Beware of anyone telling you that you need to adopt a ‘biblical world view’. Such a person is likely to be some sort of ‘dominionist’, an ugly word for the uglier idea that countries should be run according to strict Christian standards. If you’re not quite sure what these standards are, don’t worry - just ask your friendly dominionist and then do as you’re told!

There are a couple of dominionist gabfests held in Australia every year, one of which was recently conducted in Canberra by the American-based Summit Ministries. About 150 people attended and a good time was had by all.

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Filed in: Evangelicals, Theocracy

(5) Is Muehlenberg a theocrat?

Bill Muehlenberg denies that he is a theocrat, but I disagree. In national terms, a theocrat claims that a god is a particular country’s ultimate ruler and that the nation should be operating according to that god’s laws. In the longer run, Muehlenberg would like to see Christ returning to earth and directly ruling the entire planet. In the short term, he wants to accelerate the process by which this situation might occur by ‘Christianising’ the nation. I’ll begin by drawing rather extensively on an article I wrote in 2003 entitled ‘Australia’s Theocratic Right‘.

The modern ‘Christian’ theocratic approach to politics is often termed ‘dominion theology’ and it has a wide range of guises and levels of intensity. Adherents of dominion theology encourage Christian political activism leading to sweeping social change rather than mere adjustments to the social system. In practice, these proposed changes tend to be of an authoritarian kind.

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Filed in: Christian Right, People, Theocracy

Good Report, an evangelical periodical edited by Christian Democratic Party personality Janne Peterson, is the latest magazine to nail its theocratic colours to the mast. For a start, legitimate Members of Parliament must be conservative Christians:

… [T]he Bible makes it clear that Government ministers are supposed to be God’s ministers and not Satan’s ministers, like Adolf Hitler for example was. Nor atheists or sodomites, as some of the MPs who currently hold seats in Parliament are. Unless a candidate for Parliament is a just, God-fearing man [sic], he is not qualified to rule. His job is to govern according to God’s law and His commandments.

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Filed in: Politics, Theocracy