This is My Final Warning

Fascism Is Here. What We Do Next Will Define Us.

Why This is My Final Warning

I’m not trying to be dramatic with this writing, but something is shifting deep inside me. With that, comes a shift in my writings and my teachings.

The shift isn’t a change – it’s a returning home.

This is why today is my final warning about what is coming for America.

For what is coming is already here.

Sometimes what is coming arrives in tiny paper cuts–the pomposity of executive orders that are more for show than actual law, yet still wield a hefty punch in the gut to those of us paying attention. After all, when the President of the United States signs his name to an executive order mandating that America “define "sex" as an individual's immutable biological classification as either male or female,” it’s a straight line to those who pray to their God that homophobia and transphobia become normalized.

Other times what is coming is a massive jolt. A president who desperately wants to be king, accepting a gift of an airplane that is indisputably illegal and unethical, signaling to the rest of the world how easily this tyrant can be bought.

I’ve spent years raising my voice and connecting the dots between Christian nationalism, political manipulation, spiritual abuse, and systemic oppression. I’ve used my platform to warn that what we once believed could never happen in America was already happening.

I sounded the alarm when Mike Pence attempted a religious coup in Indiana by signing his Religious Freedom Restoration Act, an act that horrified the nation to the point that corporations warned of boycotts and stoppage of expansion plans in Indiana if codified. Pence promptly walked the act back, but Indiana was on the nation’s radar for its extremist religious views that have a direct link to the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan of the 20’s.

It also made Pence the favorite for Trump’s VP selection – see how all of this is connected?

My audience was smaller than a few hundred followers on Facebook who mocked me when, after listening to Trump call for the banning of Muslims entering the country, I wrote that he was a serious threat to our democracy. “He’s a joke! No one will vote for him!” “Like most women, you’re overreacting!” “Go back to church and learn real education.” “Stop fear-mongering!”

The comments like this and so much more, even death threats, poured in. Still I wrote. I wrote because I knew. I sat in those pews. I attended the Bible studies. I sat at the kitchen tables. It was very clear to me and those of us who knew the level of fear and hatred this side of Christianity had for Muslims, and Trump just sang their lullaby.

What began as a ministry to help those deconstructing became one where I hyper-focused on sounding the alarm at every chance I could. I was invited on podcasts to speak on it. I hosted livestreams to teach about it. I made diagrams to show the path from Jerry Falwell and the Moral Majority, Ronald Reagan and Mitch McConnell to today.

Still, he won. And he won again.

Now, fascism is here. To be clear, some call this authoritarianism. Some call it oligarchy. It doesn’t matter. That’s a distraction. Leave it to the historians to hash that out. We Americans feel so entitled to our opinions and our right to gatekeep that we will literally sit on a capsizing boat and debate ridiculous points like this just to prove we are right as we gasp for air in the end.

I’ll remind you that my goal is not drama, but what keeps me awake at night is going to be purged from my being in this writing. I no longer care who I offend or who will mock me.

Let them.

At this writing’s conclusion, I’m no longer digesting the news to present it to you in ways that will hopefully change someone’s mind. MAGA Christianity (and the even more insidious layer of extremism that is part of the Vance/Thiel/Musk/Leonard Leo contingency) will continue to support this ideology that the era of Trump ushered in. Some support this because they believe it pleases God. But a vast majority of them could care less about this Christian God. MAGA Christians know this, but it’s a means to an end – and that end is domination for Christian Nationalism.

In case you need a cheat sheet

What follows isn’t intended to be comprehensive. If you’re following the news, you know how quickly things are developing. It’s all part of the plan – to confuse and overwhelm and hopefully convince you to just believe it’s hopeless. I have more to say about hope at the closing of this writing. For now, here are just some of the undeniable markers of fascism already in place:

• Destruction of constitutional norms and separation of powers:
  Trump’s administration is actively rejecting legal precedent. Former OMB Director Russ Vought claims that laws requiring the executive branch to spend funds allocated by Congress are “unconstitutional,” despite court rulings that say otherwise. This undermines the very framework of checks and balances designed to prevent tyranny.

• Theocratic authoritarianism over public health and bodily autonomy:
  The administration has ended emergency abortion protections in hospitals—even when the mother’s life is at risk. This isn’t governance. It’s theocratic control, willing to sacrifice lives to enforce evangelical dogma.

• Weaponized disinformation and scapegoating:
  A travel ban—justified using an incident involving a country not even on the banned list—was reinstated to stoke xenophobia. False claims are used to fan fear, justify cruelty, and distract from authoritarian overreach.

