Theocracy or Freedom: That's our Choice

Do not look away: Support for Donald Trump and his administration is a willful engagement in the transformation of America from a nation built on religious freedom into a Christian nationalist theocracy.

Trump supporters might not like it. Some, like the technocrats, would reject the label, but they're happy to benefit from its agenda. Others have different reasons for supporting Trump. They might believe he’s tougher on foreign policy (he’s not) or that he’s better for the economy (man, oh man, is he not), but reasons aside from creating an American Christian nationalist theocracy do not negate who he is and what he stands for.

“A revival.” That’s how the memorial service for Charlie Kirk was described by Benny Johnson, the right-wing nationalist, Great Replacement theory conspiracist, Russian stooge, white grievance provocateur, and prolific plagiarist.

J.D. Vance referred to Kirk as a ”martyr for the Christian faith.”

Donald Trump ordered flags across the country to be lowered to half-staff. No such honor was shown to former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband after they were slain in a politically motivated act in June. Trump even bristled at lowering flags after the death of former President Jimmy Carter, who lived his Christian faith by selflessly helping others for decades after leaving office.

But Trump is all in on lionizing Charlie Kirk, not to honor his faith and sacrifice; he is nothing more than a powerful new symbol for Trump to use to achieve his Christo-fascist mission.

Far too many, though I suspect that number dropped after Sunday’s spectacle, continue to believe that Trump’s is a conservative movement. You can hardly blame Americans for being confused or, at least, unaware. Because after ten years, the media still refers to Trump and his Christian nationalist boosters as conservatives.

Religious fanatics who are hell-bent on forcing each and every one of us to live our lives under their extremist dictates are not conservatives. They are not Republicans. They are theocrats. When you think about their revolutionary ambitions, think of the Iranian Revolution in 1979, led by Ayatollah Khomeini, rather than the American Revolution in 1776.

Americans’ urge to break a system that’s not working is understandable. What is unforgivable and wholly irresponsible is corporate media’s continuing inability or unwillingness to describe in plain terms, based on Trump and his administration’s actions and statements, life under a Christo-fascist regime.

This is not a time for airbrushing out the unpleasant, uncomfortable words and actions of a person because they have died. The circumstances of Kirk’s death are abhorrent and inexcusable, and patently terrible for our country. That does not mean that we can shy away from calling out a Christian nationalist rally or calling their movement what it is: rapidly advancing theocratic rule.

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Our job at Lincoln Square is not to sugarcoat the crumbling of our democracy, the separation of Church and State, or the erasure of our Constitution, including and especially the Bill of Rights. A citizen’s ability to retain their rights is directly connected to their willingness to use them. We must be as passionate, engaged, and persistent about the First Amendment as the far-right has been in defending and expanding the Second Amendment.

We will not be intimidated. We will not play the both-sides game or shy away from calling out the theocratic weaponization of Charlie Kirk’s murder.

Sunday’s Christian nationalist revival was an opportunity for Trump not to honor what some of the right have claimed as Kirk’s love for his opponents and legacy of supporting free speech and engaging in dialogue.

Trump’s message? "That's where I disagree with Charlie. I hate my opponent and I don't want the best for them.” That hate is aimed at us — not just Lincoln Square, but at you as a supporter of our work, as someone who believes in free speech, in the right to live our lives based on our beliefs, not under the theocratic thumb of a deranged leader and his cruel foot soldiers.

We’re asking that you help us amplify more voices, reach more Americans, and turn up the volume even more as we fight, together with you, to save the country we love, protect our fellow citizens, and speak truth to the power intent on silencing us.

Lisa Senecal is the Founding Editor of Lincoln Square.