Today as our political system lurches further to the right, with a Republican-dominated House and Senate and now a Republican president, we need tools to understand the political right, including the theocratic wing. Though Clarkson's book was published four years ago, it is even more relevant today as an information source for activists, journalists and scholars. According to Clarkson, the theocratic right benefits when the public either overestimates or underestimates its influence. John Whitehead, a prot g of Reconstructionist founder R. J. Rushdoony, served as one of Paula Jones' attorneys.
Some Reconstructionist leaders propose capital punishment for blasphemy, heresy and homosexuality.
They no longer depend on the skills or integrity of any one person . . . We are a decentralized movement. We cannot be taken out by a successful attack on any one of our institutional strongholds or any one of our spokesmen. We have laid down the foundations of a paradigm shift. Clarkson also points to the many vigilante arsons and bombings of abortion clinics, and the killing of abortion providers such as Dr. David Gunn in Pensacola, Florida.