Under His Eye- What happens when the God Squad finally rules AmeriKKKa?

When only White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexual Patriots are considered "real" Americans, what happens to everyone else?

Sure, I can be a bit of a naïf at times, but one thing I’ve always believed in is the idea of America as a melting pot. At its most basic, it means that this country doesn’t belong to one demographic group—certainly not good, God-fearing White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexual Patriots.

Despite what self-righteous God Squadders like Chris Reed, Rev. Bill Cook, or any number of other misguided Christofascist souls may believe, America is not their exclusive property and playground. America’s diversity is its strength, NOT its weakness—and it’s certainly not a Christian nation.

White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexual Patriots can make all the noise they want proclaiming that they own America, but in the end, it all sounds like the Dr. Seuss story of the Sneetches. These self-righteous asshats may think that they’re the shit because they have stars on their bellies, but star-bellies or not-star-bellies aren’t the criteria for ownership of America—because NO ONE gets to say they own it.

This reality is particularly true for those who firmly believe that a particular group- in this case, Muslims- can’t be REAL Americans. That, of course, is so much unadulterated bullshit because, since America isn’t a Christian nation and because there can be no religious litmus test, ANYONE can be an American. If you qualify for an American passport, independent of race, creed, color, or anything else, you’re an American.

Unfortunately, Christian Nationalists have no plans to conquer their idiocy. They would first have to recognize it.

And one person’s opinion of another’s religious faith is apropos of nothing. Because America is officially a secular nation with a Christian majority, one’s faith tradition is a matter of personal choice and not much else. It certainly has no bearing on one’s qualifications to be a “real” American.

Because what the Hell IS a “real” American?

A multi-day right-wing event took place at The Gathering church in North Carolina last weekend, aimed at mobilizing pastors to become more active in politics. The event was organized by America’s Black Robe Regiment, a Christian nationalist group founded by Rev. Bill Cook, who has made it his mission to see “the government of God [established] throughout every square inch of the Earth.”

Cook is also a radical conspiracy theorist who was among the speakers at a prayer rally aimed at keeping former President Donald Trump in power after he lost the presidential election in 2020. Cook took to the stage that day clad in an Oath Keepers T-shirt. Later at that same event, Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes openly threatened bloody civil war if Trump was removed from office. Rhodes and the Oath Keepers subsequently played a key role in the Jan. 6 insurrection, for which Rhodes was ultimately found guilty of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 18 years in prison.

Among the speakers at last weekend’s event was Ché Ahn, a Dominionist pastor and leader in the New Apostolic Reformation, who was tasked by Cook with “commissioning” attending pastors into America’s Black Robe Regiment.

Of course, these folks follow Jesus Christ like I’m an NBA point guard. A genuine Christian wouldn’t call himself a “Christian nationalist,” nor would they make it their mission to see “the government of God [established] throughout every square inch of the Earth.”

Then again, it’s not about the teachings of Jesus Christ for these folks; it’s about creating a political system in which people like them—White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexual Patriots- control the levers of power. All others will be “less than” and treated accordingly—harshly, if necessary.

Joining Cook and Ahn was self-proclaimed “prophet” Chris Reed, who in 2021 was tapped to take over MorningStar Ministries from far-right pastor and supposed “prophet” Rick Joyner. Reed opened the event by delivering a speech on Christian nationalism during which he asserted that practicing Muslims can never be true Americans.

“If we were to define what a nation is,” Reed declared, “it would be a number of tribes or people groups with a common language, a common religion, [and] a common defense.”

That might work in Norway or Finland, countries with much smaller and more homogenous populations. However, here in America, with a population of close to 350 million consisting of myriad colors, ethnicities, religious faiths, cultural traditions, and favorite ice cream flavors, Reed’s definition of a nation doesn’t hold water.

From its very inception, America has been a place that attracts people from all over the world. We kidnapped blacks from Africa and brought them here, where Whites enslaved them for generations. Now, they’re every bit as American as we are. Then there are Native Americans, who were here long before Whites invaded their lands.

The only thing that makes this land the property of White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexual Patriots is that we had the weaponry, the will, and the organization to conquer the land and the people who already inhabited it. If you want to talk about “true Americans,” you’d have to be talking about Native Americans, who were here long before White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexual Patriots ever set foot on Plymouth Rock.

People like Cook, Ahn, and Reed are talking about Christian nationalism as if they’re conquering America, a land that’s historically belonged to White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexual Patriots, for Jesus. That’s a convenient historical fallacy, one that Christian Nationalists believe because it feeds their inflated sense of noblesse oblige.

“We stole it fair and square….”

Then there’s the fact that American governance has been secular since its inception. American governance and faith traditions have operated on separate but parallel tracks- by design and intent for a quarter-millennium. Over the course of human history, there are too many examples of the corruption and rot that occurs when religion intermingles with government.

Christian Nationalists want to blow up the wall separating Church from State and create a system of, by, and for White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexual Patriots. They’re tired of our current system, which holds that all men (and women) are equal under the law. Instead, they’d create a system like Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, in which corruption isn’t the exception but the rule.

In a system created by Christian Nationalists, the interests of one group—White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexual Patriots—would be elevated above all others. Those unfortunate enough not to be part of that club would be considered “less than” and expected to settle for whatever crumbs remained for them.

Such a system would, of course, have nothing to do with Jesus Christ's teachings. It would tout “biblical law” as the basis for the new society but would primarily benefit White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexual Patriots.

The problem is that Christian Nationalists are demanding that we scrap a system that has served this country well for a quarter-millennium. It’s an imperfect system administered by imperfect people that produces imperfect results. But it’s the system we have, and it’s served this country well. To pitch it overboard for a government intended primarily for the benefit of White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexual Patriots is both wrong and immoral.

This demand is based on the tremendous malevolence and arrogance required to believe that your flavor of God and ONLY your flavor is somehow superior to the other 3000+ flavors of supreme beings in the world.

More people have died in the name of religion throughout human history than any other reason. In the 21st century, I’d hoped we could claim to be past that. I may have been far too optimistic.

We deserve better than a corrupt cabal of White Conservative Christian Cisgender Heterosexual Patriots who believe it’s their role, right, and responsibility to rule the world.

It’s unmedicated madness like this that makes me glad to be an atheist.

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