How a Fringe Theocratic Movement Helped Shape the Religious Right
August 10, 2015 1:58 PM Subscribe
"Julie Ingersoll‘s new book, Building God’s Kingdom, is a meticulous account of this movement’s history and its aims. Founded by Rousas John Rushdoony in the early 1970s, Reconstructionism asserts the primacy of the Bible from the home to local government to national political life. While Rushdoony’s views were as alienating to the right as to the left in some aspects, many of his ideas did find traction among Christian conservatives. I began my conversation with Ingersoll last week by asking her to elaborate on the history of that influence."
The reason most people have never heard of Reconstructionism is because it has actually had little influence on mainstream Christian right thinking. Right-wing Christians hope to promote the issues that unite them no more or less than any other group of voters, and those who self-identity as conservative Christians run the gamut from people mildly interested in politics, to the raging obsessives -- just like any other group. I don't want to accuse this author of bad faith, but this book gives the appearance of dragging a forgotten sect out of obscurity to confirm all of our worst fears about Christians wanting to impose their own version of sharia law, and make Christian conservatives seem even more "alien" and easier to hate.
posted by Modest House at 2:49 PM on August 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by Modest House at 2:49 PM on August 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
A Reconstructionist would say that the very permissibility of same-sex marriage is a violation of the religious liberty of Christians who oppose it.
Consider the implications of this form of belief. If the world worked on this principle, every individual would be totally controlled by the dislikes and limitations of every other individual in the world.
It's a completely impossible idea to implement fairly, which is of course the point. These people are anti-democratic in the deepest sense, and are only interested in imposing their belief system on the rest of the world.
The existence of Reconstructionism is a violation of my secular liberty.
I also demand an end to Auto-Tune in popular music, no more houses with two story columns in front of them, and the repression of men whose sideburns connect to their mustaches.
posted by crazylegs at 2:54 PM on August 10, 2015 [25 favorites]
Consider the implications of this form of belief. If the world worked on this principle, every individual would be totally controlled by the dislikes and limitations of every other individual in the world.
It's a completely impossible idea to implement fairly, which is of course the point. These people are anti-democratic in the deepest sense, and are only interested in imposing their belief system on the rest of the world.
The existence of Reconstructionism is a violation of my secular liberty.
I also demand an end to Auto-Tune in popular music, no more houses with two story columns in front of them, and the repression of men whose sideburns connect to their mustaches.
posted by crazylegs at 2:54 PM on August 10, 2015 [25 favorites]
The reason most people have never heard of Reconstructionism is because it has actually had little influence on mainstream Christian right thinking.
But it clearly has had an influence. Rushdoony was a strong proponent of homeschooling, for example. He wrote a book advocating it in 1961, and he was an influence on Ray Moore, who James "Focus on the Family" Dobson calls the father of the Christian homeschool movement.
Ingersoll isn't saying that Reconstructionism was adopted in whole, but that some of their ideas moved from the fringe to wider acceptance.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 3:24 PM on August 10, 2015 [10 favorites]
But it clearly has had an influence. Rushdoony was a strong proponent of homeschooling, for example. He wrote a book advocating it in 1961, and he was an influence on Ray Moore, who James "Focus on the Family" Dobson calls the father of the Christian homeschool movement.
Ingersoll isn't saying that Reconstructionism was adopted in whole, but that some of their ideas moved from the fringe to wider acceptance.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 3:24 PM on August 10, 2015 [10 favorites]
A Reconstructionist would say that the very permissibility of same-sex marriage is a violation of the religious liberty of Christians who oppose it.Our revered, and of course highly fictionalized, Pilgrims of Mayflower and Plymouth Rock fame would not have batted an eye at this construction. We are taught in somewhat dishonest summary that they fled England for America seeking religious freedom. In fact they fled England for the Netherlands for that purpose, but then came to America because in the end religious freedom was the very last thing they wanted. They wanted a society in which their own religion was uncontradicted, which is not the same thing at all.
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:24 PM on August 10, 2015 [34 favorites]
Right-wing Christians hope to promote the issues that unite them no more or less than any other group of voters
This implies two interesting questions:
- How did small 'c' conservative Christianity and its sister sects of reactionaries become inextricably identified with Right-wing politics? I have not read extensively on the topic, but my understanding is that it was not always thus.