• The silencing and purging of intellectual and cultural dissent:
  Right-wing leaders, including J.D. Vance, have openly declared war on academia, calling for the eradication of universities and naming professors as “the enemy.” This is not rhetoric. It’s preparation for a purge.

• Authoritarian pardons and cronyism:
  Trump continues to abuse presidential powers by issuing pardons in exchange for loyalty or financial contributions, while punishing critics and dismantling legal accountability.

• Undermining emergency services to punish dissenting states:
  After Hurricane Helene, Trump denied FEMA assistance to North Carolina, falsely claiming Biden had abandoned the state. The result? Slowed recovery, amplified suffering, and intensified propaganda. This is not failed leadership. It is targeted retribution.

• Calls for a new “Revolution”—one already in motion:
  The Heritage Foundation’s Kevin Roberts has openly stated that a second American Revolution is underway. He says it will remain bloodless “if the left allows it.” That’s not strategy—it’s a threat.

• Erosion of judicial independence and incitement to violence:
  Like other authoritarian leaders around the globe, Trump is undermining the judiciary. By delegitimizing courts and pardoning allies, he is laying the groundwork for lawlessness—so long as that lawlessness benefits him.

• Propaganda as governance:
  From Duck Dynasty-style reality TV shows that pit immigrants against each other to QAnon memes declaring Trump “on a mission from God,” this administration thrives on distraction, distortion, and disinformation.
  

The Gravest of Warnings

Beyond my inner knowing that it is time to shift my focus to community-building and spiritual empowerment, I have noticed a sense of urgency in the writings of Heather Cox Richardson.

In case you do not know who Heather Cox Richardson is, HCR, as she is affectionately known by her millions of followers, is a professor of American history and political commentator known for her clear, accessible analysis of U.S. politics, democracy, and authoritarianism, particularly through her widely read newsletter Letters from an American. I began reading her letters in 2019 when she only had a few thousand followers on Facebook. Since then, I haven’t missed a morning reading her to help prepare for my day.

HCR connects the dots between our history and what is happening in America today. She clearly believes Trump is a threat to democracy. Lately, she is signaling that the time has come for mobilization. I can’t be the only one who senses this in her writings. For instance, in her 5/27 letter she wrote:

“Bonica notes, something different happened in Israel in 2023. When Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition tried to destroy judicial independence, people from all parts of society took to the streets. A broad, nonpartisan group came together to defend democracy and resist authoritarianism. “Every authoritarian who successfully destroyed judicial independence did so because civil society failed to unite in time,” Bonica writes. “The key difference? Whether people mobilized.”

HCR 5/28 letter:
“Hoover’s pardon is reminiscent of Trump’s advice to the right-wing Proud Boys in September 2020 to “stand back and stand by,” as he courted the support of vigilante groups to help him steal the 2020 election. It is in keeping with Trump’s statement that he’s “looking at” pardons for the men convicted of conspiring to kidnap Democratic Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer.

Tonight, after news broke that the judges had ruled his tariffs illegal and after he had reacted angrily to a reporter’s question about the “TACO trade,” a weakened Trump reached out to his alt-right base as he appeared determined to demonstrate dominance. He posted a meme on his social media account showing an image of himself walking toward the viewer on what appears to be a wet, nighttime city street. Pepe the Frog, a symbol of the far right, stands in the background.

Above Trump, in all capital letters, are the words: “He’s on a mission from God.” Below his feet, also in all caps, the message continues: “& nothing can stop what is coming.” This is a phrase from the right-wing QAnon conspiracy community and refers to the idea that members of the “Deep State” and its collaborators will soon be arrested.”

Finally, last night for her 6/7 letter she wrote:

“In late April, in an interview with Terry Moran of ABC News, Trump showed Moran that he had had a copy of the Declaration of Independence hung in the Oval Office. The interview had been thorny, and Moran used Trump’s calling attention to the Declaration to ask a softball question. He asked Trump what the document that he had gone out of his way to hang in the Oval Office meant to him.

Trump answered: “Well, it means exactly what it says, it’s a declaration. A declaration of unity and love and respect, and it means a lot. And it’s something very special to our country.”

The Declaration of Independence is indeed very special to our country. But it is not a declaration of love and unity. It is the radical declaration of Americans that human beings have the right to throw off a king in order to govern themselves. That story is here, in the first video series of Journey to American Democracy called ‘Ten Steps to Revolution.’”

HCR’s 10-part video series “Ten Steps to Revolution” is worth watching. It tells our history and our fight to govern ourselves.

