Harper’s this month ran with a couple of articles on the danger of the Dominionist movement.
At the time, it was hard to take such fantastic rhetoric seriously. But fascism, Adams warned, would not return wearing swastikas and brown shirts. It’s ideological inheritors would cloak themselves in the language of the Bible; they would come carrying crosses and chanting the Pledge of Allegiance.
Link (their May edition isn’t surfaced on the site yet.)
Here are some more recent articles on Dominionists/Megachurches:
Mother Jones, March/April 2005:
Their own laity call them “purpose-driven” or “seeker-sensitive” churches. Detractors call them McChurches or Wal-Mart churches. But whatever they are called, they deserve to be taken seriously, if only because they help explain why George W. Bush is still sitting in the Oval Office and how suburban malaise can be transformed into a multitude of organized, values-driven voters. Not by happenstance did Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ play the megachurch circuit before making its theatrical debut. These are the churches that held get-out-the-vote rallies and stressed the importance of politics in the service of religion.
Link
Christian Science Monitor, March 2005:
Yet it’s the most combative language that brings the crowd to its feet in applause: “Judicial activists are running rampant and a God-free country is their goal…. All means to turn the tide must be considered, including their removal,” urges the Rev. Rick Scarborough, founder of Vision America, which mobilizes “patriot pastors” across the US.
As covered previously, Rolling Stone, April 2005
The one-two punch of militant activists and big money has helped make the Dominionists a force in Washington, where a growing number of congressmen owe their elections to the machine. Kennedy has also created the Center for Christian Statesmanship, which trains elected officials to “more effectively share their faith in the public arena.” Speaking to the group, House Majority Whip Tom DeLay — a winner of Kennedy’s Distinguished Christian Statesman Award — called Bush’s faith-based initiatives “a great opportunity to bring God back into the public institutions of our country.”
Utne Reader, November 2002 (Not so recent, but their last issue was “the religion issue”)
“The megachurches provide a place where families can have all their needs met in a single location. And that’s especially appealing right now,” Eiesland says. “In the suburbs there just aren’t the kinds of civic organizations and family-centered groups for recreation–they’re too spread-out, growing too fast. On the one hand, this new evangelicalism allows for philosophical choices in life. On the other, it gives people a lot of practical support. It helps with the children, gives people a place to socialize and recreate. So, demographically, they’re very popular.”
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