Does the Christian religion have any legitimate control over America?

Question

Do they have control or influence? Explain your response please. I am studying history and in new book about Democracy in the world I read that the first occurance of Church and State happened after the Roman empire split in the 4th Century into West and East. You had The East controlled by Constantine and it latter became Byzantium. Even though it was Christian in nature it's control was primarily political. Then you have the west which had the Vatican and it's control was primarily from the Catholic Church. 800 AD the Pope crowned Charlemaine Emperor and from then on the Pope had to bless each King. Now that is legitimate Christian control at it's best. My opinon of things in America is that the liberal front has more influence than the Chrisians do. The is more acceptance of "Tollerance" for things the Christians oppose in America and less Americans are succoming to Christian influence. With the passing of D. James Kennedy, the Christian reform efforts may come to a Halt.

So my question is do Christians Control or just influence? Explain your answers please...Thank you.

Answer 1

Christians have a very strong influence, but it makes them politically weak. For example: Christians are by in large socially conservative, and hence they often vote Republican. (i know there are exceptions) Take this race, not one of the GOOD Republican canidates is a social conservative, so these well-qualified people like John Mccain who have had a divorce or are pro-choice are not going to survive the primary. But morons like Romney and Giulliani will be nominated and obliterated by a stronger Democrat. Thus it is Christian's influence on American politics that makes the parties or initiatives they support so rigid and inflexible.

To the person who mentioned the ebbing of Christianity. I don't know where you get your facts but Christianity is growing by leaps and bounds. It is the largest religion on the planet and the only one converting nonbelievers (which by the way you atheists represent only 7% of 6 billion people) it is twice the size of Islam, (which is growing faster) twice the size of Hinduism, and is as large as all the far eastern and tribal African religions combined. And it grows still.

Answer 2

The Catholic Church and Roman Empire joined together.The Catholic Church excepted the gods that the Romans worshiped and made them into saints that could be prayed to.These to powerful forces joined together is what you see today within the Catholic religion.
What so many fail to realize is that there was a time that the Roman Catholic Church put many Christians to death.They were called Anabaptist, Waldenskies-(not spelled right) sorry.Many of them were tortured and killed simply for not excepting infant baptism, Mark 16:16.
There is a vast difference in the Catholic Church and the Christian realm today.


I am sorry if this makes my Catholic Friends mad but whats been said here is the truth.

Answer 3

Number 8

Answer 4

Just as Moveon.org are pulling the strings for the Democrats these days, the Christian right are pulling the strings for the Republican party. The day after Bush was re-elected in 2004, a Christian organization contacted the White House, and demanded that abortion be made illegal. I remember seeing the report on the news that night, although I don't remember the name of the specific organization. Before the ink was even dry on the ballots, the fundies were saying, "We scratched your back, Dubya, now you scratch ours".

The best thing the Republicans could do is to divorce themselves from the Christian right in 2008. It cost them last year's elections, and there are many right-wing pundits who would agree with that comment.

Answer 5

Christians certainly try to influence, but I don't think fortunately that they control. No religion is meant to control the U.S. I realize that many neo-con Christians feel that "liberals" are ruining the country, but they're not. If this country actually operated on true Christ-like values (generosity, helping the less fortunate, not being judgmental) we'd be a lot better off. However, you can't or shouldn't even try to legislate that.

Answer 6

The influence is less than ever before. I would draw your attention to specifically the Humanist Manifesto, I think drawn up around 1933.
Read this piece of junk, and connect the dots. You will see that this has pretty much been the MAIN influence, especially in the public schools. Nice targeting on the atheist's part...teach them humanism in school, thereby eventually changing society into what they would have it to be.

Answer 7

You separate liberals and Christians as if they are two different things. There are many liberal Christians and our beliefs are every bit as valid and truthful to us as the ones you espouse are to you. Anti-gay Christians have no monopoly on Jesus, although they want America to believe that they do.

As far as D. James Kennedy's passing, I feel sorry for his family and I wish no ill health to anyone. However, he is the second radical anti-gay activist to pass away this year. (Jerry Falwell being the first.) The less influence America has from these misguided beliefs, the better off we will all be.

Answer 8

we are a representative society, Meaning that we directly vote for people into government to make laws that reflect our views. if they do not make laws that reflect our views they are not re elected. this is more than influence, but not total control either. because although chrisitans represent a majority of americans it does not represent all americans

Answer 9

We, in a way, do have an impact on what goes on. Only because it was christians and catholics that formed this country. But, no. We do not control this country.

Answer 10

The secular humanist ideals of the 'Enlightenment' and the 'Age of Reason' deprived christianity of the political power which had previously allowed them to suppress non-biblical knowledge, and enforce mass-ignorance as a matter of policy. These enlightenment ideals formed the basis for the USA... NOT christianity. There IS NO legitimate reason to support the idea of christian suzerainty.

