A Project of the Center for Religion, Ethics And Social Policy
at Cornell University
“Oh my God! We really
are in a theocracy.”
(Maureen Dowd, New York Times,
March 24, 2005)
“Thou shalt not take
the name of the LORD
thy God in vain;
for the LORD will not
hold him guiltless that
taketh his name in vain.”
(Hebrew Scriptures, Exodus 20)
Christopher Shays (R-CT)
“The Party of Lincoln
has become the Party
of theocracy.”
(Christopher Shays, R-CT,
New York Times, March 24, 2005)
I.
History
II.
Dominion Theology
III. “Thy Kingdom Come
Thy Will Be Done”
IV.
What We Can Do
1964
Paul Weyrich
Republican Strategist
1973 Founded Heritage Foundation
Proposed targeting
members of:
• Fundamentalist
• Pentecostal
• Charismatic Churches.
1979 Coined Term “Moral Majority”
1981
The Council for
National Policy
Reverend Tim LaHaye
First President
Council for National Policy
Paul Weyrich
Council for National Policy
Council for National Policy
James Dobson
Focus on the Family
Family Research Council
Council for National Policy
Pat Robertson
Christian Broadcasting Network
700 Club
Christian Coalition
Regents University
Council for National Policy
Jerry Falwell
Moral Majority
Rousas Rushdoony
Christian Reconstruction
Movement
1989
Moral Majority disbands
Christian Coalition forms
Pat Robertson
Christian Coalition
He decided to take over
the Republican Party
from the bottom up.
Ralph Reed
“We think the Lord is going to
give us this nation back one
precinct at a time,
one neighborhood at a time,
and one state at a time.”
(Christianity Today, April 3, 1990)
Washington State GOP Platform, 1992
Outlawed:
- Witchcraft
- Yoga Classes
Pat Robertson
"We want...as soon as possible
to see a majority of the Republican Party
in the hands of pro-family Christians...“
(Denver Post, 10/26/92)
“It’s like guerilla warfare…
It’s better to move quietly,
with stealth, under the cover
of night.” (LA Times, March 22, 1992)
1994
40 million
Family Values Voter Guides
in more than 100,000 churches
2000
70 million voter guides
to support George W. Bush
Christian Coalition Scorecards, 2004
U.S. Senate
# of Senators
45
40
35
30
25
Republican
Democrat
20
15
10
5
0
100
80
60
40
20
Percentage of votes with CC
0
42 % of U.S. Senators
received 100% rating
from Christian Coalition.
42 % of U.S. Senators
received 100% rating
from Christian Coalition.
22% of population identify
as Christian Right.
“With the apathy that exists today,
a well organized minority
can influence the selection of
candidates to an astonishing degree.”
(The Millennium, 1990)
Ralph Reed
Active Faith:
How Christians Are Changing the Soul
of American Politics. 1996
“The surest antidote
to tyranny is a free
people who believe
it owes allegiance
to a Higher Power,
not the government.”
(Ralph Reed, Active Faith, 1996,
p. 8-9)
“The preamble of the Constitution
invokes the people of the United
States. It does not invoke any sort
of God.”
(The Godless Constitution,
Isaac Kramnick and R. Laurence Moore)
“The consent of the
governed rests upon
faith in a sovereign God.
(Ralph Reed, Active Faith, 1996,
p. 8-9)
“… faith as political
force is the very
essence of democracy.”
(Ralph Reed, Active Faith, 1996,
p. 8-9)
“The consent of the
governed rests upon
faith in a sovereign
God...”
(Ralph Reed, Active Faith, 1996,
p. 8-9)
"Government... is the
minister of God…”
(Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia
First Things, May, 2002)
The word "God" does not
appear within the text of
the Constitution of the
United States.
“We need common sense judges
who understand that our rights are
derived from God.
Those are the kind of judges
I intend to put on the bench.”
(George Bush, quoted in fundraising letter,
Traditional Values Coalition, March, 2005)
Michael McConnell
U.S. Court of Appeals
for the 10th Circuit
“Freedom flourishes when
man is subordinate to
God.”
(Michael McConnell, Los Angeles Times,
Jan. 13, 2001)
I.
History
II. Dominion Theology/
Christian Reconstructionism
III. “Thy Kingdom Come
Thy Will Be Done”
IV. What We Can Do
“Christians alone are
Biblically mandated to
occupy all secular
institutions until
Christ returns…”
(Sara Diamond Z Magazine,
February, 1995)
George Grant
Bringing in the Sheaves, (1985)
“The army of God is
to conquer the earth,
to subdue it, to rule
over it, to exercise
dominion.”
(Bringing in the Sheaves, p.98)
Rousas Rushdoony
1916-2001
“ … subdue all things and all
nations to Christ and His law-word.”
(R.J. Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law, 1973)
“The reign of Christ …
is meant to subdue every
enemy of righteousness.”
(Gary DeMar and Peter Leithart,
The Reduction of Christianity, 1990
p. 335)
Dominion Theology:
Blessing or Curse?
(Thomas Ice, 1988)
“Christian
Reconstructionists
propose to institute a
theocratic government
in America.”
(Dominion Theology: Blessing or
Curse? P.16)
“Non-Christians cannot
rule themselves and must
be excluded from a
government under God’s law.”
(Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse? P.71)
“What Would A Reconstructed
America Be Like?”
