2006-05-17
Christianism
Orcinus: "Christianism is a theocratic form of Christianity which is anti-pluralistic, designed to impose conservative Christian beliefs on American society (and eventually the world) through the use of the political system (or sometimes outright force). Christianism is a domestic crusade designed to change the country from the inside into one in which (nominally) Christian beliefs are the guiding societal force. This is the 'culture wars' which we are engaged in. It is often presented as 'secular vs. Christian,' but that's patently false. The fundamentalists have managed to distort the public debate to the point that fundamentalist beliefs are identified in the media as 'Christian' -- ignoring entirely the fact that there are large numbers of Christians who don't believe the same way as the conservatives."
Tristero "In an analogy to Islamism, I would propose the term 'Christianism' to describe a political ideology inspired by Christianity that advocates the replacement of a secular government with one that is profoundly informed by a self-styled 'literal' interpretation of the Bible. By this definition, Rudolph is perhaps best described as a radical 'Christianist,' a man inspired by Christianity to effect social change through violence.
'Christianism' is without a doubt an ugly neologism. However, it is a mistake to describe as 'Christian' people and groups like Robertson, Falwell, Christian Identity, and those who are even more radical in their mission to transform the US into an explicitly fundamentalist 'christian' state. This confuses Christianity, a religious belief, with a purely secular agenda. Furtheremore, it is highly misleading to ignore the hijacking of Christianity and its symbols by the Rudolphs of the world simply by repressing any reference to their Christian inspirations and calling them 'anti-abortion terrorists' or some similar name."
Tristero "In an analogy to Islamism, I would propose the term 'Christianism' to describe a political ideology inspired by Christianity that advocates the replacement of a secular government with one that is profoundly informed by a self-styled 'literal' interpretation of the Bible. By this definition, Rudolph is perhaps best described as a radical 'Christianist,' a man inspired by Christianity to effect social change through violence.
'Christianism' is without a doubt an ugly neologism. However, it is a mistake to describe as 'Christian' people and groups like Robertson, Falwell, Christian Identity, and those who are even more radical in their mission to transform the US into an explicitly fundamentalist 'christian' state. This confuses Christianity, a religious belief, with a purely secular agenda. Furtheremore, it is highly misleading to ignore the hijacking of Christianity and its symbols by the Rudolphs of the world simply by repressing any reference to their Christian inspirations and calling them 'anti-abortion terrorists' or some similar name."
