For five centuries, the Church stood for human rights without theocracy. Early Christian political theology was politically pluralistic and tolerant, while still having a human rights orientation. Augustine was the first Christian theologian who argued that the Church should use the State to persecute heretics. This shifted the Church towards a theocracy, eventually resulting in state-sponsored religious persecution and Christian nationalism arising in the US and elsewhere.

White American Evangelical Political Attitudes and Behavior: Explanation and Correctives White American evangelical political attitudes can be characterized by the debate between John Winthrop and Roger Williams, and their respective attitudes towards Native Americans, slavery, fairness, and faith in the civic space.  This is a presentation also explores Scripture and church history to argue that Roger Williams was correct.  Given to the staff of Emmanuel Gospel Center, Apr 18, 2018, as a follow-up to how Christian restorative justice impacts ministry; audio file here.

Top Resources Critiquing Augustine: Tertullian of Carthage, Letter to Scapula, Governor of Roman North Africa (211 - 213 AD), argues for freedom of religious conscience on Christian grounds, which Augustine later overturned. Augustine, A Treatise Concerning the Correction of the Donatists. Christian Classics Ethereal Library, circa 417 AD.  See also summary by David Opderbeck. Through a Glass Darkly blog, Feb 22, 2009.  See also Thomas Talbott, The Theological Justification for Terror (blog, date unknown) on Augustine's theological justification for state force and torture for religious purposes; historical implications elaborated on the Heretication blog, the Egregores blog's review of Perez Zagorin, How the Idea of Religious Toleration Came to the West. Princeton University Press | Amazon page, 2013.  George H. Smith, Notes on Persecution and Toleration in the History of Christianity. Libertarian blog, Feb 13, 2015.  See also George H. Smith, Freethought and Freedom: Augustine's Case for Religious Persecution. Libertarian blog, Feb 13, 2015.  Augustine's separation between the city of man and the City of God did not hold back what his political ethics unleashed. See also Wikipedia, History of Christian Thought on Persecution and Tolerance (Wikipedia) see especially "The Augustinian Consensus." Simone Harari Baulieu and Jonathan Hayoun, A History of Antisemitism: Part 1: 38 - 1144.  Deutsche Welle Documentary, Jul 23, 2022.  The documentary highlights how the first Christian acts of violence against Jews started during the First Crusade and were sustained.  Augustine formulated the view that Jews should not be harmed because they helped the Christian witness to the text of Scripture and will confess Christ in the end in some way; but Augustine also believed Jews should be second-class citizens and not be allowed to prosper. The impact of what we would call “Christian nationalism” or “political identity” connected to violence turns against minority groups like Jews.  Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux was a positive example who stood against this violence.  The documentary also highlights Christian tropes of Jews:  deicide or christ-killers; human sacrificers; ritual contamination.  Part 2:  1144 - 1791 covers physical tropes of Jews and economic ones of Jews as usurers, bankers, greedy financiers.  This segment also covers Spain during the Inquisition, which began the blood theory of race.  Part 3:  1791 - 1945 covers the French Revolution and new political movements that viewed European and “World Jewry” through a conspiratorial lens.  Part 4:  1945 to Today covers the foundation of the State of Israel, Holocaust-denial, and other forms of anti-semitism.

Top Resources Critiquing American Christian Nationalism: CC Marie, The Cult of American Christian Nationalism. CC Marie, Mar 3, 2021.  Marie gives a history from Paul Weyrich and the Southern Strategy carried forward by the Moral Majority. Covers also the Reconstructionist movement. RJ Rushdoony and Gary North. Quotes Isaac Kramnick and R. Laurence Moore, The Godless Constitution: A Moral Defense of the Secular State. W.W. Norton & Company | Amazon page, 1996/2005.  “It is not true that the founders designed a Christian commonwealth that was then eroded by secular humanists and liberals; the reverse is true. The framers erected a godless federal constitutional structure, which was then undermined as God entered first the US currency in 1863, then the federal mail service in 1912, and finally the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954.” Citations from Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, John Adams, the Treaty of Tripoli of 1797. Also quotes from Michelle Goldberg, Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism. W.W. Norton & Company | Amazon page, 2006.  Goldberg observed movements during the GW Bush years and his office of faith-based development. Frederick Clarkson, Christian Nationalists Try to Dodge the Baptists. Political Research Associates, Oct 11, 2019.  An excellent article about Baptist history on separation of church and state; how Christian nationalists try to avoid direct confrontation. Andrew L. Seidel, White Supremacy and Christian Nationalism. Andrew L. Seidel, Feb 3, 2021.  A helpful 7 minute video, mentioning Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States. Oxford University Press | Amazon page, Mar 2020.  See also Philip Gorski, Trump's Rise and Fall Unified the Two Most Pernicious, Racist Myths About America. NBC, Jan 29, 2021. Seidel points out that race had theological origins because of the “curse of Ham” theory of skin color. Shows interview clips with white KKK members who say they are Christian, Bob Jones of Bob Jones University arguing for racial segregation in the 1960s, etc. Andrew L. Seidel and Samuel Perry, Christian Nationalism and COVID. Freedom from Religion Foundation, Aug 12, 2020.  an excellent update to Perry’s and Whiteheads’ book distinguishing black and white assumptions, perceptions, and policy ideas. Katherine Stewart, Rise of Religious Nationalism & the Politics of Contempt. Lake Washington United Methodist Church, Jun 13, 2020.  very important 35 minute (plus another 60 minutes Q&A) video of how Christian nationalists are influencing pastors. Abortion is the gateway issue. How David Barton, who claims to be an American historian, also argues for removing the social safety net, gun restrictions, etc. Religious non-profits are not monitored, so the right has invested in campaign infrastructure, even giving pastors a voting receipts tool to see if their congregants have voted. In the Q&A, Stewart discusses RJ Rushdoony who was opposed to civil liberties and equality. She also discusses the long-term state-level strategies to pass legislation placing Christian symbols in public spaces. This paves the way for a Christian heritage view.