(Dominion Theology:
Blessing or Curse?, Chapter 4)
“The only legitimate functions of
the state are:
1.Restraining civil evil;
2.Punishing evil;
3.Protecting the law abiding;
4.Defending the nation.”
(Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse? p. 73)
“We
support the abolition of ...
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms,
the position of Surgeon General,
the Environmental Protection Agency,
the Departments of Energy,
Housing and Urban Development,
Health and Human Services,
Education,
Commerce, and
Labor.
We also call for the de-funding or abolition of the
National Endowment for the Arts, and
Public Broadcasting System.” (p.19)
America’s Providential History, 1989
Mark Beliles and Stephen McDowell
“A government controlled
and funded welfare system
is unbiblical.”
(America’s Providential History, p.27)
“Scripture makes it clear
that God is the provider,
not the state.”
(America’s Providential History,
p. 187)
“Tax rates would be much
less … due to the shift in
welfare burden away from
government to … the church.”
(Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse?
p. 74)
Tax Cuts
One of Bush’s signature issues
• Income tax is “idolatry,”
• Property tax is “theft,”
• Inheritance taxes
are “not allowed
in the Bible.” (p.214)
"The Party urges the IRS
be abolished" (p.17)
Calls for eliminating the:
“income tax, inheritance tax, gift tax,
capital gains, corporate income tax,
payroll tax and property tax." (p.17)
“The tithe, not taxes
would finance most
social welfare.”
(Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse?
P. 77)
Faith-based Initiative
The United States is
beginning to fit the model
of a reconstructed America.
Biblical Law
“Only through … Old Testament
civil law can America – and
the world – be saved from
destruction.”
(Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse?
P.15)
Senator Tom Coburn, R-OK
"I favor the death penalty
for abortionists.“
(Dr. Tom Coburn, AP, July, 2003)
U.S. Supreme Court Justice
Anthony Kennedy
Lawrence V. Texas
6-3 Supreme Court ruling
June 26, 2003
"The petitioners are entitled
to respect for their private lives.
The state cannot demean
their existence or
control their destiny by
making their private
sexual conduct a crime.“
(Lawrence V Texas, June 26, 2003)
Bill Maher
Real Time, HBO
"'Activist judges' is a
code word for gay."
“The judges being verbally
tarred and feathered are
those who have decriminalized
gay sex.”
(Frank Rich, New York Times,
April 24, 2005)
Chief of Staff of U.S. Senator Tom
Colburn (R-OK):
"I'm a radical! I'm a real extremist.
I don't want to impeach judges.
I want to impale them!“
(The Nation, April 11, 2005)
U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA)
Third Highest Ranking Republican
Gary DeMar, "Sound Off" radio
program, Superstation WSB AM,
Atlanta, Georgia
“The Bible doesn't say that
homosexuals should be
executed.
What it says is this:
‘If two men lie together like
a man and a woman lie
together, they are to be put
to death.’"
(Gary DeMar, WSB AM, January 4, 1991)
David Barton
“Our party pledges to exert
its influence to . . . dispel the
‘myth’ of the separation of
church and state.”
(Texas Republican Party Platform, p.8)
“The Republican Party of Texas
affirms that the United States
is a Christian nation ."
(Texas Republican Party Platform, preamble, 2004)
1797
Treaty of Tripoli, 1797
ARTICLE 11: “… the
government of the United
States of America is not in
any sense founded on the
Christian Religion...”
I.
History
II.
Dominion Theology
III. Thy Kingdom Come
Thy Will Be Done
IV.
What We Can Do
“Reconstructionists consider
the Puritans the decisive
illustration of a Christian
society.”
(Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse?
P.71)
“The primary strength of the
Puritans was their ‘spirit of
dominion.’”
(America’s Providential History,
p. 84)
“They recognized the
scriptural mandate
requiring Godly rule,
and zealously set out
to establish that in all
aspects of society.”
(America’s Providential History,
p. 84)
Faith-based Initiative
Huge tax cuts
- for the very wealthy
January 22, 2001 – Global gag rule
on international family planning
assistance.
• January 22, 2001 – Global Gag Rule
•
August 9, 2001 – ban on most
kinds of stem cell research
• January 22, 2001 – Global Gag Rule
•
August 9, 2001 – ban on stem
cell research
• March, 2004 -- cut off entire
American contribution to the
United Nations Population Fund
November 5, 2003
Michigan State House
passed the
Conscientious Objector
Policy Act
Defunding PBS
The “E” word
Terri Schiavo
1997
Oregon’s Death
with Dignity Law
Ten Year Ban on Assault Weapons Expired
September 13, 2004
CBS fined $550,000
Superbowl Sunday, 2004
Kevin Martin
Kevin Martin
Chair, FCC
The Broadcast Indecency Act
authorizes the FCC to fine
broadcasters up to $500,000
for indecency violations.
Abstinence-only
sex education
I.
History
II.
Dominion Theology
III. “Thy Kingdom Come
Thy Will Be Done”
IV.
What We Can Do
Electoral Politics
Midterm Elections
2006
Midterm Elections
Supreme Court Justices
Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas
PublicEye.org
pfaw.org
theocracywatch.org
To the Danbury Baptist Association:
“Believing with you that religion is a matter
which lies solely between man and his God…
I contemplate with solemn reverence that act
of the whole American people which declared
that their legislature should ‘make no law
respecting the establishment of religion, or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof’ thus
building a wall of separation between
church and State.” (President Thomas Jefferson, 1802)