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The Sadducees (Hebrew: צְדוּקִים Ṣĕdûqîm) were a sect or group of Jews that were active in Ancient Israel during the Second Temple period, starting from the second century BC through the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. The sect was identified by Josephus with the upper social and economic echelon of Judean society.^[1] As a whole, the sect fulfilled various political, social, and religious roles, including maintaining the Temple. The Sadducees are often compared to other contemporaneous sects, including the Pharisees and the Essenes. Their sect is believed to have become extinct sometime after the destruction of Herod's Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD, but it has been speculated that the later Karaites may have had some roots or connections with old Sadducee views.

Etymology[link]

According to Abraham Geiger, the Sadducee sect of Judaism drew their name from Tzadok, the first Kohen Gadol to serve in The First Temple with the leaders of the sect proposed as the Kohanim (priestly) sons of Tzadok.^[2]

However, based on Chazalic sources, some researchers have argued that the Sadducee group originated in tandem with the Boethusian group during the Second Temple period, with their founders, Tzadok and Boethus, both being individual students of Antigonus of Sokho, who preceded the Zugot era,^[3] with no direct connection between the founder of the Tzadoki sect and Tzadok the Kohen Gadol, other than the same name.

In any event, the name Tzadok, being related to the root צָדַק ṣādaq (to be right, just)^[4] could be indicative of their aristocratic status in society in the initial period of their existence.^[5]

History[link]

The Second Temple Period[link]

The Second Temple Period is the period in Ancient Israel between the construction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in 516 BC and its destruction by the Romans in 70 AD.

Throughout the Second Temple Period, Jerusalem saw several shifts in rule. Alexander’s conquest of the Mediterranean world brought an end to Persian control of Jerusalem (539 BC- 334/333 BC) and ushered in the Hellenistic period. The Hellenistic period, which extended from 334/333 BC to 63 BC, is known today for the spread of Hellenistic influence. This included an expansion of culture, including an appreciation of theater, and admiration of the human body. After the death of Alexander in 323 BC, his generals divided the empire among themselves and for the next 30 years, they fought for control of the empire. The Ptolemies emerged with control of Judea in 301 BC (r. 301-200 BC), but only held it until the Seleucids (r. 200-167) took control in 200 BC. King Antiochus Epiphanes of Syria, a Seleucid, disrupted whatever peace there had been in Judea when he desecrated the temple in Jerusalem and forced Jews to violate their laws. Most prominent of the rebel groups were the Maccabees, led by Mattathias the Hasmonean and his son Judah the Maccabee. Though the Maccabees rebelled against the Seleucids in 164 BC, Seleucid rule did not end for another 20 years. The Maccabean (a.k.a. Hasmonean) rule lasted until 63 BC, when the Romans, having grown uncomfortable with the dynasty’s growing power, conquered Jerusalem.

Thus began the Roman period, which extended into the 4th century AD, well beyond the end of the Second Temple Period. Cooperation between the Romans and the Jews was strongest during the reigns of Herod and Herod Agrippa I (his grandson). However, the Romans gradually moved power out of the hands of vassal kings and into the hands of Roman administrators (e.g. Pontius Pilate). It was during this stage of control that war broke out (66 AD). After a few years of conflict, the Romans retook Jerusalem and destroyed the temple, bringing an end to the Second Temple Period (70 CE).^[6]

Role of the Temple[link]

During the Persian period, the Temple became more than the center of worship in Judea after its reconstruction in 516 BC; it served as the center of society. It makes sense, then, that priests held important positions as official leaders outside of the Temple. The democratizing forces of the Hellenistic period lessened and shifted the focus of Judaism away from the Temple and in the 3rd century BC, a scribal class began to emerge. New organizations and “social elites,” according to Shaye Cohen, appeared. It was also during this time that the high priesthood - the members of which often identified as Sadducees - was developing a reputation for corruption. Questions about the legitimacy of the Second Temple and its Sadduceean leadership freely circulated Judean society. Sects began to form during the Maccabean reign (see Jewish Sectarianism below).^[7] The Temple in Jerusalem was the formal center of political and governmental leadership in ancient Israel, although its power was often contested and disputed by fringe groups.

After the Temple destruction[link]

After the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in 70 AD, the Sadducees appear only in a few references to the Talmud. In the beginnings of Karaism the followers of Anan ben David were called "Sadducees" and setting a claim for the former being a historical continuity from the latter.

