All you really need to know about Christian Reconstructionism is in the title of a January 2008 Talk To Action story of mine, More From The Biblical Stoning & Legalized Slavery Movement.
Enter Rand Paul.
Amidst the hullaballoo over Republican Rand Paul's upset victory in the Kentucky GOP primary for US Senate, one of the few journalists to raise the issue of Paul's somewhat uncomfortable proximity to Christian Reconstructionism has been Alternet's Adele Stan, who observes that Rand Paul's father Ron Paul is personal friends with one of the bigger names in the Christian Reconstructionist movement, Howard Phillips, founder of the US Taxpayers Party -- now re-branded as The Constitution Party. But there's much more direct evidence tying Ran Paul to the Constitution Party, whose national platform declares,
"The goal of the Constitution Party is to restore American jurisprudence to its Biblical foundations...The U.S. Constitution established a Republic rooted in Biblical law"
As Adele Stan notes, Phillips gave a keynote address at the Ron Paul For President Convention in Minneapolis a year and a half ago. And, Ron Paul endorsed the 2008 Constitution Party's presidential candidate in the 2008 election, Chuck Baldwin.
As it's said, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. In a May 21, 2009 appearance on the Alex Jones Show, Rand Paul affirmed that his political beliefs were extremely close to those of his father Ron:
Alex Jones: "You're basically what I would call a chip off the old block. Your policies are basically identical to your father, correct?"Rand Paul: "I'd say we'd be very very similar. We might present the message sometimes differently.. I think in some ways the message has to be broadened and made more appealing to the entire Republican electorate because you have to win a primary." [Rand Paul on Alex Jones, 5/21/09]
So it isn't altogether surprising that Rand Paul could be found, in April 2009, at a rally held by a political party that's been heavily influenced by a movement whose founder, Rousas Rushdoony, advocated executing homosexuals by stoning, wanted to reimpose the institution of slavery, and maintained that the Sun rotated around the Earth.
[below - video from Minneapolis "End the Fed" rally establishes that Rand Paul was in the vicinity prior to the Minnesota Constitution Party rally later that day. Note: the rally itself was not held by the MN Constitution Party.]
On April 25, 2009, Rand Paul was the featured guest speaker at The Constitution Party of Minnesota's "event of the year." I've found video of Rand Paul at an afternoon Minneapolis rally, so he was without a doubt in the vicinity.
Just to make sure I talked to Tammy Houle, whose phone number is the Minnesota Constitution Party listed contact number, and she confirmed to me that Rand Paul had indeed spoken at the April 25th evening event.
The odd thing about Rand and Ron Paul's political tendency is that it offers liberals and progressives a number of points of agreement, probably more than with more 'mainstream' conservative GOP politicians. For example, Ron Paul has been a principled opponent of the invasion of Iraq and US military adventurism in the Mideast generally, and Rand Paul espouses the same position.
But it's hard to get much more extreme than Christian Reconstructionism, whose founder Rushdoony was a Holocaust denier, a racist, a creationist, and an advocate for slavery who claimed that African-American slaves were lucky.
Weigh it for yourself -- Howard Phillips, who founded the Constitution Party, has, according to journalist Frederick Clarkson, described Rousas J. Rushdoony as "my wise counseler."
As Rushdoony wrote in Politics of Guilt and Pity:
The white man is being systematically indoctrinated into believing that he is guilty of enslaving and abusing the Negro. Granted that some Negroes were mistreated as slaves, the fact still remains that nowhere in all history or in the world today has the Negro been better off. The life expectancy of the Negro increased when he was transported to America. He was not taken from freedom into slavery, but from a vicious slavery to degenerate chiefs to a generally benevolent slavery in the United States. There is not the slightest evidence that any American Negro had ever lived in a "free society" in Africa; even the idea did not exist in Africa. The move from Africa to America was a vast increase of freedom for the Negro...
None of this, of course, is Rand Paul's direct responsibility. But it certainly is suggestive.
And so, without further ado, here's the April 9, 2009 post advertising Rand Paul's April 25th appearance at the Minnesota Constitution Party "Liberty Banquet 2009" that's posted on Ronpaulforums.com :
The Constitution Party of Minnesota announces with anticipation, the event of the year -- Liberty Banquet 2009
Patriots and statesmen will come together on April 25th to hear featured guest,
Dr. RAND PAUL
Don't miss this opportunity to unite with other like-minded folks for an evening of inspiration and motivation. The evening begins at 5:00 pm with a social hour, dinner at 6:00, followed by introductions and guest speakers. Preceding Dr. Paul, we will hear a few words from the two tenacious gentlemen that recently accepted the co-chairmanship of the CPMN Veteran's Coalition, Leon Moe and John Salsbury.
The Chaska VFW will be the location of the event, which is located one block west of the intersection of Old Hwy. 212 and Hwy. 41 near downtown Chaska. The cost of tickets is $30 per person or 4 for $100. Get yours soon by sending payment to CPMN Treasurer, Patricia Becker, 23078 - 21st Avenue, St. Augusta, MN 56301.
A version of this post was originally published on Talk To Action.