Serious business, this. The Evangeliholes are pushing like crazy, because that takeover they thought they were assured of isn’t such a certainty now, and they are desperate to grab control and get that Theocalypse up and running. If anything, they are more rabid in their hatred of anything which is a societal good. The Tiny Tyrant doesn’t dare not give them whatever they want, they are the majority power behind him.  This is an in-depth article, which needs to be read in its entirety, I’m just going to grab bits here and there which strike me as particularly scary.

Ralph Drollinger, the Christian nationalist who leads Bible study meetings for members of Trump’s Cabinet and members of Congress, is aggressively seeking to expand his reach in state capitals and local governments as well as overseas. Drollinger teaches that there is one “absolutely critical preeminent duty of the Church in an institutionally separated society: to convert the soul and disciple—Christianize—the leaders of the State and its citizenry.”

That’s blunt enough. How do you deal with that terrible separation of church and state? Force christianity on everyone. And they have the nerve to complain about terrorists.

When we wrote about Drollinger in July, we noted that he teaches that God only hears the prayers of Christians, that Christians in government have an obligation to only hire other Christians, and that social welfare programs are un-Christian. That kind of exclusionary theology and dominionist worldview haven’t gotten Drollinger into any trouble with the Trump administration or his other admirers, and they don’t seem to be slowing his expansion.

A fine example of religious terrorism. People who hold beliefs like this don’t have any moral brakes; as far as they are concerned, the end justifies the means, whatever those means may comprise. They don’t believe in things like empathy or compassion, those are weaknesses, and in any case, only applicable to other christians of their particular zealotry. They believe in compliance, and if compliance comes at the harsh end of force, that’s fine with them. Drollinger also believes in male domination, those women, they aren’t allowed to teach. Bible says so.

In a recorded speech to the Hillsboro, Oregon Prayer Breakfast in October, Drollinger said there are 12 Cabinet members taking part in the weekly White House Bible studies, and about 30 House members and 12 senators taking part in the congressional versions. Drollinger and his Capitol Ministries have big growth plans.

Perry Gauthier, the Nebraska-based North America director for Capitol Ministries, has reportedly traveled to 30 states this year to help reach the organization’s goal of creating 50 Bible studies in 50 state capitals. The group also launched CivicReach, “a ministry that partners with local churches to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to city council members and county commissioners.” Drollinger says there are 40,000 local governments, mostly without “outposts for Christ,” and the project’s goal is to “foster” in local officials “a Christian worldview.”

[…]

In Capitol Ministries’ 2016 annual report, which celebrated the group’s 20^th anniversary, several state “ministry leaders” were interviewed. “Lawmakers need to have a biblical core and know that Jesus Christ is the way, the Truth, and the life,” said Mike Shreve of California.

Just want to point out that it doesn’t matter what state you live in – you can’t afford to be smug and assume these folks won’t get anywhere in your state. They are already long there, and they have gotten somewhere. The rot is well set in, and the fungus is spreading.

Price is quoted endorsing the CivicReach project, saying “an aggressive, active, robust Bible study at every single level of governance is exactly what can turn things around.”

Yes, it certainly would, and it would help to further turning UStates into a regressive backwater.

A review of the past few months’ worth of Bible studies confirms that the public officials who attend Capitol Ministries events are being trained in an ideology that claims a biblical basis for right-wing policy making.

In September, Drollinger returned to his attacks on government social spending, which he says is rooted in the “bad theology” of theological liberalism and the social gospel, one of the major strains of Christian thought in the U.S. in the 20th century. While the social gospel gets respectful treatment at the new Museum of the Bible, Drollinger treats it with contempt, saying it is “not Christianity whatsoever! It is another religion!”

That’s not the only place where Drollinger expresses his contempt for liberal Christians. In a Bible study that claims modern archaeology has undermined “the postulations of liberal theologians,” he writes, “It is not the conservative Christian with a high view of the inspiration of Scripture who is the simpleton, who clings to his or her beliefs with blind faith, ignorant and lacking intellectual, scientific, and historical support. Rather, it is the one who espouses a liberal ‘understanding’ of God’s Word.” Drollinger has also defended calling Catholicism “one of the primary false religions in the world.”

