New York Times Columnist Pooh-Poohs His Own Story
Frederick Clarkson printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Fri May 06, 2011 at 03:47:16 PM EST
While many journalists, scholars and activists have done serious writing about the theocratic Christian Reconstructionist movement and its influence on the development of the Religious Right -- others have pooh-poohed it.  In a recent column in The New York Times Mark Oppenheimer placed one foot firmly in the pooh-pooh camp.
Oppenheimer's piece explores the influence of prominent Reconstructionist theorist Gary North on the recent anti-union surge.  Sort of.  He starts out by stating that North is prominent on the Christian Right, but not widely known elsewhere and is an important influence in the recent anti-union surge in Wisconsin and elsewhere.  And then he spends much of the column undermining this idea.

He had read a blog post at Religion Dispatches by Julie Ingersoll, who has written a great deal of excellent material on Christian Reconstructionism.  Ingersoll makes a matter-of-fact argument that Christian Reconstructionist writers have been decidedly anti-union, and that this very likely has has played a role in the wider Christian Right.  She specifically names authors Gary No