Christian supremacy is the idea that Christians have the God-given right or duty to rule, govern and control society, culture and politics. Those who espouse Christian supremacist theologies or ideas understand “Christian” in a very limited sense. Christians who do not agree with supremacist claims are often cast as part of the larger “enemy,” against which Christian supremacy directs its ire. This “enemy,” often described in terms of “communists,” “Marxists,” “godless,” and even “demonic,” is broad enough to include not only other Christians but liberals, progressives, and marginalized groups.
Key Moments
For most in the United States, the specter of dominionism was not seen until the Jan. 6 insurrection. The event, which was accompanied by a spectrum of Christian imagery and symbols, shocked many. Although it has been labeled “Christian nationalist,” the insurrection was organized and promoted by many in the anti-democratic movement, and especially dominionists, bent on taking total control of politics, culture and everyday life, a response on full display on Jan. 6.
The insurrection’s numbers were in large part due to the organizing by leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR). Many NAR leaders were present at the insurrection, while other leaders held online prayer gatherings in support of it. Dutch Sheets, an NAR prophet and leader of a large network of supporters, used his phone app to radicalize and organize followers to reject the democratic, presidential election in 2020 when Donald Trump lost. A highly partisan movement, the NAR had backed Trump early on, with the godfather of the movement, C. Peter Wagner, giving his support to Trump with what became one of his final actions before he died. NAR leader Lance Wallnau referred to Trump as God’s “chaos candidate,” spreading the idea that God could use an imperfect tool, such as Trump, to achieve God’s apparent dominionist agenda. This view contradicts decades of what now seems like hypocritical moralism directed at Democratic leaders.
Over the course of the 2000s, the NAR’s influence has only increased. NAR leaders and supporters were central in backing the 2022 Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidacy of Doug Mastriano, who has been connected to the NAR, providing him with security during his campaign. The Rev. Paula White-Cain, with close ties to NAR beliefs, was appointed by Trump to be a White House adviser. Trump has also been photographed being prayed over by right-wing pastors, including those from the NAR. Donald Trump has in turn benefited from his close ties to NAR leaders. For example, one such leader, Hank Kunneman, who was one of the first backers of the Watchman Decree that stated followers had been “given legal power from heaven” to “exercise our authority,” said of Trump in 2024 that he was divinely anointed to be president and that the 2024 election would be “a battle between good and evil.” This was a commonly shared belief among NAR leaders and apologists, including NAR leader Ché Ahn, who called Kamala Harris a “jezebel” and a user of witchcraft. These are not random epithets, nor are they hyperbolic. Jezebel is a territorial demon in the NAR, and NAR leaders seem to believe that there is real witchcraft that can intervene in politics. Again, if someone runs against their chosen candidate, that person is by definition in league with the demonic, as there is no in-between in this starkly binary and divisive movement.
The election year of 2024 witnessed NAR leaders galvanizing followers to vote for Donald Trump for president and demonizing his detractors. Lance Wallnau and NAR leader Mario Murillo launched the “Courage Tour” that traveled to purple states, targeting specific counties deemed critical for the election. Such tours, not unlike ReAwaken America — which has also hosted NAR leaders —were a combination of political rally and charismatic revival. 2024 also witnessed the “Million Woman March,” organized in Washington, D.C., in the October before the election to push Trump’s candidacy. This included major NAR leaders such as Prophet Lou Engle, Apostle Jenny Donnelly, Apostle Ché Ahn, Apostle Lance Wallnau, Apostle Cindy Jacobs, Dutch Sheets, and Bill Johnson. Ché Ahn spoke at the March, and with sound of shofars behind him, stated, “I decree … that Trump will win on November the 5th. He will be our 47th president and Kamala Harris will be cast out and she will lose.”
Donnelly, whose anti-trans organization, Don’t Mess With Our Kids, was key in organizing this event, also held rallies in state capitals that were part protest and part liturgy, opposing inclusive environments for LGBTQ+ children.