Conclude what you will, but I believe even HCR sees what is coming if we are to save ourselves, because no one is coming to save us.

Who will heed the call?

Warnings aren’t enough. They don’t feed the hungry, protect the vulnerable, and they don’t comfort the terrified.

They don’t stop fascism.

Only organized, collective, and spiritually-rooted resistance can do that.

And before you accuse me of being dismissive of those sounding the alarm, I am not. There are plenty in this space who do this effectively. They are needed for accurate dissemination of information and to rattle the comfortable to action.

This writing isn’t about them – it’s about me. And you. Our relationship going forward. How can I be most useful, and where can I serve?

How can I help you as this crisis deepens and we begin to feel the pressure of rights being stripped away and life-saving programs being de-funded.

People will be hurting, and those in power believe that the answer is, as Iowa Senator Joni Ernst said, “we’re all gonna die anyway.”

This ruling class, comprised of billionaires who envision a world of robotics to serve them and Christians who are hell-bent on ridding the world of all who do not look like, love like, or believe as they do, does not care about your pain.

They believe the end – world dominance – justifies the means. And the means is the suffering of millions.

I’m foreshadowing here, and as much as I don’t want to believe it, I know I am right.

What’s next?

From this moment forward, I am no longer investing my energy in alerting those who refuse to see. Instead, I’m turning toward those who are awake, aware, and asking: Now what?

My answer: We heal. We build. We protect. We gather. We prepare. We love fiercely.

That means:

#1) Acknowledging that fascism is here. Stop hoping that the judicial system or Congress will save us. Yes, we have had a few heroic moments within both, but we’ve also seen extreme cowardice and bowing to kiss the ring of this president from both Democrats and Republicans. Whether you believe that late-stage capitalism is at fault or a system built upon a patriarchal structure that favors white Christian men's voices, it’s indisputable that this system is inherently flawed. Fascism revealed those flaws and uses them to its advantage. Our hope in any reinforcement and systemic change came and went when Kamala’s voice was resoundly rejected. Sitting back and hoping that Trump will be impeached is romanticizing a system that no longer is effective. We must plan and act accordingly.

#2) Continuing to heal thyself. Many of us come to deconstructing spaces to heal from the harm church caused. We must continue to deconstruct, decolonize and live from a space of authenticity. When we have done this work, we then become a more authentic version of ourselves capable of moving forward to be helpful in our communities and open to new ideas and ways to see the world. This will be vital as we navigate the challenges ahead.

What You Can Expect From Me Now

From this point forward, I will not debate the existence of authoritarianism, fascism – whatever name you want to give it. I will not plead with those who clutch their pearls at the word “fascism” and then refuse to act.

Instead, I will focus my work on:

• Building sacred, trauma-informed spaces for people seeking safety, belonging, and healing from religious and political harm.

• Offering spiritual care and resilience tools to those navigating grief, fear, and spiritual disorientation.

• Equipping the spiritually curious with resources to reconnect with wonder, mystery, and moral courage.

• Mobilizing collective care—through education, spiritual empowerment, and community-based resistance.

• Uplifting truth-tellers, bridge-builders, and fierce protectors—not as saviors, but as co-laborers in the work of liberation.

A final word: Hope

If you’ve made it this far, I commend you, friend. We’re most likely kindred spirits desperate to find meaning in a world that is changing so quickly, and we are trying to find our footing.

In other words, we’re searching for reasons to be hopeful.

I have a love/hate relationship with hope.

Hope isn’t passive—it’s practiced. It teaches us to be complacent if we believe in a super-hero that will swoop down and rescue us. It can blind us to truths and invite us to turn away from another’s pain.

My hope is this: that we are who we have been waiting for. We are not being called to do it all, but each of us has a part to play. When we move toward those of like-minds, we will find our people and begin to work for the good of the whole. I won’t pretend to have all the answers, but I know that we are smarter and stronger together.
With all this being said, I conclude with these final thoughts to encourage you:

We are not powerless.
We are rooted.
This work is slow, sacred, and stronger than anything built on domination.
Let the institutions crumble if they insist on serving a tyrant.
We are building something that cannot be bought or sold.
Let the empire tremble.
We carry the holy in our hands.
We gather.
We grieve.
We guard the flame.
This is not the end.
This is the beginning of something sacred.

This is no longer about sounding the alarm.
This is about becoming the shelter.

Welcome to the Spirituality Matters Collective, Beautiful Soul.
We have much work to do, but hope is indeed rising, and you are welcomed, seen and loved.