Reconstruction: An Introduction
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anti_theocracyThis is the first of what I plan to be a series of basic introductory articles on core topics pertinent to the religious right. I will be adding source links (to current sources where possible, or to archived sources hosted elsewhere) shortly. As more articles in this series appear, I will also be cross-linking them (e.g. so if dominionism is mentioned, it will link to a post on dominionism, etc.).
These articles are taken from my class notes I have prepared for the courses I teach on the History of Christianity and Christianity in the US. They are @2017, All rights reserved. If you wish to cite or quote any of these pieces, please contact me and I can give you a citable source, since I do not want to use my real name here. Thank you for your consideration.
Christian Reconstruction
Reconstruction is a Calvinist, thenonomic/theocratic trend in theology that teaches that god’s law (i.e. Biblical Law) is to be the law of the land. Theologian R.J. Rushdoony, who published a massive set of volumes called ‘The Institutes of Biblical Law,” is widely considered to be the father of the Reconstruction movement, as well as the Christian homeschooling movement.
Rushdooney was very influential in the religious right of the 1970s and 1980s, and worked closely with some of the central figures in that time period, including Gary North, Francis Sheaffer, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and others. Rushdoony and his doctrines were also heavily influential in both the Southern and Southwestern Baptist Seminaries. More recent adherents who have espoused his ideas (though not always by name), include Matt Barber and Kevin Swanson, both also known for their extreme anti-gay views and dominionist stance.
Rushdoony’s work is also carried on by the institute he founded, the Chalcedon Foundation (CF), which was subsequently run by his son-in-law, Gary North. The Chalcedon Foundation is a well-funded theological and cultural think-tank whose name refers to the Council of Chalcedon, which in 451 A.D. proclaimed the state's subservience to God. In addition to founding CF, Rushdoony was also a founding member of the Council for National Policy (CFP), a rightwing policy think-tank whose current members include Betsy Devos, Stephen Bannon, KellyAnne Conway, and a host of other right wing politicians and public figures.
Reconstruction refers to the restoration of a Biblical kingdom, formed under Biblical principles, with the law of Torah as its sole form of law. According to Rushdoony, all forms or systems of law, which he calls ‘law orders,’ are essentially religious, even secular law. Therefore, “the only true order is founded on Biblical Law. All law is religious in nature, and every non-Biblical law-order represents an anti-Christian religion.” In other words, whoever makes the law is the ‘god’ of society, so if a law code is not purely and only Biblical law, as it was written by god, it’s essentially the worship of a false god, and is a false, anti-Christian religion.
Not surprisingly, he sees such non-Christian forms of law to be antagonistic to Christianity. By their very existence, they are in fact ‘at war’ with Christianity: “every law-order is in a state of war against the enemies of that order, and all law is a form of warfare.” In other words, secular law is in a state of war with Christianity.
Rushdoony’s overall political view might be described as an extreme cousin of libertarianism, as he claims that the sole role of federal government is national defense. All other functions are to be carried out at the lowest possible level of governance, preferably county government. Reconstruction also holds that government has no role in providing a social safety net; all such concerns are to be handled by churches or individuals moved to charity by God.
So what does this mean in real world terms? Well, it depends on who you ask.
Chief among the practical implications Rushdoony or his followers have advocated is the real and stated intent to convert the laws of United States so that they match those in the Hebrew Scriptures, including the imposition of capital punishment by stoning for an array of biblical crimes. They intend to achieve this by using the freedom of religion in the US to train a generation of children in private Christian religious schools. This objective was stated a couple decades ago, but this is where current Charter School movements come in. For example, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said she believes schools should ‘advance the kingdom of god,’ language that is both reconstructionist and dominionist in nature.
It is hoped those children, when they grow up, will create a new Bible-based political, religious and social order, at which point, rReligious freedom as a basic human right is to be eliminated. Rushdoony’s son-in-law and CEO of the CF, Gary North said “so let us be blunt about it: we must use the doctrine of religious liberty to gain independence for Christian schools until we train up a generation of people who know that there is no religious neutrality, no neutral law, no neutral education, and no neutral civil government. Then they will get busy in constructing a Bible-based social, political and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God.”
