[Vision2020] Revolution and Modernity aka get rid of the Constitution
DonaldH675@aol.com
DonaldH675@aol.com
Sun, 1 Feb 2004 17:39:15 EST
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Visionaries:
A Brief synopsis:
The upcoming opinion forum is a celebration of the *correct* thinking of=20
Edmund Burke, R.L. Dabney, and Van Prinsterer all advocates of the union of=20=
church=20
and state. It will oppose the post-Enlightenment political theories of=20
constitutional government and democracy. In short, theocratic (god-centered=
law)=20
is the only correct and blessed form of government. For those with the time=
or=20
an interest in learning more read on. =20
Rose Huskey
=20
The story with links
Over the past several months I have posted various religious and political=20
statements from the principle speakers at the upcoming opinion forum. My=20
emphasis was not on religious doctrine, but rather an attempt to clarify the=
=20
connection between theocracy, Christian Reconstructionist goals and Christ C=
hurch,=20
the local denomination affiliated with that philosophy. Frankly, I overlook=
ed=20
the obvious in my previous emails. Googling statements made by George Grant=
,=20
Steve Wilkins or Doug Wilson is an interesting pastime, but not necessarily=20
compelling to others. =20
=20
It is central in order to understand this conference to incorporate the=20
notion that the Enlightenment, a historic period which brought us the Declar=
ation=20
of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, is held in the greatest ill-reput=
e=20
by Christian Reconstructionists. Doug Wilson, Steve Wilkins, and George Gr=
ant=20
would cheerfully and eagerly agree with that statement =E2=80=93 (probably t=
he only=20
thing we agree on). Hence the topics of Revolution and Modernity as the=20
subject of the 2004 forum.
=20
The heroes of the conference will be Burke (speaker Steve Wilkins), Van=20
Prinsterer, (speaker Doug Wilson), and our old friend R.L. Dabney (speaker D=
oug=20
Wilson). The villains will be Nietzsche (speaker George Grant), Marx (speake=
r=20
George Grant), Robespierre, (speaker Steve Wilkins) and Lenin, (speaker Geor=
ge=20
Grant). It is curious to me that Doug Wilson, the only featured participant=
who=20
can lay legitimate claim to academic philosophic training, choose to discuss=
=20
theologians while the untrained philosophers cum theologians chose political=
=20
figures. It is equally curious that any discussion of Burke would omit a=20
lecture on the work of John Locke. But, this is not a history conference as=
=20
understood in the academic sense, and so perhaps, it is inevitable that such=
=20
oversights occurred.
For those unwilling/unable to attend, you can familiarize yourself with a=20
position summaries in advance of any discussions at http://capo.org/. (CAPO=
, it=20
seems to me, is an unfortunate acronym in light of post-Holocaust life. =20
Arguably, the founders of this organization were ignorant of the word, or mo=
re=20
likely, simply didn=E2=80=99t care.) =20
CAPO or Center for the Advancement of Paleo Orthodoxy immodestly describes=20
itself as follows: =E2=80=9CIn early 1994 an insightful Board conceived, fun=
ded,=20
prepared, and launched the first evangelical think tank on the World Wide We=
b , a=20
service that is . . . as large as the world; comprehensive enough to provi=
de a=20
worldview; unsurpassed in terms of evangelical online scholarship and analys=
is.
=E2=80=9D CAPO lists George Grant as a Senior Fellow =E2=80=93 which he undo=
ubtedly is, and=20
a PhD which he undoubtedly is not =E2=80=93 so much for =E2=80=9Cunsurpassed=
scholarship.=E2=80=9D =20
Briefly, the heroes of the Credenda Agenda conference, Burke, Dabney and Van=
=20
Prinsterer deeply mourn the separation of church and state.
=E2=80=9C Religion, for Burke, was central in =E2=80=9Cthe consecration of=20=
the state.=E2=80=9D The=20
state, willed by God, is sacred because it is endowed with morality. With a=
n=20
established church, the state is both in itself moral and the arbitrator of=20
morality. Burke insists that =E2=80=9Cin a Christian commonwealth the churc=
h and state=20
are one and the same thing, being different integral parts of the same whole=
.=E2=80=9D
=E2=80=A6He [God] who gave our nature to be perfected by our virtue, wille=
d also=20
the necessary means of its perfection He willed therefore the state. =E2=80=
=A6It is, he=20
argued, the great sin of the Enlightenment, of liberals in general , and of=20
the French Revolution in particular, that they would sever this holy connect=
ion=20
between the church and the state.=E2=80=9D (The Godless Constitution; The=20=
Case=20
Against Religious Correctness, Isaac Kramnick and R. Laurence Moore, W.W> No=
rton &=20
Company, New York / London, 1996. p79-80)
Van Prinsterer argues:
As for the origin of civil authority, it was universally acknowledged that=20
states are not of man's making but of divine institution, inseparable from t=
he=20
nature and needs of fallen mankind. Today it is the perversion of=20
constitutional law that will occupy us=E2=80=94a subject of the greatest imp=
ortance, both in=20
general, for our view as a whole, and, more especially, because of its sum a=
nd=20
substance: the false view of the state that is still adhered to today,=20
constituting one of the most powerful obstacles on the road to liberty and j=
ustice.=E2=80=9D=20
http://capo.org/lecture6.html
Not to be left behind, R. L. Dabney was a particular critic of the French=20
Revolution. (His heritage was French Huegonaut.)
