Constantinianism* is the enabler of Ecological neglect, since multiple national narratives depend on the “conveniences” afforded by the “power” of fossil fuel driven technologies, and are therefore lionized (aka , in this case, “idolized”). It leads to the enshrinement of an economic status quo that works against an economy based on true costs. The cost of ecological impacts are accelerating out of our control, and have been for some time. Our Constaninianism has submerged our faith tradition’s Creation narratives.

(*  see previous two Facebook posts, here :  https://www.facebook.com/dlature/posts/10155409897341818
https://www.facebook.com/dlature/posts/10155409885851818)

The Church has long been negligent in recognizing and calling out Constantinianism, all the way back to, well, Constantine. When the Kingdom of God gets blurred with the Earthly Kingdoms, Constantinianism reigns. The Kingdom of God is not Dominionism. Constantinianism exemplifies the danger.

What I mean is that some secular people get nervous when Christians talk about the Kingdom of God, which they are apt to do when trying to warn about Constantinianism.

In that warning it is important to talk about how there is a difference between “Kingdoms” to which we are to have allegiance, The Kingdom of God, or the State. But certain Christians like Mike Pence and others, hold ideas about the “Kingdom of God” that tend to privilege the rich, and oppress the poor (as well as the earth itself), and tend toward imposing strict individual codes much like certain strands of fundamentalistic so-called “Islamic” states.

Secularists get nervous, therefore, whenever “KIngdom of God” is mentioned. Dominionists will often exemplify the worst forms of “State Run by Church”, while the real danger lies in the capitulation to States run by corrupt oligarchies (like we are seeing in the U.S., unfortunately). With Constantine’s “acceptance” of Christianity, the door was opened to an alliance between Church and State that coaxed Christianity into assimilating values that are/were not exactly born in the Kingdom of God (like pursuing and acceptance of war as a “righteous” instrument/mode of handling affairs of State).

With the U.S., it has turned Capitalism into a perpetuator of “market forces” which continue to be “shaped” (aka manipulated) by interests determined to keep a certain status quo. The Dominionists will overlay a “Biblical” code (based on a rather questionable interpretive method) that defends the status quo sought and then protected by the people in power.

The U.S. Evangelical Church has fallen “head over heels” for this assimilation of the interests of Constantine (the State) into Christian Theology, and don’t seem to know the difference.