The discovery in 1910 of Sefer Zadok mentions by the Karaite sage Ya'akov al-Qirqisani, led to a renewal for the hypothesis of the Sadducee influences on the Karaites .

The Sadducee idea of soul mortality reflected on Uriel Acosta who mentions them in his writings, and the thinker was referred to as a Sadducee in Karl Gutzkow's play The Sadducees in Amsterdam (1834).

Role of the Sadducees[link]

Religious[link]

The religious responsibilities of the Sadducees included the maintenance of the Temple in Jerusalem. Their high social status was reinforced by their priestly responsibilities, as mandated in the Torah. The Priests were responsible for performing sacrifices at the Temple, the primary method of worship in Ancient Israel. This also included presiding over sacrifices on the three festivals of pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Their religious beliefs and social status were mutually reinforcing, as the Priesthood often represented the highest class in Judean society. It is important to note that the Sadducees and the priests were not completely synonymous. Cohen points out that “not all priests, high priests, and aristocrats were Sadducees; many were Pharisees, and many were not members of any group at all.”^[8] As mentioned above, it is widely believed that the Sadducees were descended from the House of Zadok and sought to preserve this priestly line and the authority of the Temple.

Political[link]

The Sadducees oversaw many formal affairs of the state.^[9] Members of the Sadducees:

• Administered the state domestically
• Represented the state internationally
• Participated in the Sanhedrin, and often encountered the Pharisees there.
• Collected taxes. These also came in the form of international tribute from Jews in the Diaspora.
• Equipped and led the army
• Regulated relations with the Romans
• Mediated domestic grievances.

Beliefs[link]

General[link]

According to Josephus, the Sadducees believed that:

• There is no fate
• God does not commit evil
• man has free will; “man has the free choice of good or evil”
• the soul is not immortal; there is no afterlife, and
• there are no rewards or penalties after death

The Sadducees rejected the belief in resurrection of the dead, which was a central tenet believed by Pharisees and by Early Christians. This often provoked hostilities.^[10] Furthermore, the Sadducees rejected the Oral Law as proposed by the Pharisees. Rather, they saw the Torah as the sole source of divine authority.^[11] The written law, in its depiction of the priesthood, corroborated the power and enforced the hegemony of the Sadducees in Judean society.

Disputes with the Pharisees[link]

• According to the Pharisees, spilt water becomes impure through its pouring. Sadducees deny that this is sufficient grounds for Tumah (impurity).^[12] Many Sadducee-Pharisee disputes revolve around issues of Tumah and purity. Some scholars^[who?] suggest that the emphasis on purity is characteristic of priestly groups, who often utilized their perceptions of “holiness” and “unholiness” to enforce their power.
• According to Jewish law, daughters inherit when there are no sons; otherwise, the sons inherit. The Pharisees posit that if a deceased son left only one daughter, then she shares the inheritance with the sons of her grandfather. The Sadducees suggest that it is impossible for the granddaughter to have a more favorable relationship to her grandfather than his own daughter does, and thus reject this ruling.^[13] This ruling is a testament to the Sadducean emphasis on patriarchal descent.
• The Sadducees demand that the master pay for damages caused by his slave. The Pharisees impose no such obligation, as the slave may intentionally cause damage in order to see the liability for it brought on his employer.^[14]
• The Pharisees posit that false witnesses are executed if the verdict is pronounced on the basis of their testimony -even if not yet actually carried out. The Sadducees argue that false witnesses are executed only if the death penalty has already been committed on the falsely accused.^[15]

Jewish sectarianism[link]

The Jewish community of the Second Temple period is often defined by its sectarian and fragmented attributes. Josephus, in Antiquities, contextualizes the Sadducees as opposed to the Pharisees and the Essenes. The Sadducees are also notably distinguishable from the growing Jesus movement, which later evolved into Christianity. These groups differed in their beliefs, social statuses, and sacred texts. Though the Sadducees produced no primary works themselves, their attributes can be derived from other contemporaneous texts, namely, the New Testament, the Dead Sea Scrolls, and later, the Mishnah and Talmud. Overall, within the hierarchy, the Sadducees represented an aristocratic, wealthy, and traditional elite.

