Alternet’s Addie Stan, who knows an awful lot about the right wing and their religious movements, has a piece today about the denial in the media about the threat posed by radical fundamentalists — and Bachmann and Perry:
Then there are the deniers, such as Lisa Miller, Newsweek‘s religion editor, who stepped forward on the Web site of the Washington Post to reassure readers that all this talk of dominionism and the GOP is just a paranoid fantasy of the left.
A Victory for Progressives
Believe it or not, for progressive reporters, Miller’s high-profile denial is something of a victory, for it means the work of investigative journalists for progressive publications is making its mark on the more mainstream outlets, as when the New Yorker‘s Ryan Lizza echoed Sarah Posner’s reporting for Religion Dispatches in his profile of Bachmann, or when Michelle Goldberg built on the dogged research of Rachel Tabachnick (writing here for AlterNet) and others for her Daily Beast piece on dominionism’s claim on both Perry and Bachmann.
“Some on the left seem suspicious that a firm belief in Jesus equals a desire to take over the world,” Miller wrote at the Post‘s “On Faith” site. Then she went on to say, parenthetically, “Some extremist Christians leveled a similar charge against Barack Obama in 2008, that he was the antichrist aiming to take over world governments.”
To equate dominionism with “a firm belief in Jesus” does a disservice to all those Americans who firmly believe in Jesus, but who also firmly believe in the separation of church and state. To deny the pervasive influence of dominionism on the professed faith of many — perhaps most — on the religious right is to reveal a breathtaking ignorance of American evangelical theology as it has evolved over the past 40 years.
And to equate the fact, proven by diligent reporters and by the theological writings of right-wing religious leaders, of the impact of dominionist ideology on Republican politics with the malevolent, racist fantasy of Obama as anti-Christ should really be a firing offense at any publication whose credibility rests on the conveyance of factual information. But I expect that Miller will keep her job.
Not Just a River in Egypt
As I wrote last week, media people tend to deal with the religious right and its belief systems in one of two ways: either through the lens of exoticism (as if the reporter were an anthropologist visiting some strange and primitive culture), or through denial, because the truth is just too awful and jarring to the worldview of the well-educated, rational reporter. For journalists in the latter category, the America of the religious right is just not the America they know, nor is it the one they care to know.
I’ll spare you a point-by-point takedown of Miller’s insulting and ridiculous piece; Peter Montgomery has done an excellent job of that at Religion Dispatches, and Fred Clarkson further eludicates at the Daily Kos. The larger point is this: the religious right was born of a turn toward dominionism among a certain segment of the evangelical population in the 1960s.
The main theological defect in dominionism is its failure to understand the role of Old Testament law in the Christian faith. This was an issue debated and settled in biblical times. The debate and judgement are recoded in chapter 15 of Acts. The point is clearly made that gentile Christians are not bound to obey Old Testament law, other than to “abstain from blood” (eat only kosher meat) and avoid sexual immorality. Otherwise the law of the Old Testament is binding only on the descendants of Abraham. The writing of the apostle Paul make it super clear that Christian faith does not require obedience to law.
All of this crap about restoring the country to biblical law is just wrong and contrary to orthodox Christian faith. It is the same as advocating Sharia law, which is just an evolution of Old Testament law itself. Religion is about controlling people’s behavior, and especially women’s sexual behavior, and these people will not rest until they are put in charge of controlling somebody. As long as they were an isolated sect, they were no problem, but now they are making a breakout move and they need to be stifled. Ignorant commentators who consider it to be just another religion need to be educated.