Rafael Cruz came to Grove City College earlier this evening for a Q&A hosted by the college Republican club. He represented the Cruz campaign but I should hasten to add that the event was not a campaign rally and the college is not endorsing Cruz or any candidate.
Political Science professor Paul Kengor moderated the event and most of the initial hour centered around Rafael Cruz’s background in Cuba and then his assimilation to life in America. I tweeted some of the things Cruz said which can be viewed here: #rcruzgcc.
At one point, Cruz came close to sounding the seven mountains dominionism themes and said America was founded on the Word of God.
After the event, I had a moment with Rev. Cruz and asked him if his son believes the seven mountain dominionism teaching that Christians should take dominion over the mountain of government. He said that you have to be careful with the terms because people don’t understand. He said people, especially in the media, think you mean theocracy. He said it doesn’t mean a theocracy. He added that Christians should be salt and light in the government and use their influence to be salt and light.
The time was short so I was unable to follow up but I still believe Ted Cruz needs to clarify what taking dominion as president would look like.
Tag: Rafael Cruz
Is Ted Cruz a Dominionist or Not?
Rob Gagnon and Edith Humphrey writing at Christianity Today say no.
Gagnon and Humphrey respond mainly to John Fea’s writings on the subject.
I think Cruz likes to hang out with seven mountains dominionists, including his father and David Barton.
What would be nice is to hear from Cruz himself. I would like to know if he agrees with his father that he is a “king” who will help bring about a great transfer wealth from the pagans to the Christians, or at least the dominionist Christians. Does Cruz believe all that seven mountains stuff?
I wish Cruz would give a speech or an interview where he addresses the matter. This will dog him until he clears it up. I am much less interested in Gagnon and Humphries opinion and more interested in hearing him talk about his views of seven mountains dominionist teaching.
UPDATE: John Fea responds to Gagnon and Humphrey on his blog. As usual, John raises some key points. Like me, he wants to hear from Cruz about his reliance on his father, David Barton and Glenn Beck. Here’s what Fea has to say about Cruz and Barton:
Cruz needs to answer for his connections to David Barton. Over the last couple of weeks Barton has been talking openly about Seven Mountains Dominionism. He is opening schools at Bible colleges around the country to teach this view. Let’s not forget that Barton runs a Cruz super-PAC. This means that Barton, an outspoken dominionist, is raising a lot of money to get Cruz in the White House. Guilty by association? Perhaps. Only Ted Cruz can set the record straight. Let’s remember that this guy is running for President of the United States. I think he needs to come clean on his connections to people like Barton and Beck.
Gagnon and Humphrey quote Robert George as saying that calling someone a dominionist is McCarthyism and a smear tactic. I suppose it could be a smear to some (if you call me a dominionist, it would be a smear) but we should remember that Cruz’s father and his close advisor David Barton embrace the seven mountains teaching of Christian dominion. Cruz is surrounded by people who see it as their Christian duty to take dominion over the culture and the government.
Did Ted Cruz Steal From God And If So, Why Is He Blessed? Rafael Cruz Teaches on Tithing
The more I look into this revelation that Ted Cruz declared less than one percent of his income to charitable causes from 2006-2010, the more interesting it gets.
By any measure, Cruz has been blessed. His political career has been on the fast track. In 2012, he upset a conservative Republican for the GOP Senate nomination and then won an easy victory over the Democratic candidate in the 2012 Senate election. He currently is one of the leading candidates for the GOP presidential nomination. Financially, he has done incredibly well.
However, according to his own father’s teaching on tithing, such blessing should not be.
First, let’s establish from Cruz himself that he acknowledges not tithing. In an interview with CBN’s David Brody, Cruz implied that his meager charitable giving was primarily early in his marriage. Watch:
Transcript (from the Brody file):
Listen on the question of tithing, all of us are on a faith journey, and I will readily admit that I have not been as faithful in this aspect of my walk as I should have been. That article focuses on ten years. We don’t have the ability to go back and change what occurred ten years ago when Heidi and I were newly married and we’d just started a family. But at the end of the day, being a Christian is not about holding yourself out as righteous. It’s about beginning with the understanding that we are flawed sinners and we are saved not by deeds but by Christ’s redemption. I am grateful that God is a patient and forgiving God and this area, as in many areas of my life I am working to do a better job walking in my faith.
