Reclaiming America For Christ

Thanks to the presidential campaigns of Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann, there has been a lot of attention focused lately on dominion theology and its role within the Religious Right political movement.

This, in turn, has led to a number of pieces asserting that there is no such thing as "dominionism" and claiming that it is nothing more than a conspiracy-theory/scare-tactic dreamed up by the Left.

Our colleague Peter Montgomery addressed this effort to downplay dominionism in an excellent piece he wrote for Religion Dispatches yesterday, but Religious Right activists continue to claim that there is no cause for alarm whatsoever.

Today, John Aman, Director of Communications at Truth in Action Ministries, went a step further, writing a piece for the Christian Post claiming that dominionism doesn't even exist:

I had never even heard the term until 2005 when a Christian Science Monitor reporter asked me about it in connection with our Reclaiming America for Christ conference.

The reason I was so clueless is because, as Joe Carter explains in First Things, it’s a label used exclusively on the left. Berkeley-educated sociologist Sara Diamond, the author of several critiques of Christian civic engagement, including Spiritual Warfare: The Politics of the Christian Right, invented the term in the 1980s.

Dominionism, Carter explains, is a term “never used outside liberal blogs and websites. No reputable scholars use the term for it is a meaningless neologism that Diamond concocted for her dissertation.”

It is, however, a handy way to smear evangelicals like Bachmann and Perry who bring biblically informed moral convictions into public debate.

...

The truth is that dominionism is a sham charge-one reserved for Christians on the right.

Really? Maybe someone ought to tell that to all the dominionists who have suddenly started downplaying their dominionism. 

And I guess someone ought to really tell C. Peter Wagner to change the name of his book:

And perhaps Aman ought to talk to Janet Porter, since she lost her radio program because of her well-documented dominionism. 

As it happens, Porter was once the National Director for the Center for Reclaiming America, the sister organization to Coral Ridge Ministries ... which just so happens to be the former name of Truth in Action Ministries, where none other than John Aman serves as the Director of Communications.

CPAC boycotters, angered over the upcoming event’s inclusion of the gay conservative group GOProud, have taken out a full page ad in the right-wing Washington Times to ask, “What would Ronald Reagan think of CPAC today?”

Rick Scarborough’s Vision America was behind the ad which accused CPAC of “betraying conservative principles and threatening conservative unity by creating the false impression that gay activism is somehow compatible with conservativism” by allowing GOProud to be a participating organization:

The self-proclaimed gay Republicans support hate crime laws (which will be used to bludgeon the church) and oppose the Federal Defense of Marriage Amendment, without which judges will ultimately legislate homosexual “marriage”—making the natural family an endangered species.

Last year, GOProud advocated for homosexuals serving openly in the military, which will devastate our armed forced and sacrifice unit cohesion on the altar of “inclusiveness.”

Ask yourself: Would CPAC allow participation by the Democratic Socialists of America? Why is the free market an inviolable conservative principle, but not family values?

Would organizers invite George Soros to address the gathering? Then why associate with groups who share his worldview?

What does it profit us to gain tax cuts and lose the family—the foundation of a free society?

…

President Reagan used to say that he didn’t leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left him. Sadly, that’s the way many conservatives increasingly feel about CPAC’s current direction.

…

In the war on the family, Judeo-Christian morality and authentic conservative principles, neutrality is impossible. We call for a return to first principles.

While the boycott movement has had some notable successes by pushing Sen. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) to decline to attend the conference, other Religious Right luminaries like Rick Santorum, Timothy Goeglein, Tom Minnery, and Phyllis Schlafly are still slated to address CPAC. In fact, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is giving the conference’s keynote address.

Notably, some of the most prominent groups boycotting CPAC have not signed on to Scarborough’s letter, including the Heritage Foundation, the Family Research Council, Concerned Women For America, and the Media Research Center. The signatories include:

Mark Andrews, (Casino Watch)
Pastor Paul Blair, (Reclaiming America for Christ)
Susan Carleson, (American Civil Rights Union)
Brian Camenker, (MassResistance)
Mandi Campbell, (Liberty Center for Law and Policy)
Frank Cannon, (American Principles Project)
Chris Carmouche, (GrassTopsUSA)
Joseph Farah, (WorldNetDaily.com)
Don Feder, (Don Feder Associates)
Diane Gramley, (American Family Association of Pennsylvania)
Bishop EW Jackson Sr., (STAND America PAC)
Phillip Jauregui, (Judicial Action Group)
Gordon James Klingenschmitt, (Pray In Jesus Name)
Robert Knight, (American Civil Rights Union)
Mike and Cris Kurtz, (The USA Patriots)
Peter LaBarbera, (Americans For Truth About Homosexuality)
Shelli and David Manuel, (Resurrect America Project)
William J. Murray, (Religious Freedom Coalition)
Rev. Rick Scarborough, (Vision America)
Rev. Louis P. Sheldon, (Traditional Values Coalition)
Sharon Slater, (Family Watch International)
Mat Staver, (Liberty Counsel)
Mike Valerio and Helen Valerio, Americans
Tim Wildmon, (American Family Association)

• I have no idea what "Freedom Fest 2010" is supposed to be, but it is sponsored by the ACLJ and being headlined by Sarah Palin.
• Someone just gave Cindy Jacobs $15,000 to continue her prophetic intercession.  Really? 
• It looks like Samuel Rodriquez has joined up with Harry Jackson and Niger Innis for their bogus Affordable Power Alliance.
• The House's Office of Congressional Ethics says there is no "probable cause to believe the alleged violation occurred" by members of Congress getting cheap rent at The Family's house on C Street.
• Legislators in Virginia are looking to pass Arizona-like immigration laws in the state.
• Keep in mind that Richard Land and the Southern Baptist Convention support immigration reform because they see it as an opportunity to grow their church.
• Finally, Paul Blair of Reclaiming America for Christ is also a participant in the ADF's "Pulpit Initiative."

Earlier this year, Janet Porter announced that she had reserved the Lincoln Memorial for May 1, 2010 for a prayer rally whereby Christians would humble themselves and pray for God's intervention to save our nation in distress.

Well, it looks like plans are moving right along as the event now has its own website and a laundry list of right-wing supporters, including several members of Congress:

David and Janet Porter, Faith2Action
Mike and Cindy Jacobs, Generals International
Dutch Sheets, Dutch Sheets Ministries
Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel
Dr. Rick Scarborough, Vision America
Congressman Trent Franks (AZ)
Congressman Louie Gohmert (TX)
Pastor Jim Garlow, Skyline Church, San Diego, California
Three Star General Jerry Boykin, Kingdom Warriors Ministries
Rabbi Aryeh Spero, Caucus for America
Troy Newman, Operation Rescue
Wendy Wright, Concerned Women for America
Tim Wildmon, American Family Association
Phillip L. Jauregui, Judicial Action Group
Bill Lewis, Sons of Issachar for the 21st Century
William J. Murray, Religious Freedom Coalition
Dick Bott, Bott Radio Network
Mark Matta, Preserve Liberty
Chaplain Gordon James Klingenschmitt, Pray In Jesus Name
Dr. Allen Unruh, Tea Party Coordinator
Don Feder, World Congress of Families
David Crowe, Restore America
Don VanCurler, Coral Ridge Ministries, Board of Directors
Rabbi Daniel Lapin, The American Alliance of Jews and Christians
Congressman Steve King (Iowa)
Jerome Corsi, author, journalist
Chuck Pierce, Glory of Zion International
Kent and Christie Glesener, Shofar International
State Representative Merle Kearns, Oklahoma
Pastor Paul Blair, Reclaiming America for Christ

On Monday we noted that former Center for Reclaiming America for Christ Director Gary Cass is banking on the “persecuted majority” card with his new group, the Christian Anti-Defamation Commission. In case you needed some concrete illustration of what that means, WorldNetDaily reports on Cass’s list of “the seven worst incidents of Christian-bashing that happened in 2007.” It might sound strange coming from one of the few on the Religious Right willing to attack Mitt Romney’s faith (its “secret rituals” and shady financiers), but that’s by no means the most absurd part.

According to Cass, “Anti-Christian sentiments” are becoming “deadly”: His top item is the horrific shooting by a disturbed Colorado 24-year-old that left four people dead at a megachurch and a youth missionary training center a week and a half ago. While the senseless rampage, apparently motivated by the man’s rejection from the missionary program, was certainly tragic, Cass sees it as a consequence of an “amoral entertainment industry” and gay rights politics, calling on “anti-Christian politicians, Hollywood and New York media elites to stop the Christian bashing and take responsibility for the culture of hate towards Christians they have helped to create.”

