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Santorum not Source of 'Phony Theology' Idea, Origins in 'Biblical Economics' Partnership
Santorum spoke in Ohio this past weekend about President Obama's energy and environmental policy. He used the phrases "phony theology," and "not a theology based on the Bible, but some different theology." Santorum continued, describing global warming as follows. "I refer to global warming as not climate science, but political science."This view of global warming as a liberal political ploy, and environmentalism as a competing theology with Christianity, has been enshrined in a 2010 video by the Cornwall Alliance titled Resisting the Green Dragon. A short edited trailer is embedded below.
The Cornwall Alliance movie demonstrates that an unholy alliance of big business, wealthy family foundations, and the Religious Right is willing to go to any lengths to convince Americans to oppose environmental regulation, regardless of the long term consequences. The movie features appearances by numerous Religious Right leaders including: David Barton, major promoter of revisionist Christian Nationalist history: Bryan Fischer, American Family Association; Tony Perkins, Family Research Council; and many more. The advisory board of the Cornwall Alliance includes members of think tanks that bring together right-wing Catholics, evangelicals, and Jews, with neoconservative business and political leaders to oppose the federal regulatory system. The founder and national spokesperson is Calvin Beisner, affiliated with the following entities as a scholar or fellow. Each institute is followed by a list of major funders (from Media Matters Action Network - Conservative Transparency). Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty - Brady, Koch, Earhart, Templeton, Bradley, DeVos, Scaife A partial list of the board of advisors from the Cornwall Alliance website follows, with my own brief biographical comments. Note that Rick Santorum joined the Ethics and Public Policy Center as a Senior Fellow in January 2007. David Barton - Wallbuilders, major promoter of "biblical worldview" history of the U.S., including claims that the Bible opposes various taxes and the minimum wage Rick Santorum's role at the Ethics and Public Policy Center was described as, "...identifying, studying, and heightening awareness of the threats posed to America and the West from a growing array of anti-Western forces that are increasingly casting a shadow over our future and violating religious liberty around the world." The Ethics and Public Policy Center has received funding from foundations including: Carthage (Scaife) Bradley, Olin, Templeton, Earhart, Scaife, and Simon. According to SourceWatch, the EPPC received over $9 million dollars from eight foundations between 1985 and 2001. The EPPC was led by Elliot Abrams from 1996 - 2002.
Tom Barry of the Center for International Policy said the following about the institute. Created in 1976, EPPC was the first neocon institute to break ground in the frontal attack on the secular humanists. For nearly three decades, EPPC has functioned as the cutting edge of the neoconservative-driven culture war against progressive theology and secularism, and the associated effort to ensure right-wing control of the Republican Party. It explicitly sought to unify the Christian right with the neoconservative religious right, which was mostly made up of agnostics back then. A central part of its political project was to "clarify and reinforce the bond between the Judeo-Christian moral tradition and the public debate over domestic and foreign policy." The Cornwall Alliance's Reactionary and Dominionist Worldview The Cornwall Alliance's movie dips into the well of "New World Order" conspiracy theory, a narrative in which the term "globalism" does not refer to big business and the impact of global corporations on labor, but to a demonic plot by the "elite" or "Illuminati" for a one-world government. This narrative is a means for transferring American concerns about globalism away from mega-corporations and toward a claimed socialist/communist plot of the United Nations and environmental activists, often including other groups such as the Council for Foreign Relations. These entities are supposedly involved in a nefarious plot to eliminate much of the world's population and prepare the way for a a one-world government.
The chapter on globalism begins with the famous Bruegel painting of the biblical Tower of Babel and includes a warning about the one-world government of the Antichrist. Throughout the A Beka textbook series, evolution and global warming are mocked. The A Beka and other similar textbook series are currently being used in private schools receiving public funding through corporate tax credits in Pennsylvania and Florida. The teaching of this "Biblical capitalism" worldview will be greatly expanded as "school choice" programs are initiated in states across the nation, a campaign funded by the same family foundations - DeVos, Koch, Scaife, etc. - funding the anti-regulatory and anti-labor activism. The popularity and growth of these narratives has been accelerated by the partnership between the political Right and the Religious Right, but also by a dramatic change in theology among the Protestant fundamentalist sector of the Religious Right partnership. This change has resulted in a shift from an escapist end times theology to a "Dominionist" theology. In brief, this means emphasis has shifted from a doomsday scenario in which the believers escape the world prior to the reign of the Antichrist (in the Rapture), to one of taking "dominion" over society and government in order to bring about Jesus' return. The shift to Dominionist theology provides much better alignment with the goals of right-wing business and political partners, and has provided a better theological platform for uniting the various religious entities of the larger Religious Right - Protestant, Catholic, or Jewish - embracing the idea of imposing their "Biblical worldview" on American government in support of various causes. However, this partnership is meeting resistance from religious leaders who may be conservative on social issues, but object to the Bible being used as a weapon to abolish the federal regulatory system and social safety nets, and to impose radical laissez-faire economic policies. The Cornwall Alliance's desperation to turn Americans against environmentalism is no doubt partially in response to growing environmental awareness among American evangelicals. The Evangelical Environmental Network, for example, has taken a strong stance on reducing mercury emissions. In response, the EEN has been under attack from the Cornwall Alliance and other right-wing religious leaders working closely with anti-regulatory think tanks. The EEN has even been subjected to a stealth attack by Samuel Rodriguez, an evangelical leader who signed the network's "call to stop mercury poisoning of the unborn," while simultaneously working with the Affordable Power Alliance (APA) to oppose restrictions on mercury emissions. The APA promotes claims that mercury emissions are not a threat and that global warming is a hoax. The APA board includes Rodriguez and Harry Jackson (both New Apostolic leaders) and targets minority and elderly audiences. Jackson is also featured in the "Resisting the Green Dragon" movie. Presidential candidate Rick Santorum is not the original source of many of his quotes being replayed over and over on network news this week. And he's not the only candidate referencing narratives from a "Biblical economics" and a "Dominionist" worldview. It is time for the American public to become educated about how these narratives have emerged - from a world in which big business, a few ultra-wealthy families, and the Religious Right are rewriting history and science, and interpreting the Bible as supporting laissez-faire capitalism. Also see a previous Talk2action article for numerous links to media and information on "Biblical capitalism" or "Biblical economics." Also see Right Wing Watch's coverage of the Cornwall Alliance.
Santorum not Source of 'Phony Theology' Idea, Origins in 'Biblical Economics' Partnership | 7 comments (7 topical, 0 hidden)
Santorum not Source of 'Phony Theology' Idea, Origins in 'Biblical Economics' Partnership | 7 comments (7 topical, 0 hidden)
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This is not a new phenomenon. Protestant fundamentalist textbooks have included this narrative for decades. For instance, one of the most popular textbook series for fundamentalist private schools and home schooling is A Beka Books. The high school economics text includes an entire chapter on "globalism," but never refers to international mega-corporations or the challenges to labor brought about by the growth of global corporations. In the context of the textbook, globalism is a conspiracy against capitalism by the U.N., peace organizations, and environmentalists.