Royal Race of the Redeemed?

by Lewis Loflin

Christian Reconstructionism promotes, genocide, slavery, anti-Semitism, racism, and just out-right terror to obtain a political goal. Christian Reconstructionism is only two things - power and hate. It is evil cloaked in religion whose only equal today is Islam.

What does Cornelius Van Til think of his former student Rushdoony and his son-in-law Gary North on their perversion of the Gospel?

Then too I am frankly a little concerned about the political views of Mr. Rushdoony and Mr. North and particularly if I am correctly informed about some of the views Gary North has with respect to the application of Old Testament principles to our day. My only point is that I would hope and expect that they would not claim that such views are inherent in the principles I hold.

From a letter to Gregg Singer, May 11, 1972, in Gary North, Political Polytheism: The Myth of Pluralism (Tyler, TX: Institute for Christian Economics, 1989), p. 133n.

There is plenty of reason why Mr. van Til should be concerned. Christian Reconstructionism considers democracy/freedom a heresy. Its distortion/reconstruction of American Christian traditions is used to justify its evil. Its social and religious dogma promotes genocide, enslavement, and terror to promote the delusions of a self-chosen royal race to dominion over the earth. They see themselves in religious terms as a new "master religion" whose destiny is to crush all others in the name of God.

Except for perhaps Christian Identity, Christian Reconstructionism has to be one of the worse perversions of Christianity ever devised. It is the personal political opinions of its founders wrapped in a form of hyper-Calvinism totally stripped of anything Jesus ever said (they claim Jesus' moral teachings are for Jews only) while preaching a society stripped of all freedoms and personal choice. Every facet of society, government, family, schools, etc, would be "reconstructed" along Old Testament lines. This includes the death penalty for abortion, homosexuals, atheists and other non-believers, blasphemy, etc.

According Rushdoony son-in-law Gary North in a letter to Paul Hill in relation to the killing of Dr. Gunn at an abortion clinic in Florida:

"The sixth commandment reads, "Thou shalt not kill" (Ex. 20:13). The God who mandates this is also the God who ordered the total annihilation of the Canaanites (Deut. 7:16), so this verse cannot legitimately be interpreted as a defense of pacifism." "What is murder, biblically speaking?

It is the slaying of a human being by someone who has not been authorized to do so as a covenantal agent ...the authorization to execute a transgressor under the Mosaic covenant was ordained by God and revealed in His law."

So it isn't murder as long as it is for religious reasons. Everyone who doesn't submit to their perverted version of God is in fact Canaanites. This group is the driving force behind Operation Rescue and Randal Terry.

While it is true that most Christian fundamentalists don't agree with all of their theology, they do agree with their social agenda that all functions in life, including the Constitution, Bill of Rights, and all civil law be subordinated to the Bible. All society will be run according to their version of the New Testament (as opposed to the OT, the one point they disagree) and all of those who don't fall in line will be dealt with.

Its founder R.J. Rushdoony has had his books endorsed by Jerry Falwell, has appeared on the 700 Club, and is a past associate of John Whitehead of the Virginia based Rutherford Institute. (He is claimed by many to run the organization, which is denied by Whitehead.) Their influence is wide spread yet most fundamentalists try to distance themselves publicly from this group for good reasons.

This cult is also the driving force behind home schooling, vouchers, and efforts to destroy public education. Part of their bizarre scheme is to train legions of Christian soldiers with home schooling to overthrow secular society. In their words:

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.

So says his son-in-law Gary North, "The Intellectual Schizophrenia of the New Christian Right" in Christianity and Civilization: The Failure of the American Baptist Culture, No. 1 (Spring, 1982), p. 25. Gary North (I.C.E. Free Books) is also the biggest distributor of literature for home schoolers. They also call for an end to income taxes, end to most government functions, etc. The Christian Right agenda down the line. There is no conspiracy here, these folks operate in the open and they mean what they say.

For more on this and Gary North see
Dominion Theology by Sara Diamond
There's something about Gary
Interview with Gary North King of Christian Economics

As Americans we should be patriotic to our country and its laws but according to these people, "the bottom line is that at a certain point there is not only the right, but the duty, to disobey the state."