- How did the constellation of issues that are now associated with Right-wing political Christianity accrete? Theologically there's no iron law that says that things like gay rights and abortion are necessarily to be opposed by Christians - rather, these evolved rapidly out of certain styles of interpreting the Bible and certain traditions of what does and does not constitute authority.
posted by wotsac at 3:27 PM on August 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
This implies two interesting questions:
- How did small 'c' conservative Christianity and its sister sects of reactionaries become inextricably identified with Right-wing politics? I have not read extensively on the topic, but my understanding is that it was not always thus.
- How did the constellation of issues that are now associated with Right-wing political Christianity accrete? Theologically there's no iron law that says that things like gay rights and abortion are necessarily to be opposed by Christians - rather, these evolved rapidly out of certain styles of interpreting the Bible and certain traditions of what does and does not constitute authority.
posted by wotsac at 3:27 PM on August 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
In fact they fled England for the Netherlands for that purpose, but then came to America because in the end religious freedom was the very last thing they wanted.
Also, the Dutch were getting pretty sick of their shit.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 3:29 PM on August 10, 2015 [13 favorites]
Also, the Dutch were getting pretty sick of their shit.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 3:29 PM on August 10, 2015 [13 favorites]
Also well worth reading: Harold Bloom's The American Religion [Wikipedia], which follows the political enlistment and sad arc of the Southern Baptist Convention.
posted by 0rison at 3:51 PM on August 10, 2015
posted by 0rison at 3:51 PM on August 10, 2015
How did small 'c' conservative Christianity and its sister sects of reactionaries become inextricably identified with Right-wing politics? I have not read extensively on the topic, but my understanding is that it was not always thus.There had been pushes for this throughout the 20th century but it wasn't really solidified till the 80s, I think.
posted by edheil at 3:59 PM on August 10, 2015
Oooh I have lots of things to say about how fundamentalist Christianity got so wrapped up with right-wing politics but until I am on a regular keyboard content yourself with reading about the Second Great Awakening, Christian abolitionism and how it split churches in the run up to the Civil War, and Schofield's Reference Bible, the 1910ish progeniture of modern Biblical literalism.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:21 PM on August 10, 2015 [8 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:21 PM on August 10, 2015 [8 favorites]
But the short answer is, they were pretty pissed about desegregation.
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:24 PM on August 10, 2015 [19 favorites]
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 4:24 PM on August 10, 2015 [19 favorites]
The 80s are where I'd set the mark. It's become a vital myth, or at least an unexamined myth that Right Wing Christian politics were always thus (vital above all for Right Wing Christians). And I suspect that the dominionists played a very quiet but influential role in making the modern Chrisitan Right. A role that is quiet not least because of the intellectual poverty of the movement.
posted by wotsac at 4:25 PM on August 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by wotsac at 4:25 PM on August 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
How did small 'c' conservative Christianity and its sister sects of reactionaries become inextricably identified with Right-wing politics?
Lee Atwater. Followed by Karl Rove.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 4:47 PM on August 10, 2015 [5 favorites]
Lee Atwater. Followed by Karl Rove.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 4:47 PM on August 10, 2015 [5 favorites]
The 80s are where I'd set the mark. It's become a vital myth, or at least an unexamined myth that Right Wing Christian politics were always thus (vital above all for Right Wing Christians). And I suspect that the dominionists played a very quiet but influential role in making the modern Chrisitan Right. A role that is quiet not least because of the intellectual poverty of the movement.
Also, don't forget that Jimmy Carter was/is an evangelical Christian. Just not that kind of evangelical Christian. Like he took the golden rule seriously or something.
Sort of like after the Southern Strategy, the Republican party realized there were votes a-plenty to be mined from evangelical Christians. And since they were running out of juice on the race-baiting front (despite still trying to squeeze it for votes right now), gay people and abortions were the next best thing.
If you've ever seen The Eyes of Tammy Faye, you'll know there was a moment where Jerry Falwell approached Jim Bakker, offering to save his ministry. Ultimately, what Falwell wanted was to take over his membership lists and brand with this political, Dominionist theology. Bakker was certainly a crook, but the Christianity he and Tammy Faye were peddling could be described as just sort of retail scam bullshit. They just wanted money, not the White House or Congress.
I mean, the fact that Tammy Fay did an interview like this says that she wasn't the sort of ghoul Falwell and Robertson were/are.
