The Seven Mountains Mandate: Exposing the Dangerous Plan to Christianize America and Destroy Democracy

The religious right’s plan to “Christianize America” is rooted in evangelical ideals that arose more than 50 years ago and have reached their most dangerous iteration yet, according to this comprehensive treatise from literature scholar Boedy (Speaking of Evil),. He traces the movement’s roots to the 1960s, when antiwar protests and the civil rights movement ignited a backlash among conservative evangelicals. Seeking new ways to exert cultural influence, Loren Cunningham and Bill Bright, leaders of youth-focused evangelical groups, drew up a manifesto for conquering seven “mountains” of American society, including education, family, and government. Boedy argues the “seven mountains movement” has found its heir in Charlie Kirk, whose deep-pocketed conservative organization, Turning Point USA, copies earlier efforts to back initiatives like Christianizing public school curricula but is unique in the breadth of its aims and success in reaching younger generations via media-savvy campaigns. Boedy reveals in painstaking detail, if somewhat workmanlike prose, how the seven mountains mandate quietly became the “dominant religious framework among American Christians” after Donald Trump’s election facilitated its spread from evangelical fringes to the White House, powerful financial backers, and supporters emboldened by “divine urgency” to enact “God’s plan.” It’s a sobering assessment of the evolution of Christian nationalism. (Sept.)