As opposed to the Essenes[link]

The Dead Sea Scrolls, which are often attributed to the Essenes, suggest clashing ideologies and social positions between the Essenes and the Sadducees. In fact, some scholars suggest that the Essenes began as a group of renegade Zadokites, which would suggest that the group itself had priestly, and thus Sadducean origins. Within the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Sadducees are often referred to as Manasseh. The Scrolls suggest that the Sadducees (Manasseh) and the Pharisees (Ephraim) became religious communities that were distinct from the Essenes, the true Judah. Clashes between the Essenes and the Sadducees are depicted in the Pesher on Nahum, which states “They [Manasseh] are the wicked ones...whose reign over Israel will be brought down...his wives, his children, and his infant will go into captivity. His warriors and his honored ones [will perish] by the sword.”^[16] The reference to the Sadducees as those who reign over Israel corroborates their aristocratic status as opposed to the more fringe group of Essenes. Furthermore, it suggests that the Essenes challenged the authenticity of the rule of the Sadducees, blaming the downfall of ancient Israel and the siege of Jerusalem on their impiety. The Dead Sea Scrolls brand the Sadduceean elite as those who broke the covenant with God in their rule of the Judean state, and thus became targets of divine revenge.

As opposed to the Early Christian Church[link]

The New Testament, specifically the books of Mark and Matthew, describe anecdotes that hint at hostility between the growing Jesus movement and the Sadduceean establishment. These disputes manifest themselves on both theological and social levels. Primarily, Mark describes how the Sadducees challenged the Jesus’ groups belief in divine resurrection. Jesus subsequently defends his belief in resurrection against Sadduceean resistance, stating “and as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the story about the bush, how God said to him ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob?’ He is God not of the dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong.”^[17] The tone and content of the passage are indicative of theological and sociopolitical dispute. Jesus challenges the reliability of the Sadducees’ interpretation of Biblical doctrine, the authority of which enforces the power of the Sadduceean priesthood. In addition, the Sadducees address the issue of resurrection through the lens of marriage, which “hinted at their real agenda: the protection of property rights through patriarchal marriage that perpetuated the male lineage."^[18] Furthermore, Matthew depicts the Sadducees as “brood of Vipers,” and a perversion of the true Israel. The New Testament thus constructs the identity of the Jesus movement in opposition to the Sadducees.^[19]

As opposed to the Pharisees[link]

The Pharisees and the Sadducees are historically seen as antitheses of one another. Josephus, the author of the most extensive historical account of the Second Temple Period, gives an extensive account of Jewish sectarianism in both Jewish War and Antiquities. In Antiquities, he describes “the Pharisees have delivered to the people a great many observances by succession from their father. which are not written in the law of Moses, and for that reason it is that the Sadducees reject them and say that we are to esteem those observance to be obligatory which are in the written word, but are not to observe what are derived from the tradition of our forefathers.”^[20] The Sadducees rejected the Pharisaic use of the Oral law to enforce their claims to power, citing the Written Torah as the sole manifestation of divinity.

The Rabbis, who are traditionally seen as the descendants of the Pharisees, describe the similarities and differences between the two sects in Mishnah Yadaim. The Mishnah explains that the Sadducees state, “So too, regarding the Holy Scriptures, their impurity is according to (our) love for them. But the books of Homer, which are not beloved, do not defile the hands.”^[21] The Sadducees thus accuse the Pharisees as the opponents of traditional Judaism because of their susceptibility and assimilation into the Hellenistic world. When synthesized, one can discern that the Pharisees represented mainstream Judaism in the Hellenistic world, while the Sadducees represented a more aristocratic elite. Despite this, a passage from the book of Acts suggests that both Pharisees and Sadducees collaborated in the Sanhedrin, the high Jewish court.^[22]

See also[link]

• Pharisees
• Essenes
• Second Temple Period

References[link]

Primary[link]

• Tenney, Merrill (1998). Josephus Complete Works. City: Nelson Reference. ISBN 978-0-7852-1427-4. 
• Vermes, Geza (2004). The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English. Harmondsworth Eng.: Penguin. ISBN 978-0-14-044952-5. 
• Coogan, Michael (2007). The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha. City: Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN 978-0-19-528882-7. 

