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Christian Reconstructionism


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When I was a Christian serving as a pastor in an independent Baptist church, I became increasingly concerned because I noticed that many in our congregation were buying into the tenants of a theology called Christian Reconstructionism. I felt that perhaps it was our form of worship that lent itself to the people of our church leaning in this particular direction, but as I looked into the matter I was shocked to find that the Christian Reconstructionist movement was growing and gaining ground. It was not just our church that was getting involved in a variety of ways, but many other churches across this country as well. As a result, I began to look into this movement and what I found there shocked me as a Christian. Now that I have come out of the faith I find myself even more disgusted at what I have learned about Christian Reconstructionism and believe that it is in our best interests, as freethinking people, to know about this movement and to be watchful.

 

The church that I was in held dearly to traditional family values. They believed in the father being the literal head of the household, that mothers were to primarily be caretakers of the children in the home and that children were to be raised to be obedient, even abandoning their own dreams in order to help their fathers fulfill there's. After all, the father, as head of the household, was to steer the entire family in the way that it should go. As the head and priest of the family, he should know what is right and what is best for each member, right?

 

Because of this church's beliefs, they naturally gravitated toward other organizations that held similar views. As a result, many within our congregation would purchase materials for their families (books, instructional videos and the like) from an organization called Vision Forum (http://www.visionforum.com). A casual glance would cause many Christians to think that Vision Forum was a fine institution, promoting the family and providing a nice alternative to the products sold by secular companies. Who would argue that the family unit today wasn't in bad need of being repaired? Vision Forum was presenting their vision for bringing a family together and raising the next generation with a mindset for family … and God.

 

After ordering some material from Vision Forum myself, I began to receive their catalogs in the mail. The first catalog surprised me. I noticed the cover:

 

catalog1.jpg

 

I was struck by this image. As you can see, the children are armed and ready for war. One may think that this is all great fun and games (and, yes, I would even play with stick-swords with my kids) until one looks through the contents of the catalog. You can glance at them for yourselves at the following URL:

 

http://download.visionforum.com/documents/...catalog2008.pdf

 

Once you get to page 43 you will come to The All-American Boy's Adventure Catalog. The next 10 pages are weapons and clothing from various periods of war. Now, don't get me wrong. I played cowboys and Indians as a kid and would have no problems with my own children doing the same. But I began to wonder why a Christian organization was so heavily promoting these types of toys. A little research on their previous catalogs showed the same theme: a theme of young men, trained for battle, ready to defend what they believed in!

 

catalog2.jpg

 

catalog3.jpg

 

catalog4.jpg

 

So the question is, what do people like Vision Forum believe? What is it that our young boys should be trained to be willing to defend and, if necessary, to die for?

 

Vision Forum is a part of the Christian Reconstructionist movement. The movement, in its modern form, was founded in the United States by a man named R. J. Rushdoony (http://www.chalcedon.edu). While Rushdoony is dead, others have taken up the mantle such as Gary North, Gary DeMar, Howard Ahmanson Jr., Greg Bahnsen, David Chilton, Kenneth Gentry and others. In a nut shell, Christian Reconstructionism believes in a theonomy … that the only true ruler is God and, as such, God's laws are the only laws that should govern a nation. As a result, Christian Reconstructionists believe that our country, the United States of America, should be governed by the civil laws revealed to us in the Old Testament. Capital punishment should be carried out by stoning, the sword and hanging because, according to Gary North, stones are cheap, plentiful and convenient. Punishments for non-capital crimes would include whipping, restitution in the form of indentured servitude, or slavery. And, yes, as you might have guessed, the death penalty would be for such offenses as homosexuality, disobedient children, committing adultery and even for apostasy from the Christian faith. That would mean that most of us on this forum would be executed if Christian Reconstructionists were to gain control of our government.

 

Vision Forum is not the only such organization. Several others exist as well such as American Vision (http://www.americanvision.org), the Mayflower Institute (http://www.mayflowerinstitute.com) and many others. Christian Reconstructionists have been trying to slowly take over the government of the United States by means of the political machine. Howrd Phillips (http://www.howardphillips.com), formed the Constitutional Party (http://www.constitutionparty.org) and, in 2000, ran for president (http://archive.newsmax.com/archives/articl...25/020526.shtml). He is the father of Doug Phillips who just happens to be the founder and president of Vision Forum. There are many other political leaders that are filling the roles of senator and congressman that have ties to Christian Reconstructionism. While their voices may be small in comparison at this time, they have a vision that seems to be catching on in this country among the Christian Right. According to men like Gary North, they are fully prepared, should the political machine fail them, to take the government by force. I wonder if this is why catalogs, such as those by Vision Forum, make such an emphasis on war, starting with children.

 

While I personally don't believe that these people will ultimately succeed in what they are trying to do, I think that we should be aware of them. Many families are embroiled in the teachings of such organizations and there are raising the next generation to believe in the tenants of Christian Reconstructionism. We have seen what happens when children are indoctrinated into radical beliefs. All we have to do is look to extremist Muslim countries. Are not organizations like this at least moving in the same general direction?