=E2=80=9CIn another article, on the subject of rights, Dabney identified the=
French=20
Revolution as the cradle of modern selfishness. =E2=80=A6This new radical th=
eory=20
asserted that "all men are born free and equal" in the beginning and logical=
ly led=20
to the following:
Consequently the theory teaches that exactly the same surrender must be=20
exacted of each one under this social contract, whence each individual is=20
inalienably entitled to all the same franchises and functions in society as=20=
well as to=20
his moral equality; so it is a natural iniquity to withhold from any adult=20
person by law any prerogative which is legally conferred on any other member=
in=20
society. The equality must be mechanical as well as moral or else the societ=
y=20
is charged with natural injustice. (p. 24)
That is to aver that, if we do not treat people absolutely the same=20
(mechanical equality), then we have somehow violated their rights. Indeed, t=
he=20
mechanical has now superseded the moral, with the spectacle of homosexuals d=
emanding=20
state-sanctioned, marriages' and medical care without regard to the substant=
ial=20
contributions to illness achieved by sodomy. The italicized remarks are=20
Dabney=E2=80=99s the other text is commentary by=20
<httm://capo.org/premise/96/july/p960704.html>
Perhaps Nate Wilson, or other kirkers (no, not you Captain Kirker) could=20
share with Vision2020 your answers to the following questions.
1. Do you prefer a constitutional form of government based on the current=20
U.S. Constitution, or do you prefer a theocratic form of government based on=
=20
Biblical Law? =20
2. Are you promoting and teaching theocracy to your students and actively=20
working to achieve it?
And yet, Doug Wilson has the nerve to publicly claim he has no political=20
agenda. As the dougsciples say ROTFL (rolling on the floor laughing) While=20=
DW=20
may have learned something after his abortive attempt to launch the Idaho=20
Taxpayers Party, he has no more turned his back on politics than his off the=
wall,=20
right-wing religious colleagues Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson have. Sheesh=
!
Best,
Rose Huskey
As I write this email I am a grandmotherly victim of the film =E2=80=9CMatil=
da=E2=80=9D=20
which my grandchildren are enjoying. But, nothing happens by chance. Throu=
gh=20
some mysterious character substitution I believe I just heard the voice of D=
oug=20
Wilson bellowing =E2=80=9CI will not be a figure of ridicule. I want respec=
t and I=20
want it now.=E2=80=9D Coincidence? I don=E2=80=99t think so.