Current Events: Political Research Associates, Christian Right (website). Theocracy Watch (website)

Definitions: Wikipedia, Dominion Theology (Wikipedia). Wikipedia, Rousas J. Rushdoony (Wikipedia) an example of the American Christian authoritarian-capitalist synthesis

James Madison, Memorial and Remonstrance Against Religious Assessments. Founders Archive, 1785.  with Editor’s note comparing Madison and John Locke’s Letter of Toleration.

Paul Weyrich, "I Don't Want Everybody to Vote" (Goo Goo). People for the American Way, 1980.  Paul Weyrich, "father" of the right-wing movement and co-founder of the Heritage Foundation, Moral Majority and various other groups tells his flock that he doesn't want people to vote. He says:

"Now many of our Christians have what I call the goo-goo syndrome — good government. They want everybody to vote. I don't want everybody to vote. Elections are not won by a majority of people, they never have been from the beginning of our country and they are not now. As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down."

Thomas F.X. Noble, The Republic of St. Peter: The Birth of the Papal State, 680-825. University of Pennsylvania Press | Amazon page, 1984.  Noble traces decisions made by the Roman Popes about the Byzantines, the Normans, and the Franks; these decisions laid the groundwork for the Western Catholic and Protestant dependence on political and military power.

Michael Hanby, Augustine and Modernity. Routledge | Amazon page, Jun 2003.  defends Augustine's philosophy of the self from complicity in modernity and nihilism.

Mark Tooley, An "Augustinian Sensibility" for Evangelicals in Politics. Juicy Ecumenism, Feb 21, 2013.  promotes Augustine, sadly.

Joel McDurmon, How to Win the Culture War? American Vision, Feb 26, 2014.  who appeals to Rushdoony, who appeals to Calvin and Augustine

Brendan James, Princeton Study: U.S. No Longer An Actual Democracy. Talking Points Memo, Apr 18, 2014.  referring to Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page, Testing Theories of American Politics: Elites, Interest Groups, and Average Citizens. Cambridge University Press, Sep 2014. See also Andrew Reynolds, North Carolina Is No Longer Classified As a Democracy. Charlotte Observer, Dec 22, 2016.  Reynolds shows that the most powerful Republicans believe that democracy is a transitional state to theocratic and/or racial supremacist positions, much like conservative to radical Muslims aiming for shari'a.

Miranda Blue, The Family Leader Is Distributing David Barton’s ‘Christian Nation’ Bible To Every Iowa State Legislator. Right Wing Watch, Jan 28, 2015.  “Iowa Religious Right group The Family Leader, a key player in the GOP’s first-in-the-nation caucus, has a new plan to encourage legislators in Iowa to “do what God has asked them to do.””

Sarah Pullman Bailey, Why Evangelicals Are Having Trouble Finding a Unified Voice in Washington. Washington Post, May 28, 2015.  which I'd say is a good thing

Keith Brekhus, 57% Of Republicans Say Dismantle Constitution And Make Christianity National Religion. Politicus USA, Feb 25, 2015.

Frank Viola, The Shocking Beliefs of Augustine. Patheos blog, Jun 30, 2015.

George Weigel, Society Exists Prior to the State, Obergefell Notwithstanding. Ethics and Public Policy Center, Jul 3, 2015.

Jonathan Merritt, Franklin Graham's Turn Towards Intolerance. The Atlantic, Jul 19, 2015.

Benjamin Wallace, Ted Cruz, the Empty Evangelical. New Yorker, Jan 25, 2016.  how evangelicals gave up on changing hearts, so only want to change policy

John Fea, Ted Cruz's Campaign Is Fueled By a Dominionist Vision for America. Religion News Service, Feb 4, 2016.  mentions revisionist historian David Barton

Amanda Taub, The Rise of American Authoritarianism. Vox, Mar 1, 2016.  says that authoritarian leaders are simple, powerful, and punitive

John Fea, The Theology of Ted Cruz. Christianity Today, Apr 1, 2016.

Samantha Bee, The Religious Right. Full Frontal video, May 16, 2016.

David R. Brockman, The Radical Theology That Could Make Religious Freedom a Thing of the Past. Texas Observer, Jun 2, 2016.  Brockton writes,

“Though it’s seldom mentioned by name, it’s one of the major forces in Texas politics today: dominion theology, or dominionism. What began as a fringe evangelical sect in the 1970s has seen its influence mushroom — so much so that sociologist Sara Diamond has called dominionism “the central unifying ideology for the Christian Right.” (Italics hers.) That’s especially true here in Texas, where dominionist beliefs have, over the last decade, become part and parcel of right-wing politics at the highest levels of government.”

David Corn, Donald Trump Says He Doesn't Believe in "American Exceptionalism". Mother Jones, Jun 7, 2016.

Andrew Doran, When Christianities Collide: Persecuted Churches of the East Need Dialogue With the West. The American Conservative, Jun 9, 2016.

Tim Gloege, The Crisis of Corporate Evangelicalism. Patheos, Jun 16, 2016.  good history of liberal and evangelical traditions

John Savage, Where the Confederacy is Rising Again. Politico, Aug 10, 2016.  in East Texas

Justin Gest, Why Trumpism Will Outlast Trump. Politico, Aug 16, 2016.  white Protestant nationalism

Frederick Carlson, Dominionism Rising: A Theocratic Movement Hiding in Plain Sight. Political Research Associates, Aug 18, 2016.

