Al Stephanelli in his blog called, reasonably enough, "A Voice of Reason", has an excellent post entitled, "A Little Slice Of American Politico-Religious History" that will open your eyes about Dominionism and American History in the latter half of the Twentieth Century.
As a matter of fact, I think it is so important that you read it, that I'll wait right here until you get back. So go ahead, read it! I'll wait, I promise. In the meantime, I'll amuse myself with this little photograph illustrating my opinion of Dominionism:
Oh! You're back already! Gee, that was quick. So you finished it? Are you properly alarmed yet? Did that essay set your teeth on edge? Good, it should have.
But listen to this, because I've got a different slant on something he said. Do you remember seeing this sentence:
The fundamentalists were quietly strategizing how they were going to rule the world, or at least the United States.
Now, that one sentence, above all the others in that essay, should have made you sit up and listen to all the alarm bells in your head. They should be jangling at top volume right now, so go ahead and turn down the sound a bit so you can hear me talk.
Now, here's another:
Thus, it should come as no surprise that the rise in American Christian Nationalism also parallels the rise in terrorism. I have been criticized for insinuating that we “asked for it,” regarding the 911 attacks, but this is not so. Nobody deserved that.
Non sequiter. "Nobody deserved that" is true - nobody should have died - at all. No argument. But the fact that a few religious wingnuts having decided to play outside with the big boys in the big playground resulted in a lot of people getting hurt is also true. Those who have accused you of noting that the US asked for it may not have characterized your words correctly, but let me say here:
We asked for it!
Not "we" as in you and I and 350 million other Americans, but "we" as in those who have been complicit in and backed the Dominionists in that history that Al has so nicely covered for us in his book.
They did ask for it, and in a big way.
When you decide to play with the big boys - and let me tell you, when you start plotting to take political power, whether on a national stage or the world stage, you ARE playing with the big boys - you shouldn't be surprised when someone takes umbrage at what you are trying to do. Because on that stage, everybody is vying for the same carrot, and only one group can win at a time.
You see, here's the problem with religion. You start living in your sparkling clean little world with all of your silly little delusions of having a powerful god protecting you and looking out for you with all of his bright shiny promises of world dominion, and sooner or later, you are going to find out what others have discovered before you:
It ain't true. There ain't no god, he isn't protecting you, and all of his promises of world power are like so many pipe dreams.
So, did they ask for it? Sure they did. They are one leg of a three legged animal - the so called "Christian-Judeo" religious trio. All three are supposed to be worshiping the same god.
The only problem is, there isn't one. You'd think, if there was one god, and they were each worshiping a different aspect of him, that he'd recognize that and coordinate things so each had a different aspect of power when he plotted to have his supporters take over.
But that isn't happening either. Instead of coordinating their activities, they're fighting each other, and have been since the beginning. Except for the Jews (who don't have any kind of world dominion thing going) the other two each have a mandate - so they think - from their god, telling them to go and conquer the infidel, that they have his promise of world dominion.
Problem is, he supposedly gave that promise to two parties, each of whom thinks they are the only one.
Recipe for disaster.
You'd think that the Dominionists would know that. Islam and Christianity are no strangers, they've been occupying the same planet for over a thousand years now.
So why would the Dominionists start their little game of "Dominate the US, then the world" without looking out for some response from the Islamists? Ignorance? Impossible, they should have known, and it is incompetence if they didn't. That leaves two things.
Either they didn't care, or their world view, as Christians with a literal biblical view, completely left out the possibility that another group could win out, and that god's protections wouldn't work.
I cannot believe they wouldn't care - they are monsters if that were true.
Which leaves what is, to me, the most likely possibility - that their religious world view is so flawed that they totally ignored what should have been obvious to anyone with the competence and ability to play in the field of national or world political power - that they were setting themselves against a competing religious group with the same Dominionist imperative, and that sooner or later, that would result in conflict.
Which means, logically, that they have no such competence, and are not only a future danger to us, but have already done enormous damage to the United States.
If you care about the future of this country and are even a little concerned about this, vote Democratic this November! The Democrats certainly aren't pure of heart, and do have their flaws, but at least, their world view is not as dangerous as a religious one.
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