# Christian Reconstructionism (??) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 24, 2007, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461 "2007-04-24T15:22:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/1 "2007-04-24T15:22:11Z")
This may end up in GD, but I’ll place it here because I’m looking for factual answers. Can someone give me the gist of Christian Reconstructionism? What’s the prevailing philosophy? How popular is it, and is its popularity/practice increasing? I hear there are aspects of it that actually promote, or at least excuse enslavement and murder. Is this true, and to what extent? …or am I completely off the mark? I know there are related practices that I see as possible subsets (or offshoots) of the movement, but I’m looking for a general consensus on the most widely accepted beliefs, because the more I Google the more unclear I become. TIA ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/2 "2007-04-24T15:35:47Z")
Previous thread on the topic: [Christian Reconstructionism](http://208.100.26.199/sdmb/showthread.php?t=287919) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/3 "2007-04-24T15:42:44Z")
And no, I don’t think you’re off the mark. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/4 "2007-04-24T16:00:02Z")
The Pit thread started by **Wolf meister** also has some highly relevant information. I confess that the whole Christian Reconstructionist movement worries me greatly – and, I think, with good reason. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/5 "2007-04-24T16:11:48Z")
just some basics about the topic: From: [http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/chrisre1.html](http://www.publiceye.org/magazine/chrisre1.html) about the goal of Christian Reconstructionism (AKA Dominionism) > [@](#): > > “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.” From R.J. Rushdoony (the late founding father of the Reconstructionist movement): > [@](#): > > The penalty [for idolatry] in every case is death without mercy. – The Institutes of Biblical Law, (Nutley, NJ: Craig Press, 1973), p. 38. > > Our lives, families, churches, schools, states, and vocations, as well as all things else, must be totally dedicated to God and free of idolatry, from man’s self-worship in any form. – “Idolatry and the Sabbath,” Law and Society: Volume II of The Institutes of Biblical Law, (Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books, 1982), p. 458 > > All who are content with a humanistic law system and do not strive to replace it with Biblical law are guilty of idolatry. They have forsaken the covenant of their God, and they are asking us to serve other gods. They are thus idolaters, and are, in our generation, when our world is idolatrous and our states also, to be objects of missionary activity. – “Idolatry and the Law,” Law and Society, p. 468. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/6 "2007-04-24T16:29:06Z")
Good friggin’ grief! And people complain about Islamic radicalism. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/7 "2007-04-24T17:05:36Z")
Is this the same thing as Dominionists? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/8 "2007-04-24T17:21:58Z")
[QUOTE=vivalostwages] Is this the same thing as Dominionists? [/QUOTE] It’s the same thing as Dominionists. ---
**Author:** ![Onomatopoeia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/onomatopoeia/32/4145_2.png) [@Onomatopoeia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onomatopoeia)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/9 "2007-04-24T17:47:12Z")
Would this be considered a part of Christian fundimentalism? What percentage of American society are adherents to reconstructionist precepts? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/10 "2007-04-24T17:53:50Z")
[QUOTE=Lumpy] Good friggin’ grief! And people complain about Islamic radicalism. [/QUOTE] True. But it seems far fewer christians are this radical, compared to muslims. Though good numbers do seem to be lacking. ---
**Author:** ![Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hypnagogic_jerk/32/4252_2.png) [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypnagogic_Jerk)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/11 "2007-04-24T22:04:17Z")
[Religioustolerance.org](http://Religioustolerance.org) on [Christian Reconstructionism](http://www.religioustolerance.org/reconstr.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/12 "2007-04-24T22:26:54Z")
[QUOTE=severus] [Religioustolerance.org](http://Religioustolerance.org) on [Christian Reconstructionism](http://www.religioustolerance.org/reconstr.htm). [/QUOTE] From the above website: Bolding is mine. > [@](#): > > Its most common form, Dominionism, represents one of the most extreme forms of Fundamentalist Christianity thought. Its followers, called Dominionists, are attempting to peacefully convert the laws of United States so that they match those 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 choice and freedom. Their eventual goal is to achieve the “Kingdom of God” in which much of the 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. All that needs to be done is to properly explain it to them. Sounds like Pat Robertson’s law school fits into this plan. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/13 "2007-04-25T02:56:27Z")