Trevaris J. Tutt, Why There is No Need for Prison Reform. The American Vision, Aug 29, 2016.

Benjamin Corey, How Christian Fundamentalism Is Making A Concerning Comeback In America. Patheos, Sep 15, 2016.

Jonathan Merritt, Segregation is Still Alive at These Christian Schools. Daily Beast, Sep 18, 2016.

David Gibson, Is Augustine the Patron Saint of the 2016 Election? Religion News Service, Nov 3, 2016.

Carol Kuruvilla, Eddie Huang Respectfully Schools Trump Supporter On Religious Freedom. Huffington Post, Nov 15, 2016.

Forsetti's Justice, The Dark Rigidity of Fundamentalist Rural America: A View from the Inside. Raw Story, Nov 22, 2016.

Michiko Kakutani, Hannah Arendt Explains How Propaganda Uses Lies to Erode All Truth and Morality: Insights from The Origins of Totalitarianism. Open Culture, Jan 24, 2017.

Kieryn Darkwater, I Was Trained for the Culture Wars in Home School, Awaiting Someone Like Mike Pence as a Messiah. Autostraddle, Jan 26, 2017.  evangelical fascism, tying theocracy and racism together

Brandon Adams, An American Presbyterian Argument Against Covenanters. Reformed Libertarian, Feb 22, 2017.  gets religious liberty and non-covenanting right, but economics wrong

Emma Green, White Evangelicals Believe They Face More Discrimination Than Muslims. The Atlantic, Mar 10, 2017.  and unfortunately, furthermore: Kate Shellnutt, Most White Evangelicals Don’t Believe Muslims Belong in America. Christianity Today, Jul 26, 2017.  “Pew updates its comprehensive survey of what US Muslims believe and do, and how their neighbors feel about them.”

Peter Beinart, When Conservatives Oppose Religious Freedom. The Atlantic, Apr 11, 2017.  Christian conservatives who defend Muslim rights have come under fire by their ideological brethren

Ian Speir, The Calvinist Roots of American Social Order: Calvin, Witherspoon, and Madison. Witherspoon Institute, Apr 13, 2017.

Tara Isabella Burton, Study: When It Comes to Detecting Racial Inequality, White Christians Have a Blind Spot. Vox, Jun 23, 2017.  in the sense that white evangelicals feel like they are the ones being marginalized

Jon Swaine, Authorities to Investigate Jay Sekulow Nonprofit After 'Troubling' Revelations. The Guardian UK, Jun 28, 2017.  “Attorney generals of North Carolina and New York to examine Case’s filings. ‘The reports I’ve read are troubling. My office is looking into this matter’. Trump lawyer’s firm steered millions in donations to relatives, files show

Dahlia Lithwick, A Prayer for the Real Victims. Slate, Jul 19, 2017.  for Jeff Sessions and the Supreme Court, the battle for Christians' religious liberty

James Kirchick, How the GOP Became the Party of Putin. Politico, Jul 18, 2017.  details pro-active Russian agents cultivating contacts with white evangelicals

Kate Shellnutt, Most White Evangelicals Don’t Believe Muslims Belong in America. Christianity Today, Jul 26, 2017.

Gordon Arnold, Jonathan Edwards: Founding Father of American Political Thought. The Imaginative Conservative, Aug 2017.  Arnold summarizes Edwards' reliance on Augustine's view of total depravity.  Edwards believed government had no role towards non-Christians' participation in virtue, so could only restrain vice.  Thus, Edwards also argued with the Enlightenment views of John Locke but differed little in practice from Locke's view that government should defend property rights.  Edwards also maintained the Protestant heretical view of the 'national covenant' from Puritan New England, as applied to the United States as a whole.

Naomi Schaefer Riley, The Christian Right Is Finally Taking Liberals’ Advice. National Review, Aug 2, 2017.  notes 42% drop in white evangelical belief that personal character is important

Peter Montgomery, POTUS Shield: Trump’s Dominionist Prayer Warriors and the ‘Prophetic Order of the United States’. Right Wing Watch, Aug 2017.

David R. Brockman, Special Session a ‘Battle Royal’ for Dominionists Who Seek Christian Rule. Texas Observer, Aug 9, 2017.

Corey Robin, The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Donald Trump. Oxford University Press | Amazon page, 1st edition 2011, 2nd edition 2017.  “Late in life, William F. Buckley made a confession to Corey Robin. Capitalism is "boring," said the founding father of the American right. "Devoting your life to it," as conservatives do, "is horrifying if only because it's so repetitious. It's like sex." With this unlikely conversation began Robin's decade-long foray into the conservative mind. What is conservatism, and what's truly at stake for its proponents? If capitalism bores them, what excites them? In The Reactionary Mind, Robin traces conservatism back to its roots in the reaction against the French Revolution. He argues that the right was inspired, and is still united, by its hostility to emancipating the lower orders.” See also Corey Robin, Fear: The History of a Political Idea. Oxford University Press | Amazon page, Jan 2006.

Lilian Calles Barger, review of Marie Griffith, Moral Combat: How Sex Divided American Christians and Fractured American Politics. New Books Network, Feb 20, 2018.  Important because Christians fought each other in the “culture wars,” even though the apostles showed no signs of trying to construct legal policies or advocate for them, most likely because Jesus himself made important distinctions between Christians and non-Christians on sexual ethics (Mt.19:3 - 12). Barger writes,

“A portrait of how religious views regarding sexuality became entangled with multiple political debates including those over feminism, gay rights, sex education and in charges of communism and secular humanism. Beginning with the controversies over birth control in the 1920s, she takes us through the twentieth century to the most recent battles over same-sex marriage dividing American Christians both politically and religiously.”

