The Pillars are Under Attack

Declaring up front that this is a ‘Writing History’ post looking at the dramatic changes that have occurred in America since January 2025 when Donald Trump and his team took over. In various posts (check here for a summary of those posts) I’ve looked at Project 2025, a document that is reshaping the country with a Christian Nationalist agenda at its heart.

Now, it’s easy to use the phrase Christian Nationalism, but what lies behind the concept?

Leonard Leo is said to be one of the people in charge of the ‘dark money’ behind Project 2025 and many other right-wing conservative organizations. (There are so many of these organizations, it would take ages to sort them all out – but perhaps that’s the point.) Leonard Leo is also the head of an organization called Teneo Network, “a group that aims to influence all aspects of American politics and culture” according to ProPublica. He was formerly the head of the Federalist Society that stacked the US Supreme Court with right-wing judges (and I use the term ‘judge’ loosely.)

Central to Teneo Network is the rebuilding of America to “crush liberal dominance”. Leo had such great success with the Federalist Society, he decided to apply similar efforts to all the pillars of society: family, religion, education, media, arts and entertainment, business, and government.

In case you’re wondering – which I was – the justice system is usually considered part of government.

What I came across recently in an article about Leonard Leo was a reference to Ziklag, a Christian nonprofit organization named after the biblical city of Ziklag, plus something called the Seven Mountain Mandate which holds that there are seven aspects of society that believers seek to dominate. Hence the diagram above.

By the way, to be accepted as a member of Ziklag, you must be a high net worth individual with more than $25 million in personal assets. From what I’ve read, Ziklag intends to use voter suppression tactics especially in swing states to ensure Republican dominance in future elections. Republican dominance is critical to continue reshaping those seven pillars of society in support of Christian Nationalism. ProPublica reports that the quote below is from a strategy document produced by Ziklag.

A look at the accomplishments of Donald Trump’s regime demonstrates how much has been accomplished in just one year. (Not an exhaustive list but representative.)

GOVERNMENT – dismantling government was and is an important objective – this began with DOGE and when that fiasco spun out of control, it continued with other ‘successes’ such as dismantling regulations that control business or support consumers. Cutting or eliminating agencies as well as the federal workforce reduces the federal government’s capacity to carry out longstanding missions many of which were established by Democrats. Thousands of civil servants were fired, key programs across health, social services, and administrative support were either cut or given significantly reduced budgets.

Moreover, independent regulatory agencies like the FCC, FTC, and SEC have been placed under direct White House oversight and required to submit regulations for presidential review and align priorities with the administration. According to a ChatGPT search (yes, I used generative AI to help with this article – because who can keep track of all the chaos that has happened?), “this is an unprecedented consolidation of power that weakens institutional checks and balances by eroding agencies that traditionally operated with independence from the White House.” And, of course, that’s the point. No independence; everything controlled by the regime.

And let’s not forget the stacking of the Supreme Court – Leonard Leo in action – along with that court’s decision to grant the president immunity from prosecution.

FAMILY – under the pillar of family, consider the increasing misogyny evident across right wing social media and the support from Trump and others for organizations like Turning Point USA. Turning Point – aptly named, I imagine, to emphasize the shift towards Christian Nationalism. Consider also the efforts to make voting more difficult for women by requiring in-person proof of citizenship—such as a birth certificate or passport—to register to vote or update registration. This legislation is expected to disproportionately affect women, particularly those who have changed their names due to marriage or divorce. And let’s not forget – how could we? – abortion rights, undermining family planning programs, the rollback of anti-discrimination protections, undermining DEI across to many elements of society. [Source of the following quote is whatdoesproject2025say.com]

BUSINESS – tariffs and trade wars, market volatility, lawsuits, demands for money and donations, changes to workforce and immigration policies, publicly attacking companies or executives that don’t align with his political positions or demands, targeting specific law firms, a pause on the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. During January 2026, President Trump was wielding tariffs again as a weapon – against the EU for their refusal to cede Greenland, against Canada for daring to make a trade deal with China, against Korea for goodness knows what. Disrupting foreign businesses is also on the agenda of this American regime.

