“…isms” blog

Conservativism Libertarianism Modernism Statism Unitarianism Zionism

Over at Talk2Action they are also concerned about federal funding for crisis pregnancy centers. According to the 2006 White House “Faith Based Community Initiatives” catalog, there’s a total of US$163 million in funding for “abstinence” programs, some of which goes to CPCs. (Yes, this is the same president who increased Title X funding for Planned Parenthood to US$288.3 million in 2005. but that’s another story.) In any event, it is a blatant case of Statism, albeit supposedly in support of the “Christian Conservative Right”. Among the apparent concerns of those afraid this so-called “Dominionist” movement is that there are people out there who are going to topple the government and replace it with an intolerant and oppressive “theocracy” which will ram religion down everyone’s throat. Well-intentioned but wrongheaded public funding of causes like crisis pregnancy centers doesn’t help anything. You can’t fight abortion with statism. As Crockett’s friend put it, it’s just plain not yours to give.

Edit: Thanks to the commenter Stephen below for pointing out an error which I have corrected. More discussion below.Over at Talk2Action there have been a series of articles on Zionism among Christians in the US, touching on what they refer to as anti-Semitism because, in the premillenial dispensational worldview, 2/3rds of the Jews will be killed prior to the rapture. in the Tribulation. I remember hearing this comment some years ago from one Yacob Prasch, himself a dispensational Christian teacher, who wondered “how can you say you are a friend to Israel when you are pushing them towards destruction?”
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The United Pentecostal Church has out a set of “60 questions on the Godhead”, with answers, which attempt to refute orthodox Trinitarian Christianity. I didn’t realize how prevalent anti-trinitarianism really was in the church today, but apparently it is very popular. Just as one data point, a preacher named T. D. Jakes is very much modalist (that God is not three persons but three aspects in one person), and I see his books all over the Christian book sections at bookstores. Interestingly, someone removed all reference to his modalism from his wikipedia article as unsourced.. I’ll have to see if I can get some sources to this.Anyways, about the 60 questions, a friend of mine has written some responses to these questions, which perhaps I will post here.God in three Persons, blessed Trinity

In Home Schooling Movement, a PBS program of January 10th, 2007, Robert Reich (billed as a “home schooling expert”) says:

“If parents can control every aspect of the kids’ education, shield them from exposure to things that the parents deem sinful or objectionable, screen in only things which accord with their convictions, and not allow them exposure to the world of democracy, well the children grow up then basically in the own image of their parents, servile to their own parents’ beliefs.”

Technorati Tags: Statism

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Hello. There are a lot of isms out there. Here is one list I found. The purpose of this blog is to keep track of and comment on what some of them are up to, in the blogosphere, particularly ones like:

1. statism
2. neoconservatism
3. progressivism

.. etc. A major theme of this blog will be “Watching the Watchers”. Who are these people that are concerned with “the religious right”, “theocracy”, “dominionism”, etc? How do they define these terms? Are their concerns founded or unfounded? I’m borrowing this idea, in a way, from the very interesting and informative feature This Week in Blogging the Religious Right over on talk2action.org.

What is an ism? I define it very simply: It is placing any credibility, authority, or trust in anyone or anything other than King Jesus. Whatever the ‘other’ is, becomes an ‘_____ism’.

So welcome, and Feedback is welcome. Oh one more thing, this is a ‘negative’ blog in the sense that it will discuss what is wrong with isms (see previous paragraph). Civility, however, will be the policy and practice - out of respect and humility towards our Creator. For ever, O Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven.