Saturday, August 20, 2011

Weekend Warning ~ Dominionism ~ Theocracy ~ New Apostolic Reformation. (No astrology)

Each passing reader will have to decide for themself whether what follows is some kind of conspiracy theory, a report of just another sect of whackos embracing the most outlandish version of Christianity it's possible to concoct - or something in the wings which ought to be understood and taken seriously. Any reader who might immediately settle for either of the first two conclusions, though, should recall how ordinary German people, back in the 1930s would never, even in their wildest nighmares, have believed what actually did come to pass in their country between 1939 and 1945.

The quotes below are from an article at "God Discussion" dated 13 July 2011:
Christian 7 Mountains Dominionism Unleashed: The 300, Perry and the Presidency

A heretical sect has risen in America, and it's stepping onto the political stage.

Dominionism is the belief that Christians must literally reclaim planet Earth from Satan and hold it like an occupying army until Christ's return. This twisted theology targets seven "mountains", or spheres of influence, that must be taken: Church, Family, Education, Arts and Entertainment, Business, Media, and, of course, Government............

Regardless of the nuances of their respective theologies, the endgame is the same: Everyone must conform to their form of Christianity. Mormons, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Catholics, atheists, agnostics, the “spiritual but not religious” and everyone else not “the right kind of Christian” are expelled from the kingdom.
.......

At the core of all of this is something called the Lausanne Movement.
It was started by Billy Graham in 1974 with the Congress on World Evangelization held in Lausanne, Switzerland. A year later, two of the Lausanne conference leaders — the late Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade and Loren Cunningham, founder of Youth With a Mission — announced the Seven Mountains Mandate.......................

At the Cape Town conference, a mission statement was formulated that envisioned a worldwide domination of the seven cultural mountains. Earlier this month, the Lausanne mission announced that it had formulated its 10-year plan to achieve its objectives. Those objectives, generally include:

There will be no wall of separation, as government would be based on absolute "biblical truth" and no pluralism.

The workplace will become an evangelistic mission field.

The media will be saturated with "the biblical worldview."

There will be an increasing Christian message in arts, music, movies, plays and other forms of entertainment.

Science, technology, and healthcare will embrace "biblical truths." Healthcare will embrace "the sanctity of human life;" i.e., no termination of pregnancies and no assisted suicide.

Christians are encouraged to attend or teach at secular universities in order to influence them with "biblical truth." Christ-centered schooling is honored as a form of academic excellence.

Everyday conversation and culture will be filled with the Christian viewpoint, where Christ is the truth of the universe and the center of all human life.
Writing for Religion Dispatches, journalist Sarah Posner noted on July 7 that there had been approximately 80 religious leaders gathered in Texas in June for a closed-door meeting to determine their strategy in defeating President Obama in 2012.
...................................Members of the Lausanne Movement, The Oak Initiative, the Perry prayer partners, and the Christian leaders meeting behind closed doors have not named a specific candidate. While their chosen candidate is not known, it is becoming more clear that they are working closely together to dominate the government mountain.

They have now.....named a specific candidate, I mean: Rick Perry! With maybe a second-string in Ms Bachmann?

This "movement", if that's what it is, latest name = New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) has been growing and maturing slowly for decades. There's no possible way that it could ever simply take over in a country as diverse as the USA. But "softly, softly, catchee monkey" - at some advantageous point when a large slice of the population is disaffected and disillusioned by government as it stands, there could be a "Bingo!" moment. In a few years' time we might be wondering: "What happened? Why couldn't we see what was going on right under our noses?"

There are, I hope, some pointers against that scenario coming to pass. The Powers That Be, the guys behind the corporations, that legendary 1% who more or less own the USA, would probably object strongly to any coup d'état by Dominionists, unless that is, they or some fairly strong faction of the 1% were in league with 'em. That is the key.

See also blog: God's Own Party?.....also article on same topic HERE.

Here Amy Goodman interviews ex-evangelical Frank Schaeffer



NOTE: Science fiction, or as some call it, speculative fiction, came up with stories of theocracy in the USA years ago - two well-known examples are, from 1985 Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, and long before that Revolt in 2100 by Robert Heinlein (1953).


