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Theocracy and Erastianism
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The foregoing is the title of this February 20, 2024 Politico article: https://www.politico.com/news/2024/02....
Excerpts:
An influential think tank close to Donald Trump is developing plans to infuse Christian nationalist ideas in his administration should the former president return to power, according to documents obtained by POLITICO.I am cross-filing the present post in the “Separation of Religion and Government; Liberty of Conscience and Toleration” and “Theocracy and Erastianism” topics of this Goodreads group.
Spearheading the effort is Russell Vought, who served as Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget during his first term and has remained close to him. Vought, who is frequently cited as a potential chief of staff in a second Trump White House, is president of The Center for Renewing America think tank, a leading group in a conservative consortium preparing for a second Trump term . . . .
The documents obtained by POLITICO do not outline specific Christian nationalist policies. But Vought has promoted a restrictionist immigration agenda, saying a person’s background doesn’t define who can enter the U.S., but rather, citing Biblical teachings, whether that person “accept[ed] Israel’s God, laws and understanding of history.” . . . .
On the eve of the Iowa caucuses, Trump promoted on his social media a video that suggests his campaign is, actually, a divine mission from God.
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The foregoing is the title of this July 5, 2024 New York Times article: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/05/wo.... (In accordance with my New York Times subscription, the foregoing link provides access to this article for 30 days without charge, notwithstanding the usual New York Times paywall.)
Excerpts:
In an election upset in Iran, the reformist candidate who advocated moderate policies at home and improved relations with the West won the presidential runoff against a hard-line rival, according to results released by the interior ministry on Saturday.
The winner, Masoud Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old cardiac surgeon, got 16.3 million votes to defeat Saeed Jalili with 13.5 million votes. It was a blow to the conservative faction in Iran’s ruling establishment and a major victory for the relatively moderate reformist camp, which had been sidelined from politics for the past few years. . . .
He has said he opposes the mandatory hijab law. But when it comes to Iran’s animosity toward Israel, that is a matter of state policy set at the highest levels, from which the incoming president is unlikely to diverge.
While Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, wields the most power in government, analysts said the incoming president will set domestic policy and influence the shape of foreign policies.
“A reform-minded president, despite all the limitations and failures of the past, is still meaningfully better — in some significant way it would put some constraint on the authoritarianism of the Islamic Republic,” said Nader Hashemi, a professor of Middle Eastern studies at George Washington University . . . .
Many Iranians have called for an end to authoritarian clerical rule in waves of protests, including a 2022 uprising led by women in which crowds chanted, “Conservatives, reformists, the game is over.”
The government brutally cracked down on the dissent, killing more than 500 people and arresting tens of thousands during that latest uprising. The widespread anger and loss of hope were reflected in the fact that half of eligible voters, about 61 million, sat out this election, saying that a vote for the government would be a betrayal of all victims.
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See this August 23, 2024 AP article titled “The Taliban publish vice laws that ban women’s voices and bare faces in public”: https://apnews.com/article/afghanista....
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See the September 15, 2024 article “Taliban begins enforcing new draconian laws, and Afghan women despair” at https://wapo.st/3Xsz3HT. (As a result of my Washington Post subscription, the foregoing link can be accessed without charge for fourteen days, notwithstanding the usual Washington Post paywall.)
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I have posted Appendix B (“Theocracy in Seventeenth-Century New England and Sixteenth-Century Geneva”) to my book The First American Founder: Roger Williams and Freedom of Conscience (Pittsburgh, PA: Philosophia, 2015) at https://www.academia.edu/124733346/Ap....
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The following is a brief summary of this recently published book, which was authored by a person raised in the Christian evangelical community. Although Jesus famously said “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36) and although mainstream Christianity has long taken the position that revelation ceased with the original apostolic age, a new grassroots evangelical movement has evolved, against the initial opposition of established evangelical leaders, to claim direct and current revelation from God and to tout Donald J. Trump as the new “Cyrus” (the pagan king referenced in Hebrew scriptures) who will, notwithstanding his obvious immorality and scriptural ignorance, be the force that will establish a Christian kingdom to replace the government of the United States. This new movement is profoundly undemocratic and entirely contrary to the principles of the United States Constitution. Its leaders are principal religious advisers to Trump and to leading far-right figures in the U.S. Congress and elsewhere. I recommend reading this book, which is based on the author’s deep knowledge obtained by reading the religious tracts, listening to the oral presentations, and conducting interviews with the architects and currently popular “apostles” and “prophets” of this revolutionary movement Their leaders (though not entering the Capitol building) were present on January 6, 2021, to wage what they call “spiritual warfare” by praying and encouraging those who did break into the Capitol and injure more than one hundred defending police officers.
I am posting the present comment in both the “Separation of Religion and Government” and “Theocracy” topics of this Goodreads group.
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For one of the most bizarre manifestations of Christian nationalism, see this December 6, 2024 New York Times gift article titled “Pete Hegseth and His ‘Battle Cry’ for a New Christian Crusade”: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/05/us.... The media coverage of Hegseth focuses on his drinking and sexual adventures. This article discusses his support for a violent theocratic revolution. We’ll see whether the US Senate confirms Trump’s impending nomination of him for secretary of defense.
I am posting the present comment in both the “Separation of Religion and Government” and “Theocracy” topics of this Goodreads group.
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Vance Boelter, the suspected shooter in Minnesota, has strong connections with the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) movement, which, among other things, considers Donald Trump to be anointed by God and supports a transformation of government in the United States from a democratic republic to a kind of Christian theocracy.
For further information, see the following sources: (1) Stephanie McCrummen, “The Minnesota Suspect’s Radical Spiritual World,” The Atlantic, June 17, 2025, https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/arc... (gift link), and (2) Matthew D. Taylor, The Violent Take It by Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy (Broadleaf Books, 2024). I have reviewed Taylor’s book at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show....
I have now posted Appendix D (“Roger Williams and John Locke”) to my book The First American Founder: Roger Williams and Freedom of Conscience on Academia.edu at https://www.academia.edu/103480220/Ro....
Appendix D explores in depth the historical and philosophical influences that Roger Williams’s seventeenth-century writings on freedom of conscience had on the evolution of John Locke’s views on toleration a generation later. It elaborates both the surprising historical connections between Williams and Locke and the fact that Locke’s famous Letter Concerning Toleration (1689–90) as well as some of his earlier unpublished writings adopt many of Williams’s ideas, sometimes almost verbatim.
An ongoing discussion of the above-lined Academia post is at https://www.academia.edu/s/2c28ff1704.... You are welcome to join the discussion if you have an interest in this subject.
I am cross-filing the present post in the “Roger Williams,” “John Locke,” and “Theocracy and Erastianism” topics of this Goodreads group.