Drollinger might be on the ‘catholics are evil’ bandwagon, but I expect he wouldn’t mind borrowing from them a bit: say hello to the new inquisition.

Drollinger writes that it is important for public officials to understand why the social gospel is a “perversion, or a corruption of what the Bible actually teaches.” And if liberal political ideology comes from liberal theology, “then liberal political ideology too (specifically entitlement programs) is lacking in a basis—i.e. any basis of biblical authority.”

[…]

Drollinger follows that with another study entitled “God’s Design for a Societal Safety Net,” which he grounds in a passage from one of Paul’s epistles, a Bible verse that Republican members of Congress have cited as justification for cuts in food stamps: “If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.” He cites another letter in which Paul says young widows should not receive charitable help; they should instead get remarried, have children, and keep house. Drollinger says specifically that government should not take care of elderly people when they have relatives like grandchildren who could do so.

[…]

In a study focused on property rights, Drollinger cites Old Testament teachings to support his argument that “God is a Capitalist not a Communist.” And he warns that “as America jettisons its trust in the Torah, it follows that there would be and are increasing threats to, and the erosion of private property ownership,” including excessive environmental regulation.

The bible has no fucking business in government, let alone making policy, but here we are, with toxic sociopathy spreading out all over. Jehovah/Yahweh/El Shaddai/Whatthefuckever is one of the most psychopathic, evil gods ever invented. Drollinger and his henchpeople are fully behind that. They love it, and they want to force that evil on everyone. The bible being what it is, can be conveniently twisted about to support whatever you want, and what these people want is far beyond simply being immoral.

God’s job is to “suppress evil” and “punish evildoers,” Drollinger says, and he argues in a November 21 Bible study that the Bible not only permits but requires the death penalty, particularly for murder: “Fear of the State and its power to execute equal and proportional justice is a necessary force in a fallen world.” He says directly, “as a lawmaker it is incumbent on you to stand for the death penalty relative to the good of the citizens of the country.”

It has been shown, time and time again, that capital punishment is not a deterrent. It can actually make things worse – if someone does something they believe might get them a death penalty, well, they have nothing to lose, do they? As it stands, the prison system in Ustates is a regressive, nightmarish, barbaric monstrosity, which has long been out of control. Other countries have much better prison systems, which focus on rehabilitation. And in many cases, rehabilitation works. Of course, for it to work, you need a stable, secure society, with social safety nets. And, y’know, it it’s Jehovah’s job to “suppress evil” and “punish evildoers”, then let the nasty piece of work get off its ass and do that. I am past sick to death of christians and their “god does this, that, and the other.” That god of yours doesn’t do jack fucking shit.

Drollinger argues for the importance of public officials maintaining what he says is God’s one-man, one-woman design for marriage. In an earlier study, he explained that men and women have different “unambiguous responsibilities” outlined in scripture. For women, those duties are homemaking, home management, mothering, teaching younger women, displaying hospitality, and “differentiating in dress”—for the latter citing 1 Timothy 2:9 which says “I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes” (New International Version). Men’s “primary functions” are providing for the household, leading in the church, leading in the home, sacrificing for and sanctifying his wife, and fathering children into adults. “When America in any way denigrates God’s ordained Institution of husband and wife Marriage,” he writes, “our nation loses one of God’s primary means of heralding His nature to our country!”

Mmm. Drollinger has a quite lenient interpretation of the bible when it comes to him being divorced and remarried. I rather expect he’d also find a way to be surprisingly lenient when it comes to all those fine, upstanding, christian men who engage in sexual harassment and sexual assault. Probably get the same bullshit on the fact that christians have higher rates of cheating and divorce, too.

Drollinger warns lawmakers not to think that there is a legislative fix for racism, which he blames in part on evolutionary theory. While he said in a September Bible study that anti-discrimination laws “have their place and are necessary,” he also declared, “they will never eradicate the problem from society—so don’t think the answer is in more legislation. It is not. The wise public servant will therefore always work toward religious freedom and incentivization of the Church—so that it can best facilitate evangelism and change hearts.”

Oh sure, everyone knows there’s not a drop of bigotry in ‘the church’ or christians anywhere. Nope. :near-fatal eyeroll:

There’s much more to read at RWW, and it’s important reading. This is not something to dismiss.