For over six many years, the “non secular proper” in America was boomer “Christian nationalism,” straight out of The Handmaid’s Story. It was about “retaining God within the faculties” and the Nationwide Prayer Breakfast. It was traditionalist, aware of theology, and, effectively, theocratic, which is to say it needed to take the requirements of a non secular custom and apply them to the secular regulation. They needed the books of Scripture to interchange the statute books.
However President Donald Trump is attempting to create a brand new non secular proper, one that isn’t simply intolerant however essentially completely different and opposed to conventional faith as we’ve identified it. The religion of the MAGA motion isn’t one during which the state conforms to the church, however one during which the church is bent to the desire of the unusual beast that’s American nationalism — the assumption that the American undertaking is an train in freedom and prosperity just like the world has by no means identified, but additionally the only real possession of those that are white, heterosexual, and unquestioningly loyal to the nation.
It’s a mannequin of church-state relations that has much less in frequent with post-revolutionary Iran, the place an Islamic cleric generally known as the supreme chief and his council of non secular jurists preside over authorities, and extra in frequent with Soviet (and arguably modern) Russia, the place the Russian Orthodox Church is topic to the whims of the Kremlin, appearing as every part from propaganda instrument to spy middle.
That is the displacement of the trimmings of faith with America First alternate options. It’s not coherent in a non secular sense. It’s coherent in a political sense.
That is evident from the members and mission of Trump’s new Spiritual Liberty Fee, in addition to its three advisory our bodies of non secular leaders, authorized specialists, and lay leaders. The fee is tasked with getting ready a report on the historical past and present state of non secular liberty in America.
In contrast, Trump’s three instant predecessors maintained an Workplace of Religion-Based mostly and Neighborhood Partnerships to advise on how faith-based organizations and the federal government may collaborate on points like human trafficking, local weather change, or international poverty. Referred to as “Group Initiatives” beneath Bush, this mannequin mirrored the church coming to the help of the state to deal with points arising from the collective ethical failings of secular society.
Trump abolished this workplace at first of his second time period. His new plan — the fee charged with producing an “official account” of American non secular liberty previous and current — isn’t solely unprecedented in American historical past; it’s the product of a really completely different view of the church-state relationship. On this formulation, religion isn’t a balm for the ethical ills of a nation. Right here, the US, its historical past and establishments, is the means by which faith can maintain itself. And subsequently non secular establishments prosper or fail in proportion to not their very own morality or faithfulness however to the extent to which America is “American” sufficient.
In one other period, it is perhaps attainable to see this new mannequin of participating non secular leaders as a mere accident and the fee as innocent pandering, a bone thrown to conservative non secular voters who prove election after election for Republican candidates. However it’s a lot tougher to see the fee and advisory boards as innocent pandering within the present political local weather, when the idea of “non secular liberty” has turn out to be more and more weaponized. “Spiritual liberty” has been utilized by bakers to disclaim marriage ceremony muffins to homosexual and lesbian couples, by pharmacists to disclaim girls the morning-after capsule, and by ER nurses to refuse a Covid-19 vaccine. In a metamorphosis that started when segregationists invoked their non secular freedom as a protection in opposition to racial equality through the civil rights motion, non secular liberty is now a canine whistle for opposition to social progress.
This technique was one of many founding ways of the previous non secular proper, a tactic it shares with this new non secular motion. However the MAGA non secular proper has taken this technique to a brand new degree. And this new motion is way extra complicated. If we consider that these ideological architects are merely “conservative Christians” and even “Christian nationalists” within the previous vein, we’re essentially misreading each the non secular character of the MAGA motion and its broader ideological and sensible goals. If, nevertheless, we understand and perceive the distinction, we’re a lot better located to fight the novel remaking not simply of American faith however of America itself.
The unusual make-up of the Spiritual Liberty Fee
Nothing makes this new non secular motion extra clear than a fast survey of whom Trump has appointed to serve. Of the 39 appointments made to the Spiritual Liberty Fee and its associated advisory boards, not a single mainline Protestant is amongst them.
As a substitute, the board is dominated by evangelicals. Evangelicals’ emphasis on private salvation, biblical literalism, and emotive worship made them rather more in style amongst America’s least rich and least educated, in distinction to the extra theologically versatile mainline Protestants who as soon as dominated the nation’s political and cultural elite. These variations additionally made the evangelicals naturally extra politically conservative than their mainline counterparts. The evangelicals on the fee are joined by conservative Catholics, Orthodox Jews, the Greek Orthodox Archbishop of America, and Dr. Ben Carson, who’s a Seventh-Day Adventist. Considerably, two of the three Muslims appointed by Trump, are white, American converts to the religion.
These are each inclusions and omissions that might have been unthinkable a technology in the past, when American civic faith — that’s, the collective and largely unstated non secular values of a nation — was dominated by the mainline denominations whereas Catholics, Jews and Muslims remained on the periphery. That’s to not say that this exclusion was a superb factor. However who’s invited to the desk does are likely to reveal the values of the individuals and nation doing the inviting. The reign of mainline Protestants and WASPs mirrored a sure set of ideas about each faith and politics: moderation in faith and a separation of church and state in politics that not solely maintained the neutrality of the federal government but additionally the independence of the church buildings. Not surprisingly then, because the previous non secular proper rose to energy, their enemies included not solely secular liberals but additionally the mainline church buildings by whom that they had lengthy felt belittled.