15 comments:

Anonymous said...

GP: Thanks T. for taking all the trouble to explain such imature, childish behaviuor by so-called leaders (or President/VP to-be).

You have a point with refering to 1930-Germany. When Hitler & Co. invented the "Thule/Arian" etc. folly, it was very much underground at first. Then other forces gathering momentum and THE PLANETS HELPING (!), history took one of those unexpected turns which only who believes in inexorable WRITTEN DESTINY can somehow manage to understand.

Twilight said...

Anonymous/Gian Paul ~~ You and I could look on it as childish behaviour, GP, but there's a deadly serious side to it too....for them.

Yes - it's those "unexpected turns" you mention which have cought us unawares in the past and from which we ought to learn, but never seem to do so.

I might be over stating all of this, (I hope that's the case) but I do have a bad feeling about it, and felt the need to write it down.
:-)

Citizen Sane said...

Excellent post! I read Atwood's The Handmaiden's Tale years ago, and highly recommend it. It's a superb, chilling novel with an eminently plausible scenario.

No matter what these groups call themselves, or to what they ascribe their motives, they're an old and twisted story: Insecure, psychologically warped, anal-retentive control freaks that are compelled to control the lives of everyone else.

It's sick, no matter how "Godly" they paint their impetus.

Twilight said...

Anna VanZ ~~` Hi there!
Thanks! I haven't read the book yet but have read about it - and the storyline. I've recently ordered a used VHS tape of the associated movie. I've read Revolt in 2100, similar theme, far removed in time, and part of a trilogy "Future History" but still chilling.

Yes - I agree, the types of personalities who are engaged in pushing forward this type of Dominionism have some deep-seated problems - as you have pointed out. :-)

Wisewebwoman said...

There is a horrific air of inevitability in what I see around me lately, T. That was one reason I posted the cartoon. I feel as I read I am losing my mind. Your post does not surprise me at all.
The USA has been heading this was for a long time.
XO
WWW

Infidel753 said...

It's not just a conspiracy theory, and you're not over-stating things. Not only Perry but also Bachmann are strongly influenced by Dominionism.

Aside from the obvious, here's another point to consider: Do we want some delusional who believes God-knows-what about Armageddon and the End Times to get control of 10,000 nuclear weapons? Think about it. Other countries should be concerned about this too.

Perry or Bachmann probably won't get the Republican nomination, and if either of them does, they probably will lose to Obama in a landslide -- but the chances aren't low enough to justify complacency.

We present-day Americans do have one advantage that the Germans of 1933 didn't: we have the example of Germany 1933 in our rear-view mirror as a warning that, sometimes, extremists really do mean what they say.

anyjazz said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
anyjazz said...

Some of us get the cold chills at terms like McCarthyism, John Birch Society, Tea Party or other scary extremist trends. Yes, the memory of the atrocities of the Second World War and its causes, gives some of us a pause or even a dead stop.

But to remember the Second World War, you have to be around 60 or over. The rest only remember the parts they MIGHT have been taught in politically correct school, if at all. And to those voting American citizens roughly between 18 and say 50 (about 65% of the population), the Second World War is something that happened to someone else, not them. Oh sure, it’s presented to them in graphic drama on the big, small and smaller screens. But then, so has Spiderman. And to many of these people, it’s all the same drama. To a lot of these voters, those dramas are just stories with lots of colorful graphics.

It is this group who will ultimately decide in the voting. And currently many are strongly advised by the conservative religious movements. They are told from the pulpit how to run their lives, yes, how to vote.

Religious groups who help people live happy and productive lives through faith and hope and encourage individuals to aspire to a higher place, and the belief that things will get better, play a positive role in our multilayered world.

However, groups with overtly religious trappings, quietly garner huge followings for the purpose of amassing untold riches through donations to their non-taxable bank accounts. These encourage their followers only to be subservient and follow their lead. They direct people’s lives like sheep, telling them how many children they can have, how much of their income they must donate on a regular basis, what roles the sexes must play and of course, how to vote to support their church so that nasty government won’t take over. But of course they feel that if they could just take over government that would be okay because Theocracy is better than Democracy. Would that make the world safer? How many wars have NOT in some way been about differences in religion?

