Theolitics.blog

July 22, 2026

Why start a blog discussing politics and theology now, in 2026? 

Something notable is happening. Voices on the American Right are changing their emphasis. Prominent personalities are moving away from Tea Party conservatives’ concern for Constitutional rights, including those in the First Amendment, toward support for something quite different. 

These Republican-leaning voices propose two main options, as far as I can see. 

Theme #1: Make a Christian Nation 

From the Pentecostal/evangelical perspective comes the notion of the Seven Mountains Mandate. Put simply, this theological view says Christians should take control of seven main realms of influence in society (such as education, politics, and the arts). 

If you have lived in the evangelical world for a while, or observed it closely, you might think, “What’s the big deal? I hear that all the time.” And it’s true. These ideas were popularized in the 1970s, apparently. They are common.  

I don’t know how many of us have thought through the theology behind this view, or potentially unforeseen outcomes. Many folks with these beliefs are in positions of influence today, so their ideas are worth a closer look.

A second group of Christians imagining a Christian nation come from the Calvinist/Reformed perspective. Some propose that a new Constitution be drafted to create a Christian nation (Pastor Doug Wilson on why he believes the U.S. should be a Christian theocracy : NPR) Others advocate for a “Christian prince” leading all of us (see Stephen Wolfe’s book The Case for Christian Nationalism). Most also espouse strict societal roles for the sexes, often decrying the influence of women.

Screenshot from Facebook.

Imagine an America where “unbelievers” and women do not have voting rights. Consider the implications of a prince executing laws that punish blasphemy and unrepentant sin – when religious and governmental rules would be one and the same, defined by the prince himself. 

These thinkers are proposing dramatic changes to the very structure of our nation. And they have influence. For instance, Doug Wilson, who leads Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s denomination, preached a sermon at the Pentagon.

If people are sincerely proposing new forms of government based on their religious principles, then both the religious and political ideas deserve to be teased apart, analyzed, and soberly considered. 

Theme #2: Crush the Left 

Watching the 2020 Republican National Convention, I heard a young Charlie Kirk laud Donald J. Trump as “the bodyguard of Western civilization.” 

I was dumbfounded. Bodyguard of Western civilization? Why not credit the Constitution, for instance, or the separation of powers, or even Judeo-Christian tradition? I would have predicted a Republican saying something like that, not putting the burden of defending something as large (and nebulous) as “Western civilization” on one man. And – not to put too fine a point on it – why would someone label an unrepentant public adulterer known for unwholesome, frequently malicious talk as the defender of it all? If Trump held that role for Kirk, then which aspects of Western civilization did Kirk want to conserve? Maybe not all the Christian values?

Recently, I became aware of a book that makes that statement fall into place. It also explains a lot of what I’m seeing and hearing from Republicans. 

The book is called Unhumans. JD Vance wrote a blurb endorsing it. Its ideas keep popping up everywhere on the American Right. 

The authors label everyone from communists and antifa to political progressives as “unhumans” and imply that every last person on the political Left opposes civilization itself, hates everything beautiful, and wants to destroy and kill.

They praise strongmen of the past who opposed communism fiercely and didn’t have qualms about denying civil rights. For instance, they mention communists under the Pinochet regime being tossed from helicopters – and say nothing critical about the use of such extrajudicial executions. In fact, they reassert how Pinochet was not going to let communism thrive on his watch. 

Although the authors occasionally reference Christianity, it seems that their main goal is the defense of political ideals by a variety of means, many of which do not seem Christlike to me. We’ll unpack some of it in future posts.

Recently, three administration officials all echoed this book’s ideas on the same day (Remarks at the Opening of the Ministerial on the Resurgence of Political Terrorism – United States Department of State).

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Leftist radicals are motivated by “an overwhelming need to tear down what greater men have built, to wreck what is beautiful and what is right on behalf of people who are only filled with ugliness and have nothing else to offer the world.”
• Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff, urged world leaders to “be completely unflinching in the pursuit of justice against these enemies of civilization.”
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent invoked an existential threat, “a much broader and more insidious effort to undermine the philosophies that built Western civilization and sustain all we hold dear.”

These are talking points straight from Unhumans.

Additionally, GOP officials seem intent on renewing the Red Scare. Here are some recent Facebook posts:

Americans, and Christians in America, need to be aware of movements like these. Those of us who were taught that voting Republican was next to godliness should seek discernment, considering which values relate to our faith and which ones come from somewhere else.

A note: Please never take my word for things, but read primary sources and Scriptures yourself. Think it through. Some of these groups do not want us thinking for ourselves. That’s a giant red flag. Do keep thinking. Don’t let simplified slogans override your ability to consider, contemplate, and then seek what is good. 

Another note: I can’t make the main page have correct dates for individual posts, so I’ll start including them at the top.