LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY ncalrod)

Hi I'm new to this community and I have a question I'm hoping I can find some help on. I was wondering if there is a site somewhere that lists definitions for code/buzz words and phrases used in Dominionist Christianity. There are quite a few terms I've seen flying around that I have little if any idea what they actually mean. Can any one either help me define some terms or point me to a site where I can find some reliable definitions?


Here is a partial list of terms I need definitions for:


Justice Sunday

shepherding

heavenly deception

cell churches

deliverance ministry

spiritual warfare

territorial spirits

name it and claim it

generational curses

servant evangelism

Alpha courses

charismatic churches

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

"The Yurica Report" is an amazing and very thorough compilation of research on the Religious Right, which is very much worth a visit. She updates her site fairly regularly, and sends an email to her subscribers telling us what's up. I've decided to post the latest letter, with links, so that readers here can visit her site and read her latest postings.

Hi again,
Usually we only send out our newsletter once every six weeks or once a month. However, we have been working on the story of Ken Blackwell and the Ohio State legislature for many weeks. Then Hurricane Katrina interrupted the work on this article. But as you will see, this essay is of utmost importance to all Americans. It marks the first time a state has adopted a character code that at its heart is religious and designed to create a docile submissive population easily controlled by leaders.

This story is a scoop.
NEW: Blackwells Un-American Scheme:
Under the Guise of Character and Civic Renewal
Ohio State Foists a Religious Moral Code upon Its Citizens
by Katherine Yurica

J. Kenneth Blackwell has stepped to the forefront of the American culture wars. He has posted his official endorsement of a 20-point religious moral code claimed to be a shared vocabulary of character-building ethics on the Ohio Secretary of State web site. But to a lot of people, civic character renewal means the opportunity to not only religionize our government, but, as we shall see, it is an opportunity to convert our citizens into docile followers of a new authoritarian rule. The essay includes a linked glossary of definitions of terms plus parallel columns that compare the text.

The essay is at: http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/BlackwellsUnAmericanScheme.html

The glossary is at: http://www.yuricareport.com/Strategies_Propaganda/GlossaryOfTermsUncommonSense.html

The parallel columns with annotated text is at: http://www.yuricareport.com/Strategies_Propaganda/UncommonSenseParallelColumns.html

Thanks for reading our stuff! Let me know if you think this is an important news story. Take care, Katherine

It's worth the visit for the glossary alone.

http://www.grist.org/news/maindish/2004/10/27/scherer-christian/ (if this is a repeat, my apologies in advance)

Very good article in regards to the apocalyptic variants of dominionism (as practiced by "Christian Zionists" and dominionists into the whole "deliverance ministry/spiritual warfare" theology).

Also, some backgrounder:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispensationalist (dispensationalism, one of the more common lines of thought in dominionism--that essentially God gives specific "missions" or "dispensations"; the dominionists into the "third wave"/"deliverance ministry"/"spiritual warfare" type theology, like AoG, even go so far as to say that the dominionist movement *itself* is part of a Grand Dispensation to "win America for Christ" and "claim dominion over the territorial demons" across the country (and again, this isn't restricted to America--dominionist political parties exist in Australia and Canada); this Wikipedia article is especially good in describing this particular bit of dogma in relation to dominionist movements)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Reconstructionism (Your typical article on Christian Reconstructionism, but of note as the Wikipedia article is one of the very few I've seen that mentions *premillenial* (aka Rapture-then-Tribulation-then-Millenium) Christian Reconstructionists; most info I've seen on the subject seems to assume all Reconstructionists are *postmillenial* (Millenium-then-Tribulation-then-Rapture). The AoG is hard dominionist and in some instances is bordering on outright Christian Reconstructionist but is premillenarian (their particular flavour of dominionism is couched in "third wave"/"deliverance ministry"/"spiritual warfare" trappings that teach that *everything* outside the church is literally crawling with demons and that they must, in essence, exorcise the planet to save as many souls as possible before Jesus comes back), so whilst it is different than the traditional Rushdoony flavours of Christian Reconstructionism it *is* largely similar in practice.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_Now_theology explains how "premillenarian" Christian Reconstructionism/"Avengelical" thought and dispensationalism mesh in pentecostal dominionist groups like the one I walked away from.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY deboranter)

I know you guys know where to find this stuff. I'm looking for a breakdown of Christian sects, by U.S. state. Also looking for death penalty by state as well as number of executions per year by state. Also looking for poverty statistics, by state, and charitable donations per year, per person, by state. If what I'm thinking checks out, there's an essay in your future. :)

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

It's amazing what one can find on the comments in the blogsphere. Here's a particularly interesting and insightful quote I found on "Frameshop":

This is a quote from a man named John Stott in a christian magazine. Although you may not agree with the subject, I think its worthwhile to note as any other group, we don't all think the same.

