American ISIS: Christian Reconstructionists And `Biblical Law' In America
Rob Boston printable version print page     Bookmark and Share
Mon Mar 09, 2015 at 12:17:24 PM EST

Every now and then, while scanning the day's news, I come across a headline that's hard to believe.

Like this one: "California lawyer proposes ballot measure to execute gays."

Someone's idea of a joke, perhaps? Well, it's not funny.

As it turns out, this is real. An Orange County attorney named Matthew McLaughlin has submitted what he called the "Sodomite Suppression Act" ballot initiative to the California attorney general's office. (You can read the whole thing here. Be warned, it is disturbing.)

Now, it's worth noting that in California, anyone with $200 can submit a ballot question like this. The next step is to collect enough signatures to put it on the ballot - 360,000 in this case. That's not going to happen, and even if it did, the attorney general would undoubtedly rule the question out of order because, well, it is insane.

But this incident is a reminder that we have among us a cohort I call the "American ISIS." Like the followers of that fanatic movement, these people believe in imposing a hash version of law based on their interpretation of an ancient holy book on all of society.

In the United States, these people are known as "Christian Reconstructionists" or "dominionists." In a nutshell, they believe that the legal code outlined in Old Testament books like Leviticus, Exodus and others should be binding on modern-day Americans.

The godfather of this movement, the since-deceased Rousas John Rushdoony, wrote a book called The Institutes of Biblical Law. In that tome, Rushdoony lists 18 offenses that would merit the death penalty in a "reconstructed" society. Among them are: blasphemy, homosexuality, adultery, "witchcraft," incorrigible delinquency, unchastity and "propagation of false [religious] doctrines. (A flavor for Rushdoony's thinking can be picked up through this gem: "In the name of toleration, the believer is asked to associate on a common level of total acceptance with the atheist, the pervert, the criminal, and the adherents of other religions as though no differences existed.")

Way back in 1988, I wrote a long article about this movement for Church & State. (Sorry, material that old is not online.) As part of the research, I drove to the outer D.C. suburbs of northern Virginia and interviewed a man named Robert Thoburn, a follower of this movement. Thoburn, a stout man with white hair and big glasses, smiled benignly during the interview. He looked like your grandfather. I had to wonder if he'd be smiling like that as he flipped the switch that executed a gay person, a witch or a propagator of false religions. (My bad - there wouldn't be a switch. Most Reconstructionists argue that stoning is the preferred method of execution.)

In this country, Reconstructionists were never much more than theorists. They were prone to write long books and host conferences during which they would explore burning issue like what's to be done with oxen that gore people.

But their influence was felt. Leaders of the Religious Right may not care to acknowledge it, but the Reconstructionists provided a basis for political engagement that helped spur the rise of that theocratic movement. A highly prolific bunch, the Reconstructionists penned books that became influential and provided the basis for the Religious Right's attempt to remake American society in its own image.

When you read the platform of the Reconstructionists, you can't help but notice its similarities to the goals of ISIS, the Taliban and like-minded bands of extremists. In both cases, there is great hostility to ideas like women's rights, LGBT rights, pluralism, democracy and religious freedom. The irony, of course, is that both factions would consider the other "heathens" or "apostates" worthy of death.

While the Reconstructionists undoubtedly enjoy some sympathy among a small number of U.S. political leaders, they have nothing like their own party and (thankfully) no military arm. But, as recent events in California prove, their ideas are still out there and do pop up in unlikely places.




Display:
Hard to convince anyone not knowledgeable of this situation. I have tried but they go with "it hasn't happened here" so it isn't a threat. But then they don't want to be seen as head chopping fanatics. Well hanging, shooting in the head, burning, stoning, etc isn't any better.

by Nightgaunt on Sat Mar 14, 2015 at 08:09:59 PM EST
In what may be either a computer glitch or a breath of better judgment, this initiative does not appear on the CA Attorney General's site of filed initiatives. We will keep tracking it, but perhaps - one can live in hope - wiser heads prevailed and it's not going to happen.

by Churchlady on Sun Mar 15, 2015 at 02:15:37 PM EST
Parent

It is not possible for AG Kamala Harris to overturn an initiative's placement on the ballot IF it receives the requisite number of signatures. AG Harris rejected an opportunity to do greater vetting of initiatives for their Constitutionality, not wishing to have that much work, so such an alteration in the existing law cannot happen. If by some outrageous chance an initiative of this pernicious character got 360,000 signatures, it would be on the ballot, period.

