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'Speaking to outsiders, most Christian nationalists say they're simply responding to anti-Christian persecution. They say that secularism is itself a religion, one unfairly imposed on them. They say they're the victims in the culture wars. But Christian nationalist ideologues don't want equality, they want dominance. In his book "The Changing of the Guard: Biblical Principles for Political Action," George Grant, former executive director of D. James Kennedy's Coral Ridge Ministries, wrote:
"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. That's what Christ has commissioned us to accomplish. We must win the world with the power of the Gospel. And we must never settle for anything less...
Thus, Christian politics has as its primary intent the conquest of the land -- of men, families, institutions, bureaucracies, courts, and governments for the Kingdom of Christ."' [5]
Ms. Yurica is correct that Dominionism is a philosophy that is extremely dangerous to our country. If they succeed in taking power, they will impose a society in which most of us would not wish to live nor one in which we would wish upon our children. Gary North, one of the leaders in the Christian Reconstructionists, defines this society as one using harsh Biblical punishment to keep order.
"The Biblically approved methods of execution include burning (at the stake for example), stoning, hanging, and "the sword." Gary North, the self-described economist of Reconstructionism, prefers stoning because, among other things, stones are cheap, plentiful, and convenient. Punishments for non-capital crimes generally involve whipping, restitution in the form of indentured servitude, or slavery. Prisons would likely be only temporary holding tanks, prior to imposition of the actual sentence." [6]
Americans were shocked and horrified at the society created by the Taliban in Afghanistan. Yet, there is much in the harsh vision of the Christian Reconstructionists that reminds thoughtful people of the Taliban. They too stoned people and suppressed women in the name of religion.
The Christian Reconstructionists have gained too much power in our society. They are not a group with which we can compromise because they feel compelled to impose their vision on our country and on the world. They constitute a looming danger to our country. They tied their fortunes to George W Bush as their avenging leader and he was more than happy to debase our constitutional checks and balances for them. Now that he has been shown to be deeply unpopular, they will need to find another leader to lead the charge. And we will have time to awaken the American public to this danger. We cannot let them destroy our American ideals and values: ideals that say we are a people who believe in the rule of law based on our Constitution including the separation of Church and State; and values that say we are a tolerant and open-minded people who revel in our democratic, dynamic and creative society made possible by our diversity.
[1] Dana Milbank, Religious Right Finds Its Center in Oval Office: Bush Emerges as Movement's Leader After Robertson Leaves Christian Coalition, The Washington Post, December 24, 2001 (http://liberalslikechrist.org/about/Bush_center_of_RR.html)
[2] Katherine Yurica, The Despoiling of America, The Yurica Report, February 11, 2004 (http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/TheDespoilingOfAmerica.htm)
[3] Frederick Clarkson, Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence, The Public Eye, 1994, Part 2 (http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v08n1/chrisre1.html)
[4] Sara Diamond, Spiritual Warfare: The Politics of the Christian Right, South End Press, 1989, page 138
[5] Michelle Goldberg, Excerpt from "Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism", Salon, May 12, 2006 (http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2006/05/12/goldberg/)
[6] Frederick Clarkson, Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence, The Public Eye, 1994, Part 1 (http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/v08n1/chrisre1.html)
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