It’s been obvious for a very long time that the US has been sliding into fascism, and that religious extremists have been gaining power. The extent to which this has occurred is still shocking. The trend existed well before Trump, but under Trump it has accelerated dramtically. Trump himself is not remotely religious, but he depends on those who are, as they form a significant fraction of his political base. He has elevated white Christian nationalists to positions of considerable power in his administration. The ideas stem from the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) propagated by dominionists. Some of these are obvious, like Pete Hegseth, who is attempting to turn the entire military into a religious organisation engaged in a new Crusade. He is also purging women and minorities from the ranks. The pastor he brings in, Doug Wilson, is even more extreme than Hegseth himself. The man would remove women’s right to vote, and also the votes of non-Christians. Others are less visible but hold powerful positions behind the scenes, notably Russell Vought at the Office of Management and Budget, whose nickname is The Grim Reaper.
The plan is for blasphemy laws and religious ‘purity tests’, meaning that only churches conforming to a fire and brimestone version of Christianity would be considered true Christians, and those who do not conform could be arrested for blasphemy and their church property seized. While extremeist church leaders speak openly about their plans, they tell their subordinates not to talk about it because “Americans aren’t ready”. They intend to introduce ‘sabbath laws’, which would prevent people from doing anything but attending church on Sundays, and then socially enforcing church attendance. They want to consolidate their hold on power before stepping out from behind the curtain. Political candidates at all levels are coached to hide their extremism.
The rest of the population doesn’t understand the nature and extent of the threat. They don’t realise that opposition to the agenda is intended to see them classified as domestic terrorists, because disagreement is considered violence. Religious liberty is defined as them being able to live as they choose, while forcing the same views and lifestyle on everyone else. The kind of views that are considered to be blasphemy include female equality, marriage equality, gay rights, bodily autonomy and even environmental laws. All of these are held to be intimidation and coercion of the ‘righteous’, meaning themselves.
The intention is to create a ‘Christian constitution’, and increasingly force compliance. Attendance would be monitored, with sanctions on those who didn’t come frequently enough, and wages would be forceably garnished on behalf of the church. Every non-Christian, or insufficiently extremist Christian, would be deprived of civil rights.
The US is fond of describing other countries, like Iran, as theocracies, and calling their leaders crazy religious extremists. Under the proposed Christian constitution, the US would become far more theocratic than Iran is today. While Iran was strongly theocratic after the revolution that overthrew the repressive Shah, installed as a western puppet after the 1953 overthrow of Iran’s elected leader, it is not repressively theocratic now. Women are no longer required to cover up for instance, and they are encouraged to be highly educated. Positions in public life are fully accessible to them, as are leadership roles. A US run by people like Doug Wilson would steal far more freedom from much of the population than Iran does, and would resemble the Iran of about 1980.
Spain followed a similar path at the end of its hegemonic period. It went from an outward looking society to one that descended into inward looking religious repression. This was the era of the Inquisition, when religious conformity was enforced under threat of torture or being burned at the stake. Other historical periods have followed the same pattern, notably resulting in literal witch hunts that saw millions of women falsely accused and murdered. The closest the US has previously come to this kind of mob rule within living memory would be the secular Red Scare under Senator Joseph McCarthy, where there was a moral panic over so-called communists, or ‘reds under the bed’ as they were described at the time. Innocent people were executed. This was one of the more shameful periods in American history. What the white Christian nationalists want this time would be very much worse. It remains to be seen if they can achieve their vision, or if enough people will realise where their agenda is headed and prevent it taking hold. Vigilance is necessary, as is standing up for true liberty. Church and state are separate under the constitution for very good reasons.