The Quote:
"The other word we need to define is proselytism. To proselytize and to evangelize are not synonymous. The best way to distinguish them is to understand proselytism as "unworthy witness." The World Council of Churches and the Roman Catholic Church produced a helpful study document in 1970 titled Common Witness and Proselytism. It identified three aspects of proselytism. Proselytism takes place (1) whenever our motives are unworthy (when our concern is for our glory rather than God's), (2) whenever our methods are unworthy (when we resort to any kind of "physical coercion, moral constraint, or psychological pressure"), and (3) whenever our message is unworthy (whenever we deliberately misrepresent other people's beliefs).

In contrast, to evangelize is (in the words of the Manila Manifesto) "to make an open and honest statement of the gospel, which leaves the hearers entirely free to make up their own minds about it. We wish to be sensitive to those of other faiths, and we reject any approach that seeks to force conversion on them."

Interesting and useful contrast there. Thoughts?

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

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Be sure to read the post below to learn about other peoples' criticisms and recommendations for nomenclature.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Today marks the official launch of Religious Right Watch. I think that this will do a lot to broaden the ability to educate the sleeping giant of the non-religious and moderate Christians in the US (and abroad) about the vipers in our corn crib.

There's a very interesting post there about the terminology used to describe this movement. Here, I use "dominionist" to describe it, because dominion is their major goal above others, but there are other ideas too. An excerpt:

When discussing the Religious Right, especially with people who are not yet well-versed on the subject, it's important to communicate effectively; many commentators use inaccurate or unhelpful terminology.( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY seshen)

The Christian Right, Dominionism, and Theocracy

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

This Alternet article not only talks about gay marriage, but also provides another framework to see and understand the group of people often lumped together as 'evangelicals'.

The Gospel On Gay Marriage

By Letha Dawson Scanzoni, AlterNet
Posted on June 16, 2005, Printed on June 17, 2005
http://www.alternet.org/story/22241/

In his book, "God's Politics," Jim Wallis wrote about how the religious right has narrowed faith-based values to a few "hot-button" issues, while ignoring the biblical vision of social justice in areas such as poverty, the environment, and questions of war and peace.

But hot-button issues like same-sex marriage can't be cast aside at a time when influential religious leaders are rallying the troops for a war against a minority group already suffering the pain of discrimination. Chuck Colson has trumpeted the battle cry by saying that the "number one cultural priority of Christians" should be "stopping the spread of same-sex marriage" and that "pastors, priests, and clergy of all denominations should be leading the charge."( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY nolawitch)

From www.dictionary.com:
bigot
n : a prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from his own

Is it too much nuance to ask that people differentiate between being intolerant of those trying to force their opinions upon the secular society and those who are content to keep their opinions strictly personal for them?

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY dandycat)

What are the differences between Christian Dominionists and Christian Reconstructionists? I've heard both terms tossed around almost interchangeably, but I'm not sure this should be the case. Thanks!

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Most people believe that the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is about homosexuality, and God punishing people for having homosexual sex (or just plain sex, period). Even the word 'sodomy' comes from certain sexual practices thought to have originated in that doomed city.

Well, guess what- here's the verse about why God condemned this place. And sex isn't even mentioned.

"She and her suburbs had pride, an excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not help or encourage the poor or needy. They were arrogant and this was abominable in God's eyes."