What I wouldn’t give for the power to gather up these Christian fanatic nutjobs, and their Muslim counterparts (the Wahabbist Sharia-law-imposing Caliphate-restoration Islamofascist fruitcakes), and strand them all on a remote Pacific island with a variety of weaponry and let them go all [Battle Royale](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266308/) on each others’ asses. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/14 "2007-04-25T09:59:09Z")
[QUOTE=Onomatopoeia] This may end up in GD, but I’ll place it here because I’m looking for factual answers. Can someone give me the gist of Christian Reconstructionism? What’s the prevailing philosophy? How popular is it, and is its popularity/practice increasing? I hear there are aspects of it that actually promote, or at least excuse enslavement and murder. Is this true, and to what extent? …or am I completely off the mark? I know there are related practices that I see as possible subsets (or offshoots) of the movement, but I’m looking for a general consensus on the most widely accepted beliefs, because the more I Google the more unclear I become. TIA [/QUOTE] Christian Reconstructionism is silly wishful thinking and worrying about it is sillier. The gist is that Biblical principles should govern all of life, public and private, by legislative fiat where necessary. How popular is it? It is, of course, the dream of every religious devotee that the whole world would come to the same personal conclusion as they did. This makes Christian Reconstructionism automatically popular with huge audiences. But what exactly are the principles of Christian Reconstructionism? Well, they are the principles which one can derive directly from the Bible–this notion is the core of fundamentalist belief. Since no two fundamentalist Christians have ever agreed what those principles are, I wouldn’t bother to get too hysterical about it. So far in history every fundamentalist Christian group has self-destructed nicely by arguing over what the Bible says, and eventually split itself up. No need for outsiders to feel like they need to break them up–they’ll do it on their own. Dig under the covers a bit and you won’t find “a” movement. You’ll find a zillion “leaders” of bands of the Faithful, each guaranteed to splinter into additional bands. There will never be enough cohesiveness to represent any real threat. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/15 "2007-04-25T10:12:52Z")
So, it’s popular with huge audiences with a zillion leaders and they want to rule by legislative fiat? Silly me! Where are they? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/16 "2007-04-25T14:32:12Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] Where are they? [/QUOTE] In my area, they’re on school boards, town councils, village panels, and other town and county elective offices. And perhaps one representative to the state legislature. True, they do tend to fall out with one another. But nothing unites them better than a common foe, whether it be humanism, liberal religion, catholocism, islam, or increased access to birth control. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/17 "2007-04-25T22:07:47Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] So, it’s popular with huge audiences with a zillion leaders and they want to rule by legislative fiat? Silly me! Where are they? [/QUOTE] I’m assumining you are addressing my post… They are all over the place. Commonest place to find the leaders is in churches, large and small. Listen to the messages about how the US is going to hell in a handbasket and how we need to get back to our Christian roots. How we need to halt legislation which is permitting sinful behaviour. How we need to create legislation to govern sex and drugs and personal behaviour, and what our schools teach about God and evolution. And on and on. The core of the Evangelical right are essentially reconstructionists in one form or another. I’d guesstimate something like 20% of the population but I admit it’s a WAG and it’s utterly dependent on how you decide to define a reconstructionist. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/18 "2007-04-25T22:34:27Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] Silly me! Where are they? [/QUOTE] Colorado Springs. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/19 "2007-04-26T00:39:13Z")
Is that the home of Focus on the Family? Also, are these CRs related to the folks at Battle Cry and Acquire the Fire? ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461/20 "2007-04-26T04:33:54Z")
I simply don’t get how the fundies can claim to know anything about Christianity and still hold the implicit belief that they seem to: that they can **guarantee** that their children will **all** be Christians, because they will “be raised” that way. In fact, their whole social agenda seems to be based on the presumption that everyone could be made Christian if it wasn’t for the evil influences of a non-Christian society. Fundies seem to have as much confidence in the power of indoctrination as Communists do (or used to). Haven’t they heard of free will? Of original sin? Of Christ’s own warning that the line dividing those who (truly) follow him and those who don’t will cut across every social institution from family on up? Or his warning that simply saying “Lord, Lord” or performing works in Christ’s name doesn’t make you a Christian? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/christian-reconstructionism/401461.md?page=2)