The New Radical Religious Right

By the end of the decade the whole earth will view the church in a different light. The church will no longer be mocked and despised, but either loved or feared." ?Evangelist Paul Cain

As we approach the year 2000, we can expect an unprecedented flurry of activity as Christian missionary and evangelistic groups pull out all the stops in an attempt to "bring in the harvest."

The Christian right has quietly been born again. It has reorganized, and is beginning to arise as a major religious and social force. These radicals have not, and will not, go away.

Three significant and disturbing trends have taken firm hold in the new religious right. First, a broad doctrinal consensus has been reached in order to provide much-needed unity. Second, a dramatic shift in political focus has moved the new religious right's target from national politics to towns, cities, counties, and states. Third, the "troops" are now being recruited and trained. All of this is being accomplished through careful planning and networking. It is being carried out through a commitment to decisive action.

The goal of the radical religious right of the 1980s was to reconstruct American society according to the Bible. The term for this ? Reconstructionism ?has surfaced as a leading, across-the-board philosophy for the new religious right. While Reconstructionists do not agree on everything, they have reached a consensus on many social and moral issues ? and many Christians, without their knowledge, are greatly influenced by Reconstructionist philosophy.

Reconstructionists believe: God's law, as revealed in the Bible, should govern every area of life; local government, not federal government, should rule; prisons could virtually be closed if serious offenders were executed, and if less serious criminals worked to make restitution for their crimes; capital offenses, requiring the death penalty, should include unrepentant homosexuality, abortion, and adultery; pornography in any form should be eliminated; schools should be run by churches, and property taxes should be abolished; husbands should be the heads of the household, and women and children should be subservient.

Pat Robertson revealed the influence that the Reconstructionist mindset had on his own thinking when he predicted the time when Christians will take dominion over society. In December, 1984, he told an audience at evangelist Robert Tilton's Word of Faith World Outreach Center in Dallas, what he sees down the road. "The church members have taken dominion over the forces of the world...there are no more abortions...education is going to be in the hands of the godly people...prisons will be virtually empty... pornographers no longer have any access to the public whatsoever, where there is no more of that stuff on our newsstands or any place else."

The Rev. Leonard Coppes is pastor of the Providence Church of Denver, Colorado, and his 100-member church is part of the Orthodox Presbyterian sect, a group of 180 churches spread across the country. Coppes is an avowed Reconstructionist. He agrees that homosexuality and abortion should be punishable by death, and adds, "The question is, who is going to set the law system? I think God should set the law system, not man. Those laws that define the seriousness of a crime, and are rooted in the moral nature of God, are still binding on us. If they [homosexuals] don't repent, the Bible says that they ought to be put to death. It's just a matter of what God says."

"With reference to abortionists," he added, "if abortion is murder ?and I believe it is ?the penalty for murder from almost any evangelical theology is death."

"Believers have to stand for what they believe is right. We're commanded in the Scripture to pray that God's kingdom would come on earth as it is in heaven. And that's my prayer. What we pray for, surely, we're commanded to work for."

Rousas John Rushdoony, a former Presbyterian minister, is considered the father of Reconstructionism. Since 1964, the 74-year-old minister has quietly devoted his energies to research, writing, and promoting Christian Reconstructionism. Rushdoony's small organization, Chalcedon, has had a great impact on American Christianity. For instance, most of the books on Christian activism appearing in Christian bookstores are written by Reconstructionists.

Born-again Christian activism has not realized its political potential because of lack of unity and organization. While many doctrinal disputes will never be resolved, a confederation of new religious right leaders has made an important and enormous step in this direction.

Since 1986, the California-based Coalition on Revival (COR) has labored with little or no publicity. Its founder and national director is Jay Grimstead, an accomplished networker who advances COR's agenda within a close-knit alliance of new religious right leaders. Its steering committee of 112 well-known Christian leaders are a virtual who's who of the born-again movement. They represent millions of American Christians, and, collectively, wield more power than any single Christian group in the country.

According to Jay Grimstead, "COR creates documents that provide the philosophical foundation for action." He says there are "a number of items that we think ought to happen...political involvement...educational involvement...and well-regulated militias locally." It's Grimstead's understanding that both the county and the state are supposed to have militias, which he calls "local government with force."

Grimstead adds, "We believe that God has given the Bible as a rule book for all society, Christian and non-Christian alike." And, "I concur with most of the Reconstructionist matters; I am trying to help rebuild the society on the Word of God, and loosely, that would be a Reconstructionist orientation in anybody's book."

Grimstead says, "The Bible had something like eleven reasons for capital punishment. And murder was one. And homosexuality, and rape, and kidnapping were some others. The actual punishments we don't have agreement on, but we think that homosexuality, and abortion, and pornography should be outlawed."

Grimstead explained COR's strategy: "For example, in Santa Clara County there are about 14 cities, including San Jose, the big city. We think it's very possible, by the year 2000, to have