Trump’s religious supporters not only see him as a leader, but as God’s man. That should give us all pause.

The 2024 presidential election wasn’t just an election. It was the election to solidify the deification of Donald Trump. If that sounds crazy and frightening to you, it should. For many voters, Trump isn’t just the head of the Republican Party. He is a God-ordained leader, meant to bring religion and morality back to America.

Trump now has a divine mandate after this election, in the minds of his supporters, and that will bring havoc to the separation of church and state. There will be no separation. Trump supporters like it that way.

Here’s why.

In Trump’s first administration, religious leaders likened him to King Cyrus, because they believed he would be a benevolent leader. After Jan. 6, 2021, and since the assassination attempt in July, religious leaders have dubbed him Jehu, who killed Jezebel in scripture and took over the kingdom of Israel to rid it of idols.

No coincidence, then, that Trump backers called Vice President Kamala Harris “Jezebel.”

Much of this talk comes from religious leaders like Doug Sheets, who has been touting Trump’s win as ushering in “the most supernatural era” and a “higher level of Christianity.”

What that means is that everything Trump will do in this new administration, including his promise of mass deportations, tariffs, destroying the U.S. Department of Education, and retribution, will have religious overtones and meaning for his loyal followers.

I’m certain Sheets’ description of a higher level of Christianity is not appropriate for the kinds of things the Trump administration will be up to, but I can say that this brand of Christianity won’t be turning the other cheek.

In fact, Trump’s religious supporters want him to do anything but turn the other cheek. It is because they believe in Dominionism, the extra-biblical teaching that Christians should be in every level of authority and power, in government, education, entertainment, and other public endeavors. It privileges Christianity over — and against — other religious groups.

It also believes that people and places can be possessed by demons. That’s right. Demons.

Understand that this time around, Trump’s religious supporters not only see him as a leader, but as God’s man, ordained to smite those who have persecuted him or stood in his way.

That’s why you won’t hear much sympathy for the outgoing president, his cabinet, or those who tried to hold Trump accountable for Jan. 6. When Trump pardons Jan. 6 offenders and comes after the Jan. 6 committee — Liz Cheney and others who have made his enemies list — no one should be surprised. The language Trump used of “the enemy within” will become not only a mantra of retribution but of divine justice, wielded by God’s chosen one.

So much for the separation of church and state, and “no religious test” for elected leaders.

Trump’s religious supporters want him to do anything but turn the other cheek.

The church — that is, Trump’s religious followers and his coreligionist politicians — will not only dismantle government, per Project 2025, during his administration but also favor Christian religious organizations and empower them to reshape education and civic life.

Project 2025 believes that government law and policy should be informed by Christian nationalist belief: that the identity of America and Christianity should be one, and that America is, more than anything else, a Christian nation. Much of this is already occurring on the state level, with edicts such as the one in Oklahoma introducing Trump Bibles in classrooms across the state.

Because the thrust of Project 2025 is to restore the family to the center of public life in America, restrictions on reproductive rights and the rights of LGBTQ people will most likely become more stringent. Religious education will be funded at public expense. Expect book bans to continue, and public education to be gutted.

While there are some who see Trump as a savior, they may be in for a surprise.

The Trump administration intends to remove the rules stating that Immigration and Customs Enforcement cannot arrest undocumented people at churches, schools, or hospitals. What happens when ICE begins to raid schools, churches, and hospitals? Will Christians still support him then?

» READ MORE: ‘The Lord Almighty,’ divine intervention, and the misplaced role of religion in politics | Opinion

Will there be another Muslim ban like the one Trump imposed early in his previous presidency, to prevent Muslims from coming into America?

All of this should give believers, atheists, and agnostics pause.

America’s revolution was a revolt against a king whose right to rule was derived from divine authority. It was that revolt that ensured religious freedom could exist here. Come Jan. 20, that will not be the goal of the new administration.

The freedom Trump’s supporters want is the freedom to lord it over the rest of us — in the name of their version of the Lord.

Anthea Butler is the Geraldine R. Segal Professor in American Social Thought in religious studies at the University of Pennsylvania.