Posted by
Mark McConnell on Wednesday, October 25, 2006 8:50:34 PM
People use that word "theocracy" as though they know what it means.
Some people, usually not Christians, worry a lot about a Christian theocracy. At least, if they are Christians they are worried about a takeover by Christians of some other stripe than their own. People like
Kevin Phillips, who looks at the rise of radical Christian sects in America, and worries about the implications. After the 2004 election, Garry Wills compared the Christians to jihadists in a New York Times Op Ed.
Michelle Goldberg warns that we are approaching "the high tide of theocratic fever", which will culminate in "Christian nationalism" - making all sorts of unsubtle linkages to national socialism.
Rabbi James Rudin worries about a monstrous danger that dwarfs any enemy that presently threatens reason and democracy,
"A specter is haunting America, and it is not socialism and certainly not communism...". Wikipedia features a frantically overblown analysis of an ideology ominously called "
Dominionism".
Some of this noise comes from people who, afraid that discourse will leave them short, are hoping that anti-christian fear and bigotry will catch fire and sweep away the argument. Another few, afraid that democracy is not sufficient for getting their way in elections, are looking for anti-democratic means to stop their opponents. But, most of this hysteria comes from ignorance of the people they are worried about, and perhaps a deliberate forgetfulness of the fact that. for these people, the Kingdom of God is "not of this world (else his servants would fight)".
However, there is another type, usually Christians, who think that because Christ's rule is not "of this world", and its fullness awaits the last Day, that it therefore isn't "in this world". That's perhaps more worrisome than either "Christian theocracy" or the people who are worried about it.