Frederick Clarkson, "Project Blitz" Seeks to Do for Christian Nationalism What ALEC Does for Big Business. Religion Dispatches, Apr 27, 2018.

Sarah Pulliam Bailey, This Conservative Christian Guide to the Nation’s Capital Vows to Tell You What Other Tours Won’t. Washington Post, May 15, 2018.

Tara Isabella Burton, An Evangelical Christian University is Helping Make a Film That Implies God Chose Trump. Vox, May 30, 2018.  re: Liberty University.

John Fea, Evangelical Fear Elected Trump. The Atlantic, Jun 24, 2018.  A history of white evangelical fear and its influence on American politics, as well as the counter-narrative of evangelicals who held a non-nationalistic position; see also Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Understanding White Evangelical Views on Immigration. Harvard Divinity School, Spr-Sum 2018.  Du Mez discusses white evangelical masculinity.

Ed Kilgore, Alleged Russian Spy Was Working to Infiltrate Religious Right As Well As Gun Groups. New York Magazine, Jul 18, 2018.  Kilgore hints at the ideological and relational connections between white American evangelicalism and Putin and the official ethno-nationalist leadership level of the Russian Orthodox Church.  See also Katherine Stewart, What Was Maria Butina Doing at the National Prayer Breakfast? America’s Christian Nationalists Have Been Finding Common Cause With the Russian Government for a While Now. New York Magazine, Jul 18, 2018.  - less formally part of "political Augustinianism" and more formally part of a "Byzantine" vision of a Christian Emperor and "orthodox" Christian society, but there is a convergence of postures. Tara Isabella Burton, How the National Prayer Breakfast Offers Foreign Lobbyists a Chance to “Pay to Play”. Vox, Jul 18, 2018.  “Journalist and author Jeff Sharlet on the National Prayer Breakfast, Maria Butina, and the group that calls itself “the Family.”” “In his 2009 book, The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power, Sharlet chronicled the influence of a Christian organization known publicly as “the Fellowship” (and internally as “the Family”), the founders and administrators of the National Prayer Breakfast. The Family — of which Sharlet reports Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions are members — is an intensely powerful organization, whose specific vision of Jesus as the ideal “strongman” governs their political theology and who have found, in strongman-sympathetic President Trump, an ideal vessel for their beliefs.”

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Jeff Sessions' 'Religious Liberty Task Force' Part of a Dangerous Christian Nationalist Campaign of Discrimination. NBC News, Jul 31, 2018.

Tom Porter, The Christian Right Is Looking to Putin's Russia to Save Christianity From the Godless West. Newsweek, Sep 15, 2018.

Lawrence O'Donnell and Jon Meacham, President Donald Trump Has No Interest In ‘Moral Leadership’. MSNBC, Oct 29, 2018.  features Jeff Sessions use of Romans 13 to promote a cruel border strategy, and the United Methodist minister who called him to repent on immigration, quoting Matthew 25.

Catherine Osborn, How Bolsonaro's Christian Coalition Remains Precarious. Foreign Policy, Jan 1, 2019.  "A loose alliance of Catholic and evangelical conservatives helped Brazil’s new president to power. But their continued support is far from certain."

Eric Levitz, How American Exceptionalism Is a Dangerous Myth. NY Magazine, Jan 2, 2019.  Involving American foreign policy.

Nicole Goodkind, Texas Republicans Will Vote on Whether to Remove Muslim-American from GOP Position Because of His Religion. Newsweek, Jan 9, 2019.  See also Donica Phifer, Texas Republicans Turn in Landslide Vote to Keep Muslim-American in Leadership Role. Newsweek, Jan 11, 2019.  But this will still be important to watch.

Young Turks, Putin Spies Infiltrate Major Christian Organization. The Young Turks, Jan 11, 2019.  On “The Fellowship Foundation” aka “The Family” in Washington DC and the National Prayer Breakfast being a way to work around the State Department. This confirms my concern which I wrote about in my Reflection on the Presidential Election of 2016, in November 2016.

Trevor Noah, Is Rep. Steve King Racist? Enter Trevor Noah: Racism Detective. The Daily Show, Jan 15, 2019.  An entertaining take on a serious issue:  the monopolistic appropriation of Christianity (and other things) by whites in the name of "Western European culture.” 

Wajahat Ali, The Religious-Liberty Claim the Justices Didn’t Want to Hear. The Atlantic, Feb 11, 2019.  "If the free-exercise clause allows you not to bake and sell a cake, maybe it should also allow you to have an imam at your own execution."  See also David French, The Supreme Court Upholds a Grave Violation of the First Amendment. National Review, Feb 8, 2019.

The Young Turks, Fear and Loathing in the Conservative Mind. The Young Turks, Feb 14, 2019.  the emotion of disgust, and its correlation to politically conservative instincts; how language triggering disgust is often used with religious ideology of a "pure community."  References Kathleen McAuliffe, Fear This Is Your Brain on Parasites: How Tiny Creatures Manipulate Our Behavior and Shape Society. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt | Amazon page, 2016.  See also Kathleen McAuliffe, The Psychology. and Politics) of Disgust. Big Think, Sep 23, 2016.

Mark Joseph Stern, Brett Kavanaugh Shows How Eager He Is to Tear Down the Wall Between Church and State. Slate, Mar 4, 2019.

Ted Olsen, Religious Freedom Isn't Just for Christians. Christianity Today, Mar 15, 2019.  the Supreme Court case 5-4 against Domineque Ray who lost his case to have his Muslim imam visit him in prison before his death penalty execution

Paul Rosenberg, The Plot Against America: Inside the Christian Right Plan to “Remodel” the Nation. Salon, April 13, 2019.  

