Dr. Francis Nigel Lee

[Cleopatra7]

I'm doing a review essay on an edited book about the Catholic Church in South Africa, and  I found this huge pdf about the "purity" of Afrikaner Calvinism written before the fall of apartheid by Calvinist minister Dr. Francis Nigel Lee:

https://web.archive.org/web/20130906130111/http://dr-fnlee.org/docs3/ca/ca.pdf

He promoted a dominionist approach to history, seeing colonization and apartheid (i.e., "separate development") as evidence that god loves whites more, and that South Africa is an outpost of "Calvinist civilization" that has to be  protected from communists and "uncivilized" blacks. He also referenced Rushdooney approvingly, so I don't think it would unfair to classify him as a dominonist, as this quote indicates:

Quote

The present Prime Minister of South Africa is Minister P.W. Botha. He is married to the daughter of a Reformed Preacher. He is presently working toward confederation of all Black and White South African self-governing areas -- to become a Christian-Western confederated bastion against communism.

In general, I would say that Calvinism is still alive and well in South Africa. Gambling and prostitution and strip-tease and homosexuality are all illegal. Rape and murder are generally

punished with the death penalty. Of course, there is always room for much further improvement!

Looking at the document is somewhat laughable today, since the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa has been largely discredited because of how it provided the theological justification for apartheid; these days, Afrikaners seem to be Pentecostal or "nones."  So much for the "purity" of Afrikaner Calvinism. I do wonder how he squared these beliefs with the fall of apartheid and the election of Mandela; maybe God was punishing Afrikaner Calvinists for not being "godly" enough? As rage-inducing as the document is, it is illuminating to see the extent to which apartheid-era South Africa was seen as an explicitly "Christian nation" that was governed according to a sectarian ideology that cast Afrikaners as "an elect people" and blacks as perpetual serfs.

I did some more Googling and found out that Lee advocated for "Christian ethnic homelands," and that some group called the "Puritans Network" thinks this is a viable idea for the US:

http://www.puritans.net/homelands/

http://www.puritans.net/articles/plan.htm

Unsurprisingly, they have a homeschool curriculum as well:

http://www.puritans.net/curriculum/

I have no idea how widespread the beliefs of these "Puritans Network" people are, but it's pretty disturbing that anyone in 2016 would look at South Africa's Bantustan policy and think that it's something that should be replicated.

[Howl]

Hmmm, why does Douglas Wilson come to mind as I read this?

 

[Cleopatra7]

33 minutes ago, Howl said:

Hmmm, why does Douglas Wilson come to mind as I read this?

 

I think Wilson must know of Lee, who appears to be well-known in hardcore Calvinist circles (the Puritan Board noted his passing). The document I linked to acknowledged a number of churches and individuals in the American South who helped him, so I think his theological and political views must appeal to Calvinists with particular views on race.

[paganbaby]

9 hours ago, Howl said:

Hmmm, why does Douglas Wilson come to mind as I read this?

 

And the first thing that came to my mind when I read your post was, "Hmmm, I wonder how much of Lee's work Wilson has plagiarized so far?"

[Howl]

1 hour ago, paganbaby said:

And the first thing that came to my mind when I read your post was, "Hmmm, I wonder how much of Lee's work Wilson has plagiarized so far?"

Brilliant and I'm still laughing, Doug Wilson being the intractable plargiarista that he is.  He probably figures, "Hey, the guy's dead, he think just like I do, so no harm, no foul".