Silja J.A. Talvi writes on how the “secular” Character Training Institute is working to build evangelist Bill Gothard’s vision of a First-Century Kingdom of God - one city, one state, one school board, one police force and one mind at a time.

Here’s a money shot line…

“God gives direction, protection, and provision through human authorities. If we rebel against them, we expose ourselves to the destruction of evil principalities…. This is why ‘rebellion is the sin of witchcraft.’ ”

Wow. Good thing Thomas Paine and the revolutionaries who founded our nation (on what were then and to these theocratic autobots apparently still are radical notions of a political embodiment of concepts of the Age of the Enlightenment and reason), weren’t paying much attention to these ‘Christians’.

Anyway, I thought the truly American principle was to have representatives, not leaders.

Read the full piece from In These Times