At the end of the novel, Heinlein himself steps in with a post script about the story, written in 1952. He could clearly see the handwriting on the wall.

As for the second notion, the idea that we could lose our freedom by succumbing to a wave of religious hysteria, I am sorry to say that I consider it possible. I hope that it is not probable. But there is a latent deep strain of religious fanaticism in this, our culture; it is rooted in our history and it has broken out many times in the past. It is with us now; there has been a sharp rise in strongly evangelical sects in this country in recent years, some of which hold beliefs theocratic in the extreme, anti-intellectual, anti-scientific, and anti-libertarian.

Anti-intellectual, anti-scientific, and anti-libertarian... If you had a checklist, you could definitely check these items off on it.  The anti-intellectual part can be seen in the gutting of programs meant to teach self-sufficiency and help women get beyond their biological processes- the 'abstinence only' programs, the faith-based prison and health programs, the fake abortion clinics, and most chillingly, the deliberate and systematic removal from government websites of material that educates and informs women, poor people, consumers, and citizens about health care and other programs. Women have been hit especially hard here.

Anti-scientific is self- explanatory. The Discovery Institute and its 'wedge' program of intelligent design and 'critical analysis' of scientific teaching, as well as the muzzling and financial gutting of governmental scientific agencies is a definite red flag. Global warming does not exist for the theocrats- it is merely a hastening of Christ's return.

Anti-libertarian shows itself in the brutal and systematic takeover of the Republican party and the decimation of the Democratic party, and any other political party that either does not advance the theocratic wave, or opposes it in any manner. The systematic takeover of religious sects and moderate and liberal churches is another part of this pattern.

Heinlein continues:

It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics. This is equally true whether the faith is Communism or Holy-Rollerism; indeed it is the bounden duty of the faithful to do so. The custodians of the True Faith cannot logically admit tolerance of heresy to be a virtue.

To today's theocrats, 'tolerance' is a dirty word, and in fact, they revel in their intolerance. The idea of heresy being a virtue is an interesting one- the root of the word means 'to choose', and anyone who chooses not to toe the theocratic line is automatically targeted for conversion or ruin in this country.

Nevertheless this business of legislating religious beliefs into law has never been more than sporadically successful in this country - Sunday closing laws here and there, birth control legislation in spots, the Prohibition experiment, temporary enclaves of theocracy such as Voliva's Zion, Smith's Nauvoo, a few others. The country is split up into such a variety of faiths and sects that a degree of uneasy tolerance now exists from expedient compromise; the minorities constitute a majority of opposition against each other.

Could it be otherwise here? Could any one sect obtain a working majority at the polls and take over the country? Perhaps not - but a combination of a dynamic evangelist, television, enough money, and modern techniques of advertising and propaganda might make Billy Sunday's efforts look like a corner store compared to Sears Roebuck. Throw in a depression for good measure, promise a material heaven here on earth, add a dash of anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism, anti-Negroism, and a good large dose of anti-"furriners" in general and anti-intellectuals here at home and the result might be something quite frightening - particularly when one recalls that our voting system is such that a minority distributed as pluralities in enough states can constitute a working majority in Washington.

He nails it.  Hardline Christians taking over a political party: check.

Lots of money, a cowed press, and overt propoganda disguised as 'news': check.

Economy circling the drain: check.

"Left Behind" mentality: check.

Antagonistic beliefs and behavior: check.

Tampering with elections and redistricting places to create a false majority: check.

Here's a quote from the story which is chilling in its application today:

"Secrecy is the keystone of all tyranny. Not force, but secrecy ... [sic] censorship. When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, 'This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know,' the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything —you can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him."