“There’s a relationship there that’s unlike any in American history to my knowledge. We’ve just never seen anything remotely like this... I believe Ted Cruz is probably the first presidential candidate of any plausibility to have been specifically groomed to be the Christian right candidate for president.”
That's what I told the
Austin American Statesman in today's
must-read profile of Raphael Cruz, father of Ted. I am hardly the first or the only person to make this observation, but as Ted Cruz pursues the GOP nomination for president, the question of how his views relate to the explicitly theocratic views of his father will likely become more of an issue.
Raphael Cruz and Christian Nationalist author David Barton are mutual fans. Both embrace a bogus version of American history they cite to justify their current political views.
Here are a few excerpts from the story, by the Statesman's chief political correspondent Jonathan Tilove:
“Talk to me about your son and his rise. This must be a thing of God. It’s meteoric,” David Brody, chief political correspondent for the Christian Broadcasting Network, asked Rafael Cruz in an interview in 2013, Ted Cruz’s first year in the Senate.
“Yes, but you know something, it is not something that started a couple of years ago,” Cruz replied. “When he was 4 I used to read Bible stories to him all the time. And I would declare and proclaim the word of God over him. And I would just say, ‘You know, Ted, you have been gifted above any man that I know, and God has destined you for greatness.’ And I started making declarations about the word of God to him every day.”
“So this is not a trajectory of three years,” Cruz told Brody. “This is a trajectory of 30 years.”
And that trajectory, I argue, takes the Cruzes into theocratic territory:
Rafael Cruz, on the other hand, “is an overt theocrat,” Clarkson said.
There is, for example, Cruz’s Aug. 26, 2012, sermon, posted online, at New Beginnings, a mega church in Irving, led by pastor Larry Huch, a Christian Zionist, in which Cruz speaks at great length using the Biblical language of Dominion Theology, which Clarkson said is a rising tendency on the religious right that seeks not just a role in government, but dominion.
Cruz bristles when asked about that sermon.
“That’s a misquote because I was reading a verse of scripture and the verse of scripture uses the word ‘dominion,’” Cruz said. “What I meant by saying that is that we should be having an influence on every area of society, and so should every member of society. This is not something I’m saying exclusively to Christians. I mean, if you have a worldview, aren’t you going to try to share that worldview with others? Because we’re not called to be hermits, because none of us wants to be hermits living in a cave.”
“We are not talking about theocracy,” Cruz said. “We’re talking about the foundational principles that are the basis for the Constitution, and those foundational principles we find in the word of God. This is what I call a Judeo-Christian ethic, and what is that? Well, first of all it is a moral code of conduct, and then it’s honesty, integrity, individual responsibility, the rule of law, free enterprise, limited government.”
I think Raphael Cruz doth protest too much.
In the video mentioned and linked-to in the Statesman's story, Raphael Cruz us introduced by one Pastor Larry Huch, (just after 1:00), who leads a non-denominational church in Irving, Texas. Huch discusses how 2012 is to be the beginning of how "God and God's people will begin to rule and reign." And he says that that is why God got Ted Cruz elected Senator.
Raphael Cruz goes on to discuss the need for Christians to take dominion. He told reporter Jonathan Tilove that he has been misunderstood in this regard. But I don't think so.
Cruz goes on to discuss the anointing of kings and priests. "Kings," he declared, (at about 1:08:30) "are anointed for a totally different reason than priests. Kings are anointed to take dominion. Kings are anointed to go to war, win the war, and bring the spoils of war to the priests. So the work of the kingdom of God could be accomplished." He goes on to complain that the churches of today are focused only on the "priestly anointing." And that many people are not cut out be priests, or carrying out priestly functions. Most he suggests are anointed under the rubric of "kings" and "queens" -- "and God has given you an anointing to go to the battlefield. And what is the battlefield? The battlefield is the marketplace. To go to the marketplace, and occupy the land. To go to the marketplace and take dominion."
He is not being metaphorical here.
He reminds his audience of having previously preached from that very pulpit about how God wanted them to "take dominion over all of my creation." He further reminded them that he had said that taking dominion is not limited to the church but to every area "society, education, government, economics..." This sounds like a reference to the popular dominionist notion of the Seven Mountains Mandate, an expression of the contemporary New Apostolic Reformation. But whatever his exact views, he is the one who has repeatedly raised the idea of Christians taking dominion in all areas of life in order to establish the Kingdom of God. And kingdoms are, of course, ruled by kings.
Cruz says God is not going to do it on his own, he is going to use people to transfer the wealth of the wicked to the righteous. He claims that "it is through the kings, anointed to take dominion that that transfer of wealth is going to occur." He later anoints the audience as kings and queens to go out and "establish dominion."
Two years ago, Bruce Wilson, wrote at Talk to Action, raised the question of the dominionism of Raphael Cruz as revealed in this video, and earlier this year reported that Huch believes that Ted Cruz will be Vice-President or a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Now Ted Cruz is running for president. Just as his father hoped and intended.
Crossposted from Talk to Action