Another avenue that has been influenced, even driven by Reconstruction is Bush’s ‘faith based initiatives,’ a vital step into removing state-run social services, and replacing them with those run solely by churches. These include federal funding for faith groups, even when their activities are unconstitutional (e.g. Catholic Adoption agencies refusing LGBT parents, Salvation Army discriminating against gays, etc.).
A similar influence can be seen in the the recent proliferation of ‘Religious Freedom’ legislation, and moves to remove or weaken civil rights protections. Similarly, Reconstruction theology holds that corporations should not be burdened with regulations including laws to protect the environment and workers. Such protection, like the social safety net provisions, should be left in the hands of God, and up to the “Christian Charity” of corporate boards of directors and investors.
Public schools, all Federal education standards and the Dep’t of Education would be abolished, making parents solely responsible for educating their children in whatever way they see fit, with little to no oversight. In addition the the detrimental effect this would have on the US’s already lagging literacy and competency in core areas like critical thinking and STEM fields, women would be relegated primarily to the home and home schools, and would be banned from government. In fact, those qualified to vote or hold office would be limited to males from Biblically correct churches.
Government functions, including taxes, would be primarily at the county level, and payable in gold or silver. Society would return to the gold or silver standard or abolish paper money altogether, along with the Federal Reserve, and any and all Federal regulations or insurance on investments (such as the FDIC). Legislators in Utah, Georgia, and a few other states have already tried to institute requirements that taxes be paid in gold or silver.
Reconstruction, again following from both biblical law and the abolition of the majority of government functions, advocates for closing prisons and reinstituting slavery as a form of punishment. In accordance with Biblical law, capital punishment should be required for all of ancient Israel's capital offenses, including apostasy, blasphemy, incorrigibility in children, murder, rape, Sabbath breaking, sodomy, and witchcraft. Yes, they are serious about this. Rushdoony defended his insistence on these measures in an interview with Bill Moyers. He also made it clear that he expects that force will be necessary to impose such order, though he makes the odd claim that he does not advocate ‘top down imposition” of Christianity, but only that Christians take every area of life “into captivity to Christ.”
Lastly, along with these extreme views, Reconstruction has a distinctly racist slant, and mirrors some elements of Christian Identity’s beliefs in issues like interracial marriage, and has made a long list of rather horrible statements about African peoples.
Reconstruction and the CF are very influential, and have become deeply embedded into mainstream American Christianity, and even more so into mainstream political arenas. Both the Republican party, and the Libertarian/Tea Party movement are thoroughly infused with this ideology. You won’t hear Palin, or Rand Paul, or Mike Huckabee explicitly naming or quoting Rushdoony; they are too smart for that. But if you look at what they do say, and you look at who they associate with, at who they are influenced by, you will see the unmistakeable stamp of Reconstruction, and it’s newer offspring, Dominionism.
These articles are taken from my class notes I have prepared for the courses I teach on the History of Christianity and Christianity in the US. They are @2017, All rights reserved. If you wish to cite or quote any of these pieces, please contact me and I can give you a citable source, since I do not want to use my real name here. Thank you for your consideration.
Christian Reconstruction
Reconstruction is a Calvinist, thenonomic/theocratic trend in theology that teaches that god’s law (i.e. Biblical Law) is to be the law of the land. Theologian R.J. Rushdoony, who published a massive set of volumes called ‘The Institutes of Biblical Law,” is widely considered to be the father of the Reconstruction movement, as well as the Christian homeschooling movement.
Rushdooney was very influential in the religious right of the 1970s and 1980s, and worked closely with some of the central figures in that time period, including Gary North, Francis Sheaffer, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and others. Rushdoony and his doctrines were also heavily influential in both the Southern and Southwestern Baptist Seminaries. More recent adherents who have espoused his ideas (though not always by name), include Matt Barber and Kevin Swanson, both also known for their extreme anti-gay views and dominionist stance.
