A Project of the Center for Religion, Ethics And Social Policy at Cornell University

“Oh my God! We really are in a theocracy.”(Maureen Dowd, New York Times, March 24, 2005)

“Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain;

for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”(Hebrew Scriptures, Exodus 20)

Christopher Shays (R-CT)

“The Party of Lincoln has become the Party

of theocracy.”(Christopher Shays, R-CT,

New York Times, March 24, 2005)

I. History

II. Dominion Theology

III. “Thy Kingdom Come Thy Will Be Done”

IV. What We Can Do

1964

Paul WeyrichRepublican Strategist

1973 Founded Heritage Foundation

Proposed targeting members of:• Fundamentalist• Pentecostal• Charismatic Churches.

1979 Coined Term “Moral Majority”

1981The Council for National Policy

Reverend Tim LaHayeFirst President

Council for National Policy

Paul WeyrichCouncil for National Policy

Focus on the FamilyFamily Research Council

Council for National PolicyJames Dobson

Pat RobertsonCouncil for National Policy

Christian Broadcasting Network700 Club

Christian CoalitionRegents University

Rousas RushdoonyChristian Reconstruction

Movement

Jerry FalwellMoral Majority

Council for National Policy

1989Moral Majority disbandsChristian Coalition forms

Pat RobertsonChristian Coalition

He decided to take over the Republican Party from the bottom up.

“We think the Lord is going togive us this nation back one precinct at a time,one neighborhood at a time,and one state at a time.”(Christianity Today, April 3, 1990)

Ralph Reed

Washington State GOP Platform, 1992 Outlawed: - Witchcraft - Yoga Classes

"We want...as soon as possible to see a majority of the Republican Party in the hands of pro-family Christians...“ (Denver Post, 10/26/92)

Pat Robertson

“It’s like guerilla warfare…It’s better to move quietly, with stealth, under the cover of night.” (LA Times, March 22, 1992)

1994

40 million Family Values Voter Guides

in more than 100,000 churches

2000

70 million voter guidesto support George W. Bush

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

100 80 60 40 20 0

Republican

Democrat

Christian Coalition Scorecards, 2004U.S. Senate

Percentage of votes with CC

# of Senators

42 % of U.S. Senators received 100% rating from Christian Coalition.

42 % of U.S. Senators received 100% rating from Christian Coalition.

22% of population identifyas Christian Right.

“With the apathy that exists today, a well organized minority can influence the selection of candidates to an astonishing degree.”

(The Millennium, 1990)

Ralph Reed Active Faith:

How Christians Are Changing the Soul of American Politics. 1996

“The surest antidoteto tyranny is a freepeople who believeit owes allegianceto a Higher Power,not the government.”(Ralph Reed, Active Faith, 1996, p. 8-9)

“The preamble of the Constitution invokes the people of the United States. It does not invoke any sort of God.” (The Godless Constitution, Isaac Kramnick and R. Laurence Moore)

“The consent of thegoverned rests uponfaith in a sovereign God.(Ralph Reed, Active Faith, 1996, p. 8-9)

“… faith as politicalforce is the veryessence of democracy.”(Ralph Reed, Active Faith, 1996, p. 8-9)

“The consent of thegoverned rests uponfaith in a sovereignGod...”(Ralph Reed, Active Faith, 1996, p. 8-9)

"Government... is the minister of God…” (Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia First Things, May, 2002)

The word "God" does not appear within the text of the Constitution of the United States.

“We need common sense judges who understand that our rights arederived from God.

Those are the kind of judges I intend to put on the bench.”

(George Bush, quoted in fundraising letter, Traditional Values Coalition, March, 2005)

Michael McConnellU.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit

“Freedom flourishes when man is subordinate to God.” (Michael McConnell, Los Angeles Times, Jan. 13, 2001)

I. History

II. Dominion Theology/ Christian Reconstructionism

III. “Thy Kingdom Come Thy Will Be Done”

IV. What We Can Do

“Christians alone areBiblically mandated to occupy all secular institutions until Christ returns…”

(Sara Diamond Z Magazine, February, 1995)

Bringing in the Sheaves, (1985)

George Grant

“The army of God is to conquer the earth, to subdue it, to rule over it, to exercise dominion.” (Bringing in the Sheaves, p.98)

Rousas Rushdoony1916-2001

“ … subdue all things and all nations to Christ and His law-word.” (R.J. Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law, 1973)

“The reign of Christ … is meant to subdue every enemy of righteousness.” (Gary DeMar and Peter Leithart,

The Reduction of Christianity, 1990p. 335)

Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse?

