In the 1970’s, Doug Wilson founded a church in Moscow, Idaho. Rooted in an overtly capitalist theology where material success supposedly reflects God’s blessings, he developed a small empire in the town. Christ Church has multiple places of worship, a K–12 school, a college, a publishing house and dozens of businesses.
But this pastor is not just any religious figure. He is a Christian nationalist, an extremist pushing for the USA to be governed under Biblical law. He believes slavery was acceptable; women should be subservient to men and theocracy is the way forward for the U.S. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his ideas are making headway within Trump’s administration.
Wilson co-founded the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), which has congregations in all 50 states. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth is one of his followers. Earlier this year, Wilson gave a service at the Pentagon and a Christ Church opened in D.C.
Devotion and hate
In 1998, Wilson sparked outrage beyond Idaho when he published Slavery As It Was. This revisionist history claims enslaved Black people shared “mutual intimacy and harmony” with white plantation owners. However, it was when he openly rejected pandemic lockdown laws that his membership skyrocketed. He became a hero in the Christian nationalist community.
Using YouTube and other online platforms, this theologian condemns what he calls “clown world,” things he and his followers disagree with: women’s rights, the existence of queer and trans people, and Islam. As an alternative, he proposes theocracy, where only Christ’s followers could hold office and only heads of households (read men) could vote. “Christian nationalism is the conviction that secularism is a failed experiment,” he told The New York Times in an interview.
These reactionary views have long divided his followers from the college town’s other residents. This is especially since his plan for “remodeling” America uses Moscow as a success story and archetype for CREC communities around the country.
Fascists in suits
A younger generation of ultra-right white Protestant men view this agitator as a mentor. Known as the “TheoBros,” their podcasts focus on abolishing the 19th Amendment that gives women the right to vote, reintroducing public flogging and implementing theocracy in the U.S. Many have links to Project 2025, the government plan devised by the ultra-right Heritage Foundation, which also recently released its strategy to turn the clock back on women’s rights (see “Heritage Foundation publishes road map to women’s total subjugation” at socialism.com).
The TheoBros opportunistically embrace JD Vance as an ally, despite their anti-Catholicism. This is because Vance is a “pronatalist,” an ideology that demands women have babies to maintain the “native born” population. Vance has proposed that additional votes should be allotted to parents based on the number of children they have.
The ministry’s most direct link to Washington is through CREC parishioner Pete Hegseth. The Defense Secretary made headlines in his crusade to end gender neutrality in the military. He has blocked women and people of color from receiving promotions and closed the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, calling the committee “woke.”
Faith and solidarity
While Wilson’s ideas are gaining ground among the ultraright, they are rejected by most Christians. And recently, brave women and men have left his flock, speaking out against sexual and domestic abuse that he and others have tried to cover up.
Peter Bell and Sarah Bader from the Sons of Patriarchy podcast spoke with the Freedom Socialist. They help survivors of CREC institutions tell their stories and provide them with support. Their podcast also educates on the dangers of religious nationalism and its incompatibility with ecclesiastical teaching.
“The story of our project is really about a Christian [Bell] and an atheist [Bader] who decided to take on the world of Christian nationalism,” said Bader, who lives in Moscow and is a former member of Christ Church. When asked about how to fight back, Bell stated: “You’ve got to know [Wilson’s] movement. And you’ve got to be able to build something better.”
The collaboration that Bell and Bader demonstrate, despite their differing beliefs, is needed in the fight against the theocratic right. As Bell stated, education is crucial, as is building solidarity across religious lines and across the political spectrum.
This is the essence of a united front where groups and individuals, using a working-class program, fight a common enemy while being open about their disagreements. That means forming coalitions with the faith communities of all religions who reject the oppressive worldview of theocrats.
