America’s Second Civil War

Sadly, I think it’s time we all recognize the obvious. America’s Second Civil War has arrived. It started in 2020. We don’t tend to think of it that way, because we don’t have federal troops attacking American citizens (yet), but our unelected president (Joe Biden) keeps threatening to do it in one political speech after another, whenever he talks about gun control. He seems to favor the idea of using F-15s to bomb Americans, antiquating himself a bit. I’m sure he really means F-22s and F-35s. I’m actually surprised he hasn’t mentioned the B-2 bombers yet. Maybe that’s because he’s saving those for Russia. 

The Political Side

America’s Civil War 2 hasn’t gone that far (yet), but it may be coming soon. Right now, the kind of warfare we see Americans engaged in is political persecution, economic persecution and weaponizing the justice system in “legal-warfare” or “lawfare.” The political persecution consists of demonization, and labelling anyone who doesn’t hold to a Leftist ideology as a “traitor” to America. How often are we told that “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) supporters are traitorous insurrectionists? This bleeds over into economic persecution with the cancelling of bank accounts and means of financial transactions, de-platforming, no-fly lists, denial of services and other forms of economic coercion. Finally, we are now beginning to see the emergence of lawfare, which is using the apparatus of the justice system for suing, prosecution and incarceration of political prisoners. We see this happening right now with Steve Bannon and Donald Trump. Both men will serve time behind bars for “crimes” that nobody else would have been prosecuted for, while Democrats remain immune from prosecutions for things far worse. The only reason why Bannon and Trump were prosecuted is because they present a political threat to the Democrat-controlled Deep State. They’re just the first on the list. More political prisoners will follow, many more, starting with the January 6, 2021 (J6) protesters, if the Democrats successfully keep hold of the Whitehouse after the November election.

That leads us to who the belligerents are in America’s Second Civil War. They are the Democrat-controlled Deep State versus those who support the MAGA agenda. Primarily, MAGA operates within the Republican Party, but the movement itself is much larger than that. There are many MAGA Democrats out there, as well as MAGA independents, and MAGA third-party members. All of them present a threat to the Democrat-controlled Deep State, and this 2024 election cycle (just like 2020) is NOT “politics as usual.”

MAGA wants something that is above and beyond the traditional and weak “loyal opposition” of the old-guard Republican Party (GOP). MAGA wants absolute border security, mass deportation of illegal migrants, justice upon those who persecute conservative Americans, and radical decentralization (downsizing) of the federal government. That would mean dismantling most of the Deep State, which would effectively end the 91 year reign of Democrat-control of the Deep State. (It started with Franklin Roosevelt in the New Deal, which began the process of radically expanding and empowering the federal government.)

Most people who work government jobs are Democrats. Keeping them employed, and on the federal payroll, is essential for the Democrat Party to maintain absolute control of the federal system, even while they lose elections from time to time. It’s worked well for Democrats for nearly a century, which is why the nation always seems to move Left, even when Republicans win elections. The Democrats cannot afford to lose control of the Deep State, nor can they allow the Deep State to be dismantled — not even partially. This is why they will stop at nothing to stop Donald J. Trump from getting back into the Whitehouse. Then, after he is stopped, they will begin going after his supporters (MAGA) in earnest with more cancel culture and lawfare. The number of political prisoners will increase as people fear speaking too conservatively, lest they get cancelled and investigated themselves. This is the trajectory of the Democrat-controlled Deep State right now, and it’s only going to get worse if the Democrats win again in November. 

In addition to cancel culture and lawfare, the Democrats have used race-baiting to invoke nationwide riots in the past (2020), and they will surely do it again if they feel that they need to. The 2020 BLM/Antifa riots cost many Americans their jobs and businesses, not to mention the billions of dollars in property damage, injury and death. What MAGA did on January 6, 2001 (J6) was not an insurrection, by any stretch of the imagination or the definition of the word. It was only an “insurrection” in the Democrat mind, because for the first time in nearly a century, the American people expressed discontent with the Democrat Deep-State rigging a presidential election, and that just cannot be tolerated. What happened on January 6, 2021 at the Capitol Building was not an insurrection, but it was a warning, a shot fired across the bow of the Democrat Deep-State. The American people have had enough and we are becoming ungovernable. What was intended to be a peaceful protest outside the Capitol Building, turned into an uncontrolled riot. If something doesn’t change soon, what happened on January 6 will seem like a rowdy, rock concert. What’s coming next will be far worse. That’s not a threat. That’s an observation. This is an easy lesson to learn for any student of history. We are now at the breaking point, the very cusp, of real violence. If, a year from now, the American people do not believe our presidential elections are valid anymore, it’s pretty obvious what comes next. The same thing will happen to America as what happens in other countries, wherever the people no longer believe their president is validly elected. It gets ugly.

