Christian Billionaires Funding America’s Next Culture War
How the Gospel of Money Became the Toolbox of Christian Nationalism
A giant arena, thousands of believers, hands in the air, phones glowing, flags waving. This isn’t some quiet prayer meeting; it looks and sounds like a political rally dressed up as church. On the big screens, the words “Opening the Heavens” blaze over a stage packed with preachers, worship leaders, and security. You can feel what this really is even before anyone opens their mouth: not saving souls, but gearing up for a power grab. As the music dies down, the crowd keeps shouting and praying, waiting for the next man of God to tell them what the “enemy” is doing and how they’re going to stop it.
Pastor Hank Kunneman steps up to the mic, his face blown up on the jumbo screens, and the whole place leans in. AP described the scene: thousands cheering as preacher after preacher told them Donald Trump is God’s chosen man to defeat the “forces of darkness.” Kamala Harris is cast as Jezebel, a demonised villain in their spiritual war script. This isn’t about normal politics anymore; this is angels versus demons, and anyone who disagrees with them gets pushed into the “darkness” camp.
Then comes the part that should make every supposedly “neutral” observer choke. The crowd stands up to recite something called the “Watchman Decree.” The words flash on the massive screens. Together, in one loud voice, they pledge themselves to a government that “honors God,” with “righteous” laws and “biblical” court rulings. And then the line that gives the game away: they promise to “take back and permanently control” positions of leadership in government, business, and culture. Not participate. Not share. Permanently control. That’s not faith. That’s a takeover plan.
Kunneman then prays like he’s doing exorcism on the entire political system: “We break every curse against Donald Trump — we break every satanic incantation against his presidency.” AP recorded those exact words. In that moment, the man on stage is not talking about feeding the poor, forgiving sins, or loving enemies. He is publicly blessing one politician, one party, and one culture war as if heaven itself was on the campaign payroll. It’s religion turned into a shield for raw power.
What’s Really Going On
On the surface, the culture war in the U.S. seems to be about “values” or “morality.” But underneath that shenanigans, it’s about money, power, and an elite squad of self-proclaimed Christian billionaires who’ve turned faith into a weapon. These guys are engineering policy, law, education reform, and public life to match their version of “Christian America.”
For instance, Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, oil-industry billionaires in Texas, have dumped tens of millions into campaigns and PACs aimed at electing lawmakers who’ll dismantle public education, privatize schools, and fold state power into theocratic aims. (ProPublica)
Another example: wealthy donors bankroll networks of Christian-nationalist organizations whose real goal isn’t just “religious freedom”—it’s reshaping the state into their version of Christian governance. (Truthout)
The language is polite: “school choice,” “religious liberty,” “parental rights.” But beneath that veneer lies a deliberate campaign to rewrite who rules whom in America.
The Key Players
Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks built a power machine in Texas that funds elections, nonprofits, and media outlets—all aligned with a Christian-nationalist strategy. (ProPublica)
Other big donors fund voucher programs, think tanks, and “culture war” causes. One article puts it bluntly: “Funded by a 1 percent of megadonors … the religious right has grown to a grotesque size.” (Truthout)
Foundations and dark-money vehicles act as funnels—moving fortunes through nonprofit shells to hide political goals behind the curtain of “faith-based giving.”
These aren’t passive philanthropists. They’re active power players who hire strategists, buy media, influence courts, and fund legislation.
What They’re Funding
School Vouchers and Privatization
These billionaires push hard for voucher schemes that funnel public money into private (often Christian) schools. Despite evidence of harm, voucher programs remain a cornerstone of their agenda. (Religion Dispatches)
Christian Nationalism and Political Campaigns
Dunn and Wilks have financed candidates who openly aim to replace public institutions with Christian-governed ones. They’ve backed the idea that only Christians should hold leadership roles. (ProPublica)
Legal and Cultural Infrastructure
Groups like the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) are backed by huge donations to pursue lawsuits, legislation, and culture-shaping programs that restrict LGBTQ rights, reproductive rights, and freedom of expression. (Wikipedia)
What Is It to You?
Because this isn’t just about one school board or one state legislature. It’s about who gets to decide how America works.
Public institutions are being hollowed out by private religious funding. When public schools crumble under voucher programs, the public sphere shrinks.
The state becomes a religious tool, enforcing a narrow moral code instead of protecting pluralism.