Bonus: Pat Robertson Caught Calling Viewer a Homo Off Air
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:53 PM on August 10, 2015 [6 favorites]
Also, don't forget that Jimmy Carter was/is an evangelical Christian. Just not that kind of evangelical Christian. Like he took the golden rule seriously or something.
Sort of like after the Southern Strategy, the Republican party realized there were votes a-plenty to be mined from evangelical Christians. And since they were running out of juice on the race-baiting front (despite still trying to squeeze it for votes right now), gay people and abortions were the next best thing.
If you've ever seen The Eyes of Tammy Faye, you'll know there was a moment where Jerry Falwell approached Jim Bakker, offering to save his ministry. Ultimately, what Falwell wanted was to take over his membership lists and brand with this political, Dominionist theology. Bakker was certainly a crook, but the Christianity he and Tammy Faye were peddling could be described as just sort of retail scam bullshit. They just wanted money, not the White House or Congress.
I mean, the fact that Tammy Fay did an interview like this says that she wasn't the sort of ghoul Falwell and Robertson were/are.
Bonus: Pat Robertson Caught Calling Viewer a Homo Off Air
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 4:53 PM on August 10, 2015 [6 favorites]
The reason most people have never heard of Reconstructionism is because it has actually had little influence on mainstream Christian right thinking.
However, do not make the mistake that only mainstream Christian right thinking gets into the ears of modern conservative politicians.
We have a Republican Presidential candidate -- one who made the cut for Fox's Big Kids debate table, and who's had 248 pledged delegates for a previous nomination -- who is outspoken about Reconstructionist David Barton being “maybe the greatest living historian on the spiritual nature of America’s early days.” Several of the candidates have _explicitly_ made the argument upthread, that gay marriage is a violation of the religious liberty of Christians.
Not all devout Christians are fruitcakes, not by a long shot. But the extreme ones aren't just five guys in Oklahoma with a newsletter; they're advising Congresspersons and, sometimes, are Congresspersons.
posted by delfin at 5:01 PM on August 10, 2015 [6 favorites]
However, do not make the mistake that only mainstream Christian right thinking gets into the ears of modern conservative politicians.
We have a Republican Presidential candidate -- one who made the cut for Fox's Big Kids debate table, and who's had 248 pledged delegates for a previous nomination -- who is outspoken about Reconstructionist David Barton being “maybe the greatest living historian on the spiritual nature of America’s early days.” Several of the candidates have _explicitly_ made the argument upthread, that gay marriage is a violation of the religious liberty of Christians.
Not all devout Christians are fruitcakes, not by a long shot. But the extreme ones aren't just five guys in Oklahoma with a newsletter; they're advising Congresspersons and, sometimes, are Congresspersons.
posted by delfin at 5:01 PM on August 10, 2015 [6 favorites]
I think that for people who live outside the areas where conservative Christians are, they must seem way more terrifying than they, in actuality, are.
And consider that the Christian right is perceived -- correctly or not -- as an important part of the GOP. Courting the Reconstructionist talking heads is literally no different than Democrats sitting down with former 60s radicals, in order to 'give voice' to Baby Boomer voters.
I never met a Reconstructionist when I was growing up in Indiana. The Pentecostals and Nazarene church members I went to school with would find them bizarre.
posted by gsh at 5:04 PM on August 10, 2015
And consider that the Christian right is perceived -- correctly or not -- as an important part of the GOP. Courting the Reconstructionist talking heads is literally no different than Democrats sitting down with former 60s radicals, in order to 'give voice' to Baby Boomer voters.
I never met a Reconstructionist when I was growing up in Indiana. The Pentecostals and Nazarene church members I went to school with would find them bizarre.
posted by gsh at 5:04 PM on August 10, 2015
CheeseDigestsAll: Lee Atwater. Followed by Karl Rove.
Also - while not nearly as important as Atwater and Rove - a key strategist and tactician for getting out the fundamentalist vote: Ralph Reed.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:06 PM on August 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
Also - while not nearly as important as Atwater and Rove - a key strategist and tactician for getting out the fundamentalist vote: Ralph Reed.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:06 PM on August 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
And consider that the Christian right is perceived -- correctly or not -- as an important part of the GOP. Courting the Reconstructionist talking heads is literally no different than Democrats sitting down with former 60s radicals, in order to 'give voice' to Baby Boomer voters.