Indeed, his list makes pretty clear where he’s trying to channel outrage over the shooting:

1. Colorado Church Murders …

2. Federal Hate Crimes Bill …

3. Violence [sic] on San Francisco Church … [Note: See here]

4. Attack [sic] on Jerry Falwell: … Hitchens made the most reprehensible and offensive remarks one can imagine against a Christian minister …

5. CNN's "God's Warriors" and "Friends of God" … [Note: See here]

6. John Edwards' Campaign Bloggers …

7. Golden Compass, the movie

As Fred Thompson pushes hard to making a surprise showing in Iowa, touting Cass’s recent endorsement, will the candidate be linking hate crimes protections for gays to killing sprees? Will he demand an apology for the Colorado shooting from “New York media elites”? Stay tuned.

D. James Kennedy, who built up Fort Lauderdale, Florida megachurch and television empire over the last half-century, has officially retired, eight months after he was first hospitalized following a heart attack. Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church has nearly 10,000 members, and his broadcast ministry claims 3.5 million listeners and viewers, but he is best known as one of the founding figures of the Religious Right in the early 1980s, known as the “Ivy League Jerry Falwell.”

Kennedy, who once said that “the diabolical mission” of People For the American Way was “to crush the influence of the Christian religion in American society,” became active in political issues from battling pornography, “secularized” education, abortion, and civil rights for gays to supporting Reagan administration policies like SDI, Iran-Contra, and the nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court. His involvement grew in the 1990s and 2000s, as he organized national conferences for religious-right activism and expanded his influence in Washington.

The 76-year-old Kennedy’s retirement comes just a few months after the death of Jerry Falwell, and again heralds the inevitable passing of the older generation of religious-right leaders -- Falwell, Kennedy, 71-year-old James Dobson, 69-year-old Don Wildmon, and others who built the infrastructure and set the pattern for fundamentalism-charged politics.

Much more on D. James Kennedy’s political career below.

As we noted repeatedly over the last several years, the president’s power to nominate individuals to federal court and most importantly, the Supreme Court is an issue of paramount importance to the nation and control over the process has long been the number one political priority for the Right.  

The nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito were met with jubilation by the Right and with the Supreme Court’s recent 5-4 decision in Gonzales v. Carhart, President Bush appears to have delivered on their demands for reliable,  hard-line ideologues:   

Vision America

What a vivid reminder this is that Christians must remain politically active -- as it was Values Voters who are responsible for this first step toward overturning Roe v. Wade … This should be a stark reminder to Christians of what’s at stake in the next election.

Traditional Values Coalition

The 5-4 decision, which included Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, clearly shows the importance of having strong judicial conservatives on the bench.

Christian Defense Coalition

There is no doubt this decision would not have been reached if Sandra Day O'Connor were still on the bench instead of Samuel Alito.  If President Bush gets an opportunity to nominate another Supreme Court Justice, he could shape the direction of the court for a generation to come.  Also, that next appointment may be the 'swing' vote in overturning Roe.

Rep. John Boehner

[T]his decision is further confirmation Supreme Court Justices John Roberts and Samuel Alito, President Bush's two successful appointments to the high court, are who we hoped and thought they were.

Janet Folger

One more president. One more judge. And one more chance to finish the work we began 34 years ago. Our work is not in vain.

Gary Cass

Dr. Gary Cass, executive director of the Center for Reclaiming America for Christ, responded, "This is what we hoped and prayed for when we elected pro-life Americans who would nominate and confirm judicial nominees. This is what we hoped and prayed for when two new Supreme Court justices were added to the bench. Today, those years of hoping and praying have borne the best kind of fruit—-the protection of defenseless lives."

Richard Land

Thank God for President Bush, and thank God for Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justice Samuel Alito.

Tony Perkins

[The] president of the Family Research Council said the decision vindicated the 2004 victory of Mr. Bush and "shows that elections have consequences." Since conservatives "know that next vacancy is just so incredibly important."

It is not often that we find ourselves in agreement with Tony Perkins, but when he notes that this decision shows just why the “next vacancy is just so incredibly important” we couldn’t agree more.