Governance and God or, Perhaps, Governance vs God?

“And Jesus answering said unto them, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, 

and to God the things that are God's. And they marveled at him.’” 

New Testament, Mark 12:17

Thomas Jefferson was an avid student of philosophy and religion. He was also the principal architect of so many of our most basic founding documents. Of all the Founding Fathers, he was the most wary of allowing organized religion into American governance. Freedom of religion was about as far as he would go. Democracy in 1776 and the immediate years following was a modern experiment with no genuine precedents since ancient Athens. Sure, there was the Magna Carta and several other movements aimed at taming monarchies, but America was suggesting that this new form of governance – of the people and by the people – was worth a try. The colonies were rife with misfits and those escaping religious prosecution, along with entrepreneurs, farmers and those seeking opportunities in the New World.

I doubt Jefferson could picture a total theocracy in the footprint of modern Iran, where the final say in all political, military and economic decisions is directly and singly governed by a religious prelate with a direct connection to God. Even the Pope understood that Kings and his reign were in a difficult but sustainable balance of interests, although religious wars proliferated. But what Jefferson did not anticipate was how those with the most fervent and passionate religious beliefs clung to the notion that reference and deference to God (in the early United States, this was mostly Protestant Christianity) was vastly more important than protecting divergent beliefs, minority rights or allowing democratic rule that did not adhere to strict religious dictates. In short, democracy could only go so far before it hit a brick wall of religious beliefs… beliefs that were rife with rampant alternative interpretations.

Underlying the contemporary MAGA Republican efforts to contain free speech, stop what many “Christians” view as practices that defy their view of the Bible – like LGBTQ+ rights, ending abortion and keeping religion out of politics – is a belief that God trumps democracy. Notwithstanding pledges to the contrary, Trump’s Supreme Court appointees seem increasingly supportive of the desires of a minority of American voters to instill fundamental evangelical values in our legal system. Perhaps even ending the notion of separation of church and state, which seems to be an inherent part of our First Amendment, as compatible with our Constitutional requirements. With Florida and Texas leading the way, red state after red state legislature is shoving religious views and practices into statutes that impact the daily lives of all constituents, the majority of whom often do not share those views… bolstered by gerrymandering and other voting restrictions aimed at silencing dissent. Autocracy justified by religion is on the rise.

In a fascinating examination of a midwestern county transitioning to religious autocracy, Washington Post writers, Greg Jaffe and Patrick Marley (on April 22nd), present their description of a dramatic wave in Ottawa County, a slice of conservative Michigan with about 300,000 people. Until COVID came to town – with unpopular mask mandates, battles over “effective cures,” lockdowns and vaccination pressures – Ottawa was a model of a well-functioning local government. Politics was on the back burner… because everything was working. But the advent of COVID coupled with a rise in evangelical beliefs came a new wave of grassroots organizers who pushed out the old governing commissioners and even longstanding competent civil servants in favor of a God-first sets of requirements, often helmed by inexperienced new executives whose only qualification was strict adherence to evangelical mandates.

“The new commissioners, all Republicans, swore their oaths of office on family Bibles. And then the firings began. Gone was the lawyer who had represented Ottawa County for 40 years. Gone was the county administrator who oversaw a staff of 1,800. To run the health department, they voted to install a service manager from a local HVAC company who had gained prominence as a critic of mask mandates.

“As the [opening] session entered its fourth hour, Sylvia Rhodea, the board’s new vice chair, put forward a motion to change the motto that sat atop the county’s website and graced its official stationery. ‘Whereas the vision statement of ‘Where You Belong’ has been used to promote the divisive Marxist ideology of the race, equity movement,’ Rhodea said…

“Ottawa County stood out for a different reason. It was becoming a case study in what happens when one of the building blocks of American democracy is consumed by ideological battles over race, religion and American history… Rhodea’s resolution continued on for 20 ‘whereases,’ connecting the current motto to a broader effort that she said aimed to ‘divide people by race,’ reduce their ‘personal agency,’ and teach them to ‘hate America and doubt the goodness of her people.’

“Her proposed alternative, she said, sought to unite county residents around America’s ‘true history’ as a ‘land of systemic opportunity built on the Constitution, Christianity and capitalism.’ … She flipped to her resolution’s final page and leaned closer to the mic. ‘Now, therefore, let it be resolved that the Ottawa County Board of Commissioners establishes a new county vision statement and motto of ‘Where Freedom Rings.’ ’” It was White Christian nationalism on steroids. It went downhill from there. Diversity programs were ended. Health mandates were ended. At every level, those who did not follow the new Christian fundamentalist play list were fired, prompting several wrongful-termination lawsuits. 

Commission meetings turned into shouting matches. “With his quarter-zip sweaters and khaki pants, [Commission Chair, Joe] Moss looked like a suburban dad out for a round of golf, one who usually kept a handgun strapped to his hip. On his group’s website, Moss warned that Ottawa County had been ‘strategically targeted’ by the ‘progressive left,’ even though the county had, since 1864, consistently voted Republican in presidential races.” The Post. 

It would be easy if Ottawa Country represented a rare example of religion overwhelming a secular democracy. But in our polarized nation, Ottawa County looks like a very large number of rural and small towns in red states and voting districts. Conspiracy theories merge with perceived religious doctrines that crash autocratic mandates into once democratic institutions. In red states and the conservative districts in swing states, democracy, equality and diversity are increasingly the enemy. A government limited and defined by religious mandates is not a democracy, despite bandying words like “freedom” in autocratic descriptions. Hardly freedom of religion… freedom as limited by religion. 

I’m Peter Dekom, and we have a choice: freedom, equality and diversity or governance by religious text… an either/or choice.