Though I'd contend that it's precisely because of their outsized influence that, for example, a Democratic president would feel compelled to axe a Surgeon General because she dared mention masturbation.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:10 PM on August 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
Though I'd contend that it's precisely because of their outsized influence that, for example, a Democratic president would feel compelled to axe a Surgeon General because she dared mention masturbation.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:10 PM on August 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
Courting the Reconstructionist talking heads...
People like Ralph Reed made sure that people whose views aligned with said heads were respected or feared as a block of voters, rightly or wrongly, because he got them out to vote.
There's a reason Ronald Reagan didn't publicly utter the word "AIDS" for the first seven years of his presidency: that reason is the organized political evangelical Christian movement Ingersoll is talking about, and the bigotry they actively promote. I link to this clip yet again, because people forget how terrifying their influence has been.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:17 PM on August 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
People like Ralph Reed made sure that people whose views aligned with said heads were respected or feared as a block of voters, rightly or wrongly, because he got them out to vote.
There's a reason Ronald Reagan didn't publicly utter the word "AIDS" for the first seven years of his presidency: that reason is the organized political evangelical Christian movement Ingersoll is talking about, and the bigotry they actively promote. I link to this clip yet again, because people forget how terrifying their influence has been.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 5:17 PM on August 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
And consider that the Christian right is perceived -- correctly or not -- as an important part of the GOP.
This is an entirely correct perception, and if anyone thinks it isn't, they've been living under a rock since at least 1980.
Ronald Reagan's Legacy & the Religious Right.
posted by soundguy99 at 5:22 PM on August 10, 2015 [5 favorites]
This is an entirely correct perception, and if anyone thinks it isn't, they've been living under a rock since at least 1980.
Ronald Reagan's Legacy & the Religious Right.
posted by soundguy99 at 5:22 PM on August 10, 2015 [5 favorites]
I've never quite grokked how conservative Christians squared their beliefs and politics with the actual documented (especially if you take the bible as literal) words and actions of, you know, Christ. Dude would be savaged as a godless liberal in today's climate.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:32 PM on August 10, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by Thorzdad at 5:32 PM on August 10, 2015 [7 favorites]
Sure, Thorzdad. But that's a massive derail.
posted by wotsac at 5:48 PM on August 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by wotsac at 5:48 PM on August 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
Not all devout Christians are fruitcakes, not by a long shot.
One perceptive observer noted that people like Atwater and Rove were able to use Christian's belief system to their advantage. In a world where actual evidence for a god is hard to find, true believers become accustomed to rely on faith as a justification. They are trained that uncritical acceptance is good. So once you get them on your (political) side, you can rely on them to accept what you tell them about politics on faith as well.
So no, they aren't crazy, but they don't necessarily try and distinguish crazy when they encounter it, either.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 5:50 PM on August 10, 2015
One perceptive observer noted that people like Atwater and Rove were able to use Christian's belief system to their advantage. In a world where actual evidence for a god is hard to find, true believers become accustomed to rely on faith as a justification. They are trained that uncritical acceptance is good. So once you get them on your (political) side, you can rely on them to accept what you tell them about politics on faith as well.
So no, they aren't crazy, but they don't necessarily try and distinguish crazy when they encounter it, either.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 5:50 PM on August 10, 2015
Hey, some of us try to distinguish Jesus' message from the greed and nihilism of the GOP. Which is why I'm with 20k people at a Bernie rally as I type.
posted by persona au gratin at 5:57 PM on August 10, 2015 [7 favorites]
posted by persona au gratin at 5:57 PM on August 10, 2015 [7 favorites]
Also, the Dutch were getting pretty sick of their shit.
The Dutch had kinda similar fraught political-theological wrangles to the English around that time. (I keep imagining William The Silent doing a silent face-palm along the lines of "Hey, people, we're supposed to fight Spain, not each other!" (some years before, but hey)).
And thus the rich tapestry of history unfolds the Quinquarticular Controversy.
posted by ovvl at 5:59 PM on August 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
The Dutch had kinda similar fraught political-theological wrangles to the English around that time. (I keep imagining William The Silent doing a silent face-palm along the lines of "Hey, people, we're supposed to fight Spain, not each other!" (some years before, but hey)).
And thus the rich tapestry of history unfolds the Quinquarticular Controversy.
posted by ovvl at 5:59 PM on August 10, 2015 [1 favorite]
How did small 'c' conservative Christianity and its sister sects of reactionaries become inextricably identified with Right-wing politics?