(See Patriotism) Thus America, its institutions, and the very ideas of freedom are to be disregarded and the only patriotism allowed is to their perverted bible-god. The Bible clearly states we are to obey the law. This is just one of many non-biblical opinions they promote. It's no wonder so many fundamentalists hint at armed overthrow of the government.

In a nutshell the main ideas of this cult are:

Christian Reconstructionism is a belief that society, particularly in the United States, has seriously degenerated morally and religiously and must be totally rebuilt to Biblical standards. (Their version only.)

Dominion Theology is derived from Genesis 1:26 of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament): "Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'" (NIV)

Most Christians interpret this verse as meaning that God gave mankind dominion over the animal kingdom. Dominion theologians believe that this verse commands Christians to bring all societies, around the world, under the rule of the Word of God. Thus DOMINION.

Theonomy (Greek for "God's Law") is the concept that all of the non-ceremonial laws given to Moses and recorded in the Pentateuch (the first 5 books of the Hebrew Scriptures) are binding on people of all nations forever.

That means the Old Testament was not done away by Jesus' death on the cross. This is why so many fundamentalists are so adamant over the Ten Commandments and ignore the teachings of Jesus in Matthew/Mark/Luke.
Also see What is fundamentalism?

The term Reconstructionism has been used to refer to various combinations of the preceding three terms. To quote an article at Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance:

Its most common form, Theonomic Reconstructionism, represents one of the most extreme forms of Fundamentalist Christianity thought. It originated in the United States from the Reformed or Calvinistic tradition.

Its goal is the peaceful conversion of the United States government to a theocracy, which is based on the Mosaic Law of the Hebrew Scriptures. 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.

Later, their graduates will be charged with the responsibility of creating a new Bible-based political, religious and social order. One of the first tasks of this order will be to eliminate religious freedom. Their eventual goal is to achieve the "Kingdom of God" in which the entire world is converted to Christianity.

They feel that the power of God's word will bring about this conversion. No armed force or insurrection will be needed; in fact, they believe that there will be little opposition to their plan. People will willingly accept it if it is properly presented to them.
All religions other than Christianity would be suppressed. Nonconforming Evangelical, main line and liberal Christian institutions would no longer be allowed to function. Society would revert to the laws and punishments of the Hebrew Scriptures. Any person who advocated or practiced other religious beliefs would be tried for idolatry and exterminated.

Blasphemy, adultery and homosexual behavior would be criminalize; those found guilty would be executed. To our knowledge, this is the only religious movement in North America in which many of its members advocate genocide for followers of minority religions.

Ralph Reed, the executive director of the conservative public policy group the Christian Coalition has criticized Reconstructionism as "an authoritarian ideology that threatens the most basic civil liberties of a free and democratic society."

Funny that Ralph would say that considering most of what he and Pat Robertson preach is much the same. Ralph isn't the only one trying to distance himself from extremists for public appearance sake. (More below.)

Also see Pat Quotes.

Damage Control at Chalcedon

Rev. Andrew Sandlin

These two disclaimers recently appeared on the Chalcedon website:

An Important Message on Chalcedon and Racism

By P. Andrew Sandlin
February 17, 2000

The February, 2000 issue of the Chalcedon Report (printed edition) carried an informative article by Mr. Charles A. Weisman entitled "Origin of the Right to Bear Arms in America."

Unfortunately, we discovered after publishing that issue that Mr. Weisman holds and expresses racist views. I first read this article in another publication, and we contacted that publication to obtain permission to reprint the article.

The article itself gave no hint of his racism. Had we known of Mr. Weisman's racism beforehand, we would not, of course, have published the article.

Unfortunately, a small but vocal sector of the professed Right Wing espouses racist views. An even larger sector of the professed Left Wing embraces racist views (see Jim Sleeper's Liberal Racism [New York: Viking, 1997]).

Chalcedon's position on racism is well known. Our perspective is religious, not racial. We have always, unequivocally repudiated racism, whether on the Left or Right.

