The Supreme Court’s decision in Carson v. Makin all but forces Maine to pay for Christian education. However, requiring Maine to fund religious education violates Maine’s Department of Education policy.
Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey outlined the state’s DOE policy: “Instruction that inculcates, instills, imbues a religious view through its materials, through its teachings, prescribing that there’s one religion above others and that there are certain ways of the world that are consistent with that religion … contradicts a public education.”
Christian fundamentalists divide the religious world into two categories: theirs and all the others. They regard their religion as the one true religion and all others, including mainstream religions, as teaching the religion of atheism. Viewing atheism as a religion is essential to understanding the Christian nationalists’ sociopolitical agenda. The families suing Maine argue that since Maine subsidizes tuition to private secular schools that teach the religion of atheism, the state is discriminating against them by not paying tuition to schools that teach the Christian faith.
However, forcing Maine to pay for a private Christian education is not the Christian nationalists’ most important agenda; fulfilling the Seven Mountain Mandate to bring about the end times is.
The Seven Mountain Mandate is a charismatic Christian nationalist movement that believes God’s purpose for evangelical Christians is to have influence or dominion over seven specific areas of society and culture.
These charismatic Christian nationalists claim the Bible commands them in Revelation 17:1–18, where verse 9 reads: “And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains.” The seven mountains the movement believes influence society and seeks to control are family, religion, education, media, entertainment, business, and government. They believe their mission to influence the world through these seven spheres is justified by Isaiah 2:2: “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains.”
Donald Trump and his spiritual advisor Paula White are two well-known public figures who follow the Seven Mountain Mandate movement. White claims Trump “will play a critical role in Armageddon as the United States stands alongside Israel in the battle against Islam.” At a 2020 Conservative Political Action Conference, Charlie Kirk said, “Finally, we have a president that understands the Seven Mountains of Cultural Influence.”
Who is Charlie Kirk? He is a member of the Council for National Policy, an ultra-conservative organization the Nation publication has called a secretive organization that “networks wealthy right-wing donors together with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy.” The group also was characterized by The New York Times as “a little-known club of a few hundred of the most powerful conservatives in the country.”
Other Christian nationalist agenda items include creating laws that everyone must follow based on their peculiar interpretation of the Bible: ending a woman’s right to choose, putting fundamentalist Christian prayer back in public schools, and displaying Christian iconography on public property.
Surprisingly, Chief Justice John Roberts correctly confirmed the Supreme Court edict does not require Maine to fund Christian schools. He commented that Maine has other options to eliminate funding private schools, such as creating more public schools or improving transportation to public schools.
One option Roberts did not mention: Since the edict only requires Maine to pay for private Christian education if it elects to pay for private secular education too, the state could simply stop funding all private schools, of any type.
Rachel Laser, the president and CEO of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, which joined a “friend of the court” brief supporting the state of Maine in the case, criticized the ruling, saying that the Supreme Court “is forcing taxpayers to fund religious education.”
“It’s time to end all public funding for private schools, especially vouchers. Public funds should go to public schools,” Laser concluded.
No matter what Maine decides, the state will be in a bind. If the state elects to stop subsidizing private secular schools, a backlash from parents with children in those schools can be expected. If Maine decides to continue paying for private school tuition, thereby obligating the state to fund private Christian education, Maine will be helping to advance the Christian nationalist goal of making America a Christian nation.
Experience tells me the best way around social and cultural problems is through them. Going around problems is easier, but it lets the injustice grow into something that has a much more negative effect on society than it otherwise would.
I sincerely hope Maine decides to end its subsidies for all private schools, and thus take no part in advancing Christian nationalism.
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