by Churchlady on Sun Mar 15, 2015 at 02:19:02 PM EST
Parent



WWW Talk To Action


Cognitive Dissonance & Dominionism Denial
There is new research on why people are averse to hearing or learning about the views of ideological opponents. Based on evaluation of five......
By Frederick Clarkson (374 comments)
Will the Air Force Do Anything To Rein In Its Dynamic Duo of Gay-Bashing, Misogynistic Bloggers?
"I always get nervous when I see female pastors/chaplains. Here is why everyone should as well: "First, women are not called to be pastors,......
By Chris Rodda (195 comments)
The Legacy of Big Oil
The media is ablaze with the upcoming publication of David Grann's book, Killers of the Flower Moon. The shocking non fiction account of the......
By wilkyjr (110 comments)
Gimme That Old Time Dominionism Denial
Over the years, I have written a great deal here and in other venues about the explicitly theocratic movement called dominionism -- which has......
By Frederick Clarkson (101 comments)
History Advisor to Members of Congress Completely Twists Jefferson's Words to Support Muslim Ban
Pseudo-historian David Barton, best known for his misquoting of our country's founders to promote the notion that America was founded as a Christian nation,......
By Chris Rodda (113 comments)
"Christian Fighter Pilot" Calls First Lesbian Air Force Academy Commandant a Liar
In a new post on his "Christian Fighter Pilot" blog titled "BGen Kristin Goodwin and the USAFA Honor Code," Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan......
By Chris Rodda (144 comments)
Catholic Right Leader Unapologetic about Call for 'Death to Liberal Professors' -- UPDATED
Today, Donald Trump appointed C-FAM Executive Vice President Lisa Correnti to the US Delegation To UN Commission On Status Of Women. (C-FAM is a......
By Frederick Clarkson (126 comments)
Controlling Information
     Yesterday I listened to Russ Limbaugh.  Rush advised listeners it would be best that they not listen to CNN,MSNBC, ABC, CBS and......
By wilkyjr (118 comments)
Is Bannon Fifth-Columning the Pope?
In December 2016 I wrote about how White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who likes to flash his Catholic credentials when it comes to......
By Frank Cocozzelli (250 comments)
Ross Douthat's Hackery on the Seemingly Incongruous Alliance of Bannon & Burke
Conservative Catholic writer Ross Douthat has dissembled again. This time, in a February 15, 2017 New York Times op-ed titled The Trump Era's Catholic......
By Frank Cocozzelli (64 comments)
`So-Called Patriots' Attack The Rule Of Law
Every so often, right-wing commentator Pat Buchanan lurches out of the far-right fever swamp where he has resided for the past 50 years to......
By Rob Boston (161 comments)
Bad Faith from Focus on the Family
Here is one from the archives, Feb 12, 2011, that serves as a reminder of how deeply disingenuous people can be. Appeals to seek......
By Frederick Clarkson (176 comments)
The Legacy of George Wallace
"One need not accept any of those views to agree that they had appealed to real concerns of real people, not to mindless, unreasoning......
By wilkyjr (70 comments)
Betsy DeVos's Mudsill View of Public Education
My Talk to Action colleague Rachel Tabachnick has been doing yeoman's work in explaining Betsy DeVos's long-term strategy for decimating universal public education. If......
By Frank Cocozzelli (80 comments)
Prince and DeVos Families at Intersection of Radical Free Market Privatizers and Religious Right
This post from 2011 surfaces important information about President-Elect Trump's nominee for Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos. -- FC Erik Prince, Brother of Betsy......
By Rachel Tabachnick (218 comments)

Respect for Others? or Political Correctness?
The term "political correctness" as used by Conservatives and Republicans has often puzzled me: what exactly do they mean by it? After reading Chip Berlin's piece here-- http://www.talk2action.org/story/2016/7/21/04356/9417 I thought about what he explained......
MTOLincoln (253 comments)
Fear
What I'm feeling now is fear.  I swear that it seems my nightmares are coming true with this new "president".  I'm also frustrated because so many people are not connecting all the dots! I've......
ArchaeoBob (107 comments)
"America - love it or LEAVE!"
I've been hearing that and similar sentiments fairly frequently in the last few days - far FAR more often than ever before.  Hearing about "consequences for burning the flag (actions) from Trump is chilling!......
ArchaeoBob (211 comments)
"Faked!" Meme
Keep your eyes and ears open for a possible move to try to discredit the people openly opposing Trump and the bigots, especially people who have experienced terrorism from the "Right"  (Christian Terrorism is......
ArchaeoBob (165 comments)
More aggressive proselytizing
My wife told me today of an experience she had this last week, where she was proselytized by a McDonald's employee while in the store. ......
ArchaeoBob (163 comments)
See if you recognize names on this list
This comes from the local newspaper, which was conservative before and took a hard right turn after it was sold. Hint: Sarah Palin's name is on it!  (It's also connected to Trump.) ......
ArchaeoBob (169 comments)
Unions: A Labor Day Discussion
This is a revision of an article which I posted on my personal board and also on Dailykos. I had an interesting discussion on a discussion board concerning Unions. I tried to piece it......
Xulon (156 comments)
Extremely obnoxious protesters at WitchsFest NYC: connected to NAR?
In July of this year, some extremely loud, obnoxious Christian-identified protesters showed up at WitchsFest, an annual Pagan street fair here in NYC.  Here's an account of the protest by Pagan writer Heather Greene......
Diane Vera (130 comments)
Capitalism and the Attack on the Imago Dei
I joined this site today, having been linked here by Crooksandliars' Blog Roundup. I thought I'd put up something I put up previously on my Wordpress blog and also at the DailyKos. As will......
Xulon (329 comments)
History of attitudes towards poverty and the churches.
Jesus is said to have stated that "The Poor will always be with you" and some Christians have used that to refuse to try to help the poor, because "they will always be with......
ArchaeoBob (148 comments)
Alternate economy medical treatment
Dogemperor wrote several times about the alternate economy structure that dominionists have built.  Well, it's actually made the news.  Pretty good article, although it doesn't get into how bad people could be (have been)......
ArchaeoBob (90 comments)
Evidence violence is more common than believed
Think I've been making things up about experiencing Christian Terrorism or exaggerating, or that it was an isolated incident?  I suggest you read this article (linked below in body), which is about our great......
ArchaeoBob (214 comments)

More Diaries...




All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective companies. Comments, posts, stories, and all other content are owned by the authors. Everything else © 2005 Talk to Action, LLC.