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This is one of my favorite topics, and also one that really pisses me off and scares me. I am familiar with most of the Christian Nationalist you have mentioned. I try to keep a close eye on some of these people. One thing you left out about the reconstructionists is that they have revised our history, claiming that this is a Christian nation founded by Christians, for Christians.

 

I believe this is a powerful group. The number of people who actually want crazy OT law to be enforced might be relatively small, but A) they are powerful with connections at the highest level (Christian Nationalists have gotten pretty tight with Bush), and B)many people support them without fully understanding their agenda. Christians aren't exactly known for their research skills, so when some famous Christians says to support this or that, they do it, without thinking much about it. I'm actually working on a song about this subject, because I think it's really important. Whether you're an Atheist, someone of another religions besides Christianity, or even part of Christianity, you should be worried about these people. I think right now is when we should start to worry even more, ironically, even though we're getting a Democratic president and Congress. This is the time when they will get quite angry. They will see all of these "evil" changes of laws as a reason to fight even harder. These groups are very much into the grass roots political movement. To quote Ralph Reed of the Christian Coalition, who worked in the 90's to take over government, starting on the small level, ""I want to be invisible . . . I paint my face and travel at night. You don't know it's over until you're in a body bag. You don't know until election night."

 

Sure, maybe we won't ever see these sons of bitches hanging gay people in the streets, but already see them treating gays like scum, not worth of civil rights. We see them trying to keep women from birth control. We see them trying to keep Wiccan's and Atheists from choosing non-Christian Symbols for their children's military gravestones. We see them trying to destroy science classes in the name of creationism. We see them funneling Federal money - everyone's tax dollars - to pay for them to pretend to offer a social service, when really, they're just trying to convert people. We see them putting millions of dollars into groups like the ACLJ that fight the ACLU in the courtroom, trying to allow Christians to dominate government institutions in a manner that is destructive of people's civil rights. At some level, they are there, and they will continue to be there. Some are scarier than others (most militia's are Christian Nationalist groups), but they all want to destroy our freedom in the name of their god, and a constant eye must be on them.

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This was quite disturbing, especially their "special" lessons for young girls. However, Photoshop did help me make more sense of the graphic from page 14 of their catalog:

post-502-1228054199_thumb.jpg

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AKR,

 

I am glad that I am not alone in watching these guys. And, yes, you are quite correct about their historical revisionism. A glance at the books offered in their catalog makes this quite clear. One book especially caught my attention. It's title is, Washington, America's Joshua. Now, think about that for a moment. Who was Joshua from the Bible? He was the one that lead the Israelites into battle to conquer the Promised Land ... the land that God had (supposedly) divinely promised to the Children of Israel. By titling the book thus, they are stating that the United States is a divinely promised land and that the people here are chosen as Israel was. As such, they are indicating that the same laws that governed the Israelites must govern this nation as well (or we will suffer the same divine punishments).

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This is what I have been fearing for quite a long time. I do foresee this as coming into fruition within my lifetime, so I have been abstaining from certain acts that would condemn me in their views. I choose not to have premarital sex not only because I fear that no matter the precautions I take that I will get pregnant but that once those nut fucks get into power they will revive the old devices and use the pear on me. At the same time it seems rather dumb to be trying to abstain from sex when they can kill you for being an apostate.

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This is what I have been fearing for quite a long time. I do foresee this as coming into fruition within my lifetime, so I have been abstaining from certain acts that would condemn me in their views. I choose not to have premarital sex not only because I fear that no matter the precautions I take that I will get pregnant but that once those nut fucks get into power they will revive the old devices and use the pear on me. At the same time it seems rather dumb to be trying to abstain from sex when they can kill you for being an apostate.

 

I don't understand. Why live as if they were in power already? Nothing is inevitable! Live as you please. Fight them if they try to take power. Stand alongside crazy fuckers like me when it comes time to storm their halls. And even if they do prevail, continue live as you please beneath their radar and be prepared to stand and fight if their thugs come calling.

 

I'm going to be frank: what you're doing now is no way to live.

 

Now, I was just reminded of a woman I used to know who was planning on relocating to Guyana because she was so afraid the Religious Right was going to seize dictatorial power. Aside from that being pretty far-fetched, she did at least live as she pleased while making her preparations, and she planned on continuing to live as she pleased down there.

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This movement is one of the reasons I became more vocal about atheism and critical thinking. I used to keep quiet, not caring what other people believed, but some of those other people have become a threat.

 

The Reconstructionists are a subversive group masquerading as a religion. They need to be kept out of public office and challenged whenever possible.

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I just last week wrote a paper about Right-wing Evangelicalism and how it is nothing more than subversive, imperialist nationalism in religious clothing. Didn't even need to touch on the Revisionists - the mainstreamers gave me quite enough to build a pretty solid argument, I thought.

