Stopping the Christian nationalist revolution
Trump's overreach will backfire with our help
There was a tiny bit of good news in the appalling story about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth reposting a video of Christian nationalist pastors calling for the abolition of women's right to vote.
The good news was that a progressive evangelical group, Vote Common Good, described it as "very disturbing." Though I knew evangelical Christians were not all right-wing, it was nice to hear from the progressive ones.
It is important that we not play into the hands of religious bullies by swallowing the lie that Christianity is inherently intolerant and coercive. There are many progressive people of faith, including LGBTQ+ Christians. Let us not throw away allies by making false generalizations.
The proper message is that Christianity at the point of a gun is no Christianity at all. For those on whom it is forced, it is at best performative, done by people to avoid being arrested or clobbered over the head.
Aside from what your faith teaches, we live in a civil society, not a theocracy. The First Amendment explicitly prohibits the establishment of religion. The fact that you can cite Scripture that instructs wives to obey their husbands does not entitle you to impose your Holy Writ on the rest of us.
America is not and will not be a Christian nation even if it slides into Christian nationalist dictatorship. In that case, it will remain a diverse nation under the thumb of tyrants whose actions and beliefs bear no resemblance to the teachings of Christ.
The authoritarians know they are vulnerable, or they would not be pushing for mid-decade redistricting in red states like Texas to nullify the votes of black and brown people.
Anyone who persists at this late stage in saying the two political parties are indistinguishable has not been paying attention.
Vast amounts of harm have been done to our country and its governance by the Trump-hijacked GOP. The evidence can only be denied by those driven not by facts or principles but lust for power.
If you value freedom, vote for Democrats and against Republicans. It is political suicide to take the attitude that no one deserves your support unless they agree with you completely. There has always been an undercurrent from the far left to the effect that anything that did not line up perfectly with their own dogma was a betrayal.
Responsible activists nonetheless made significant advances which are now at risk of reversal thanks to people (who should have known better) staying home on election day or voting for third-party candidates they knew could not win.
That was a victory for small-mindedness wedded to well-funded disinformation.
If marriage equality is overturned by the Supreme Court, we can expect the same scorn from Justice Alito that he showed in overturning Roe v. Wade when he invoked Sir Matthew Hale, a 17th-century British judge who oversaw witch trials.
In that event, we can thank self-righteous progressives who refused to vote for Kamala Harris because she had been a prosecutor, was not black enough, or failed to call for global Intifada. Some radicals think that if the right's tyranny becomes sufficiently awful, it will pave the way for their fantasy revolution.
A revolution came, but it was not led by Angela Davis. It was a garland of reactionary wet dreams woven together by the Heritage Foundation. Far from being defeated, capitalism is having its guard rails removed.
At the same time, the MAGA movement is threatened by its own internal contradictions, policy incoherence, and hubris.
Consider former Fox News host Jeanine Pirro, now U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. She crowed in satisfaction at charging a man who threw a Subway sandwich at a Customs and Border Protection officer with a felony. But overcharging crimes is no sign of strength.
The racism Trump exploits also blinds him. We are much too intermingled for racial purity to be more than a conceit. Similarly, his propaganda cannot withstand scrutiny, any more than his naked appeal for a Nobel Peace Prize will persuade the Norwegian finance minister.
Growing numbers are working in concert to mend our frayed republic. Let us quell any impulse to hold everyone hostage to one faction's dogma. Diversity inevitably includes diversity of opinion. A winning coalition requires compromise.
As Trump overreaches in attacking freedoms in DC and other cities with majority-minority populations, more Americans are fighting back in an organized manner—demonstrating that the best way to preserve our rights is by exercising them.
Richard Rosendall is a writer and activist who can be reached at [email protected]. Copyright © 2025 by Richard J. Rosendall. All rights reserved.