Here’s wishing everybody an awesome Easter—one grounded not only in celebration, but in reflection. A day of resurrection should call forth not just renewal of spirit, but a heightened consciousness about the political moment we are living through.
Let’s be clear: what we are witnessing is not simply a religious revival. It is the rise of Christian nationalism—not a faith, but a mindset.
As Katherine Stewart argues in Money, Lies, and God: Inside the Movement to Destroy American Democracy, this movement is driven by what she terms “reactionary nihilists”—actors less interested in preserving democratic institutions than in dismantling them when those institutions no longer serve their ends.
And let’s be equally clear: this is so not Jesus.
What we are seeing instead is a coordinated effort to hollow out public institutions—schools, universities, courts—while cloaking that effort in the language of “freedom,” “faith,” and “parental rights.” In Texas and beyond, public higher education is increasingly a target, with governance structures reworked, curricula policed, and entire fields of study destabilized.
If we are to understand this moment, we need to study it—historically, structurally, and unapologetically. Below is a powerful reading pathway (originally shared in a Reddit thread with book images that I added) that traces how we got here. Many of these texts, including Money, Lies, and God, are available as audiobooks.
Start with Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex is Destroying America. It gives a good generalized overview of what's been going on since the 60s.From there move onto Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right. It goes into detail on how it was formed, what its goals are, who it influenced, and what groups grew out of it. Next, The Blue Book. This was written by Robert Welch Jr, and it shows just what the John Birch Society stood for.
From there, move onto Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right. This one goes into detail on the various multimillionaires and billionaires in action today, the groups they influence, the politicians they influence, and how they spend their money.
After that, check out Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right'sStealth Plan for America. This one looks at the plans of these groups, how they were test ran in other countries, how they were refined, and how they were implemented (and still being carried out), in the United States.
From there, move on to The Scheme: How the Right Wing Used Dark Money to Capture the Supreme Court. It goes into detail on how the Supreme Court was brought into these plans, and how their various rulings have helped to further things along.
Next pick up Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind The Secret Plan To Steal America's Democracy. It's a detailed analysis of Project Redmap, which was funded by dark money, to gerrymander as many states as possible in order to further the plans of the rich.
As a companion to the above book, you'll want One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression Is Destroying Our Democracy, which goes into detailed examination of the various things laid out in Give Us the Ballot.
As another companion to both of these books, you'll want to read The Court v. The Voters: The Troubling Story of How the Supreme Court Has Undermined Voting Rights. A lot of the names and cases found in The Scheme show up in this book as well. This one goes into detailed examinations of the various court cases used by these groups to suppress voter rights.
You'll want to pick up Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America. It goes into detail on how these groups, through politicians & the court system, have fought tooth and nail to limit who can vote and where.
