Focus on the Family

"The claim by  Christian Reconstructionists that they do not advocate political action would appear merely playing to the gallery given their recent hobnobbing with potentially revolutionary right wing groups like the League of the South. Karen Armstrong, former nun and writer, flatly warns of a potential for fascism in Christian Reconstructionist thought, while Chip Berlet puts it bluntly that the Reconstructionists are a "new form of clerical fascist politics."

"A few years ago, with the quote popping up increasingly in the mass media (including Rush Limbaugh's daily radio show), Robert S. Alley, professor emeritus at the University of Richmond and author of James Madison on Religious Liberty, undertook a dogged effort to track it down. Enlisting the help of the editors of The Papers of James Madison at the University of Virginia, Alley scoured reams of documents, books and writings. After coming up empty-handed, the Madison scholar concluded that the quote was probably fictional.

"Even though the book and videos are riddled with factual errors, half truths and distortions, they have become the weapons of choice for Religious Right activists in their ongoing war against separation of church and state. In recent months, Americans United members from around the country have discovered letters to the editor in their local newspapers repeating Barton's charges. The videos have aired on public access and religious stations from coast to coast, and crates of the books have been shipped to evangelical churches for distribution."

"Powerful political movements usually fade away when riled up supporters tire and slowly return to their normal lives. That’s why savvy political theorists keep stirring the pot, mixing in new issues and variations, turning up the heat and causing the pot to boil over, not just once, but over and over again.

"“This may be the darkest time in our history.”