The US political system is showing clear signs of systemic breakdown, according to a new book by Katherine Stewart, a journalist who specializes in the religious right.

Money, Lies and God

The circulation of democratic ideals is being blocked by concentrated wealth (“huge concentrations of wealth have destabilized the political system”) while Christian nationalist toxins accumulate unchecked. The filtering mechanisms that should maintain healthy democratic function – like reasoned debate and pluralistic values – are being rejected in favor of what Stewart calls “brutal acts of will.”

The symptoms are clear in how these movements operate:

• Wealthy donors acting like blood clots, restricting the flow of democratic participation
• Religious institutions being corrupted from their original purpose (like the 1986 Catholic bishops’ economic justice message being co-opted)
• Strategic infection of young talent into anti-democratic career paths
• Systematic poisoning of election integrity discourse
• Failure of democratic forces to mount an effective immune response due to lack of coordination

Stewart’s diagnosis suggests the condition is advanced but perhaps not yet terminal, which delays sufficient reaction.

There’s no feature as of yet in the American political system that would ensure that the Maga movement is going to rule indefinitely.

But without aggressive intervention to restore healthy democratic function, the prognosis is grim.

The key point: Just as renal failure requires early active medical intervention, saving democracy requires active resistance and coordination immediately from pro-democratic forces. Silence and inaction only allow disease to progress.