Who Shall Have Dominion?

I learned something new today. Unlike most learning experiences, I didn’t like this one at all.

Molly Ivins’ column today mentioned the term “Christian Dominionists,” which sent me looking for a definition. Google took me to the website of Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance for an in-depth essay on this group, their aims, and the identities of their leaders.

Take a deep breath before you read any farther. If you’re like me and just getting educated on the extreme fringe of the religious right-wing, you’re going to learn that your right to go on breathing is something these folks would like to see changed.

To paraphrase, dominionism is not a separate Christian denomination, but rather a range of beliefs that penetrate many denominations, most of them fundamentalist. They use a single bible verse from Genesis (1:26) as a springboard:

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, in our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground.’” (NIV)

That has always cause deep unease, for those of us who see that this kind of thinking has led to the many environmental impasses which plague us as a race. But according to the Dominionists, it doesn’t stop there. That essay from ReligiousTolerance.org goes on to explain, “Dominion theologians believe that that this verse commands Christians to bring all societies, around the world, under the rule of the Word of God.”

The literal word of God, as recorded in the Hebrew scriptures of the Old Testament, except where New Testament revelation supersedes it. It would be a waste of bandwidth to repeat the list of beliefs of this group — if you are interested in religious freedom, tolerance,
women’s rights, minority rights, doing away with the death penalty, and with the continued abolition of slavery, please to read that essay and get informed about this.

It’s dismaying — no, it’s actually sickening — to think when most Americans hear that the religious right wants to reclaim America for Christ, they’re not talking about the Prince of Peace, the harbinger of compassion and brotherly love. “America
For Christ” sounds so harmless to the majority of Americans who probably do go to church on Sundays, but who rest easy and complacent in the constitutional laws governing the separation of church and state. For a Christan Dominionist, that’s a false separation, and one which they’re laboring to eliminate as you read these words.

I swear, I am not an alarmist by nature. Nor do conspiracy theories tempt me to speculate fruitlessly on what’s “really going on” at the highest levels of our government. Until 2001, I’ve been comfortable with the overall accountability of the Federal government to its own citizens. B43’s administration has made serious inroads in lessening that accountability. And when I see the leader of the US Senate appearing at what amounts to a dominionist’s rally to end the minority’s right to filibuster under current Senate rules, I think I am justified in my concern. When I see that Democrats in congress fail to speak out in support of our constitution rights in fear of the “values bogeyman,’ I start to feel the stirrings of genuine alarm.

If we’re ever going to reach the mainstream with a rational, reasonable, tolerant approach to those who differ from us, we’d better decide what that is and get busy with it. The Dominionists have certainly gotten a formidable head-start.

Quote of the Day: Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo. — H. G. Wells

Metaphors For Life’s website