Dissenting Americans

The New Right is alienated from mainstream America

The “New Right’s favorite pastor” wants to impose theocracy on America. That’s the claim of a recent Politico profile of Doug Wilson, a popular Reformed minister and podcaster.

Wilson says he merely wants to return to America to its roots with “a weak central state, a small-R republican form of government and a high tolerance for displays of Christian faith in the public sphere,” according to the article. His primary goal is to “inspire a grassroots Christian reformation that would excise the whole idea of secularism from American law and society.”

His ideas are resonating with conservatives who seek new answers for America’s problems. “Theocracy” would’ve once been too fringe for the conservative movement to dare touch. But now it’s a common meme on the Right, with even such popular figures as Matt Walsh jokingly calling themselves “theocratic fascists.” Liberals may fret over this, but it’s unlikely theocracy is in America’s future. The rest of the country is moving in the opposite direction from “theocratic fascism.” Doug Wilson and others find a receptive audience within the New Right because much of this sphere is alienated from the rest of America. Theocracy doesn’t speak for the “silent majority,” but for Dissenting Americans.

We’re a more secular country than ever before. Earlier this year, conservatives rejoiced at the news that Christianity’s decline in the U.S. appears to have halted. A new Pew poll found that the number of Americans who say they are Christian has remained around 63 percent over the past five years. Zoomers are as religious as millennials, which is a change from previous years where the new youth generation would be markedly less religious than past generations. A number of conservatives argued this showed the youth are returning to Church, but that’s not quite accurate. Only 46 percent of Gen Z call themselves Christian, which is much lower than Boomers and Gen Xers. They’re about as religious as millennials.

America was still 80 percent Christian twenty years ago. Conservatives are now happy for the country to hover around 63 percent. The general public is far less socially conservative than it was 20 years ago as well. We have gay marriage and legalized sports betting. Legal weed is gaining traction in many parts of the country. Abortion regularly wins in red states when put on the ballot. Top 40 hits are more explicitly sexual and vulgar. TV and movies allow for more graphic content without any protest. There are no longer calls to ban popular movies, musical artists, or artists for offensive content. Terrifier 3, a nihilistic gorefest, topped the box office last October with zero concern from conservatives. Many conservatives, in fact, defended the film.

Whatever remains of the Religious Right seeks to protect the liberties of the faithful, not impose its values on the masses. When the Religious Right was a titan in mainstream politics, Doug Wilson was consigned to its outer margins. Jerry Falwell and the rest steered clear of theocracy talk and didn’t want theocrats elevated to prominent positions. Now Wilson is a prominent figure while the Religious Right is in retreat.

Libs may take this as a sign that the Right is now more open to theocracy, but that only applies to certain circles. Theocracy is far from the focus of the broader MAGA Right. In the George W. Bush era, Republicans had a leader who claimed Jesus as his favorite political philosopher, regularly cited Scripture, and campaigned on a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. This was enough to convince the base that Bush was their guy. Today the Right is led by a man who once cited “Two Corinthians,” doesn’t even pretend to be religious, and offers senior-level jobs in his administration to gays. Trump even backed off pro-life maximalism during the election when it appeared a losing issue. The 47th president does make overtures to devout Christians and does act to protect their interests. But this is not the entirety of his base.

A sizable portion of Trump’s base are FanDuel Americans. These are secular young men who are mostly at ease with the “fallen” nature of contemporary America. They love gambling, they enjoy “sinful” entertainment, they don’t go to church, and they oppose attempts–whether from the Right or Left–to take away their fun. They think far more about their favorite sports team than religion. This was the demographic that was swayed to vote for Trump by his many appearances on bro-casts. They liked Trump because he would counter the Left trying to impose wokeness. They didn’t vote for Trump to exchange leftists telling them what to do for theocrats doing the same. These “cultural libertarians” would be just as opposed to an all-powerful Religious Right as they are now to wokeness.

This isn’t the entirety of the MAGA base, but even Trump’s most diehard supporters are more cultural libertarian than theocratic fascist. Trump rallygoers are a raucous bunch. The MAGA faithful love to wear vulgar clothing referencing not-so holy activities, such as claiming Kamala Harris sucked off Joe Biden. The rallies are carnivals, not religious revivals. It’s hard to envision the folks with “Trump That Bitch!” t-shirts wanting to live under a Ned Flanders regime.

Doug Wilson himself realizes that Trumpism and his worldview don’t exactly mesh. Like many conservative evangelicals, he opposed Trump in 2016. But now with unprecedented access and attention in the age of Trump, the Reformed minister is now supportive of the president. He recognizes a good opportunity when he sees one. He’s now able to reach a larger audience and wield a greater degree of influence than ever before. But don’t expect him to take over America any time soon.

Wilson’s appeal to the Right is partially based on being at odds with mainstream America. While the Right claims to represent the Silent Majority, many of its more eccentric ideas are completely out of step with the rest of the country. When faced with the rather sad state of much of America, right-wingers turn to radical alternatives that challenge normie preferences. This makes them Dissenting Americans.

Like the Dissenting Protestants of the 17th century, Dissenting Americans believe they uphold the truth against the establishment. In the same way Dissenting Protestants split from the Church of England, many Dissenting Americans choose to separate from the mainstream. They move to an enclave with other like-minded individuals, they homeschool their kids, they refuse to indulge in popular entertainment, and engage in other acts of voluntary separation. Wilson does this as well, as he’s created an intentional community of believers in Moscow, Idaho, with their own businesses and schools.

Dissenting Americans hold wildly divergent views. They include evangelical fundamentalists, Catholic integralists, white nationalists, tech accelerationists, and anarcho-capitalists. What unites them is hostility towards the Left and dissent from the American mainstream. That’s enough to get them to vote for Trump, but their visions conflict far too much to create a unifying alternative. The same was true for Dissenting Protestants, who split up into a plethora of denominations upon separation from the Church of England.

In the near-future, the ideologies of Dissenting Americans will likely gain more adherents, particularly within the conservative movement. The problems of our country are unlikely to disappear. There will be more diversity, more degeneracy, more atomization, and more secularism in the coming years. Those upset with these trends will turn to radical alternatives for answers. While these ideas will attract a significant level of interest, they will unlikely be able to remake the country into their various idealized images. The rest of the population is relatively content with the New America–so long as it leaves them alone to pursue their happiness. Dissenting Americans can’t even agree on what their idealized nation should look like, much less get FanDuel Americans on board with it.

Dissenting Americans can create small-scale versions of their dreamlands, as Doug Wilson shows. They can create intentional communities dedicated to their values. They will still live in the New America, but their neighborhood will maintain a different reality. And that’s how many of them will make peace with a transformed nation.