LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Since this community's name is "Dark" Christianity, I wanted to touch upon just exactly what is meant by 'dark'. It doesn't mean Christianity in general- it is meant to highlight and illuminate a sub-sect of Christian extremists who are now in control of a lot of government offices in the US- including the most powerful ones.

Who are these people? Why should we learn about them? Why are they a threat? Can we counteract their dire desires for the US?

I've found some interesting links and excerpts which might help explain them a little better, so you'll understand which Christians we're talking about when 'dark' is used to describe them. Happy reading!

DisinfoPedia defines Dominionists and Theonomy:

“Dominionism”, as defined by S.R. Shearer, is a “militant post-millennial eschatology (‘doctrine of end times’) which pictures the seizure of earthly (temporal) power by the church as the only means through which the world can be rescued; only after the world has been thus 'rescued' can Christ return to ‘rule and reign.’ (Some dominionists see the seizure of the earth as the result of ‘signs, wonders, and miracles;’ others picture it as the result of military and political conquest; most see it as a combination of both.)”

Theonomy is derived from the two Greek words, “Theo-,” meaning “God” and “-nomos”, meaning “law.” Theonomy is the belief that all laws, civil, economic, and social, should be patterned after the particulars of the Sinaitic covenant which God gave to Israel in the wilderness for her politico-civil government including in the punishment of criminals.

Fredrick Clarkson's excellent 4-part essay details the roots and intent of Theocratic Dominionists.

More details:

Dominion Theology. An excerpt:

Dominion theology (the belief-system behind the Reconstructionist movement) teaches that through the coming of Christ the believer has dominion over every area of life. We are now in the Kingdom of God (note the similar view of the Kingdom that the Vineyard movement takes, as well as the plethora of Christian songs being written implying that we are in the Kingdom at the present time), and as a result, we should be reigning with Christ over the earth (as Rev. 5:10 says). The question is when will we reign. If the Kingdom is on earth now, then we should have dominion now, so say the Dominionists. Many of us non-reconstructionists proclaim this same thought when we sing the popular Charismatic song "Majesty" (written by hyper-charismatic Jack Hayford), which invites us to "Come glorify Christ Jesus, the King" -- after all, "Kingdom authority flows from His throne unto His own." With this authority from the King, we are to reclaim the earth for Christ, not just spiritually, but socially, economically (it is no accident that one of the Reconstructionists' organizations is called "The Institute for Christian Economics"), and politically. The dominion of the earth is accomplished not only through prayer and evangelism, but through political process and social reformation. [The Dominion/Reconstructionist organization Coalition on Revival (COR) was established for this purpose.] Christ will not (and cannot) return to earth until the church has accomplished this task, so say the dominionists.

- Dominion theology is predicated upon three basic beliefs:

(a) Satan usurped man's dominion over the earth through the temptation of Adam and Eve;
(b) The Church is God's instrument to take dominion back from Satan; and
(c) Jesus cannot or will not return until the Church has taken dominion by gaining control of the earth's governmental and social institutions. [Emphasis mine]

Notes on Reconstructionalism

The "Christian" Reconstruction movement (CRM) claims that believers possess a cultural mandate from God to reclaim in this age dominion over human society -- a dominion forfeited by the fall, but supposedly regained for immediate claim with the New Birth experience. As believers obey this mandate, gradually gaining dominion over earthly society, this present world will supposedly become "Christianized," inaugurating the Millennium. In reality, if effected, the entire earthly society would be placed under an O.T. "Theonomy" law system, rather than the N.T. teaching of believers as a group of "called out" saints from the world. They want to apply Old Testament law to today's society. This includes slavery as an alternative to prisons and capital punishment for a variety of offenses (murder, homosexuality, etc.). This view advocates the reconstruction of society as a theocracy and is heavily postmillennial.