Anti-communism played a big part. The Soviets were an openly and avowedly atheist society, and right-wing politicians and strategists (who were likely primarily interested in the more pragmatic aspects of military and economic power) realized that they could gain support from a group of people horrified that a significant chunk of the world officially denied the existence of any God.
And another part is what I think the author is talking about in the linked piece; to quote:
It all stems from the Reconstructionist idea that public life also has to follow "Christian" principles. Prior to this idea spreading among conservative Christians, many were more-or-less isolationists - they could and would bemoan the world going to hell in a handbasket, but actually dirtying their hands in politics was focusing on the fallible human material world over the spiritual elements of their beliefs, a distraction at best. Their main goal was saving souls, not reforming society. But once the idea spread that it was their Christian duty to make public life conform to their ideals . . . . . .
posted by soundguy99 at 6:03 PM on August 10, 2015 [5 favorites]
Anti-communism played a big part. The Soviets were an openly and avowedly atheist society, and right-wing politicians and strategists (who were likely primarily interested in the more pragmatic aspects of military and economic power) realized that they could gain support from a group of people horrified that a significant chunk of the world officially denied the existence of any God.
And another part is what I think the author is talking about in the linked piece; to quote:
"Reconstructionists had a lot to do with the widespread view among conservative Christians that every sphere of life—both public and private—is religious."If you're a "small 'c' conservative Christian", you look around at a whole cornucopia of things happening in the public sphere from the 50's to the 80's - the civil rights movement, feminism, legal abortion, birth control, (openly admitted) pre-marital sex, hippies, rock and roll, sex education in schools, teaching evolution in schools, so on and so forth, yadda yadda yadda - and you're sure these things are sinful or immoral or unbiblical. So, by the principles of Reconstructionism (which have been incorporated into the teachings of your conservative church, coming down from the pulpit every Sunday, whether you've actually known any actual avowed Reconstructionists or not), you've got to do something to bring public life back into line with (conservative) Christian teachings and morality. And the right-wing politicians and activists are obviously the ones trying to stem the tide of this immorality. So that's who you vote for and campaign for. Then Reagan's election locks the connection in place.
It all stems from the Reconstructionist idea that public life also has to follow "Christian" principles. Prior to this idea spreading among conservative Christians, many were more-or-less isolationists - they could and would bemoan the world going to hell in a handbasket, but actually dirtying their hands in politics was focusing on the fallible human material world over the spiritual elements of their beliefs, a distraction at best. Their main goal was saving souls, not reforming society. But once the idea spread that it was their Christian duty to make public life conform to their ideals . . . . . .
posted by soundguy99 at 6:03 PM on August 10, 2015 [5 favorites]
If you're a "small 'c' conservative Christian", you look around at a whole cornucopia of things happening in the public sphere from the 50's to the 80's - the civil rights movement...
From the Ingersoll interview in the FPP:
From the Ingersoll interview in the FPP:
Okay, now for the lightning round. What did Christian Reconstructionists, who were writing extensively in the 1960s and 70s, say about the civil rights movement?posted by mandolin conspiracy at 6:22 PM on August 10, 2015 [10 favorites]
It was a communist plot. No. Seriously. Many of the early Reconstructionists had ties to the John Birch Society and, as a solidly middle-class white movement they maintained the fiction that most African-Americans were happy until tensions were “stirred up” by agitators.
I vaguely remember sphere sovereignty from way back when, and I don't recall it being anything nefarious. But lots of that stuff wasn't very precise.
posted by persona au gratin at 6:37 PM on August 10, 2015
posted by persona au gratin at 6:37 PM on August 10, 2015
I've never quite grokked how conservative Christians squared their beliefs and politics with the actual documented (especially if you take the bible as literal) words and actions of, you know, Christ.
Because they're not small-c conservatives anymore so much as small-c christians.
Much like Gandhi's quote on Western Civilization, I think capital-C Christianity would be a good idea.
posted by Celsius1414 at 6:53 PM on August 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
Because they're not small-c conservatives anymore so much as small-c christians.
Much like Gandhi's quote on Western Civilization, I think capital-C Christianity would be a good idea.
posted by Celsius1414 at 6:53 PM on August 10, 2015 [3 favorites]
How did small 'c' conservative Christianity and its sister sects of reactionaries become inextricably identified with Right-wing politics?
