# Joshua Abbotoy Harvard-educated lawyer turned Christian nationalist land developer — the man literally buying the territory for the [[Christian Network State]]. As Executive Director of [[American Reformer]], Managing Director of [[Nate Fischer]], and founder of RidgeRunner USA, Abbotoy is the operational architect of the Highland Rim Project: a multimillion-dollar real estate development in rural Tennessee designed to physically concentrate conservative Christians into a self-governing community. If [[Balaji Srinivasan]] wrote the blueprint and [[Nate Fischer]] provides the capital, Abbotoy is the one buying the land and selling the lots. ## Background - Homeschooled. BA in History from Union University. MA in Medieval and Byzantine Studies from Catholic University of America. JD from Harvard Law School. - Private equity lawyer at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, working on transactions exceeding $50B in aggregate value. - Previously worked in-house for private equity clients and at SouthWest Water Company. - **2023 Lincoln Fellow** at the [[Claremont Institute]] — the intellectual nerve center of [[the New Right]], deeply connected to the [[Project 2025]] apparatus. - Twitter/X handle: **@Byzness** (~13,000 followers). The handle — short for "Byzantiness" — tells you everything about his intellectual orientation: not the Enlightenment, not liberal democracy, but the Christian empire that preceded it. ## The Highland Rim Project The most concrete manifestation of the [[Christian Network State]] in America. Announced January 1, 2024. ### What It Is A deliberate real estate development project designed to attract ideologically aligned conservative Christians to the Eastern Highland Rim region of Tennessee and Kentucky. Headquartered around **Jackson County, Tennessee** (Gainesboro — about 90 minutes northeast of Nashville). Not technically an "intentional community" with formal governance — more like a network-driven land play that creates the conditions for one. ### How It Works ``` NEW FOUNDING (Fischer) → provides capital and strategic vision ↓ RIDGERUNNER USA (Abbotoy) → purchases land, develops parcels, sells lots ↓ HIGHLAND RIM PROJECT → recruits settlers through podcast/media network ↓ [[CREC]] CHURCH PLANT (Isker) → Whitleyville Reformation Church provides spiritual infrastructure ↓ RESULT → Geographically concentrated Christian nationalist community with aligned businesses, schools, and eventually political power ``` ### Scale - Abbotoy purchased an initial **450-acre plot for $2.5 million**, subdivided into 39 parcels. - By March 2025: "thousands of acres" in the region, with aspirations to reach "tens of thousands." - Developments include **Brewington Farms** (agrihood near Gainesboro), **Longhollow Acres**, and **The Bend at the Cumberland River** (near Burkesville, Kentucky). - Lot prices: **$39,000–$399,000**. - 40+ households established. Four businesses committed to relocating. Plans for 150 manufacturing jobs by 2027. - Long-term goal: replicate the model across multiple states within two decades. ### The Ideology Abbotoy calls it an "affinity-based community" and describes himself as "a conservative Christian who does land deals." The framing is careful — regionalism, rural revitalization, American values. But the internal documents tell a different story: [[New Founding]] materials state that "leadership and influential positions must be reserved exclusively for those who call Jesus Christ King." The community explicitly opposes DEI and ESG initiatives. A majority of leadership will be "Protestant Christians." The design specifically aims to "draw people from our network into a community that will model a distinct way of life aligned with our vision." This is not conventional real estate development — it's ideological settlement. ## The "Protestant Franco" Controversy In October 2023, Abbotoy published "Is a Protestant Franco Inevitable?" in *[[First Things]]* — the premier Catholic intellectual journal. He tweeted: **"Basically, America is going to need a Protestant Franco."** [[Francisco Franco]] was Spain's fascist dictator from 1939–1975. Abbotoy's argument: unless something changes, America's "anarchic trajectory" would require a strongman like Franco to reestablish order, and this leader would "most naturally be Protestant." MSNBC's Hayes Brown cited it as proof that "Conservatives keep calling for an American dictator." The essay is revealing less for its shock value than for its intellectual framework: it assumes liberal democracy is failing and that the question is not *whether* authoritarianism arrives but *what kind*. This is pure [[Catholic Post-Liberalism]] — Deneen's "regime change" applied to Protestant politics. ## Network Connections ### Nate Fischer / New Founding Fischer and Abbotoy are Harvard Law classmates who