Thread by @ashtonpittman

NEW: Christian Dominionists who envision a theocratic takeover of the U.S. government have long sought to remake the nation in their image.

Here's in-depth look at how they set the stage for the end of Roe v. Wade—with a focus on the federal courts. 1/
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"We have a plan to make Roe irrelevant or completely reverse it," Kevin Theriot, an Alliance Defending Freedom leader, said in 2018.

They'd drafted a 15-week abortion ban. The goal: Get a state to pass it and defend it all the way to the Supreme Court. 2/mississippifreepress.org/20042/to-rule-…

ADF is a Christian legal organization with Christian dominionist leanings that works through state legislatures and federal courts to enshrine its religious ideas into law.

Its efforts proved vital to getting the Supreme Court to reconsider Roe v. Wade. 3/mississippifreepress.org/20042/to-rule-…

The ADF runs the Blackstone Legal Fellowship, a Christian training program for young lawyers aimed at "inspiring a distinctly Christian worldview in every area of law."

From 2011-2016, it paid Amy Coney Barrett thousands to give speeches to trainees. 4/mississippifreepress.org/20042/to-rule-…

As the ADF worked with Mississippi lawmakers to set its plan to overturn Roe v. Wade in action, a group of self-described prophets converged at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., to pray for a "supernatural" shift at the Supreme Court. 5/
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"We are God's enforcers in the earth for his will to be done," Christian Dominionist Cindy Jacobs declared at the Trump hotel while holding a gavel.

An "army of young people full of the Holy Spirit" must replace unholy leaders and judges, she said. 6/mississippifreepress.org/20042/to-rule-…

The "prophets" and "apostles" in the Trump International Hotel hail from the "New Apostolic Reformation," a Pentecostal movement that teaches Christians that God wants them to establish the Kingdom of God on earth before Christ's return. 7/
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Christian dominionist leader Lou Engle teaches that the post-Roe v. Wade generation is destined to establish God's kingdom on earth.

He compares the Roe ruling to Pharaoh and Herod's orders of mass infanticide in attempts to kill Moses and Jesus. 8/mississippifreepress.org/20042/to-rule-…

"We will govern over kings and judges and they will have to submit. ... We're called to rule! To change history! To be co-regents with God," Lou Engle says.

ADF's leader, Michael Farris, has made similar remarks. 9/mississippifreepress.org/20042/to-rule-…

In his 2005 book, the Joshua Generation, Michael Farris explained that the goal of the homeschooling movement was to raise children who will "engage wholeheartedly in the battle to take the land."

He became the ADF's president in 2017. 10/
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Within weeks of the ADF previewing its plan to overturn Roe v. Wade, Mississippi passed the organization's 15-week abortion ban and then-Gov. Phil Bryant signed it into law.

Mississippi's only abortion clinic filed a federal lawsuit that same day. 11/
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"We're kind of basically baiting them, 'Come on, fight us on the turf that we have already set up and established," the ADF's Kevin Theriot said in 2018, explaining the strategy behind getting a state to pass a 15-week abortion ban. 12/
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ADF declined a request for a phone interview, but sent a statement defending its behind-the-scenes efforts.

"ADF worked with legislators in Mississippi to protect life because, at the end of the day, life is a human right." 13/mississippifreepress.org/20042/to-rule-…

While Mississippi's ADF-drafted abortion ban worked its way through the federal courts, Trump replaced two pro-Roe justices with Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett—fueling the ADF's plan to use the Mississippi law to overturn Roe v. Wade. 14/
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This is "'To Rule History With God': The Christian Dominioinist War On Abortion, Part I."

Be on the look out for Part II, which will publish in the @MSFreePress by tomorrow.
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While you wait for Part II, you can support more in-depth, paywall-free journalism like this by following the Mississippi Free Press @MSFreePress and with a one-time or recurring donation to our non-profit at mfp.ms/donate. 💜

'God Selected This Case': The Christian Dominionist War On Abortion, Part II
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