Writing from a future theocratic authoritarian America, the narrator of my 2013 book, Christian Nation, opens his memoir as follows: “So I suppose what happened here is that they said what they would do, and we did not listen. Then they did what they said they would do.”
History teaches that demagogues frequently signal their intentions but that most people simply do not believe that they actually will do what they say. Of all the lessons derived from history, none is more relevant to our present moment.
And what has our home-grown 21st century demagogue said he will do?
· On “day one” his priority will be retribution against his perceived enemies, using and (he said) abusing power to extract revenge.
· Personal loyalty to Trump will be the litmus test for all appointments, high and low.
· He will circumvent the Constitution by ignoring the failure of any nominee to receive required Senate confirmation and instead govern with a slate of permanently “acting” officials.
· He will “overhaul” or “dismantle” the DOJ, the FBI, and intelligence agencies and direct them to “go down and indict” his perceived enemies.
· He will impose a political test for general and flag officer promotions in the U.S. military.
· He will “scour” the country for undocumented immigrants, assemble them in detention camps, and deport millions each year.
· He will “never” perform America’s treaty obligation to come to the defense of Europe and “we will quit NATO.”
· He will “shift” the “excessively large endowments” from private universities to a new “American Academy” where “no wokeness or jihadism [is] allowed.”
· He will abrogate by executive order birthright citizenship guaranteed by the Constitution.
· He will not accept the results of any election he does not win, “because the only way we’re going to lose is if they cheat on the elections.”
To be clear, these are not my predictions, just the things that Trump has already promised.
But Trump himself is not the only one we need to listen to. As was just again illustrated in Iowa, Trump and the GOP are now wholly dependent on Christian nationalists. There is no path to electability without them. Their leverage is total. The price for their support? Implementation of the entire culture war agenda through whatever means required, whether lawful or unlawful. They have been clear and consistent for decades about what they want and what they will do with power if they get it. When I wrote Christian Nation, I compiled that agenda into “The Blessing,” a federal law that is adopted as soon as they control the federal government. I have included this following the main text of this blog and urge you to read it. If you’ve actually been listening to the far right, you will not be surprised. If you haven’t, you will be astonished at its radicalism and breadth. To understand what pulling the lever for the GOP means in 2024, you need to consider not only what Trump says he will do, but what the core of the new GOP coalition will require the GOP to do if it acquires power. Abortion is just the tip of the iceberg.
When reading, please bear in mind that the right’s prior purported attachment to “states’ rights” has always been merely tactical. If Trump becomes President again, the GOP takes the House and Senate, and the Supreme Court fails to act, then the Christian nationalist agenda will become the law of the land, controlling in both red and blue states. Some people are under the misimpression that blue states will be places of refuge. They will not. In a replay of the run-up to the Civil War, blue states, like the confederate states before them (and ten southern states seeking to escape federal civil rights legislation in the 1950s), will explore doctrines such as “nullification” and “interposition” in an effort to disapply the new federal laws in their states. They will fail as a matter of law. The question will then be whether the blue states acquiesce (unlikely) or whether the union as we know it will end.
Although many of my generation and education believe it to be self-evident that democracy and rule of law are necessary and beneficial, this is far from self-evident to large sections of the population, whose cynical view is that these institutions have been corrupted and, in any event, have largely served the interests of others. Moreover, the passionate right-wing minority would happily trade both democracy and rule of law for things they regard as more important, such as the realization of the Christian nationalist ideal and final victory in the long-standing culture war.
So please, resist the comfortable illusion that the return of MAGA might not be that bad. Abandon your normal political or ideological preferences. Forget about Joe Biden. Just do one thing: Listen to what Trump, and the Christian nationalist movement that enables him, are saying. They mean what they say.
Excerpt from F. Rich, Christian Nation (W.W. Norton, 2013), Chapter 12
The Blessing
I. There is no power but God, and the powers that are ordained by God.
1. As the fate of the nation depends entirely on unbending obedience to the will of God, it shall be treasonous to deny the existence of God, to question the Word of God, or to advocate disobedience to the will of God.
II. The Lord created America that His will may reign on earth.
2. The sovereignty of the United States of America is absolute. Accordingly, the United States shall not join or support any international organization.
3. The United Nations is hereby expelled from the territory of the United States. Its operations shall be relocated within one year.
4. Any treaty that abrogates the absolute sovereignty of the United States is hereby repudiated and declared null and void.
5. No U.S. citizen shall be extradited to face criminal or civil proceedings in another country.
III. This nation devoutly recognizes the authority and law of our Lord Jesus Christ.
6. The most important task of man is to accept, embrace and obey God’s law.
7. God’s law, as set forth in the Bible, shall be the supreme law of the land, prevailing over any imperfect human law.
8. The American Constitution is a divine gift and shall be strictly construed. The Constitution shall be interpreted in accordance with the higher law of the Bible.
9. The purpose of the federal and state court systems shall be to do God’s will and to faithfully interpret and enforce the law of the land in accordance with the Word of God.