The easy clarification for the omission of mainline Protestants now could be that these denominations and their members have turn out to be extra progressive and are just too liberal for Trump. They’re “victims” of the sensibility, good schooling, and pragmatism that outlined them for generations after which lured them leftward. However that is solely a part of the reality. Excessive-profile splits amongst Episcopalians and Methodists, in addition to the existence of deeply conservative mainline church buildings just like the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, reveal that there are nonetheless loads of socially and politically conservative mainline Protestants in America, even when they’re now a minority inside their very own custom (which could even be mentioned of politically conservative Jewish Individuals). These non secular and political conservatives would appear like pure allies to incorporate in a coalition enthusiastic about conventional faith and conventional society. Furthermore, the evangelical leaders of this new coalition may, in concept, be way more snug with a fellow Protestant Christian than with a Muslim, a Jew, or perhaps a Catholic. And but, they’ve been excluded.
The previous American civic faith is lifeless. As a substitute, we’re confronted with a cross-faith coalition united not by theology, however by a shared sense of cultural siege. This coalition has manifested not solely within the Spiritual Liberty Fee, however on podcasts, in rallies, and in a rising variety of organizations. Trump even touted the alliance in his now-infamous Madison Sq. Backyard rally on the eve of the 2024 election. This isn’t to say that the traditions included are themselves devoid of theological content material or that each member of those traditions is a part of the brand new coalition. That’s clearly not true. However the people and establishments getting into this coalition are prepared to place apart theological considerations, even subsume them fully, within the curiosity of the coalition’s nation-building undertaking.
This undertaking, born from that shared sense of menace (largely round problems with gender, sexuality, and race), isn’t, as they’d have you ever consider, a concerted effort to return society to some earlier state. Trump 2.0 has made clear that it’s searching for to reshape America in unprecedented methods. That’s the alternative of being conventional and conservative. The purpose of the brand new motion is to radically remodel American life and society.
How the brand new American faith works
Whereas the non secular proper of the Eighties and Nineteen Nineties was political due to their theology, it is a group doing the alternative: developing a theology that matches their politics. Take, for instance, the protection by evangelical leaders of Trump’s sexual transgressions. Trump’s sins are excusable as a result of he’s a messianic determine, they are saying, despatched to not save our souls however America. It’s not coherent in a non secular sense. It’s coherent in a political sense.
One other wonderful instance is Ismail Royer, one of many three Muslims Trump has appointed to do the fee’s work. To start with, Royer is perhaps the primary member of a presidential advisory board to have served jail time for crimes stemming from his connection to a terrorist group. That’s proper, Royer served over a bit of over a decade in federal maximum-security jail after having been convicted of serving to individuals journey to Pakistan to coach with Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist militia that goals to unite the entire of Kashmir with Pakistan and has been designated as a terrorist group by the US authorities. He has definitely turned over a brand new leaf since his launch.
You’ll be able to’t counter this sort of motion the identical method you’ll extra conventional “believers.”
In the present day, Royer works because the director of the Islam and Spiritual Freedom Motion Staff for the Spiritual Freedom Institute, a corporation that applies the American proper’s technique of invoking non secular liberty each at house and overseas. Royer has been an outspoken supporter of the plaintiffs in Mahmoud v. Taylor, a latest Supreme Court docket case that can determine if dad and mom can choose college students out of studying books with LGBTQ+ themes on the grounds of non secular freedom. The irony of a person who did jail time for recruiting younger individuals to a terrorist group worrying about children studying Heather Has Two Mommies apart, Royer has really developed a reasonably attention-grabbing view of the connection between faith and American politics, telling the Center East Discussion board, “America is a Christian nation. … It was based in Christian ideas…I wish to see a restoration of these ideas.” These are ideas he infers from “classical civilization,” which has lengthy been code inside far-right circles for draconian views about race, gender, sexuality, and the like. This each offers us some perception into Royer’s which means and suggests none of those individuals have really learn any Catullus.
He additionally penned a 2018 op-ed for the Washington Put up titled “Muslims Like Me Don’t Have Theological Beef with Evangelicals. It’s the Prejudice In opposition to Us That’s the Downside” during which he recounts how “at house” he and his spouse felt on the anti-abortion Washington March for Life amongst “fellow believers.” He additionally bemoans the larger welcome Muslims have acquired on the American left, arguing it has precipitated American Muslims to desert hardline positions on points like sexuality. In fact, Royer ignores that, as a white man, he’s within the minority (in a method that issues) amongst American Muslims.
However he’s additionally making a reasonably progressive argument: In claiming he desires to revive Christian ideas and complaining in opposition to Muslims being welcomed by the left, he says theology doesn’t matter; solely politics does. As a result of ultimately, America (not God) — and particularly America as it’s imagined by the MAGA motion and Trump — is the supply of liberty and human flourishing. With respect to the issues that matter most to him, Royer does have extra in frequent with the evangelicals on the March for Life than he does with these Muslims whom he mourns being “secularized” by the tolerance of the left. It seems that Royer shares a political imaginative and prescient of America with these evangelicals and doesn’t care about sharing a theological imaginative and prescient with Muslims.
