Anonymous, Michigan
The religious right’s campaign to incrementally revert the culture of the United States.
While to some the word “Blitz” is merely a football play used to take down Tom Brady, its true history is one of blood, turmoil, authoritarianism, and violence. Developed by the Head of the 3rd Reich, Adolf Hitler for use in World War II, the blitz, or blitzkrieg was a never-before-seen type of combat that allowed Hitler’s Reich to overpower Europe. Defined as “lighting war” Hitler’s strategy included the heavy use of aerial assault which then moved onto tanks, panzers and heavy artillery with the infantry coming in last to pick up the stragglers. It is ironic that a tactic coined by the Nazi figurehead is now being used by those who claimed to have stopped him. The religious right.
Background
Beginning in 2005 a group known as the Congressional Prayer Caucus (CPC) has taken a leading role in the fight against what they see as religious persecution of Christians in America. Formed after Former Congressman J. Randy Forbes (R-VA) formed a group on capitol hill that would meet and pray for 30 minutes a day, the CPC has now expanded into the state legislatures and now boasts a following of over 600 politicians as members in both the national and state governments. Through a large campaign started in 2015 a foundation which supports the CPC, the Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation (CPCF) published their 116-page report entitled “Report and Analysis on Religious Freedom Measures Impacting Prayer and Faith in America. It has also been known by another name: Project Blitz.
The idea seems to be credited to it’s “steering team” which is led by David Barton who also founded “WallBuilders” with the express purpose of “rebuilding our nation’s foundations”. While speaking on a conference call about Project Blitz he was quoted as saying “It’s kind of like whack-a-mole for the other side; it’ll drive ‘em crazy that they’ll have to divide their resources out in opposing this,”. Also leading the charge is Buddy Pilgrim whose world view can be summed up with his own quote: “Dominion in earthly realms of authority (business & politics) is a biblical mandate.”. These two are also assisted by convicted embezzler Bill Dallas who runs the organization named “United in Purpose” which aims to increase voter turnout among evangelicals. His organization tracks “what’s going to make somebody either vote one way or not vote at all.” and has almost 200 million voter files to help increase that turnout. It is astounding the impact those three individuals have left upon the state legislature system, as we will soon identify.
The idea behind Project Blitz is very simple. The CPCF created a path to swamp state legislatures with bills which start innocently enough then provide a base for wider, sweeping gestures against LGBTQ+ and young Americans. All to promote Judeo-Christian ideals and cement the power of Evangelical Christianity into American culture. This report produced by the CPCF can be thought much more of a playbook than a report. Included in it are around 24 “model bills” that can be organized by their severity (which will be discussed below) and what opposition they are likely to encounter. Together these bills have been introduced to 20 states more than 75 times in 2017 and 2018 alone. While a majority have not passed, some have and now provide a base for greater religious discrimination. These bills created by the CPCF fall into 3 main categories (taken directly from the report): Legislation Regarding Our Country’s Religious Heritage, Resolutions and Proclamations Recognizing the Importance of Religious History and Freedom, and Religious Liberty Protection Legislation.
Category 1: Legislation Regarding Our Country’s Religious Heritage
This first category is designed to be the least criticized and incur the least amount of pushback. This category includes bills such as the National Motto Display Act which would allow for the posting of “In God We Trust” on public buildings, official state documents and license plates. As well as the Bible Literacy Act which would promote and allow for Bible Study classes in public schools. The purpose of such bills is to familiarize legislatures with the concept of the subject matter. These bills seek official recognition of the purpose of “Christian Values” in American history. Motto Display Acts have been written in the books of 4 states this past year and been introduced into 4 others. Overall these acts and proclamation act as a basis for greater and more extreme legislation to come.
Category 2: Resolutions and Proclamations Recognizing the Importance of Religious History and Freedom
The second category of bills designed by the CPCF includes various proclamations that definitively tie Christianity to American history. When speaking about these bills (on that same conference call) Barton asserts that “we have proclamations for everything under the sun”. Some of these bills include proclamations recognizing Christian Heritage Week, the Importance of the Bible, and the Year of the Bible. My own state has seen these proclamations introduced into its own legislature through bills calling for January 16th as an official Religious Freedom Day. These bills can be used by states to justify inserting Christian Values and teachings into public schools. Finally, while these acts seem innocent and uncontroversial they work in conjunction with category 1 legislation to provide even greater footing for the last stage of the Blitz.
