In case you're really, really bored, I thought I'd toss out a little paper
I wrote for my OU course. I'm not terribly happy with it but it seems to
have it's moments...

------------------

The problem is that when you start breaking down a dam that is holding
back the power hungry, it's hard to keep the small chinks from turning
into fissures which become cracks that turn into crumbling. And rebuilding
a wall in the midst of a flood can very, very difficult.

In case you're really, really bored, I thought I'd toss out a little paper
I wrote for my OU course. I'm not terribly happy with it but it seems to
have it's moments...

------------------

"What influence, in fact, have ecclesiastical establishments had on
society? In some instances they have been seen to erect a spiritual
tyranny on the ruins of the civil authority; in many instances they have
been seen upholding the thrones of political tyranny; in no instance have
they been the guardians of the liberties of the people. Rulers who wish to
subvert the public liberty may have found an established clergy convenient
allies."

-- James Madison, "A Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious
Assessments"


I contend there are no honest rebellions against the principle of
separation laid down by the Founders. Nor can even the most cursory
reading of the writings of Madison--principle author of our Constitution
and author of the 1st Amendment--miss that the anti-separation crowd is
quite wrong about the principle.

I also believe there is little question as to the agenda of those who are
attacking the separation principle, that their agenda is barely disguised.
Some are actually quite blatant as to what the real agenda is. Judge Roy
Moore of Alabama commented--quite proudly--to the Los Angeles Times in
regard to the Ten Commandments monument he placed in the court building,
"I'm the highest legal authority in the state, and I wanted it there."

One would normally want a judge--particularly the Chief Justice of your
state's supreme court--to consider the law the "highest legal authority in
the state." Judge Moore prefers personal power.

But Moore is only the tip of this iceberg. The televangelist D. James
Kennedy "has raised money for Moore's defense and even sold a video of
Moore supervising placement of the Ten Commandments sculpture in the
building on the evening of July 31, 2001." (ibid.) Kennedy was allowed to
have people--and a video camera--present when "Roy's Rock" was brought in
after hours, without consultation with any other authority, and without
notice.

Kennedy, the one invite to the placing of "Roy's Rock," now has quite a
collection of materials on the issue. Such as the "Judge Moore Special,"
"Liberty, Tyranny, And The Land," "Ten Commandments Update," and more.
(Coral Ridge Ministries Resources, 2003) All in the tradition of Jesus
Christ of price points from $5 to $19.

According to the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability,
Kennedy's Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church has, over the years 2000 through
2002, an average income of just over $19 million. Coral Ridge Ministries
Media averaged about $38.6 million per year over the same period.
(Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability, 2003).

A total of some $57 million per year. Quite a step up from the founder of
the religion, an itinerant Jewish Rabbi with no known wealth or income.

Kennedy, also, writes books to exhort us on how the US should be changed
to conform to his vision. In one such book, The Gates of Hell Shall Not
Prevail, Kennedy is quite open that America needs to be "reclaimed" and
attacks separation of church and state as a "great deception." (Boston,
1999). Kennedy's frequent use of the word "reclaim" is curious at least,
disturbing at worst. At one point, he writes "Our job is to reclaim
America for Christ, whatever the cost."

Such statements, made often by Kennedy, have led to speculation that he
has ties to the Christian Reconstructionist movement, something he denies.
Yet his denials are contradicted by his open association with American
Vision, a Reconstructionist group in Georgia. (Boston, 1999).

The Christian Reconstructionist are an interesting folk. The most common
form of the belief is Theonomic Reconstructionism, a belief system which
advocates imposing the Mosiac law on the US (and other countries). This
would include such changes to the country as if an individual who did not
accept the Mosaic law and had "another god before him" would be guilty of
idolatry which carries a death penalty. Religions other than Christianity
(and Reconstructionist Christianity at that) would be suppressed by law.
Even more liberal, main line Christian denominations would be shut down.
Adultery, blasphemy, and homosexuality would carry death penalties.
(Religious Tolerance, "History").

Some Reconstructionists openly debate whether biblical slavery should be
re-instituted under the Reconstructionist order. David Chilton, a
Reconstructionist, states point blank that "The bible permits slavery."
(Thibodeau, God's Laws, Slavery).

