Holy War! The Rise and Fall of the American Theocracy, 2039-2079 (Part 1)

by Nathaniel Lane Stewart, M. A.

Introduction: The Unique Phenomenon of the American Theocratic Republic

On January 20, A. D. 2081, General Josiah Grantham, who was elected the preceding November, was sworn in as President of the United States on a cold winter day.  Unlike inaugural ceremonies in past decades, this one was relatively simple.  Standing inside the dome of the old Capital building (which still contained large holes from massive bombings in the previous decade), the new president-elect took the oath of office with only a handful of observers-a few government officials, several military officers representing three different nations, and about hundred local citizens who had gathered for the occasion.  Despite its simplicity, this event was pivotal for many reasons, including several important firsts for its time.

One, President-elect Grantham was the first president to be formally sworn into office in 16 years-the last official inaugural ceremony occurred in January, 2065.

Two, he was the first president to hold office following the defeat of the American military in 2079 during the final days of the conflict that later historians would call World War III (2019-2079).

Three, his election and ceremony were also remarkable considering that during the years leading up to both events, much of the North American continent was under the joint military occupation of allied forces from the Republic of China, the Russian Imperial Federation, the Free Republic of Mexico, and the League of Islamic Republics, these powers having effectively defeated the United States and its few allies by June, 2079.  Further, despite these forces still occupying significant portions of American territory in 2079 and 2080, his election was welcomed by most of the officers of this joint military force.

Four, and perhaps most significant of all, he was the first president since George Washington in 1788 to be elected without facing an opponent.

Standing in the center of the domed rotunda with his left hand raised and his right placed upon a Bible held by his wife, the new president, dressed in plain civilian garb, repeated the oath of office to a local magistrate, who was the only official judge that could be summoned for the occasion.  After reciting the words, “So Help Me God”, the magistrate shook the new President’s hand and offered his congregations.  There was no 21 gun salute and no band playing “Hail to the Chief”.  The omission of both from the ceremony was the new president’s expressed wish.  After a quiet applause from the onlookers, President Grantham took his place at the dais and began to speak.  He offered words of thanks to the judge and to the various officials who had assembled.  He also thanked the citizens who attended, and then expressed his gratitude to all those who had participated in the electoral process despite the many hardships most Americans were facing in the post-war world.  After these and other rather generic remarks regarding the American traditions of democracy, he addressed the matter that was on the minds of most who were present:

“For almost three decades now, Americans have suffered under a brutal tyranny imposed by a minority of religious militants who upon high-jacking our system of democratic government promoted a vicious and evil form of religious radicalism of which this nation has never seen in its three centuries of existence.  We who have survived this national nightmare have witnessed the horrific consequences that religious authoritarian dogmatism can create. We have seen the death, carnage, and destruction that a religiously motivated political ideology will bring upon a people who have lost their spiritual identity, their love for truth and righteousness, and most of all, have lost sight of that second of the two greatest commandments: to love one’s neighbor as oneself. 

While our desire may be to erase utterly from our national memory those thirty years of horror, the responsible course of any nation must be to never forget the evil perpetrated by those few who sought to impose their misguided attempts to create heaven upon earth.  And by refusing to forget this tragedy of horrors, may we then avoid the mistakes of our parents in permitting such an evil to exist among us in our own time.  Today, let us pledge that while we wish never to see such grotesque evils visit our land again, we will never forget the bondage that human religion when mixed with civil government can and will bring upon any people.  We, as Americans, are a spiritual people.  We have always been a spiritual people.  We believe in spiritual truths that exist beyond this world.  As our Declaration of Independence affirms, “We hold these truths to be self-evident.”  What truths? Spiritual truths-principles of morality-right versus wrong, good versus evil, and the moral versus the immoral.  But while spirituality is expressed in our National Creed, let us also remember the words in our chief national instrument of law-our Constitution: “Congress shall make no law regarding the establishment of religion.”  These two statements are American Values and American Fundamentals.  And though we welcome spirituality in our public arena, let us vow that we shall forever uphold the fundamental truth that the government shall never stand above the conscience of the citizen in regards to matters of religion!” *

This final statement received a standing ovation as the audience expressed its solemn concurrence to this firm declaration of principle.  And while the crowd gave its approval, President Grantham paused to face his audience.  Despite their apparent consent to his words, their eyes revealed a weariness of soul the depths of which could hardly be noted in those few moments.  Few present were military veterans, but all gave the expression of a people long oppressed with severe trouble and sorrow.  Having served in the U. S. Army since 2046, the President had seen first hand the sorrow his nation had experienced.

As observers of history, we must pause as we examine this scene and ask this simple query:  Why should a nation, conceived on the idea that the individual conscience, particularly in regards to religion, was free from coercion by the state now find that its chief magistrate must assert with clarity to the world that its government will never permit religion to govern its civic life, its laws, and its national identity to the degree of eliminating the freedom of the individual conscience? If the scene before us draws us to ask this question, then we have found a fitting point at which we can begin our study of one of the darkest chapters of the history of the Post-modern era: The American Theocratic Republic.  Though this regime ruled the North American continent (as well as parts of the Central America) for a mere 14 years (2065-2079), its influence in the American national life was felt as early as the mid-2040’s while its origins can be traced back to the middle of the 20th century.  And though we are over seventy years removed from its events, nonetheless, the shadow of the American theocratic movement still deeply influences life in the Americas in our own time.

(To Be Continued. . . )

*Taken from the Collected Writings of Josiah Grantham: The Presidential Years: 2080-2089, published in A. D. 2129, edited by Elizabeth A. Gratham and Maggie G. Stewart.