by Sandy » Thu Nov 24, 2016 8:16 pm
Like most politicians, there's more rhetoric than practical application. Pence was a not-so-great governor of a reliably Republican state with a job approval rating south of the 50% mark, and likely headed for a defeat at the polls over some of the extremist legislation that was passed and signed under his leadership that was failing to perform according to expectations. I see nothing in this particular piece that is inaccurate, at least from spot checking on the surface. But Pence is the VP, and what I've seen from Trump tells me that he will call all the shots, and Pence will spend most of his time on the golf course waiting. Pence, like Dan Quayle and Dick Cheney, is a good reason for congress to avoid impeachment, or his enemies to avoid assassination.
It's hard to tell where Dominionism, as a perspective and philosophy, engages with Evangelicals. The blending of politics with church among Evangelicals has skewed their doctrinal beliefs. Through my Christian school experience, I'm thoroughly familiar with Barton, and have noted for classes through the years his complete and total lack of any kind of factual corroboration. He has to either re-interpret facts, or ignore them, to support his thesis. Anyone who takes the time to do the research for themselves will see that the whole idea is neither Biblically supportable, nor factually accurate, and most high school sophomores draw that conclusion pretty quickly. What bothers me, though, is that many Americans accept information that tickles and plays to their personal biases, while ignoring facts and they aren't capable of discerning truth. A loud preacher that appeals to emotion and bias gets many more followers than one who "rightly divides the word of truth." The common thread seems to be that most politically active evangelical leaders worship the same god Trump does, and that's money.
God engaged in one covenant with a nation, Israel, and there's no invitation extended for another, because of Christ. Dominionism is heresy, plain and simple. If Pence becomes a channel to bring it into the US government, it will be just one of many issues that will complicate the Trump administration, and hopefully lead to its early defeat.