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Finally I am writing about a topic a few months before the elections. rising fundamentalist religious movement Its leaders believe that the United States is a Christian nation, that the Constitution is based on the Bible, and Christians are called to take over the government. These figures have found a powerful ally in President-elect Donald Trump. Just last week, a few days before the election, I attended one of the campaign events held at a church in Georgia; Here Trump promised the assembled crowd: intended Placing Christian leaders “straight into the Oval Office.”

He didn’t elaborate on what exactly that would look like, but my reporting on the Christian right over the last few months has given me some ideas. As Trump’s second term begins, I have a few things to keep an eye on.

Erosion of the Establishment Clause

At the Trump event for Christian leaders I attended, one of the longest standing ovations came after Kelly Shackelford, president of the Christian law firm First Liberty Institute, declared that the U.S. Supreme Court’s three-part 1971 report read: “Lemon” test because the establishment clause, which codifies the separation of church and state, “is everywhere reversed.”

Their hopes may come true. A few months ago I wrote about The creeping religiosity of the Supreme Court. in 2022 Kennedy/Bremerton School District In the case, the court ruled that a public high school football coach who lost his job after praying during a game was discriminated against. Justice Neil Gorsuch in a 6-3 decision declared that the court “abandoned” the Lemon test a long time ago. In February, Justice Samuel Alito issued an unusual individual statement after the court dismissed a lawsuit filed on behalf of people who were removed from juries because they believed gay marriage was wrong. Alito wrote He said he was “concerned that Americans who do not conceal their adherence to traditional religious beliefs about homosexual behavior will be ‘labeled and treated as bigots’ by the government.”

The crusade against the establishment clause will continue countless cases Those who oppose the separation of church and state are trying to reach the Supreme Court through judges appointed by Trump.

Increased Funding for “Natural Family Planning”

For the past several years, Christian anti-abortion groups have spread the claim that both hormonal birth control and artificial reproductive techniques such as in vitro fertilization (IVF) are wrong. unhealthy and unnecessary. Instead, they promote what they call an alternative method: “natural family planning.” Essentially, this is a rebranding of rhythm methods, where women track their menstrual cycles to determine their fertile windows to prevent or achieve pregnancy. The effectiveness of these methods depends on many factors, including how meticulously users track their menstrual cycles.

During Trump’s last administration, the federal government promoted natural family planning. My colleague Stephanie Mencimer in 2019 wrote About cycle tracking webinar Hosted by the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). And just this year, like me wroteSenate Republicans have introduced a bill that would designate federal funds for “regenerative reproductive medicine,” a loose group of therapies that rely heavily on cycle tracking to help treat infertility without the use of IVF or artificial insemination. A. Press release Mississippi GOP Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith of St. Louis, who supports the legislation. Louis gynecologist Dr. He quotes Patrick Yeung: “The status quo of offering symptomatic (band-aid) treatment for pain or IVF for fertility (that bypasses the problem) is unsatisfactory for most women. The press release does not mention that Yeung is a Catholic anti-abortion advocate.” shipped she uses birth control as an attempt to separate the “creator of life” from the “embrace of marriage.”

Over the next four years, watch carefully as anti-abortion groups avoid openly opposing abortion and in vitro fertilization (which has proven to be a weak political strategy) and instead promote these “natural” alternatives, while Tump’s HHS further advocates for these options.

More Religion Attacks Schools—A.Defunding Public Education as we know it.

Much of the recent media coverage of the open presence of Christianity in public schools has focused on efforts by some states to mandate mandatory Christianity. Bibles And Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. While these initiatives are important to pursue, there is another way conservative activist Christian leaders aim to blur the lines between church and state. They tout voucher programs that have expanded to 29 states in the last two years and divert public school money to fund private schools; 90 percent of that money. Like me wrote few months ago:

In 2001, Betsy DeVos, who would later become secretary of education under Trump, framed her advocacy for voucher programs and other school choice programs as an effort to:advancing the kingdom of God.” In recent years, a super PAC led by DeVos’s school choice advocacy group, the American Federation for Children, has spent millions of dollars to defeat Republican lawmakers who oppose private school vouchers. reporting with Unlock Secrets. Prerequisite for the participation of students and their families some between schools The biggest difference for people who currently receive coupon money is that they accept Jesus Christ as their lord and savior.