Secondary[link]

• Wellhausen, Julius (2001). The Pharisees and the Sadducees. Macon: Mercer University Press. ISBN 978-0-86554-729-2. 
• Vermes, Geza (2003). Jesus in His Jewish Context. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. ISBN 978-0-8006-3623-4. 
• Cohen, Shaye (2006). From the Maccabees to the Mishnah. Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-22743-2. 
• Eshel, Hanan (2008). The Dead Sea Scrolls and the Hasmonean State. City: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-8028-6285-3. 
• Newman, Hillel (2006). Proximity to Power and Jewish Sectarian Groups of the Ancient Period: a Review of Lifestyle, Values, and Halakha in the Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, and Qumran. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-14699-0. 
• Stemberger, Günter (1995). Jewish Contemporaries of Jesus. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. ISBN 978-0-8006-2624-2. 
• Johnson, Paul (1988). A History of the Jews. San Francisco: Perennial Library. ISBN 978-0-06-091533-9. 
• Mishnah Yadayim 4:6-8, The Pharisee-Sadducee Debate

External links[link]

•  "Sadducees". New International Encyclopedia. 1905. 

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Chuck Baldwin
Personal details
Born	Charles Obadiah Baldwin (1952-05-03) May 3, 1952 (age 60) La Porte, Indiana, U.S.
Political party	Constitution Republican
Spouse(s)	Connie Kay Cole (1973–present)
Children	Sarah, Christopher, Timothy
Residence	Pensacola, Florida, U.S.
Occupation	Baptist pastor, radio host
Religion	Baptists (Christianity)
Website	Chuck Baldwin Live

Charles Obadiah "Chuck" Baldwin (born May 3, 1952) is an American politician and founder-pastor of Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. He was the presidential nominee of the Constitution Party for the 2008 U.S. presidential election and had previously been its nominee for U.S. vice president in 2004. He hosts a daily one-hour radio program, Chuck Baldwin Live, and writes a daily editorial column carried on its website, on News with Views, and on VDare.

As a Republican Party member, Baldwin was state chairman of the Florida Moral Majority in the 1980s. However, during the 2000 campaign of Republican George W. Bush for U.S. President, Baldwin left the party and began a long period of criticism of Bush. Baldwin endorsed U.S. Representative Ron Paul for the 2008 Republican nomination for president, and Paul in turn endorsed Baldwin for the presidency in the 2008 general election.

Baldwin supports ending U.S. involvement in the United Nations, reducing U.S. income taxes, and repeal of the Patriot Act. He would withdraw troops from Iraq and seek to end illegal immigration by enforcing immigration laws. He supports the gold standard, the right to keep and bear arms, homeschooling, and the proposed Sanctity of Life Act, which would define "human life" and legal personhood as beginning at conception, and prevent federal courts from hearing cases on abortion-related legislation.

Family and education[link]

Baldwin's father, Edwin J. "Ed" Baldwin, was born on March 1, 1907, in Lake, Michigan^{[disambiguation needed ]}, to Zora Mary Baldwin (1889–1973) and Arthur Baldwin (1881–1962), a farmer, carpenter, and construction foreman. The family moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, before 1910, after which Ed's four siblings Ruth, Nina, Arthur (Bud), and Eugene (Gene) were born. Ed grew up to marry Sarah L. Baldwin, became a master welder, and was loyal to the Teamsters union and the Democratic Party.^[1][2]

In response to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the three brothers volunteered for the Second World War on December 8, 1941. At this time Sarah left Ed because of his years of alcoholism.^[2] After the war, Ed left Arkansas and found work in La Porte, Indiana (where he lived until his death in early 1993); he was the only one of the Baldwin clan (also including his in-laws) not to remain a lifelong Arkansan.^[3] In 1947, while in poor health, Ed "gave his heart to the Lord" in a salvation experience, and reportedly never drank again. Ed had remarried, and conducted a successful volunteer chaplaincy in La Porte County Jail, Indiana State Prison, and other northern Indiana prisons for 35 years; he was regarded as an effective soulwinner and as having a special ministry to black inmates.^[2] Ed's life story was dramatized for radio by Pacific Garden Mission for its "Unshackled!" series.^[4]

