Tornado Alley (PROG)

[F6]

Fables of the Reconstructionists

Saturday, November 06, 2004

What we're up against [ http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/chrisre1.html -- F6 note -- my next post, a reply to this post, and following]:

The significance of the Reconstructionist movement is not its numbers, but the power of its ideas and their surprisingly rapid acceptance. Many on the Christian Right are unaware that they hold Reconstructionist ideas. Because as a theology it is controversial, even among evangelicals, many who are consciously influenced by it avoid the label. This furtiveness is not, however, as significant as the potency of the ideology itself. Generally, Reconstructionism seeks to replace democracy with a theocratic elite that would govern by imposing their interpretation of "Biblical Law." Reconstructionism would eliminate not only democracy but many of its manifestations, such as labor unions, civil rights laws, and public schools. Women would be generally relegated to hearth and home. Insufficiently Christian men would be denied citizenship, perhaps executed. So severe is this theocracy that it would extend capital punishment beyond such crimes as kidnapping, rape, and murder to include, among other things, blasphemy, heresy, adultery, and homosexuality.

Reconstructionism has expanded from the works of a small group of scholars to inform a wide swath of conservative Christian thought and action. While many Reconstructionist political positions are commonly held conservative views, what is significant is that Reconstructionists have created a comprehensive program, with Biblical justifications for far right political policies. Many post-World War II conservative, anticommunist activists were also, if secondarily, conservative Christians. However, the Reconstructionist movement calls on conservatives to be Christians first, and to build a church-based political movement from there.

For much of Reconstructionism's short history it has been an ideology in search of a constituency. But its influence has grown far beyond the founders' expectations. As Reconstructionist author Gary North observes, "We once were shepherds without sheep. No longer."

What does Tim LaHaye [ http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/fi/review_21_3.html ], author of Jesusland's wildly popular "Left Behind" novels and a founder of the 1980s' "Moral Majority," have to say [ http://www.4religious-right.info/introduction2.htm ]?

Best-selling author Tim LaHaye co-authored "Mind Siege: The Battle for Truth in the New Millennium [ http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0849916720/ ]," published in 2000. The best-selling book issues a call to arms for evangelical Christians to battle against secular humanism. Mind Siege declares that secular humanism is a "religion," and issues marching orders to evangelical Christians to gear up for an all-out battle to root secular humanists out of public life; their bottom line is that "No humanist is fit to hold office."

LaHaye, best known for the "Left Behind" series, was one of the founders of the Moral Majority. He first declared war on secular humanism in 1980 with his widely read book, "The Battle for the Mind" in which he claims that evangelicals need to become politically involved to fight the great evil, secular humanism, that is threatening to destroy America.

Let's return to the Reconstructionist Ideal:

Reconstructionism argues that the Bible is to be the governing text for all areas of life--such as government, education, law, and the arts, not merely "social" or "moral" issues like pornography, homosexuality, and abortion. Reconstructionists have formulated a "Biblical world view" and "Biblical principles" by which to examine contemporary matters. Reconstructionist theologian David Chilton succinctly describes this view: "The Christian goal for the world is the universal development of Biblical theocratic republics, in which every area of life is redeemed and placed under the Lordship of Jesus Christ and the rule of God's law."

More broadly, Reconstructionists believe that there are three main areas of governance: family government, church government, and civil government. Under God's covenant, the nuclear family is the basic unit. The husband is the head of the family, and wife and children are "in submission" to him. In turn, the husband "submits" to Jesus and to God's laws as detailed in the Old Testament. The church has its own ecclesiastical structure and governance. Civil government exists to implement God's laws. All three institutions are under Biblical Law, the implementation of which is called "theonomy."

. . .

According to Gary North, women who have abortions should be publicly executed, "along with those who advised them to abort their children." Rushdoony concludes: "God's government prevails, and His alternatives are clear-cut: either men and nations obey His laws, or God invokes the death penalty against them." Reconstructionists insist that "the death penalty is the maximum, not necessarily the mandatory penalty." However, such judgments may depend less on Biblical Principles than on which faction gains power in the theocratic republic. The potential for bloodthirsty episodes on the order of the Salem witchcraft trials or the Spanish Inquisition is inadvertently revealed by Reconstructionist theologian Rev. Ray Sutton, who claims that the Reconstructed Biblical theocracies would be "happy" places, to which people would flock because "capital punishment is one of the best evangelistic tools of a society."