David Doel, Zizek Presses Peterson: “Where Are the Marxists?” The Rational National, Apr 23, 2019.  Doel critiques Jordan Peterson’s reliance on hierarchies in nature; Peterson claims that hierarchies are not predicated on power, and that exploitation is not a reliable way to rise in power; Doel rebuts by showing Richard Wolfe’s analysis where labor is always underpaid compared to capitalist shareholders (Marxist). Doel also addresses “identity politics” on both the left and right.

Rod Dreher, Sohrab Ahmari Vs. David French. The American Conservative, May 30, 2019.  Ahmari is a Catholic integralist or establishmentarian; French is an evangelical and politically, classical liberal; the question of whether classical liberalism leads necessarily to relativism and anti-Christian society. See also Adam Serwer, The Illiberal Right Throws a Tantrum. The Atlantic, Jun 14, 2019.

Ruth Tucker, Shame on John Calvin. Jesus Creed | Patheos, Sep 30, 2019.  Calvin believed women should not speak in church (based on a very contested reading of 1 Corinthians 14), and therefore not participate in public political decisions either; he also took a hard line on political intolerance between Catholics and Protestants

Frederick Clarkson, Christian Nationalists Try to Dodge the Baptists. Political Research Associates, Oct 11, 2019.  an excellent article about Baptist history on separation of church and state; how Christian nationalists try to avoid direct confrontation

Rod Dreher, Bill Barr: Religious Liberty Warrior. The American Conservative, Oct 14, 2019.  Dreher exemplifies how conservative Christians use the term “religious liberty” to disguise what they want: “conservative Christian privilege.” Dreher does not distinguish between parents being able to pass down the faith to their children (which is still very much legal and not threatened), and having your faith reinforced throughout the public sphere (schools, etc.) in the “Christendom model.” Dreher does not understand how Christians can argue for “human rights without theocracy” in the tradition of Roger Williams and therefore embrace political pluralism on behalf of others. Dreher also fails to recognize how Barr’s contribution to executive overreach and non-accountability – see Jeremy Stahl, DOJ: If Watergate Happened Today, We’d Block Evidence From Congress. Slate, Oct 8, 2019 – steps far outside of the development of Jewish law, as well as Christian character-based meritocracy found in Scripture, Christian monasticism, Christian religious orders, and Christian ethics translated for public service. Utterly disappointing. See also Matt Ford, Bill Barr’s First Epistle to the Heathens. The New Republic, Oct 22, 2019.  and Rob Boston, Seeking God's Law: Past Statements By Attorney General Nominee William Barr Are Cause For Concern, Americans United Says. Americans United, Jan 2019.  See also Ed Kilgore, Attorney General Barr Preaches a Secular Law-and-Order Christianity. New York Magazine, Oct 23, 2019. Joe Scarborough, Parnas Adds Bill Barr's Name To Ukraine Plot. Morning Joe | MSNBC, Jan 16, 2020.  shows how Barr is implicated by the Trump-Ukraine scandal and Lev Parnas’ testimony

MSNBC, GOP Scrambles to Defend Trump, Attack Impeachment Process (No Merit) - The Day That Was. MSNBC, Oct 25, 2019.  Undermining stable institutions and claiming illegitimacy is how authoritarian leaders take power.

David Pakman, Former Cult Member on How to Deprogram Trumpists. The David Pakman Show, Oct 28, 2019.  interview with Steve Hassan, The Cult of Trump: A Leading Cult Expert Explains How the President Uses Mind Control. Free Press | Amazon page, Oct 2019) cites the evangelical right-wing DC group “The Family,” the Catholic right-wing group Opus Dei (of which William Barr is a member), The New Apostolic Reformation where leaders call themselves “apostles.” Perspectives like this are important to understanding how authoritarianism is appealing to people, especially those who are religious.

Chase Padusniak, Evangelical Christianity: The American Imperial Church? Jappers and Janglers | Patheos, Nov 14, 2019.  “The relationship between elites, highly Americanized pastors, and the contemporary rise of right-leaning politics in the Global South is no accident. It has definite historical origins that have affected both the rise of Jair Bolsonaro and the recent regime change in Bolivia.”

Kyle Kulinski, Self Declared Bolivian President Is A Christian Fundamentalist. Secular Talk, Nov 15, 2019.  Jeanine Anez Chavez violates the Bolivian constitution, which says the next in line to President is the leader of the Senate, but she was vice president of the Senate; Anez tweets that the indigenous are satan worshipers, and wants to cleanse Bolivia of these rituals. Anez marched the Bible into the capitol, supported by the police and the military. Significantly, Bolivia has rich in lithium, useful in batteries. Dan Collyns, Bolivia President's Initial Indigenous-Free Cabinet Heightens Polarization. The Guardian UK, Nov 14, 2019.  writes that Anez claims ““We want to be a democratic tool of inclusion and unity,” said the 52-year-old religious conservative, sitting at a table bearing a huge open Bible and crucifix. But the transitional cabinet initially sworn into office on Wednesday night did not include a single indigenous person, in a country where at least 40% of the population belongs to one of 36 indigenous groups.”

Alex Morris, False Idol - Why the Christian Right Worships Donald Trump. Rolling Stone, Dec 2, 2019.  details a conversation in September 2016 between Trump and notable white evangelicals: Robert Jeffress, Wayne Grudem, Eric Metaxas, Ryan Anderson, Jay Richards. They pressed Trump to adopt policy views and language meant to appeal to white evangelicals.