Ed's son, Charles "Chuck" Baldwin, was born in La Porte, Indiana, in La Porte County, on May 3, 1952. Baldwin graduated from La Porte High School in 1971 and attended Midwestern Baptist College in Pontiac, Michigan, for two years. He met Connie Kay Cole there and married her on June 2, 1973.^[4] Though he originally had planned on a career in law enforcement, Baldwin felt called to evangelistic ministry;^[2] he moved to the south,^[3] and enrolled in, and graduated with a Bible diploma from, the Thomas Road Bible Institute (now the Liberty Bible Institute at Liberty University). He then received his bachelor's and master's in theology through external programs from Christian Bible College, located in Rocky Mount, North Carolina which is accredited by the American Accrediting Association of Theological Institutions run by the President of the college and has been referred to as a diploma mill in Name It and Frame It?^[5]. Baldwin has received two honorary doctor of divinity degrees, from Christian Bible College and from Trinity Baptist College in Jacksonville, Florida.^[4]

On June 22, 1975, Chuck and Connie Baldwin and four other individuals held the first meeting of what would become the Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida; Baldwin was the founding pastor. By 1985 the church had gone through repeated building programs and been recognized by President Ronald Reagan for its unusual growth and influence.^[4]

The Baldwins have three children. Sarah is the oldest; she and her husband, structural engineer Allan Baker, are church youth leaders and have three children. Second is Christopher (Chris), who owns a plumbing business; he and his wife, Jana Baldwin née McCoy, also have three children. Third is Timothy, a lawyer and a music minster at Liberty Fellowship in Kalispell, Montana.^[3][4]

Political activity[link]

Until he became a Republican in 1980, Baldwin had been a registered Democrat, like his father.^[3] From 1980 to 1984, Baldwin served as Pensacola chairman and then state executive director of the Florida Moral Majority, organized by the Rev. Jerry Falwell of Lynchburg, Virginia.^[4] Baldwin helped carry the state twice for Reagan electors; he says he helped Falwell register some 50,000 Christian conservative voters.^[6] Baldwin's father, Ed, a lifelong Democrat, expressed grudging admiration for what he saw as Reagan's honesty and courage.^[2] In August 1994, Baldwin had a call-in radio show on the Christian Patriot Network.^[7]

In 2000, however, Baldwin left the Republican Party on grounds that the Bush–Cheney ticket was too liberal. Baldwin has said that many evangelical minds, similarly to ministers in Nazi Germany, have seemingly given Bush "the aura of an American Fuhrer."^[8] He considered himself an independent affiliated with the Constitution Party.^[3]

At about this time, Baldwin began hosting a local daily one-hour current-events radio program, "Chuck Baldwin Live," which continues today nationwide on the Genesis Communications Network. He writes a semiweekly editorial column carried on its website, on VDare, Chuckbalwinlive.com,^[9] and in several newspapers. He has also appeared on numerous television shows and radio shows, in churches across the country, and as the keynote speaker for the 50th anniversary of D-Day at Naval Air Station Pensacola.^[4]

2004 vice presidential campaign[link]

In the 2004 presidential election, Baldwin was the running mate of Michael Peroutka of Maryland and was the candidate for U.S. vice president on the Constitution Party ticket, the Alaskan Independence Party ticket, and other tickets and qualified write-in slots in 42 states. The two ran on a platform of "For God, Family, and the Republic." The Peroutka–Baldwin campaign publicly spoke out against abortion,^[10] women in the military,^[11] and the Iraq War,^[12] and emphasized the Bible, traditional family values, and the need for Constitutionally limited government.

On August 14, 2004, the Clarion Call to Converge Committee hosted discussions of potential strategic merger among the America First Party, the American Independent Party, and the Independent American Party; invited Constitution Party chair Jim Clymer was unable to attend due to Hurricane Charley. While the committee found the meeting favorable toward some party merger,^[13] AFP national chairman Dan Charles saw other forms of party cooperation to be more likely.^[14] In the end, the four parties succeeded in uniting to endorse Peroutka–Baldwin as their 2004 presidential ticket.

Peroutka was also endorsed by many paleoconservatives, the Alaskan Independence Party,^[15] the League of the South (accepted by Peroutka at its 2004 national convention), the Southern Party of Georgia,^[16] Samuel T. Francis,^[17] Alex Jones,^[18] Howard Phillips,^[19] and Taki Theodoracopulos.^[20] Pat Buchanan also stated there was a chance he would vote for Peroutka, counting them as "a Buchananite party",^[21] but eventually endorsed Bush.^[22] The ticket came in fifth with 143,630 votes (0.12%)^[23] and spent $728,221,^[24] somewhat less per vote than either George W. Bush or John Kerry. It was the only third party to increase its share of the vote in 2004.

