{"id":129897,"date":"2016-02-23T07:26:09","date_gmt":"2016-02-23T14:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/23\/aspirations-for-an-american-theocracy.html"},"modified":"2016-02-23T07:26:09","modified_gmt":"2016-02-23T14:26:09","slug":"aspirations-for-an-american-theocracy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/02\/23\/aspirations-for-an-american-theocracy.html","title":{"rendered":"Aspirations for an American Theocracy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The irony of Dominionist \/ Reconstructionist theology is how thoroughly belies the unintentionally ironic accusations by some on the Right that Islam is not a religion but a political system, as it permeates all of society and dictates how it should run. The repressive Islamic societies of the Middle East — such as in Saudi or Iran — are a reflection of what Dominionists would love to see happen in the United States, only with an ostensibly Christian flavoring, from morality police to harsh penalties for any actions seen as disrespecting the Bible or its laws.<\/p>\n

Cruz is much more open than previous candidates about his Dominionist theology, at least in his language and his open desire to make the United States a "Christian nation" "again." His harping on "religious freedom" issues and palling about with folk who are even more open about placing the Bible before the Constitution (or, rather, seeing no difference between them) demonstrate to me his profound unfitness for president over all the United States and its citizens. Say what you will about narcissistic millionaires, zany socialists, or cronies of big money and the establishment — Cruz represents a threat much more profound, a movement driven by a weird combination of fear and arrogance that represents an existential threat to American democracies and freedom.<\/p>\n

I continue to return to C. S. Lewis in considering a Trump (or Rubio) vs a Cruz: 'Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies, The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. They may be more likely to go to Heaven yet at the same time likelier to make a Hell of earth.'<\/i> <\/p>\n

Ironically, Cruz may be having problems with American evangelicals (at least if South Carolina exit polling can be believed), for a variety of reasons (some of them self-inflicted). If he can hang on into states where that movement is stronger, it will be interesting to see if he really does have a lock on that vote, and, if so, what that means.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.religionnews.com\/2016\/02\/04\/ted-cruzs-campaign-fueled-dominionist-vision-america-commentary\/<\/a> (and see also http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/frankschaeffer\/2016\/02\/heres-the-best-article-ever-on-the-fact-that-ted-cruz-is-literally-the-first-openly-reconstructionisttheocracy-candidate-to-run-for-president\/<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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\n<\/a>
\nTed Cruz’s campaign is fueled by a dominionist vision for America (COMMENTARY) – Religion News Service<\/a><\/span>
\n(RNS) When Cruz says he wants to “restore” America, he does not only have the Obama administration in mind. He wants to “restore” the U.S. to what he believes is its original identity: a Christian nation.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The irony of Dominionist \/ Reconstructionist theology is how thoroughly belies the unintentionally ironic accusations by some on the Right that Islam is not a religion but a political system, as it permeates all of society and dictates how it should run. The repressive Islamic societies of the Middle East — such as in Saudi … Continue reading “Aspirations for an American Theocracy”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8680,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2005\/09\/08\/nothing_to_worr.html","url_meta":{"origin":129897,"position":0},"title":"Nothing to worry about here","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 8-Sep-05 2:09pm","format":false,"excerpt":"For all of those who are concerned that George W. Bush is a radically conservative Christian, a Born Again theocrat, a Dominionist, etc., etc., etc., be not concerned: real fundamentalist...","rel":"","context":"In "Religion"","block_context":{"text":"Religion","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25497,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/01\/17\/biggest-minority-ever.html","url_meta":{"origin":129897,"position":1},"title":"Biggest. Minority. EVER","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 17-Jan-12 9:43am","format":false,"excerpt":"Christians are, of course, hardly a minority in this country. Depending on the stats you choose, 75-80% of Americans identify as Christian. So for Christians to speak of themselves as a \"minority\" is disingenuous at best, and more likely a tribalist circle-the-wagons call-to-arms us-vs-them pity-the-poor-martyrs game.Unless, of course, Scott's talking\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32238,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/01\/18\/the-stupid-is-strong.html","url_meta":{"origin":129897,"position":2},"title":"The stupid is strong","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 18-Jan-13 5:36pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Do all conservatives or opponents of gun control plans think in this lunatic fashion? Of course not.But there are those who do. And they are rarely shouted down by their co-politicists, but are instead encouraged by zany pundits and conservative media outlets and dominionist preachers all willing to (rhetorically, if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28417,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/06\/28\/the-wrath-of-god.html","url_meta":{"origin":129897,"position":3},"title":"The Wrath of God","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 28-Jun-12 12:37am","format":false,"excerpt":"Evangelists of a conservative Christian bent seem to take particular and unseemly glee in natural disasters befalling others whom they consider sinful or otherwise prone to being struck down by The Lord. \u00a0Hurricane Katrina? Obviously God punishing gays marching in Mardi Gras parades. Earthquake in a Muslim country? Clearly Jesus\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":130952,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/06\/29\/on-the-naming-of-radicals.html","url_meta":{"origin":129897,"position":4},"title":"On the Naming of Radicals","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 29-Jun-16 12:52pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Lumping together people is sometimes useful, but (especially when intended in a negative way) is more often harmful.For those who insist that \"Radical Islam\" (etc.) is the best way to refer to members of Hezbollah and al-Qa'eda and ISIL and a variety of other groups that (a) operate out of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":22951,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/10\/03\/unblogged-bits-mon-3-oct-11-1130.html","url_meta":{"origin":129897,"position":5},"title":"Unblogged Bits (Mon. 3-Oct-11 1130)","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 3-Oct-11 11:30am","format":false,"excerpt":"Links (most recent first) that caught my eye, but did not warrant full-blown blog entries .... Jon Stewart Makes Bill O'Reilly Cry Uncle on Taxing The Rich and Government Regulations - I'll be curious to see what, if anything, O'Reilly actually does to follow through on this. The Hill: Tea\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Lord of the Rings \/ Hobbit"","block_context":{"text":"Lord of the Rings \/ Hobbit","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/franchises\/lord-of-the-rings"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129897\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}