The Seven Mountains Mandate

 

As someone who has long been aware of Project 2025 and is a steadfast activist and patriot who loves this country and wants to see it thrive rather than tumble precipitously into devastation, I was fascinated with a soon-to-be published book called The Seven Mountains Mandate: The Dangerous Plan to Christianize America and Destroy Democracy. The author-Matthew Boedy is a professor at the University of North Georgia and a prolific writer on socio-political-spiritual topics. In this frightening, wake-up call scholarly tome, Boedy spells out succinctly, what we as a nation are up against and offers ideas for how to respond. This is not hyperbole or hypothetical discourse. It is an all-hands-on-deck moment.

What drew you to write about what might be one of the most devastating series of events in the history of our country?

Generally, the distressing nature of the last decade has been heavy on my mind. But specifically, the growing power of Turning Point USA is a concern. While not the sole group in this mandate movement, it seems to be best organized and most funded of them all, past and present. In other words, the most devastating series of events has more chance for success as TPUSA grows. And because change like this happens over time, I was sure few people understood the big picture. I wanted to show the path to the devastation.

How would you describe Christian Nationalism that differs from what people might consider the Christian precepts attributed to Jesus?

I think the basic precepts of Jesus include love, sacrifice, and a flipping of worldly values (power, privilege, etc). Christian Nationalism paints a Jesus as a physical warrior when he literally told Peter to put down the sword. Christian Nationalism paints Jesus as a defender of a culture when his early followers decried cultural rules. Christian Nationalism paints Jesus as a returning king. And while that may be true, he comes as he was, as a crucified bond servant.

What is Project 2025 and why should voters have taken it seriously prior to the 2024 election?

Project 2025 is a collection of federal policies for each cabinet agency that would weaken and shrink government from its spending, functions in research, protection, and expert, independent knowledge for policy makers. As we have seen Project 2025 is now nearly 50 percent complete. It has gutted agencies, recalled funding, and inserted a corrupt influence. It was the handbook for Trump and yet people voted him in.

Even though Trump is currently in office, when was the groundwork laid for his takeover of our government?

Obviously the first term showed him ways to do it better the second time. But the attack on the federal government has long brewed in conservative circles, dating back to Reagan, who was a response to Carter’s vision. The Trump takeover certainly was given strength by executive authority expansion started under GW Bush. But the political divisions created by Newt Gingrich weakened Congress. And the political litmus tests for judges did the same for the third branch. Lots of confluences to get us to the one man. But the man himself learned on the job.

 

Since Trump is an un-Christlike as can be, why do those who profess to be devout Christians follow him as if he, himself is the Messiah?

Because they want a Messiah, plain and simple. They want someone to save them from their cultural minority position, from their lack of power. Trump is the figure from before Christ, the Old Testament king who gave Israel what it wanted and made it falter generation after generation. Christians who voted for Trump – and there are of course many who didn’t – voted for him because he says and does things they can’t or won’t. He is their version of the angry Obama, but they don’t see that as a joke. He battles for them. That is why they love him. And because he is protecting them, he can use “needed” but un-Christlike methods.

What is the Seven Mountains Mandate?

A plan to Christianize America by putting Christians in power over our seven key cultural institutions, implementing a very specific version of these cultural arenas that would silence dissenting voices and shun those who don’t fit. It is a mandate from God to prepare America for the return of Jesus, to return him to a nation of Christianity ready for his rule, a kingdom created just for him. They are to ‘take dominion,’ over seven key areas of culture: religion, family, education, government, media, business and the arts.

Who are the main players?

Charlie Kirk – founder of Turning Point USA and new “face” of Christian Nationalism and heir to the mandate movement.

Lance Wallnau and Rob McCoy – two ministers who helped Kirk in different ways come to this new ideology. McCoy was a personal mentor while Wallnau was a cheerleader of sorts for the new heir. Wallnau is credited with the mountain metaphor.

Loren Cunningham and Bill Bright – founders of two global youth mission organizations who both claimed to get this list of the seven areas from God and presented them to each other in summer of 1975. Cunningham introduced the list to Wallnau in 2000ish.

Peter Wagner – a seminary professor turned leader of a group of “apostles” who set out to renew the church through their visions, deemphasizing denominations and theological battles, and emphasizing the culture war. He died in 2016 as Trump emerged on the scene. He introduced Wallnau to his group of apostles who took on the mountain mandate.