Interim activity[link]

In the Constitution Party's April 2006 national convention in Tampa, Florida, a heated disaffiliation vote forced members to choose between one of two pro-life positions. The assembly voted not to disaffiliate the Independent American Party of Nevada over the more exceptive position of its gubernatorial candidate, Christopher H. Hansen. Baldwin voted in favor of disaffiliation, favoring the more conservative position. Baldwin remained with the party, but several conservative state parties subsequently voted to leave the national party, believing it to have unacceptably compromised its pro-life platform;^[25] rump factions have been orchestrated by the national Constitution Party in some of these states.

On August 30, 2007, Baldwin wrote an informal endorsement for Ron Paul for the GOP nomination: "Conservative Republicans have only one choice for president in 2008: Congressman Ron Paul of Texas";^[26] more formal endorsement of Paul came in a December video.^[27] That same month, Baldwin said:

Unfortunately, it has been the Christian Right's blind support for President Bush in particular and the Republican Party in general that has precipitated a glaring and perhaps fatal defect: the Christian Right cannot, or will not, honestly face the real danger confronting these United States. . . . On the whole, they fail to understand the issues that are critical to our nation's—and their own—survival. . . . Sadly, this is what the Christian Right just doesn't get: ninety percent of the time, it doesn't matter to a tinker's dam whether a Republican or Democrat wins the White House. . . . All the pro-life, pro-family, traditional-values, conservative talk is just that: talk. Republicans use conservative rhetoric the same way Democrats use liberal rhetoric. Neither party believes what they are telling their constituents. They merely say what constituents want to hear in order to get elected; after which, they set about to do what their elitist, globalist manipulators tell them to do.^[6]

2008 presidential campaign[link]

Baldwin's vice presidential run, and Peroutka's withdrawal from the national Constitution Party, led to active 2006 speculation that Baldwin would seek the presidential nomination in 2008. Baldwin responded in October that "I have learned to never say never, but I have no desire to run. [It] would require several 'miraculous' signs of reassurance that, frankly, I cannot see happening. However, I am always open to God's will."^[28] He repeated this stance through March 2008.^[29]

Baldwin announced on April 10, two weeks before the national convention was held in Kansas City, Missouri, that he would make himself available for the party's nomination at the convention, while "not 'running,'" but continuing to seek God's will.^[30][31] A Nolan Chart writer conveyed speculation that Baldwin's availability may have been responsive to the sudden candidacy of former ambassador Alan Keyes, who strongly favored the Iraq war;^[32] Baldwin, a noninterventionist, admitted others "have urged me to place my name in nomination."^[31] In a convention speech, party founder Howard Phillips endorsed Baldwin and controversially referred to Keyes as a neocon and a too-recent Republican.^[33]

Baldwin was nominated on April 26, 2008, after what was described as the most contentious battle in the party's 16-year history.^[34] He received 383.8 votes, ahead of Keyes, who drew 125.7 votes from delegates;^[35] Keyes had abandoned the Republicans for the Constitution Party (one month before the Constitution Party convention),^[34] much as Baldwin had done in 2000. Party members such as national chairman Jim Clymer said Baldwin's stands were more in line with party thinking.^[34] Baldwin asked the convention to nominate bankruptcy attorney Darrell Castle of Tennessee as his running mate, and this request was honored.^[36]

After Ron Paul withdrew from the Republican campaign in June, he remained neutral about making a presidential endorsement. On September 10, Paul held a National Press Club conference at which Baldwin, Green Party nominee Cynthia McKinney, and independent candidate Ralph Nader all agreed on four principles—quickly ending the Iraq war, protecting privacy and civil liberties, stopping increases in the national debt, and investigating the Federal Reserve—and on their opposition to the Democratic and Republican parties ignoring these issues.^[37]