Racism is rampant in the movement as exemplified by Gary North--a
prominent Reconstructionist--having a fit about Native Americans:
"Liberals have adopted the phrase 'native Americans' in recent years. They
never, ever say 'American natives,' since this is only one step away from
'American savages,' which is precisely what most of those
demon-worshipping, Negro slave-holding, frequently land-polluting people
were...." (Thibodeau, Miscellaneous, The Indian).

R.J. Rushdoony, one of the founders of the movement, frequently makes
excuses and rationalizations for slavery in the US with such comments as
"The private ownership of slave labor in the American South has been the
subject of extensive distortion. The Negroes were slaves to their tribal
heads in Africa, or prisoner-slaves of other tribes. The monetary unit in
black Africa was man, the slave. The Negro moved from an especially harsh
slavery, which included cannibalism, to a milder form. Much is said about
the horrors of the slave ships, many of which were very bad, but it is
important to remember that slaves were valuable cargo and hence property
normally handled with consideration." (Thibodeau, Miscellaneous, The
Negro).

Finally, in line with Kennedy's "reclaim America" comments and Moore's
insistence we must "acknowledge god" in our legal system is the comment by
Gary North disclosing, openly, the agenda:

"So let us be blunt about it: we must use the doctrine of religious
liberty to gain independence for Christian schools until we train up a
generation of people who know that there is no religious neutrality, no
neutral law, no neutral education, and no neutral civil government. Then
they will get busy in constructing a Bible-based social, political and
religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies
of God." (Thibodeau, God's Laws, Religious Liberty).

Roy Moore is openly flouting the laws and legal system of the United
States and the State of Alabama and often states he does not "recognize"
the authority of higher courts. He means to have us "acknowledge god" as
the foundation of our legal system. Moore is connected to and supported by
James Kennedy who operates a multi-million dollar, politically active
organization with the agenda to "reclaim America for Christ, whatever the
cost."

Kennedy attempts to deny documented connections with Christian
Reconstructionists even when at least one group itself noted a "wonderful
friendship and working relationship with Dr. Kennedy and others at Coral
Ridge for many years." (Boston, 1999).

The Reconstructionist movement doesn't even attempt to hide they intend to
use the language of freedom of religion only up to the point they gain
power. At which point they will deny "the religious liberty of the enemies
of God."

These men are the kind of people the Founders had in mind when they built
the wall of separation. Many people in the US seem to think the "chinks"
in that wall are benign phenomena; a prayer at a football game perhaps, a
plaque of the Ten Commandments on the wall of a school room, "under god"
in the pledge.

The problem is that when you start breaking down a dam that is holding
back the power hungry, it's hard to keep the small chinks from turning
into fissures which become cracks that turn into crumbling. And rebuilding
a wall in the midst of a flood can very, very difficult.



Americans United. (2002, November 18). Federal Court Strikes Down Ten
Commandments Display At Alabama Supreme Court. Retrieved from:
http://www.au.org/press/pr021118.htm

Coral Ridge Ministries Resources. (2003). Site search for "moore."
http://www.coralridge.org/CRMResCtrsearch.asp?sc=ProductDescription&search=Moore

Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. (2003). Profile of Coral
Ridge Presbyterian Church, member #4475. Retrieved from:
http://www.ecfa.org/msMemberProfile.asp?MemberID=4475

Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. (2003). Profile of Coral
Ridge Ministries Media, member #6504. Retrieved from:
http://www.ecfa.org/msMemberProfile.asp?MemberID=6504

Boston, Rob. (1999, April). "D. James Kennedy: Who Is He And What Does He
Want?" [Electronic version]. Church & State, April 1999 issue. Retrieved
from: http://www.au.org/churchstate/cs4994.htm

Religious Tolerance. (n.d.) Christian Reconstructionism, Dominion
Theology, And Theonomy. Retrieved from:
http://www.religioustolerance.org/reconstr.htm

Thibodeau, Paul. (n.d.) Christian Reconstruction: Anthology of Quotations.
Retrieved from: http://www.serve.com/thibodep/cr/words.htmPart V - Journal