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<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times New R=
oman" size=3D3>Visionaries:</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><U><FONT size=3D3><FONT f=
ace=3D"Times New Roman">A Brief synopsis:<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></U></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3D3><FONT face=
=3D"Times New Roman">The upcoming opinion forum is a celebration of the *cor=
rect* thinking of Edmund Burke, R.L. Dabney, and Van Prinsterer all advocate=
s of the <B style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: normal"><U>union </U></B>of churc=
h and state. <SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It will oppose t=
he post-Enlightenment political theories of constitutional government and de=
mocracy.<SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>In short, theocratic=
(god-centered law) is the only correct and blessed form of government.<SPAN=
style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>For those with the time or an int=
erest in learning more read on.<SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SP=
AN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times New R=
oman" size=3D3>Rose Huskey</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=3D"Times=20=
New Roman" size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><U><FONT size=3D3><FONT f=
ace=3D"Times New Roman">The story with links<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></U></P=
>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3D3><FONT face=
=3D"Times New Roman">Over the past several months I have posted various reli=
gious and political statements from the principle speakers at the upcoming o=
pinion forum.<SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>My emphasis was=
not on religious doctrine, but rather an attempt to clarify the connection=20=
between theocracy, Christian Reconstructionist goals and <st1:place><st1:Pla=
ceName>Christ</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType>Church</st1:PlaceType></st1:pla=
ce>, the local denomination affiliated with that philosophy.<SPAN style=3D"m=
so-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Frankly, I overlooked the obvious in my prev=
ious emails.<SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Googling stateme=
nts made by George Grant, Steve Wilkins or Doug Wilson is an interesting pas=
time, but not necessarily compelling to others.<SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun:=20=
yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=3D"Times=20=
New Roman" size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times New R=
oman" size=3D3>It is central in order to understand this conference to incor=
porate the notion that the Enlightenment, a historic period which brought us=
the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution, is held in the g=
reatest ill-repute by Christian Reconstructionists.<SPAN style=3D"mso-spacer=
un: yes"> </SPAN><SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Doug W=
ilson, Steve Wilkins, and George Grant would cheerfully and eagerly agree wi=
th that statement =E2=80=93 (probably the only thing we agree on).<SPAN styl=
e=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Hence the topics of Revolution and Mod=
ernity as the subject of the 2004 forum.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><o:p><FONT face=3D"Times=20=
New Roman" size=3D3> </FONT></o:p></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times New R=
oman" size=3D3>The heroes of the conference will be Burke (speaker Steve Wil=
kins), Van Prinsterer, (speaker Doug Wilson), and our old friend R.L. Dabney=
(speaker Doug Wilson). The villains will be Nietzsche (speaker George Grant=
), Marx (speaker George Grant), Robespierre, (speaker Steve Wilkins) and Len=
in, (speaker George Grant).<SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I=
t is curious to me that Doug Wilson, the only featured participant who can l=
ay legitimate claim to academic philosophic training, choose to discuss theo=
logians while the untrained philosophers cum theologians chose political fig=
ures.<SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>It is equally curious t=
hat any discussion of Burke would omit a lecture on the work of John Locke.<=
SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But, this is not a history co=
nference as understood in the academic sense, and so perhaps, it is inevitab=
le that such oversights occurred.</FONT></P>
<H2 style=3D"MARGIN: auto 0in"><SPAN style=3D"FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE=
: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold"><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">For those=
unwilling/unable to attend, you can familiarize yourself with a position su=
mmaries in advance of any discussions at </FONT><A href=3D"http://capo.org/l=
ecture1.html"><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">http://capo.org/</FONT></A><FON=
T face=3D"Times New Roman">. <SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>=
(CAPO, it seems to me, is an unfortunate acronym in light of post-Holocaust=20=
life.<SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Arguably, the founders=20=
of this organization were ignorant of the word, or more likely, simply didn=
=E2=80=99t care.) <SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p>=
</FONT></SPAN></H2>
<P><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3>CAPO or Center for the Advancemen=
t of Paleo Orthodoxy immodestly describes itself as follows: =E2=80=9CIn ear=
ly <SPAN style=3D"mso-bidi-font-weight: bold">1994</SPAN> an insightful Boar=
d conceived, funded, prepared, and launched the <SPAN style=3D"mso-bidi-font=
-weight: bold; mso-bidi-font-style: italic">first evangelical think tank on=20=
the World Wide Web</SPAN> , a service that is . . . as large as the wo=
rld; comprehensive enough to provide a worldview; unsurpassed in terms=
of evangelical online scholarship and analysis.=E2=80=9D CAPO lists George=20=
Grant as a Senior Fellow =E2=80=93 which he undoubtedly is, and a PhD which=20=
he undoubtedly is not =E2=80=93 so much for =E2=80=9Cunsurpassed scholarship=
.=E2=80=9D </FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;=
mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3>Briefl=
y, the heroes of the Credenda Agenda conference, Burke, Dabney and Van Prins=
terer deeply mourn the separation of church and state.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;=
mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><FONT size=3D3><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">=
<SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>=E2=80=9C Religion, for Burke=
, was central in =E2=80=9Cthe consecration of the state.=E2=80=9D<SPAN style=
=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The state, willed by God, is sacred bec=
