Ray Vensel is president of the Maine chapter of the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

The threat of Christian nationalism has not only intensified, but metastasized into an interlocked group of Christian nationalists, the super-wealthy, politicians and one prominent malignant narcissist.

Among Christian nationalism’s core beliefs are: America was founded as a white Christian nation, the founders based the Constitution on the Bible, the Bible is God’s perfect law and it is a Christian nationalist’s duty to replace a human law with God’s law whenever there’s a conflict and never compromise.

It suggests that being Christian is essential to being a true American, and the Christian citizen has privileges in both law and civic life. By definition, the movement is anti-democratic and, dare I say it, un-American.

I also always add that not all Christians are Christian nationalists. Part of the metastasis is the New Apostolic Reformation. It’s not a formal, unified group under that name, but its congregations can be identified by their language. If you hear references to a Christian Dominion, the Seven Mountain Mandate or a fivefold ministry, you know what territory you’re in.

Another feature is often the belief that God communicates with people through modern-day prophets. Many of these prophesies have concerned President Trump, whom they see as chosen by God. Three in the super-wealthy category who’ve had a direct effect on Maine are Leonard Leo, Thomas Klingenstein and Barre Seid.

Leo owns a house here and has shaped the current Supreme Court, helping Clarence Thomas during his confirmation and getting Roberts, Alito, Gorsuch, Kavanaugh and Barrett appointed to it.

Seid has funded a Leo-managed trust to the tune of 1.6 billion with a “B” dollars. And Klingenstein, chairman of the Claremont Institute, has funneled money into Maine via the Maine Family First PAC (led by the American Principles Project) and the Maine Policy Institute, extending to The Maine Wire.

None of this is illegal, but it is a huge amount of influence from single sources with a particular point of view.

“We the people…” is so familiar that we hear nothing special, but it sets the tone for the entire U.S. Constitution. This was the first document in history to establish a government by the authority of the people, not by invoking a deity. It also never mentions God and mentions religion only to exclude it from government.

In the “establishment” clause of the First Amendment, Congress shall make no law regarding the establishment of religion. In the “free exercise” clause, Congress shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise thereof. And Article 6 forbids religious tests as a requirement for holding public office.

The words separate state from church. Full stop. They form a wall, if you will, even if the word “wall” is never used. But the words are a point of conflict in spite of their clarity. If the Christian nationalist interpretation of the Bible conflicts with the Constitution, then the Constitution must be overridden.

With the rich, if the Constitution conflicts with what they want, then it must be reinterpreted to their advantage if not overridden. The same for the politicians who either believe in the Christian nationalist nonsense, or see an opportunity to use it for their own gains.

The end result? A country ruled by a single set of rules from a minority sect, governed by manipulative politicians supported by oligarchs and dominated by a malignant narcissist who cares only about his own needs and is either too thick to notice or too self-centered to care that he’s being used.

In Maine, there are attempts to grant religious exemptions that threaten public health (LD 174) as well as attempts to install chaplains in public schools. There are legislators who think that the opposing political party is aided by “Lucifer himself.” This grotesque distortion of Christianity is out there and the best defense for our democracy is to be aware, and to vote.