a thought.
There are people out there who are trying to swoop in and capitalize on our research and work. This is not new, of course…but for right now, until our work is ready to be released through our publisher, our attorney has advised that we protect this project. We have a number of plans for the future in how we are going to make this available as broadly as possible. But this is where I defer to the advice of professionals.
Leah, is there some community discussion/message board that we can join to keep up with the latest? I have been searching for quite some time trying to find a group or community focused on this specific issue.
Leah hasn't answered yet (may be too busy), but Talk 2 Action (http://www.talk2action.org) is good for research on the subject (it's primarily a research blog), Dark Christianity (LiveJournal blog) is another, PoliticusUSA is a third (http://www.politicususa.com/) – these three I can think of off the top of my head.
Leah,
Miss having your column to read.
I apologize for the absence! I have been putting the final revisions on my book to meet my publishing deadline, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I will post about that now….thank you!
Finally! I am sorry that I haven't been writing here…I am literally on my last day of revisions for my book that goes to the publisher tonight. BUT – I did just do a post on Perry's Show http://godsownparty.com/blog/2011/08/perrys-respo….
Thank you for hanging in there with me! I just never have enough time in a day to do what I need to get done…but as soon as this is all in the hands of my publisher, you can count on me writing more here again.
Speaking of hate and fear it sounds like you are promoting your own brand of it.
…and…these always come from anonymous cowards…typical. I bet they are praying for me too!