What’s Ahead
Although separate, Christian supremacists have made common cause, overlooking serious theological disagreements so they can collaborate to take political power. JD Vance, for example, spoke at the NAR Courage Tour in Pennsylvania, illustrating how such theological divisions are being overcome in the search for dominion. Such collaborations will most likely continue, though as the MAGA movement continues its advance, and as the hard right becomes ensconced in the halls of power after Trump’s inauguration, there will be opportunities for infighting which could eventually emerge. The goal for Christian supremacists, however, is to present a united front. As extremism continues to permeate mainstream politics and also culture, especially through social media where conspiracy propaganda runs wild, it will continue to normalize what is becoming a broad-based Christian fascist movement in the United States.
Background
Christian supremacy has long roots in Christian thought, practice and community. This includes the old idea of “Christendom,” a vision that describes, if not always political unity, then religious and cultural conformity in line with specific theologies. Such theologies are not created from below but often imposed by authorities from above.
Many Christian supremacist groups and leaders are dominionist. The standard definition of dominionism comes from Frederick Clarkson, who defines it as “the theocratic idea that Christians are called by God to exercise dominion over every aspect of society by taking control of political and cultural institutions. For example, taking over the role of government, the form and content of public education, and eliminating rights related to bodily autonomy. Thus, it does not envision a society defined by democracy and equality.”
Dominionism originated on the fringes of Reformed Christianity largely through the writing of R.J. Rushdoony and his Christian Reconstruction movement. Reconstructionism argues that the current form of government in the United States will and should collapse and be replaced by a draconian view of biblical law. To quote religion scholar Julie Ingersoll, “This worldview seeks to apply biblical law to every aspect of life and to transform every aspect of culture to establish the Kingdom of God.”
Rushdoony’s vision was of a society “reconstructed” along Old Testament lines — a world in which religious governors would mete out biblical punishments like the stoning to death of LGBTQ+ persons, “incorrigible” children, and many others. Relying on a literal reading of the Bible, Rushdoony espoused a society of classes with differing rights that opposed interracial marriage and scoffed at egalitarianism.
The most effective way of implementing his vision, he said, would be to develop Christian homeschooling and private schools in order to train up a generation to take the reins of society. So vigorous was his pursuit of this strategy that Rushdoony would eventually come to be known to many as the father of the Christian homeschooling movement.
Christian Reconstruction has been a driving force in the U.S. militia movement, which was once called the “Christian patriot movement.” It helped inform a worldview and vision for many groups that melded all too well with neo-Confederate and white supremacist ideology. Rushdoony was an admirer of Robert L. Dabney, chaplain to Confederate Civil War General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson who had spent the 30 years after the Civil War popularizing the idea that the “godly” South had been victimized by the godless North. His ideas included a South that was a religiously ordered society, an “orthodox” Christian remnant in a nation increasingly overtaken by rationalist and anti-religious thought.
Christian Reconstruction, although a small movement, has for decades punched above its weight. It has influenced many on the right, as well as mainstays of the religious right in the 1980s and 1990s, such as Pat Robertson, who was labeled an “operational Reconstructionist.” Perhaps one of its greatest influences, however, was on the New Apostolic Reformation, perhaps the most successful dominionist project of the last century.
The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR)
This is a relatively new and rapidly growing movement found not only in the United States but across the globe. A defining goal of this movement is to convert all nations to their version of religious authoritarianism, possibly neo-fascism. Although leaders of this movement do not often provide practical details about what such rule over politics and society would look like, they share Rushdoony’s original claim that the current constitutional order is not necessary to fulfill dominionism’s fascist promise.
The NAR arose from the independent church movement among Charismatic Christians. Unlike the Reformed tradition of Reconstruction, Charismatics do not necessarily believe that the Christian god is all-powerful. This necessitates the political intervention of Christians on a large scale in order to bring U.S. culture and law in line with what NAR leaders claim is God’s will. Charismatic dominionism, however, is relatively new. It was only in the 1970s that dominionism, which began with Rushdoony and Christian Reconstruction, found its way into the independent Charismatic world. In this way, Reconstructionist Gary North has referenced the NAR as an extension of Christian Reconstructionist dominionism, but one yoked to the fastest-growing segment of Christianity in the United States and globally.
