America the Theocracy 

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Dan Burrell, for example, presides over thousands of parishioners at Charlotte's Northside Baptist Church, which sprawls across acres alongside Interstate 85 -- but he has the in-touch humility of a small-congregation preacher. There is no glint of fanaticism in his eyes, but a bright sparkle of humor and intelligence. He doesn't toss fire and brimstone, although he is unabashed in saying that a very literal -- and very hot -- hell awaits all who don't accept Jesus.

His catechism: Ten Commandments in public buildings? Of course. Homosexuality? No. Abortion? Emphatically no. Public schools? Sending kids to the enemy. Evolution? The root of modern evil.

Burrell is most definitely political and conservative. He stands under the huge dome that covers his sanctuary, and says those moral issues define calling oneself a Christian. And he expects most of his parishioners will follow, in the voting booth, the direction he points his staff.

Burrell acknowledges that "Baptists were leading proponents of separation" of church and state. His interpretation of separation, however, is a "warning against the establishment of a particular denomination" as the state religion, not limiting Christian activism in the political realm.

Should the church dictate to government? The answer is surprising. "Absolutely not," he says with unfeigned distaste. "Our job is to maintain the freedoms we have until Christ returns. But it isn't the job of the church to replace government. That would be a theocracy."

Deuteronomy
In 2000, the Republican Party of Texas signed onto an agenda that Reconstructionists would applaud as a critical first step toward theocracy. The GOP declared that it "affirms that the United States is a Christian nation."Last month, that sentiment reached the national level. The Constitution Restoration Act of 2004 would acknowledge Christianity's God as the "sovereign source" of our laws. It would reach back in history and reverse all judicial decisions that have built a wall between church and state, and it would prohibit federal judges from making such rulings in the future.

The bill was co-sponsored in the Senate by Zell Miller, the turncoat Georgia Democrat (and United Methodist), and several Republican colleagues, including South Carolina's Lindsey Graham; in the House, the sponsors were all Republican, including Georgia's Jack Kingston.

But the actual drafting was done by Herb Titus, best known recently as former Alabama Chief Justice Moore's attorney. Titus also represents Georgia's Barrow County in its effort to put the Ten Commandments in its courthouse. Titus has more than a little self-serving interest in the legislation. If passed, it would overturn the rulings that forced Titus' most newsworthy client, Moore, from the bench.

Titus has an interesting pedigree. He has been the dean of the schools of law and public policy at Pat Robertson's Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va. Although he says he isn't a card-carrying Reconstructionist, his staple textbooks are tomes written by Rushdoony and North, whose Introduction to Christian Economics, for example, is touted as an academic answer to such evils as government involvement in financial affairs and long-term borrowing by consumers.

When Robertson launched his public policy school, with Titus at the helm, the televangelist proclaimed on his "700 Club" show, "What are we going to teach them? We'll teach them the foundation of our government. We're going to teach them how to win elections."

At the heart of dominion beliefs -- whether Boys' gut-punching invective or Rushdoony's and North's complex theological contemplations -- are two biblical passages. Genesis 1:28 commands men to have "dominion" over "every living thing." Adam and Eve broke their covenant with God, and Satan seized dominion. The church -- the church sanctioned by the Reconstructionists, that is -- claims it has a reconstituted covenant with God, and the right to a new dominion in his name.

Then, in Matthew 28:19-20, the "Great Commission," Jesus commands his followers to proselytize to the world.

Put another way, for the dominion theologians, the motto is: We rule!

Starting from those verses, dominion theology preaches that government would be largely replaced by the church. Or, more precisely, three "governments" would emerge, according to Cobb County's DeMar: the family, the state and the church. All three would be subject to strict religious oversight.

DeMar, North and other Reconstructionists believe the state should be limited to building and maintaining roads, enforcing land-use contracts, ensuring just weights and measures -- and not much else.

Except, as DeMar writes in his book Liberty at Risk, "The State is God's "minister,' taking vengeance out on those who do evil," a role eagerly embraced by the Bush administration. A major task for the Christian state would be to field armies to conquer in the name of Jesus.