The following is excerpted from Skipp Porteous' book, "Jesus Doesn't Live Here Anymore: From Fundamentalist to Freedom Writer". It is provided to inform readers to the growing Reconstructionist movement in America.....a movement which is sweeping through Christianity providing it's adherents with a basis for hatred and even execution of selected groups of people. While this file was constructed at the request of an online friend and highlights Reconstructionist views of the death penalty as a proper method of addressing practicing homosexuals, the prescription set forth by these people is not limited to homosexuals. Included in their list of sufficient grounds for the death penalty are adulterers, blasphemers, etc......the list is quite encompassing and includes some 50 million people in the United States who would be summarily executed. These are dangerous people and as their numbers and influence grows, so grows the threat to our cherished constitutional freedoms. SELECTED EXCERPTS: Tenets of this philosophy (Reconstructionist) include: God's law, as revealed in the Bible, should govern every area of life; local government should rule; prisons could virtually be closed if serious offenders were executed, and if less serious criminals worked to make restitution for their crimes; capital offenses, requiring the death penalty, should include unrepentant homosexuality, abortion, and adultery; pornography in any form should be eliminated; schools should be run by churches, and property taxes should be abolished; husbands should be the heads of the household, and women and children should be subservient. p. 11 I asked Pastor [Leonard] Coppes [pastor of the Providence Church of Denver, Colorado -- Orthodox Presbyterian] if he agreed that homosexuality and abortion should be punishable by death. Coppes replied at one: "Both of those I would agree with. The question is who is going to set the law system? I think God should set the law system, not man. Those laws that define the seriousness of a crime, and are rooted in the moral nature of God, are still binding on us. If they [homosexuals] don't repent, the Bible says that they ought to be put to death. It's just a matter of what God says." p. 11 [Following was spoken by Jay Grimstead, director of the Coalition on Revival:] "Well, the Bible had something like eleven reasons for capital punishment. And murder was one. And homosexuality, and rape, and kidnaping were some others.....we think that homosexuality, and abortion, and pornography should be outlawed." p. 15 [Following was spoken by Joan Bershefski of the Stratford Coalition Against Pornography:] "Because there are so many homosexuals working in government, AIDS is the first disease that has ever been protected politically. The AIDS virus can be transmitted by mosquitoes," she stated authoritatively. p. 200 [Following spoken by Skipp Porteous on Paul Gonzales show on AM 750 WSB, Atlanta radio program:] "A fellow named R.J. Rhusdoony is considered the father of Reconstructionism; he's a former Prebyterian minister. And since 1964 this fellow, who's seventy-four years old now, has been laboring quietly writing documents and greatly influencing the church. People don't realize this, but many of the books on Christian activism found in Christian bookstores are written by Reconstructionists, like John Whitehead, Donald Wildmon, Franky Schaeffer, D. James Kennedy, Tim and Beverly LaHaye. These people are prolific writers. They have a great influence on American Christianity and they are all members of this group called the Coalition on Revival, which is a Reconstructionist front." p. 231 [Following spoken by a Reconstructionist caller to Paul Gonzales show:] "...I mean, let's face it, Paul, homosexuality today is not striving for equal rights. Their driving for superior rights. They want to force their system on the rest of us. They want the right to do what heterosexuals have been traditionally arrested for doing in public." p. 254 [Following spoken by Christian Reconstructionist writer and member of the Coalition on Revival steering committee, Gary DeMar:] "The Bible lays forth the severest penalty. The severest penalty would be capital punishment for two men who publicly engaged in sodomy. Which would mean, that if that law were on the books -- which it has been on the books in many states, and probably still is in many states in the nation today." p. 257 ----------------------------------- The Freedom Writer is a newsletter of the Institute for First Amendment Studies, Inc., a non-profit, 501(c)(3), educational organization. WinTech Computer Solutions is a separate organization which programs The Freedom Writer, with permission of the author, into a Windows-based interface. To obtain a copy of The Freedom Writer for Windows, write to: WinTech Computer Solutions, P.O. Box 415, Sheffield, MA 01257. 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