And this from another page:

Important Notice: It has come to our attention that several sites on the web which support or promote white racial supremacy are linking to this page attempting to bolster their defective "reconstructionist" theology with Chalcedon's work. This is despicable, and we in NO way support these groups or their ideas. Here is an official statement from Chalcedon scholar and staff member Andrew Sandlin:

Chalcedon does not endorse and is in no way associated with racist groups or organizations like Identity, British Israelism, the Aryan Nation, etc. For Christian Reconstructionists, the crucial issue is religion, not race.

We press for the recovery of *Christian* civilization, not a twisted white racist civilization.

All races are naturally sinful, and all need salvation in Christ. Christianity is multiracial and multiethnic. The Bible teaches religious superiority, not racial superiority.

So says P. Andrew Sandlin executive vice president of Chalcedon and editor of the Chalcedon Report and other Chalcedon publications.

What kind of idiot is this man? Is there a difference in advocating murder over religion versus racism? Oh, I forgot, it isn't murder if approved by God!

His real purpose is to distance Chalcedon form possible lawsuits over violence that readers of their hate propaganda might resort to. The KKK as an organization got sued for inciting violence, why not Chalcedon? Better yet, why would Neo-Nazis, skinheads, and hate groups of all kinds flock to Chalcedon and Christian Reconstructionism? A few examples below are why:

The Jew by David Chilton
"The god of Judaism is the devil. The Jew will not be recognized by God as one of His chosen people until he abandons his demonic religion and returns to the faith of his fathers--the faith which embraces Jesus Christ and His Gospel." (Like Neo-Nazis they separate Jews from the Bible/Jesus)

The Holocaust by R.J. Rushdoony
"Men are now "reconciled" to a world where millions are murdered, or are said to be murdered. What will be required in the way of action and propaganda next time?" (More Neo-Nazi Holocaust denial.)

Slavery by David Chilton
"The bible permits slavery...."

The Negro by R.J. Rushdoony
"The private ownership of slave labor in the American South has been the subject of extensive distortion." (Reconstructionists glorify it) "The condition of the Irish immigrants on arrival was far worse than that of slaves: they had no master to feed and clothe them or to provide shelter."

"The basic difference between the Irish and the Negro has not been color: it has been character...it is a significant difference that cannot be explained altogether by color or environment." In other writings they refer to the pre-1865 South as a "victim" and its society as the "ideal" Christian society.
See The Old South and the New Religious Right.

Native Americans by Gary North
"if ever a continent of covenant-breakers deserved this attribution (extermination), the "native Americans" did."

Adherents of other religions by R.J. Rushdoony
"Segregation or separation is thus a basic principle of Biblical law with respect to religion...toleration is the excuse under which this levelling is undertaken...the believer is asked to associate on a common level ...with the atheist, the pervert, the criminal, and the adherents of other religions"

Citizenship by Gary North
"The long-term goal of Christians in politics should be to gain exclusive control over the franchise. Those who refuse to submit...must be denied citizenship".

Non-Reconstructionist Christians by R.J. Rushdoony
"All who are content with a humanistic law system...are guilty of idolatry...they are asking us to serve other gods." (Idolatry is punishable by death.)

And much more.

Wonder if Sandlin could explain what section of Scripture do we get this garbage from? Except for slavery, all of the rest is their opinion. What Bible are they using? The God of Judaism is the God of the Bible! They try to separate Jews from the Bible. The reason for the Holocaust denial is simple, according to one neo-Nazi, "if the Holocaust didn't happen, National Socialism would be more acceptable." (So would Christian Reconstructionism/Nazism.)

The Christian community in America has to decide just what their religion is about. Is it about Jesus and His moral teaching or political opportunity for a powerful few while most others follow along like sheep? Christian Reconstructionism is not Christian; it's a cult and needs to be treated as one.

Paul Thibodeau maintains a site that is critical of Reconstructionism. See "Christian Reconstruction: God's Glorious Millennium?" at:
http://www.serve.com/thibodep/cr/cr.htm

Religious Controversy

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