(Thomas Ice, 1988)

“Christian Reconstructionistspropose to institute a theocratic government in America.” (Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse? P.16)

“Non-Christians cannot rule themselves and must be excluded from a government under God’s law.”(Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse? P.71)

“What Would A Reconstructed America Be Like?”(Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse?, Chapter 4)

“The only legitimate functions of the state are:

1.Restraining civil evil;2.Punishing evil;3.Protecting the law abiding;4.Defending the nation.” (Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse? p. 73)

“We support the abolition of ...

the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the position of Surgeon General, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Departments of Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services, Education, Commerce, andLabor. We also call for the de-funding or abolition of the National Endowment for the Arts, and Public Broadcasting System.” (p.19)

America’s Providential History, 1989 Mark Beliles and Stephen McDowell

“A government controlledand funded welfare systemis unbiblical.”(America’s Providential History, p.27)

“Scripture makes it clear that God is the provider,not the state.” (America’s Providential History, p. 187)

“Tax rates would be much less … due to the shift in welfare burden away from government to … the church.” (Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse? p. 74)

Tax CutsOne of Bush’s signature issues

• Income tax is “idolatry,”

• Property tax is “theft,” • Inheritance taxes

are “not allowed in the Bible.” (p.214)

"The Party urges the IRS be abolished" (p.17)

Calls for eliminating the:

“income tax, inheritance tax, gift tax, capital gains, corporate income tax, payroll tax and property tax." (p.17)

“The tithe, not taxes would finance most social welfare.” (Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse? P. 77)

Faith-based Initiative

The United States isbeginning to fit the modelof a reconstructed America.

Biblical Law

“Only through … Old Testament civil law can America – and the world – be saved from

destruction.” (Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse? P.15)

Senator Tom Coburn, R-OK

"I favor the death penalty for abortionists.“ (Dr. Tom Coburn, AP, July, 2003)

U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy

Lawrence V. Texas6-3 Supreme Court ruling

June 26, 2003

"The petitioners are entitled to respect for their private lives.

The state cannot demean their existence or control their destiny by making their private sexual conduct a crime.“(Lawrence V Texas, June 26, 2003)

Bill MaherReal Time, HBO

"'Activist judges' is a code word for gay."

“The judges being verbally tarred and feathered are those who have decriminalized gay sex.”

(Frank Rich, New York Times, April 24, 2005)

Chief of Staff of U.S. Senator TomColburn (R-OK):

"I'm a radical! I'm a real extremist. I don't want to impeach judges. I want to impale them!“(The Nation, April 11, 2005)

U.S. Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA)Third Highest Ranking Republican

Gary DeMar, "Sound Off" radio program, Superstation WSB AM, Atlanta, Georgia

“The Bible doesn't say that homosexuals should be executed.

What it says is this: ‘If two men lie together like a man and a woman lie together, they are to be put to death.’"

(Gary DeMar, WSB AM, January 4, 1991)

David Barton

“Our party pledges to exert its influence to . . . dispel the ‘myth’ of the separation of church and state.”

(Texas Republican Party Platform, p.8)

“The Republican Party of Texasaffirms that the United Statesis a Christian nation ."

(Texas Republican Party Platform, preamble, 2004)

1797

Treaty of Tripoli, 1797

ARTICLE 11: “… the government of the United States of America is not in any sense founded on the Christian Religion...”

I. History

II. Dominion Theology

III. Thy Kingdom Come Thy Will Be Done

IV. What We Can Do

“Reconstructionists consider the Puritans the decisive illustration of a Christian society.”

(Dominion Theology: Blessing or Curse? P.71)

“The primary strength of the Puritans was their ‘spirit of dominion.’” (America’s Providential History, p. 84)

“They recognized the scriptural mandate requiring Godly rule, and zealously set out to establish that in all aspects of society.” (America’s Providential History, p. 84)

Faith-based InitiativeHuge tax cuts - for the very wealthy

January 22, 2001 – Global gag ruleon international family planningassistance.

• January 22, 2001 – Global Gag Rule

• August 9, 2001 – ban on most kinds of stem cell research

• January 22, 2001 – Global Gag Rule

• August 9, 2001 – ban on stem cell research

• March, 2004 -- cut off entire American contribution to the United Nations Population Fund

November 5, 2003

Michigan State House passed the

Conscientious ObjectorPolicy Act

Defunding PBS

The “E” word

Terri Schiavo

1997Oregon’s Death with Dignity Law

Ten Year Ban on Assault Weapons ExpiredSeptember 13, 2004

CBS fined $550,000Superbowl Sunday, 2004

Kevin Martin

Kevin MartinChair, FCC

The Broadcast Indecency Actauthorizes the FCC to fine broadcasters up to $500,000 for indecency violations.

Abstinence-only sex education

I. History

II. Dominion Theology

III. “Thy Kingdom Come Thy Will Be Done”

IV. What We Can Do

Electoral Politics

Midterm Elections

2006 Midterm Elections

Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas

pfaw.org

PublicEye.org

theocracywatch.org

“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God…I contemplate with solemn reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof’ thus building a wall of separation between church and State.” (President Thomas Jefferson, 1802)

To the Danbury Baptist Association: