Rushdoony’s Legacy: The Overlooked Influence Of A Religious Right Godfather

When fundamentalists flocked into politics in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, they had few theorists to turn to. They had always believed politics was worldly, and true Christians should focus on converting souls, not running the government. Rushdoony insisted that God wanted them to take over society and crush the infidels (literally).

Robert Billings, an early Religious Right strategist, said, “If it weren’t for [Rushdoony’s] books, none of us would be here.”

The Rushdoony influence on the Religious Right continued throughout his life. He helped birth the home-school movement that has replenished Religious Right’s ranks, and he was an early member of the Council for National Policy, the secretive meeting ground for right-wing heavy-hitters. His ideas popped up in all sorts of places, from Pat Robertson’s “700 Club” to D. James Kennedy’s Coral Ridge Ministries.

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It’s best to take these obituaries of the Religious Right with a grain of salt. So, too, the Post obit on Christian Reconstructionism.

via AU's blog, The Wall of Separation