Paul's advice at the conference was to vote for whichever third-party candidate one has the most affinity to, because "we must maximize the total votes of those rejecting the two major candidates."^[38] However, on September 22, 2008, Paul stated his neutrality was "due to my respect and friendship and support from both the Constitution and Libertarian Party members . . . and I'm a ten-term Republican congressman. It is not against the law to participate in more than one political party." Paul then gave his endorsement to Baldwin: "Unsolicited advice from the Libertarian Party candidate . . . has [persuaded] me to reject my neutral stance in the November election. I'm supporting Chuck Baldwin, the Constitution Party candidate."^[39] Paul later clarified that though he would vote for Baldwin, he recognized the diversity of his support base and could not bind anyone's conscience. A former Paul primary backer, Houston term limits pioneer Clymer Wright, also contributed to the Baldwin campaign.^[40]

Baldwin has written specifically against the candidacies of Barack Obama and John McCain,^[41] and those of vice-presidential nominees Sarah Palin and Joe Biden.^[42]

2012 campaign for lieutenant governor[link]

In November, 2011, Republican Montana gubernatorial candidate Bob Fanning selected Chuck Baldwin as his running mate.^[43]

Move to Montana[link]

In 2010, Baldwin retired from his position as pastor of Crossroad Baptist Church and announced his intention to move to Montana, because he believed God had told him that the Mountain states were the "tip of the spear in the freedom fight."^[44] In March 2011, he wrote an article in support of the American Redoubt concept originated by novelist and blogger James Wesley Rawles. This plan designates five western states (Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, eastern Oregon, and eastern Washington) as a safe haven for conservative Christians.^[45] In a June 9, 2011 article, Baldwin outlined his reasons for choosing the Flathead Valley of Western Montana for his family's home. He cited Montana's freedom-loving people, its recognition of the right to keep and bear arms, and a feeling of strong conviction, following prayer.^[46]

Political positions[link]

Foreign policy[link]

Baldwin supports American sovereignty and is a staunch opponent of what he sees as the New World Order. He has stated that fighting against one-world government is his top priority. He believes globalism in government has led to many connected threats and issues, among which he lists illegal immigration, the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the North American Free Trade Agreement, CAFTA, the North American Union, the Trans-Texas Corridor, the Iraq war, China,^[47] the Security and Prosperity Partnership, and the Free Trade Area of the Americas.^[48] He would also effect United States withdrawal from the United Nations and has pledged to push the UN out of its New York City offices.^[34]

Baldwin believes that "the invasion and occupation of Iraq was absolutely unnecessary"^[49] and has said his presidency would result in troop withdrawal from Iraq.^[34]

He has written that "the Mexican government is deliberately and systematically working to destabilize and undermine the very fabric and framework of American society."^[50] He strongly opposes amnesty for illegal immigrants and would try to end illegal immigration.^[34]

Baldwin has suggested reopening the investigation into the September 11 attacks, believing that the 9/11 truth movement has a right to have alternative 9/11 theories investigated, including those that raise the possibility of U.S. government involvement in the attacks.^[51]

Economy[link]

Baldwin says he would end all federal income taxes and phase out the Internal Revenue Service.^[34] In an interview, he said, "What I would propose is an across-the-board, general 10 percent tariff on all imports and that would meet the Constitution's prescription for financing the federal government—duties, imposts, tariffs",^[52] which, he claims, would also help keep jobs in the United States.^[53] His website also says that "a tariff on foreign imports, based on the difference between the foreign item's cost of production abroad and the cost of production of a similar item produced in the United States, would be a Constitutional step toward a fair trade policy that would protect American jobs and, at the same time, raise revenue for our national government."^[54]

He has said that as president he would streamline the federal government and tap oil reserves in Alaska, the Dakotas, and the Gulf of Mexico. He believes the United States should return to the gold standard.^[34]

States' rights[link]

Baldwin believes that "the South was right in the War Between the States," and that the leaders of the Confederacy were not racists.^[3] He uses the term "War for Southern Independence". ^[55] He bemoans George W. Bush's failure to rescind executive orders by Bill Clinton that appear to undermine states' rights and private property rights.^[56]

Individual liberties[link]

Baldwin "believe[s] the federal 'war on terror' and 'war on drugs' are mostly a cover for power-hungry, Big Government zealots to trample constitutional government and squash freedoms and liberties, which are supposed to be protected by the Bill of Rights and Declaration of Independence." ^[57] He opposes the Patriot Act and related legislation and orders, saying that it "deprives the people of their rights secured under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments under the guise of 'combating terrorism' or 'protecting national security'".^[58] In relation to airplane captain Don Carty profiling a customer's credentials and behavior, Baldwin stated that "profiling of all sorts is a very necessary tool for effective law enforcement. Only morons would try to hamper a lawman's ability to bring criminals to justice by removing this tool from them."^[59]

Regarding the separation of church and state, Baldwin believes that "America was deliberately and distinctively founded as a haven for Christians"^[60] and he supports the public display of the Ten Commandments in government buildings.

