It's Worse Than You Think

Lately every day seems like turning the page of another dystopian fiction novel. Another bill introduced to strip someone of their rights or inhibit their education. Another mass shooting without any legislative action. An absurd amount of ineffective thoughts and prayers.

To paraphrase David Byrne, “Well, how did we get here?”

Surprisingly, I found the answer via TikTok.

A friend recently sent me a video that included clips from a 2020 documentary called People You May Know. It was quite astounding, so I looked it up and decided to shell out $2.99 to rent it.

The video description on Amazon says:

“People You May Know follows Charles Kriel, specialist advisor to UK Parliament on disinformation, when he discovers Cambridge Analytica collaborating with a software company creating a microtargeting platform for US churches, targeting vulnerable people - the poor, the grieving, the addicted - to radicalise them for far-right politics.”

If someone told you that there’s a little-known group of conservatives that was started in 1981 who meet 3 times a year in undisclosed locations to make plans about how they’re going to infiltrate the government, you’d probably worry about that person’s mental health. However that’s exactly what the Council for National Policy (CNP) is.

How are they related to a software company that targets churches? One of the members of the CNP is J.P. De Gance, who owns Communio, “a nonprofit that consults with churches equipping them with proven strategies and technologies to solve our nation’s family and faith crisis,” according to their website. Basically it’s data mining software that allows churches to better engage with their community and bring in more members.

Here’s how their website’s about page explains it:

Communio’s shared goal with a church is Christ-centered. Our objective is to help you bring more souls to Christ by evangelizing and discipling relationships and marriages. From the beginning, marriage has been central to God’s plan for humanity. Communio serves you to make marriage central to your church.

Communio is not another program. Rather, we equip your church with a proven strategic framework, 21st century data tools, and a ministry game plan that helps you put members of your church – and those in your surrounding community – onto a growth journey toward healthier relationships.

Communio helps you and your leadership team select, promote, and run large, attractional community outreach events that flow people into ongoing engagement, and ultimately into skill-based relationship ministry.

The end result: your church is equipped to run a Data-Informed, Full-Circle Relationship Ministry™ that strengthens marriages, grows your church, and transforms your community.

While this doesn’t seem all that extreme, there’s a lot of coded language there. “Strengthens marriages” is anti-LGBTQIA+. “Family crisis” is both anti-LGBTQIA+ and anti-abortion rights.

The documentary goes behind the scenes of Communio to show that while their public narrative is about helping churches grow their congregations, their true aim is much greater than that. Once churches are in their system, they begin suggesting to pastors that a good way for the church to engage with the community is to become more active in small political activities like voter registration. The church may also be supplied with flyers like we all get in our mailboxes during election time that show a breakdown of where the candidates stand on certain issues. At no point is anyone directly saying which candidate to vote for, but there is a wink and a nudge. The most underhanded part, however, is that in some instances the Republican candidates on the ballots are either involved with the CNP or have been vetted by them as capable of pushing forward their agenda.

What is their agenda, exactly?

It’s organized around the 7 Mountains of Societal Influence Mandate which was created in 1975 by Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade and Loren Cunningham, founder of Youth With a Mission (YWAM). This mandate states that Godly change can be brought to a nation by reaching its seven spheres, or mountains, of societal influence. In order to truly transform any nation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, these seven facets of society must be reached: Religion, Family, Education, Government, Media, Arts and Entertainment, and Business.

Let’s check the board and see where things are at:

Business: CEOs who fund conservative political campaigns and non-profit groups

For 42 years, the radical right has been organizing behind closed doors and making incremental moves to gain power. The result is not only the recent onslaught of legislation attacking civil liberties, it’s also the lack of progress of certain legislation. Bills addressing wealth inequality, gun regulations, and clean energy haven’t gained much foothold due to the corporations that have aligned themselves with this conservative agenda in order to avoid regulations and gain profit. There is a disgusting amount of money and power being used to push our society into an increasingly terrifying culture and class war.

If you’re feeling pretty hopeless about everything after reading all this, I’m right there with you. How do we combat a seemingly insurmountable force that has no interest in compromise?

Sun Tzu said:

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

The only way to combat hate is with love, but uneducated love isn’t quite enough, nor is inactive love. The love required is firm and unwavering yet stays open. It doesn’t disregard that differences exist, nor does it try to create a world where there are no differences. It is vocal in order to educate. It pulls focus towards the good but doesn’t turn a blind eye to injustice.

We find our way through suffering by continued education, action, conversation, curiosity, and finding peace within ourselves.

Here are a few other resources about this topic. Just a reminder that I’m a bookshop.org affiliate so if you choose to purchase the book via the link I will receive a small percentage of the sale!

Shadow Network: Media, Money, and the Secret Hub of the Radical Right by Anne Nelson

I’m currently listening to the audiobook and am on chapter 3 of 14. I picked it up because the author was highlighted in People You May Know. I can’t say it’s an enjoyable book due to the subject, but it is most definitely enlightening.

Christofascism, Considered (Part 1 and 2) - What the Hell is a Pastor Podcast

I was really interested in hearing a pastor’s perspective as I imagine it’s a quite difficult topic to wrestle with. They offer a lot of insight into what they believe resistance within Christianity should look like. Definitely worth a listen.

This Washington Post article about Ginni Thomas and her activist group that is aligned with the CNP and received over $600K in donations.