Category 3: Religious Liberty Protection Legislation
Here is where the hammer falls, at the culmination of Project Blitz. These bills are the most controversial and the most dangerous to the public. These bills include establishing public policy favoring “intimate sexual relations only between married, heterosexual couples” and “reliance on and maintenance of birth gender”. These bills would allow states to legally discriminate against anyone antithetical to their value system including members of religious minorities, women and LGBTQ+ Americans. After providing a base and precedent for religious invasion into the public sector, the idea behind the Project is that the public will cozy up to these bills and finally establish evangelical Christian dominion over law and public policy. What is on the line? The freedom for gay couples to adopt children, the freedom of non-gender-conforming citizens to receive proper medical care, the freedom from discrimination without punishment, and finally, freedom itself is on the line. Many Americans rely on the precedent of acts such as the Voting Rights act and 14th amendment to live normal lives without an exceeding fear of government interference. These actions actively restrict the freedom of Americans between the books of Leviticus and Revelation whether or not you believe. Project Blitz represents a fundamental threat to the freedoms guaranteed by our founding documents and must be fought tooth and nail against.
In God We Trust
The biggest irony behind the entire project comes in the form of one of the category one bills known as “In God We Trust bills” (see above). While many of those fighting for Project Blitz like to claim this as the national motto of the once-Christian-always-Christian nation they are ignoring the original motto of the Christian founding fathers they love to hold up: E Pluribus Unum. Out of many, one. If the original motto of the US is used, the entire project falls apart. Instead of the always Christian nation, the right claims the founders created, the founders argue in their own words for the inclusion of religions outside of their own. For the inclusion of different views and people inside the new nation. While the US has many times not kept with this ideal one could argue that the idea has always been there. These bills directly contradict the vision of the founders and would transition the United States into a Christian Theocracy not seen in the western hemisphere since the conquest of the Catholic Spanish.
Personal Note
In writing this very piece, I am possibly putting myself in danger. I am 17 years old and currently living in a traditional Catholic household. Ever since I was young, I attended mass. Not church service but the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass of Saint Pope Paul XI. My father never let me forget that. I was a Catholic, of the Roman rite and was expected to act as such. That means weekly mass, suit, and tie every Sunday, confession of my sins, and all the prescribed activities of such a man. Eventually, father turned against the Mass of Paul the XI. He found the Traditional Latin Mass (Pre-1960), and the resentment started seeping in. He was resentful of the improprieties he saw at mass every day. Resentful of the modernist progressives that installed such a vile system in his beloved church. Trapped in an echo chamber of his own construction, he was encouraged and pushed on by his "Facebook friends". I was not left out of his radicalization however, I was dragged right along with him. I went to the Traditional Latin Mass. I said the prayers and knelt to receive the true body of Jesus Christ, Son of God. This fundamentalist twist came just as I started to find my own sexuality that was anything but Catholic. One of the only reasons I am still here today is because of my secular school and friends who could care less about what I was but cared who I was. This is why this legislation frightens me so much. I am fearful for the kid in my same situation, who after these laws, may have no real way to escape. I have not even fully escaped. I am still trapped in the closet with a cross over the door.
In conclusion, these bills only serve to destroy the freedom of the United States for many of its most marginalized groups and threaten to destroy the freedoms we enjoy. While it seems that at least some of the political climate is shifting back towards the center, this document is sure the shape right-wing Christian policy for years to come. There are ways to combat these measures, however! Here is a great webinar for more information and how to resist. If you would like to learn more please visit any of the cited articles below as well as the website for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. And as always call your state legislators as much as possible for a change in the US comes from the states more often than not.
PDF. N.p.: Congressional Prayer Caucus Foundation, n.d. Report and Analysis on Religious Freedom Measures Impacting Prayer and Faith in America. https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwfCh32HsC3UYmV0NUp5cXZjT28/view
Clarkson, Frederick. ""Project Blitz" Seeks to Do for Christian Nationalism What ALEC Does for Big Business." Religion Dispatches. N.p., 07 June 2018. Web. 15 Feb. 2019.
Rosenberg, Paul. "'Project Blitz': Here's the New Plan Christian Nationalists Have to Seize Even More Power." Alternet. Alternet.org, 16 Dec. 2018. Web. 15 Feb. 2019.
Stewart, Katherine. "A Christian Nationalist Blitz." The New York Times. The New York Times, 26 May 2018. Web. 13 Feb. 2019.
Taylor, David. "'In God We Trust' - the Bills Christian Nationalists Hope Will 'protect Religious Freedom'." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 14 Jan. 2019. Web. 15 Feb. 2019.
Taylor, David. "Project Blitz: The Legislative Assault by Christian Nationalists to Reshape America." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 04 June 2018. Web. 15 Feb. 2019.