Christian Right Observer Weekly (Volume 8)

CROW's 7 stories on the Christian Right that you need read this week.

1. Shocking Far Right “Statement on Christian Nationalism” Linked to Project 2025

Approximately 100 right-wing organizations have signed onto Project 2025, an expansive plan for controlling (and in some cases dismantling) federal agencies in the event that Trump or another Republican wins the presidential election this year. Many of these organizations are led by Christian fundamentalist political operatives, suggesting that they may use the plan to force all Americans to submit to their extreme religious beliefs. 

Yesterday, the Bucks County Beacon released a report detailing its recent discovery of explosive evidence (previously unreported) that seems to validate this concern. 

The evidence consists of an online manifesto titled “The Statement on Christian Nationalism.” The manifesto begins with a definition of “Christian Nationalism” that strives to implement a Scripture-based system of government whereby Christ-ordained “civil magistrates” exercise authority over the American public.

The manifesto’s co-editors include former Trump official William Wolfe. The connection to Wolfe has implications for Project 2025 because Project 2025 co-author Russ Vought has previously boasted working with Wolfe on formulating a “sound Christian Nationalism,” as reported by Politico journalist Heidi Przybyla. 

Wolfe himself is an alumnus of Heritage, the lead organizer of Project 2025. 

You can read more about the “Statement on Christian Nationalism” and the people involved with it in the Bucks County Beacon report. 

2. True the Vote (Group Challenging Voter Registrations in Battleground States) is Linked to Christian Extremism. 

Last Sunday, the New York Times reported that True the Vote, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is in the process of quietly challenging voter registrations in crucial battleground states. Although not mentioned in the report, True the Vote is tied to Christian extremism. 

True the Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht has, for example, appeared on the show Flashpoint, where she declared that, “God has put us on this mission.” The show, which is broadcast on the Victory Channel (founded by televangelist Kenneth Copeland), often platforms leaders in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), a global dominionist movement whose most high profile leaders have claimed that Trump’s opponents are literally demonic.  Examples of these leaders include NAR Apostles Lance Wallnau and Dutch Sheets. 

Tellingly, Engelbrecht (who founded her own church) has testified to Congress that the Johnson Amendment should (in her view) be repealed. The Johnson Amendment is a provision in the federal Tax Code that bans 501(c)(3)’s like True the Vote from endorsing or opposing political candidates. 

In February 2020, Engelbrecht attended a strategy session of the Council for National Policy (CNP), an umbrella organization for the Christian Right and wealthy financiers. It was also in February 2020 that the CNP plotted to overturn the presidential election in the event that Trump lost, as reported by Exposed by CMD.  Once that loss occurred, the CNP was heavily involved in efforts to reverse it, as reported by Shadow Network author Anne Nelson. 

Last month, the Associated Press (AP)  reported that True the Vote had told a judge that it had no evidence to support its claims that ballot fraud had occurred in Georgia during the 2020 election. Those claims had been “relied upon heavily for ‘2000 Mules,’ a widely debunked film by conservative pundit and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza,” as further reported by the AP. (Before his filmmaker stint, D’Souza had served as the president of a private Christian college, a position from which he resigned following reports that he had engaged in an adulterous affair, an allegation that he denied.) 

True the Vote’s apparent inability to substantiate its incendiary claims from 2020 casts a dark shadow over its current efforts to purge voters in battleground states. America has, after all, been burned by a phony voter purge in the past. Before the 2000 presidential election, former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris (a Republican and honorary co-chair of G.W. Bush’s campaign) used a faulty felon list to wrongly purge between 1,100 & 12,000 properly registered voters. Bush then proceeded to  “win” that election by only 537 votes. 

It may be a coincidence, but Harris has identified NAR Apostle Dutch Sheets as one of her “godly mentors.” Her apparent religious zealotry matters because, if an election official (or nonprofit) believes that a president or political party is literally possessed by demons, what wouldn’t they do to stop them? 

3. Roger Stone Protege Jack Posobiec Tells CPAC Audience: “Welcome to the End of Democracy. We’re Here to Overthrow It Completely … All Glory to God” 

The Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) is an influential right wing nonprofit whose chairman, alleged sex abuser Matt Schlapp, is a former co-chair of “Catholics for Trump,” which helped promote the 2020 so-called “Stop the Steal” movement led by, among others, political consultant Roger Stone, a longtime confidante of former president Donald Trump. (Schlapp had previously participated in Stone’s astroturf “Brooks Brothers riot,”which halted the hand recount during the 2000 presidential election, throwing that election to Republican George W. Bush.)

A viral video from CPAC’s recent annual conference opened with Jack Posobiec, a far right political operative (who announced the 2020 “Stop the Steal” movement with a tweet), telling the audience, “Welcome to the end of democracy. We’re Here to Overthrow it completely. We didn't get all the way there on Jan. 6, but we will endeavor to get rid of it and replace it with this right here.”

“All glory is not to government. All glory to God,” Posobiec added after pumping his fist in the air. 

Posobiec is himself a longtime Stone protege. The two men have collaborated with each other since 2016, when Stone first coined the phrase “Stop the Steal” in anticipation of Trump’s potential defeat, as detailed by Jenny in part 1 of her seven-part Stone series for the Bucks County Beacon. Posobiec also helped promote Stone’s 2018 and 2020 “Stop the Steal” efforts, as further detailed in the series. 

