Christian Exodus leader to call Anderson home by July

Job secured, now Burnell looking for house

Independent Mail, South Carolina/June 3, 2007
By Liz Carey

Cory Burnell, leader of the Christian Exodus, said he is ready to move his family and operations to Anderson.

In the Spring Newsletter for Christian Exodus, Mr. Burnell said he has found a job and is ready to move his family to Anderson. He anticipates they will arrive in the Upstate during the first week of July.

"We've been planning this for a couple of years," he said. "The move definitely has its pros and cons. We'll be leaving our families in Southern California, and we already left family in Texas when we moved from there to California. But we have a lot of excitement about the move, my wife and I do."

Mr. Burnell and his family, which includes his wife and three children, ages 5, 2ƒ and 6 weeks, will join 15 other Christian Exodus families in the Upstate. Another two dozen families, he said, anticipate being here by 2008.

Nicole Burnell, his wife, said she looks at the move with mixed feelings.

"I was born and raised in the town that we live in," she said in an e-mail response. "All of my family and many friends are here. My mother is my neighbor, so the kids are able to see their grandparents every day as well as wander our property and theirs. I love it here, so I am giving up a lot to make the move.

"Although I love this small town, I do not like California and disagree with the liberal politics. Most states are not far behind, and I know that my husband's plan is a good one. So, I am willing to go with him and help preserve South Carolina."

Mr. Burnell did not want to identify where he is working or disclose anything about his family, citing privacy concerns. Two of the group's families who have moved to South Carolina have said they felt some tension in their workplace because of their association with Christian Exodus.

The group gained nationwide news media attention for his call for likeminded people to move to South Carolina, with the goal being to have their members support candidates for state and local elected positions.

There have been many misunderstanding about the Christian Exodus mission, he said.

First, the organization is not a religion or religious cult, he said.

Instead, he said, the organization is a political movement based on his knowledge of the constitution and is about forcing the federal government to adhere to the constitution.

"The constitution outlines the powers of the federal government," he said. "What we've had for over the last 100 years is an infringement of those powers from the states."

The 10th amendment to the constitution states "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

As examples, he said the constitution does not give the federal government the authority to regulate or fund education, health and human services or housing and urban development.

"It's totally illegal for the federal government to do it," he said. "Authority for those programs is on the state level. It cannot come out of Washington. It has to come out of Columbia."

Mr. Burnell said he is concerned with the education system in South Carolina, and in Anderson County, but only from how it will impact the investment value of his home. Mr. Burnell and his wife home school their children, he said.

According to Mr. Burnell, Christian Exodus is a group of Christian conservatives that wants to put into political office other Christian conservatives who would uphold the Constitution, even if the federal government would not.

On the organization's Web site, the intention of the organization is to "live under the unjust usurpation of powers by the federal government, and therefore resolves to formally disassociate itself from this tyrannical authority, and return to the model of governance of a constitutional republic. We seek a republican government constrained by constitutionally delegated powers. If this cannot be achieved within the United States, then we believe a peaceful withdrawal from the union to be the last available remedy."

And while the organization is supported by those who advocate cessation from the Union, he said that is a strategy, but not the ultimate goal.

The organization also does not advocate a single religion, or a single theocratic ideal, he said.

"When our members get together, we can't agree on a single theology," he said. "Religious freedom is part of our foundation. We have Baptists, Catholics, Messianic Jews. … We don't want to see any one faction have the force of government to prevent someone from practicing the faith of their choice."

Mrs. Burnell also was concerned about others' perception of the family.

"One thing that concerns me about the move is that many people have misconceptions about our family already (thanks to the media)," she wrote. "We are completely normal! We go and do like any other family. My friends (and my children's for that matter) are Christian and non-Christian alike. We are very social and we do not judge, but we are set in our beliefs. I guess my point is that we may move to SC and (be) to some 'those people,' but it will only be because they have not taken the time to get to know us themselves."

Christian Exodus radio station in the works

According to Cory Burnell, founder of Christian Exodus, the group's plans to begin broadcasting on the radio are coming closer to a reality.

In the organization's spring 2007 newsletter, released May 13, Mr. Burnell wrote, "I met with our radio technicians, and they said we could have our first tower up and running with just a few more days of work. Only one last hurdle exists regarding permanent location of the tower, and we hope to have that issue settled soon."

In an interview Thursday, Mr. Burnell said he was hesitant to release any information about the radio station to the news media. However, he did say it was a low frequency FM station that would be educational in nature.

According to Michael Cunningham, assistant administrator for the county, no applications have been made to the county for any radio tower installations.

In addition, the Federal Communications Commission does not list any sale or transfer of any call letters or stations in the Anderson area to Christian Exodus or Cory Burnell.

Mr. Burnell would not identify the call letters of the station. He said the station had been held back by whether the property on which the radio tower was installed would be sold, but that issue has been resolved.