The evangelical Seven Mountains movement is the most troubling political movement that you never knew existed. The movement has a stated goal of dominating society by creating a modern far-right Christian theocracy.
The Seven Mountains are the major spheres of influence within society. Far-right Christian activists hope to reshape our entire society according to their ideology by placing “change agents” in positions of authority in each of the Seven Mountains. The theory, as stated on a Seven Mountains website, is “He who controls the mountains, controls society.” The Seven Mountains are:
- Arts & Entertainment
- Business
- Education
- Family
- Government
- Media
- Religion
The Seven Mountains movement has already been successful in many areas, including American government, national cable news, talk radio and other media, state and local boards of education, popular music, venture capital and others.
Religion in politics is especially problematic, because religious adherents presume the absolute authority of God. The Christian far-right concedes no power or authority to their political opponents. This is diametrically opposed to American ideas of representative democracy, the secular authority of the government, and the separation of church and state.
The movement conforms well with other elements of the far-right, particularly in its authoritarian orientation. Since the election of Donald Trump, the language used in the movement is aggressive, nationalistic and fascistic, full of dehumanizing denunciations of “the enemy”. The movement is only one subculture in right-wing conservatism, but it has taken on some of the aggression and violent rhetoric of other right-wing subcultures, such as the NRA. An example of the rhetoric can be heard in a video of a collective prayer recitation in a recent evangelical meeting in Georgia. This rally was organized by Flashpoint, a program on the 24/7 religious cable television Victory Channel. A commitment to the Seven Mountains is found in their opening prayer, here: https://twitter.com/NickKnudsenUS/status/1547259907275075584
Here are a few declarations (among many) from the Flashpoint religious rally referenced above.
- “We have been given legal power from heaven and now exercise our authority.
- “Because of our covenant with God, we are equipped and delegated by Him to destroy every attempted advance of the enemy.
- “We decree that our judicial system will issue rulings that are biblical and constitutional.
- “We decree that we take back and permanently control positions of influence and leadership in each of the Seven Mountains.
- “We decree that evil carries no power, authority or rights in our land nor over our people.”
These claims are disturbing, because they assert undemocratic authority, and violently threaten those with opposing views. When is a political opponent an enemy? Who decides if a political opponent is evil? It appears that if the Religious Right is in charge, they will deny rights and democratic powers to their political opponents, which means the end of American democracy.
In a similar vein, we can hear Kelly Tshibaka, candidate in Alaska for U.S. Senate, call for Christian participation and influence in government, beginning with her declaration that “God created government.” https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1546899147466342400
I started writing this post over a decade ago, during the 2008 presidential campaign, when Sarah Palin was blessed in a church ceremony as a change agent for the movement. I didn’t finish the post at that time, nor when I revisited the topic in 2016. Since then, we’ve seen the denial of Barrack Obama’s Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland, the presidency of Donald Trump, and the ascension of three conservative Supreme Court justices nominated by Donald Trump. We’ve also seen the election of hard-right Republican governors in many states, Republican-majority state legislatures, and pro-Republican gerrymandering of both federal and state legislative districts. Many of these political changes were championed by or driven by the Christian far-right.
The increasingly conservative Supreme Court has handed down decisions enabling greater influence of money in politics (Citizens’ United), the ability of employers to impose religious views on employees (Hobby Lobby), and the Dobbs decision overturning the general right to abortion in the United States. There has been increasing proliferation of military-grade weapons in private hands, increases in hate crimes for reasons of religion or ethnicity, and confrontation and threats to liberal elected officials at every level of government.
The Christian far-right has made inroads on the other mountains, as well as government. The Christian right has worked to control school boards and obtain government funding for private schools, dominate the radio entertainment dial, dominate news sources through Fox News, OAN, NewsMax and others, control business holdings through conservative ownership, etc.
The process of Christian far-right infiltration into politics has been going on for several decades. Megachurch pastors have been spouting political rhetoric from the pulpit for just as long. Television programs such as Pat Robertson’s “700 Club”, with a decidedly political bent, have long been drawing faithful viewers. I saw the process by which religious conservatives took over Republican caucuses and school boards in the 1980s, in Texas. In a precinct Republican caucus, the church group arrived en masse, outnumbering the neighborhood gathering. They quickly elected their own officers, and voted to approve their own platform, without debate. In retrospect, I don’t think there was any validation that this group actually lived in the precinct. It was my first (and last) Republican caucus. In the following school board election, the church put up a slate on a religious education platform. They lost. In the subsequent election, the same group of candidates appeared, but ran under a low-property tax platform and won. Then they proceeded to implement their religious platform.
