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Reconstructing America: Religion, American Conservatism, and the Political Theology of Rousas John Rushdoony

McVicar, Michael Joseph
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1284987530

Abstract Details

2010, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Comparative Studies.
The late Reformed theologian Rousas John Rushdoony is widely credited as one of the fathers of the Religious Right. His ideas influenced such disparate figures as well-known televangelists Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell along with prominent Protestant authors such as Francis Schaeffer and Tim LaHaye. Further, Rushdoony’s unique contribution to American religious and political culture has been the concept of Christian Reconstruction, which calls for the radical reordering of American civilization according to the strictures of Old Testament Mosaic Law. While seemingly inconceivable within the context of the United States’ officially secular political system, Reconstructionism has had a profound impact on everything from the militia movement of 1990s to the curricula of major Christian colleges, and is one of the major ideological impetuses behind the emergence of Christian homeschooling in the last half of the twentieth century. Although widely cited and increasingly the focus of popular exposés of the influence of religion on conservative politicians, Rushdoony’s life and work remain largely unexplored by scholars of American religious history. Using a combination of archival research and interpretive strategies drawn from the interdisciplinary fields of religious and cultural studies, this project will provide an in-depth study of Rushdoony and his concept of Reconstructionism. Specifically, this project situates Reconstructionism within the wider context of the post-World War II American conservative movement and explores how Rushdoony’s ideas simultaneously influenced the use of religious rhetoric in contemporary American culture while also exploring how those critical of religion use Reconstructionism to redraw the acceptable boundaries between religion and politics in the U.S. Ultimately, this project uses Rushdoony as an access node for entering the much larger discursive network that constantly draws and redrew the boundary between the sacred and secular in late-twentieth century America society. By drawing on the scholarship of Michel Foucault and Talal Asad, I trace the fluid concepts of governance and secularism to explore how religion functions to create the boundaries of acceptable religion within American culture. Finally, the project questions basic assumptions about the nature of American conservatism and common beliefs about the boundaries between “mainstream,” “marginal,” and “extreme” conservatives.
Hugh B. Urban, PhD (Committee Chair)
Tanya Erzen, PhD (Committee Member)
Philip Armstrong, PhD (Committee Member)
455 p.
American History; Families and Family Life; Gender; Law; Religion; Religious Congregations; Religious Education; Religious History
Rushdoony, Rousas John; Conservatism; dominion theology; theonomy; Evangelicalism; Fundamentalism; Christianity and politics; Protestant churches

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • McVicar, M. J. (2010). Reconstructing America: Religion, American Conservatism, and the Political Theology of Rousas John Rushdoony [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1284987530

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • McVicar, Michael. Reconstructing America: Religion, American Conservatism, and the Political Theology of Rousas John Rushdoony. 2010. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1284987530.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • McVicar, Michael. "Reconstructing America: Religion, American Conservatism, and the Political Theology of Rousas John Rushdoony." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2010. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1284987530

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1284987530
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.