This event takes place in person at Charis and on Crowdcast, Charis' virtual event platform. This event is free, but registration is required for virtual attendance. Please read the in-person event guidelines at the bottom of this page to be sure you can participate in the event. 

Charis welcomes Matthew Boedy in conversation with Tina Pippin for a discussion of The Seven Mountains Mandate: Exposing the Dangerous Plan to Christianize America and Destroy Democracy, which exposes the decades-long plan to radically transform America--how the seven mountains movement, prosperity preachers, and political operatives are destroying democracy under Trump's second administration.

The movement to install a populist strongman in the White House with a game plan for enforcing right-wing policies and catering to evangelical Christians started well before Donald Trump's first candidacy. For decades, a well-funded network of religious and political operatives has been quietly working to dismantle democracy and replace it with Christian theocracy. Their strategy? The seven mountains mandate--a plan to seize control of seven key pillars of American society and reshape the nation:

Scholar Matthew Boedy exposes how this movement--driven by prosperity preachers, extremist politicians, and right-wing power brokers--laid the groundwork for Trump's presidency and is now advancing its agenda under his second administration. From local school board elections to billion-dollar megachurches, this multi-pronged effort is reshaping the country in ways most Americans don't even realize. Discover what has motivated the key players in this movement, how they've operated, and what is the unprecedented role of millennial "kingmaker" Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA and the new face of Christian nationalism and the seven mountains movement, who believes that "we finally have a president who understands the seven mountains of cultural influence."

Today's news is so much more than the scattershot orders of an extreme administration. With Project 2025 policies in motion, the seven mountains movement is closer than ever to its goal of turning America into a Christian nationalist state. Leaders of this movement have been playing a long game, undermining democracy to establish a theocracy, but it's not too late to halt their progress and reverse the tide. This book reveals what's happening behind the scenes--and what you can do to stop it.

Matthew Boedy was targeted by Turning Point USA in 2016 and listed on its “professor watchlist” after speaking up against allowing concealed guns on college campuses. As one of the foremost experts on Turning Point USA and its founder and CEO Charlie Kirk, Boedy exposes their role in perpetuating Christian nationalism in the United States and the threat to democracy they pose. With a background in journalism, an MFA in creative writing, and a PhD in rhetoric, he is a dynamic and experienced scholar whose first book, Speaking of Evil, explored the evolving rhetoric surrounding evil. Boedy currently teaches rhetoric and composition courses at the University of North Georgia and lives in Gainesville, Georgia, with his wife and two daughters.

Tina Pippin is the Wallace M. Alston Professor of Bible and Religion at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA. She was a member of The Bible and Culture Collective (The Postmodern Bible, Yale UP, 1995), the author of Death and Desire: The Rhetoric of Gender in the Apocalypse of John (WJK, 1999; reprint Cascade, 2021); Apocalyptic Bodies: The Biblical End of the World in Text and Image (Routledge, 1999) and the co-editor with Cheryl Kirk-Duggan of Mother Goose, Mother Jones, Mommie Dearest: Biblical Mothers and Their Children (SBL, 2009), along with other publications on apocalyptic and the Bible and film studies. Her most recent book is The Actual Jesus (Cascade, August 2025). Tina is the first recipient of the American Academy of Religion’s Excellence in Teaching Award. She is currently President-Elect of the Society of Biblical Literature. Tina is an activist-educator and also co-hosts a radical pedagogy podcast with Lucia Hulsether, Nothing Never Happens, at https://nothingneverhappens.org/.

The event is free and open to all people, but we encourage and appreciate a donation of $5-20 in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Donate on Crowdcast or via our website: www.chariscircle.org/donate or in person at the event.

Charis Books is a fully wheelchair accessible space with on site van accessible parking, two ramps, and additional overflow accessible parking nearby. Additional accessibility information can be found on the Accessibility page of our website. 

In-person event guidelines:

All attendees must wear a face mask during the event.

We will begin seating people at 7:00 PM ET.

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The Seven Mountains Mandate: Exposing the Dangerous Plan to Christianize America and Destroy Democracy -- Matthew Boedy in Conversation with Tina Pippin