The
Kindred Spirits Sisters blog is presently doing a study on how the early Quiver Full and Patriarchy movements, and its ties to Christian Reconstructionism/Dominionism. This subject actually has several facets to it. Just as when you peel away layers of an onion to find a new layer, you will see that Reconstructionism/Dominionism also has several layers - many of which are still hidden. It is very easily traceable to find how Reconstructonism was instrumental in the early development of the homeschooling movement.
Many of these Christian families in the Quiver Full and Patriarchy movements have been encouraged to withdraw their children from the
world's school system in order to train them at home, only to be introduced to the Reconstructionist homeschool curriculum. With these ministry books, materials, and homeschool conventions, parents unknowingly begin filling their children with Reconstructionist and Dominionist ideas - with some lies and some truth. Since
most Christians don't know there are political motivations behind the homeschool movement, they blindly accept the information given to them, and never question it. But as you will learn, the grassroots homeschool movement, politics, and Christianity have been intricately woven together
by the Religious Right,
a political arm.
Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff, who once published the
"Gentle Spirit" magazine, wrote her own
analysis of the blend of religion and politics in the homeschool movement:
"It is often believed that the homeschooling movement in the early years was composed
mostly of conservative Christians, but I don’t believe that can be proven. I do believe
that conservative Christian homeschoolers, because of their shared religious beliefs and because they were highly organized, committed, and often outspoken, had a powerful, visible, public presence and a zeal common to religious and political action groups and almost unheard of outside of such groups. Shared religious beliefs, in particular, are powerful motivators
and create emotional intensity in relationships. This is something that homeschoolers outside of these circles did not have (and in most instances did not want.)
If I apply my own twist to what Cheryl has said: Unlike any other group, Christian homeschoolers have the commitment and zeal to help get Republicans politicians into office. Since they believe they are doing God's work, they will support a Conservative politician claw his way to the top. This would explain why the Republicans have been more overall supportive of the homeschool movement.
The Early Days
Christian Reconstructionists founded the present homeschool movement. According to Jay Rogers:
"R. J. Rushdoony, aside from being the founder of Christian Reconstruction, is also the founder of the modern home schooling movement. Most people who deride the Reconstructionist movement for being 'too political' don't realize that."[1]
While American Christians once believed they should be biblically separate from the affairs of the world, they began to take matters into their own hands. The country was experiencing some problems, which concerned many Christians, so a select group of Fundamentalist Christians changed their viewpoint about separation. Although they continued to practice and protect aspects of biblical separation, their political viewpoints were radically changed. Christians and politics married and became one.
Although the foundation of the modern homeschool movement is biblical, the underlying motivations of those supporting it had a purpose in mind - which was the trend toward Fascism. This will explain the frequent use of the word "dominion." Since politics and religion joined together in an unholy alliance,
their reasoning was carefully molded by change agents to make it more palatable. Through propaganda in the media, textbooks, and learning institutions, this led many to believe that to be a Christian meant that they had to become patriotic and politically active. They were told to "convert" to the Republican party - since they represented the pro-family and values vote. That should have been a red flag, but few saw it that way.
A Timeline of the Homeschool/Christian Political Movement
1970s
The modern homeschool, “
deschooling” and
"unschooling" movements quietly began in America, after
Raymond S. (CNP) and Dorothy Moore and
John Holt (CNP) published books on the benefits of home education. The concept stemmed from the belief that institutionalized schooling is used as a tool for the engineering of an ignorant, conformist working class through constant schedules and prearranged time blocks and one-size-fits-all teaching methods.
1979
Founded by (Freemason) Rev. Jerry Falwell in 1979, the Moral Majority was an influential advocate for "pro-family", "pro-life", "pro-defense" and "pro-Israel." The Moral Majority became one of the largest political lobby groups for evangelical Christians in the United States during the 1980s.[2]
Rev. Jerry Falwell and Rev. Sun Myung Moon,
both having ties to the Council for National Policy.
1983
It was as early as 1983
when Michael Farris and J. Mike Smith founded Home School Legal Defense Association. At that time, parents teaching their children at home was relatively obscure. used his extensive experience in both politics and appellate litigation to defend parental rights, so his organization gained popularity.
Many unsuspecting homeschoolers have supported this organization, knowing little about Michael Farris and his connections to the Council for National Policy - a Christian version of the Council on Foreign Relations, both of which support the goal of world government. Farris had a close connection to conservative leaders like Jerry Falwell of the Moral Majority, Pat Robertson of the Christian Coalition, and Phyllis Schlafly of the
Eagle Forum. [
3]
He presently has ties to the
Heritage Foundation, since they awarded him the
Salvatori Award for American Citizenship in 2002. He may be sincere, but he has political ties that run deep.
