Talking Ted Cruz-Scariest Candidate Running
So, Rafael “Ted” Cruz wants to be President of the United States. That should scare the crap out of any sane person. Ted and his supposed pastor father (I say “supposed” because there is scant evidence of his ever pastoring a church) subscribe to a very dark end-times religious doctrine referred to as Dominionism, and the two of them have decreed that Ted is ordained by God to lead the Government area of influence of the 7 Mountain scheme of Dominionists (more on that later).
This is a longer article, and I apologize for that, but there is much you need to know and understand, particularly as regards the Cruz’s religious beliefs.
You really don’t quite get Ted as the truth challenged theocrat he is, without understanding his father, who frequently campaigns as a surrogate for Ted. So let’s get this all out of the way right up front.
Rafael has an interesting bio posted on the American Speakers booking website. He was helped out of Cuba to come to America to attend the University of Texas in Austin. His public bio states he, “immigrated to this country over 55 years ago to flee an oppressive communist regime. He fought in the revolution and was imprisoned and tortured.” The problem with that is, he actually fought on the side of Fidel Castro during the communist takeover. He was granted political asylum in the U.S. (something he and his son now oppose for others), after his student visa expired. He got married, divorced and remarried while living in New Orleans. He later moved to Canada where he was naturalized, and then back to U.S., where he was naturalized in 2005.
Rafael left the Catholic Church in 1975 after having a “born-again” experience at a Bible Study. And from here on, his bio gets even murkier. His bio goes on to state:
Today Rafael Cruz is a pastor at a church in Dallas and serves as the Director of Purifying Fire Ministries ministering in the U.S., Mexico, and Central America. He is also a professor Bible [sic] and Theology and the president of Kingdom Translation Services.
Given his son’s penchant for making shit up as he goes, it may come as no surprise that pretty much none of that is true. Like father, like son I guess. We’ll just take it all in order.
First off, no one seems to know which Dallas church he actually pastors. The campaign just explains one doesn’t have to have a church to Pastor, which is true, but Rafael’s bio claims he is the pastor of a church, which doesn’t seem to be true.
Salon reports on the Purifying Fire director claim, “Until it folded in 2014, Purifying Fire was a Costa Mesa, Calif., ministry owned by Suzanne Hinn, the divorced (then remarried) wife of faith healer Benny Hinn. A spokesman for the Cruz presidential campaign said Rev. Cruz has never been associated with the Hinn’s, but ‘used the Purifying Fire name for a while then he dropped it.’”
He claims to have studied at Advanced Bible College (or sometimes Advance Bible College), neither of which seem to exist anywhere other than in his mind. He claims to have been ordained at a Church, Mundo de Fe, in Arlington, TX by Rev. Ralph Holland.
The Campaign also admits Rev. Cruz is affiliated with no seminary or Bible college, but that he is a professor…go figure. However, again, if you’re making it all up (or as I like to refer to it, “Lying for Jesus), I guess it doesn’t matter.
UPDATE (02/19/2016): The following was shared on Facebook by a friend of mine, and I think it makes some of the points very well.
https://www.facebook.com/KnowPolitical/videos/1115597241808300/
7 Mountain Dominionism
To get a full understanding the Cruz family’s religious beliefs, and to understand why Ted Cruz is the most frightening candidate in the campaign, you have to have an understanding of the precepts of the 7 Mountains movement of Dominionism. This is kind of a long section, and I apologize for that, but this belief system is scary, and needs to be understood.
7 Mountain Dominionism is a derivative of the Reconstruction Movement, or more traditional Dominion Theology, but those in that movement are quick to disavow their belief in the 7 Mountain version of the movement. It appears the original concepts behind the 7 Mountains concept was first espoused around 1973 by R. J. Rushdoony in his book, The Institutes of Biblical Law.
According to an article by Dr. Joel McDurmon at American Vision, “The 7MD vision comes from a 1975 lunch meeting between Bill Bright of Campus Crusade and Loren Cunningham of Youth With A Mission (YWAM), in which God allegedly gave each, separately and privately, a message to give the other.”
The basic concept is that Christians are to pursue dominion of the world and its societies in seven separate “mountains” of cultural influence: Church, Family, Education, Government, the Arts and Entertainment, Media, and Business.
That message has been advanced and “clarified” (some might say codified) by a disciple of Bright & Cunningham named Lance Wallnau. Wallnau espouses a message of top-down control of each of these mountains of influence, and says, “He who occupies the top of those mountains can literally shape the agenda that forms nations.”
