Chuck Colson

[[File:Chuck Colson.jpg|thumb|right|165px|Thinking up some felonies…]]
{{uspolitics}}{{cquote|You know Colson had that sign on the wall in his office saying ONCE YOU HAVE THEM BY THE BALLS, THEIR HEARTS AND MINDS WILL FOLLOW."|||[[Hunter S. Thompson]]<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/fear-and-loathing-at-the-watergate-37739/ Fear and Loathing at the Watergate] by Hunter S. Thompson (September 27, 1973), ''Rolling Stone''.</ref>}}
'''Chuck Colson''' {{lived|16 October 1931|21 April 2012}} was the chief counsel for [[Richard Nixon]] and was sent to prison in [[Alabama]] on a one- to three-year sentence (he served seven months) following a plea bargain to avoid going to court over the [[Watergate scandal]].  He pled guilty to obstruction of justice by leaking confidential information from the [[FBI]] file of Daniel Ellsberg to the media (who had, himself, leaked the [[Pentagon Papers]] to the media).

==Conversion to born again Christianity==
Just before entering prison, he was given a copy of [[C.S. Lewis]]' ''Mere Christianity'', which prompted him into becoming an [[evangelical Christian]]. At the time, his conversion story was considered by some to be a scam to reduce his prison time, although he stuck with it and seemed entirely sincere. His conversion was accepted as genuine by Senator [[Harold Hughes]] (Democrat of [[Iowa]]), himself a [[born again]] Christian who had until then been one of Colson's fiercest critics, leading to them becoming friends.

His 1977 autobiography ''Born Again'', and the subsequent 1978 movie of the same name which bombed with film critics,<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077261/ Born Again (1978)]. Internet Movie Database.</ref> were based on his conversion.

==Later activities==
From his conversion to his death, he was an outspoken evangelical who ran the ineffective<ref>https://www.au.org/church-state/september-2003-church-state/people-events/colson-prison-success-inflated-by-study-says Colson Prison Success Inflated By Study</ref> "Prison Fellowship" InnerChange ministry, the Wilberforce Forum, and a daily radio broadcast called ''BreakPoint''. He was a 1993 winner of the [[Templeton Prize]] and was awarded fifteen honorary doctorates, mostly from [[Fundie school|you-know-what-kind-of institutions]], and a prominent member of [[The Family]]. He also got a medal from a [[W|smirking chimp]] in 2008.

Colson was a staunch supporter of [[intelligent design]], arguing that "[[Darwinism]]" is a tool to attack [[Christianity]],<ref>[http://www.gofbw.com/news.asp?ID=6274 In his own words]</ref> and opponent of "[[secularism]]", which apparently is to blame for all sorts of ills, including the [[Enron]] scandal. In his attacks on [[evolution]], he had been known to repeat rather untrustworthy information he had gotten from the [[Discovery Institute]], such as claiming Darwinism helped cause forced sterilizations by eugenicists. He was also a steadfast proponent of the Bible Literacy Project's curriculum "The Bible and Its Influence" for public high school literature courses &mdash; a poorly-disguised [[wedge strategy|wedge trick]] to get [[public schools]] to teach religion. 

He was also an opponent of gay marriage<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2006/06/07/gay-marriage-and-the-romer-dec/ Dispatches from the Culture Wars, June 7 2006] gives a nice exposé on some of his arguments</ref> and a supporter of the [[War in Iraq]].  He was one of the five signatories to the "Land Letter" in 2002 stating that a "just war" case existed in favor of the war, giving [[George W. Bush]] theological sanction to invade Iraq.  The other signatories were Richard Land, Carl D. Herbster, James Kennedy, and [[Campus Crusade for Christ]] founder Bill Bright.

In November 2009, Chuck Colson helped draft the [[Manhattan Declaration]], calling for [[civil disobedience]] against laws affirming [[abortion]] rights and [[same-sex marriage]]. He used to claim that "study after study" showed that "gay 'marriage' undermines the institution of marriage," but never managed to find them or even explain exactly what the claim means.<ref>[http://www.christianpost.com/news/the-gay-marriage-debate-55046/ Here] is one instance, but the burning stupidity of his "argument" is not for the faint of heart</ref>

He was also the author of the 1995 novel ''Gideon's Torch'', an anti-abortion novel that included violence against abortion clinic doctors as a plot device, although this was allegedly Colson denouncing this violence as a way of calling on the government to do something about abortion.  And, in an April 11, 2006 radio commentary, he claimed abortion was the real cause of [[illegal immigration]] by creating a labor shortage due to "40 million sacrificed since 1973".<ref>http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200604120014</ref> In fact, he even claimed that abortion and [[pornography]] were the real causes of [[terrorism]].<ref>[http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2004/09/26/real-idiot-of-the-month-charle/ Comment on Colson's terrorism arguments, September 26, 2004]</ref> It is somewhat hard to reconstruct the argument, but a charitable interpretation would be that terrorism would go away if only the US would restrict the freedom of its citizens even further, since the [[Taliban]] hates us for our [[freedom]].

In a push to promote his 2008 book ''The Faith'', Colson engaged in dialogue with a number of [[atheist]] bloggers.<ref>[http://atheistexperience.blogspot.com/2009/02/kazim-to-chuck-colson-faith-and.html Kazim at Atheist Experience]</ref><ref>[http://zondervan.typepad.com/zondervan/2008/07/chuck-colsons-t.html Zondervan] </ref><ref>[http://atheistexperience.blogspot.com/2009/02/kazims-compiled-responses-to-chuck.html Kazim at Atheist Experience (reponses)]</ref>

Despite his hard-[[religious right]] activities, he was an ally of [[liberals]] on at least one issue: sentencing and [[prison]] reform, due to his personal (brief) experiences inside of prison. He opposed tough-on-crime and lock-em-up policies and called instead for "restorative justice", arguing in favor of restitution and hopefully reconciliation with the victim rather than incarceration.<ref>[http://www.slate.com/id/77067 David Plotz: Charles Colson, How a Watergate crook became America's greatest Christian conservative] This same article states that Colson's real goal was "to convert prisoners to Christianity, not necessarily to rehabilitate them".</ref>

He also accused [[James Dobson]] of conspiring to undermine [[freedom of religion]] in the US,<ref>Brian Tashman, [https://www.rightwingwatch.org/post/colson-calls-obama-contraception-mandate-the-greatest-threat-to-america/ Colson Calls Obama Contraception Mandate the ‘Greatest Threat to America’] ''Right Wing Watch'', 14 February 2012.</ref> but that attack was probably inadvertent.

==See Also==
*[[G. Gordon Liddy]]
*[[Kent State]]

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colson, Chuck}}
[[Category:Anti-abortion activists]]
[[Category:Atheophobia]]
[[Category:Authors]]
[[Category:Christians]]
[[Category:Convicted felons]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theorists]]
[[Category:Creationists]]
[[Category:Criminals]]
[[Category:Homophobes]]
[[Category:Intelligent design creationism]]
[[Category:Lawyers]]
[[Category:Pseudoscience promoters]]
[[Category:Purity culture]]
[[Category:Right-wing activists]]
[[Category:United States politicians]]
[[Category:War on science]]

Categories: Anti-abortion activists, Atheophobia, Authors, Christians, Convicted felons, Conspiracy theorists, Creationists, Criminals, Homophobes, Intelligent design creationism, Lawyers, Pseudoscience promoters, Purity culture, Right-wing activists, United States politicians, War on science