Has This Guy Been Reading the BeeBees?

A little dated but still fresh:

Indeed, many describe the Republican political faith as “American Calvinism.” It borrows several notions from the sixteenth century French theologian: the Bible is infallible; the “law” is driven by the Ten Commandments, rather than the teachings of Jesus; humans are totally depraved; and God has predestined who will be saved.

Despite its austere nature, Calvinism strongly influenced the original American settlers — many of who were Presbyterians. One historian noted, “in England and America the great struggles for civil and religious liberty were nursed in Calvinism, inspired by Calvinism, and carried out largely by men who were Calvinists.”

During the ’80s American Calvinism morphed into a conservative political ideology with the formation of the Christian Right. James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Ralph Reed, Pat Robertson, and others preached on political subjects and touted conservative “Christian” candidates.

In Republican hands, contemporary Calvinism has had two thrusts. It fomented the culture wars and accused Democrats, and non-believers, of advocating “sixties values” that would destroy home and community. The Christian Right was against abortion, same-sex marriage, the teaching of evolution, and the separation of church and state; they were for homeschooling, limited Federal government, and Reaganomics.

The second Calvinist thrust promoted capitalism. In his classic, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, German sociologist Max Weber observed that not only did the protestant work ethic promote capitalism but also worldly success became a measure of the likelihood of one’s salvation. “He who has the most toys, wins.”

Given the strong influence of Calvinism on Republican politics, it’s not surprising the GOP favors the rich, opposes new taxes, and continues to support Reaganomics with its myths of “trickle down economics” and “self-regulating markets.”

Safe to say, he hasn’t been reading Oldlife. But it goes to show why Calvinism continues to be iconic.

6 thoughts on “Has This Guy Been Reading the BeeBees?

  1. “James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, Ralph Reed, Pat Robertson…”

    Of whom exactly none are Calvinists! Further, it was the Presbyterian settlers who opposed the theocratic impulses of experimental Calvinism. To the extent that Calvinism led to the Religious Right, it did so through the experimental Calvinism of the Puritans and their ilk (e.g., Finney, the Baylys, etc.).

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  2. Bobby, what on earth are you talking about? All men, have been commanded to repent and bend their knee to Jesus as Lord!

    All men means each and every man! Since all men have been commanded to repent, it stands to reason that all nations have been commanded to be theocratic, to believe otherwise is places you in a conceptual contradiction.

    And don’t forget that Jesus is the king of kings. That means that Christ has put a claim on every nation. Read the kingdom parables brother, it starts out like the smallest seed, and then utterly takes over. Read Psalms 72 “Let all the nations serve him”, “Let his enemies lick the dust” Those are all prophecies that will be fulfilled before Christ returns again.

    So get with the program!

    This doesn’t remove thorny issues, like *how* as Christ’s ambassadors we are to bring all the nations into obedience, but if Christ is for us, who can stand against us?

    In other words, if you don’t understand that God has commanded every nation to repent and acknowledge him as Lord, you need to go back to the drawing board.

    Every nation has been commanded to be theocratic!!! King David had it in his heart, that it would happen prior to the eternal state.

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