MEDIA – Project 2025 also takes aim at the media because of its significant role in shaping culture and keeping citizens informed. Trump has implemented cuts to NPR and PBS, implemented White House controls over who has access to briefings, public threats against major networks like ABC and NBC, suing international broadcasters like BBC, political pressure through high profile lawsuits, constant drumbeat of “fake news” against legitimate, highly respected media organizations, use of Trump’s own Truth Social to disseminate “news”, placing Voice of America employees on administrative leave and eliminating the U.S. Agency for Global Media. While attacking these legitimate media organizations, Donald Trump also gives preferential access to media that strongly support his agenda like Fox News.

EDUCATION – speaking about shaping culture, the best way is to begin with children, which is why Project 2025 calls for defunding DHS and other actions. Some specific quotes:

“For the sake of American children, Congress should shutter [the Department of Education] and return control of education to the states.” Citation: Project 2024, Section 3: The General Welfare, page 317, paragraph 4 (extracted from whatdoesproject2025say.com)

What are those “American ideals” and who gets to define them? I bet you know the answer.

Donald Trump has made cuts to teacher and school funding, withheld or threatened to withhold federal funding from schools and colleges with DEI programs, pushed expanded school choice programs, including vouchers and alternative schooling options, which in turn will lead to less funding for public schools. Why not just force women to home school their children?

RELIGION – and this is the heart of the matter, as long as the religion is Christian, and a certain brand of Christianity. Remember, the intent is to create a Christian Nationalist state. Here’s what I wrote several months ago:

[O]ne of Trump’s early actions was to establish a White House Faith Office. According to the official announcement, “The White House Faith Office will empower faith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship to better serve families and communities.” Paula White-Cain heads this office. She was part of Trump’s Evangelical Advisory Board during his 2016 campaign for president. According to the Christian Broadcasting Network, “Paula White-Cain believes her role as senior advisor and director of the White House Faith Office is a direct call from God.” She is also a multi-millionaire televangelist – so you can imagine what faith she prefers.

Trump’s actions in support of Christian Nationalism include:

• creating a task force to eliminate anti-Christian bias
• creating a Religious Liberty Commission to advise the White House on religious issues, with a focus on protecting so-called conscience rights and expanding religious expression in public life; ‘conscience rights’, according to a speech by Leonard Leo, imply the right to bring your Christian values into public institutions and government and to act out such values
• publicly framing political conflicts as threats to “Christian” values … an intent to bring religion into politics rather than maintain the separation of church and state
• made statements that the country should uphold ‘Judeo-Christian principles’ and restore prayer or Christian practices in public settings – ten commandments in the schools, anyone?
• Promoting policies aligned with conservative Christian priorities such as prayer in public life or opposition to LGBTQ+ rights and abortion

These actions and others are designed to appeal to religious conservatives and to secure their donations and active support – don’t forget Leonard Leo and Ziklag.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT– these are important representations of culture and values. Writers, artists, singers, dancers and others interpret social movements and social change through their works. What better way to control culture than by controlling the arts? A prominent and highly criticized action taken by Donald Trump has been the takeover of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Additionally, the Trump administration has made significant cuts to key federal arts funding agencies — including the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Administration officials have also pressured museums such as the Smithsonian to alter displays and interpretive materials.

Trump has publicly criticized specific performers and entertainment choices because of their political stances. Who can forget Trump’s comments about Rob Reiner?

Let’s close – because I’ve gone on too long – with some of the slogans used by Christian Nationalists:

One Nation under God – and we know whose God they are referring to

Restore Biblical values – a firm belief that the bible, and their interpretation of it, is paramount.

The Bible is our constitution – I think the Founding Fathers would have had an opinion on that.

Protect the Family – this would be a traditional view of family. Nothing wrong with that except when you try to impose it on everyone else.

Take Back Our Country – who is included within the word ‘our’? Given the purge of immigrants, clearly ‘our’ doesn’t include immigrants. Who else is excluded? And take it back from whom? The left-leaning liberals? Those who advocate DEI? Democrats in general?

This is just a sampling of phrases that are used, reused, and emphasized by Donald Trump, members of his administration, leaders of evangelist churches, and others.

I read this post yesterday written by John Pavlovitz, a writer, pastor, and activist. He is also a 30-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry, much of that “in the mega-churches in the Bible belt.” I’ll leave you with a quote:

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M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel THAT WAS THEN is a contemporary thriller. Mary’s other novels, THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook or on her website www.mktod.com.