What Would Christian Reconstructionism In America Look Like?

Rep. Bobby Franklin (R-GA)

What would Christian Reconstructionism in America look like? For starters, meet state representative Bobby Franklin from the 43rd District of Georgia [Cobb County]. Franklin advocates that the Tea Party should push for making all taxes illegal, and other federal powers he claims are unconstitutional, instead of pushing for mere tax cuts. Franklin would abolish driver’s licenses, public schools, income taxes and mandatory vaccinations. Franklin has proposed legislation to make gold and silver the only legal tender. Franklin wrote a bill calling rape victims “accusers."  Franklin also introduced a bill that would require a woman to provide evidence that their miscarriage occurred naturally or face felony charges.


Back in February 2011, in the Marietta Daily Journal , Franklin made several " off the cuff" comments.

"Cobb County, in its Soviet style central planning, has deemed that you have to have two acres just to have a chicken."

Franklin has been on record saying allowing gays in the military is no different than allowing convicted drug dealers to enter.  Franklin adds:

"We've really adopted all 10 planks of the Communist Manifesto in one form or another in this country."

Rep. Franklin's " Life, Liberty and Property Restoration Act," in which four spheres of government; self-government, family government, church government, and civil government would create a six-person legal repeals panel to undo the incursion of civil government on the other three. What's odd is the requirements Franklin mandates to sit on such a panel. "None of the members shall have graduated from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association or have ever been admitted to the practice of law in any state." [Source: Talkingpointsmemo.com)

Christian Reconstruction in Their Own Words.

Rousa Rushdoony

Rousas Rushdoony has been coined the father of the Christian Reconstruction movement in America. Many credit him with the home schooling movement as well. It was Rushdoony's prolific writing,  Institutes of Biblical Law, that spawned much of what has become known as the Christian right.  This movement advocates that segments of society be reclaimed from the humanist and reconstructed on the basis of biblical law. 

Reconstructionists claim that the unfettered free markets are biblically mandated.

What this is really saying, is that GOD is the force behind capitalism and government intervention is putting faith in man as opposed to GOD. 

    

The Reconstructionists have over the years aligned themselves with radical groups like the John Birch Society. [JBS] In 2006, the Chalcedon foundation published an article celebrating the JBS. The JBS chairman of that time,  John McManus, was interviewed.

John McManus

"For forty-eight years a single organization has led the way in preserving America's national sovereignty while helping to fortify the moral blockade on our failing culture... '' 

Here is what the constitutional conservatives, theocratic libertarians and tea party movement people look and sound like. 

The Institute on the Constitution is an organization offering classes on teaching a Christian nationalist view of the Constitution around the country. This organization featured the above video speaker, Rev. Joseph Morecraft, where he spoke on the topic God and Politics. This so-called, self-proclaimed speaker of GOD himself advocates Godless conservatism has failed. Morecraft goes on by saying that the time has come for Christians to start acting like Christians, and to proclaim Christ Lordship over politics, too. These type proclamations and foundations from the likes of Rep. Franklin and the good pastor Rev. Morecraft are the building blocks, for lack of term, that has manifested the emergence of the “theocratic libertarian." This overall narrative has been marketed by the Reconstructionists and their Dominion Theology. Throw in the Ron Paul school of Austrian economics and spread these narratives through the deep-pockets of the Koch Bros media echo chambers, and you muster in the anti-government crowd and lo-and behold, you have a mess on your hands.[In this writers view] 

Dominion Theology And Why It Is Dangerous.

This worldview advocates abolition of much, if not all of the federal government, regulatory structures, social safety nets, and unions.

It is the adherence to biblical law that becomes the method of control over society once government is decreased, very much like the Taliban has imposed in Afghanistan, and Islam has in Iran for example. It has become apparent that these factions in America have been emboldened and seem to wish for the circumstances in our country to be so bad that people will start buying into their doctrine. Christian Reconstructionists seem to pray for the demise of government so they can prescribe their medicine upon “We the People," no matter how bad that medicine taste. A primary target of the Reconstructionists, the John Birch Society, the Tea Party and the Ron Paul's of the world, is unions. 

Gary North, one of Ron Paul's right-hand men, back in 1978 in a Biblical Economics Today article titled A Christian View of Labor Unions all but called on a holy war against unions.

 Folks, this is the guy heading up Ron Paul's new home-school project that this writer reported on back last year in a LiberalAmerica.org  article titled, Ron Paul: Homeschooling With A Radical Approach. 

Gary North comments:

The unions are as good as busted. It's PATCO all over again. Other governors are already on board the union-busting train. Walker set the pattern....The return of the rank and file of union members to the Democrat Party, if it happens, will be mostly geezers with walkers. When you think `union' think `walker.'

The PATCO reference refers to Ronald Reagan's firing of striking members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization in 1981. 

Funny how the GOD of the right-wing movement played dictator in this situation ,when the using of executive order suits his fancy. How ironic. Just like with the recent fiasco in Nevada with rancher Cliven Bundy, it was an executive order by then President Ronald Reagan that created the land use fees and not the tyrannical U.S. government. This double standard has long been the order of the day with these Christian zealots.

 Fast forwarding to the present political atmosphere, Ron Paul and his protege son, Republican senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul have had a long term association with the Christian Reconstructionists.  Rand Paul Was The Featured Speaker At the Theocratic Constitution Party 2009 Rally. The Tea Party crowd have long described themselves as supporters of the libertarian viewpoints promoted by Ron Paul. However, Ron Paul is not a classical libertarian. Paul is from the right libertarian perspective. Ron Paul likes to parade himself as a Christian Libertarian or Theocratic Libertarian, a worldview more closely associated with the aforementioned Rousas Rushdoony and Reconstructionism.  In closing, what has to be fully understood is the agenda that the Reconstructionists, Tea Party and Ron Paul type Libertarians are advocating. This Christian nationalism dynamic must be recognized for what it truly is and that it's much more than a movement driven by economics and tax reduction. In essence, they want to reconfigure the constitution to their personal whim for their own collective personal gain. The "wolf in sheep's clothing,' comes to this writers mind. But all one has to do is follow their comments to get a real understanding of what their goal would be. To circumvent the constitution's basic tenets; the separation of church and state, doctrines that allow all of us the freedom to choose our faith or lack of, and more importantly to keep it from our public places like schools, governmental buildings, and the courthouse just to name a few. 

Gary North wrote in Dominion Strategies in 1986:

Gary North

"What they are saying in their fund-raising letters is clear, and has been since 1980: `American fundamental Christianity is at last out of the pews and into the streets (Washington for Jesus), and the humanists are going to see their friendly little monopoly over America blown to kingdom-come.' Whether kingdom-come is officially premillennial or officially postmillennial isn't particularly relevant at this point. I assume that an activist, `let's get involved' Christian leader has become an operational postmillennialist and an operational Christian Reconstructionist until he writes a detailed book or produces a detailed tape series spelling out exactly why and in what ways he is not in deed (though not in word) on most specific issues, a Christian reconstructionist and a postmillennialist. Deeds are what counts. Motivational speeches are what count. The intricate details and particular qualifications of a man's personally held (and rarely spoken) eschatology are not what count."

Rev. Joseph Morecraft

I believe the children in the Christian schools of America are the Army that is going to take the future. Right now. . .the Christian Reconstruction movement is made up of a few preachers, teachers, writers, scholars, publishing houses, editors of magazines, and it's growing quickly. But I expect a massive acceleration of this movement in about 25 or 30 years, when those kids that are now in Christian schools have graduated and taken their places in American society, and moved into places of influence and power.'"

Written By: Johnny Hill