Beyond Alarmism and Denial in the Dominionism Debate

[rug]

A journalist and a scholar of religion share notes on Rick Perry, the New Apostolic Reformation, and the recent brouhaha in the press about how much importance to accord to right-wing religion.

By Sarah Posner and Anthea Butler

Sarah Posner: The New Apostolic Reformation has been in the news a great deal since Rick Perry first announced his prayer rally, The Response. I have an investigative journalist’s view of this movement, its place in religious movements of the 20th and 21st centuries, and in politics.

You have a unique view, though, not only as a scholar of American religious history, but as a student at Fuller Theological Seminary, where the NAR’s founder, C. Peter Wagner, taught in the 1990s. We’ll probably come back to Wagner several times during this conversation, but to get us going, what is the NAR, and how did Wagner come to found this movement? What is Wagner’s background? Is he a theologian? A missionary? An entrepreneur?

Anthea Butler: Yes, I was a Master’s student at Fuller working the switchboard part-time, and the number one phone call that came through went something like this: “Can you connect me to C. Peter Wagner’s Church Growth Institute? I’d like to buy some materials.”

No one was happier than I was when he retired from Fuller and moved to Colorado Springs! I felt like I worked at a catalog call-in center.

http://www.religiondispatches.org/archive/atheologies/5026/beyond_alarmism_and_denial_in_the_dominionism_debate/

[dmallind]

1. Important to note that the "alarmism" they reject is NAR/Perry -specific

Personally I don't think it's reassuring that NAR is just one of many similar-minded groups (which of course I already knew).

Quote - emphasis mine:

I think people outside this world really underestimate how many different personalities there are in this world, and how their audiences access them through numerous venues: television networks like the Trinity Broadcasting Network, GOD TV, and DayStar; numerous conferences across the country, and other multimedia sources. Just as people discover someone new through these sources, they frequently reject certain personalities for a number of reasons: their profit motive, their authoritarianism, unattainable demands to “get closer to God” through “radical prayer,” or what the consumer comes to see as false teaching.

Like you said, theological disagreements among these folks are largely inconsequential from a broad political perspective; the overarching Christian nation ideology, along with opposition to secularism, LGBT rights and abortion rights, and favoring public prayer and Ten Commandments and so forth are unifying.

But the idea that the NAR in particular—as opposed to the broader apparatus and movement the religious right has built over four decades—is somehow, in a vacuum, more powerful, or more authoritarian, or more threatening to democracy is a view that is far too narrow, ahistorical, and uninformed.

Anthea: Yes, the NAR isn’t in a vacuum and more powerful than other movements, but it should not be dismissed either. I am more than annoyed with articles by Lisa Miller, Ralph Reed, Charlotte Adams, and others attempting to blow off Dominionists or NAR just because they don’t think it exists. Ralph Reed’s comment is especially egregious: “The notion that Bachmann, Perry or other candidates secretly harbor ‘dominionist’ theology is a conspiracy theory largely confined to university faculty lounges and MSNBC studios.” Sorry Ralph. Most Universities have faculty clubs, not lounges, and believe me, no one is talking about Dominionist Theology there! The Rachel Maddow show is also the only MSNBC show so far to even bring up the word “Dominionist.”

I view with a jaundiced eye these journalists who think that by the mere act of writing an 800 word op-ed they’re going to wave a wand over people of faith and make their beliefs go away. Not Happening. Yes, not every conservative Christian is a Dominionist, but to say a movement doesn’t exist, without even being able to say what it is in an op-ed is just irresponsible.