In the beginning, there was a wall. And the wall separated the church from the state, and the Founders looked upon it and said it was good.

But the serpent was subtle.

And Billy Sunday begat the template: that the flag and the cross could stand in the same sanctuary, and the people could not always say which one they came to worship.

And the Scopes Trial begat humiliation, and humiliation begat retreat, and retreat begat resentment, and resentment begat a people who nursed their wounds in the pews and waited.

And the courts removed prayer from the schools, and many said God had been removed with it, though He had not been consulted on the matter.

And the Cold War begat fear, and fear begat useful theology, and in 1954 Congress inserted under God into the Pledge, and in 1956 they put it on the money, and lo, the nation had a state religion in all but name, and they called it patriotism.

And Billy Graham begat access, and access begat legitimacy, and legitimacy begat the idea that the oval office had a chaplain and the chaplain had a constituency.

And Francis Schaeffer begat the intellectual framework, teaching that the culture was a battlefield, that secular humanism was the enemy, that retreat was no longer an option — that Christians were called to take back what had been stolen, though it had not been stolen, only never theirs to begin with.

And the IRS begat Bob Jones University, and Bob Jones University begat outrage. Not Roe. Not prayer in schools. Not the sexual revolution. For the government had declared that segregation was not a sacrament and tax exemption not a birthright. Let those with ears hear.

And Jerry Falwell begat the machine, and the machine ran on abortion and anxiety and the sneaking suspicion that someone somewhere was living wrong, and the machine begat Reagan, and Reagan begat the covenant, and the covenant begat the belief that God had chosen a party and the party had chosen correctly.

And Pat Robertson begat the 700 Club, and the 700 Club begat the mailing list, and the mailing list begat the Christian Coalition, and the Christian Coalition begat the donor and the devotee and the foot soldier, and they multiplied greatly upon the earth.

And Ralph Reed begat the long game — not the rally, not the broadcast, not the crusade, but the school board, the precinct captain, the county clerk — and taught a people that patience was its own kind of power, and that by the time anyone noticed, it would already be done.

And Newt Gingrich begat the politics of enemies — that the other side was not wrong but evil, not opponents but threats — and a people who would forgive anything except compromise.

And Fox News begat grievance as a consumer product, and the product found a ready market, and ratings begat profit, and profit begat a people who could marinate in outrage from breakfast to bedtime and call it staying informed.

And then came the orange calf.

And they looked upon him and saw Cyrus, the pagan king sent by God to restore the chosen people, which is a theology of pure convenience, which is to say, the only theology that had ever really mattered here.

And Trump begat the quiet parts spoken aloud, and the quiet parts begat January 6th, and January 6th begat the cross carried through the Capitol, and the cross in the Capitol begat the question no one in the lineage had ever wanted to answer: what exactly did you think you were building?

And the wall was gone. And certain men looked upon its absence and called it revival.

And they said it was good.

And the serpent was pleased.

For he had never needed them to abandon their faith.

Only to confuse it with power.

If this felt a little too accurate, there’s more where that came from.

The Tribulation Survival Guide
— same world, fewer guardrails.

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