Darryl G. Hart, Emperor or Bishop? Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Dec 10, 2019.  Augustine’s high view of divine providence was a problem for interpreting political and military history. Hart writes,

“The city of God is that polity where true piety rules and is distinct from the city of man, where civil law and imperial authority govern. These cities were not necessarily at odds, but neither could they be identified with one another as Eusebius had believed. Augustine did not abandon the high view of divine providence that was espoused by imperial theologians [like Eusebius of Caesarea]. He argued that God still controlled the affairs of Rome and its civilization even in the midst of adversity. At the same time, he advised that Christian virtues were clearly advantageous to the prosperity of the city of man.”

Jim Garlow, When the CT Editor’s Feelings Trump Facts. Charisma News, Dec 19, 2019.  An unconvincing critique of Mark Galli and the editorial board of Christianity Today.

Associated Press, Washington State Lawmaker Engaged in 'Domestic Terrorism,' Report Says. NBC News, Dec 20, 2019.  “It also found that Republican Rep. Matt Shea trained young people to fight a “holy war" and condoned intimidating opponents.” See also Mike Baker, G.O.P. Lawmaker Had Visions of a Christian Alternative Government. New York Times, Dec 23, 2019.  “A Washington State legislator [Mike Shea] was accused of participating in the occupation of a federal wildlife refuge. Behind the scenes, he and right-wing activists were preparing for civil strife.”

Leticia Duarte, Meet the Intellectual Founder of Brazil’s Far Right. The Atlantic, Dec 28, 2019.  “Olavo de Carvalho’s anger has inspired a number of Brazilian far-right politicians, the country’s president among them.” “These days, when Olavo speaks, Bolsonaro listens. The president took Olavo’s recommendation in appointing as foreign minister a conservative Christian who has called climate change a “Marxist conspiracy.”” The briefest hint, but an important one.

Nick Sibilla, The Court Case That Could Finally Take Down Antiquated Anti-Catholic Laws. The Atlantic, Jan 12, 2020.  “Thirty-seven states still have Blaine Amendments on the books. The Supreme Court now has a chance to get rid of them for good.” “Blaine Amendments weren’t truly devoted to the separation of Church and state. Instead, they were mainly focused on separating the Catholic Church and state. Although public schools are largely secular today, that wasn’t the case in the 19th century. Public or “common” schools typically instilled in their students a nondenominational form of Protestantism, requiring them to sing hymns, pray, and read from the King James Bible—in direct conflict with Catholic dogma.”

Bruce P. Stark, The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut. Connecticut History, Jan 14, 2020.  “The Fundamental Orders, inspired by Thomas Hooker’s sermon of May 31, 1638, provided the framework for the government of the Connecticut colony from 1639 to 1662.”

Jim Wallis, International Bonhoeffer Society Calls for ‘Ending Donald Trump’s Presidency’ in ‘Statement of Concern’. Sojourners, Jan 16, 2020.

Hugh Hewitt, Anything Other Than a Rapid Acquittal Will Deeply Damage the Presidency. Washington Post, Jan 21, 2020.  defends Trump not on substantive grounds but on grounds of procedure and precedent. Hewitt (1) claims that Trump’s request of Zelensky should suddenly be understood not as a request to investigate Biden in particular but to “corruption” in general; (2) claims that Article 2 needs protection from an impeachment proceeding and perhaps even standard Congressional oversight.

Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States. Oxford University Press | Amazon page, Mar 2020.  significantly overlaps with white evangelicalism but obviously not completely; encouragingly, sometimes the more frequently people attend church or read Scripture, the less they are a Christian nationalist. They find that white and black evangelicals differ dramatically on issues. They also find that for white evangelicals, “Christian” or “Christian nation” function as racial dog-whistles.

Andrew L. Seidel, The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American. USC Office of Religious & Spiritual Life, Mar 3, 2020.  a 30 minute lecture with Q&A. I think he underestimates certain Judeo-Christian principles (e.g. the ability to impeach public officials; the individual’s right to freedom of religious conscience), but otherwise he points out important legal principles.

Sam Levine, Trump Says Republicans Would ‘Never’ Be Elected Again If It Was Easier to Vote. The Guardian UK, Mar 30, 2020.  provides a helpful history of Republican efforts at voter suppression, notably including Paul Weyrich. "I don’t want everybody to vote,” Paul Weyrich, an influential conservative activist, said in 1980. “As a matter of fact, our leverage in the elections quite candidly goes up as the voting populace goes down.” It is not actually clear that mail-in voting would mean that.

Michael Lipka, Half of Americans Say Bible Should Influence U.S. Laws, Including 28% Who Favor It Over the Will of the People. Pew Research Center, Apr 13, 2020.

Andrew L. Seidel and Samuel Perry, Christian Nationalism and COVID. Freedom from Religion Foundation, Aug 12, 2020.  an excellent update to Perry’s and Whiteheads’ book distinguishing black and white assumptions, perceptions, and policy ideas

Katherine Stewart, Rise of Religious Nationalism & the Politics of Contempt. Lake Washington United Methodist Church, Jun 13, 2020.  very important 35 minute (not including Q&A) video of how Christian nationalists are influencing pastors. Abortion is the gateway issue. How David Barton, who claims to be an American historian, also argues for removing the social safety net, gun restrictions, etc. Religious non-profits are not monitored, so the right has invested in campaign infrastructure, even giving pastors a voting receipts tool to see if their congregants have voted. In the Q&A, Stewart discusses RJ Rushdoony who was opposed to civil liberties and equality.