Like Stone, Posobiec has a history of embracing and promoting extremist movements and organizations, including the antisemitic so-called “Alt Right” movement led by Richard Spencer (which Posobiec later disavowed), the Oath Keepers, and the Proud Boys. Posobiec publicly boasted of working “very closely” with the Oath Keepers in 2017, while Stone publicly cavorted with both the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys. 

Now that many Oath Keepers and Proud Boys are in prison (due to their involvement with Jan 6), militant Christian extremists are the most important MAGA shock troops left standing, explaining Posobiec’s CPAC remarks. 

Tellingly, Posobiec is scheduled to speak alongside Stone and disgraced retired Lieutenant General Mike Flynn during the “First Annual Catholic Prayer for Trump” at Mar A Lago on March 19. Flynn was another top leader of the 2020 “Stop the Steal” movement, as detailed in Jenny’s Stone series.

4. A Tale of City Elders in Three States

Let's start our Christian Dominionist City Elders tale with its organizational headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Picture this. Sitting Governor Kevin Stitt returning for a third City Elders banquet appearance where he credited the theonomy seeking group with being the backbone of the Republican party. He further lauded City Elders, “I just love what City Elders stands for,” and asked for fellow Ohlahoma state officials to stand. City Elders is further solidifying their presence nationally and with Generation Z by having multiple speeches by Turning Point USA at their meetings including VP of Field Operations.

Oklahoma is not the only state that City Elders is trying to be the backbone of. City Elders Wichita Kansas leader Pastor Rob Rotola just announced that Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach will be speaking on the “Lefts War on Truth” on March 14. Kobach is no stranger to Rotola having preached at Rotola's Word of Life Church back in July 2020. 

The Wichita City Elders chapter has had various elected officials and candidates speak at their events from the Wichita mayor to City Council to an interview screening for school board candidates. Family Research Council Tim Throckmorton has done a Culture Impact Training for this chapter in 2023.

Alabama’s IVF ruling is a prime example of how voters and media cannot ignore Christian Dominionist New Apostolic judicial connections. Our final state Arkansas has their River Valley City Elders pronouncing their event last week as “Here Come the Judges.” The event features nearly a dozen judicial candidates ranging from State Supreme Court to County District Court. More importantly Judge Joseph Woods, head of the Arkansas Republican party, has spoken at Elders. We can expect more judicial candidates to emerge nationally as City Elders grows more county chapters. 

Journalists and activists need to help educate the voting public about Elders!

5. The Latest Elected Officials’ Interviews with Christian Dominionist Influencers

Christian Dominionist Sean Feucht was back on Capitol Hill this week at his Washington, D.C., Camp Elah ministry 

Feucht kicked off his DC visit with a Trump campaign manager appearance during a private virtual Worship Night. Feucht also hosted a Zoom prayer call with Trump Campaign Manager Chris LaCivita. Feucht is notorious for being active on Capitol Hill with his last visit resulting in two members of Congress being prayed over. His recent Elah trip produced a new podcast featuring Tennessee Congressman Tim Burchett, followed by a second interview featuring Arizona’s Kari Lake. Feucht and his team are active on Capitol Hill as documented by his assistant's appearance on New Apostolic Reformation Apostle Jim Garlow’s World Prayer Network call. Feucht’s head of Camp Elah is Kansas U.S. Representative Tracey Mann Chief of Staff Brandon Harder.

New Apostolic Reformation Apostle Jenny Donnelly is joining the ranks with Feucht of Dominionists seeking to influence the government mountain. “I'm thinking why don't we send one million women into the school boards. Washington is just the beginning,” said Donnelly. She has her first state candidate appearance with Joshua Generation’s Alyssa Brown, who is vying for a seat as an Arkansas State Representative.

Brown was part of the Christians Engaged team who prayed over Speaker of the House Mike Johnson last year. Brown is also being mentored by Christian Dominionist Arkansas legislator Mary Bentley who is linked to New Apostolic Reformation Apostles.

6. Family Research Council to Host Men’s Conference

Stand Courageous, a ministry of the Family Research Council, will be hosting a men’s conference March 23 because, according to them, “We need to be the men God created us to be;  warriors for all that is right, true, and just.” 

Jenny Cohn, in her aforementioned article “Shocking Online Manifesto Reveals Project 2025’S Link To A Coordinated ‘Christian Nationalism Project’”, provides critical background on FRC and featured speaker (retired) Lt. Gen. Jerry Boykin: 

“The Family Research Council (FRC) — one of the leading Project 2025 partners attacking Przybyla — is similarly militant. Its Executive Vice President, retired Lieutenant General Jerry Boykin, has said that, when Jesus returns, he’ll be carrying an assault rifle. Boykin sits on the board of the Oak Initiative, a nonprofit founded by Rick Joyner who publicly expressed support for a military coupagainst Obama. Boykin also presided over the first “commissioning” of  the “Black Robe Regiment of Virginia” (aka “America’s Black Robe Regiment”), a militant pastors group whose founder, Pastor William Cooke, sported an Oath Keepers shirt during the December 2020 Jericho March contesting Trump’s election loss.” 

So at this gathering of military-aged right-wing Christian men, being guided by the likes of Boykin and FRC head Tony Perkins (who believes “we” are “surrounded by evil, with your own children at stake, there is no retreat”) they will be encouraged to be warriors. What could go wrong?

7. Action Alert! Emergency Troublemaker Training: How We Save IVF and Birth Control

Don’t mourn, organize! If we are going to stop the Christian Right’s assault on women’s rights and reproductive freedom we need to organize in our communities. Red Wine & Blue is hosting an online emergency training Monday, March 11, to give you the tools to do just that. You can sign up HERE!