To understand what is going on now, I think it is best to consider it from the perspective of a hot issue, such as 'global warming'. I think that everyone is still missing the REAL story... the story that accounts for why we're not making any real progress with regard to the environment and global warming, for example. The real story is that the people who actually have the power to DO something about these problems do not think it matters. Every now and then, though, some blabbermouth lets something slip, which provides a critical insight:

"Reason must be deluded, blinded, and destroyed. Faith must trample underfoot all reason, sense, and understanding, and whatever it sees must be put out of sight and... know nothing but the word of God." ~ Martin Luther (This blabbermouth included for historical perspective, only.)

“My responsibility is to follow the Scriptures which call upon us to occupy the land until Jesus returns.” ~ James Watt, Former (US) Secretary of Interior, Washington Post, May 24, 1981

“We don't have to protect the environment, the Second Coming is at hand.” ~ James Watt, Former (US) Secretary of Interior, Washington Post, May 24, 1981

"I don't know how many future generations we can count on until the Lord returns." ~ James Watt, Former (US) Secretary of Interior, to a Congressional committee in 1981, quoted from "A Brief History of the Apocalypse"

It is NOT that the people who are high up in our government DO NOT BELIEVE that the destruction of the environment, and global warming are immediate and dire threats... it is simply that they DO NOT CARE about the threat. They BELIEVE that the return of Jesus is imminent... that this world will be destroyed, and a ‘new earth’ will be created for the ‘faithful’. They BELIEVE that is their 'Christian duty' to establish the necessary conditions here on earth such that they can hasten the day of Jesus' return. So, it simply DOES NOT MATTER that the earth may soon be unfit to support human life. For this same reason, they are not concerned about the burgeoning national debt... they simply don’t think that anybody will be around to 'collect'. They are NOT CONCERNED about future generations for the simple reason that they do not think there will be more that one or two future generations.

Of course, our ‘leaders’ cannot admit to this... if they were to do so, a large part of their ‘Satanically-misled’ constituency would denounce them and repudiate them. So... they prevaricate... they obfuscate... they lie... they deceive... they misrepresent... they ignore and even discredit the ‘science’. To them, it is no more than a delaying-game... a ‘rear guard’ action in what is (to them) a very real ‘war’... a war against Satan and his minions... and they think that they are the ‘good guys’. What a hoot... the 'good guys'... intentionally and gleefully paving the path toward the destruction of civilization and humanity, believing that they are going to put one over on Satan. In short... our leaders are quite insane.

These people think that they are the most moral of men... working tirelessly to further 'god’s plan'. And since they are are working on behalf of ‘god’, they see absolutely nothing wrong with lying, cheating... whatever it takes to thwart and delay those who would interfere with “god’s plan.” In other words, lying to those who (they think) are doing the work of Satan is not regarded as a sin. They think that god gave man ‘dominion’ over the earth (from Genesis)... and they view it as their god-given duty to claim the earth, subdue it and use it... physically and politically... for the glory of god... and anybody that opposes those aims is, of course, working directly for (or deceived by) Satan.

This is the real story... and it is a BIG story... bigger than Watergate... bigger than global warming itself... real ‘Woodward and Bernstein’ stuff. It needs to be told... and these crazies need to be exposed... and stopped.

Don’t take my word for this... it is relatively easy to research. The best place to start would be in investigating ‘dominionism’... ‘theonomy’... ‘Christian reconstructionism’. Here are a few good places to start:

http://www.religioustolerance.org/reconstr.htm

http://www.yuricareport.com/Dominionism/DirectoryRiseOfDominionismInAmerica.html

http://religiousmovements.lib.virginia.edu/nrms/ChRecon.html

Here is an excerpt from the first link:

“Dominionists, are attempting to peacefully convert the laws of United States so that they match those of the Hebrew Scriptures. They intend to achieve this by using the freedom of religion in the US to train a generation of children in private Christian religious schools. Later, their graduates will be charged with the responsibility of creating a new Bible-based political, religious and social order.”

This endeavor has been underway for some years now, and guess what? It's working. In 2004, 'dominionist' congressmen made their first move, introducing the "Constitution Restoration Act of 2004" (HR 3799 IH). The following proposed law will be added to Sec. 1260 of Title 28, Chapter 81 of the U.S. Code: “Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Supreme Court shall not have jurisdiction to review, by appeal, writ of certiorari, or otherwise, any matter to the extent that relief is sought against an element of Federal, State, or local government, or against an officer of Federal, State, or local government (whether or not acting in official personal capacity), by reason of that element’s or officer’s acknowledgment of God as the sovereign source of law, liberty, or government.”
 
Implications: Because the judiciary is 'an element' of the federal, state and local governments, this wording, if it becomes law, may allow any judge to institute biblical punishments without being subject to review by the Supreme Court or the federal court system.

We're screwed.
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