I went to a young adult Bible study once, and they showed "The Truth Project" with Del Tackett by Focus on the Family. I believe it was dominionist theology. A few years later, I was introduced to the idea of the Seven Mountain Mandate. It was basically the same thing. That Christians were to influence all of these sectors of society.
Yes, alot of those passages from the OT are very much taken out of context. They pick and choose what they want to follow. I doubt any of them will be giving up pork any time soon. It's a weird, skewed way of applying it to the modern world. I also think that alot of evangelicals take verses about child training from the Book of Proverbs out of context as well, and twist them to an unhealthy extreme.
I also remember, when I was younger, reading the works of the Botkin Sisters, and all of the other similar voices in that world.
Oddly enough, some of the Christian Nationalists do follow the dietary restrictions in Leviticus and won’t eat pork. It doesn’t apply to all Christian Nationalists, just to some who decide to follow this rule.
In the Jewish religion they don't use the verses from The book of Proverbs about child training in such an abusive way. "Train up a child in the way he should go" simply just means helping your child grow up in God's ways and become who God meant for them to be. But a lot of fundamentalists have taken those same verses and used them to hurt children.
Unfortunately this is true. From what I know of Jewish tradition, the thought is that one always starts from a position of why the most severe reading of Tanakh is unnecessary, and one starts from a position that mercy should be the primary consideration. Fundamentalists read scripture literally, and are not familiar with the traditional custom of interpreting with mercy in mind. This is why you often see stories involving fundamentalists who may get arrested for child abuse or murder by a literal interpretation of scripture.
A related issue is the relative ignorance of Fundamentalist parenting advice related to infant care. James Dobson, Michael Pearl, and the now discredited Gary Ezzo encouraged parents to not run to their infants if they started to cry. They believed that it was the infant’s sinful nature to do this, and this is completely wrong. Infants can only communicate by crying to let their parents or caregivers something is wrong. Crying is the infant’s only way to let the adult know the infant is hungry, or needs to have a diaper change, or that the child doesn’t feel well. It amazes me that they never learned that most basic information. I have never been a parent or married, but I was the oldest of six and even I knew that.
I have heard this, too. They don't take the most severe interpretation. So, for example, the stoning of adulteresses, probably wouldn't happen because they'd try to find other ways to be merciful, other ways to deal with that situation.
Also, Judaism doesn't have original sin in the same way Christians do. They have something similar called the "yetzer hara", which means "evil inclination". We have a propensity to do evil, but we can also choose against it. But a baby isn't a "viper in a diaper." Its a baby and its needs are valid.
Yes, I believe we could. I come from a Jewish background. I grew up in a mixed up mixed marriage. My dad was Jewish and my mom came from a Protestant background, so I feel like I have insight into both of these worlds. Yes, the Jewish worldview is different from the way most Christians understand scripture.
I believe that Judaism doesn't have the same dualism that Protestant Christianity does. Between good and evil, the sacred and the secular. Things aren't pitted against each other so much.
As I understand it, the Seven Mountains group began as an offshoot of the Latter Rain movement. The Latter Rain movement started within the Assemblies of God, but they later declared the movement heretical and expelled its followers from the Assemblies of God.
Isabela Dias has a piece published in Mother Jones in which she interviews people in the neighborhood where Russell Vought lives. His neighbors don’t like them because some of them have been Federal workers, or have friends who are, and they do not appreciate the gutting and attacks on Federal workers. They know the importance of the work Federal workers do.
I also am getting hints from some of Vought’s public statements an idea of why he and his former wife divorced in 2023.
It probably should be noted the Dominionists are from two camps: Theonomists and NAR (New Apostolic Reformation). The NAR folks are more egalitarian and multicultural, but just as misogynistic. It’s just their misogyny is more subtle. They’re also much looser w scripture. They believe they get revelation from God to their prophets and apostles and those revelations are for the rest of us to follow. They also are very authoritarian and “Daddy” in their world is called “Apostle”.
Is this another divorced dad taking out his frustrations on Americans—wanting to get rid of no fault divorce? Maybe like Stephen Miller’s hatred of minorities stemming from rejection by his best friend who was Hispanic in high school?
