High in the Appalachian hills of Jackson County, Tennessee, Josh Abbotoy sees more than timber and pasture; he sees a fortress for a radical worldview, disguised as a quiet country neighbourhood. As he hikes a ridge overlooking the lush greenery, he describes a vision that goes far beyond the standard American dream of a white picket fence.

Abbotoy, the founder of the real estate firm Ridgerunner, is building what he terms an "affinity-based community." While on the surface it promises a return to agrarian simplicity centered around a church and farm, it is explicitly designed as a physical stronghold for a hardening ideology: Christian Nationalism. This is not merely a housing development; it is a rejection of modern democracy.

The Architecture of Exclusion

The project targets a specific demographic: conservatives who feel alienated by mainstream American culture. Abbotoy markets the land to those seeking "faith, family, and freedom," a slogan that resonates with many religious communities globally, including here in Kenya. However, the application of these values in Jackson County has taken a sharp, exclusionary turn.

Abbotoy admits that his development is not for everyone. It is a curated gathering of like-minded individuals who wish to separate themselves from what they view as a decaying society. "A customer might very well buy and build roughly where we're standing right now," Abbotoy noted during a tour of the site, signaling the transition from ideological concept to physical reality.

Rolling Back Rights

The controversy exploded in late 2024 when a local TV news report exposed the extreme views held by some of Ridgerunner’s first and most vocal clients. Among them are Andrew Isker, a pastor, and C Jay Engel, a businessman. These men do not just advocate for conservative fiscal policy; they are self-described Christian Nationalists who openly question the foundational progress of the last 100 years.

Their rhetoric includes:

• Questioning Female Suffrage: Debating whether granting women the right to vote was a mistake.
• Rejecting Civil Rights: Casting doubt on the merits of the 1960s Civil Rights Movement.
• Mass Deportation: Calling for the expulsion of legal immigrants on a scale exceeding even the most aggressive political proposals currently in Washington.

Their rallying cry, "Repeal the 20th Century," suggests a desire to dismantle the legal frameworks that protect minorities and women. For Kenyan readers, who often look to the US as a complex barometer of democracy, this development highlights a fracturing of Western religious identity—where faith is increasingly conflated with ethno-nationalist politics.

A Quiet Expansion

Initially, Abbotoy’s operations in Tennessee and neighbouring Kentucky went largely unnoticed. It was only when the ideological specifics of his "affinity community" came to light that locals began to pay attention. The project raises uncomfortable questions about the future of community living in polarized nations: Are we moving toward a world where neighbours are chosen not by geography, but by their willingness to adhere to a specific, rigid political dogma?

As Ridgerunner continues to sell lots, the development stands as a tangible symbol of America's deepening divide—a place where the clock is being intentionally turned back, one acre at a time.