http://www.good.is/post/new-dominionists-meet-the-christian-couple-behind-the-right-s-most-viral-videos/Disgusting...
1/9/2012 8:22:22 PM
Well that was.....interesting. Personally, I was more annoyed at the completely inappropriate labeling of "Raleigh-Durham"! I'd be curious to know how the interpret "stewardship of the environment" but given their unapologetic fanaticism to not only Christianity but to modern conservative thought, they likely see no value in any life that isn't human...
1/9/2012 9:03:14 PM
1/9/2012 10:14:42 PM
Warning: Many words, but I know what I'm talking about.I know quite a few of these types, probably a dozen or so, and I've done far more research on them than I ever intended to do. They're far more complicated, and different, than the impressions given by most articles written by folks who have just discovered them, get outraged, and write something.Upon first hearing, many will respond: "well, they just want a theocracy where all unbelievers are killed or converted, especially gays," but that's missing the point. Neither of those is particularly true. Yes, they want official government endorsement of main tenets of Christianity, and yes they believe sodomy ought to bear the death penalty (along with adultery, meaning gays are not singled out - it's the attack on marriage and what they see as the basic social fabric that they care most about).But to stop there and scream at them (however justified) leaves out some of the very interesting complexity in their view of the world. It's not just 'the bible is true, kill everyone who doesn't think like we do.'You will not find a more die-hard dominionist than Gary North, who has written a number of books outlining what he thinks an explicitly Christian, Biblical government should look like in modern America. He believes in the death penalty for things many of y'all would find even more outrageous than execution for homosexual activity. Yet, he's a regular contributor to LewRockwell.com and other libertarian sites.Go on to ronpaulforums.com and you will see a number of users with names like Theocrat as outspoken volunteers for Paul. How could so many Flanders-on-steroids Christians align themselves with godless, pot-smoking libertarians? Because they value hard money (on the principle of honest weights and measures), believe in the rule of law rather than men, and demand a heavy bias toward the defendant in criminal cases and strict rules of evidence. They believe in the dignity of man as a creation of God, so their threshold for going to war is extremely high.They see government as a necessity to restrain evil, and believe its jurisdiction (what counts as crime rather than just sin) is explicitly laid out for them. Because they believe the Bible lays out all that is properly within the sphere of civil government, anything outside of that should remain within man's liberty. That means they abhor the regulatory state as an infringement of their property rights, because the Bible doesn't give authority to government to do such things. When it comes to justice, there is no notion of prison. The penalty for crime is either short, swift, and punishing (death penalty, usually) or restorative to the victim (a thief's sentence being to pay or work off a multiple of what he owes). Most believe prison itself is a violation of justice on every level, because it leaves victims uncompensated, the time given is arbitrary on the criminal, etc. They are often for full stop to the drug war. Generally, they want very small government. The Patriot Act and anything like it is usually abhorrent to them. They love localized government, with decision-making and responsibility as close to the individual as possible. Nationally, or even state-wide, the ties and the government should be smaller and only focused on the most essential common principles to have one people. The language of property rights and individual freedom certainly rhymes with the way they frame issues. They aren't Libertarian, for sure, but they have an awful lot more ground in common than many would guess. The few areas of divergence are huge, though, and reveal how different their starting points are.You'll find them in many places, but the Republican Party is not a common one. Hopefully, this helps give some light as to why these people are not often suspected for believing such things until asked. They know it's hard to explain when their worldview, in relative terms, has a starting point of Mars to the average person. They also find many of the complaints from all sides of the political aisle to have some validity, and so they are able to work alongside even those completely opposed to them. Lastly, most will say they have no interest in forcing their changes from top down through political power. They want incremental changes (many of which are somewhat within the realm of normal political positions), but they know the driving force for the major stuff requires a fundamental, and massive, overhaul of the culture and religion of the people. So they work through their churches to spread things that are more important to them than government, while hoping that eventually those changes will lead to what they see as a better government.Short version: it's complicated, and I find it fascinating. And no, I'm not one of them.[Edited on January 10, 2012 at 5:40 AM. Reason : a]
1/10/2012 5:39:19 AM
1/10/2012 8:17:35 AM
never mind, I walked right into that trolling.
1/10/2012 1:53:07 PM
I'm sorry, but you can't explain rationally how we should have the death penalty for personal behaviors which you have to stretch to even call "victimless crimes."
1/10/2012 2:05:53 PM
So they're cool with the government doing everything Jesus would do except help the poor
1/10/2012 3:41:12 PM
My favorite part of the bible is where Jesus says, "And ye shall form a government, take a portion of people's wages by force, and then use the money to help the poor."But really - he said go out and do it your fucking self.
1/10/2012 3:44:51 PM
Sounds like they want a government with Christian Sharia law.
1/10/2012 4:02:12 PM
I'm not sure what would cause me to leave first--outlawing oysters or putting people to death for working the Sabbath.
1/10/2012 4:11:09 PM
Theocracy of any variety scares the everliving shit out of me.
1/10/2012 4:21:49 PM
^
1/10/2012 4:58:31 PM
I mean... as long as they aren't violent they can believe and act however they want as far as I'm concerned. Shit like this will never catch on so I'm not worried about America falling into a theocracy.
1/10/2012 9:23:59 PM
These people are scum.
1/10/2012 9:33:24 PM
I have heard of the Dominionists; I long suspected the GOP to be secretly Dominionist at its core.
1/10/2012 10:59:13 PM
1/11/2012 6:34:16 AM
Wait, I was expecting to see some old-fashioned (not necessarily old in age, but definitely middle-aged) couple, but what do we have here....?A dude with a tattoo, and a chick with makeup, shaped brows, and bare shoulders and upper chest.Really, would Jesus approve of any of that?How convenient that they follow certain parts of the Bible literally, but ignore others
1/11/2012 9:25:28 AM
How dare they ignore the part of the bible that bans makeup!I mean, i don't want to defend them, but of all of the hypocritical things they do or stand for, you picked the most trivial shit that doesn't even apply.
1/11/2012 11:33:48 AM
i feel sad for those peopleif only all those poor christians and jihadists and muslims and hindus alike could join us in our intellectual upper echelon where there is no such thing as brainwashing and dogma.
1/11/2012 11:57:44 AM
^^ I think he's pointing out how they propose to follow, to the letter, some rules regarding the most trivial of offenses, yet they completely ignore equally trivial provisions.
1/11/2012 1:26:27 PM