With totalitarian governments (right and left) commonplace at that time, I believe he realised the beginnings of Christian taliban in the early 30′s could gain enough momentum to take power, and wrote the story as a projection of their activities. However I think his timing was out due to the combined effect of WWII, 50′s consumer boom, permissive 60′s and 70′s which put the brakes on the rise of the Christian taliban for fifty years; but in another economic downturn, unless a major war develops they will probably rise unchecked.

A further point of interest is both Robert Heinlein and L. Ron Hubbard were stationed in San Diego navy base at the end of WWII and over a beer were wondering how to make a living after demob. It is allegedly reported that Heinlein said he would resume his writing career but Hubbard said I want to be a millionaire and the easiest way to earn that is found a religion. There a literally dozens of web pages about this urban myth; I say there’s no smoke without fire, but readers should draw their own conclusions.

http://www.religioustolerance.org/reconstr.htm

Practices:
If they gained control of the US or Canadian federal government, there would be many changes:

The use of the death penalty would be greatly expanded, when the Hebrew Scriptures’ laws are reapplied. People will be executed for adultery, blasphemy, heresy, homosexual behavior, idolatry, prostitution, evil sorcery (some translations say Witchcraft), etc. The Bible requires those found guilty of these “crimes” to be either stoned to death or burned alive. Reconstructionists are divided on the execution method to be used.
A church or congregation which does not accept the Mosaic Law has another god before them, and is thus guilty of idolatry. That would be punishable by death. That would include all non-Christian religious organizations. At the present time, non-Christians total two-thirds of the human race.
The status of women would be reduced to almost that of a slave as described in the Hebrew Scriptures. A woman would initially be considered the property of her father; after marriage, she would be considered the property of her husband.
It would be logical to assume that the institution of slavery would be reintroduced, and regulated according to Biblical laws. Fathers could sell their daughters into slavery. Female slaves would retain that status for life. Slave owners would be allowed to physically abuse them, as long as the slaves lived for at least a day before dying of the beating. 9
Polygyny and the keeping of concubines were permitted in the Old Testament. However, Reconstructionists generally believe in marriage between one man and one woman only. Any other sexual expression would be a capital crime. Those found guilty of engaging in same-sex, pre-marital or extra-marital sex would be executed.
The Old Testament “Jubilee Year” system would be celebrated once more. Every 50 years, the control of all land reverted to its original owners. In theory, this would require every part of North American land to be returned to the original Aboriginal owners (or perhaps to those persons of Aboriginal descent who are now Christians). Hawaii would be given back to the native Hawaiians.
Governments would all have balanced budgets.
Income taxes would be eliminated.
The prison system would be eliminated. A system of just restitution would be established for some crimes. The death penalty would be practiced for many other crimes. There would be little need for warehousing of convicted criminals.
Legal abortions would be banished; those found to be responsible for abortions would be charged with murder and executed.

The reinstitution of slavery appears to be a hot button item among Reconstructionists. We have received a few negative E-mails which complained that the movement does not recommend the resumption of human slavery. But we have received many more Emails from Reconstructionists claiming that legalizing slavery would be good for North America.

Joseph Busche and Bill Curry have written a Tennessee Law Book. Their intent was to show that laws to implement various Old Testament laws would sound extremely intrusive today. See: http://www.sullivan-county.com/.

#29 Karl Spence,

Your information is incorrect. Thanks for stopping by.

Most schools have not been allowed to fully practice teaching safe sex, so it is hard to answer any kind of accountability questions.

We know that pregnancy and STD’s can be protected against IF the individual uses a condom correctly. However, not all individuals have the knowledge or “permission” to practice safe sex. If kids are not able to discuss sex and explain how to prevent disease or how to prevent pregnancy, then they are NOT ready to engage in sex and more importantly, they are NOT READY FOR TO BECOME A PARENT. That is the simpliest way to predict prevention.

Having a baby is a life-altering decision and not knowing how to prevent an unwanted pregnancy shows a lack of judgment and lack of understanding of basic family planning practices.

