Presuming this kind of post is on-topic, I thought it would do some good to shine some light into the dark corners of the time in which the Dommies began to emerge. It's always critical to keep in mind the founder effect, which has to do with the character of a movement's founders later having an effect on the future of it.

For the purpose of my little twaddle-I mean essay, I shall note what I'm defining Dominionism as: the political form of Christianity that first began to arise in the 1920s. Its precursors in the 19th Century Great Awakenings are not considered here, and I already know that Pentecostalism was the bastard grandchild of Anglicanism. Thank you.

Let's take the 1920s in the US at a glance, shall we? There was a car bombing in New York, near Wall Street. The Ku Klux Klan was in full flower, in both South and North. Indians had gained legal citizenship which was in some ways a dubious blessing, as is nearly every "gift" to the Natives. The Nadir of Race Relations was ongoing, Jim Crow was in its high point, the Flappers and other wealthy middle-class phenomena were scandalizing the rich, Prohibition had created a culture rife with crime and violence, and there was a general phobia of Catholics and Jews in the US.

It was in this context that the idea of higher criticism produced a backlash, with the publication of http://www.eaec.org/bookstore/the_fundamentals.htm. (May be triggering in some ways, and is a link to an Evangelical website. I sincerely apologize, I could not find a secular link. If one can be found, please edit my post and put it in, I don't want to be responsible for triggering someone). This, not the Pentecostal Revival of 1900, is the true start of Dominionism, when the ideas that led to Fundamentalism (a term that meant defender of the Fundamentals, which were a boiled-down version of Protestant theology, Catholics and Orthodox need not apply) and the concept of political religion was born. The Fundies opposed eugenics and other such concepts, and had their high water mark with the Scopes Trial. Now, let's put this in perspective, shall we? In the midst of the post World War I period, when a bunch of corrupt do-nothings were the national leaders and when eugenics, Jim Crow, and Sundown Towns and race riots and all that were together, come the Fundamentals.

I suppose a question for discussion is whether or not the Dommies ever really believed in their ideals, or whether or not they started out from the very beginning as a bunch of crooks and charlatans?

If this post isn't proper or needs editing, please let me know. Thanks.

If you were wondering if the Quiverful movement is inherently abusive to men and women?

Yes, it is.

It's a little blog by two walkaways who write about their experiences and the "realities" of the world as seen from inside the Quiverful bubble.

Well worth a look.

Messin' with Alaska via her state Attorney General pick, since she can't mess with the whole country.
Palin's AG Pick Called Gays "Degenerates"

"Other interesting facts about Wayne Anthony Ross, known as WAR, the initials on his vanity plate:

- He was a founder of Alaska Right to Life and represented, without fee, anti-abortion protesters charged with trespassing. 'I feel I have a good relationship with the good Lord (but) if I could overturn Roe vs. Wade, I figure I got my ticket,' he told a reporter.

- He wrote for the Anchorage Times and the conservative Voice of the Times, and titles like "KKK 'Art' Project Gets 'A' For Courage" are listed on the publications page of his Ross & Miner law office."


(The list goes on. See link for all details.)

I posted this in my own journal, but I thought I'd put it up in some of the communities I frequent. I know it's off topic, but there may be people who have not heard about this.

This is NOT an April Fool’s Day Joke.

A huge computer virus may hit tomorrow.

The link is to a post on the Americablog feed; there is a vid from CNet explaining the virus and links to things you can do to protect your computer. It sounds pretty serious and I think it’s probably a good idea to take the precautions listed.

I hadn't seen this posted here yet. The basic story is that biologist Richard Dawkins was scheduled to give a speech at the University of Oklahoma recently. Legislators in the state wanted to ban Prof. Dawkins on the basis that he was an atheist and his speech was regarding evolution and did not represent the majority views of Oklahoma residents. The resolution didn't pass, and he gave his speech (waiving any fees or payments, BTW). Now, an investigation is underway regarding this speech, how funds were allocated, etc. Is this going to set a precedent that any scientist who comes into the state (or other states that start following suit) cannot participate in activities at state facilities that are funded with public money? I should say, any scientist that has views that the legislators do not agree with?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-lukianoff/oklahoma-legislature-inve_b_177473.html

Some excerpts:

"Well, it's official: Oklahoma's state legislature is investigating the University of Oklahoma for hosting a speech by evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.

As I noted in a post over the weekend at Dawkins' website, the legislature first considered two resolutions condemning both Dawkins and the theory of evolution as "an unproven and unpopular theory." (I highly recommend reading both of the proposed resolutions.) Despite their efforts, the legislature failed to prevent Dawkins from speaking on March 6 to an audience of thousands at the University of Oklahoma."

"Sure enough, I just received confirmation today in a letter from the Open Records Office at the University of Oklahoma. The letter confirms that on the day of Dawkins' speech, Oklahoma State Representative Rebecca Hamilton requested substantial information relating to the speech from Vice President for Governmental Relations Danny Hilliard. Representative Hamilton's exhaustive request included demands for all e-mails and correspondence relating to the speech; a list of all money paid to Dawkins and the entities, public or private, responsible for this funding; and the total cost to the university, including, among other things, security fees, advertising, and even "faculty time spent promoting this event."

