The movie is out and with it the fearmongering:
God & Country, a documentary released over the weekend, explores fears that the growing force of Christian nationalism could replace democracy with theocratic rule in the US. It features footage of religious leaders expressing negative views of DEI and immigration, alongside commentary from prominent anti-Trump Christians concerned about the fusion of Right-wing politics and evangelical Christianity.
If we take the take the long view of things–something that is discouraged these days–we’ll recall that two theocracies were in the wings in the 1970’s, although only one succeeded.
The first was the United States. There’s no doubt that some in Evangelical Christianity (especially the successors of John Calvin) would have loved to see the laws of God (or at least their idea of same) become the laws of the land. So we’ve had nearly a half century of the political activities of the “Religious Right” with the fear and dread that has been instilled in their opponents.
So what did we get for all of this money and activity? We got Donald Trump, a rude, crude and unattractive Northeastern businessman (whose own region has turned on him with a vengeance) becoming the darling of many. It’s an unlikely story, but the fact that it happened at all is the result of a long series of preachers and laymen with the Christian world view being shunted aside in an act of desperation presented as a semi-messianic epiphany.
Back in the Middle East we have Iran. In 1979 the Shah, having been hung out to dry by Jimmy Carter, was overthrown by the Ayatollah Khomeini and his fellow mullahs. They instituted a real theocracy, one which has not been dislodged since. Khomeini liquidated many of his opponents, something his American fans couldn’t quite bring themselves to do on January 6. And speaking of fans, the mullahs, for all of their repressive measures (especially against women and gays,) are the darlings of a large segment of the American left, which explains the aperiodic cash shipments to Tehran and the lifting of sanctions. Why this strange alliance? The only reason I can come up with is that the mullahs are some of the few people in the world who stuck it to Uncle Sam in a big way and got away with it, which should be an indication of their true feelings towards the country they’re so desperate to control.
Evangelical Christianity has neither the kind of organisation nor the will to use brute force to do what Khomeini and his colleagues did in Iran, which is what it takes to institute a true theocracy. Evangelicals are simply too riveted on “moving up” in the existing system rather than replacing it. The fact that the American left keeps whining about this issue only shows their perennial weakness in the face of persistent opposition.
As a country we need to realise that the institution of theocracy is the least of our problems. As is the case in Iran, such would defeat its own purpose, the mullahs now facing a population which is much less Islamic than the one they took command of 45 years ago. We all need to be sizing up our serious opponents, or we’ll see the day When the People’s Liberation Army Marches Down Pennsylvania Avenue.
Positive Infinity 