The Seven Mountains movement is large enough and old enough to have various divisions. Despite the nationalism, it is a global movement. It was an African pastor who blessed Sarah Palin as a change agent in a 2008 church ceremony in Wasilla, Alaska. Divisions within the movement are based on theological or strategic differences. There are factions termed Dominionists and Anti-Dominionists, which differ on the degree of societal domination to be achieved (to the best of my understanding), and perhaps on the biblical justification for that domination.
Conclusion
I am concerned about living in a biblically oriented, theocratic society with institutions based on beliefs and values I do not share. Those beliefs include obsolete, biblical notions of morality, such as denial of LBTGQ+ rights and repressive roles for women in society. The Christian Right also promotes biblical injunctions that don’t exist, but are asserted by religious authorities, such as a prohibition on abortion. If these biblical injunctions are codified in American law, what is to stop the enactment of other, clearly stated biblical injunctions? Deuteronomy 13 contains an edict to commit genocide against believers in other religions. Deuteronomy 20 allows the enslavement and “use” of women and children captured in war. Numbers 5 requires a women suspected of infidelity by her husband to undergo a ritual poisoning. In 1st Timothy 2, we are instructed that a woman may never hold authority over a man. These are just a few random examples of biblical nonsense out of a spectrum of biblical injunctions that might become law in a Seven Mountains society.
The entire notion of far-right religious domination of society raises questions, real and rhetorical, about where this ideology might lead. What religious coercion would be implemented in a Seven Mountains society? Already, according to the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision, employers are allowed to decide whether or not an employee may receive birth control as an insurance benefit. What further powers could be given to employers to restrict the religious freedom of employees? The Supreme Court also recently ruled that a football coach can publicly coerce students into joining in public prayer. What further religious indoctrination will be permitted in the public schools? What religious indoctrination will be broadcast through entertainment channels, and conversely, what entertainment will be banned? What consumer choices will be allowed and disallowed in a Seven Mountains society? The Christian far-right claims victimhood in religious freedom, while doing everything it can to restrict the religious (or anti-religious) freedoms of other individuals.
I am a firm atheist. I regard Christianity and all other religions as superstitious nonsense. I believe that events in the world show that God is either unreasonable, unjust, capricious and a poor communicator with humankind, or that God does not exist. I choose to not believe in an unreasonable, unjust and capricious God; it is more reasonable to conclude that God does not exist. Further, traditional Judeo-Christian beliefs and scripture are problematic for modern society in many ways. If you are interested, you may read blog posts about my thoughts on the topic, here: https://sensibledisbelief.blogspot.com/.
On a major street corner in suburban Anchorage, Alaska, a
landowner displays a large billboard reading: “God, Guns and Trump”. Based on my religious upbringing, the
connection between God and Guns isn’t readily obvious. The connection between God and Trump is even
more tenuous. But the connection here lies
in authoritarianism. The Religious Right
wants to establish unilateral Christian control over society, regardless of
democratic norms, diversity of beliefs, or other opinions. The Trump/MAGA political faction wants to
establish an authoritarian dictatorship regardless of the outcome of
elections. And guns – thanks to the
proliferation of military-grade weapons since 2014 – are the means of
accomplishing those ends, through intimidation or possibly through violent
paramilitary militias. The last point is
better left for another post.
References
Flashpoint, Victory Channel collective prayer invocation,
Georgia.
Transcript given below, after references.
