The Warning from Capitol Hill
Congressman Jared Huffman spent the January 6 2021 insurrection locked alone in his office while rioters roamed the halls of the US Capitol. While the country focused on the violence of the mob, Huffman identified a specific religious undercurrent driving the events. He describes it as a Christian coup. Now, he is publishing a book titled No Prophets: The Fight to Save Democracy from Christian Nationalism to argue that this movement remains the primary threat to American democratic values. Huffman, 62, currently serves as the only member of Congress who publicly identifies as a non-believer.
He contends the United States suffers from what he terms a Bible-sized blind spot regarding domestic religious extremism. The movement has expanded since Donald Trump returned to power, impacting public education, climate science, and institutional neutrality. Huffman highlights how Christian privilege acts as a shield, preventing political and media entities from scrutinizing these groups with the same intensity applied to foreign or minority religious threats.
The Erasure of Religious Radicalism
Huffman points to the House January 6 select committee report as evidence of this blind spot. Staffers on the committee’s Purple Team documented how charismatic evangelical networks like the New Apostolic Reformation were instrumental in radicalizing participants in the attack. Chairman Bennie Thompson confirmed that initial reports indicated rightwing religious extremists played a substantial role. However, vice-chair Liz Cheney demanded the removal of those findings.
Cheney argued that focusing on Christian nationalism would alienate conservative voters and distract from Trump’s direct culpability. Huffman acknowledges Cheney’s role in opposing Trump but critiques the decision to excise the section. He argues that if the perpetrators had been linked to other religious traditions, the connection would have been scrutinized with surgical precision. The decision effectively sanitized the motivations of the rioters to maintain political comfort.
Institutional Entrenchment and Theocratic Shifts
Modern Christian nationalism operates through a shifting coalition of three subcultures that coalesce around Trump. The New Apostolic Reformation promotes direct revelation and views Trump as a modern King Cyrus. Meanwhile, the Rad Trads seek a return to pre-Vatican II Catholic moral governance, and Protestant Reconstructionists known as Theobros push for a system where biblical doctrine is codified into the Constitution. These factions often maintain connections with influential figures in Silicon Valley and the Pentagon.
Inside the Capitol, Huffman describes the existence of a shadow theocracy. Capitol Ministries hosts weekly Bible studies for cabinet members and legislators, promoting a free-market gospel that frames environmentalism as a sin against God’s dominion. This influence extends to the Pentagon, where figures like Pete Hegseth have conducted prayer services and proselytized within official military spaces. Huffman views these developments as an active attempt to dismantle the 250-year truce between secular governance and fundamentalist religion.
Future Risks and the Democratic Response
Historical parallels suggest the danger of the current trajectory is significant. Huffman draws comparisons to the collapse of the Weimar Republic in the early 1930s. He argues that centrists and left-leaning parties failed to coalesce against the Nazi movement, leaving a path open for fascism. He worries that a similar lack of unity among pro-democracy factions today could permit the rise of a distinct American version of Christo-fascism.
Successfully opposing this shift requires a broad coalition including moderate Christians, secular citizens, and non-believers. Huffman asserts that Enlightenment values regarding science and individual liberty are at stake. He maintains that the situation is winnable, provided that Americans discard the cultural taboo surrounding the critique of Christian nationalism. The path forward depends on the ability of disparate groups to prioritize shared democratic principles over religious or ideological divisions.