Rushdoony’s work is also carried on by the institute he founded, the Chalcedon Foundation (CF), which was subsequently run by his son-in-law, Gary North. The Chalcedon Foundation is a well-funded theological and cultural think-tank whose name refers to the Council of Chalcedon, which in 451 A.D. proclaimed the state's subservience to God. In addition to founding CF, Rushdoony was also a founding member of the Council for National Policy (CFP), a rightwing policy think-tank whose current members include Betsy Devos, Stephen Bannon, KellyAnne Conway, and a host of other right wing politicians and public figures.
Reconstruction refers to the restoration of a Biblical kingdom, formed under Biblical principles, with the law of Torah as its sole form of law. According to Rushdoony, all forms or systems of law, which he calls ‘law orders,’ are essentially religious, even secular law. Therefore, “the only true order is founded on Biblical Law. All law is religious in nature, and every non-Biblical law-order represents an anti-Christian religion.” In other words, whoever makes the law is the ‘god’ of society, so if a law code is not purely and only Biblical law, as it was written by god, it’s essentially the worship of a false god, and is a false, anti-Christian religion.
Not surprisingly, he sees such non-Christian forms of law to be antagonistic to Christianity. By their very existence, they are in fact ‘at war’ with Christianity: “every law-order is in a state of war against the enemies of that order, and all law is a form of warfare.” In other words, secular law is in a state of war with Christianity.
Rushdoony’s overall political view might be described as an extreme cousin of libertarianism, as he claims that the sole role of federal government is national defense. All other functions are to be carried out at the lowest possible level of governance, preferably county government. Reconstruction also holds that government has no role in providing a social safety net; all such concerns are to be handled by churches or individuals moved to charity by God.
So what does this mean in real world terms? Well, it depends on who you ask.
Chief among the practical implications Rushdoony or his followers have advocated is the real and stated intent to convert the laws of United States so that they match those in the Hebrew Scriptures, including the imposition of capital punishment by stoning for an array of biblical crimes. They intend to achieve this by using the freedom of religion in the US to train a generation of children in private Christian religious schools. This objective was stated a couple decades ago, but this is where current Charter School movements come in. For example, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos said she believes schools should ‘advance the kingdom of god,’ language that is both reconstructionist and dominionist in nature.
It is hoped those children, when they grow up, will create a new Bible-based political, religious and social order, at which point, rReligious freedom as a basic human right is to be eliminated. Rushdoony’s son-in-law and CEO of the CF, Gary North said “so let us be blunt about it: we must use the doctrine of religious liberty to gain independence for Christian schools until we train up a generation of people who know that there is no religious neutrality, no neutral law, no neutral education, and no neutral civil government. Then they will get busy in constructing a Bible-based social, political and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God.”
Another avenue that has been influenced, even driven by Reconstruction is Bush’s ‘faith based initiatives,’ a vital step into removing state-run social services, and replacing them with those run solely by churches. These include federal funding for faith groups, even when their activities are unconstitutional (e.g. Catholic Adoption agencies refusing LGBT parents, Salvation Army discriminating against gays, etc.).
A similar influence can be seen in the the recent proliferation of ‘Religious Freedom’ legislation, and moves to remove or weaken civil rights protections. Similarly, Reconstruction theology holds that corporations should not be burdened with regulations including laws to protect the environment and workers. Such protection, like the social safety net provisions, should be left in the hands of God, and up to the “Christian Charity” of corporate boards of directors and investors.
Public schools, all Federal education standards and the Dep’t of Education would be abolished, making parents solely responsible for educating their children in whatever way they see fit, with little to no oversight. In addition the the detrimental effect this would have on the US’s already lagging literacy and competency in core areas like critical thinking and STEM fields, women would be relegated primarily to the home and home schools, and would be banned from government. In fact, those qualified to vote or hold office would be limited to males from Biblically correct churches.
Government functions, including taxes, would be primarily at the county level, and payable in gold or silver. Society would return to the gold or silver standard or abolish paper money altogether, along with the Federal Reserve, and any and all Federal regulations or insurance on investments (such as the FDIC). Legislators in Utah, Georgia, and a few other states have already tried to institute requirements that taxes be paid in gold or silver.