The Biblically approved methods of execution include burning (at the stake for example), stoning, hanging, and "the sword." Gary North, the self-described economist of Reconstructionism, prefers stoning because, among other things, stones are cheap, plentiful, and convenient. Punishments for non-capital crimes generally involve whipping, restitution in the form of indentured servitude, or slavery. Prisons would likely be only temporary holding tanks, prior to imposition of the actual sentence.

People who sympathize with Reconstructionism often flee the label because of the severe and unpopular nature of such views. Even those who feel it appropriate that they would be the governors of God's theocracy often waffle on the particulars, like capital punishment for sinners and nonbelievers. Unflinching advocates, however, insist upon consistency. Rev. Greg Bahnsen, in his book "By This Standard," writes: "We. . .endorse the justice of God's penal code, if the Bible is to be the foundation of our Christian political ethic."

(The "Left Behind" books trail only the Harry Potter books in U.S. sales.)

The Dominionists [ http://www.disinfopedia.org/wiki.phtml?title=Dominionists ] -- for my purposes, the term is interchangeable with Reconstructionism [ http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5722.htm ] -- now have complete control of the United States Government.

You may recall "The Family," a creepy cult-house of Senators and Congressmen in Arlington, Va. If not, read this [ http://www.harpers.org/JesusPlusNothing.html?pg=1 ]:

Senators Don Nickles (R., Okla.), Charles Grassley (R., Iowa), Pete Domenici (R., N.Mex.), John Ensign (R., Nev.), James Inhofe (R., Okla.), Bill Nelson (D., Fla.), and Conrad Burns (R., Mont.) are referred to as members," as are Representatives Jim DeMint (R., S.C.), Frank Wolf (R., Va.), Joseph Pitts (R., Pa.), Zach Wamp (R., Tenn.), and Bart Stupak (D., Mich.). Regular prayer groups have met in the Pentagon and at the Department of Defense, and the Family has traditionally fostered strong ties with businessmen in the oil and aerospace industries. The Family maintains a closely guarded database of its associates, but it issues no cards, collects no official dues. Members are asked not to speak about the group or its activities.

You might be able to guess a few of the group's activities.

For a movement with such powerful allies -- the most powerful men in the world, in fact -- you won't find a whole lot on Reconstructionism or Dominionism in the "liberal" media, which is scared to death of pissing of Jesusland ... while the Reconstructionist Movement has so far frowned upon its soldiers getting overly zealous [ http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/NEWSV5/storyV5MOORE05W.htm ]. Most Jesusland participants don't even know the plan. Like any low-level initiates of a mystery cult, common Born Agains cannot be trusted with the ultimate goal. Instead, they are frightened by sermons about homosexuals and Arabs, and then they go vote for the Chosen Candidates. Once in total power, the elected officials go to work.

This is an informational post that I'm putting up on a slow weekend night. It is simply reference material that I'll be linking to often in the future when mentioning Dominionism and Reconstructionism.

Posted at 9:11 PM [ http://kenlayne.com/2004/11/fables-of-reconstructionists.html ]

http://www.kenlayne.com/

[F6 note -- in addition to the post to which this post is a reply, see also (among others) (. . .):
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=2716969 and following,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3103771 and preceding and following,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3193813 ,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3298887 and preceding,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3434418 and preceding and following,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3436926 ,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3591866 and following,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3723482 ,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3782141 amd following,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3881759 ,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3894527 and preceding and following,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=3989078 ,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4018747 ,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4148768 and preceding (including the other reply to the post to which that post is a reply),
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4149125 and following,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4155103 ,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4185774 and preceding and following,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4193200 ,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4204886 and preceding,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4226739 and preceding and following,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4256090 ,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4258145 and following,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4281135 and preceding and following,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4308431 ,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4311465 ,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4315981 and preceding and following,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4323793 ,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4235450 and preceding and following,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4336167 and following,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4342460 and following,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4343728 and following,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4356351 and preceding and following,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4357737 and preceding and following,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4367137 ,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4393301 ,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4393902 and preceding,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4394464 and preceding,
http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4445673 and following,
and, re the Constitution and the founders, http://www.investorshub.com/boards/read_msg.asp?message_id=4130762 and preceding ]