The war in the Middle East? Relevant, because the invasion of Iraq is an expression of Christian Dominionism. And Dominionism, a phrase you may never have heard before, is the only real issue at stake.

The current administration are Dominionists TO A MAN -—they believe their God is requiring them to outlaw or destroy every religion on earth except their own particular brand of paranoid millenialist Christianity. If we do not get them out of office NOW, in another few years Paganism, along with Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, Mormonism, Catholicism and the Boy Scouts, will be illegal.

TV preacher Pat Robertson told his audience:

“God’s plan is for His people, ladies and gentlemen, to take dominion. . . . What is dominion? Well, dominion is Lordship. He wants His people to reign and rule with Him… but He’s waiting for us to… extend His dominion… We are not going to stand for those coercive utopians in the Supreme Court and in Washington ruling over us any more [italics mine]. We’re not gonna stand for it. We are going to say, ‘We want freedom in this country, and we want power…’ “

In other words, they advocate the overthrow of the American form of government. If any other group expressed those sentiments they’d be in the slammer so fast their heads would spin. But because the planners behind the Dominionist takeover cloaked it in religion, nobody paid attention to it until it was too late.

The Ontario Consultants for Religious Tolerance, a clearinghouse of information about religions and a voice for separation of church and state, explain Dominionism thus:

Dominionism, Dominion Theology, Christian Reconstructionism, Theocratic Dominionism, Kingdom Now theology, and Theonomy are interrelated Christian belief systems that are followed by members from a wide range of conservative Protestant denominations. They are not in themselves denominations or faith groups.

These belief systems find a voice in Christian Reconstructionism — a political movement to convert the United States — and eventually the entire earth — into a theocracy in which dissenters, adulterers, sexually active homosexuals, some sexually active bisexuals, witches, sorcerers, etc. would be exterminated.

At that time that this essay was originally written, this was the only religious movement in North America of which we were aware which advocates genocide for followers of minority religions and non-conforming members of their own religion. Since then, we have learned of two conservative Christian pastors in Texas who independently advocated the execution of all Wiccans.

The seeds of Dominionism were planted in Washington D.C. as far back as the Nixon administration. Congressmen began to speak openly of the perceived need to reintroduce God into the deliberations of government, preachers applauded, and nobody told them they couldn’t do that. By the 1980s, Christian conservatives in Congress had enough power to ram through a resolution proclaiming 1983 “The Year of the Bible.” Attempts were made to tell them they couldn’t do that, but by this time they were learning about stealth, and it was enacted into law before the media found out about it or the ACLU could get the papers filed to block it. Reagan, poor man, was unable to see what was going on in his own White House, rubber-stamping anything presented to him persuasively, and the Bushes brought Dominionism to full flower, aided and abetted by Pat Robertson, Billy Graham, and a host of behind-the-scenes professors of radical theology and economics. Foremost among these has been Michael A. Ledeen, who introduced Machiavellian tactics into the conservative Christian machine. For those not too familiar with Machiavelli, he was the Renaissance political philosopher who taught that in governing, the end justifies the means and that lying, cheating and assassination are just useful tools.

Ledeen was a senior fellow with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a counselor to the National Security Council and special counselor to former Secretary of State, Alexander Haig, in 1985. His relationship with Pat Robertson goes back at least to the early 1980s. According to William O. Beeman of the Pacific News Service, “Ledeen has become the driving philosophical force behind the neo-conservative movement and the military actions it has spawned.”

Another major shaper of the Dominionist plan has been Leo Strauss, the father of the neo-conservative movement. When you hear about Republican “stealth” candidates, the ones who conceal their true agenda and ultra-right-wing Christian leanings in order to get elected, you are seeing Strauss’s teachings in action:

“One ought not to say to those whom one wants to kill, ‘Give me your votes, because your votes will enable me to kill you and I want to kill you,’ but merely, ‘Give me your votes,’ for once you have the power of the votes in your hand, you can satisfy your desire.”

This is just a quick look at some of the ideas of Dominionism. To fully understand what we’re up against, please read some of the websites listed at the bottom of this essay. In a nutshell, Dominionist dogma and policy (basically the same thing) is that:

• The Millennium is at hand, but is being delayed by the failure of God’s people to rule the world in his name.
• God is the only ruler and authority that the common people should acknowledge, except that…:
• The government should rule in God’s name so that people will obey it without question.
• Wealth is a sign of God’s favor; therefore the wealthy are the elect of God and should rule.
• The government should do nothing to restrict the acquisition of wealth or alleviate the sufferings of poverty, as these are signs of God’s will for that person.
• Once saved, always saved, and therefore unable to do wrong.
• [It is therefore a sin to disagree with a saved leader, and treason to disagree with a saved president.] added after this information came to light post-2004

Dominionism, the unholy offspring of Calvin and Machiavelli, enables those with an unbridled lust for power and wealth to give it free rein with a clear conscience, secure in the belief that their will is God’s will for them and for the world. If we allow the Republicans to win this time, this may well be the last free presidential election we ever see.