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John Macarthur wrote some books where he challenges the rewriting of history by the reconstructionists, and the claims that America is some type of promised land. Now, I am not recommending his books because he's a Christian pastor through and through, but I read Why Government Can't Save youand Can God Bless America? while I was still a believer and member of Falwell's church. Falwell wasn't entirely into the reconstructionist movement but he did consider Francis Shaefer as one of his mentors and Shaefer was who convinced him to be involved in Politics. I think that the Christian Rights involvement in politics does not always mean their leaders buy into reconstructionism entirely. Because I don't think Baptists for the most part think the "world" is every going to be good enough for Jesus return, plus they are mostly pre-mil. But, they look at the evils of this present world, forget the scriptures and the book of Ecclesiates, realize it might be much longer before Jesus does come back and that they might be able to delay his coming so that more can be saved.

 

I realize that all this is bullshit now btw. But as a former Independent Baptist I can relate to a lot of the thinking that gets non-reconstructionist Christians leaning in that direction.

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this is just part of the disturbing trend many of us have been noticing for a long time: Christians seem to be making it their little sidehobby to rewrite American History. They ignore the fact that many of the founding fathers and first few president's weren't even Christian, and try to claim that this nation was founded on Christianity despite the blatant lack of the words "Bible" "Christian" and even "God" in the constitution. They also love to pretend that the whole "In God, we trust" Thing has always been that way and totally ignore the fact that it was added in the mid 90's as opposition to other political schemes.

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And they are doing more and more about this revisionist history as well. For example, for the last several years Vision Forum has been having what it calls its History of the World Mega Conference. The first conference began its history of the world with two classes on Augustine. Then they went back to "creation" and moved on from there. Augustine is an important figure to Christian Reconstructionists, Dominionists and the like ... the "City of God" concepts and all of that.

 

Lanakila,

 

Most Baptists do not buy into Dominion Theology because Baptists are not really Protestants and, as a result, hold to some fundamentally different theologies (you pointed out pre-mil, and that is an important one). Most Baptists, today, are not Calvanistic. Dominion theologians usually are. As you pointed out, most Baptists are pre-millennial (i.e. Christ comes first and then sets up his 1000 year kingdom). Dominion theologians are usually post-millennial (Christ rules NOW in heaven and his kingdom will come about on earth as his servants bring it into existence). However, as doctrine becomes less important to many churches, they are being won over by Dominion theologians. Also, these guys, like the group from Vision Forum, are sneaking in the back door by promoting the family (sort of like the Mormons do).

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In a world committed to demeaning women and destroying the beauty of femininity, find Scripture-centered hope and vision through this encouraging collection of books, CDs, and films.

 

:rolleyes: The women in the picture beside that description are hot.

 

You're right, the catalog is rather military oriented.

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While I don't know the particular beliefs of Tom Riner, Representative for Kentucky, I think we can see some relevance in relation to this thread. Here is a recent article from Fox:

 

FRANKFORT, Ky. — A group of atheists filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to remove part of a state anti-terrorism law that requires Kentucky's Office of Homeland Security to acknowledge it can't keep the state safe without God's help.

 

American Atheists Inc. sued in state court over a 2002 law that stresses God's role in Kentucky's homeland security alongside the military, police agencies and health departments.

 

Of particular concern is a 2006 clause requiring the Office of Homeland Security to post a plaque that says the safety and security of the state "cannot be achieved apart from reliance upon almighty God" and to stress that fact through training and educational materials.

 

The plaque, posted at the Kentucky Emergency Operations Center in Frankfort, includes the Bible verse: "Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."

 

"It is one of the most egregiously and breathtakingly unconstitutional actions by a state legislature that I've ever seen," said Edwin F. Kagin, national legal director of Parsippany, N.J.-based American Atheists Inc. The group claims the law violates both the state and U.S. constitutions.

 

But Democratic state Rep. Tom Riner, a Baptist minister from Louisville, said he considers it vitally important to acknowledge God's role in protecting Kentucky and the nation.

 

"No government by itself can guarantee perfect security," Riner said. "There will always be this opposition to the acknowledgment of divine providence, but this is a foundational understanding of what America is."

 

Kentucky has been at the center of a series of legal battles involving religious issues in recent years, most involving displays of the Ten Commandments in public buildings. One case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled in 2005 that such displays inside courthouses in two counties were unconstitutional.

 

Kentucky isn't the only state dealing with religious issues, but Ed Buckner, president of American Atheists, said it's alone in officially enlisting God in homeland security.

 

"I'm not aware of any other state or commonwealth that is attempting to dump their clear responsibility for protecting their citizens onto God or any other mythological creature," Buckner said.

 

State Rep. David Floyd, R-Bardstown, said the preamble to the Kentucky constitution references a people "grateful to almighty God," so he said he sees no constitutional violation in enlisting God in the state's homeland security efforts.

 

"God help us if we don't," he said

 

Here is a direct link to the article:

 

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,460889,00.html

 

Notice Riner's use of the word "providence" when speaking of god in relation to this country.

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I think the real danger is if HS starts building churches and supporting religious activity, just because it's an "alternative" method to protecting the country. They could start having classes in how to evangelize and have Bible studies, it would conform to the anti-terror law.

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