ause it is endowed with morality. <SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </=
SPAN>With an established church, the state is both in itself moral and the a=
rbitrator of morality.<SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Burke=20=
insists that =E2=80=9Cin a Christian commonwealth the church and state are o=
ne and the same thing, being different integral parts of the same whole.=E2=
=80=9D<SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>=E2=80=A6He [God] who=20=
gave our nature to be perfected by our virtue, willed also the necessary mea=
ns of its perfection He willed therefore the state. =E2=80=A6It is, he argue=
d, the great sin of the Enlightenment, of liberals in general , and of the F=
rench Revolution in particular, that they would sever this holy connection b=
etween the church and the state.=E2=80=9D<SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&=
nbsp; </SPAN><SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>(The Godless Con=
stitution; The Case Against Religious Correctness, Isaac Kramnick and R. Lau=
rence Moore, W.W> Norton & Company, <st1:State><st1:place>New York</s=
t1:place></st1:State> / <st1:City><st1:place>London</st1:place></st1:City>,=20=
1996. p79-80)</FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;=
mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3>Van Pr=
insterer argues:</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;=
mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3>As for=
the <I>origin</I> of civil authority, it was universally acknowledged that=20=
states are not of man's making but of divine institution, inseparable from t=
he nature and needs of fallen mankind. <SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nb=
sp;</SPAN>Today it is the perversion of constitutional law that will occupy=20=
us=E2=80=94a subject of the greatest importance, both in general, for our vi=
ew as a whole, and, more especially, because of its sum and substance: the f=
alse view of the state that is still adhered to today, constituting one of t=
he most powerful obstacles on the road to liberty and justice.=E2=80=9D </FO=
NT><A href=3D"http://capo.org/lecture6.html"><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman"=20=
size=3D3>http://capo.org/lecture6.html</FONT></A></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;=
mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3>Not to=
be left behind, R. L. Dabney was a particular critic of the French Revoluti=
on.<SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>(His heritage was French=20=
Huegonaut.)</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;=
mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3>=E2=
=80=9CIn another article, on the subject of rights, Dabney identified the Fr=
ench Revolution as the cradle of modern selfishness. =E2=80=A6This new radic=
al theory asserted that "all men are born free and equal" in the beginning a=
nd logically led to the following:</FONT></P>
<P><I><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3>Consequently the theory teache=
s that exactly the same surrender must be exacted of each one under this soc=
ial contract, whence each individual is inalienably entitled to all the same=
franchises and functions in society as well as to his moral equality; so it=
is a natural iniquity to withhold from any adult person by law any prerogat=
ive which is legally conferred on any other member in society. The equality=20=
must be mechanical as well as moral or else the society is charged with natu=
ral injustice. (p. 24)</FONT></I></P>
<P><FONT size=3D3><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">That is to aver that, if we=
do not treat people absolutely the same (mechanical equality), then we have=
somehow violated their rights. Indeed, the mechanical has now superseded th=
e moral, with the spectacle of homosexuals demanding state-sanctioned, marri=
ages' and medical care without regard to the substantial contributions to il=
lness achieved by sodomy. <SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The=
italicized remarks are Dabney=E2=80=99s the other text is commentary by <=
;httm://capo.org/premise/96/july/p960704.html><o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></=
P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;=
mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3>Perhap=
s Nate Wilson, or other kirkers (no, not you Captain Kirker) could share wit=
h Vision2020 your answers to the following questions.</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;=
mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><FONT size=3D3><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">=
1.<SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Do you prefer a constituti=
onal form of government based on the current U.S. Constitution, or do you pr=
efer a theocratic form of government based on Biblical Law?<SPAN style=3D"ms=
o-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;=
mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3>2.<SPA=
N style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Are you promoting and teaching t=
heocracy to your students and actively working to achieve it?</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;=
mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3>And ye=
t, <SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Doug Wilson has the nerve=20=
to publicly claim he has no political agenda.<SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: ye=
s"> </SPAN>As the dougsciples say ROTFL (rolling on the floor laughing=
) While DW may have learned something after his abortive attempt to launch t=
he Idaho Taxpayers Party, he has no more turned his back on politics than hi=
s off the wall, right-wing religious colleagues Jerry Falwell and Pat Robert=
son have. Sheesh!</FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;=
mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman" size=3D3>Best,<=
/FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;=
mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"><FONT size=3D3><FONT face=3D"Times New Roman">=
Rose Huskey<o:p></o:p></FONT></FONT></P>
<P class=3DMsoNormal style=3D"MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face=3D"Times New R=
oman" size=3D3>As I write this email I am a grandmotherly victim of the film=
=E2=80=9CMatilda=E2=80=9D which my grandchildren are enjoying.<SPAN style=
=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But, nothing happens by chance.<SPAN st=
yle=3D"mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Through some mysterious character su=
bstitution I believe I just heard the voice of Doug Wilson bellowing =E2=80=
=9CI will not be a figure of ridicule.<SPAN style=3D"mso-spacerun: yes">&nbs=
p; </SPAN>I want respect and I want it now.=E2=80=9D <SPAN style=3D"mso-spac=
erun: yes"> </SPAN>Coincidence? I don=E2=80=99t think so.</FONT></P></B=
ODY></HTML>
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