10. No judge shall interpret the law or render any judgment that is contrary to the will of God as evidenced by the Bible.
11. Only persons who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior shall serve as federal judges.
12. The Constitution wisely limits the role of government, and such limitations shall be deemed to prohibit involvement by the Federal Government in education and social welfare, which shall remain the exclusive domain of the people, their churches, and if permitted by state constitutions and state law, the states.
13. No state or local government may enact any law prohibiting so-called “hate crimes,” which can too easily be used to persecute or abuse those faithful to the Word and laws of God.
IV. The Lord gave America the Biblical capitalist system for our material comfort; He reigns over our economy and demands obedience to his will in return for our prosperity.
14. Only one economic system, the free enterprise system, is consistent with God’s will and God’s law.
15. No economic system other than the free enterprise system shall be taught or practiced within the United States.
16. The advocacy of socialism in any form is treasonous.
17. Poverty is due to disobedience to God’s will.
18. In a Christian Nation, where obedience to God is the measure of equity, “labor unions” are unnecessary and illegal.
V. The Lord gave us marriage for our pleasure and for procreation.
19. Marriage shall be the sole form of civil union or partnership recognized for any purpose within the United States.
20. Marriage means marriage between one man and one woman.
21. No other form of “marriage” consummated in or recognized by any other jurisdiction shall be recognized or valid for any purpose whatsoever within the United States.
22. Adulterous behavior by either husband or wife is a crime.
23. Homosexual behavior of any kind is a crime.
24. Sexual relations outside of marriage are a crime.
25. Sexual perversion, even between husband and wife, is a crime (provided that a wife may pleasure her husband in any way her husband desires and to which she consents).
26. No person shall participate in the creation, distribution or use of pornography, all of which shall be crimes.
27. Abstinence from all sex (including masturbation) outside of marriage shall be the only form of sex education permitted.
28. No foreign national who is homosexual shall be eligible for immigration to, or resident alien status in, the United States.
VI. The Lord created the male who shall reign in headship over the family.
29. Upon marriage, a wife shall be obligated to obey her husband.
30. A child shall obey his or her father.
31. The primary responsibility of a husband and father shall be to align the family with the will and Word of Jesus Christ.
VII. The family is the basis of American life and the fundamental unit of American society.
32. The discipline of children is in the sole discretion of parents. No unit of government shall outlaw or regulate the discipline of children, nor prosecute any parent or teacher for the disciplining of a child.
33. It shall be unlawful for a child to strike a parent.
34. Incorrigible juvenile delinquency shall be a crime.
VIII. Only the Lord may determine when life shall begin and end.
35. For all purposes of the law, life begins at conception.
36. Abortion, meaning any act that terminates life following conception, shall be illegal.
37. Killing an unborn child through abortion shall be a capital offence.
38. A woman who permits her child to be aborted shall be guilty of a felony.
39. Euthanasia, meaning any act that terminates life prior to its natural end, shall be illegal.
IX. The Lord loves our children and gave his Word and his will as the basis for educating our children.
40. Children shall be instructed that God’s Word is the only reliable path to the truth.
41. Reason unguided by God’s Word is an illusion, often perverted by Satan to divert us from obedience to God’s will. It shall be a crime to teach that philosophical investigation or the so-called “scientific method” are the sole or primary paths to knowledge.
42. There shall be no tolerance of lies, falsehoods and illusions. The primary task of all teachers is to protect children from falsehood.
43. A principal task of public education shall be to teach obedience to God’s will.
44. A principal task of public education shall be to teach sexual purity.
45. No atheist, homosexual or single woman shall be permitted to teach or play any role in a public or private school, at any level. For this purpose, (i) any person over the age of 30 who has never been married shall be presumed to be a homosexual, and (ii) any person not registered with and certified in good standing by a recognized church shall be presumed to be an atheist.
46. Each classroom in American, public or private, shall, at the commencement of each school day, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and join in a prayer of thanks to God for America. The prayer may, but is not required to, mention our Lord Jesus Christ (but shall not mention any other purported deity, prophet, saint or other figure from a specific religious tradition other than Christianity).
X. Although a Christian Nation whose Christian citizens have a duty to open the eyes of all its citizens to the Word and light of Christ, the right of non-Christian citizens to believe and practice, in the private sphere of their families and places of worship, religions other than Christianity shall be tolerated.
47. Religions other than Christianity are permitted. Witchcraft, Wicca, astrology, the worship of Satan, any violent sect of Islam and other cults, are not recognized as religions.
48. All places of worship and other property, real and personal, present and future, of superstitions and cults that are not recognized as religions shall be forfeit to the state in which it is located.
49. Non-Christian religions shall be entitled to maintain places of worship, but shall not be permitted to make public displays of the symbols of their religions in any place other than the interior of such places of worship.
50. The promotion of non-Christian religion through advertisement or missionary or proselytizing activity shall be prohibited within the territory of the United States of America.