A goodly number of my friends and fellow book talk members have remarked to me that they remember book discussions which I led pointing out this stuff they had never heard before: Dominionism, Theonomy, Christian Nationalism. Then they'd say that was even before the TVs were showing their version of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. We just thought it was Science Fiction or Fantasy. Now they are admitting I was giving fair warning, even if no one was listening.
As someone who was a "Christian" all my life, I now see Christianity as a belief system, nothing more than a system designed to control the people. What if we threw off the chains, and instead focused on what Christ actually taught, that the only commandment that mattered was to love God and one another? What if we believed that the "kingdom of heaven" is within us? He said the way to be saved is to simply repent, and turn from wrongdoing, not through blood sacrifice. What if the world operated on these principles?
The way you lay it out, Vought’s America sounds like if Leviticus got a Netflix reboot produced by Chick-fil-A.
These guys don’t want government. They want a family meeting where Dad talks for three hours and everyone else nods till the rapture.
They say they’re building a “Christian nation,” but it looks more like a pyramid scheme with hymnals. Obey the man above you, control the woman below you, call it holy order.
Thanks for this. Rushdoony is undeniably in my spiritual back story, so I’m grateful for the post in Vought, although I recognized where he stood from the beginning of his influence on MAGA. The first barrier we were supposed to conquer at the time of Rushdoony’s work was the “false” separation of church and state. But this retrograde understanding is entirely contrary to Christ. Even the Apostle Paul would nose that out in a heartbeat.
Vought embodies the Christian version of the Taliban. Do folks get it yet? Do they see what can/will happen? That's the part that frustrates me. However, if you weren't raised in this or have no experience with it, it is hard to wrap one's head around.
I went to a young adult Bible study once, and they showed "The Truth Project" with Del Tackett by Focus on the Family. I believe it was dominionist theology. A few years later, I was introduced to the idea of the Seven Mountain Mandate. It was basically the same thing. That Christians were to influence all of these sectors of society.
Yes, alot of those passages from the OT are very much taken out of context. They pick and choose what they want to follow. I doubt any of them will be giving up pork any time soon. It's a weird, skewed way of applying it to the modern world. I also think that alot of evangelicals take verses about child training from the Book of Proverbs out of context as well, and twist them to an unhealthy extreme.
I also remember, when I was younger, reading the works of the Botkin Sisters, and all of the other similar voices in that world.
Oddly enough, some of the Christian Nationalists do follow the dietary restrictions in Leviticus and won’t eat pork. It doesn’t apply to all Christian Nationalists, just to some who decide to follow this rule.
In the Jewish religion they don't use the verses from The book of Proverbs about child training in such an abusive way. "Train up a child in the way he should go" simply just means helping your child grow up in God's ways and become who God meant for them to be. But a lot of fundamentalists have taken those same verses and used them to hurt children.
Unfortunately this is true. From what I know of Jewish tradition, the thought is that one always starts from a position of why the most severe reading of Tanakh is unnecessary, and one starts from a position that mercy should be the primary consideration. Fundamentalists read scripture literally, and are not familiar with the traditional custom of interpreting with mercy in mind. This is why you often see stories involving fundamentalists who may get arrested for child abuse or murder by a literal interpretation of scripture.
A related issue is the relative ignorance of Fundamentalist parenting advice related to infant care. James Dobson, Michael Pearl, and the now discredited Gary Ezzo encouraged parents to not run to their infants if they started to cry. They believed that it was the infant’s sinful nature to do this, and this is completely wrong. Infants can only communicate by crying to let their parents or caregivers something is wrong. Crying is the infant’s only way to let the adult know the infant is hungry, or needs to have a diaper change, or that the child doesn’t feel well. It amazes me that they never learned that most basic information. I have never been a parent or married, but I was the oldest of six and even I knew that.
I have heard this, too. They don't take the most severe interpretation. So, for example, the stoning of adulteresses, probably wouldn't happen because they'd try to find other ways to be merciful, other ways to deal with that situation.
Also, Judaism doesn't have original sin in the same way Christians do. They have something similar called the "yetzer hara", which means "evil inclination". We have a propensity to do evil, but we can also choose against it. But a baby isn't a "viper in a diaper." Its a baby and its needs are valid.