And while voters are distracted by “moral battles,” these billionaires quietly lock in tax cuts, deregulation, and pro-corporate laws that keep their wealth growing.
As ProPublica reports, the strategy isn’t short-term. It’s a generational power grab.
Contradictions and the Ugly Truth
Many of these Christian billionaires preach moral purity while backing business practices, tax loopholes, and deregulation that exploit the poor. They quote scripture while lobbying for policies that cut food programs, weaken unions, and privatize everything.
The “faith” campaign is structured as elite power capture. It co-opts religious language to expand ruling-class influence, not to serve the poor or vulnerable.
The public may think these donations go to charity or education, but the money flows into political machines. Dunn and Wilks’ empire, for example, targeted state legislatures and media ecosystems, turning Texas into a lab for Christian-nationalist governance. (ProPublica)
Their Strategy and Tactics
Dark-Money Networks
Behind the friendly “Christian charity” label lie political PACs, think tanks, and front groups funded through anonymous donations.
Vouchers and School Reform
By redirecting public funds into private Christian schools, they reshape how children learn—and how future citizens think. (Religion Dispatches)
Legal Warfare
Christian legal outfits like ADF work to legalize religious privilege in public spaces and restrict minority rights through court cases and state laws.
Cultural Engineering
They don’t just want policy victories—they want to reprogram the public’s moral compass. The goal isn’t compromise. It’s dominance.
How They Sell It
They package the movement with soft words like “freedom,” “choice,” and “parents’ rights.” They cast themselves as defenders of “real America” and paint progressives, secularists, and educators as villains.
In reality, these are multimillionaires using faith as a marketing brand. They’ve turned religion into a corporate franchise—complete with slogans, lobbyists, and PR firms.
The Stakes and the Consequences
If their plan works, the fallout is massive:
Public schools, libraries, and courts will serve narrow religious interests.
Minority rights will shrink as Christian norms dominate policy.
The rich will grow richer under policies designed by their own think tanks.
Dissent will be demonized as unpatriotic or ungodly.
This isn’t a “values debate.” It’s a slow-motion coup—disguised as moral revival.
The Pushback
Some academics, journalists, and nonprofits are finally exposing these funding flows. Scholar Josh Cowen, for instance, has traced how billionaires weaponized “school choice” to wage a culture war. (NC Newsline)
Younger generations, less religious and more inclusive, are starting to see through the game. But the billionaire class has time, patience, and endless cash. They’re not backing down.
What to Watch For
Massive “faith-based” donations tied to political campaigns.
Laws using “religious liberty” or “parental rights” to justify discrimination.
Think tanks and media outlets posing as Christian nonprofits while pushing political propaganda.
Voucher programs draining public education to fund religious indoctrination.
Lawsuits that use religion to chip away at equal rights.
Why It’s Happening Now
America’s facing economic anxiety, political fatigue, and cultural upheaval. The Christian billionaire class sees chaos as opportunity.
They want to rebuild the nation in their image: white, conservative, and obedient. The culture war gives them a divine excuse to hoard money and control the future—while claiming moral superiority.
The Endgame
If they win, America won’t collapse overnight. It will quietly morph into something unrecognizable:
Schools will preach theology instead of science.
Courts will quote scripture instead of law.
Public money will flow to churches, not communities.
And democracy will rot from the inside while still pretending to function.
These people don’t need tanks or armies. They have lobbyists, lawyers, and endless cash. That’s how theocracy wins in the 21st century—one donation at a time.
Final Thoughts
This isn’t a friendly disagreement between religious and secular Americans. It’s a struggle between a handful of rich believers trying to own the system and everyone else who still believes in equality, pluralism, and public life.
If you value public schools, civil rights, and freedom of belief, pay attention. The Christian billionaire machine isn’t just preaching—it’s planning, funding, and building your future without asking.
And if you’ve read this far, ask yourself: Who’s really doing God’s work—the teacher, the nurse, the worker—or the billionaire in the pulpit buying a country?
Subscribe now to be first to read tomorrow’s sequel for paid members— How Christian Billionaires Captured the Courts — and see how the same money driving America’s culture war is quietly taking over its justice system.
These folks have funded the long game and the results are pouring in. I have never understood why Christians have allowed their faith to be used for evil and un-Chirstlike behavior. But the evidence shows it has happened and people of good faith have been duped.
The solution can't be other than the frequency of the American spirit of Freedom countering the enslavement of the mind so well described in this article.