Before the Cross Replaces the Constitution
Reclaiming America's Secular Republic from Project 2025's Theocratic Coup
With all of the noise and chaos of the government shutdown, the core Republican objective is in full view, but not easily understood. The nearly year-long coup we are witnessing is the culmination of decades of advocacy by Heritage Foundation aligned Christian Nationalists, who began vetting loyalists in 2023 to run the plutocratic authoritarian government they envisioned - and now effectively control. Under the direction of two architects of Project 2025, Stephen Miller and Russell Vought, the Christian Nationalist goals spelled out in their comprehensive manual are replacing democracy with a cultish ideology.
(Read more about Project 2025 in my May 13 Substack, Project 2025: A Manual for the Unmaking of American Democracy.)
To justify their actions, these extremists have bastardized Christianity, cherry-picking scripture to rationalize racism, patriarchy, and elitist power. They have turned religion into a political weapon.
At the center of Project 2025 lies the ‘Seven Mountains Mandate - a dominionist framework that seeks to control every sphere of American life, from government to media to family. It’s not politics disguised as faith; it’s theocratic conquest disguised as patriotism. 1
The government shutdown is more than a dispute over funding insurance and food programs. It is, as historian Jon Meacham often says, “a struggle for the soul of the nation” At their core, Christian Nationalists are Dominionists who believe (or pretend to believe) that God favors those who are white and wealthy. Therefore, they claim the privileges to which their supposed divine status entitles them. They reject any moral or civic responsibility for the welfare of others. Poverty, gender, and race are viewed as preordained.
That is why they fight so relentlessly against publicly funded programs like the ACA and SNAP, even as they shower the wealthy with subsidies and tax breaks. They are masters of gaslighting, flooding the airwaves through Fox News and other right wing propaganda networks to make Americans believe that undocumented immigrants are draining public programs. Their lies are sanctified by the belief that divine election justifies deceit.
Trump is their perfect president, not because he is moral, but because he is willing. His severely malignant narcissism and authoritarian instinct make him their ideal vessel. They don’t need Trump to be godly; they need him to be useful.
I wrote a Substack on September 23 exploring the roots of the Christian Nationalist movement and how it uses Project 2025 as a blueprint to end democracy. You can link to it here: Christo-Fascism Comes for Democracy.
The Seven Mountains of Dominion: Christian Nationalism’s Blueprint for Theocracy
To understand what is unfolding under Project 2025, we have to recognize the ideology driving it: the Seven Mountains Mandate. Born in the 1970s from a convergence of evangelical leaders - Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ and Loren Cunningham of Youth With a Mission - it was later refined and weaponized by modern dominionist preachers such as Lance Wallnau, Rick Joyner, and Paula White, now head of the new White House “Faith” office.
Their teaching claims that God commands believers to “occupy” seven spheres of cultural influence before Christ can return: government, education, media, religion, family, business, and the arts. In their view, these are not civic or social institutions; they are mountains of power to be conquered and ruled by “the faithful.”
At its core, this doctrine transforms spiritual language into a political program. It sanctifies hierarchy - declaring that God has chosen certain people (wealthy, white, conservative Christians) to rule and others to obey. Social equality becomes rebellion against divine order. Poverty, subordination, and racial exclusion become “God’s plan,” while privilege becomes proof of righteousness.
What began as a fringe theology of dominion has quietly become the operational framework of Project 2025. 2 The Heritage Foundation’s Mandate for Leadership never uses the phrase “Seven Mountains,” yet its structure mirrors the doctrine point by point. It calls for:
dismantling the civil service and installing loyalists (government)
privatizing public education and imposing “parental rights” (education)
empowering the FCC and DOJ to police speech and “disinformation” (media)
redirecting public funds to faith-based initiatives (religion)
redefining family law around patriarchal authority (family)
deregulating corporations and crushing labor (business)
imposing new “decency” standards on the arts (arts and entertainment)
Each measure advances one mountain toward conquest.
This is Manifest Destiny 2.0 — a re-packaged theology of supremacy. Where 19th-century settlers claimed divine right to seize Indigenous land, today’s Christian Nationalists claim divine right to seize American institutions. Both rely on the same lie: that domination is duty, and exploitation is righteousness. Project 2025 translates that belief into law, staffing charts, and executive orders - a blueprint to replace constitutional democracy with plutocratic theocracy.
Trump, the self-styled king of grievance, is not their prophet but their instrument. He offers what they crave: an authoritarian vessel who mistakes vengeance for strength and loyalty for faith. In exchange, they grant him spiritual cover and political muscle. Together they are attempting something no modern democracy has survived for long - a merger of plutocracy and theocracy, enforced through authoritarianism.
For a stark glimpse into this machinery of belief, link here to the trailer of the 2024 documentary, Bad Faith: Christian Nationalism’s Unholy War on Democracy (YouTube). The complete documentary is available on Prime and Apple TV. It exposes the movement’s leaders in their own words, openly proclaiming their intent to capture every “mountain,” and remake America in their image.
Call to Action: Reclaiming the American Ideal
In spite of the repeated lies from the right, the United States was founded as a secular republic, not a Christian kingdom. Our founders, scarred by centuries of religious wars in Europe, deliberately separated church and state to protect both freedom of religion and freedom from religion. The Constitution contains no mention of God. The First Amendment forbids government establishment of faith. Those were not oversights; they were warnings.
We are not called to be subjects of any church, but citizens of a democracy. Every American who values liberty - believer or not - must reject the false prophets who claim divine authority to rule others. The promise of this nation is not dominion; it is pluralism, equality, and shared power.
It is critical to speak plainly, organize locally, and defend the secular foundations of our republic before they are replaced by theocratic rule disguised as moral renewal. America’s founders handed us a system that resists kings, preachers, and tyrants alike. It will survive only if we defend it.
Footnotes:
Another excellent, well-researched article! Love your work.