The Theocratic Takeover: How Oligarchs Strengthen Their Chokehold

Holy Bible lays in a student’s backpack. Source: Friendly Atheist.

In recent decades, a gross transfer of monetary and political power to the oligarchic ruling class of America has occurred. This plutocratic coterie has gained control via the methodical and godly benightment of the public. If the Leftists and Liberals are truly serious about reversing this trend, they must ruthlessly attack the plague that is weaponized religion. By the first quarter of 2025, the top 1% had amassed roughly the same amount of wealth as the entirety of the bottom 90% of Americans, according to the Federal Reserve. They have, in turn, used this immense wealth to gain a massive influence on American politics. Given that an oligarchy can be defined as a recursive loop in which an exclusive club has a disproportionate amount of power (which is wielded to gain more power), it is undeniable that the United States has become an oligarchy.

For instance, in the 2024 elections, Elon Musk personally donated $288 million (not to mention SuperPACs’ expenditures exceeding $2.5 billion) to various Republican campaigns. As a result, for a few months, Musk was one of the most powerful people in the United States, with his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) slashing funding from essential agencies. Though not thoroughly verified, ABC News reported that, “Receipts posted by DOGE claim it has cut at least … $502 million from the Department of Education, $232 million from the Social Security Administration and … $152 million from the Department of Health and Human Services.” Over the course of his chaotic stint in Washington, D.C., Musk successfully dismissed investigations into his own companies, fired several Inspectors General, and threatened the termination of any federal worker who ignored his emails. And if all that weren’t enough, President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OB3) gives a massive tax break to the ultra-wealthy. How did they afford this? Though the OB3 exploded the debt, it was also aided by Musk and DOGE’s aforementioned cuts to programs meant to support the working class.

The GOP-controlled Senate, relying on the average American’s deficiency in data literacy, claimed that the OB3 “provides new tax relief that overwhelmingly benefits low- and middle-class families and workers.” (For those who struggle with basic arithmetic, a 27% tax cut for those making $15,000 is worth much less than a 3% tax cut for someone making over $1,000,000.) These proportional (percentage-based) tax cuts are certainly beneficial, just not for the average American. They are mathematically regressive. Unsurprisingly, the politicians assume American citizens will simply accept their statistics at face value. With reading and mathematics scores dropping precipitously and anti-intellectualism on the rise, the citizenry is lacking the tools necessary to identify and combat these silent means of abuse. Americans are losing ground. Regardless of these facts, many maintain that the only thing missing from the American education system is — amidst all of the book bannings and cancellation of history — God.

Therein lies the most foundational crisis facing America: education. The billionaire elites have found that it's much easier to take advantage of a bovine working class. Is there a better way to create a citizenry incapable of critical thought than by institutionalizing a dogma that demonizes it? Why did Louisiana and Texas try to plaster the Ten Commandments in public classrooms? Why would Oklahoma mandate that every public classroom have its own Bible? Why are several states attempting to follow suit? There has been an oligarchic takeover of America’s political institutions, and in strengthening the chokehold, a theocratic takeover of its schools.

“Doubt,” a key feature of critical thought and the scientific process, is actively discouraged by holy texts. In James 1:6-8 (NIV), James declares, “But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.” But even if critical thinking were supported by the church, the devout wouldn’t exactly have much time for thinking. Republicans love to carp about “woke indoctrination.” But, I would daresay that from church every Sunday to youth groups to summer Bible camps and now to public schools, from the moment a child is capable of putting their hands together to pray before every meal, Christian indoctrination is much more of a concern.

 But that’s not enough for the oligarchs; the “IRS says churches can now endorse political candidates” without losing their tax-exempt status. It should be common sense that any entity wishing to engage in the political realm should have to pay the admission fee that everyone else does, particularly when there is a constitutional barrier between the entity and the government. But as the most pervasive of these aspiring political institutions is the Christian church, I choose to focus on it. Normalize the idea of auditing the actions of all religious establishments. If they are found to have engaged in any form of political action, they should lose their tax-exempt status. It is imperative that the IRS fully reinstate the Johnson Amendment, which established the rule that churches cannot “participate in, or intervene in … any political campaign on behalf of … any candidate for public office.” To be clear, this is not meant for all religious bodies; this will only affect those that have chosen to cross the boundary between church and state.

And yet, further than a fiscal or legal responsibility to keep the pious away from government, there is also a moral obligation. This generation is not the first to be fooled by scripture and those who hold it in the highest regard. Humanity has used faith — a compulsory suspension of one’s mental faculties in preserving belief — to justify its most terrible atrocities.

Ephesians 6:5-6 (NIV): “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor when their eye is on you, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.”

Genesis 3:16 (KJV): “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.”

Leviticus 18:22 (KJV): “Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”

Numbers 24:9 (GNT): “Whoever blesses Israel will be blessed, and whoever curses Israel will be cursed.”

Adolf Hitler, in Passau (27 October 1928): “We do not tolerate anyone in our ranks who offends the ideas of Christianity … This movement of ours is actually Christian.”

And finally, Donald Trump, in a promotional video: “Religion and Christianity are the biggest things missing from this country, and I truly believe that we need to bring them back and we have to bring them back fast.”

Religion, however,  cannot be written off as wholly evil. On the personal level, religion can improve people’s lives. I have witnessed its dramatic effects on addiction, grief, and other hardships. But the macro-scale is when things change. An in-group and an out-group form — factions shape. These factions distract the populace from the bigger picture: Right versus Left, Catholic versus Protestant, Zionist versus Muslim, instead of Up versus Down. How much longer will people be tricked into hating each other? How much longer will Americans be duped by the allure of religion in government and education? How much longer will the United States be held hostage by the bane of morality and the antithesis of reason?