Devout States of America timeline (Patreon)

Government: Federal Theocratic Republic

Religion: Protestant Christianity (organized by the National Church of America)

Capital: Washington, D.C.

Currency: DSD

Political Faction: Revenant Party

History: Due to the 1970s oil crisis and an increasing recession, homelessness and a high crime rate had affected significant portions of American life. By the beginning of the 1980 U.S. election, one deeply-religious Republican presidential candidate named David Farthing was fully aware of growing resentment towards current politics and the status quo. Evangelical movements such as the Moral Majority and televangelism was also steadily rising in popularity across the country. Thanks to his likable charisma and popularity among both old and young conservative voters, Farthing won the election in a landslide victory, alongside his influential vice president-elect, Ronald Reagan. He would have been accepted as the Republican nominee months earlier if not for Farthing’s dedicated evangelical followers, yet he gladly accepted the offer for becoming his candidate for vice president.

The day after being inaugurated, President Farthing and Vice President Reagan then shocked the American public by terminating their membership to the Republic Party, and formed their own: The Revenant Party, an evangelical, right-wing political platform dedicated to ‘religious freedom, God and country, making America devout again and a nation reborn’. Despite vehement backlash from Republican leaders and some constituents, the Revenant Party experienced steady membership over the course of Farthing’s presidency. 

In response to the effects of the oil crisis and unemployment, President Farthing implemented various policies dedicated to making America less dependent on foreign fuel. This involved, but wasn’t limited to, the construction of renewable energy plants such as windmill and solar farms (creating thousands of new jobs), tax breaks on solar-powered homes, the deregulation of alternative energy research and the regulation of oil companies importing oil from the Middle East. Regardless of the vocal opposition from oil and gas companies, whose influence extended to many congressional lobbyists, Farthing’s PR team of economic advisors helped spearhead the ‘New Eden Deal’. He and V.P. Reagan promoted these policies as an opportunity to turn America into an ‘Eden our Lord would be proud to see on Earth’, connecting to both conservative and liberal voters. 

Meanwhile, the new presidency forged strong relationships with various evangelical groups across the country. Farthing closely worked alongside prominent Christian fundamentalists, dominionists and right-wing celebrities concerned about the secularization of American life, one of whom included Jerry Falwell, founder of an organization dedicated to promoting family values called the ‘Moral Majority’. Uniting with Falwell and other national groups in a joint front against the ‘secular menace’, according to a speech he gave during a press conference, the President further consolidated his power and influence among the Christian right. This and a rising job market helped him gain enough votes to win a second term in office.

Between endorsing members for political office and sponsoring pro-family policies, Farthing and his Revenant Party discreetly interfered in certain court cases. They accomplished this by bribery for loyalty, hiring criminals to gaslight opponents and ironically using Soviet-inspired propaganda tactics claiming secularism equated communism. During the Supreme Court case of Bowers v. Hardwick, a case attempting to preserve sodomy laws in the U.S., two former judicial interns accused a Chief Justice of accepting bribery money. Their claims would be dismissed days later after one of them was pulled over for carrying marijuana across state borders. 

Several other pre-Devout cases allegedly swayed in their favor due to some of these tactics are Edwards v. Aguillard, Texas v. Johnson, Romer v. Evans and Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union. In the 1987 Fourth Circuit case of Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, in which Farthing’s long-time colleague sued Hustler’s owner, Larry Flynt, over libel and intent of inflicting emotional distress. Flynt tried appealing to the Supreme Court to reverse the decision, who would have held that First Amendment rights prevented public figures from suing for damages when it came to parody or satire. Unlike out timeline that went in the defendant’s favor, Flynt and his lawyer were assassinated by an unknown shooter before they could file the proper paperwork. Of course, nobody would learn about these connections. Everyone else was more focused on Farthing’s other radical religious policies and the results of the New Eden Deal.

By the end of the 1980s, the United States would no longer heavily rely on foreign oil interests as they once had a decade prior. True to President Farthing and V.P. Reagan’s word, the United States had transformed itself into a new Eden that utilized twice as much renewable energy as it did carbon and oil. Crime and unemployment were at an all-time low thanks to what historians would call ‘revenomics’, while the Revenant Party had endured six years of winning local and state elections. Laws supporting school prayers, Bible studies, and the teaching of intelligent design in learning curriculum passed unanimously in most states. In the meantime, anti-discrimination laws that oppressed practicing Christians were slowly being repealed.

By the end of his second term, Farthing and his political platform had largely ignored a new disease prominently affecting the LGBT population in the country. Harming the immune system by destroying important white blood cells in the body, AIDS was seen by many evangelical Christians as the ‘gay plague’, even though this sexually transmitted disease also infected heterosexuals who were sexually active. Before leaving the White House, Farthing did discuss the possibilities of quarantining HIV-infected Americans with his advisors. 

