The gods are once again at play in the public square. Around the globe, political claims are being advanced in the name of religion. Speaking in the Rose Garden on a spring day in 2024, President Trump declared that “we’re bringing religion back to our country, and it’s a big deal.” In the American political calendar, it was National Prayer Day and the most profane president in American history was announcing the establishment of the Religious Liberty Commission. Given the context and the identity of its members — who oddly include Dr. Phil and a former Miss America — it is reasonable to suspect that “religious liberty” does not mean the freedom to practice religion but the freedom to impose religion. Liberal criticisms of the politicization of religion, of the establishment of religion in the corridors of power, are bizarrely denounced as an attempt to suppress religion. This is all part of a global phenomenon — the remarriage of religion and politics. Their second marriage, you might say.
The New Ecclesiocrats
