Have a seat, fill out this form, we love ya. (Explain later.)
Here’s Washington Post columnist Michael Gerson’s thoughts on the invention of the “Dominionist” cult, that – supposedly – molded ID-friendly Michele Bachman and PR only ID-friendly Rick Perry, both US prez hopefuls:
As befits a shadowy religious sect, its followers go under a variety of names: Reconstructionists. Theonomists. The New Apostolic Reformation. Republicans. All apparently share a belief, in Goldberg’s words, that “Christians have a God-given right to rule all earthly institutions.”
“Shadowy” isn’t actually the right word. It should be “fleeting.”
In the mid-90s, when I could take time from book editing, I wrote for the Christian press in Canada. A political scientist whose work I followed wrote a column about a “Reconstructionist” movement in the States, aimed at theocracy. He mentioned it for the current events record; his main concern was and is real live theocracies. Stuff that matters. Few thought the “reconstructionist” movement was going anywhere or that it merited much discussion.
And it didn’t go anywhere. Had it really grown, many traditional Christians would have been discussing it. Few were. For rational people, that’s a clue.
But some Americans to this day seem to really need to believe it exists. I’ve never figured out why, but that didn’t matter until those people’s nightmares started to get air time across North America. Gerson explains, with respect to the pseudo-evidence for the cult’s existence,
If this kind of attack sounds familiar, it should. It is not just an argument but a style of argument. Critics of a public figure take a marginal association and turn it into a gnostic insight — an interpretive key that opens all doors.
Now we’re getting somewhere. Some need the Dominionist cult to exist, and for them it does, and always will exist, and will explain pretty much anything. Especially what it doesn’t. That’s the most important part.
Including the persistent belief among human beings that there is design in the universe.
(Note: If they had been called “Dominionists” in Canada, people would assume that they wanted to restore the popularity of the country’s original name: Dominion of Canada, as on the old maps.)
Oh yes, about that form: It’s a notice of intention to immigrate to … check the graphic and see if you can figure out where. Hint: It’s not Thailand.
Hat tip: Five Feet of Fury, who calls Dominionism “A brief history of all those ever-looming American ‘theocracies’ that never actually happened.”