How an 'outspoken proponent of Christian theocracy' is 'making inroads' with MAGA'

23 May

President Donald Trump on June 1, 2020 (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead/Flickr)

Pastor Doug Wilson, who preaches at Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, is controversial even on the Religious Right.

Wilson, now 71, was greatly influenced by the late Calvinist R.J. Rushdoony and what is known as "dominion theology" — a belief that the United States' federal government should be operated under a system of strict Christian fundamentalist law. The pastor favors a system of government comparable to Shariah law as it exists in some Middle Eastern countries, but with fundamentalist Christianity rather than fundamentalist Sunni or Shiite Islam.

In the past, Wilson was considered a fringe figure even by far-right evangelicals. But in an article published on May 23, Politico's Ian Ward describes the "inroads" Wilson is making with the MAGA movement in 2025.

"For the past 50 years," Ward explains, "Wilson has been trying to convince America that it has made the wrong choice — that it should choose 'Christ,' as he put it, instead of chaos. But Wilson isn't a conventional evangelist. He is, by his own description, an

outspoken proponent of Christian theocracy — the idea that American society, including its government, should be governed by a conservative interpretation of Biblical law. Wilson's body of work — made up of over 40 books, thousands of blog posts and hundreds of hours of sermons and podcast appearances — amounts to a comprehensive blueprint for a spiritual and political 'reformation' that would transform America into a kind of Christian republic."

Wilson also has a history of defending the Confederacy even though he isn't from the South. And he believes it was harmful to the United States when women were given the right to vote. According to Ward, Christ Church favors an "explicitly patriarchal style of evangelicalism" and bars women "from holding leadership roles."

Back in the 1970s, Ward notes, Wilson built a "sprawling evangelical empire" — which, according to the Politico reporter, continues to grow in 2025.

"In recent years, Wilson has been making inroads into the Republican establishment, aided by a growing audience for his work among allies of President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement," Ward reports. "Last year alone, Wilson appeared as a guest on Tucker Carlson's podcast, spoke at an event organized by the MAGA operative Charlie Kirk, delivered a speech on Capitol Hill at an event hosted by the MAGA-aligned talent pipeline American Moment and was given a prominent timeslot at the National Conservatism Conference, the premier annual get-together for the nationalist-populist right in Washington."

Ward adds, "In January, Wilson received his most significant political boost to date when Pete Hegseth — who is a member of a CREC church in Tennessee and publicly praised Wilson’s work — was confirmed as Trump's secretary of Defense."

According to Ward, "Wilson and his allies" are "moving quickly to cement their burgeoning influence in Washington."

"Later this summer, Christ Church will open its first outpost in the capital, led by Wilson and a rotating group of pastors from the CREC," Ward notes. "The new church has earned the support of powerful players in the MAGA movement: Its inaugural prayer services, planned for mid-July, will be held at an event space operated by the Conservative Partnership Institute, the Trump-aligned think tank run by former Republican Sen. Jim DeMint and ex-Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. "

Read Ian Ward's full article for Politico at this link.

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