Juvenile Justice and the Family
If the juvenile, when he transgresses, is within the province of the state, why not when he behaves, should not his behavior control be created by the state, governed by the state, molded by the state. Of course, that’s the premise of public education. So that today, the child is, as some judges have stated, the property of the state. Children belong to the state. All this comes from confusing the public and private domains, and by insisting that the state alone has any power within the public domain, and the state’s domain is the public domain.
- R. J. Rushdoony
If the juvenile, when he transgresses, is within the province of the state, why not when he behaves, should not his behavior control be created by the state, governed by the state, molded by the state. Of course, that’s the premise of public education. So that today, the child is, as some judges have stated, the property of the state. Children belong to the state. All this comes from confusing the public and private domains, and by insisting that the state alone has any power within the public domain, and the state’s domain is the public domain.
- R. J. Rushdoony
Rev. R.J. Rushdoony (1916–2001), was a leading theologian, church/state expert, and author of numerous works on the application of Biblical law to society. He started the Chalcedon Foundation in 1965. His Institutes of Biblical Law (1973) began the contemporary theonomy movement which posits the validity of Biblical law as God’s standard of obedience for all. He therefore saw God’s law as the basis of the modern Christian response to the cultural decline, one he attributed to the church’s false view of God’s law being opposed to His grace. This broad Christian response he described as “Christian Reconstruction.” He is credited with igniting the modern Christian school and homeschooling movements in the mid to late 20th century. He also traveled extensively lecturing and serving as an expert witness in numerous court cases regarding religious liberty. Many ministry and educational efforts that continue today, took their philosophical and Biblical roots from his lectures and books.