Ultra-wealthy donors have a plan to force conservative Christianity upon the nation

Jul 16, 2024

In the Bible, the town of Ziklag is where the character David lives for a time while he’s being persecuted. It’s his safe space. It’s a place from which David can plan counterattacks.

That name is now being used by wealthy Christian zealots who intend to steer the election in their favor.

According to reporting from Andy Kroll of ProPublica and Nick Surgey of Documented, Christians behind a group called Ziklag now have assets of “nearly $12 million” to make sure Republicans are mobilizing their base while also trying to purge Democrats from the voter rolls in swing states.

They’re not just trying to get out the vote; they’re trying to actively suppress the votes of their opponents. And the donors in question have a virtually bottomless pool of money to spend toward these efforts in the hopes that they could become the Christian Nationalist version of the Koch brothers.

With that kind of cash, there’s no telling how influential this group could be, but their goal is very explicit—and very religious.

“We are in a spiritual battle and locked in a terrible conflict with the powers of darkness,” says a strategy document that lays out Ziklag’s 30-year vision to “redirect the trajectory of American culture toward Christ by bringing back Biblical structure, order and truth to our Nation.”

The donors behind the effort include roughly 125 people and new members are supposed to have at least $25 million in the bank.

These previously unreported plans are the work of a group named Ziklag, a little-known charity whose donors have included some of the wealthiest conservative Christian families in the nation, including the billionaire Uihlein family, who made a fortune in office supplies, the Greens, who run Hobby Lobby, and the Wallers, who own the Jockey apparel corporation. Recipients of Ziklag’s largesse include Alliance Defending Freedom, which is the Christian legal group that led the overturning of Roe v. Wade, plus the national pro-Trump group Turning Point USA and a constellation of right-of-center advocacy groups.

While $12 million is a drop in the bucket given what other right-wing groups are spending for the election, it’s the potential of this effort that’s more disturbing because it clearly aims to become a hub for furthering the conservative Christian cause. It’s also doing all this while claiming to be a non-profit organization that, theoretically, cannot promote political candidates.

ProPublica and Documented presented the findings of their investigation to six nonpartisan lawyers and legal experts. All expressed concern that Ziklag was testing or violating the law.

The reporting by ProPublica and Documented “casts serious doubt on this organization’s status as a 501(3) organization,” said Roger Colinvaux, a professor at Catholic University’s Columbus School of Law.

“I think it’s across the line without a question,” said Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer, a University of Notre Dame law professor.

This tactic isn’t new for religious groups. Many pastors actively endorse candidates from the pulpit, practically begging the IRS to revoke their tax exemptions so that they can take the fight to federal court. The IRS hasn’t done anything about it. In this case, the possibility of not being able to write donations off on their taxes may not be much of a deterrent to donors, but the loss of anonymity could be.

What’s the ultimate goal here? Their own documents say they want to “take dominion over the Seven Mountains.” The “Seven Mountains” mandate refers to Christians taking over the areas of Religion, Family, Education, Entertainment, Media, Government, and Business in order to influence every aspect of our lives. In this case, that means destroying the public school system (by pushing for private school vouchers and homeschooling), opposing LGBTQ rights, and funding ballot initiatives that deal with “culture war” issues.

(They also want to make sure 80% of all films are rated G or PG (i.e. family friendly)… which feels like a goal that’s completely out of their control.)

Most of their goals are indistinguishable from what conservative Christians have been pushing for decades anyway, but it’s the voter purging and election conspiracy theories that really make this group stand out. Ziklag has given money to Republicans who claimed the 2020 election was stolen, which it wasn’t, while also supporting their efforts to create “integrity infrastructure” in multiple states. In particular, one of these activists is promoting “EagleAI,” a tool that helps process challenges against ineligible voters.

According to an internal video, Ziklag plans to invest $800,000 in “EagleAI’s clean the rolls project,” which would be one of the largest known donations to the group. 

Just last week, however, NBC News reported that conservatives were complaining about the fact that EagleAI didn’t work in at least one state.

This entire story in many ways is just a revised version of one we’ve heard many times before—except with more money behind it. The way to respond, however, is the same. It’s making people aware of what sort of future lies in store if these people ever amass enough power. It’s one that’s not safe for non-Christians or Christians who don’t agree with the donors’ extremely conservative agenda. It’s one that would make life harder for religious, political, and racial minorities.

It’s also telling that these wealthy Christians are not coming together to help the poor, feed the hungry, or inspire people to become Christians through their good works. They don’t give a shit about any of that. They just want to force their will upon everybody else, and they’ll use their money and power to do it.