- In Reconstructionism, the main thrust shifts from the salvaging of lost souls in a doomed society to the reconstruction of a Christian world. The Great Commission is thus either lowered to the status of a co-equal with the cultural mandate or merged with it, confusing its real identity. "Christian" Reconstructionism is a religious kin to the "two" gospel theory (spiritual gospel/social gospel) promoted by new-evangelicals, and has links to the secular gospel (social gospel) promulgated by the religious apostates. [God's mandate for believers in this age, however, is not the restoration of cultural dominion over the earth, but the carrying out of the Great Commission. The Scriptures predict great spiritual and moral decline, not the reverse, for the "latter days" and "last times" of this dispensation (I Timothy 4:1-2, II Timothy 3:1-6). The Biblical course of action is the fulfillment of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) (Sep-Oct '93, Fundamentalist Digest).]

Mainstream Baptists thoughts on Dominionism:

If Rushdoony and his disciples had their way, democracy would be abolished and a Christian theocracy would be established. A theocracy based on the Bible along the lines of John Cotton’s Massachusetts Bay Colony. Rushdoony wrote, “The only true order is founded on Biblical Law. All law is religious in nature, and every non-Biblical law-order represents an anti-Christian religion.” (p. 113) He also made it clear that he expects that force will be necessary to impose such order, “Every law-order is in a state of war against the enemies of that order, and all law is a form of warfare.” (p. 93)

At its root, Reconstructionism is a militant Biblicism. In many ways, it is a revival of the holy war theology of the Hebrew Bible under the guise of Christianity. The chief difference being that Reconstructionists believe they have a mandate to claim more than the land of Palestine, they believe they are commanded to conquer the entire world and exercise “dominion” over all its peoples. That is why Reconstructionism is also known as “dominion theology.”

To a man, Reconstructionists believe that Biblical prophecies assure them that they will ultimately be victorious in the war they wage. This chief thing that distinguishes them from a lot of the conservative Christians who have been influenced by them is that they are not pessimistic about the possibility of men ushering in the millennial reign of Christ. A lot of conservative Christians are pre-millenialists. They think Jesus has to return to usher in the kingdom of God on earth. Reconstructionists are post-millenialists. They think Jesus expects them to usher in the kingdom of God before he returns and they expect to do it by force – by force of law and/or by force of arms.

The laws that Reconstructionists want to enforce are those of Ancient Israel. They believe that the Mosaic law is God’s blueprint for all societies. Transported to the context of twenty-first century America, they see themselves as “Christian Libertarians.” Stripped to its barest essentials, here is their blueprint for America. Their ultimate goal is to make the U.S. Constitution conform to a strict, literal interpretation of Biblical law. To do that involves a series of legal and social reforms that will move society toward their goal. 1) Make the ten commandments the law of the land, 2) Reduce the role of government to the defense of property rights, 3) Require “tithes” to ecclesiastical agencies to provide welfare services, 4) Close prisons – reinstitute slavery as a form of punishment and require capital punishment for all of ancient Israel’s capital offenses – including apostacy, blasphemy, incorrigibility in children, murder, rape, Sabbath breaking, sodomy, and witchcraft, 5) Close public schools – make parents totally responsible for the education of their children, and 6) Strengthen patriarchically ordered families.

These are moderate mainstream Baptists, folks- and they are horrified by this! Make sure that you listen to the audio file of Steven Hotze that they included:

The video instructs people on the procedure for taking control of a Republican party precinct meeting. Along with the video came instructions on how to run the meeting if you succeeded in getting yourself elected to be the chairperson of the precinct. Other materials listed proposed resolutions that could be passed on to help form the party’s platform – among them are resolutions about “the sovereignty of the church” and “the legitimate function of civil government” and on “non-state schools.”

I mentioned these Mainstream Baptists before in an earlier post. They're moderate Baptists who split off from the Southern Baptist Convention after the fundementalists took it over. Like I said, they are as horrified about the direction this country and their faith is taking as we are.

That ought to get you started. Read. Learn. Understand. Don't tar all professed Christians with the same brush- some of them are just as unhappy with this militant turn of events as we are. Instead, learn the Dominionist buzzwords and manners, and look out for them.

Sunfell