Search for "Dominionism"

Beyond Alarmism and Denial in the Dominionism Debate

By Anthea Butler

…er the world. That’s too narrow, and I think has (1) opened a door for the dominionism deniers, and (2) caused people to overlook some of the real-world creations of dominionism. The religious right has, in so many ways, succeeded in creating institutions meant to supplant “secular” ones. One of the founders of Oral Roberts University law school (where Michele Bachmann earned her law degree) called this his “dominion mandate.” Look at Regent Unive…

Dominion Theology, Christian Reconstructionism, and the New Apostolic Reformation

By Julie Ingersoll

…utler have just posted a terrific overview of the NAR, Pentecostalism, and dominionism in which they critique both the denialists who say that dominionism doesn’t exist, and alarmists who fail to properly contextualize dominionists’ activities. Christian Reconstructionism is the older of the two movements (though the NAR has its roots in Pentecostalism that pre-dates both). There are two of the core aspects of Christian Reconstructionism that are…

The Spirit of January 6th: The Theology of This Seldom Discussed Movement Animates the Growing Threat to U.S. Democracy

By Frederick Clarkson and André Gagné

…** This is notable in light of the dearth of contemporary reporting on the Dominionism of NAR, a dearth that effectively erases the past. Of course, all of this is not entirely new. Indeed, the idea of dominion has roots in the 19th and early 20th century—although the terms “dominion” and “dominionism” came later. Early 20th century faith healer John Alexander Dowie, founder of the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church and the theocratic city of Zio…

Paranoia and the Progressive Press: A Response to WaPo’s Religion Columnist

By Peter Montgomery

…strand of thinking, but that doesn’t mean an investigation of the role of “dominionism” in religious right rhetoric and strategy is a paranoid project. (The urge to investigate, or to interpret, can be too easily dismissed as paranoid. But if not for such “paranoia,” what exactly would the role of journalists be?) So, as background: dominionism refers to a theological tenet at the core of the religious right movement—that Christians are meant to e…

Mike Johnson isn’t Just Your Average Christian Right Avatar — He’s Influenced by Fringe Movements Unfamiliar to Most Political Analysts

By Annika Brockschmidt

…The other important thing to remember is that Christian Reconstruction and dominionism (and remember Christian Reconstructionism teaches dominionism) are so ingrained in the Christian Right—in the books they read, the sermons they hear, the lessons they receive at school or in homeschooling, and in the language of their politicians—that few of them actually think about where it came from. It just is what they believe, and you’d be hard pressed to…

What’s Missing From Popular Discussions of Today’s Christian Nationalism?

By Katherine Stewart

…reakout session titled “The Seven Mountains of Influence.” Seven Mountains dominionism is the conviction that Christians of a certain hyperconservative variety should rightfully dominate the main peaks of modern civilization in the United States and, ultimately, the world. The ideology reportedly got its start in 1975, when Loren Cunningham, a missionary leader, and Bill Bright, the founder of Campus Crusade for Christ (now known as “Cru”), allege…

Statement on NAR & Christian Nationalism Answers Few Questions But Exposes Growing Rifts in the Movement

By Frederick Clarkson and André Gagné

…h a top-down, take-over mentality.” This is a restatement of old-fashioned Dominionism denial in the form of a strawman argument. It’s true that the Dominionism of Rushdoony, and later Wagner, doesn’t call for the armed seizure of the citadels of power and influence, including the Seven Mountains. It is, however, unambiguous about the need for biblical Christians of the right sort to take power in a bottom-up fashion to ultimately govern society i…

Republican Gomorrah Documents the Christian Right Takeover of the GOP

By Chip Berlet

…onservative evangelical thinkers, and resulted in a broad tendency called “Dominionism” by its critics. It is the resulting claim that God has mandated devout Christian men to gain control over secular society that led to the takeover of the Republican Party by the Christian Right. Schaeffer repudiated the conspiracist interpretation of his work, and was upset by the anti-intellectualism of some of his most ardent evangelical supporters in the Uni…

Christian Right Denialism is More Dangerous Than Ever: A Reporter’s Guide to the New Apostolic Reformation

By Frederick Clarkson and André Gagné

…g to mobilize. Since then, the most visible and politically potent form of Dominionism has certainly been charismatic in nature. In terms of eschatology—or End Times beliefs—the trend has been to move away from premillennialism, which generally emphasizes the idea that Jesus’ return precedes the establishment of his physical kingdom on earth for a thousand-year reign, and towards what Wagner and others call a “victorious eschatology,” which promot…

A Recent Local Controversy Reveals the Theocratic Heart of ‘Project Blitz’

By Frederick Clarkson

…t of one of the most underappreciated stories of our time: the politics of Dominionism, which a number of scholars have described as the driving ideology of the white evangelical protestant wing of the Christian right. Christian nationalism, the idea that America was founded as a Christian nation, and that this must somehow be restored, was once little appreciated outside the Christian right and a relative handful of dedicated scholars and journal…