Now, the really big ones, such as the Dominionists, are really scary. Give them access to the Armageddon button? Yes, think about that.

If one had to really state the nut of the problem in as few words as possible one would have to say “greed.” It isn’t just financial greed; it’s power greed.

Twilight said...

WWW ~~ Yes - a worrying outlook.
It leaves one feeling pretty helpless - only sensible thing to do is remain aware but try not to worry. I keep Winnie the Pooh and Eeeyore in mind at all times - as they walk under the big tree and Eeyore says "What if the tree falls on us?" Pooh wisely responds "What if it doesn't".
:-)

Twilight said...

Infidel753 ~~ hi there!

Thanks for your insightful comment - I agree on all counts.

First stage - the Republican nomination. If Perry or Bachmann don't succeed at that stage we can breathe a wee bit easier (for now).
I wish Jon Huntsman would start pushing forward more. He seems a decent sort of guy (for a Republican).

A step at a time.....saves blood pressure spikes! ;-)

Twilight said...

anyjazz ~~~ Thanks for your thoughts on this. As you know, I'm in total agreement on this.

Religion can play a helpful part in society, as long as it's kept in its place, as a personal choice, and a spiritual "tool".
Once allowed outside of that it can be extremely dangerous.
History offers countless examples.

All we can do is remain aware, not become complacent or apathetic, and watch events.

We'll have no input as to who will be the Republican nominee to go against Obama in 2012....let's hope it wont be Perry or Bachmann.

A lot can happen in the meantime.
One wishes these "interesting times" were a little less worrying. ;-)

R J Adams said...

The cartoon in your sidebar is apt. I note WWW has also posted it. It's one reason why I haven't been posting on Sparrow Chat recently. Any desire to publish my thoughts is tempered by the knowledge they will turn into a crazy rant, and there are plenty of crazy ranters out there already.
American politics has become a foul swamp filled with dark figures bent on achieving their own crazed worldview and lust for power. Our present so-called 'leader' lacks the backbone to stop them.

Twilight said...

RJ Adams ~~~ Ranting gets it out of one's system though, RJ. :-)

This Dominionist thing has set a bee in my bonnet buzzing and buzzing. Dominionism makes even corporatism seem acceptable.

I'll probably keep harping on
about this from time to time.....especially if Perry or bachmann get the Republican nomination.

Edward McCartney said...

Thanks for your article.

I am a theocrat, meaning that I think that the creation ought to be governed according to the law that the Creator issued; for creatures (men) have shown me that they do not know how to properly govern themselves without the word of God. An example of that is a corrupted America that tolerates the perversion of sodomy.

Deuteronomy 28 teaches that God would bless the Israelites if they obeyed his commandments; but curse them if they disobeyed. Consider also II Kings 17.

God has apparently blessed America for America’s past obedience. For a theocratic example you may consider the fundamental agreement, or original constitution of the New Have colony of 1639. For your information, you may see it at the following link.

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_century/ct01.asp

Regarding making the work place a mission field, although that ought to be, my position is that a worker isn’t being paid to preach the gospel, but to work. If he can do both without interrupting the work of the listener, an employer that is living on the Creator’s earth has no rightful business to stop that. The free exercise clause protects that God given liberty. Money ought not to be the bottom line. When it is, rather than the will of God, some of us have seen what can happen and what is happening.

I promote a legislative and peaceful change in a disobedient country to help to lead it in a better direction. For that you may consider a proposal for a theonomic amendment to the American constitution that is under paragraph 31 of an article that is at the following link.

http://lakewooditesformccartney.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/theonomic-amendment/

Thanks for taking the time to consider this, if you have.

Twilight said...

Edward McCartney ~~~ Thank you for your comment, which adds a quite different dimension to this post, previous comments, and the topic in general.

I respect your views, but cannot possibly agree with them.