We discussed this in-depth right about five years ago.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:31 PM on August 10, 2015 [5 favorites]
We discussed this in-depth right about five years ago.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:31 PM on August 10, 2015 [5 favorites]
the civil rights movement, feminism, legal abortion, birth control, (openly admitted) pre-marital sex, hippies, rock and roll, sex education in schools, teaching evolution in schools, so on and so forth, yadda yadda yadda
Except (for instance) the Southern Baptists were for legal abortion before they were against it. Evangelicals and fellow travelers have generally been positive on birth control within marriage (one of those ways we (used very loosely) separated ourselves from the papist). Gambling, alcohol and make up were more traditional vices, and the ban on social dancing as we know it lasted into the '00s at my alma mater. Meanwhile, for instance, the hippies weren't exactly persona grata, but they made up a notable branch of conservative Christianity in the era (the Bible is against free love, and it says nothing about smoking weed, but it's rather in favor of communes and poverty - c.f. JPUSA) - yet this was almost entirely subsumed into monolithic Conservative Christianity. Feminism again is an interpretational issue - the author claims to have been a Feminist in the early era of this new coalition, even as she was deep in the heart of the anti-abortion movement. And I don't doubt her sincerity- my mother was explicitly feminist through a career in conservative Christian circles. Even as there is much antifeminist in the movement, Amy Semple McPherson would have been notable as a church leader, but not particularly exceptional in the informal and personality driven power structures of evangelical Christianity. It's exceptionally dangerous to impose the assumed mores of modern conservative christianities on our assumed believer about 1970 or 1960 if you want to understand the path from then to now.
which have been incorporated into the teachings of your conservative church, coming down from the pulpit every Sunday
I won't argue that they were incorporated, but from where, and when? A small 'c' conservative is, nominally at least, broadly opposed to change, and we have this novel set of Christian themes spreading from fringy Birchers to an all encompassing and durable mainstream movement in two decades.
but actually dirtying their hands in politics was focusing on the fallible human material world over the spiritual elements of their beliefs
Many of the same elements had been noisy abolitionists in the North, had been rabid advocates of temperance more recently. Populist Protestantism wasn't a stranger to causes - why did it stick this time?
posted by wotsac at 9:45 PM on August 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
Except (for instance) the Southern Baptists were for legal abortion before they were against it. Evangelicals and fellow travelers have generally been positive on birth control within marriage (one of those ways we (used very loosely) separated ourselves from the papist). Gambling, alcohol and make up were more traditional vices, and the ban on social dancing as we know it lasted into the '00s at my alma mater. Meanwhile, for instance, the hippies weren't exactly persona grata, but they made up a notable branch of conservative Christianity in the era (the Bible is against free love, and it says nothing about smoking weed, but it's rather in favor of communes and poverty - c.f. JPUSA) - yet this was almost entirely subsumed into monolithic Conservative Christianity. Feminism again is an interpretational issue - the author claims to have been a Feminist in the early era of this new coalition, even as she was deep in the heart of the anti-abortion movement. And I don't doubt her sincerity- my mother was explicitly feminist through a career in conservative Christian circles. Even as there is much antifeminist in the movement, Amy Semple McPherson would have been notable as a church leader, but not particularly exceptional in the informal and personality driven power structures of evangelical Christianity. It's exceptionally dangerous to impose the assumed mores of modern conservative christianities on our assumed believer about 1970 or 1960 if you want to understand the path from then to now.
which have been incorporated into the teachings of your conservative church, coming down from the pulpit every Sunday
I won't argue that they were incorporated, but from where, and when? A small 'c' conservative is, nominally at least, broadly opposed to change, and we have this novel set of Christian themes spreading from fringy Birchers to an all encompassing and durable mainstream movement in two decades.
but actually dirtying their hands in politics was focusing on the fallible human material world over the spiritual elements of their beliefs
Many of the same elements had been noisy abolitionists in the North, had been rabid advocates of temperance more recently. Populist Protestantism wasn't a stranger to causes - why did it stick this time?
posted by wotsac at 9:45 PM on August 10, 2015 [4 favorites]
Pope Guilty - that's a real barn burner of an article, and I read a fair bit of the related post. But aside from suggesting that Evangelicals turned to the Republicans as in response to the left's silence about Comunist persecution of missionaries, I don't see much discussion, especially reasoned, detailed discussion of how the Right and Conservative Christianity became so tightly linked.
posted by wotsac at 11:08 PM on August 10, 2015
posted by wotsac at 11:08 PM on August 10, 2015
Btw, Kevin Phillips' American Theocracy is great on this stuff.
posted by persona au gratin at 3:17 AM on August 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by persona au gratin at 3:17 AM on August 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
…but until I am on a regular keyboard content yourself with reading about… Schofield's Reference Bible, the 1910ish progeniture of modern Biblical literalism.
