In the 1980s, right-wing Christians were confident enough of their position to call their organization “The Moral Majority.” Today, largely due to the connection between Christianity and unpopular right-wing political figures, Christians concede they are a minority, and a beleaguered one at that. They have responded, not by attempting to convert the pagans by argument, but by embracing anti-democratic views and demanding a monopoly on power. How can they get to their promised land in a liberal democratic society when they don’t represent a majority?
The battle is being fought on several fronts. First of all, the right-wing Christians have been successful in convincing a Supreme Court that is stacked with their allies to overturn precedents and permit open expressions of support for Christianity by state and local governments. Second, Christians in red states typically despise secular public schools, or as Rick Scott likes to call them, “government schools;” they have responded by with voucher systems, book bans, public displays of the Ten Commandments, and curriculum changes incorporating the study of the Bible. Perhaps, in the long run, these “reforms” will result in more Christian children. Finally, they support authoritarian pro-Christian political figures, from Orban to Putin to, in our worst fears, Trump.
The frontier for Christians consists of a test act and the censorship of the views of non-Christians. These ideas aren’t being discussed now due to their complete impracticality, but they will be as soon as the Christians have the monopoly on power to which they believe they are entitled.