Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny existed and still exists as the philosophy that embraces American history as a whole. Manifest Destiny is an intangible ideology that helped created American history. In its simplest form, Manifest Destiny can be defined as, “A Movement.” More specifically, it would be the systematic body of concepts and beliefs that powered American life and American culture.

The term came into the language in 1845. Historically the ideas were being played out as early as 1818. Some historians suggest the body of beliefs existed prior to the early 1800’s.

To some, the Manifest Destiny Doctrine was based on the idea that America had a divine providence. It had a future that was destined by God to expand its borders, with no limit to area or country. All the traveling and expansion were part of the spirit of Manifest Destiny, a belief that it was God’s will that Americans spread over the entire continent, and to control and populate the country as they see fit. Many expansionists conceived God as having the power to sustain and guide human destiny.

Many events through out US history have driven this philosophy and have been driven by it. It is an idea that historically plays well politically. The word manifest destiny became part of the lexicon and the concept part of the national psyche.

Another way to disguise Manifest Destiny was to promote the philosophy of White Man’s Burden. Rodyard Kipling made this philosophy famous in his poem of the same name. In his poem Kipling urged the United States to follow in the footsteps of Great Britain. He stated that, as a world power, the US had the burden to help the inferior people of the world adjust to Christianity. He also warned the United Sates that it would not be an easy task to take on the role of a world leader but, the rewards will outweigh the trouble.

From Revolution to Reconstruction

Manifest Destiny Myth

For most Americans, the myth of U.S. cultural, religious, political, and social superiority has been so strongly reinforced over the years that it is taken a given, it is assumed. In the language of political science, this is called “reification,” when myths become accepted as reality. Public debate is often vacuous, because we are unable to question
1) whether or not the U.S. system of governance is desired by non-Americans, or
2) whether or not the “one size fits all” U.S. model will offer people in other lands true solutions. Without such debate, the reification process becomes frightening: If it is a given that our system and values are superior, it follows that remaking others in our image will always be the worthy “end.” Any means can be used to reach the agreed-upon (but unquestioned) worthy end.

The Myth of US Cultural, Religious, Political and Social Superiority

David Domke, an associate professor at the University of Washington has been instrumental in analysing the speeches of President Bush. Several of his essays are online such as Bush, God and the Election In his second inaugeration speech the current US president used the word ‘freedom’ 49 times. The language of religion is also liberally dispersed in this speech and many other speeches. Why not? The language plays well to many domestic ears and key voting blocks.
More at Media Transparency

Dominionism

Basic definition:
Dominionism is a term used by some social scientists and critics to describe a trend in Protestant Christian evangelicalism and fundamentalism that encourages political participation in civic society by Christians through appeals to their religious beliefs. The term Dominionism is used to describe a full spectrum of such appeals, ranging from a duty as stewards to vote, to the desire to subjugate the political system for a Christian religious cause. Politically active conservative Christians rarely use the term dominionism as a self-description; many feel it is a loaded or pejorative term. Use of the term is primarily limited to liberal and left critics of the Christian Right. The term emerged in relation to the Christian Right in the mid-1990s, but became more widely known due in large part to the U.S. presidential election, 2004 where the media attributed Republican wins to “Evangelical voters in “Red states” who voted for “moral values;” although most poll analysts call this claim oversimplistic.

Dominionism has also been termed Christian Reconstructionism.

Fredrick Clarkson
Christian Reconstructionism
The Apologetics Index looks at the roots of dominionism and Christian Reconstructionism in neo-pentecostal movements such as Manifest Sons of God and Kingdom Now Theology.

Whole books have been written on these subjects and on the marriage of these ideas and a blog post is just a jumping off place.