The nature of Civil War 2 is different from Civil War 1. That war (1861-1865) wasn’t really a civil war according to the definition. That war was a War of Secession, similar to the American Revolution in so many ways. The main difference being that unlike the American Revolution, in the so-called “Civil War,” the rebels lost. Civil War 2 is different, because it is a real civil war according to the definition. Two opposing parties are moving outside of “politics as usual” for control of a single federal government. The Confederate South had no desire to control Washington DC. They just wanted to secede and be left alone. MAGA wants to take control of the federal government away from the Democrat-controlled Deep State, and the Democrats will do just about anything to prevent that from happening.

The Religious Side

There is always a religious side to every war, but it’s not always so obvious to see. In this case, however, we are seeing a religious dimension to a conflict that has never before been seen in North American history. The Democrat-controlled Deep State is at war with Christianity, particularly conservative and traditional Catholics right now. Presumably Evangelicalism is “next” on their hit list. We see this with the weaponization of the FBI against traditional Catholic Churches, not just in the Richmond area, but throughout the entire United States. We have never seen this in North America before. This is more reminiscent of the penal laws against Catholics in the U.K. from 1558 to 1829, or the infiltration of Catholic Churches under Marxist and Fascist regimes in Europe, Russia and other parts of the world during the 20th century. The weaponization of federal agencies against Christians adds a dynamic to this war that pits the federal government against God Himself. No American wants this, except the most extreme radicals on the Left.

The Leftist Media has already laid the groundwork for total war against Christians in the United States by creating the label of “Christian Nationalism” and attaching it to MAGA. The technical description of Christian Nationalism is correct. Christian Nationalists consist of Christians (Catholics, Protestants, etc.) whose political beliefs are defined by their Christian religion. This is unacceptable to Democrats, who are accustomed to rewarding Catholic politicians who go against the teachings of the Catholic Church. The term “nationalism” is technically correct too, because Christians historically and typically oppose global governance, for fear of the rise of the prophesied Antichrist. As a result, Christians historically and typically oppose globalism, and embrace some form of nationalist tendencies, at least on a political level. Christians have no problem with a spiritual unity of the globe under Christ the King, but no Christian wants to see that materialize in the form of a global government. 

The Leftist Media, however, sees all of this as a bad thing, and frequently demonizes patriotic Christians by calling them “Christian Nationalists.” Some, like myself, realize the futility of fighting the media over this label, so we have decided to lean into it and embrace it, sort of like the term “yankee” that the British gave to the colonial rebels. (It was not a compliment by the way.) Americans leaned into the term, particularly in the Northeast, and now nobody takes offense to the word, except some Southerners. 

By branding Christian Nationalism to MAGA, which the Leftist Media constantly attacks, they’re setting the stage for future persecutions of Christianity under the next Democrat presidential administration. From the prospective of the Democrat-controlled Deep State, Christian Nationalists are a threat to American national security. In other words, the Deep State is worried about bureaucrats losing their jobs. So they send in the FBI.

To Christian Nationalists, this is a fight for religious freedom and the preservation of American Christian culture. Literally, our whole reason for existence is at stake. It is something we don’t want to have to fight and die for, but we will if we have to. The Democrat-controlled Deep State, along with Democrat politicians, and the Leftist Mainstream Media have successfully turned America’s Second Civil War into a religious conflict. Every student of history knows that religious wars do not end quickly. They drag on for decades, and sometimes centuries. The rise of Christian Nationalism, linked to MAGA for now, is the beginning of something that will last a very long time, whether successful in this election or not.

Are you starting to see now why this is NOT “politics as usual” anymore?

The Future

America’s Second Civil War can only go in one of two directions…

Direction One: Regardless of who wins the November presidential election, if the Democrat-controlled Deep State backs off of its persecution of MAGA and Christian Nationalists, the warfare can remain on a political level, and perhaps one day return to something closer to “politics as usual.” This would be a quick and possibly peaceful resolution. It requires Democrats to admit they’ve overplayed their hand and take corrective action.