As Mediaite writer Tommy Christopher points out, Cruz didn’t address the facts in a straightforward manner. The tax returns in question covered 2006-2010 (now removed from the Texas Tribune site – the numbers can still be viewed here). In 2010, Cruz reported just over $2 million in income while only declaring $22,337 in donations. In 2010, he wasn’t a poor, struggling newlywed. Obviously, the blessings were flowing, even though the tithes weren’t.
This is serious business to evangelicals who view tithing as the pathway to God’s blessing. Let’s listen to Ted Cruz’s father, Rafael Cruz, describe what not tithing means to God (source video).
Rafael Cruz says that someone who is not tithing shouldn’t expect God’s blessing. He interprets Malachi to say that a non-tither is stealing from God. He adds that the devil will attack and perhaps devour one’s income. Rafael Cruz and others have expressed the opinion that Ted Cruz has been blessed because he has been faithful. How can this be if Cruz has been stealing from God?
Ironically, Ted Cruz is evidence against his own father’s teaching on tithing. Or perhaps Cruz isn’t really anointed. Or perhaps this whole dominionist business is just a way to provoke a great transfer of wealth, but not the kind Rafael Cruz preaches about. The main transfer of wealth of interest to prosperity preachers is from the congregation to their pockets.
For those who don’t believe tithing is for New Testament Christians, the amount given isn’t going to be the main problem. For them, what might generate concern is that Cruz has used the sincerity of his faith as an argument for his fitness to be president. The tithing issue exposes a potential problem with that narrative.
For those who view tithing as a mandate with dreadful consequences for lack of compliance, this revelation could be a deal breaker. Cruz has complicated matters now by telling David Brody a less than believable tale that is different that what his campaign said in 2012. Then they said Cruz volunteered a lot.
Cruz may hope the Brody interview will lay the matter to rest. He may be right. Such theological matters may not be of the same level of interest outside of the Christian nationalist camps of Iowa.
Even if this matter goes away as a political problem, it remains a problem for those who believe Cruz was blessed to rise rapidly through the political ranks all the while stealing from God.
Ted Cruz's Father Spreads Barton's Fables in Church
In private conversations with evangelical leaders about David Barton’s pseudo-history, I have been asked what harm Barton’s fables cause. After all, many of the founders were orthodox Christian and religious devotion was more respected then than now, so what does it hurt if Barton stretches the truth a little? He is basically on the right side of things so what’s the problem?
There are many problems with that line of thinking, most of which I don’t have time to address now. However, one I will note is that the lies spread and grow. They get bigger. Another one is that once the horse gets out of the barn, you can’t often get it back in. Even when Barton pulls back a bit and gets a bit more honest, his followers don’t necessarily follow suit.
Case in point: Rafael Cruz, the father of big Barton fan Ted Cruz in a speech at John Hagee’s church recently. Right Wing Watch brings the sad news.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/sZJh7MUI_GY[/youtube]
Cruz’s big applause line was a complete fiction. As long time readers know, Robert Aitken printed the first English Bible in America. Congress gave an endorsement after the fact and recommended the work for its religious and artistic merits but did not order it to be printed for use in schools at any level. Cruz plagiarized Barton and told a huge whopper on top of it.
After being hammered on the matter for years (and having that story removed from a Focus on the Family broadcast), Barton changed his rendition of the Aitken story a bit to make it a little more accurate. However, did Rafael Cruz get the memo? Not at all; in fact, he embellished Barton’s fable by saying Congress ordered the Bible to be “the principle textbook in primary schools, high schools and universities.” None of that is true. All I can think of is this Progressive commercial:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/moqX4t04yYo[/youtube]
Cruz then channels Barton on the role of Solomon Grayzel in the 1963 Abington v. Schempp case. He essentially says what Barton says which is almost never a sign of an accurate presentation.
Prominent evangelicals apparently don’t think the rules apply to them. Plagiarize, stretch the truth, do whatever, it matters not for the cause is just.