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Help Wanted! A Rallying Cry Against Religious Extremism

Help Wanted! A Rallying Cry Against Religious Extremism

Last updated on: September 6, 2025 at 11:35 am by Ginny Baxter

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Help Wanted! A Rallying Cry Against Religious Extremism 2025-09-06T11:35:17-04:00 Ginny Baxter

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Rosie the Riveter, a World War II campaign piece depicting strong women on the home front, is updated to showcase strong women fighting hatred in 21st century America. | Image by John Hain from Pixabay

Project 2025 = Un-American, Un-Christian, Unacceptable

Project 2025 is an instruction manual for systemic hatred that needs to be destroyed. The hatred is gaining ground in the U.S., but it isn’t too late for Christians and non-Christians, whites and non-whites, gays and straight people, and everyone else who values freedom to stand up to America’s religious extremism and Project 2025.

Image by Robert Jones from Pixabay

Americans are fighting a battle that pits true Christianity against right-wing idolatry, with some people wrapping themselves in the American flag and mixing a warped sense of patriotism with an unhinged brand of Christianity. (Image courtesy of Pixaby / bones64)

The plan is a 900+ page laundry list of radical right-wing, white “Christian” strategies for reshaping the United States government and American society. The extremists who created Project 2025 want to topple democracy and invade the private lives of Americans to a degree that has been unimagined until now.

Reshaping the U.S. Government

Enacting the objectives outlined in Project 2025 would be a dream come true for those who support religious extremism. The changes would give the U.S. government authority to….

Tell women what they can and cannot do with their own bodies and make its orders enforceable by law
Tell consenting adults what they can and cannot do in the privacy of their bedrooms and make these orders enforceable by law. (The radical right’s interest in this topic is not healthy.)
End religious freedom, make Christianity the state religion, and inject the government into Christians’ sacred relationship with their Maker
Inflict their controversial and deeply offensive religious beliefs on everyone else
Suppress non-Christian religions and teach the Christian faith in schools
End free elections in the U.S. and install someone such as Donald Trump as dictator-in-chief of the United States (Trump has said he will remove the burden of having to vote in free elections. He also has said Americans want a dictator. No doubt he would make himself available for the job.)

Do Americans really want these changes, which to my mind are un-American, un-Christian and unacceptable? Will Americans take a stand against Project 2025? What about Christians who still follow Christ rather than right-wing politicians? What will we do?

I pray we will, but how?

First, They Came…

Anyone who paid attention to the 2024 presidential election should be familiar with Project 2025. And guess what! It does not suit everyone. Not everyone in America is conservative, nor are all of us Christian, white or radically right-wing.

In truth, many so-called conservatives are not proposing conservative actions at all. They are intent on enacting revolutionary changes.

America has a rich heritage in many ways, and our diversity is one of our greatest strengths. Project 2025 threatens the very things that make America a remarkable country.

The following quote from a prominent German pastor, Martin Niemoller, nearly a century ago expresses one of my reasons for frequently writing about radical right-wing extremism. It’s a blatantly selfish reason, but it’s also very human.

The quote has been repeated and adapted to fit various scenarios for decades. It’s called “First, They Came,” and it refers to the people in power as “they.” Learn more about the quote and the man behind it here.

First, they came for the Communists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist.

Then, they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out because I was not a Socialist….

Then, they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew.

Finally, they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.

A Cautionary Nightmare

Some 90 years ago, German Christians were faced with a choice when right-wing extremists began their rise to power. A large number of the Christians refused to take a stand against the extremism until it was too late.

Many Germans were like Niemoller. They were initially sympathetic to Hitler and hoped he would make Germany great again. But Niemoller’s beliefs changed when Hitler consolidated religion in Germany and placed a Nazi bishop in charge.

Hitler knew he could more easily control Germany’s 40-45 million Protestants and 20 million Catholics if they were unified as a part of a state church. He also knew it would be easier to abolish a unified church when the time came.

As the 1930s progressed, Hitler carried out his plans to consolidate churches under the leadership of a Nazi bishop. (The thought of a Nazi bishop makes my head explode.)

The Nazis spread Nazi propaganda; tried but failed to ban the Old Testament in worship services because of its Jewish content; and tried but failed to ban the crucifix in Catholic services, among other things.

Many church leaders objected, and they paid a huge price for their defiance. Hitler sent 800 non-compliant pastors – including Niemoller — to concentration camps; suppressed Catholic schools and youth groups; forced German children into state schools where Nazi curriculum was taught; and banned Catholic newspapers.

This isn’t to say that radical, right-wing Americans are on the path to Nazism. It’s to say that one small step toward evil can lead to another small step and another until people reach the point of no return.

Extremists’ Goals for the U.S.

Now, let’s return our focus to the 21st century and Project 2025. One fact to remember is that the so-called religious right is not a religious movement. It’s a political faction that seeks to turn the U.S. government on its head, deprive American citizens of numerous rights, and benefit wealthy and powerful people.

A political battle for the soul of America is unfolding. White supremacists are challenging the rest of the country in an attempt to destroy freedom of religion and reshape the U.S. into an unrecognizable fascist nation.

Image by Dee from Pixabay

The battle for America’s soul is underway. (Courtesy Pixaby / deeznutz1)

Let’s ask ourselves whether we really want to….

Replace the rule of law, i.e., the U.S. Constitution, with the un-American and un-Christian Project 2025 agenda
Ban all abortions regardless of circumstances
Take away women’s other reproductive rights
Endanger public health
Take away women’s right to vote (which has already been suggested in Washington)
Take away the vote and other rights now enjoyed by blacks and other people of color, legal immigrants, the LGBTQ community, and others who are not white Christian males
Abolish many government programs that mean the difference between life and death for many Americans
Centralize power in the executive branch – i.e., the presidency (which could mean abolishing the U.S. Constitution, as the constitution establishes three branches of federal government, i.e., executive, legislative and judicial)

If implemented, Project 2025 “will undermine quality of life of millions of Americans, remove critical protections, dismantle programs for communities across the nation, and prioritize special interests and ideological extremism over people,” according to Democracy Forward, a nonprofit legal organization.

Battling Christian Extremism

It’s doubtful that Americans will ever really eliminate extremism because it’s human nature, and it’s too deeply ingrained in our society.

However, I’m convinced that most Americans don’t want to lose their constitutional rights such as religious freedom, free speech, the right to vote in free and fair elections, and the right to bear arms. Most of us don’t want to abolish the constitution, and most don’t want to fight another civil war.

Americans who oppose Project 2025 cannot accomplish much as individuals, but we can achieve a great deal as part of large religious or secular movements. Think about the civil rights movement in the 1960s and the women’s rights movement in the 1970s.

There are several ways you can help ensure that future generations of Americans have the same rights that American citizens now have.

Check out resources such as How to End Christian Nationalism, a book by Amanda Tyler, who is a leader of the Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign. It’s available in bookstores and probably at your local library.
Learn about local groups dedicated to stopping Christian extremism. This link takes you to the Christians Against Christian Nationalism website, which provides information about the organization, connects you with local organizations and explains how you can start a group.
Get involved in voter registration drives in communities likely to oppose Christian extremism.
See suggestions from the United Church of Christ in Countering Project 2025 with Love: A UCC Response. (UCC is not affiliated with individual Churches of Christ.)
Find links to various secular civil rights organizations — and this issue is a civil rights issue — by going to the UCLA Civil Rights Project.

Most of all, please take Christian extremism seriously because the extremists are very serious.

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