Reconstruction, again following from both biblical law and the abolition of the majority of government functions, advocates for closing prisons and reinstituting slavery as a form of punishment. In accordance with Biblical law, capital punishment should be required for all of ancient Israel's capital offenses, including apostasy, blasphemy, incorrigibility in children, murder, rape, Sabbath breaking, sodomy, and witchcraft. Yes, they are serious about this. Rushdoony defended his insistence on these measures in an interview with Bill Moyers. He also made it clear that he expects that force will be necessary to impose such order, though he makes the odd claim that he does not advocate ‘top down imposition” of Christianity, but only that Christians take every area of life “into captivity to Christ.”
Lastly, along with these extreme views, Reconstruction has a distinctly racist slant, and mirrors some elements of Christian Identity’s beliefs in issues like interracial marriage, and has made a long list of rather horrible statements about African peoples.
Reconstruction and the CF are very influential, and have become deeply embedded into mainstream American Christianity, and even more so into mainstream political arenas. Both the Republican party, and the Libertarian/Tea Party movement are thoroughly infused with this ideology. You won’t hear Palin, or Rand Paul, or Mike Huckabee explicitly naming or quoting Rushdoony; they are too smart for that. But if you look at what they do say, and you look at who they associate with, at who they are influenced by, you will see the unmistakeable stamp of Reconstruction, and it’s newer offspring, Dominionism.
no subject
Date: 2017-04-20 06:03 pm (UTC)There is a great emphasis on keeping children away from 'worldly' influences. The homeschool movement is a huge part of this - they don't want their kids polluted by 'secular' schools and ideas like science, or history, or critical thinking. There is a nearly medieval sense of religion, in the sense that faith permeates literally every element of their lives. Their loyalty is to God first and everything else second. God and faith are brought into every single subject. Some of the homeschool curricula are not only deeply flawed as academic curricula, but they use every subject to teach faith, right down to 'God made the moon for A, B, & C reasons,' or 'the power if Jesus is what holds atoms together.' The ideal situation is one in which someone grows up never knowing anything about other forms of Christianity or other religions, except that they are wrong.
The fear of Islam is only the latest rationale - this kind of theology need an enemy against which to rally its followers (I call it 'Big Bad Wolf Syndrome'), and it must be the oppressed underdog, despite all evidence to the contrary. It is firstly Calvinist, and rooted in the almost obsessive need to find outward signs of being 'elect.' That ideology was the founding one of the US, and has persisted ever since. Fundamentalism coalesced in the 1920, amid the rise of modernity, textual criticism, scientific literacy, and an over all progressive shift. It took the sidelines dung WWII, and then reemerged into the 'red scare' of the 1950s, where McCarthyism and fear of the Communist menace provided a lot of fuel. The cultural upheaval of the 60s and early 70s provoked its own backlash in the form of the Moral Majority, Billy Graham, the Campus Crusade for Christ, and the rise of the televangelists. Once the Berlin wall fell and the Cold War wound down, all that fear and aggression needed a new target, and women's lib, abortion, and homosexuality became the prime targets.
I think the regressive backlashes we are seeing in a lot of places, not just the US, derive from a similar sense of fear. Not just fear of terrorists, but fear of losing relevance. Let's face it, the 'story of the world' is largely told as that of the West, of white Christian history. That is now (rightly( being challenged, and the realization that white Christian Europe is but a tiny sliver of the human story is simply too much; it's a sort of warfare against the ideals of white Christian supremacy. And we're seeing it even in places where it's not heavily religious, but the narrative plays out much the same.
no subject
Date: 2017-04-20 06:44 pm (UTC)I now have this mental image of a bearded bro in a bathrobe and birkenstocks wielding a roll of tape as he hauls about CERN in anger.
Thank you for the thorough post. This isn't anything I didn't already know-- I live in Texas, so we get to see all that shit cycle through on the regular-- but holy crap when you put it together in such a succinct way it really hits home how horrifying these people's beliefs are.
no subject
Date: 2017-04-20 08:55 pm (UTC)Just wait until I start getting into who and where these guys are....