Kingdom Still Coming

At the end of chapter six of Michelle Goldberg’s Kingdom Coming, a question formed concerning when the book was written. Much of this chapter focuses on Christian Nationalists’ attempts to diminish the power of one of the most essential branches of our government: the Judicial. According to Goldberg, the book took shape in 2004 and came out in 2006 (michellegoldberg.net). The events that have taken place since then have drastically changed the milieu of politics in America. Perhaps this may be demonstrating a futility in creating the change that once seemed so possible for the movement. Or maybe this is just an ebb in a cycle that will demonstrate this group to be even stronger in the future and more pervasive than ever thought.

Goldberg used the Constitution Restoration Act of 2005 as an example of a piece of legislation that, if enacted, would spell the downfall of the judicial system. However, the act has essentially disappeared although it may return in some way years down the road. There is no way a bill such as this would ever pass in our current congress after Demacrats regained control in 2006 and expanded that control significantly in 2008. With the election of Barack Obama in that same year, moderate evangelicals have demonstrated that Republicans do not hold such a firm grasp on their loyalty. However, with control of congress in democratic hands, the movement is even more reliant on Republicans and vice versa. Golderg herself quoted Sydney Blumenthal of The Guardian in an article for the Huffington Post, “Republicans can only hold their base by asserting their conservatism, which alienates the rest of the country. More than ever, the Republicans are dependent upon white evangelical voters,” The influence Christian Nationalism has on the United States at this time is at the least waning since these events have taken place.

Nevertheless, Christian Nationalism is far from being uprooted. It has crawled its way through the Clinton administration, while untiringly attacking it. Now, with Obama in office, these attacks have renewed and will not yield through the course of the next few years. Additionally, any changes that conservatives may make will come at the state level as we have seen in the election of two Republican governors last week. This is more than likely just another beginning. During the Bush years, seeds were planted that will protect a future through not only judicial appointments but faith-based initiatives and more. It is important to remember that this is a political more than religious movement, and yet it is becoming a quasi-hidden social movement as well. Goldberg relates that, through home-schooling, “they’re working to groom a new generation of legal activists from childhood” (Goldberg 172). Children are being indoctrinated by a revisionist history of our country and learning the skills they will need in order to make great change. There seems to be no other word for it; insidious is what this plan is in its efforts to erode at our democracy.

With the Constitution Restoration Act pretty much gone, the tide shifting to a democratically controlled congress, and the election of Barack Obama, it would seem to some that the Christian Nationalist movement has been given a virtual death blow in terms of making any major change to judicial powers. The reality is that this stealthy political movement is prepared for a long fight and will continue to make lasting impacts upon our country for a very long time through its machinations to change what is at the core or our nation.

Resources:


Goldberg, Michelle. Kingdon Coming. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2006. Print.

Bill Berkowitz. “Even After an Obama Victory Reports of the Death of the Religious Right are Greatly Exaggerated | Religious Right | ReligionDispatches.” Web. 10 Nov 2009.

“Michelle Goldberg: What, Me Worry? The Christian Right and "Theocracy Hype".” Huffington Post. Web. 10 Nov 2009.

“The Rise of Christian Nationalism, by Michelle Goldberg.” The Humanist. September/October 2007. Web. 10 Nov 2009.