Why is education, particularly that which is inclusive, factual, and not whitewashing, so threatening to them?

Education to them is a cultural tradition passed down. So, while some may admit certain facts that show a bad history, the thrust is to celebrate and indoctrinate with a patriotism rooted in Western values. Education for them is not changing or inclusive. It helps us maintain the cultural consensus of America. In short, the education defined in the question is a threat to America’s existence.

How did they decide that it ‘goes against God’?

There are different people in different eras who have tried to set up Christian cities, nation-states, etc., and to do so, to move from individual, even church community to institutional or national rule, you have to expand and interpret and apply the Bible beyond the individual. For example, in education, to decide that books with gay characters goes against God, obviously, they are applying traditional even Orthodox Christian teachings. But to move from this idea is bad/evil to banning books is to move from individual response to national response. To go against God is no longer personal sin but national.

Since the historical Jesus is about love and compassion and taking care of the least of us, how do the proponents of Christian Nationalism justify their hardcore mistreatment of those they deem not in step with their distorted teachings?

In some manner, it’s the old cliché about “loving you enough not to leave you in your sin.” But because the sin label is national not merely individual, the nation has to erase or eradicate or cleanse that sin. And God gave government the sword to punish sin. Not merely to give death penalty to murderers but to en mass punish sinful groups.

Jesus also valued the role of women in his ministry, so why the misogyny in Christian Nationalism?

Jesus valued women but throughout Christianity the role of leadership of churches has been largely left to men, based on certain readings of Paul. CN applies that nationally. But CN advocates don’t hate its women, only women who don’t fit its defined roles – mother, wife, etc. Pete Hegseth continuing to remove women from DOD leaderships doesn’t show hatred per se, but a theological precept. But he would hate the “pink haired lesbian,” for example.I get. I think CNers see God as involved intimately in our world and empowering his followers. They lose at times not because he loses, but because evil forces at time are part of his plan. There is a larger debate here about free will. But God works through nations, they claim. So, nations can fall due to sin.

While these folks preach morality, why are so many ‘caught with their pants down’ sometimes literally, hypocritically doing the things they demonize others for?

I think that those who have been caught preach against it because their conscience is divided. Guilt and shame work differently on people. And these people have built enormous platforms that need protecting because the platforms are so successful for God. There are obviously some in the movement who are “clean” and haven’t been caught. But those who have shown us that it was always the culture war that mattered not individual behavior.

How do they say they support Israel, but spew anti-Semitic rhetoric and support those who do?

Difficult question. Seeing the nation of Israel as a biblical marker of end times means indeed seeing Jews who live there and want to return there as protected class. But as these Christians preach, there are fake believers. So “fake” Jews or Jews who are Jewish by some other means besides culture and also not in line with the biblical marker of Israel in the last days are the target for anti-Semites. It’s hard to understand unless you understand the role of Israel as a nation. George Soros as the shadowy financer gets a lot of play. And he’s “puppet master” and shadowy because implicitly he is Jewish. Though Charlie Kirk won’t say that. They can say they defend Israel and therefore are not anti-Semitic. And so many on the other side support Israel so it looks like they are not.

Why would a man who is confident in his masculinity be threatened by an empowered woman?

Empowered to do what? is the question. Empowered to take men’s roles? Then yes. Empowered to spread feminism, then yes. Think institutionally not in a one-on-one relationship. Empowered to not have as many babies? Yep, that is a threat to the culture or mountain of family. Seeing the individual as product of the isms makes the individual a threat to the whole.

What message do you want readers to glean from your book?

There is a broad and well-funded plot afoot to change America in every way. That is scary. But also, the scope must be understood because the only answer is a movement to meet it.

Is there hope that we will be able to maintain the Constitutional separation of church and state?

I think that will be determined by who succeeds Trump, who becomes the heir to Trumpism. Do they step back to win some votes or push deeper? Do they try to be Trump or merely his policies through regular, democratic channels? Second, what kind of cultural consensus can those who are fighting them convince others of? Democracy is messy and so does that messiness make people want to give power to the church? I think it will take a generation or two to recover from Trump. It may take longer to recover from Trumpism.

What actions can we take?

We can’t ignore those who follow this ideology. But also, there is a big possibility they can’t be converted to leave it as well. We can organize now against certain elements. But we also must meet a cultural-wide takeover with a cultural-wide renewal of principles, ideals, policies that unite us, all of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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