Chuck Darwin<p>One of the key architects of Donald Trump’s plans for a second administration has been quite public about the driving force animating that radical agenda: <br>a 👊“cold civil war” 👊to be won by those willing to use <br>“biblical principles” to “instruct government” to do what the MAGA right wants.</p><p><a href="https://c.im/tags/Russ" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Russ</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/Vought" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Vought</span></a>, a head of the Office of Management and Budget in Trump’s first term and a big player in the planning for a potential second Trump term, made the case for this <a href="https://c.im/tags/Christian" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Christian</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/nationalist" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>nationalist</span></a> vision of America in a little-noticed speech on Capitol Hill last year. </p><p>The growing emphasis in pro-Trump circles on a strict conservative view of <a href="https://c.im/tags/Christianity" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Christianity</span></a> combined with an <a href="https://c.im/tags/aversion" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>aversion</span></a> to <a href="https://c.im/tags/pluralism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>pluralism</span></a> define not only what policies a future government should adopt, but American nationhood itself. <br>It does so at the explicit exclusion of other faiths and some Christian denominations.</p><p>Vought gave the speech last September as part of a series called the♦️ “Theology of American Statecraft.” ♦️<br>The speech was devoted to the<br> 👺“Christian Case for Immigration Restriction.”<br>There, Vought laid out the litany of extreme Trump <a href="https://c.im/tags/border" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>border</span></a> <a href="https://c.im/tags/policies" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>policies</span></a> and proposals that have now become familiar: <br>💥family separation, <br>💥mass deportation, <br>💥curtailing legal immigration. </p><p>But he did so in explicitly Christian nationalist terms, at one point making an Old Testament reference to argue that the United States should model its immigration policy on the Tribe of Israel, welcoming newcomers “so long as they accepted Israel’s God, laws, and understanding of history.<br><a href="https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/russ-vought" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://</span><span class="ellipsis">talkingpointsmemo.com/news/rus</span><span class="invisible">s-vought</span></a></p>