He says that freedom of association in health care is important: "I strongly support the freedom of choice of practitioner and treatment for all citizens for their health care. . . . The government should not have the power to force people to receive immunizations or vaccinations."^[61] He also would eliminate the Food and Drug Administration as unconstitutional.^[62]

Baldwin supports freedom for homeschooling and private schooling and wants to disband the U.S. Department of Education;^[63] he says that he would be the best friend homeschoolers have ever had in the White House.^[34]

Baldwin is a strong supporter of the Second Amendment, and he believes that the right to keep and bear arms should not be infringed by the government:

A Baldwin Administration will uphold the right of the citizens to keep and bear arms and will oppose attempts to prohibit ownership of guns by law-abiding citizens, and, further, will stand against all laws which would require the registration of guns or ammunition. . . . Richard Henry Lee, a signer of the Declaration, once said, "To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them." Just as the right to bear arms is necessary in the defense against tyranny, so [too] is that same right vital for the purpose of self-defense. . . . Firearms are used 60 times more often to protect the lives of honest citizens than to take lives. . . . The vast majority of the time (92%), the mere presence of a firearm helps to avert a major crime from occurring. That is what Congressman Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) concluded after extensive research. According to Rep. Bartlett, the number of defensive uses is four times the number of crimes reported committed with guns.^[64]

Baldwin had already begun promoting militia movements on his radio show as early as 1995.^[7] He says that in his opinion, people like Morris Dees, head of the Southern Poverty Law Center, try to "pander the market of fear, trying to convince everybody that anyone with a gun, any person who wants to own a gun, and anyone who would consider themselves part of a citizen militia is a threat to our government and to our society."^[65]

Baldwin firmly opposes abortion and Roe v. Wade. He favors Ron Paul's Sanctity of Life Act^[66] and says his presidency would end abortion.^[34]

He takes a critical view of the federal government's handling of Randy Weaver, the Branch Davidians, and Hutaree.^[67]

Personal views[link]

Baldwin has several beliefs typically distinctive of Independent Baptists, such as the primacy of the local New Testament church, premillennial dispensationalism, counting homosexuality as a moral perversion, avoidance of drinking and smoking, and strict diet and exercise.^[3] He believes that America has evolved to "a matriarchal society"^[68] and that it is losing the "inner toughness" of masculinity.^[69] Baldwin says his only organizational memberships are to his church, the Constitution Party, Gun Owners of America, and the National Rifle Association.^[3]

In 2002 he wrote a booklet, "What Every Christian Should Know About Islam." Baldwin summarizes Muslim persecution of Christians by saying, "Only communism rivals Islam in sheer numbers of people persecuted and killed."^[70]

In his spare time, Baldwin enjoys hunting, recreational fishing, and watching the Green Bay Packers.^[3] Among his favorite movies are The Passion of the Christ^[71] and Gods and Generals, stating that the latter "has the power to change the hearts of millions of people who disdain the Old Confederacy, who misunderstand Southern slavery, and who hold Christianity in contempt."^[72]

Bibliography[link]

• Baldwin, Chuck, ed. (2001). The Freedom Documents. Abigail Adams, John Adams, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, Robert E. Lee, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Paine, Ronald Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain. Pensacola, Florida: Chuck Baldwin Live Radio Talk Show. OCLC 212793142. 
• Let's Look at Legalism.^{[citation needed]}
• Subjects Seldom Spoken On: 11 Messages That Will Stimulate Your Mind and Stir Your Heart, 1990.^{[citation needed]}
• This Is the Life (a verse-by-verse exposition of the Epistles of John).^{[citation needed]}

References[link]

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (March 2012)

• Baldwin-Castle 2008 campaign from Archive.org
• Chuck Baldwin Live
• Chuck Baldwin at NewsWithViews.com.
• Chuck Baldwin at Renew America.
• Crossroad Baptist Church of Pensacola
• Conservative President 2008 Interview with Chuck Baldwin
• New American Interview with Chuck Baldwin
• Chuck Baldwin On the Issues