co-founded **American Reformer** in 2021 after dissatisfaction with how institutional church leaders responded to the 2020 cultural upheaval (COVID, BLM, George Floyd). Both are Claremont Institute fellows. Fischer provides the capital through New Founding; Abbotoy executes through RidgeRunner. They co-author pieces for American Reformer and co-host the New Founding Podcast. ### Andrew Isker Abbotoy and Isker "had been friendly since meeting a few years ago through mutual friends in conservative and evangelical circles." Isker relocated from Minnesota to Tennessee specifically to partner with the Highland Rim Project, planting **Whitleyville Reformation Church** (CREC) on/near RidgeRunner property. They co-appear on the American Reformer Podcast and Contra Mundum. Isker provides the pastoral infrastructure; Abbotoy provides the physical infrastructure. ### Doug Wilson / CREC Network Abbotoy hosted Wilson on the American Reformer Podcast ("TheoBros" episode) to discuss "building thick Christian communities." While no evidence of formal CREC membership, Abbotoy's intellectual orbit — American Reformer's Reformed Protestant theology, connection to Isker (CREC-ordained), partnership with the CREC church plant — places him squarely in Wilson's network. The Highland Rim Project is, in effect, an extension of the Moscow, Idaho model to Appalachia. See: [[Crusader Complex]] (Wilson preached at [[Pete Hegseth]]'s Pentagon worship services). ### Balaji Srinivasan / Network State Abbotoy explicitly references "the [[Network State]]" and "[[Freedom Cities]]" in interviews, explaining how digital technology fosters new political organization where people with shared affinities create "opt-in societies." **Srinivasan is among New Founding's investors** — a direct financial connection between the secular Network State theorist and the Christian nationalist implementation. See: [[Balaji Srinivasan]], [[The Network State]]. ### Claremont Institute / Project 2025 As a 2023 Claremont fellow, Abbotoy is "deeply connected to the intellectual web behind Project 2025." He reportedly participated in a Project 2025 "strategic planning session" hosted by the [[Heritage Foundation]] in July 2024. The Claremont connection links the Highland Rim "build" strategy to the broader "capture" strategy of institutional takeover. ### Peter Thiel (Indirect) No direct Thiel-to-Abbotoy funding link documented, but the network paths are short: New Founding's investors include Srinivasan (Thiel network), [[Marc Andreessen]] (Thiel's co-investor in [[Pronomos Capital]], [[Founders Fund]] deals, and [[American Dynamism]]). The Claremont Institute — where both Abbotoy and Fischer are fellows — receives funding from Thiel-adjacent donors. See: [[Peter Thiel]]. ## Publications and Media - **American Reformer** — Executive Director and co-founder. Prolific contributor. - **First Things** — "Is a Protestant Franco Inevitable?" (October 2023) - **The Federalist** — Multiple pieces with co-author Jonathan Whitehead - **American Mind** (Claremont publication) — contributor - **The Tennessean** — op-eds (criticized for non-disclosure of Highland Rim ties) - **American Reformer Podcast** — co-host with Timon Cline - **New Founding Podcast** — regular appearances, including "Building Charter Communities in Appalachia — 12 Month Update" ## Why He Matters for This KB Abbotoy represents the **physical infrastructure layer** of the [[Christian Network State]] — the person who converts ideology into real estate, theory into territory, online networks into offline settlements. While [[Curtis Yarvin]] provides the anti-democratic philosophy, [[Balaji Srinivasan]] provides the exit framework, and [[Nate Fischer]] provides the venture capital, Abbotoy is the one closing land deals in Jackson County. The Highland Rim Project is significant because it's not theoretical. It's not a blog post or a book or a manifesto. It's 450 acres, 39 parcels, 40+ households, and a CREC church plant in rural Tennessee. It's the [[Dark Enlightenment]]'s "exit over voice" made literal — except instead of exiting to a seastead or a charter city in Honduras, these particular exiters are building a theocratic enclave in Appalachia. His connections to Claremont and Project 2025 also reveal that the "build" and "capture" wings of the movement are not separate — they're coordinated. Build the community *and* capture the institutions. The Highland Rim settlers plan to exercise local political power (school boards, city councils) while the Claremont network captures federal power. ## See Also - [[Christian Network State]] - [[Nate Fischer]] - [[Andrew Isker]] - [[Balaji Srinivasan]] - [[The Network State]] - [[Dark Enlightenment]] - [[Catholic Post-Liberalism]] - [[The Unholy Alliance]] - [[Crusader Complex]] - [[Peter Thiel]] - [[Curtis Yarvin]] - [[Pete Hegseth]]