Royer may turn out to be quick mates with fellow fee member Eric Metaxas. Raised Greek Orthodox, Metaxas has existed in a type of denominational grey space for the entire of his grownup life. He attended an Episcopal Church in Manhattan (the place he served within the sacristy) and has written bestselling biographies of the 2 most well-known Lutherans ever: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther himself. However he’s now comfortably described as an “evangelical mental.” All suffice to say, Metaxas in all probability doesn’t care all that a lot concerning the deep theological points which have divided Christendom. What he cares about is politics.
This motion seeks energy to not protect a religious order or affect their very own or anyone else’s afterlife however to reshape society within the right here and now. That is the one world they actually care about. Actually, probably the most stunning variations between the previous non secular proper and the MAGA non secular proper is how little the afterlife comes up. The place Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, and Pat Buchanan by no means ceased speaking about the specter of everlasting punishment, each for people and the nation, these new guys by no means carry it up. They’re, for all intents and functions, metaphysical atheists, sometimes invoking imprecise theological language solely as a result of it nonetheless holds cultural sway.
What the brand new non secular proper has constructed has extra in frequent with the Roman Imperial Cult than the tent revivals of early America. Like the traditional pagan faith of the Roman state, the main target is on the facility and fertility of the nation, at present demonstrated by the prevalence of pronatalism within the MAGA motion. Take into consideration the considerations about medical remedy rendering trans children infertile. Now examine that to the non secular proper’s response to the AIDS disaster. Jerry Falwell known as AIDS “God’s punishment” for homosexual intercourse, however he didn’t body the issue with homosexual intercourse as its non-procreative nature. For Falwell, homosexual intercourse was unsuitable as a result of it was unbiblical; the absence of replica wasn’t the problem. There may be much more stark a distinction once we have a look at abortion. Whereas the previous non secular proper centered on condemning abortion as unnatural and murderous, elements of MAGA look like extra involved about how abortion entry may have an effect on delivery charges.
Lastly, there’s the seemingly infinite celebrations of the state and its energy. Within the temporary time since he returned to workplace, Trump has deliberate a army parade and established two new holidays. Now, with the fee, he has ordered a hagiographic recounting of the nation’s historical past, inserting the story of the nation inside a sacred narrative by official channels. That’s massive imperial cult power (and in case you don’t consider me, learn the “Aeneid”). That is the displacement of the trimmings of faith with America First alternate options.
The previous strategies of resistance gained’t work
All this could matter to anybody who desires to cease them. First, you’ll be able to’t counter this sort of motion the identical method you’ll extra conventional “believers.” Combating the non secular proper within the Eighties, Nineteen Nineties, and early 2000s was in some ways as easy as stating hypocrisy and holding leaders to the identical requirements they held others. And it labored. Most of the figures of the previous non secular proper have merely been shamed from public life, making method for his or her new, extra pernicious, replacements.
However MAGA is fairly impervious to disgrace. You’ll be able to’t simply enchantment to theological humility or scriptural counterpoints. And you’ll’t depend on their very own sense of conscience. What animates them is political utility.
If we perceive how the MAGA non secular motion is completely different from the previous Christian nationalists, those that want to fight Trump and his ilk may discover some new allies. All of these traditionalist conservative believers — the Latter-day Saints, the conservative mainline Protestants, Catholic bishops with out Instagram — is perhaps the important thing to taking down the Church of MAGA. This doesn’t imply that progressives should agree on every part or something and even like them. However it does imply recognizing that the enemy of your enemy is perhaps your political frenemy, particularly when they’re alarmed for various however equally severe causes.
Many conventional conservative believers stay dedicated to some fundamental ethical structure, to guidelines that bind even their leaders, and to a God who finally can’t be manipulated. The administration’s draconian immigration coverage is now disquieting some evangelicals, involved about co-religionists who’ve sought refuge in America from actual non secular persecution. And the Trump administration’s pronatalist advocacy for IVF has many conservative Christians, together with conservative Catholics, on edge. These teams might not just like the world as it’s, however they don’t just like the world MAGA’s new civic cult seeks to construct both. And on this gentle, they might want to battle it out on the previous phrases. If progressives could make the thought of the final conflict interesting, there’s hope for a viable coalition.
Trump and MAGA have declared a non secular conflict, not simply in opposition to secularism or progressive types of faith, but additionally in opposition to conventional faith that refuses to serve their radical imaginative and prescient for the world. This isn’t a theocracy within the making. This isn’t The Handmaid’s Story. It’s one thing newer, stranger, and rather more tough to battle: faith of nation and identification disguised within the trappings of acquainted faiths.
We gained’t defeat it with scripture or appeals to conscience. We’ll want to call it, unmask it, and forge sudden alliances with those that (no matter their doctrine) nonetheless consider in the next energy than Donald Trump.