My nephew's mother is a Dominionist. I say this due to the many arguments we've had over various social and political issue; that my nephew hasn't turned out to be a junior version of Jerry Falwell is probably due to my and my brother's "bad" influences. Still, when my nephew spoke to his dad (who's living with me until the situation in California improves or our economy implodes completely, whichever comes first), he mentioned that his mom now has him read a magazine titled "The Trumpet."

I looked up "The Trumpet" and found the following website: The Trumpet, A Christian Magazine for God's People. (Please don't click if it might trigger.) This rang quite a few alarm bells, especially when I saw the button marked "Opposing Viewpoints" on the left-hand side. It may or may not be deliberate, but when you click on it, it takes you to a 404 page.

My brother's worried that my nephew's being fed more fundamentalist group-think. I'd say it's apparent, but if anyone has any more information about Healing Grace Ministries, which publishes "The Trumpet," I'd greatly appreciate it. Thanks.

Current Mood: anxious
Current Music: "Wild Mountain Thyme," The Chieftains

A video made with the help of U.S. missionaries and depicting Amazon Indians burying children alive is "faked" and inciting racial hatred, a group campaigning for tribal rights said on Thursday.

The short video, "Hakani," has been watched more than 350,000 times on the YouTube video-sharing website. It depicts scenes of Indians in an isolated forest village digging graves and burying several live children in them. The "Hakani" campaign also has a website and a group on networking site Facebook with more than 13,000 members.

also:

The video was made by the son of the founder of an American missionary organization called Youth with a Mission, which has a branch in Brazil known as Jocum.

and:

Neither the video, the "Hakani" campaign website nor the Facebook group include any mention of the missionary group or any contact details. Corry said the group was trying to play down its role in the film.

x-posted to my journal

This Christian Science Monitor article talks about a major change that will overtake the evangelical movement.

While I doubt that his prediction of overt anti-Christian behavior will become reality (most secular people have better manners), it is clear that the tolerance for intolerance- particularly the sort practiced by some evangelical sects- will end. Here are some of his pertinent thoughts [my comments are in brackets --ed]:

Why is this going to happen?

1. Evangelicals have identified their movement with the culture war and with political conservatism. This will prove to be a very costly mistake. Evangelicals will increasingly be seen as a threat to cultural progress. Public leaders will consider us bad for America, bad for education, bad for children, and bad for society.

[Not only cultural progress, but also public safety, if what I've heard here and there is anywhere near true. --ed]

The evangelical investment in moral, social, and political issues has depleted our resources and exposed our weaknesses. Being against gay marriage and being rhetorically pro-life will not make up for the fact that massive majorities of Evangelicals can't articulate the Gospel with any coherence. We fell for the trap of believing in a cause more than a faith.

[When what you are against defines you more than what you are for it's time to retool. --ed]

2. We Evangelicals have failed to pass on to our young people an orthodox form of faith that can take root and survive the secular onslaught. Ironically, the billions of dollars we've spent on youth ministers, Christian music, publishing, and media has produced a culture of young Christians who know next to nothing about their own faith except how they feel about it. Our young people have deep beliefs about the culture war, but do not know why they should obey scripture, the essentials of theology, or the experience of spiritual discipline and community. Coming generations of Christians are going to be monumentally ignorant and unprepared for culture-wide pressures.

[They're also clueless about history, too- especially religious history. Sad, really. --ed]

4. Despite some very successful developments in the past 25 years, Christian education has not produced a product that can withstand the rising tide of secularism. Evangelicalism has used its educational system primarily to staff its own needs and talk to itself.

[When what you are teaching your kids is less than educationally, socially, or intellectually rigorous, you're going to find that secular schools of higher education won't take your students. That's literally a no-brainer. --ed]

5. The confrontation between cultural secularism and the faith at the core of evangelical efforts to "do good" is rapidly approaching. We will soon see that the good Evangelicals want to do will be viewed as bad by so many, and much of that work will not be done. Look for ministries to take on a less and less distinctively Christian face in order to survive.

[This ties in to point one- when you are defined by what you hate more than what you care about, no one is going to take anything you do- even truly benevolent things- seriously. The soup is spoiled. --ed]

7. The money will dry up.

[And that is the Achilles Heel- and the big deal. No money, no ministry. It's time to be truly Christ-like, and make do with pretty much nothing but genuine compassion and his commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. --ed]

I really hope that he is wrong about the ascendancy of the 'Charismatic Pentecostal' sects- these are actually some of the worst behaved of the various sects of Christianity, and it is their intolerant behavior that has really done the entire faith a bad turn. I'd like to see the rise and return of the mainline sects, and moderate or even liberal threads of Christian belief. Conservative and fundementalist sects have held sway for far too long, and their bad behavior has done a lot to tarnish the Christian image.

This is an interesting article.

Vision Forum plans a big "event" this July.

EDIT: So, this was approved as a post, so I guess I have permission. Here is the link;

http://incredibleicarus.blogspot.com/2009/03/last-defense-against-end-of-world.html

Below the cut is the post;

( I doubt it's triggering since it's an overview of Christian Zionism, but it's long, so it's behind this. )

I would appreciate any comments from you guys that know more about this so I can add it to my original blog post and make it more informative, especially about how this mindset leads to this weird Israel worship that's described here, as Israel looms so large in "prophecy" of Dominionist types.