Wednesday, October 18, 2006

On the danger of Christian Nationalism

The following is a quotation from a prominent 20th century politician: “The national government will maintain and defend the foundations on which the power of our nation rests. It will offer strong protection to Christianity as the very basis of our collective morality. Today Christians stand at the head of our country. We want to fill our culture again with the Christian spirit. We want to burn out all the recent immoral developments in literature, in the theater, and in the press—in short, we want to burn out the poison of immorality which has entered into our whole life and culture as a result of liberal excess during recent years.” To find out who said this, read the first comment.

9 Comments:

Blogger Mark Moore said...

Adolf Hitler. Be warned. The Kingdom of God does not progress through the powerplays of nationalism but through the suffering and service of its citizens. To a large extent, the means are the ends in achieving the rule of Christ our Despot.

October 18, 2006 at 10:23 AM  
Blogger Stephen Lawson said...

excellent thought.

I heard you were called a heretic at the reading of your paper. Is there any way I could get a copy (even electronic) of this "heretical" paper?

Christ as our Despot. Nice.

October 19, 2006 at 12:09 AM  
Blogger Thom Stark said...

...

Mark was called a heretic for arguing that Jesus was political. The man assumed Mark meant that that precluded Jesus from being "spiritual," as it were.

Check out these great videos. They are from an American perspective (which made me cringe a few times), but they provide important information (which made me cringe more than a few times) about the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition.

Life and Liberty for All Who Believe

Are We Becoming a Theocracy?

For more good stuff, check out theocracywatch.org

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October 19, 2006 at 2:32 AM  
Blogger Thom Stark said...

...

"God told me to strike at al Qaida and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam, which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them."
--George W Bush, according to Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, from minutes acquired by Haaretz from cease-fire negotiations between Abbas and faction leaders from the Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Popular and Democratic Fronts (circa, June, 2003).

"Atheistic secular humanists should be removed from office and Christians should be elected...Government and true Christianity are inseparable."
--Robert Simonds, founder & president of Citizens for Excellence in Education

"What Christians have got to do is take back this country, one precinct at a time, one neighborhood at a time and one state at a time...I honestly believe that in my lifetime we will see a country once again governed by Christians."
--Ralph Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition

"I want you to let a wave of intolerance wash over you. I want you to let a wave of hatred wash over you. Yes, hate is good...Our goal is a Christian nation. We have a biblical duty, we are called by God, to conquer this country. We don't want equal time. We don't want pluralism." . . . . "Our goal must be simple. We must have a Christian nation built on God's law, on the ten Commandments. No apologies." . . . . "There is going to be war, [and Christians may be called to] take up the sword to overthrow the tyrannical regime that oppresses them."
--Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue, Indiana News Sentinel

"The Constitution of the United States, for instance, is a marvelous document for self-government by Christian people. But, the minute you turn the document in to the hands of non-Christian people, they can use it to destroy the very foundation of our society. And that's what's been happening."
--Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition

"I hope I live to see the day when, as in the early days of our country, we won't have any public schools. The churches will have taken them over and Christians will be running them."
--Jerry Falwell, America Can Be Saved

"...Christian values should dominate our government. The test of those values is the Bible. Politicians who do not use the Bible to guide their public and private lives do not belong in office."
--Beverly LaHaye, Concerned Women for America

"For the first time ever, everything is in place for the Battle of Armageddon and the Second Coming of Christ."
--President Ronald Reagan

"We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war." . . . . "Being nice to people is, in fact, one of the incidental tenets of Christianity, as opposed to other religions whose tenets are more along the lines of 'kill everyone who doesn't smell bad and doesn't answer to the name Mohammed'"
--Ann Coulter

"The long-term goal of Christians in politics should be to gain exclusive control over the franchise. Those who refuse to submit publicly to the eternal sanctions of God by submitting to His Church's public marks of the covenant–baptism and holy communion–must be denied citizenship."
--Gary North, Institute for Christian Economics

"When the Christian majority takes over this country, there will be no satanic churches, no more free distribution of pornography, no more talk of rights for homosexuals. After the Christian majority takes control, pluralism will be seen as immoral and evil and the state will not permit anybody the right to practice evil."
--Gary Potter, Catholics for Christian Political Action