The concept’s most prominent spokesman is former Fuller Seminary professor, C. Peter Wagner. Wagner is a very radical charismatic and theist. Wagner wrote in a letter to his followers a few years ago:
“We want to see whole cities and regions and states and nations transformed to support the values of the kingdom of God…This will happen only as kingdom-focused saints become the head and not the tail of each of Lance Wallnau’s seven mountains or molders of culture.
Our theological bedrock is what has been known as Dominion Theology. This means that our divine mandate is to do whatever is necessary, by the power of the Holy Spirit, to retake the dominion of God’s creation which Adam forfeited to Satan in the Garden of Eden. It is nothing less than seeing God’s kingdom coming and His will being done here on earth as it is in heaven. This includes the need to govern apolitically, as well as to embrace spiritual warfare techniques that neutralize the control of our adversary within the functional and territorial spheres of authority to which we have been assigned. To do this, we know that we must be in communion, we must receive revelation, and we must apostolically and prophetically proclaim that revelation. (Emphasis is mine)”
Another disciple of this concept is Johnny Enlow, who’s written a book titled, The Seven Mountain Prophecy. His emphasis is on capturing the tops of the mountains. He divides the mountains into three levels, the top, middle, and base, with the lower levels seen as stepping stones. He writes:
“The Mountain of Government, or politics, is a mountain that the Lord is beginning to position his children to invade and take. . .
Because of the enemy’s firm grip on this mountain, it’s a very dangerous mountain to take if one is not spiritually prepared for it. Yet we must take it. The Elijah Revolution will begin to displace the forces of darkness from this mountain and establish righteous government on its top. . . .”
It’s obvious he sees the Presidency of the United States as the ultimate prize for the Government mountain, and makes it clear that the only form of acceptable government is a theocracy forced on people:
“Though it’s a widespread field that extends far, the top of the mountain is occupied by a relatively small handful of people. In the United States, the president is the physical person at the top of the mountain, with senators and congressmen also high on our national mountain. Because our nation is the lead nation of the world at this time, it automatically places our national leader at the top of the world Mountain of Government.
The only government that will never have any corruption is the theocratic Kingdom of God. Here on earth, there will always be something less than a perfect government. We can (and should), however, insist on high ideals, principles, and individual character—people who can help manifest a form of government that is a blessing to a nation. We cannot instill a theocracy in a human government because theocracy is transcendent to humanity. The Kingdom of God can be superimposed on people through influence, but only God Himself can be “theo.” . . . A government can potentially function as a virtual theocracy, but only as the individuals in power allow themselves to be puppets (i.e. servants) of the theocracy (God’s rule and reign).” (emphasis mine)
Another acolyte, spokesman Rick Joyner, affirms this concept of top-down control by endorsing the necessity of a temporary totalitarianism (I’m guessing so long as it is their guys in command):
“The kingdom of God will not be socialism, but a freedom even greater than anyone on earth knows at this time. At first it may seem like totalitarianism, as the Lord will destroy the antichrist spirit now dominating the world with “the sword of His mouth” and will shatter many nations like pottery. However, fundamental to His rule is II Corinthians 3:17, “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Instead of taking away liberties and becoming more domineering, the kingdom will move from a point of necessary control while people are learning truth, integrity, honor, and how to make decisions, to increasing liberty so that they can. . . .
The kingdom will start out necessarily authoritative in many ways, or in many areas, but will move toward increasing liberty–so do all true churches and movements that are advancing toward the kingdom.” (emphasis mine)
So it is clear, these people intend to rule ruthlessly. You will believe as they do, and they will come to control the areas of society from the top down. However, they are smart. They will never say these things when speaking with general audiences, and always claim to believe the Apostles Creed and the standard statements of Christian doctrine. They claim it to be nothing more than, “a strategy to be more effective Christians in the culture,” and merely to “influence culture, not to dominate the culture.” That is a little hard to believe when you’ve been using words like “invade and take,” and “The kingdom will start out necessarily authoritative in many ways.”
This is what Dominionism is, and this is that Ted Cruz has been raised to believe. He has been indoctrinated to this all his life, and has been told by his father that he is ordained by God to take the top of the Mountain of Government. Are you scared shitless yet?
Ted Cruz has shown himself to be a ruthless demagogue. The government shutdown is a prime example. It did not matter to him the damage he did to the individuals not working nor getting paid. It didn’t matter to him the people who went without important services. It was all about extolling Ted Cruz’s agenda, an agenda he dangerously believes to be approved by God.
