It is a great and thought-provoking film that warns of the dangers of mixing church and state. I have shown it to two groups and both times it has sparked excellent discussion. If you want to know more about it, here are a few links that could be helpful.

Here is a column I wrote for the BGCM giving an overview of the film and why we wanted to show it: Heil Hitler?

Here is a column I wrote for Ethics Daily, the news arm of the BCE, that offers more details about the dangers of mixing church and state as found in the film: Majority Rules.

Here are a couple of other articles about the documentary from Ethics Daily (the BCE has help host screenings of it in other states): `Theologians Under Hitler', and Screen Potential: An Interview With Steven D. Martin.

Finally, here is a short article from the local newspaper that explains a little about the film: Film examines religious leaders' support of Nazi Party.

by Kaylor on Fri Mar 17, 2006 at 10:02:20 AM EST

One of the real concerns I have with dominionists today (well, besides dominionism in and of itself) is how closely that dominionism has been--and still is--wedded to racist groups including neo-Nazi (and in one case, "old school" Nazi) groups.

The earliest extant dominionist group in the US, "The Fellowship", had links with US sympathisers to the Nazis in the 1930's (partly because both they and the Nazis were hardline anti-Communists); the modern links to racism range all the way from "Christian Militia" groups linked with frank acts of domestic terrorism against women's clinics (including the "Army of God" to which Eric Rudolph was linked) and who partner with Christian Identity groups at militia conventions--all the way to Tony Perkins and Roy Moore, both of whom are linked with racist groups (Perkins having actually received money from the leader of the Klan group most closely partnering with actual neo-Nazis, at that!).

I've written a post on the modern links between dominionism and the racist movement in the US here:

Dominionism, Racism, and Justice Sunday III  

by dogemperor on Fri Mar 17, 2006 at 03:50:24 PM EST

I was shocked to see a picture of a procession of clergy surrounded by flags with the Christian cross on them and a Swastika in the middle of the cross. Another picture of Roman Catholic prelates standing with Hitler doing the Nazi salute.

Perhaps the most dramatic section of the DVD is that which visits the archive that houses hundred of thousands of documents which churches turned over to the Nazi government identifying the racial backgrounds of their communicants, i.e., Aryan, Gypsy, Jewish. It was from these document the government made up the lists of those to be sent to the camps.

While we in the good ole U. S. of A. are certainly not that far along in our church state relationship, we are on a slippery slop with the Patriot Act and the Christian Nationalist and Dominionists pushing us from behind.

However, I do get the willies everytime I see a picture of George W. Bush surrounded by Falwell, Dobson, Sheldon, Parsley, Robertson and the rest of the gang.

On another note, many years ago when I first started to learn about Dominionists I bought two books, R. J Rushdoony's Institutes of Biblical Law and Adolph Hitler's Mein Camp. I was amazed to see how many very similar statements there was in the two books. It was almost as if Rushdoony had lifted many of his ideas from Hitler's writings.

by JerrySloan on Thu Mar 30, 2006 at 05:59:34 PM EST