"I don't know that atheists should be considered citizens, nor should they be considered patriots. This is one nation under God."
--President George H. W. Bush

"Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists." . . . . "This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while."
--President George W. Bush

"Those who control the access to the minds of children will set the agenda for the future of the nation and the future of the western world."
--James Dobson

"The Christian community has a golden opportunity to train an army of dedicated teachers who can invade the public school classrooms and use them to influence the nation for Christ."
--James Kennedy, Center for Reclaiming America

“George Bush was not elected by a majority of the voters in the United States, he was appointed by God.”
--Lt. Gen. William G. Boykin

"Just like what Nazi Germany did to the Jews, so liberal America is now doing to the evangelical Christians. It's no different...More terrible than anything suffered by any minority in history."
--Pat Robertson

"[God] has called us to be His representatives in our nation and in our world. Select candidates who represent your views and work for their election." . . . . "The revisionists must not prevail in their efforts to make this a post-Christian nation that abandons its precious heritage. With God's help, they will not succeed!"
--James Dobson

"Patrick Leahy is a 'God's people-hater.' I don't know if he hates God, but he hates God's people."
--Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family

"George, do you think you ought to lecture me on what a Christian is all about?"
--Dr. Dobson's reply to George Stephanopoulos when asked about the quote above

"Most American children do not know that this is a Christian nation... [O]ur Constitution won't work in Russia, won't work in Haiti, won't work in Iraq. It only works where the people believe in the Christ of the Bible. The United States of America."
--Jerry Falwell on "Sunday Live with Jerry Falwell," July 23, 1995

"My responsibility is to follow the Scriptures which call upon us to occupy the land until Jesus returns.
--James Watt, The Washington Post, May 24, 1981

"The idea that religion and politics don't mix was invented by the Devil to keep Christians from running their own country."
--Jerry Falwell, Sermon, July 4, 1976

"Our culture is superior. Our culture is superior because our religion is Christianity and that is the truth that makes men free."
--Pat Buchanan, speech to the Christian Coalition, Sept. 1993, as reported in ADL Report, 1994

"The 'Owner's Manual' for the Constitution is the Bible."
--Tony Nassif, California Christian Coalition and the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools

"This is our land. This is our world. This is our heritage, and with God's help, we shall reclaim this nation for Jesus Christ. And no power on earth can stop us."
--D. James Kennedy, Character & Destiny: A Nation in Search of Its Soul, 1994 (p. 85)

"Homosexuals are not monogamous. They want to destroy the institution of marriage. It will destroy marriage. It will destroy the Earth."
--James Dobson, October 22, 2004 at a political rally in Oklahoma

"But you've got to kill the terrorists before the killing stops. And I'm for the president to chase them all over the world. If it takes 10 years, blow them all away in the name of the Lord."
--Jerry Falwell, on "CNN Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer"

Then the battalion’s chaplain asks the men to join him in a short prayer. “Lord, there are bad guys out there,” he says, bowing his head. “Just help us kill ‘em.”
--Name unknown - http://stacks.msnbc.com/news/988070.asp

...

October 19, 2006 at 3:52 AM  
Blogger Mark Moore said...

It is true that one of the 40 participants in a conference I recently attended kind of denounced me. But let's not make a martyr out of me, after all, the material I am presenting is new to a lot of people and given Thom's material above, it's misapplication is clearly very dangerous. Besides, I have been known, on ocassion, to present material in a mildly controversial way in order to spark a bit of discussion. Anyway, per Stephen's request, here is a link to the material I presented at the conference:
http://markmoore.org/resources/essays/politcsweb.pdf

October 19, 2006 at 11:03 AM  
Blogger Gregory Fish said...

I don't care for the attitude of: "God bless the US of A and no one else!" I think God's blessings are BIG enough for us all. (And He wants to use every Christian to be a blessing for all others, just as Abraham was told.)

October 21, 2006 at 1:22 PM  
Blogger Thom Stark said...

...

Greg, or anybody, what would it look like for God to bless America, or any nation?

...

October 21, 2006 at 4:29 PM  
Blogger Thom Stark said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbC3_VCNvnU

October 31, 2006 at 1:52 AM  
Blogger Thom Stark said...

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOq86OHDINU

October 31, 2006 at 1:54 AM  

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