Seven Mountain Mandate
The goal of NAR is not saving souls one at a time but taking power over society and its laws. NAR leader Lance Wallnau has promoted a meme — the Seven Mountain Mandate — to summarize this goal. Indeed, if one were to listen in on NAR conversations, one will not find much in the way of dominionism talk. More likely, they will find mention of something called the “Seven Mountain Mandate.” The Seven Mountain Mandate is Dominionism 2.0. Each mountain is a sphere of our society — government, religion, media, business, education, family, and arts and entertainment — and each mountain should be dominated by NAR leaders and followers. NAR’s goal is to disrupt religion, politics, and all of society, and in the wake of that disruption, fill the void with Christian supremacy.
The NAR is a highly successful movement that targets not only those in politics but aims to undermine other Christian denominations, which NAR leaders argue get in the way of proselytization. Alarmingly, the NAR promotes the belief that their detractors or competitors are not merely those who disagree with them. Such persons are not just wrong. They are demons or under the influence of demons, and this claim is not simply a curious flourish. Literally demonizing those who disagree with them, a consequence of NAR’s applied demonology is that any dialogue across the political aisle, or even across one’s own fence line, is tantamount to literally compromising with the devil. Liberals, progressives, and other groups are not the real reason why the NAR’s neo-fascist vision is frustrated. An NAR analysis would see the demonic behind or even inside such liberals, making evil the side of their detractors and giving the NAR a monopoly on the divine. Central to NAR practice, then, is “spiritual warfare,” using prayer and other means, such as praise singing in front of supposedly demonically infected sites, such as Congress and U.S. state capitols, to disperse demonic influence so that far right, authoritarian policies can be implemented.
NAR leaders were also prominent figures in the lead-up to the Jan. 6 insurrection and sacking of the U.S. Capitol, and belief in exorcism and the Seven Mountain Mandate have only gained traction since the insurrection, with figures such as Donald Trump using “demonic” language to refer to his political rivals.
Dominionism is a Protestant theology, but there is a cousin to dominionism in Roman Catholicism called integralism. The idea behind integralism is to more closely integrate the teachings of the Catholic Church, as the individual sees it, with politics and culture. Although the sources for integralism differ from dominionism, they often come to the same conclusion: “rendering God true worship is essential to [the] common good, and that political authority therefore has the duty of recognizing and promoting the true religion.” Indeed, this idea that government should promote “true religion” is found not just in integralism but is held by dominionists, such as David Barton, as well as many on the right.
Not all integralists believe in taking control of government, but most integralists argue that liberalism — the general approach to government and society that is the cornerstone of U.S. politics and the Constitution — is ungodly and cannot create the form of community that integralists argue is right for all peoples. Some integralists are also adherents of radical traditional Catholicism.
Christian supremacy is political in nature and key tenets had been expressed at different times by U.S. political figures important to the movement. Just as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and U.S. House Speaker Michael Johnson have courted suspicion that they hold dominionist beliefs, each having publicly flown the “Appeal to Heaven” flag popularized by NAR leader Dutch Sheets, Vice President JD Vance has been accused of following an extreme integralist theology in his statements. One takeaway of this trend is that, despite the different pedigrees of these theologies — one Protestant, the other Catholic — the ideas and symbols of each can and do in this social media age seep more easily through to the other.
Christian nationalism
A recent concept that attempts to get at some of the above dynamics and threats is “Christian nationalism,” publicized by several works on Christianity, authoritarianism, and even extremism, mostly from sociologists of religion. Some groups, particularly the NAR, are not exactly nationalist. They have serious and threatening schemes for the United States, but their goal is global, and leaders have traveled extensively throughout the globe to spread a kind of religious-based neo-fascism. Christian nationalism can also include many persons who are not Christian supremacists but are sympathetic to some ideas of the Christian right, including the United States being a Christian country or one whose guiding philosophy is actually a theology. SPLC’s focus is on Christian supremacists, many of whom have what theologian André Gagné called a “political theology of power.” In other words, they are guided largely through the conquest of political power and social leadership, which is as much politics as it is a theology.
2024 Christian Supremacy Groups
City Elders
Arkansas
Kansas
Missouri
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Texas
Albemarle County, Virginia
Augusta County, Virginia
Nelson County, Virginia
Page County, Virginia
Rockingham County, Virginia
Virginia Beach, Virginia
Virginia
Independence Reformed Bible Church
Wyomissing, Pennsylvania
Mid-Atlantic Reformation Society
Berks County, Pennsylvania
St. John’s Reformed Church
Friedensburg, Pennsylvania