https://twitter.com/NickKnudsenUS/status/1547259907275075584
Examples of Seven Mountains rhetoric
- http://livingjourney.wordpress.com/2007/12/10/dominionism-the-seven-mountains/
- http://kingthunder.wordpress.com/2007/09/05/7-mountains/
- http://ncmworld.com/welcome-to-new-covenant-ministries/seven-mountains-web
- http://www.sevenmountains.org/
- http://www.reclaim7mountains.com/
Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Mountain_Mandate
Seven Mountain Dominionist and Anti-Dominionist Dispute
- http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/dominionism-and-religious-right-merger-complete
- http://lefthemispheres.blogspot.com/http://www.rightwingwatch.org/content/david-barton-advocates-seven-mountains-dominionism2011/06/theocracy-watch-seven-mountains.html
- http://fanaticforjesus.blogspot.com/2011/08/seven-mountains-of-christian-industial.html
- http://galatiansfour.blogspot.com/2010/09/mustard-tree-desires-world-power.html
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xges7mFi6iY
- http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/11/01/648975/-Palin-Movement-Urges-Godly-To-Plunder-Wealth-of-Godless#
- http://godsownparty.com/blog/2009/12/palin-spews-7-mountains-mandate-rhetoric-reclaiming-america-for-god/ [Broken link, may be available through Internet archive.]
Halton Lecture: Faith and Politics, The Rise of the Religious Right and Its
Impact on American Domestic and Foreign Policy, David Halton, Larkin-Stuart
Lectures, University of Toronto, March 8-9, 2007.[Note: this link is no longer active. It is likely that the lecture can be found through
the Internet Wayback Machine or other Internet archive.]
http://www.trinity.utoronto.ca/News_Events/News/halton.htm
[This link is also no longer active, but may be found with
an Internet archive.]
http://www.alternet.org/speakeasy/brucewilson/ted-cruzs-father-suggested-his-son-anointed-bring-about-end-time-transfer
Kelly Tshibaka, leading candidate for U.S. Senate in Alaska,
on video as presented by Right Wing Watch on Twitter, July 12, 2022. Transcript given below, after references.
https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1546899147466342400
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Transcripts
Flashpoint Collective Invocation
Transcript of collective prayer invocation, at Georgia
religious rally by Flashpoint, of the Victory Channel.
“Watchman Decree
As a Patriot of faith, I attest my allegiance first and
foremost to the kingdom of God and the Great Commission. Secondly, I agree to be a watchman over our
nation concerning its people and their rights to Life, Liberty and the pursuit
of Happiness --
Whereas:
we, the Church, are God’s governing Body on the earth
we have been given legal power from heaven and now exercise
our authority
we are God’s ambassadors and spokespeople over the earth
through the power of God, we are the world influencers
because of our covenant with God, we are equipped and
delegated by Him to destroy every attempted advance of the enemy.
We make our declarations:
1. We decree that
America’s executive branch of government will honor God and defend the
Constitution.
2. We decree that our
legislative branch (Congress) will write only laws that are righteous and
constitutional.
3. We decree that our
judicial system will issue rulings that are biblical and constitutional.
4. We declare that we
stand against wokeness, the occult and every evil attempt against our nation.
5. We declare that we
now take back our God-given freedoms, according to the Constitution.
6. We declare that we
take back influence at the local level in our communities.
7. We decree that we
take back and permanently control positions of influence and leadership in each
of the *Seven Mountains.
8. We decree that the
blood of Jesus covers and protects our nation.
It protects and separates us for God.
9. We declare that
our nation is energy independent.
10. We declare that
America is strong spiritually, financially, militarily and technologically.
11. We decree that evil carries no power, authority or rights
in our land nor over our people.
12. We decree that we
operate in unity, going beyond denominational lines in order to accomplish the
purposes of God for our nation.
13. And we decree
that AMERICA SHALL BE SAVED!
We know this country was founded on Judeo-Christian
principles.
We know the truth; therefore, we stand for truth and will
NEVER be deceived!
We will NEVER stop fighting!
We will NEVER, EVER, EVER give up or give in!
We WILL take our country back.
We will honor THE ONE TRUE GOD, the God of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob!
AMERICA SHALL BE SAVED!”
Kelly Tshibaka, leading candidate for U.S. Senate in Alaska, on video as presented by Right Wing Watch on Twitter, July 12, 2022. Transcript:
“God created government.
So, I got sent to the Harvest Field of Government. And again, it’s a Christmas verse, but Isaiah
9:6, ‘Unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given.’ And, what?
‘The government will rest on his shoulders.’ Well, guys, again, where is God today? Is he in Jerusalem? In a temple?
Where are his shoulders?
[singing] Head, shoulders, knees and… [trails off] His shoulders are your shoulders. So if the government rests on his shoulders,
and we are not in government, helping government, influencing government – if
we abdicate government and politics, are we living out Genesis 1 and Isaiah 9? No. So
we’ve got to put this into practice.”
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