1985
Mary Pride played an important pioneer role in authoring information guides for the homeschooling movement. Pride has been described as "the queen of the home school movement," and awakened many women to the destructive forces behind feminism. Her book,
The Way Home, spoke to the hearts of many women. In her book, she explained the biblically mandated role of wives and mothers as bearers of children and workers in the home under the authority of her husband.
Mary Pride was homeschooling her children when Franky Schaeffer entered her life. The son of Francis Schaeffer, a Reconstructionist, became her
literary agent. From her account, she only spoke to him on the phone once.
Schaeffer advocated Christian action and political involvement in every aspect of life, as he thought the Christian influence would remedy social ills.[
3] This was never Mary Pride's goal and still isn't.
In the "Afterthoughts" section of the 25th Anniversary Edition of
The Way Home, she does NOT encourage priding ourselves on having more children than other families, or putting down those who are physically unable to have children. Her goal was to reverse the headlong trend of Christian wives from tying their tubes and dumping their babies in daycare/public school, which ALL major Christian media was promoting at the time of publication. The point of the book was to draw attention to the Bible's teaching on this subject, which emphatically does not support careerism, deliberate barrenness, family planning, or despising our calling to train up our own children. There was no political agenda!
1989
The Christian Coalition was created by Freemason Pat Robertson in 1989.
In a national convention for the
Christian Coalition, Rev. D. James Kennedy said that "true Christian citizenship" involves an active engagement in society to "take dominion over all things as vice-regents of God."[
4]
Robertson said to the Denver Post in 1992, "We want...as soon as possible to see a majority of the Republican Party in the hands of pro-family Christians..."[
5]
Pat displays the Masonic 'Devil's Claw' Sign.
Robertson hired Ralph Reed
as the Christian Coalition's political mastermind. To get their candidates elected Reed and Robertson taught them to use stealth: avoid publicity, stay out of debates, and work below the radar screen. Don't call attention to yourself. And then the Christian Coalition campaigned on their behalf exclusively in fundamentalist, Pentecostal and Charismatic churches. [
6]
Homeschooling becomes legal in all states.
2000
Founded by Michael Farris,
Patrick Henry College opens. It was the
first college in the United States founded specifically for Christian homeschooled students. The Government department offers majors in Government, and the option to specialize in American Politics and Policy, International Politics and Policy, Political Theory, Strategic Intelligence, or an "undeclared general" government track. The Seven Mountains Mandate of Dominionism can be seen by this track. The Seven Mountains concept instructs “Bible believing” Christians to seek control of seven key sectors of society, with one of them being government.
2004
Dr. E. Ray Moore and
Dr. Bruce N. Shortt teamed up with others in the Southern Baptist Convention to promote an "exit strategy" from the public schools."[
5] The
Exodus Mandate Project, is a ministry to encourage and assist Christian families to leave government schools for Christian schools or home schooling.
When you take a closer look, he explicitly acknowledges his debt to Rushdoony and other Reconstructionists. Dr. Bruce N. Shortt, one of Moore's allies in his fight against public education, has been promoted by Rushdoony's
Chalcedon Foundation and Shortt's book,
The Harsh Truth About Public Schools, which was published by them.
The CNP and Homeschooling
In the following trailer from IndoctriNation, you see how eager these individuals, some of them CNP members, want our children to leave the schools and be brought home to be re-indoctrinated by the Reconstructionist school curriculum.
(
Indoctrination link)
They all make legitimate points in this presentation. The public schools are corrupting our children with humanism and other philosophies of this world. The best place for them is at home, but we must be careful and filter out the political lies the curriculum is teaching them (and us). When you look at the big picture, this is a huge, all-consuming movement.
To show you the alliances of those who were in the IndoctiNation movie, consider the following. In his recent book, Dr. E. Ray Moore (mentioned above) allows us to see further into his life.
Conclusion
Today the Church is in a critical time. Jesus warned us about the sin and deception that would exist in our time, which has caused blindness to wash over the majority of the Church. We were also warned about apostasy before Christ's return, as well as wolves disguising themselves as sheep that will lead many astray.
It is my opinion that just as
Hitler rose up masquerading as a Christian, a Republican will rise up in the same manner. They may be elected on a platform of God and country, but this deception has been in the making for years.
Reconstructionism + Dominionism = Warfare Theology
Easy war is the position of the Republican Party.
It is tempting to get involved supporting candidates and following politics. What you choose to do with Reconstructionist curriculum and political involvement is between you and God. I have sent out a warning, so I'm just the messenger.
Related Posts
Hitler's Masquerade as a Christian
The Christian Church and the Use of Birth Control