If you look all the way back to his teen and college years, you can’t find anyone who seems to even slightly like Ted Cruz. He obviously has sociopathic tendencies, and trouble interacting with other people. Not much has been made of it, but there seems to be a sexual component to it also, as some acquaintances talk about an obsession with women’s breasts. Generally, when one sees characteristics of charismatic religious beliefs and sexual obsessions, there’s going to be a problem at some point as the two traits collide.
And just how big an ass-wipe does one have to be for the Republicans in the House and Senate to all hate you…enough to just flat out say so?
Many people are writing that Ted Cruz is just all about Ted Cruz. In a sense, he is, in that it’s clear part of his belief system is that he must win at all costs. Some of this may emanate from the Old Testament. The belief in the Old Testament was that if your tribe was defeated in a battle, then your god must be weaker than their god. Cruz has a need to win, so he will stop at nothing. So in that sense, he believes that what he is doing is all for his god.
This could also explain why he plays so fast and loose with the truth. The fact is, he may believe the lies he’s telling, or believe that he can say it, and his god will make it so. You see, most of the Republicans wrap themselves in the flag, hide behind the military, and hold a Bible under their arm, but in truth, they’re just casual Christians at best. The reality is, most are like Donald Trump, and couldn’t cite a favorite Bible verse beyond one or two of the most common ones. If they attend church, they’re like Marco Rubio…picking the largest one that will give them most votes.
With Cruz though, he’s a true believer. I don’t think it’s a put-up job with him. Some may say that’s not necessarily a bad thing, and as a Christian myself, I’d be foolish to say, out of hand, that believing what you preach is bad. But in the case of the Cruz family, believing and practicing what they preach is a bad thing (see above). And it could be a bad thing for us all.
Recently, Ted’s wife had this to say about her husband’s plans:
“We are at a cultural crossroads in our country, and if we can be in this race to show this country the face of the God that we serve — this Christian God that we serve is the foundation of our country, our country was built on Judeo-Christian values, we are a nation of freedom of religion, but the God of Christianity is the God of freedom, of individual liberty, of choice and of consequence…”
Rafael talked about Ted going through six months of prayer about running for the presidency, and finally hearing the voice of God telling him to run:
“It was as if there was a presence of the Holy Spirit in the room and we all were at awe,” Cruz stated, “and Ted, all that came out of his mouth, he said, ‘Here am I Lord, use me. Here am I Lord, I surrender to whatever Your will for my life is.’ And it was at that time that he felt a peace about running for president of the United States.”
Conservative theologian, Warren Throckmorton, has written an excellent commentary on Patheos about Cruz’s beliefs, taking off from an op-ed by John Fea. Below is Throckmorton’s clip from Fea’s article:
“Cruz’s approach to politics is inseparable from this theology. His goal is to lead a Christian occupation of the culture and then wait for the Second Coming of Christ.
He’s also a good politician. He knows the theological affirmations of his father, Barton or Huch might be too much for some Americans to swallow. He does not use the terms ‘dominionism’ or ‘seven mountains’ when he is campaigning. However, it is also worth noting that he has never publicly rejected these beliefs.
Cruz’s campaign may be less about the White House and more about the white horses that will usher in the God’s Kingdom in the New Testament book of Revelation, Chapter 19.”
Unfortunately, the Republican strategy for the past decade or so has been one of “divide and conquer.” They have worked hard to create a tribalism, an “us against them” mentality, and have been unashamed to invoke religion to that end. They have fomented a distrust of people not like “us,” and then set about increasing distrust to hate. Then along comes a Donald Trump who unabashedly appeals to that base emotion of fear and hate that the Republicans have counted on simmering just under the surface.
This has played right into Ted Cruz’s plan. The stage has been set, and the mentality established. The perfect storm is a Donald Trump who could make even Ted Cruz look somewhat reasonable to uninformed people.
Make no mistake though, the scariest candidate running for the presidency is Ted Cruz. He believes he’s ordained to the job by God Almighty himself, and that he’s called to an authoritarian rule to impose a theocracy in this country. At best, the rights of gays, women and blacks would be set back by years. The climate would continue to be less stable because if you believe you’re setting up the world for the second coming, why worry about the longevity of the planet?
Even if you don’t think this is a possibility, imagine the damage that could and would be done during the four years of a Cruz presidency. Even if the crumbling pillars of our democracy could hold off the onslaught of a Cruz Presidency (if they’re inclined), what would he be able to get away with through executive fiat? There is a reason none of the people like him who know him, and there is a very good reason people who find themselves in his presence get a sense of creepiness. But he’s way more than just an unattractive, vindictive demagogue…he’s a downright scary person with a set of religious beliefs that make the most radical Muslim clerics look tame.
