My Talk to Action colleague Rachel Tabachnick will be discussing the New Apostolic Reformation and dominionism on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, tonight, Wednesday, August 24th. The interview at 39 minutes, is most of the show. As such, it could be a transformational moment in what has quickly become a contentious point in American public life.
The NAR is an important movement of the Religious Right with close ties to Sarah Palin, Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann. It promises to be a defining feature of the upcoming election season (even if certain CNN and Washington Post journalists have never heard of it).
Fresh Air can be heard on more than 450 public radio stations in the U.S. and in Europe on the World Radio Network. It is also live streamed and podcast on the Fresh Air web site. To find stations that carry the show, click here.
For background on NAR and its role in American public life, check out some of Rachel's posts:
Disinformation and Misinformation - Becoming Educated About the New Apostolic Reformation
Why Have the Apostles Behind Rick Perry's Prayer Rally Been Invisible to Most Americans?
The Ideology and History of the New Apostolic Reformation
Resource Directory for the New Apostolic Reformation Updates
As thoughtful and pointed as the interview will no doubt be, it comes in the middle of a backlash to recent reporting on the Religious Rightism of several GOP presidential contenders and the nature of their supporters. More specifically, there is a campaign underway to attack the idea that dominionism is a problem, and those who have written critically and with knowledge and authority are likely to be targeted the way that Michelle Goldberg was pilloried by former Bush speechwriter and Washington Post columnist, Michael Gerson.
My colleague Chip Berlet, a journalist and a scholar who has studied dominionism and written a great deal about it warned today:
I understand why participants in the Christian Right socio-political movement would deny there is an ongoing debate inside and outside Christian constituencies over the role of Dominionism.
I understand that most journalists have not heard of Dominionism or Dominion Theology; but most journalist have no clue there is a difference between evangelicals and fundamentalists.
What I do not understand is why bylines articles are appearing which claim that Dominionism as a tendency is a left-wing hoax when any high school student with a library card could find both journalistic and scholarly references dating back over twenty years.
But the glib villagers and religious right movement ideologues may be in for more than they bargained for. Berlet continues:
So let me be blunt. If you are journalist who writes that there is no such thing as Dominionism or Dominion Theology, or that it is an invention of the anti-Christian left, you are either ignorant, lazy, or incompetent. It is one thing to quote people making this false claim... but don't embarrass yourself by not doing some homework.