Direction Two: Regardless of who wins the November presidential election, if the Democrat-controlled Deep State ratchets up its cancel culture and lawfare against MAGA and Christian Nationalists, we can only look forward to decades of conflict, taking on an ever increasing religious tone. Some of that conflict will become violent. Most of that violence will come from the Democrat side, as they have already demonstrated they are willing to do with everything from BLM to Antifa, and some of that violence might be returned in kind. Civil War 2 won’t be played out with organized armies like the First Civil War. This warfare will span politics, law, media and mobs, occasionally erupting into pockets of asymmetrical warfare. Consider the activities of Sinn Féin and the Irish Republican Army over the last century. We can expect something similar to evolve in the United States if the Democrat-controlled Deep State ratchets up its cancel culture and lawfare against MAGA and Christian Nationalism. The very thing they say they’re trying to prevent with these actions, will actually become its cause. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

Everybody loses Civil War 2 if it goes in the second direction. Washington DC will eventually buckle under decades of this kind of war. It’s a “death by a thousand paper cuts” scenario. No government anti-Christian policy has ever survived it. Governments that don’t capitulate eventually collapse. Why should ours be any different? The only governments that managed to last a while are those that have suspended all freedoms and the right to keep and bear arms (China, North Korea, Cuba, etc.). This, however, is just temporary. Even their collapse is inevitable.

The Democrats have had five decades to seize our guns and they failed. It’s too late now. If the Democrat-controlled Deep State wants to go the way of the second direction, it’s going to be a very long, drawn-out conflict that Washington will eventually lose. If not in this generation, then certainly the next, as religious wars always last at least two generations, sometimes longer. Americans will be robbed of their peace for generations. With the eventual collapse of the federal government, American money will become worthless, the nation will break apart, and some states will begin physically fighting over borders and resources. They say the United States rose to greatness only because Europe picked at itself for a hundred years with internal conflicts, two world wars, and communist occupation. Is it now time for Americans to start a hundred years of picking at ourselves through a protracted civil war with religious overtones? And if we do, who will rise to take America’s place? China?

Perhaps it’s best to not take the second direction of Civil War 2. Perhaps Democrats should admit they overreached and dial things back as far as possible. Was it really worth it? Do we really want to go down this path? There is time to back out now, but that window of opportunity is closing. I would like to think there are still a few Democrats who will do the right thing. A lifetime of experience with conservatives has taught me something about us. We are primarily reactionary in nature. We tend to be rather docile when there is nothing to react to. Eliminate the overreach, and our people will generally stop reacting. Ratchet up the overreach, and I imagine there is no limit to the amount of reaction that can happen. Four years ago, I would have never dreamed of leaning into a term like “Christian Nationalism.” Now, it just seems natural. As a Roman Catholic, it is the doctrinal position of my Church anyway (Integralism — the Social Kingship of Jesus Christ), and there are plenty of Protestants with similar beliefs, especially the political wing of Evangelicalism. See what a little bit of overreach can do? It’s united Practicing Catholics and Evangelical Protestants against Democrats at a religious level. Do we really want to see how much further this can go?

Civil War 2 will end someday. That is guaranteed. What is also guaranteed (as a result) is a much smaller, and more impotent, federal government. It will either come peacefully, through voluntary downsizing of the Deep State, with decentralization of power back to the states. Or it will come forcefully through years (to decades) of political, cultural, legal and asymmetrical warfare until the federal government buckles and either capitulates or implodes. Let’s pray to God that the people in power (and this includes the unelected Deep State) do the right thing by thinking of America First and what is best for the American People. It requires cooler heads to prevail, and a willingness to let the people govern themselves. In other words, it requires Americans to act like Americans, even if they’re Democrats. If that happens, a peaceful and reasonable conclusion to Civil War 2 can begin. If not, God only knows what comes next. May he have mercy on us all.

Shane Schaetzel is an author of Catholic books and he is an Evangelical convert to the Catholic Church. His articles have been featured on LifeSiteNews, The Remnant Newspaper, Forward in Christ, and Catholic Online. You can read Shane’s books at ShaneSchaetzel.Com