Sarah K. Burris, Ex-FBI Agent Explains How Conservative Campus Reform Group is Utilizing ‘Domestic Information Warfare’. Raw Story, Oct 18, 2020.  “Conservative groups have spent the last several years warning of a culture of intolerance developing on college campuses. Their mission appears to be attacking what they say is censorship of conservatives by demanding liberals be censored, attacked, or threatened. In a Chronicle of Higher Education report this week, the conservative group Campus Reform was outed for their “right-wing, astroturfed-outrage ecosystem, where dark-money donors pay student stringers small bounties for tips about ‘liberal professors.’”

Amanda Tyler, Andrew Whitehead, Rev. Michael Curry, Rev. Elizabeth Eaton, Democracy and Faith Under Siege: Responding to Christian Nationalism. Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, Jan 27, 2021.  Whitehead provides some excellent graphs showing attitudinal differences between black and white Protestants

Philip Gorski, Trump's Rise and Fall Unified the Two Most Pernicious, Racist Myths About America. NBC, Jan 29, 2021.  “White Christian nationalism and the "Lost Cause" myth used to exist in opposition to each other. But now they're a singular danger to our democracy.”

Andrew L. Seidel, White Supremacy and Christian Nationalism. Andrew L. Seidel, Feb 3, 2021.  A helpful 7 minute video, mentioning Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States. Oxford University Press | Amazon page, Mar 2020.  Also refers to Gorski.  Seidel points out that race had theological origins because of the “curse of Ham” theory of skin color. Shows interview clips with white KKK members who say they are Christian, Bob Jones of Bob Jones University arguing for racial segregation in the 1960s, etc.

CC Marie, The Cult of American Christian Nationalism. CC Marie, Mar 3, 2021.  gives a history from Paul Weyrich and the Southern Strategy carried forward by the Moral Majority. Covers also the Reconstructionist movement (RJ Rushdoony and Gary North). Quotes Isaac Kramnick and R. Laurence Moore, The Godless Constitution: A Moral Defense of the Secular State. W.W. Norton & Company | Amazon page, 1996/2005. “It is not true that the founders designed a Christian commonwealth that was then eroded by secular humanists and liberals; the reverse is true. The framers erected a godless federal constitutional structure, which was then undermined as God entered first the US currency in 1863, then the federal mail service in 1912, and finally the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954.” Citations from Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, John Adams, the Treaty of Tripoli of 1797. Also quotes from Michelle Goldberg, Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism. W.W. Norton & Company | Amazon page, 2006.  Goldberg observed movements during the GW Bush years and his office of faith-based development.

CBSN Originals, The Right’s Fight to Make America a Christian Nation. CBS News, Mar 4, 2021.  a 28 minute video with interviews of Franklin Graham, a “Patriot church” pastor, and other representatives of the idea that Christians have a special right to lead the US, and the idea that the US has a special role to play as a nation, as well as those who critique these ideas, like John Fea.

Michael Koziol, ‘It’s Our Turn’: Inside the Christian Right Conference Plotting a Political Takeover. The Sydney Morning Herald, Mar 7, 2021.  “the main lesson from the “Church and State” conference last weekend in Brisbane was how conservative Christian activists are attempting to grow their numbers and influence within the Coalition, and believe opposition to transgender rights will be key to their political success.”

Jeremy Schwartz, “God’s Will Is Being Thwarted.” Even in Solid Republican Counties, Hard-Liners Seek More Partisan Control of Elections. ProPublica, Oct 1, 2021.  examples of Christian theocratic conservatives who, when forced to recognize that democracy will not guarantee Christian theocratic-authoritarian conservatism, will abandon democracy.

David Graeber and David Wendrow, The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity. Penguin Books, Oct 19, 2021.  challenges the pessimistic view of humans, that people fought over property and power. See review by Giulio Ongaro, David Graeber Knew Ordinary People Could Remake the World. Jacobin Magazine, Oct 22, 2021.  Ongaro says, “The Dawn of Everything intellectually dwarfs the likes of Steven Pinker, Jared Diamond, or Francis Fukuyama (and Yuval Noah Harari too). Whenever nonspecialists try their hands at human history, they inevitably end up reproducing the same old myths we have grown up with. Take Pinker: for all his talk about scientific progress, his books might as well have been written at the times of Hobbes, in the seventeenth century, when none of the evidence unearthed recently was available. Graeber and Wengrow casually expose these popular authors’ startling incompetence at handling the anthropological record.”

Rick Pidcock, White Evangelicals Want to Control You So Their Kids Can Live Forever. Baptist News Global, Jul 25, 2022. The spiritual insecurity embedded in penal substitution and double predestination produce a fear that multiples into political insecurity and a desire for authoritarianism.

Thomas Reese, Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-Christian. Religion News Service, Aug 29, 2022. A Catholic writer says,

“Today, many Americans embrace Christian nationalism, arguing that the founders of our republic were Christians and they meant us to be a Christian nation. While it is historically true that most of our founding fathers were Christians, it is also true that they wanted a secular government, free of religion. They had seen how uniting politics and religion in Europe led to religious persecutions and wars. These wars and persecutions led many to flee Europe for America. The founders wanted a government that would treat people of all faiths equally. For John Adams, that meant even allowing the Jesuits asylum. “I do not like the reappearance of the Jesuits,” he wrote to Thomas Jefferson in 1816. “Shall we not have regular swarms of them here, in as many disguises as only a king of the gypsies can assume, dressed as printers, publishers, writers and schoolmasters? If ever there was a body of men who merited damnation on earth and in Hell, it is this society of Loyola’s. Nevertheless, we are compelled by our system of religious toleration to offer them an asylum.””

Al Jazeera English, America's Authoritarians: The US Political Divide - Part 1 | People and Power.  Al Jazeera, Sep 22, 2022.  Examines white Christian nationalism through direct interviews.  But the journalists also highlight quantitative analysis of disinformation, comparing the media impacts of radio/tv in the 1920s and social media today.  The Republican Party no longer wants to govern by majoritarian views; they seek to enshrine minority views; they are therefore anti-democratic and fascist.