I think we Christians need to learn from Jews how they interpret Torah and the prophets. We could only benefit from it.
Yes, I believe we could. I come from a Jewish background. I grew up in a mixed up mixed marriage. My dad was Jewish and my mom came from a Protestant background, so I feel like I have insight into both of these worlds. Yes, the Jewish worldview is different from the way most Christians understand scripture.
I believe that Judaism doesn't have the same dualism that Protestant Christianity does. Between good and evil, the sacred and the secular. Things aren't pitted against each other so much.
This makes sense.
Yes, I've heard of that.
As I understand it, the Seven Mountains group began as an offshoot of the Latter Rain movement. The Latter Rain movement started within the Assemblies of God, but they later declared the movement heretical and expelled its followers from the Assemblies of God.
That's some good insight on Vought. I've never really been sure where he stood.
Isabela Dias has a piece published in Mother Jones in which she interviews people in the neighborhood where Russell Vought lives. His neighbors don’t like them because some of them have been Federal workers, or have friends who are, and they do not appreciate the gutting and attacks on Federal workers. They know the importance of the work Federal workers do.
I also am getting hints from some of Vought’s public statements an idea of why he and his former wife divorced in 2023.
Every evil empire has its Littlefinger/Wormtongue/Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen.
Russell Vought is that character in this administration.
It probably should be noted the Dominionists are from two camps: Theonomists and NAR (New Apostolic Reformation). The NAR folks are more egalitarian and multicultural, but just as misogynistic. It’s just their misogyny is more subtle. They’re also much looser w scripture. They believe they get revelation from God to their prophets and apostles and those revelations are for the rest of us to follow. They also are very authoritarian and “Daddy” in their world is called “Apostle”.
Tia thank you so much for continually bringing us this crucial, horrifying information.
Interesting that his wife filed for divorce a couple of years ago.
https://celebsuburb.com/who-is-russell-vought-wife-all-about-his-relationships/
Is this another divorced dad taking out his frustrations on Americans—wanting to get rid of no fault divorce? Maybe like Stephen Miller’s hatred of minorities stemming from rejection by his best friend who was Hispanic in high school?
A goodly number of my friends and fellow book talk members have remarked to me that they remember book discussions which I led pointing out this stuff they had never heard before: Dominionism, Theonomy, Christian Nationalism. Then they'd say that was even before the TVs were showing their version of Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. We just thought it was Science Fiction or Fantasy. Now they are admitting I was giving fair warning, even if no one was listening.
So grateful for your writing…thank you.
Goodness, it sounds like sharia law.
Your voice is more important than ever, Tia. Thank you. ❤️
As someone who was a "Christian" all my life, I now see Christianity as a belief system, nothing more than a system designed to control the people. What if we threw off the chains, and instead focused on what Christ actually taught, that the only commandment that mattered was to love God and one another? What if we believed that the "kingdom of heaven" is within us? He said the way to be saved is to simply repent, and turn from wrongdoing, not through blood sacrifice. What if the world operated on these principles?
The way you lay it out, Vought’s America sounds like if Leviticus got a Netflix reboot produced by Chick-fil-A.
These guys don’t want government. They want a family meeting where Dad talks for three hours and everyone else nods till the rapture.
They say they’re building a “Christian nation,” but it looks more like a pyramid scheme with hymnals. Obey the man above you, control the woman below you, call it holy order.
Thanks for this. Rushdoony is undeniably in my spiritual back story, so I’m grateful for the post in Vought, although I recognized where he stood from the beginning of his influence on MAGA. The first barrier we were supposed to conquer at the time of Rushdoony’s work was the “false” separation of church and state. But this retrograde understanding is entirely contrary to Christ. Even the Apostle Paul would nose that out in a heartbeat.
Vought embodies the Christian version of the Taliban. Do folks get it yet? Do they see what can/will happen? That's the part that frustrates me. However, if you weren't raised in this or have no experience with it, it is hard to wrap one's head around.
So frightening
This is the first time I’ve read your column. Thank you for it.
Is it safe to assume Vought is not a member of Ziklag?