Whether you have taken my webinar, “Dominionism 101″ yet or not, the following 11 books are absolute MUST reads for those of you who want a more in depth view into the world of Christian Dominionists and their political involvements. They effectively infested the Republican Party soundly in the late 1980s and victoriously in the early 1990s.
Mikey Weinstein’s “With God on Our Side” – A personal story about the discrimination that non-Dominionists endure in the military. He is founder of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation and would still vote Republican if he felt the Party resembled what it used to be. Mikey served as legal counsel in the Reagan West Wing and is dedicated to fighting the notion within our military that we are in some kind of Holy War.
Chris Hedge’s “American Fascists – The Christian Right & the War on America” – a foreign correspondent in years past, he also has a history based in theology. Hedges provides an easy-to-read look into some of the nuts and bolts of this Movement after he attended actual events from coast to coast within the Dominionist community.
George E. Lowe’s “It Can Happen Here – A Fascist Christian America” VOLUMES I & II – Lowe has uniquely insightful information as a former intelligence officer whose experience spans from before the Kennedy administration through the Bush years. His details are unsettling, not the least of which are details of the Dominionists entrenched within our Pentagon.
Sara Diamond’s “Spritual Warfare – The Politics of the Christian Right” is my ‘bible’ on the origins of this activity and she wrote this in the late 1980s as a doctoral thesis and it is invaluable! She goes into great documented detail of the inter-connectedness of these religious extremists and some of our government agencies funded by our tax dollars.
Michele Goldberg’s “Kingdom Coming – The Rise of Christian Nationalism” – another eye-opening account from a journalistic perspective on the broad-reach the Christian Dominionists have in our culture and politics; and their subsequent influence.
Chris Rodda has become the countries foremost authority on the antics of David Barton & CO. who are busy re-writing America’s history and selling it through Glenn Beck on FOX TV. They know NO bounds! Her book, “Liars for Jesus” debunks their claims that we were founded as a Christian Nation & more.
Thomas Quinn writes “What Do You Do with a Chocolate Jesus” with humor, yet hits on serious discrepancies and implausible claims made by the most flamboyant versions of the accounting of Christ. As a “walk-away” himself, he speaks from experience about what it was like to be a part of a Dominionist community. I have had the pleasure of sharing a radio program with him and getting to know him better. You will find this a pleasure to read.
Tom Krattenmaker writes for the religious section of the national paper USA Today and exposes Dominionism in sports in his book, “Onward Christian Athletes”. We have all seen the pointing at the sky and plunging on bended knee as though God is at the game helping these guys win - (honestly!) Find out what is really going on in this exclusive club better known as the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, who have had such notorious names as Sarah Palin, Curt Warner, Tim Tebow and many, many more.
Amazon says, “Journalist Blumenthal documents the movement of conservative evangelicals from the political wings to center stage, delving into the psyches of those who now lead a Republican Party “fixated on abortion, homosexuality and abstinence education; resentful and angry” in his book, “Republican Gomorrah: Inside the Movement that Shattered the Party”
Many have praised Sharlet’s 1st book, “The Family”. Here is one of those reviews, “This is a gripping, utterly original narrative about an influential evangelical elite that few Americans even know exists. . . . The Christian Right will never look the same again.” — Michael Kazin, author of A Godly Hero
Written by a former Republican strategist. Publisher’s Weekly said, “The title of political analyst Phillips’s latest book may overstate his case (in the text, he prefers the term “theocratic direction”), but his analysis likely will strike chords among those troubled by our current political moment.”
I would add Max Blumenthal's 'Republican Gomorrah' to this list.
I've been saved for many years and have read the Bible even longer than that. I'm one of these old fashioned shouting dancing happy Christians who believes in holiness.The Christian Nationalists are a dangerous group and I take my stand with Jesus against them.
The great commission is to preach the gospel not elect Tiberius to another term, or rather elect Peter to another term, yet Peter and the rest of the apostles had nothing to do with the government. They preached the love of Jesus Christ never were they about politics.
Hal Lindsey's book Road To Holocaust is about this dangerous group. People should read it.
It is not hard for me to believe these Domionists are just like the crusaders.
David Barton and his followers are soon to be abolished by God because God wants people saved not elected!
These people are not after God's will but their own will where they will rule over the weaker.
I love all people though I disagree with many and am against same sex–"marriage" and abortion but do recognize all people are loved by God and have the right to live in this country free not forced to believe what the Domionists do.
Down with the Domionists.
I agree with you. I am anti-extremist and am not critical of mainline Christianity in the least. We should all be allowed the freedom to worship and hold to our own spiritual beliefs and not have zealots such as the Dominionists dictating whether or not we are "the right kind of Christian"…as I have been told so many times that I am not. My goal is to expose these false prophets for profit so that as a nation we can make informed decisions about just who these people are and what they are trying to do while pulling the rest of us into a dangerous and confrontational world. Thank you for your comments…
While I will defend a person's right to freely practice the religion of his or her choice, I am a anti-theist (which is different from an athiest). To me, Dominionists are simply the more extreme end of a continuum that encourages intolerance, irrationality, and a misapprehension of our plural society. Leah, I applaud your efforts to expose Dominionists, but I suggest that you reassess your decision to not criticize mainline Christianity. Extremists often exist because the mainline culture doesn't do anything to curtail absurd ideas. In my opinion, there is a large mainstream Christian culture in America that tacitly supports Dominionism and is a significant contributing factor to the problem.