Rachel Laser, president of the nonprofit Americans for the Separation of Church and State, told me about other religious initiatives in the works. One of them is a suite invoices this will allow public schools to employ chaplains. And in Oklahoma, Seville St. A Catholic school called Isidore is trying to become the first school in the country. publicly funded religious charter school. The overall goal of these initiatives, he says, is to “grant power and privilege to Christians in our country at the expense of all other religions in America.” Meanwhile, public education is being deprived of the “funding it deserves.”

For years, including while DeVos was in office, conservative Christians have Disbandment of the US Department of Educationand Trump said he plans to do it listen to their advice. “We can count on Trump to attempt to seriously undermine, if not destroy, the Department of Education,” Laser told me in a conversation we had this week.

Attack on Gay Marriage

Chief among the values ​​of the Christian right is “sacred marriage,” the idea that union between a biologically heterosexual man and woman is contrary to God’s will. Charismatic Christian leaders often echo these ideas and have brought it into the political mainstream. Christian broadcaster Mario Murillo, who partnered with fundamentalist Christian superstar Lance Wallnau to host a series of pro-MAGA religious rallies. in question “We should never have allowed same-sex marriage to be legalized in the United States,” he said at a conference of Christian leaders in Colorado in 2022.

In the coming months, expect campaigns by leading right-wing Christian groups to reverse the situation in 2015 to intensify. Obergefell-Hodges decision legalizing gay marriage. The powerful think tank Family Research Council says: website“Properly understood, ‘families’ are formed only by ties of blood, marriage or adoption, and ‘marriage’ is the union of a man and a woman.” Perhaps most important is Project 2025, which Trump supporters eventually called the blueprint for Trump’s second term. confess is truly “the agenda” — calling on the U.S. government to “proudly state that men and women are biological realities” and that “married men and women are the ideal, natural family structure because all children have the right to be raised by men and women conceived by them.” Naturally, another priority of these groups will be the continuation of attacks on trans rights.

Hawkish Israel Policy

Trump promised to end the war in the Middle East during his campaign, and exit polls show some voters believe him. In the majority Arab community 42 percent of Dearborn, Michigan residents voted While they voted for Trump, 36 percent voted for Kamala Harris and 18 percent voted for Green Party candidate Jill Stein. But given that many of his key spiritual advisors are fervently pro-Israel, Trump is unlikely to help the Palestinians. Many of these charismatic Christians see Israel as the cornerstone of their end-time scenario. Rabbi Jack Moline, president emeritus of the Interfaith Alliance, a group that advocates religious pluralism, recently explained In my opinion, “facilitating the gathering of the exiles into the Holy Land… which is to pave the way for the second coming.”

Trump’s spiritual advisors do not believe Palestine is part of this plan. Wallnau in a 2019 YouTube broadcast skinned The idea of ​​a two-state solution. “Every time we gave land from Israel, we placed a curse on our country,” he said. “You watch. “Whenever a president takes anything from Israel, God’s judgment inevitably collapses.”

During this election, Wallnau worked closely with the Trump campaign. For example, he hosted then-vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance at an event in October and appeared with Trump just days before the election in Georgia. in October 2023 broadcastingWallnau suggested that Hamas attacked Israel as a form of retaliation for the US abandoning Trump. in september enlightened Thank you to Harris X for her support of the two-state solution. “This is why Trump said Israel will not exist in 3-4 years,” he wrote. “AND that’s why the United States will be prosecuted while President Harris is in office.”

This week, Israeli times reportedTrump’s spokeswoman, Elizabeth Pipko, told an Israeli television reporter that Trump “wants the wars to end as soon as possible, but he wants them to end with a decisive victory for Israel.”

Meanwhile, you can expect to hear fundamentalist leaders insist that Christian nationalism is not real, but a figment of ultra-progressive imagination. However, there is plenty of evidence to the contrary. At the event in Georgia, Wallnau said, “In every state and every county…Christ will be glorified!” He received great appreciation from the audience.