Gee, that sounds like some megachurches and certain congregations in this day and age. God busted them for being like the 'prosperity Gospel' and 'Landover Baptist'-types are today: prideful and arrogant. I don't find much about Biblegod to be likeable, but on this point, I can agree with him.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

The article 'Getting Your Religious Terms Straight' was useful in outlining the major beliefs and lexicon of Evangelicals. I'm repeating it here for your education:

Getting Your Religious Terms Right
Can't tell the difference between the evangelicals and the seekers? Confused by the prosperity gospel? Here's a glossary to help you

Christian
Those who follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. The vast majority of Americans are Christians. The Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches reports that 163 million Americans belong to some 200 major, national Christian churches (This tally does not include those who belong to the growing numbers of independent, non-denominational churches). By far the largest is the U.S. Catholic Church, with more than 66 million members. The evangelical Southern Baptist Convention is second, with more than 16 million members.( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

From Fredrick Clarkson: Religious Equality in America. Clarkson delves into the history of the second amendment.

Washington Post talks about smearing Christian Judges:

What these self-avowed Christians do not acknowledge -- and what the American public seems little aware of -- is that the war they are waging is actually against other people calling themselves Christians. To simplify: Right-wing and fundamentalist Christians are really at war with left-wing and mainstream Christians. It is a battle over both the meaning and practice of Christianity as well as over the definition and destiny of the republic. Secular humanism is a bogeyman, a smoke screen obscuring the right-wing Christians' struggle for supremacy.

Is this blasphemy or just very poor taste? Decide for yourself.

Chip Berlet talks about the use of the word 'extremism'.

Beliefnet examines "Intelligent Design". And Slate wonders about what matters in Kansas, where a debate about ID is going on.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Chip Berlet has some great words of advice for those of us engaged with the Religious Right.

More than a decade ago I sat in a conference room in Washington D.C. and was told I had to start using the phrase “religious political extremist.” This was the new way for people on the political left to frame our opponents on the political right. It made me unhappy. I already had problems with language such as “radical religious right,” “lunatic fringe,” and “wing-nut.” This new phrase just seemed wrong to me.

I'm uncomfortable when I hear people of sincere religious faith described as religious political extremists. What does that term mean? I worry that many people hear it as a term of derision that says we're good and they're bad. There is no topical content. It’s a label that says folks are outside the mainstream; and it lumps together leaders and followers, and blurs distinctions within the Christian Right that I think are important. Most conservative Christian evangelicals do not want to impose a theocracy on our country. I’d like to be able to talk to them about the issue of Christian dominionism within the Christian Right.( Read more... )

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

I am trying to assemble a comprehensive lexicon of terms that are commonly used in Dominionist parlance. I am especially interested in 'End Times' and apocalyptic terms, that seem to be the focus of many of these congregations. Here are some of the words I desire definitions for:

A-millennial
Pre-millennial
Post-millennial
Dispensation
Tribulation
Pre-tribulation
Pre tribulation tribulation (yes, I heard that mentioned last week!)
Rapture
Armageddon
Apocalypse (I know what the original traditional meaning is, but it has been coopted by the Dominionists to mean something entirely different)
End-times
Heavenlies
Revelations

Any related words or terms are welcome. Since it seems that these congregations concentrate on 'end times' events, and are even actively trying to make them happen, a good solid mini-Wiki for those of us who have not gotten this instruction would be helpful. Plus, I am attempting to assemble a comprehensive lexicon for the mini-conferences on the Religious Right that I've been inspired to do because of that conference I attended.

So, dig out your para-biblical material, and help me out. If you have cites from books or websites with additional definitions on them, please include them. I want this to be as accurate and scholarly as possible.

Thanks!

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY allisburning)

From the recent Richard Dawkins interview on Salon, which you will have heard about - http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/04/30/dawkins/print.html -

On using the word "delusion" to label religion, interviewer asks Dawkins,
"What are its negative connotations?"


"A delusion that encourages belief where there is no evidence is asking for trouble. Disagreements between incompatible beliefs cannot be settled by reasoned argument, because reasoned argument is drummed out of those trained in religion from the cradle. Instead, disagreements are settled by other means which, in extreme cases, inevitably become violent.

Scientists disagree among themselves but they never fight over their disagreements. They argue about evidence or go out and seek new evidence. Much the same is true of philosophers, historians and literary critics."


-- I definitely agree with Dawkins in general, but in the spirit of fairness, does anybody care to offer any counterexamples among scientists, philosophers, historians, and literary critics? (I'm not talking "argue" here, I'm talking "fight", "use physical violence")



-- xposted around

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

These are some initial thoughts culled from my personal journal. I will be writing about more in-depth things in the next few days.