Thomas Jefferson: “The practice of morality being necessary for the well-being of society, [God] has taken care to impress its precepts so indelibly on our hearts that they shall not be effaced by the subtleties of our brain. We all agree in the obligation of the moral precepts of Jesus, and nowhere will they be found delivered in greater purity than in his discourses.”

Will Rogers: “If the Bolsheviks say that religion was holding the people back from progress, why, let it hold them back. Progress ain’t selling that high. If it is, it ain’t worth it. … They picked the only one thing I know of to suppress that is absolutely necessary to run a Country on, and that is Religion.”

Chief Justice Earl Warren: “I believe no one can read the history of our country without realizing that the Good Book and the spirit of the Saviour have from the beginning been our guiding geniuses. … Whether we look to the first Charter of Virginia … or to the Charter of New England … or to the Charter of Massachusetts Bay … or to the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut … the same objective is present: a Christian land governed by Christian principles. … I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible and their belief in it: freedom of belief, of expression, of assembly, of petition, the dignity of the individual, the sanctity of the home, equal justice under law, and the reservation of powers to the people. … I like to believe we are living today in the spirit of the Christian religion. I like also to believe that as long as we do so, no great harm can come to our country.”

Theodore Roosevelt: “There is no patent recipe for getting good citizenship. You get it by applying the old, old rules of decent conduct, the rules in accordance with which decent men have had to shape their lives from the beginning … fundamental precepts, put forth in the Bible and embodied consciously or unconsciously in the code of morals of every great and successful nation from antiquity to modern times. … You are not going to make any new commandments at this stage which will supply the place of the old ones. The truths that were true at the foot of Mt. Sinai are true now. The truths that were true when the Golden Rule was promulgated are true now. No man is a good citizen unless he so acts as to show that he actually uses the Ten Commandments, and translates the Golden Rule into his life conduct. I appeal for a study of the Bible on many different accounts, even aside from its ethical and moral teachings, even aside from the fact that all serious people, all men who think deeply, even among non-Christians, have come to agree that the life of Christ, as set forth in the four Gospels, represents an infinitely higher and purer morality than is preached in any other book of the world. … The teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally — I do not mean figuratively, I mean literally — impossible for us to figure to ourselves what that life would be if these teachings were removed. We would lose almost all the standards by which we now judge both public and private morals; all the standards toward which we, with more or less resolution, strive to raise ourselves.”

Harry Truman: “Men can build a good society, if they follow the will of the Lord. Our great Nation was founded on this faith. Our Constitution, and all our finest traditions, rest on a moral basis. We believe in the dignity and the rights of each individual. We believe that no person — and no group of people — has an inherent right to rule over any other person or any other group. … We are continuing to move forward every day toward greater freedom and equal opportunity for all citizens. This is a purpose each of us must strive to achieve, in his daily life, and in his own community. It is a purpose which, in some cases, requires collective action, through our elected representatives in local, State, and Federal governments.”

Abraham Lincoln: “Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s 250 years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said 3,000 years ago, so still it must be said: ‘The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.’ ”

Those words from Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address are counted as among the finest in our heritage. Yet they embrace three concepts much sneered at in liberal circles today: that justice requires retribution, that ancient Scriptures are relevant to modern issues, and that our country, along with all others, is subject to God’s authority.

I leave it to any rational reader to discern whether Sarah Palin, or her dyspeptic “Jesusgasms,” “Christian Taliban” detractor, is more in sync with the sentiments expressed by Jefferson, Rogers, Warren, Roosevelt, Truman and Lincoln as quoted above. (chapter and verse may be found at http://www.fairamendment.us/Crime,%20Realignment%20and%20the%20Will%20Rogers%20Republican.htm#note%2031, or, in the case of Earl Warren, at Yo! Liberals! You Call This Progress?, Chapter 23, available for purchase here: http://www.fairamendment.us/contact1.htm).

Karl Spence

BARACK OBAMA, Audacity of Hope
http://www.notable-quotes.com/o/obama_barack.html