Editing Gary North (economist) (section)

===Proposed "Christian theocratic" political and social order===
A 2011 article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' identified North as a central figure in [[Christian reconstructionism]], the philosophy which advocates the institution of "a Christian [[theocracy]] under Old Testament law [as] the best form of government, and a radically libertarian one."<ref name=":1">{{cite news |last=Oppenheimer |first=Mark| title='Christian Economics' Meets the Antiunion Movement |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/30/us/30beliefs.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/30/us/30beliefs.html |archive-date=2022-01-02 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |work=New York Times |date=April 30, 2011 |access-date=April 30, 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref> North wrote: "I certainly believe in biblical theocracy."<ref>Hugh B. Urban, ''The Secrets of the Kingdom: Religion and Concealment in the Bush Administration'' Rowman and Littlefield, 56</ref><ref>Gary North, ''Political Polytheism: The Myth of Pluralism'' Tyler, Tex., Institute for Christian Economics, 1989, x</ref>

The article also described North as "the leading proponent of 'Christian economics,' which applies biblical principles to economic issues and the free market." North supported the abolition of the [[fractional-reserve banking]] system and a return to the [[gold standard]]. According to the ''Times'', North believed that the Bible forbids inflation, welfare programs, and also writes that "God would prefer gold money to paper".<ref name=":1" />

====Range of capital offenses====
North favored [[capital punishment]] for a range of offenders, including murderers, blasphemers, children who curse their parents,<ref>On the subject of executing children, North wrote, "When people curse their parents, it unquestionably is a capital crime... The integrity of the family must be maintained by the threat of death". Gary North, ''The Sinai Strategy: Economics and the Ten Commandments'' (Tyler, Tex.: Institute for Christian Economics, 1986), p. 59.</ref> male homosexuals, and other people who commit some of the [[List of capital crimes in the Torah|acts deemed capital offenses]] in the [[Old Testament]].<ref name=BD23>Gary North, ''Boundaries and Dominion'' (1994), [http://www.garynorth.com/freebooks/docs/html/gnbd/Chapter23 chapter 23]{{dead link|date=March 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.</ref><ref>Sugg, John (December 2005). [https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2005/12/nation-under-god "A Nation Under God."] [[Mother Jones (magazine)|''Mother Jones'']]</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Sugg|first=John|date=July–August 2006|title=Warped Worldview|url=https://www.au.org/church-state/julyaugust-2006-church-state/featured/warped-worldview|journal=Church & State|publisher=[[Americans United for Separation of Church and State]]|access-date=July 28, 2013|archive-date=October 24, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131024072424/https://www.au.org/church-state/julyaugust-2006-church-state/featured/warped-worldview}}</ref> (North believed that the death penalty for [[sabbath breaking]] and some other crimes no longer applies.<ref name=BD23 />) North stated that the [[The Bible and homosexuality#Leviticus 18 and 20|biblical admonition]] to kill homosexuals in the [[Book of Leviticus]] is God's "law and its morally appropriate sanction", arguing that "God is indeed a [[Homophobia|homophobe]]" who "hates the practice [of homosexuality] and those who practice it" and "hates the sin and hates the sinner."<ref name=boundaries>{{cite book | first=Gary | last=North | url=http://www.garynorth.com/Leviticus-v1.pdf |title=Boundaries and Dominion: An Economic Commentary on Leviticus | edition=2nd  | volume=1 | pages=xxvi, 221}}</ref>

North said that capital punishment should be carried out by [[stoning]], because it is the biblically approved method of execution and it is cheap due to the plentiful and convenient supply of stones.<ref name="Clarkson">{{cite book|last=Clarkson|first=Frederick|title=Eyes Right!: Challenging the Right Wing Backlash|chapter=Christian Reconstruction: Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence|year=1995|publisher=[[South End Press]]|page=62|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fl6Ix9HFKQEC&pg=PA62|isbn=978-0-89608-523-7}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Vile |first=John R. |title=Encyclopedia of Constitutional Amendments, Proposed Amendments, and Amending Issues, 1789–2002 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |year=2003 |isbn=1-85109-428-8 |edition=2nd |location=Santa Barbara, CA |page=67 |chapter=Christian Reconstruction |oclc=51553072 |quote=...North favors stoning,...because of the widespread availability of rocks... |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T0IGUhxqUuYC&pg=PA67}}</ref> For non-capital offenses, North eschewed prisons as a punishment, but preferred "whipping, restitution in the form of indentured servitude, or slavery".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Clarkson |first1=Frederick |author1-link=Frederick Clarkson |title=Christian Reconstructionism: Theocratic Dominionism Gains Influence |work=Political Research Associates |date=March 1994 |url=https://politicalresearch.org/1994/03/01/christian-reconstructionismtheocratic-dominionism-gains-influence |publisher=[[Political Research Associates]] |access-date=31 December 2024}}</ref>

====Religious liberty====
North said: "We must use the doctrine of [[freedom of religion|religious liberty]] to gain independence for Christian schools until we train up a generation of people who know that there is no religious neutrality, no neutral law, no neutral education, and no neutral civil government. Then they will get busy in constructing a Bible-based social, political and religious order which finally denies the religious liberty of the enemies of God."<ref name="Olson">{{Cite web |last=Olson |first=Walter |date=1998-11-01 |title=Reasonable Doubts: Invitation to a Stoning |url=https://reason.com/1998/11/01/invitation-to-a-stoning/ |access-date=2023-05-17 |website=Reason.com |pages=1–2 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=North|first=Gary|chapter=The Intellectual Schizophrenia of the New Christian Right|editor-first=James B|editor-last=Jordan|title=The Failure of the American Baptist Culture|year=1982|series=Christianity and Civilization|publisher=Geneva Divinity School|isbn=0-939404-04-4|issn=0278-8187|page=25}}</ref>

Adam C. English suggests that this quote implies that "religious liberty is a useful tool to Christians in the present, yet is ultimately to be denied to anyone who is not Christian once the Christians are in power".<ref>{{cite book|last=English|first=Adam C.|title=New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America|chapter=Christian Reconstruction after Y2K: Gary North, the New Millennium, and Religious Freedom|year=2003|publisher=[[Baylor University Press]]|page=116|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=up5fnY7Wp1wC&pg=PA116|isbn=978-0-918954-92-3}}</ref> English argues that although this may seem inconsistent (advocating religious liberty but denying the reality of the notion), North and his fellow reconstructionists understand "liberty" in a theological sense. According to the reconstructionists, "anyone outside of the Christian faith is in bondage," and so "government by rigorous theonomy is not oppressive but liberating".<ref>English, "Christian Reconstruction after Y2K," p. 117.</ref>