Eyebrows McGee
I still have my Schofield Reference Bible, gifted to me in the Sixties by my fundie parents when I was a teenager. Two things I remember:
1.) Schofield incorporated the chronology of the archbisop and eminent biblical scholar James Ussher (1581–1656), which calculated that the Earth is ~5,000 years old
2.) In a "scholarly" footnote in Revelation, Schofield showed with various roundabout references that The Great Whore of Babylon is the Catholic Church.
posted by Short Attention Sp at 4:44 AM on August 11, 2015
Eyebrows McGee
I still have my Schofield Reference Bible, gifted to me in the Sixties by my fundie parents when I was a teenager. Two things I remember:
1.) Schofield incorporated the chronology of the archbisop and eminent biblical scholar James Ussher (1581–1656), which calculated that the Earth is ~5,000 years old
2.) In a "scholarly" footnote in Revelation, Schofield showed with various roundabout references that The Great Whore of Babylon is the Catholic Church.
posted by Short Attention Sp at 4:44 AM on August 11, 2015
> It all stems from the Reconstructionist idea that public life also has to follow "Christian" principles. Prior to this idea spreading among conservative Christians, many were more-or-less isolationists - they could and would bemoan the world going to hell in a handbasket, but actually dirtying their hands in politics was focusing on the fallible human material world over the spiritual elements of their beliefs, a distraction at best.
This is exactly what happened in Iran, switching "Shi'ite Muslims" for "conservative Christians." Shi'ites were traditionally apolitical; it was the Ayatollah Khomeini who made it OK (in fact, practically mandatory) to be a political Shi'ite. (Just offered as an interesting parallel, not trying to derail the thread.)
posted by languagehat at 9:38 AM on August 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
This is exactly what happened in Iran, switching "Shi'ite Muslims" for "conservative Christians." Shi'ites were traditionally apolitical; it was the Ayatollah Khomeini who made it OK (in fact, practically mandatory) to be a political Shi'ite. (Just offered as an interesting parallel, not trying to derail the thread.)
posted by languagehat at 9:38 AM on August 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Reconstructionists do not seek to unite church and state but they do seek to bring the civil government under biblical authority.
Huh? Anyway, I live amongst a lot of these people and have to say I do find them pretty scary. They worship the confederate flag and still call Martin Luther King a communist. And Republican politicians at all levels pander to them.
posted by TedW at 10:07 AM on August 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Huh? Anyway, I live amongst a lot of these people and have to say I do find them pretty scary. They worship the confederate flag and still call Martin Luther King a communist. And Republican politicians at all levels pander to them.
posted by TedW at 10:07 AM on August 11, 2015 [1 favorite]
Given it's a old warhorse for conservatives to complain about "-isms", it's interesting to see that they've come up with so many of their own. Here's just the ones from the article:
Reconstructionism
Dominionism
Presuppositionalism
Young-earth creationism
Kinism
Biblical economics
(And they all sound scary as fuck.)
This jibes with the blog of a very erudite (in his way) conservative pastor that I used to read. There was enough inside lingo to make an MBA's head spin. Maybe it was useful and legit, but it did sound kinda Time Cubey.
posted by ignignokt at 1:15 PM on August 11, 2015
Reconstructionism
Dominionism
Presuppositionalism
Young-earth creationism
Kinism
Biblical economics
(And they all sound scary as fuck.)
This jibes with the blog of a very erudite (in his way) conservative pastor that I used to read. There was enough inside lingo to make an MBA's head spin. Maybe it was useful and legit, but it did sound kinda Time Cubey.
posted by ignignokt at 1:15 PM on August 11, 2015
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To quote Wikipedia: And even within faith communities, schools should be run by scholars, presses by publishers, hospitals by doctors, and so on. Each sphere of society was sovereign over its own concerns.
The aggressive colonization of every sphere by the doctrine of a few sectarian theologians, which Rushdoony seems to have advocated, is a very perverse development of Kuyper's "Sphere Sovereignty."
posted by edheil at 2:10 PM on August 10, 2015 [6 favorites]