Oh, yeah- the conference... folks, it's making history. No one has ever gathered together such a comprehensive group of influential thinkers, writers, researchers or ministers, and the Open Center is taping the whole thing and editing it down to make available for PBS affiliates to pick up. I am on the list to get a copy of this disk (and the unedited version) when they produce it. I will personally see that our PBS station picks it up- I know one of the program directors personally. And I have a DVD from Theology Watch for the public access channel, which I plan to get shown when I get home.

Here's some of what I learned while there:

Dialogue is more important than name calling when dealing with the Dominionists. They expect being called freaks and extremists (they are pretty extreme), they tend to play such name calling to their advantage- after all, the Bible, which they hold more important than Jesus himself, says that they'll be persecuted.

So, we have to step beyond the wild claims of their leaders, and engage the followers. They're good people going down a bad road- and some of them don't know how bad it is because of the tactics of deliberate deception, stealth and doublespeak practiced by their leaders. I know that most of them would be loath to execute people who might be their own kin- sons, daughters, siblings- just for being gay. And there are men who are not poisoned by the extreme patriarchy preached to them, who see the women in their lives as equals, not helpmeets.

One speaker said that this movement isn't 'Christianity' at all- it's the wolf of fascism and totaltarianism in Christian sheep's clothing. I think he had a very good point. It isn't about religion, no matter how much they want to claim it is. It's about power and greed.

This whole Dominionist thing has only just breached the surface and touched the minds of those who should be alarmed by now. The 'blue states' are very insular, and have for so long looked at the Dominionist movement as a Southern and Midwestern thing that it hasn't registered how far they've gotten until people started putting the puzzle together in the mainstream media recently. The Dominionists crow that the Schiavo case was a 'godsend' to them. In a way, it was also a godsend to us, as it cracked the facade of the Dominionists and showed us their true colors and chilling ideas for the future of this country. That is, if we don't meet them head on and put an end to it. When Mennonites, gentle, pacific Christian people, start muttering about how awful the president is and want to give him the boot, then there's something afoot. If the ugliness of the extremist Dominionists has trickled into their insular and serene community, that's the canary in the coal shaft.

The conference was sold out. They had an overflow auditorium. People from all over the country came. I met kalibex and Katherine Yurica and several of the major speakers. Fredrick Clarkson and Chip Berlet have gotten together and created a website devoted to dialogue about the Christian Right. It's called Talk2Action. It looks like it is going to be a major nexus of ideas and dialogue.

For this community, I have some ideas and plans for it that I will share with you over the following days. I want to take it to the next level- make it a paid account, and then tweak the interface so that you the readers can have access to an ever growing number of excellent blogs. Blogging is the new media- the mainstream are pretty much rubberstamps of each other.

So, that's my entry for tonight. I am worn out, I have a wrenched arm from a sharp subway braking, and I have a notebook full of goodies to share. Stay tuned!

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY dabroots)

A few entries back in dark_christian, a question was asked about which major Christian denominations besides Southern Baptists and Assembly of God make up substantial portions of the Dominionist aspect of Christian fundamentalism in the U.S.

A good source information on many contemporary subjects is en.wikipedia.org.

Here are a few useful links on this subject, more of which you'll find within the linked articles:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominionism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fundamentalism#Christian_Views
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominion_Theology

I can't say that any of them especially answer the specific question, but it gives you places to dig further. Look at the links and click on them.

LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY sunfell)

Reading the Alternet comments in the post below led me to DemiOrator's blog. Very interesting reading. People are catching on!

I especially liked this entry:

Word of the Day: Bibliolater

Using the term "fundmentalist Christian" has often irked me a little. In my opinion, a fundamentalist Christian would adhere strictly to (wait for it) the teachings of Jesus Christ. However I think most of the denominations and people refered to as fundamentalist Christians would more accurately be described as Bibliolaters or Biblicists. I'm capitalizing these words to link them to the Christian Bible and not books in general.

From Webster's Seventh New Collegiate Dictionary:

Bibliolator: one excessively venerating the Bible literally interpreted.
Biblicism: adherence to the letter of the Bible.