Diana Butler Bass, The Freedom State or the State of Freedom?  The Cottage | Substack, Jan 25, 2023.  “Those who want a Christian America ignore Christian ideas of freedom.”  Bass quotes Martin Luther’s statements about Christians’ freedom as including being subject to all.

Lawrence O’Donnell, Why Were Some FBI Agents ‘Inclined to Believe Trump'?  The Last Word | MSNBC, Mar 2, 2023.  See also Heather Cox Richardson, Letters from an American: March 3, 2023.  HCR writes,

“The report reveals the Republicans’ “dozens and dozens of whistleblowers” are, so far at least, three witnesses—whistleblower is actually a specific category and they do not meet that standard—who have left the FBI and have complained that the agency is biased against “conservatives.” Two of them lost their security clearances before they left, and while committee Republicans refused to show Democrats the men’s suspension notices, one revealed in his testimony that the notice arrived after he had improperly accessed documents from the FBI’s classified system. All three embrace a number of conspiracy theories. Under oath, they provided only right-wing accusations of bias without being able to attest to any first-hand knowledge of the things they alleged. The witnesses did not come forward on their own; they were identified by former administrators in the Trump administration, including fervent Trump loyalists Kash Patel and Russell Vought. Patel provided money and legal services to two of the witnesses and found one of them a job at Vought’s right-wing think tank, the Center for Renewing America, after he left the FBI.”

Politifact Staff, Fact-Checking CPAC 2023 Claims About the FBI, Fentanyl, IRS.  Politifact, Mar 3, 2023.  See also Bryan Metzger, We Asked CPAC Attendees What They Think ‘Woke’ Means. Their Answers Were All Over the Place.  Business Insider, Mar 4, 2023. 

Joy Reid, ‘It's Death to Public Discourse’: First Amendment Expert on Florida Bills Targeting Media Workers.  The Reid Out | MSNBC, Mar 6, 2023.  

David Smith, Rightwing Legal Activist Accused of Misusing $73m from Non-Profit Groups.  The Guardian UK, Apr 6, 2023.  “A watchdog complaint filed with the IRS presents an accounting of the money paid to Leonard Leo’s for-profit businesses.”

Chris Gehrz, Christian Opposition to Prayer in Public Schools. The Pietist Schoolman | Substack, Jun 20, 2023. “Revisiting the debate sixty years later, via a former Bethel professor.”

Nadya Williams, The Future of Evangelical Scholars (and Their Scholarship, Too).  Currents, Aug 1, 2023.  Starts with Mark Noll’s lament that there is no evangelical mind.  This strongly suggests that white American evangelicals are culturally disposed towards authoritarianism rather than truth-seeking.  

Heather Cox Richardson, Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America.  Viking | Amazon page, Sep 2023.  How we got here from 1937 to the present.  Anti-New Dealers use authoritarian tactics and vision to undermine the liberal consensus of Democrat FDR and the civil rights activism on the state level by Republican Dwight Eisenhower.  See interview by Michel Martin, Historian Heather Cox Richardson: GOP “Has Become an Extremist Faction”. Amanpour and Company, Oct 6, 2023.  On image and identity.  A political image of a bygone time when some people felt more important leads to a political identity that is impervious to evidence.  One major reason why the US did not fall to fascism in the 20th century is the claim by racial minorities who kept insisting on democracy, especially led by the NAACP.  But now, the power of white grievance has to be seen in light of the rise of extreme wealth by the topmost elite white people.

Alex Wagner, Far-Right Christian Dominionists Infiltrate Schools, Civic Offices in Texas.  Alex Wagner Tonight | MSNBC, Oct 5, 2023.  Alex Wagner, Students Fight to Defend School Against Takeover by Fringe Religious Ideology.  Alex Wagner Tonight | MSNBC, Oct 5, 2023.  Antonia Hylton and Mike Hixenbaugh, NBC News reporters and co-hosts of the "Grapevine" podcast, talk with Alex Wagner about the fringe evangelical movement trying to seize power and impose religious values on civic institutions from town government to school boards, and the pushback by students who feel let down by the adults they had hoped would protect their school and their education.  Cell phone company Patriot Mobile works with Christian nationalist school board candidates.

Manuel Funke, Moritz Schularick, Christoph Trebesch, Populist Leaders and the Economy.  American Economic Review, Dec 2023.  “Populism at the country level is at an all-time high, with more than 25 percent of nations currently governed by populists. How do economies perform under populist leaders? We build a new long-run cross-country database to study the macroeconomic history of populism. We identify 51 populist presidents and prime ministers from 1900 to 2020 and show that the economic cost of populism is high. After 15 years, GDP per capita is 10 percent lower compared to a plausible nonpopulist counterfactual. Economic disintegration, decreasing macroeconomic stability, and the erosion of institutions typically go hand in hand with populist rule.” This should be standard rebuttal material for “Project 2025,” the right-wing and Christian dominionist plan which Trump is embracing.

Ian Ward, We Sat Down With the Conservative Mastermind Behind Claudine Gay’s Ouster.  Politico, Jan 3, 2024. Christopher Rufo explains the motivations behind his latest crusade to topple the Harvard president.

Gabriella Cantor, Election Deniers and Talking Heads Have Spent Three Years Trying to Rewrite Insurrection History. It’s Not Working. CREW, Jan 5, 2024. 

Nikki Wentling, Troops Do Not Have an Extremism Problem, But Veterans Do, Study Finds.  Military Times, Jan 5, 2024.