Dominionism...and Heath Ledger

Coincidence is not the word. Ironic is not the word. Strange could be the word.

Anyway, sort of funny definately describes The Western Tribune endorsing Mike Huckabee in the Republican primary and on the same page printing my anti-endorsement of Huckabee. The Tribune also endorsed my candidate, Hillary Clinton, for the Democratic nod.

My concern is Huckabee's dominionist leanings, more of which I will address later in this post. And Heath Ledger too.

First, here is the column, for those who have not read it. The parts in blue were edited (for space I am sure) from my orginal copy:

This week we celebrate the life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but this follows two weeks in which his legacy and accomplishments have been overshadowed by media reaction to comments made by presidential hopefuls in the Democratic race.

I say media reaction because it is utterly ridiculous to believe that Bill or Hillary Clinton would discredit Dr. King, or that Barack Obama would lack any understanding of the important roles that both Dr. King and President Johnson had in advancing the cause of civil rights.

Why the media made such an issue of this and ignored what Republican candidate Mike Huckabee said about our constitution is beyond me. Speaking to an audience in Michigan, Huckabee said the following.
"I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution. But I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God. And that's what we need to do -- to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards rather than try to change God's standards so it lines up with some contemporary view of how we treat each other and how we treat the family."

Thomas Jefferson must have been spinning in his grave after that remark.

A public information project at Cornell University called Theocracy Watch documents the rise of the Religious Right beginning right after Barry Goldwater’s defeat in 1964. That may sound like old history to some but the Republican Party has not always been controlled by Christian fundamentalists.

It is not evangelical Christians that we should worry about if we love our country. It is Dominionists such as Pat Robertson, Roy Moore, Phyllis Schlafly and Mike Huckabee, who seek control of this country in ways that the founding fathers never dreamed of.

Dominion theology holds the belief that society should be governed by the word of God as set forth in the Bible to the exclusion of secular law.

Were he alive today, Dr. King would find many ways in which we have yet to achieve the dream. I am sure he would find that replacing our Constitution with “God’s standards” would result in more of a barrier to reaching his goal than achieving it.

God may be all powerful but he certainly does not depend on the human lust for power under the guise of Christianity to demonstrate it. What these Dominionists actually demonstrate is both a lack of understanding of the supremacy of God, and a total misinterpretation of the principles upon which our country was founded. And what we do not need is a Dominionist as president.

Dominionism. It should scare the hell out of you. Theocracy Watch, which I mention in the column, is a wealth of information. There are buttons to the left of the page that direct you various topics, but I am going to put links here to some highlights.

Here is Taking over the Republican Party and here is Bush.

There are several pictures like this one that show Bush in messianic situations.

Does that not make you cringe?

There is a page on homophobia, as well as one on the war against women.

There is a lot more, and this is not some fly by night anti-christian group...it's from Cornell University.

I will get slammed for this, but dominionism as described is more of a threat to our society than any radical Islamic fundamentalism. I mean, this is from within. They are over there. Who's gonna get you first?

And to show how wacky and depraved some of these people are:

You have Fox's John Gibson mocking Heath Ledger after he was found dead.

You have "Christians" planning to protest his funeral, not because he is gay (he is not) but because he played a gay cowboy in a movie.

You have "Christians" saying God struck him dead for the same reason.

You have "Christians" saying he killed himself because of his shame after playing a gay peson.

You have someone on TV (I couldn't get to the TV in time to see who said it, but I heard it) saying he killed himself because he watched the Democratic Presidential debate Monday night.

And this is a religion (and a party) that wants people to embrace their principles? If this kind of rhetoric does not drive people from the Christian church, I don't know what will.

OK, I know I am painting the Christian church with a broad brush, but isn't that what people do with Islam? To the world, this is what the Christian church in America looks like, intolerant and foolish. And notice, I did not say the Christian Faith, because that is a far cry from the Christian church of today.

You know, I think the more proper way to acknowledge Heath Ledger is to appreciate the body of work that he produced. Brokeback Mountain will be playing this weekend on the big screen in this house. And we might watch A Knight's Tale, too.

Here is a tribute you can watch right now.

In the meantime, watch your back. The Dominionists are out to get you.

We will miss you, Heath.