First, I would replace “if” with “when” because the incoming president has consistently shown little or no restraint in crossing lines of traditional governance, including the “Wall of Separation” written by Thomas Jefferson in 1802.

Second, it is not only the president who has been eroding church-state boundaries. Many religious leaders (most of them Christian) have been doing the same.

Third, it is not only the president and religious leaders who have been eroding these boundaries. The ultra-rich have often manipulated both religion and politics to achieve their own ends. If we ignore the role of billionaires and mammoth corporations in this orgy of mutual manipulation, we will be misrepresenting reality. We should always remember that our incoming president represents both government and the ultra-wealthy in his dealings with religion.

So we might say, “What are the implications of mingling the powers and interests of church, state, and the ultra-rich?” A short answer would include the following.

1. Both the regime-submissive church and the church-submissive state will gain power and wealth and lose their respective souls, and both will find themselves more deeply submissive to the power behind both the pulpit and the throne: the ultra-rich. As a result, society at large will become more decadent, and both people and creation will suffer in a world more sold out to the love of money and power. The poor and vulnerable will suffer the most.

2. Authoritarian political leaders typically surround themselves with religious yes-men (and sometimes yes-women) to distract from their wrongdoing. Having religious camouflage allows political leaders to become more decadent and brazen in their wrongdoing.

3. Political-religious alliances also expand the power base of both sides. Many religious leaders themselves have authoritarian traits, and so they become natural aggregators of followers who are drawn toward their confidence. These religious authoritarians can deliver the support of their religious followers to political authoritarians, for which they are rewarded handsomely with wealth, privilege, status, and protection. (For more on authoritarianism, see my two short e-books on the subject, available here: https://brianmclaren.net/store/)

4. Political authoritarians may, in return for moral camouflage and base expansion, agree to punish the opponents of the religious authoritarians. This mutual-protection pact will spread fear among all who question those in power.

5. Meanwhile, both political and religious leaders profit from spoken and unspoken deals made with their oligarch patron/partners — the ultra-rich who use their wealth to wield power for their own pleasure and profit. Oligarchs often form alliances based on mutual interests and admiration. These “bro-oligarch” cabals can get away with more and more when they have the moral camouflage of religious allies and the legal protection of their politicians for hire. In short, expect the rich to get richer.

The nation is morally impoverished through all of this mutually reinforcing corruption.

There’s an old saying: “Believers think that all religions are false, except their own. Atheists think that all religions are false, without exception. Politicians know that all religions, true or false, are useful.”

The saying is true but incomplete. To greedy religious, political, and corporate actors, everyone is useful.

Among the many amazing things about Jesus and the biblical writers are their insights about these matters. Consider, for example, Matthew 20:24-28, Luke 22:24-27, Matthew 2:1-12, 1 Timothy 6:9-10, and James 2:1-9 and 5:1-6.

~ Brian McLaren