However, it would be the next president-elect, a rising candidate of the Revenant Party named Pat Robertson, who would bring his mentor’s suggestion to life. Thanks to sensational reporting by press and the televised media, similarly experienced in our own timeline, Robertson and Vice President Mike Huckabee did not need much to further demonize the gay community with this disease. A poll in the 1990 elections would indicate 79% of Americans approved of quarantining citizens carrying the HIV virus. And so, on January 25th, 1990, many U.S. voters were relieved as the President signed an executive order for the National Guard to detain HIV+ individuals into ‘quarantine camps’, alongside another order requiring non-virgins to test themselves for the disease. 

The quarantine camps, though only operating until 2002, further ostracized America from the rest of the world. Many states opposed to the administration’s policies led to further political turmoil against the Revenant Party, who spun the camps as a mission accomplished. A large portion of the population wouldn’t care about the controversy once they heard the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. Freedom-loving American celebrated in the streets, their homes and across the country how one of democracy’s greatest enemies was gone. 

To further unite conservative news and influence media coverage in their favor, President Robertson and fellow party member Rupert Murdoch merged their broadcasting networks to create FaithTV, a government-funded news corporation dedicated to, “preserving the sanctity and integrity of the press, as well as spreading God’s Word to the American people.”

Further divide between secularism and religion extended past the following two elections, as the Democrats held less and less seats in Congress or their state’s legislatures, while the Republican Party dissolved in 1995 due to most previous members joining their new rival. A small majority of citizens were beginning to resent the Revenant Party’s sixteen-year-long domination in presidential elections. They despised the lack of true representation in Washington, D.C.

The American populace largely ignored this divide until the inauguration of the Revenant Party’s newest U.S. President. On January 20th, 1997, in front of a crowd of approximately 1.2 million people, the elected leader made an announcement to his country and the world: 

America was now a nation reborn. And effective immediately, the government would be reorganized to reflect their faith in God. In his famous We are Reborn speech, the new President declared a series of executive orders backed by Congress; Every known church would become subsidiaries to the ‘National Church of America’, the recriminalization of sodomy, abortion and marital infidelity across every state in the Union, abolishing the Equal Rights Amendment, the reformation of the National Guard into the Covenant Guard (repurposing them into a more militarized reserve accepting far-right militiamen into their ranks), replacing the Bill of Rights with the Ten Commandments, and the official establishment of a government organization geared towards public security and counter-terrorism: The Homeland Security Agency.

Lastly, the President proclaimed their country as a Christian nation renamed as the ‘Devout States of America’. 

Many Americans loyal to their country or the Party rejoiced at this proclamation, yet the newly restructured Covenant Guard would be forced to quell many uprisings in numerous states. Within the first several weeks of Devout America, hundreds of protesters would be injured or killed when clashing against these militarized militias. Temporary rebellions in New York City, Boston and Buffalo resulted in the D.S.A. Army being called in, but these were soon insignificant to what was to come.

Despite the President and Revenant Party’s best efforts, the Democratic and Libertarian Party still held substantial legislative control in the states of Alaska, Hawaii, California, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and Colorado, making them one of the last holdouts for moderate and secular thought.

These seven states united under one banner by announcing their secession from the Devout States of America. U.S.-loyal military leaders organized their men and women in the Armed Forces, discharging and imprisoning soldiers who refused to desert, while senators and representatives secretly drafted a new constitution declaring independence. Utah reluctantly joined them once its Mormon governor learned the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was declared ‘heretical’ by the National Church, while Arizona followed due to a mixture of Navajo, Mormon and Catholic-loyal influence in their legislature. 

On July 4th, 1997, based on the principles of the original Founding Fathers and their own Bill of Rights, the Western Republic officially seceded from the former United States. 

The presidential administration retaliated with aggression. They enacted a nationwide media blackout, the government declaring the ‘Immoral States’ as communist-supported rebels and traitors to the Devout States. Captured soldiers were tried in kangaroo courts for treason and sedition while homosexuals, unbelievers and leftists were sent to either reeducation/forced labor camps or conversion clinics. 

Eastern Colorado was reclaimed by the D.S.A. Army in the Battle of Denver on June 2nd, 1997, but Western Republic Armed Forces did not concede. Through various sieges, ambushes, counterstrikes, aerial dogfights and tactics of guerilla warfare, the Western Republic eventually held back the Devout States with the threat of nuclear weapons. However, a ceasefire has not been declared by either nation after twenty-two years of intense hostilities.

By the year 2019, the Western Republic maintains military vigilance against the fanatical government of Devout America. The Republic’s capital was originally in Los Angeles from 1997-2004, until multiple attempts on the vice president’s life prompted their leaders and Congress to relocate in Anchorage, Alaska. Despite this, Los Angeles continues to be a cultural and commercial hub for the rest of the sovereign nation, while the rest of the country manages to self-sustain itself, occasionally accepting supplies and foreign aid. 

To this day, the Disputed Zone continues to see tense surveillance and occasional skirmishes. The Rocky Mountains serve as a natural border between the Western Republic and Devout States, dividing the once-powerful country in two. Rumors of resistance cells echo within the isolated rogue state. However, threats of a nuclear response from either side have prevented the return of conventional warfare.