When Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., looked out over his audience at the Tulsa Marriott on an evening in early November, he might have thought he was seeing the future of America. Hern was the headline speaker at the annual fundraising banquet for City Elders, a Tulsa-based Christian right group with national ambitions. The funds raised that night were earmarked for “expansion.”
In theory, that means expanding City Elders’ national network of county level committees of Christian right activists who want to function as the de facto government in their local jurisdictions. The group may well succeed in strengthening the political capacities of the Christian right. But its efforts have also exposed significant cracks on the road to Christian dominion that could derail the goal of building the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. These flaws may provide hope and opportunities for those who want to resist the advance of theocratic forces in public life — and defend and advance human and civil rights and constitutional democracy.
