Newt & the Dominionists

by Mary

Newt Gingrich is becoming the choice of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) evangelical Christians. They are the ones who are actively promoting the proposed Death to Gays laws in Uganda.

As Mariah Blake of the Nation reported, the NAR has the goal of taking dominion over the United States to make it a Christian nation and Newt has created an organization that is headed by leaders in the NAR.

But Renewing American Leadership has also built bridges to the ascendant Dominionist movement, known as the New Apostolic Reformation or NAR. An offshoot of Pentecostalism—the second largest branch of Christianity and one of the fastest growing—the movement has been spreading rapidly within existing churches and congregations. While there are no credible estimates on the number of adherents, the prayer rallies convened by some NAR leaders fill stadiums. At the movement’s core is a group of self-proclaimed apostles and prophets who see themselves as the forefront of a second Reformation that will transform not only the church, but every facet of society. In fact, one of the apostles’ main teachings is that believers have to infiltrate and take control of what they call the “seven mountains of culture”—religion, family, business, arts and entertainment, education, media and government—before Jesus can return. And when they speak of taking dominion in these spheres, they often resort to the language of war. “The way some of the leaders talk, you’d think they were an army planning to take over the world,” says Margaret Poloma, a professor at the University of Akron and a practicing Pentecostal who has studied the New Apostolic movement. “It sounds to me like radical Islam.”

Led by Barton and Garlow, who has deeps ties to the NAR movement and has embraced its Dominionist message, Renewing American Leadership began hosting events that showcased apostles and their teachings, alongside traditional evangelical leaders. In the run up to the 2010 mid-term election, for instance, Gingrich’s group organized a series of events called Pray & ACT. Participants were urged to spend forty days fasting and praying to bring biblical values into government and asked to sign a pledge promising to “work tirelessly in all the ‘seven spheres of cultural influence,’ ” a reference to the seven mountains mandate. The project reportedly kicked off with a prayer service led by apostle Lou Engle, who espouses a particularly fierce brand of spiritual warfare; When Uganda was weighing a bill calling for the execution of gays, Engle staged a prayer rally in Kampala and praised the nation for its “courage” and “righteousness.”

Newt provided this quote for his vision of America under his rule:

“If I am president, these children are not going to grow up in a secular country dominated by elites who despise our history, dislike our culture and dislike our religion.”

Prepare for the NAR Inquisition if you are not one of them.