I came her (late) from a poorly-written article called a great article on the issue of California Family Courts giving custody to batterers and molesters, by Peter Jamison (March 2nd). I left a battering relationship (called Marriage) to a supposedly Bible-believing man (being in the same category myself) and most of the trouble supposedly was justified by "head of household." Had married after two college degrees and substantial (diverse) work experience, and was ill-prepared for the "barefoot and pregnant-but-bring-home-the-bacon & give me your paycheck" thing. And I fought back — not physically, but by reporting, resisting, seeking help, getting self and children out of the home, and never having a real HOME for years.
But the real story is how many religious and secular groups wouldn't mess with a man's castle. However, once I finally got a domestic violence restraining order (having been informed of my legal rights) and started repair & rebuild mode, then the real games began — and it wasn't a religious person that started them, either.
Which leads me hear — after years more of this, and having realized that the courts themselves aren't much better than an overentitled individual husband who has compared himself to the sun (not joking!), and as speaking for "God" in our lives — and losing a helluva a lot more valuable years and things in my life, gained one valuable thing called wisdom.
The problem in the courts does relate to program fraud & greed, but behind it, and selling it was the "Marriage" movement (Healthy Marriage, responsible Fatherhood, Abstinence) and millions of tax dollars. And this is not being reported! Many issues track back to Bush's Office of Faith-Based and US Congress buying that our social problems would go away if we could just solve the "fatherlessness crisis" and get rid of the feminazis, including women like myself who remain Christian, but take exception with being used as personal scapegoat, punching bag, doormat, or practices such having whether or not we get to work (and where, and for how long) regulated by an abusive husband enabled by dozens of onlookers, many (but not) all of them religious. I had my credit AND job history ruined under duress; I retained custody, he walked away from responsibilities and with credit earned over my signature, forced, reported, re-issued by the credit agency, etc. We have two wonderful girls — a few more years of this, and the courts — and they switched households, and currently are living with no legal guardian, concealed from me after contact cut off.
Believe it or not, following the grants in the courts showed me a LOT of what's covered here, including the connection between Unification Church, Parenting Day, & an organization called "CRC" (Children's Rights Council) and in general why dealing with many arms of our government as private (sic) citizen feels like an attempt to leave a serious cult.
It is. Check out this site (1300 comments on the SFWeekly article in 2 weeks) I have many links there, or at the blog, to connect the dots. http://www.sfweekly.com/2011-03-02/news/family-co… For example, what are U.S. tax $$ for marriage nonprofits doing (as Talk2Action relates) in Uganda? … I am still a Christian, but I took my faith out of churches, where it's not safe for women; too many attract predators (male & female), most pastors mandated to report, don't, and worst of all, the people attending follow the same example, leaving no safe place for honest AND believe in God single mothers to simply get on with their lives. These corrupt systems taught me to research and to FIGHT. Interesting book list, I"ll be on it! http://familycourtmatters.wordpress.com (Connect the dots: money-laundering Unification Church, ultra-right movement entrenched in government, and certain congresspeople, incl. Danny K. Davis. The key theme is power, which relates to a different approach to politics than the Jesus of the gospels & NT ever spoke of.
I have to disagree with Leah. There is no such thing as a moderate Christian.There is a mistaken supposition that we must treat some Christians differently than others because we run the risk of offending possible allies in the church/state separation struggle. It is a fact that many mainline Christians see the wisdom of keeping government out of religion and vice versus. It is also wise for secularists to avoid deliberately offending them, and they are notoriously thin skinned these days. However, anyone who has consciously decided to ignore reality and shares the vote with me is a danger to our progress if not to our very country in these perilous times. They are trained to be followers and not to challenge authority..
Moreover, moderates are enablers. Without their support at the polsl we would not have the crisis we face now trying to fix eight years of G. W. Bush. The extreme views of Dominionists bleed out into the culture and are taken up by moderate sects and acted upon. Gun control, abortion, and gay marriage are kept stirred up by the radicals and many moderates seem to go along. It is possible the moderates have no idea how dangerous the Dominionists really are. To a lot of people warnings about the threat are treated like zany conspiracy theories. Sophisticated tools to manufacture consent are powerfully employed by well financed far right groups concealed as grass roots organizations. If they wanted to, they could convince your grandmother to kill her cats. Uncritical Christians are easily manipulated.
Here is some of the best thinking I have found (besides Sam Harris) on this topic:
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/2011/03/25/moder…
http://hambydammit.wordpress.com/2009/01/25/moder…
Hello. If any of you are interested, there are a number of Discernment ministries warning Christians about such false teaching: http://www.discernment-ministries.org/ChristianIm…. This is another wonderful yet terrifying read.
Thank you for sharing that link…she is a knowledgeable writer about this topic, and I am happy to help spread her work. I need to add a section to this page that include links to article such as this and more. Thank you for making me think of that.