For years, the religious right has insisted that all it wants is a place at the table for Americans with “traditional values.” That’s why so many of the nation’s so-called moral guardians fawned over Donald Trump. They didn’t think it mattered that he plastered a private cell phone number on social media, mocked the disabled, and reveled in degrading women. No, no–all that really mattered was that he was going to roll back abortion and marriage equality, and promised them more of a voice than they could have ever imagined.
But from time to time, when they think no one else is listening, the religious right reveals its true goal–to turn this country into a Christian version of Taliban-era Afghanistan or the Islamic State. We got a lovely example of this on Tuesday, when two of the rising stars of the religious right bluntly declared that they wants a nation where politicians live in active fear of churches.
As part of his commemoration of “Religious Freedom Day,” the religious right’s favorite pseudohistorian, David Barton, held an eight-hour Facebook Live event called “Keep Faith in America.” It’s built around the notion that freedom is not possible without faith, and vice versa. Watch the trailer here.
Barton and his friends peddle the standard religious right argument that an erosion of “God’s place in America” is destroying the very fabric of our nation, and has led to an uptick in hate and a decline in civility.
But this outfit’s true colors show about three hours into the event, when Barton interviewed Mark Gonzales, executive director of the United States Hispanic Action Network and the United States Hispanic Prayer Network. People for the American Way’s Right Wing Watch got a clip.
Gonzales has been working with Barton for some time to educate Latino evangelicals on “biblical values.” He said that without fail, once Latinos are “educated” on these values, “they vote biblically.” He told his audience that it’s not possible to separate our faith from our vote, since “the Bible speaks to every issue of the day.”
To that end, he claimed that we need to see “the fear of the Lord and the fear of the church” in society. As he saw it, “the fear of the Lord” was prayer, while “the fear of the church” was political. He didn’t think it was a coincidence that politicians speak in churches, because they know they represent large blocs of votes.
Barton seized on it, saying that politicians flock to churches at election time because they know that they are “a group of influencers.” He thought that politicians should take that as a warning.
“Oooh, I don’t want to cross that church. Here’s what they believe about this issue, and I don’t want to get on the wrong side.”
Barton thinks pastors shouldn’t shy away from that, since they’re “standing for an influence of righteousness.” He believed that pastors ought to “see that potential and turn it into reality.”
Gonzales agreed, saying that once that happens, “we go from having influence to having power.” He believed it was already well underway.
“When we can move to that place, then the church can once again begin to set precedents of biblical values in their communities. And when you start community by community by community, next thing you know, we take over the state and take over the rest.”
This is almost exactly the blueprint the religious right followed in the 1980s and 1990s–taking over school boards and city councils, thus building up a base of future candidates for federal office.
There’s one key difference. Gonzales’ vision is influenced by the “seven mountains” strategy–the idea that Christians must take over the forces that influence our culture in order to take over the world, thus paving the way for bringing about the Second Coming. It turns out that Gonzales is a disciple of Cindy Jacobs, the crackpot “prophetess” who oversees a federation of prayer networks that form the backbone of the New Apostolic Reformation, an overtly fascist offshoot of the religious right that believes it can bring about the Second Coming by taking over the world. Indeed, he considers himself Jacobs’ “spiritual son.”
And now they’ve made clear what they really want to accomplish. They just didn’t know that we were paying attention.
(featured image courtesy Hispanic Prayer Network’s Facebook)
