april 2023
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Christian Nationalism: A New Religious Establishment Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof Above is the well-known text of the first clause of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. It seems to state clearly that the USA may not have an established church or religion, and that Congress may not outlaw the exercise of any religion. It was this reading that led the Supreme Court in the 1960s to outlaw prayers in public schools, because they amounted to an unconstitutional establishment of a particular religion (Christianity), or even of religion in general, thus violating the rights of minority religions such as Judaism, or those of the nonreligious. (John Peeler/LA Progressive 4/25/23) READ MORE>>>>> 
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Christian nationalists have provoked a pluralist resistance (RNS) — Christian nationalism — the idea that being Christian is core to the American identity — is nothing new, either in American religious culture or its politics. But it used to be a radical proposal, and holding Christian nationalist views disqualified politicians and even clergy from higher leadership. Recently, however, it has been embraced as a badge of honor. A sitting member of Congress has sold “Proud Christian Nationalist” T-shirts on her website. Books defending Christian nationalism are given serious discussion. And according to a recent survey from PRRI, nearly one-third of Americans now hold Christian nationalist attitudes. These developments rightfully raise concern. But there is another, relatively untold, side of this story: The most recent rise of Christian nationalism has ignited a wave of resistance. (Ruth Braunstein/Religion News Service 4/21/23) READ MORE>>>>> |
Zorek Richards
April 6, 2023:
Tim Dickinson writing for Rolling Stone noted that Trump has painted his legal woes in a frame of religious persecution. After his 34 count indictment Trump’s longtime religious adviser Paula White Cain, working with an evangelical group called Intercessors for America, organized an “Emergency Prayer Call” for Trump. He argued that believers in “our beautiful Christianity” have been targeted: “We’re being discriminated against as a religion. We’re being discriminated against as a faith,” he insisted. “And we can’t let that continue.” Laying it on even thicker, Trump declared: “The main thing that our country needs, again, is religion.” He insisted: “I’m fighting, very hard for people of religion, people that believe in God.” Finally, Trump implored his listeners: “I want you to pray really hard, because we have to have a victory in 2024.”
Paula White Cain then moved the call along, asking other prominent guests to make public prayers for the ex-president, who remained on the line. The speakers included Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, Christian Nationalist worship leader Sean Feucht, former acting attorney general Matt Whitaker, and former congress member Michele Bachmann. Feucht used his time to summon “prayer warriors” to “rise up” on Trump’s behalf. He then prayed directly to heaven: “We know that you got a plan God… You can take what the enemy meant for evil in this horrible, corrupt, disgusting, demonic situation with this case in New York [and] you can shift it — and turn it around for our good.” there are some name and groups in there that I once considred honorable. Trump, however, permamently taints anything everyone he touches. He is spiritally and politically toxic.
CBN has an article about the 2024 election. They note that GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley and others are sounding the alarm. "All of this wokeism is trying to change the core of what the family is," Haley tells CBN News. "The family has always been one that prays at home, goes to church, teaches morals, grows their children, and sends them out to do God's work. That's always been the case until now."
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is expected to run, recently echoed that same concern on The 700 Club. "If we teach our kids garbage, if we do not remind them that this is a Judeo-Christian nation and is the most exceptional nation in the history of civilization, if we can't teach them the basics of reading and writing, and reasoning, if we get those things wrong, no secretary of state can fix that problem. The next generation will grow up thinking, gosh, we were taught America is racist. We were taught America is founded on an illogical idea and there is an oppressor class. You can't get those things back," Pompeo said. CBN also mention Trump and Ron DeSantis. Oh, and they also mention Mike Pence....who they think might have a chance...but I say not a single chance in hell.
CNS News reports that "Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D.-N.Y.) has been visiting Christian churches recently, appearing at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem on Sunday, March 26, and at the Evangelical Crusade Christian Church in Brooklyn on Palm Sunday. “It’s such a joy to join together with @SenatorWarnock at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem where he once served and where he’s preaching a guest pastor today,” Schumer said in a tweet he sent out on March 26.
Tim Dickinson writing for Rolling Stone noted that Trump has painted his legal woes in a frame of religious persecution. After his 34 count indictment Trump’s longtime religious adviser Paula White Cain, working with an evangelical group called Intercessors for America, organized an “Emergency Prayer Call” for Trump. He argued that believers in “our beautiful Christianity” have been targeted: “We’re being discriminated against as a religion. We’re being discriminated against as a faith,” he insisted. “And we can’t let that continue.” Laying it on even thicker, Trump declared: “The main thing that our country needs, again, is religion.” He insisted: “I’m fighting, very hard for people of religion, people that believe in God.” Finally, Trump implored his listeners: “I want you to pray really hard, because we have to have a victory in 2024.”
Paula White Cain then moved the call along, asking other prominent guests to make public prayers for the ex-president, who remained on the line. The speakers included Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, Christian Nationalist worship leader Sean Feucht, former acting attorney general Matt Whitaker, and former congress member Michele Bachmann. Feucht used his time to summon “prayer warriors” to “rise up” on Trump’s behalf. He then prayed directly to heaven: “We know that you got a plan God… You can take what the enemy meant for evil in this horrible, corrupt, disgusting, demonic situation with this case in New York [and] you can shift it — and turn it around for our good.” there are some name and groups in there that I once considred honorable. Trump, however, permamently taints anything everyone he touches. He is spiritally and politically toxic.
CBN has an article about the 2024 election. They note that GOP presidential candidate Nikki Haley and others are sounding the alarm. "All of this wokeism is trying to change the core of what the family is," Haley tells CBN News. "The family has always been one that prays at home, goes to church, teaches morals, grows their children, and sends them out to do God's work. That's always been the case until now."
Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is expected to run, recently echoed that same concern on The 700 Club. "If we teach our kids garbage, if we do not remind them that this is a Judeo-Christian nation and is the most exceptional nation in the history of civilization, if we can't teach them the basics of reading and writing, and reasoning, if we get those things wrong, no secretary of state can fix that problem. The next generation will grow up thinking, gosh, we were taught America is racist. We were taught America is founded on an illogical idea and there is an oppressor class. You can't get those things back," Pompeo said. CBN also mention Trump and Ron DeSantis. Oh, and they also mention Mike Pence....who they think might have a chance...but I say not a single chance in hell.
CNS News reports that "Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D.-N.Y.) has been visiting Christian churches recently, appearing at the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem on Sunday, March 26, and at the Evangelical Crusade Christian Church in Brooklyn on Palm Sunday. “It’s such a joy to join together with @SenatorWarnock at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem where he once served and where he’s preaching a guest pastor today,” Schumer said in a tweet he sent out on March 26.
This Holy Week, We Must See And Condemn Christian Nationalism
April 2 marks the start of Holy Week, a time to reflect on the trials and tribulations Jesus Christ faced through crucifixion because of his care for the poor, sick, elderly and others cast aside by the power structure of Biblical times. While this week should involve much prayer, worship and reflecting on the death and resurrection of Christ, I encourage us to also consider the dangerous rise in Christian nationalism. To be clear, Christian nationalism is simply nationalism that utilizes Christian tenets to justify its harm. We must confront it, or it will continue to gain a dangerous foothold in American society, endangering the lives of Black, brown and poor communities. This Holy Week, I encourage followers of Christ to not only reflect on the mission of Jesus Christ by working to dispel the false teachings propagated by Christian nationalist leaders and followers. (Seth Herald/NewsOne 4/2/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
April 2 marks the start of Holy Week, a time to reflect on the trials and tribulations Jesus Christ faced through crucifixion because of his care for the poor, sick, elderly and others cast aside by the power structure of Biblical times. While this week should involve much prayer, worship and reflecting on the death and resurrection of Christ, I encourage us to also consider the dangerous rise in Christian nationalism. To be clear, Christian nationalism is simply nationalism that utilizes Christian tenets to justify its harm. We must confront it, or it will continue to gain a dangerous foothold in American society, endangering the lives of Black, brown and poor communities. This Holy Week, I encourage followers of Christ to not only reflect on the mission of Jesus Christ by working to dispel the false teachings propagated by Christian nationalist leaders and followers. (Seth Herald/NewsOne 4/2/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
march 2023
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Can DeSantis break Trump’s hold on the religious right? (RNS) — Ten months before the first votes are cast in 2024, the contours of the Republican nominating contest are already changing daily. Most recently, former President Donald Trump’s team promised to blackball any professional campaign aides who work for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, warning: “It’s a time for choosing.” Many evangelical Christian leaders, meanwhile, have not yet chosen. Their consciences tell them DeSantis could give them what they want in policy debates and on the culture-war front without the baggage of Trump’s misdeeds. But they are still terrified of their own Trump-adoring or -accommodating rank and file. (Jacob Lupfer/Religion News Service 3/30/23) READ MORE>>>>> |
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Why white Christian nationalists are in such a panic
You might find it strange that a large segment of the Republican base thinks Whites are the true victims of racism and that Christians are under attack. After all, America’s biggest racial group is still Whites; the most common religious affiliation remains Christianity. Whites and Christians dominate elected office at all levels, the judiciary and corporate America. What’s the problem?
Well, there is a straightforward reason for the freak-out, and an explanation for why former president Donald Trump developed such a close bond with white Christian nationalists.
(Jennifer Rubin/Washington Post 3/19/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
You might find it strange that a large segment of the Republican base thinks Whites are the true victims of racism and that Christians are under attack. After all, America’s biggest racial group is still Whites; the most common religious affiliation remains Christianity. Whites and Christians dominate elected office at all levels, the judiciary and corporate America. What’s the problem?
Well, there is a straightforward reason for the freak-out, and an explanation for why former president Donald Trump developed such a close bond with white Christian nationalists.
(Jennifer Rubin/Washington Post 3/19/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
In north Idaho, religious and secular activists work to fight Christian nationalism
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho • Last month, dozens of activists packed into a small room in the Post Falls library for a board meeting of the Community Library Network. Some came to defend the library, but video of the meeting suggests most were there to condemn administrators for allowing children access to what they insisted were “pornographic” books. As at other protests, part of a nationwide conservative movement targeting public libraries, speakers at the meeting in Post Falls repeatedly intermingled their three-minute speeches with appeals to Christian faith and to the Bible as the ultimate moral arbiter. One critic scolded the board for promoting content that affirms LGBTQ people instead of other books “such as the Bible, such as Christian things, such as American things, such as patriotic things.”
(Jack Jenkins/Salt Lake Tribune 3/15/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
Coeur d’Alene, Idaho • Last month, dozens of activists packed into a small room in the Post Falls library for a board meeting of the Community Library Network. Some came to defend the library, but video of the meeting suggests most were there to condemn administrators for allowing children access to what they insisted were “pornographic” books. As at other protests, part of a nationwide conservative movement targeting public libraries, speakers at the meeting in Post Falls repeatedly intermingled their three-minute speeches with appeals to Christian faith and to the Bible as the ultimate moral arbiter. One critic scolded the board for promoting content that affirms LGBTQ people instead of other books “such as the Bible, such as Christian things, such as American things, such as patriotic things.”
(Jack Jenkins/Salt Lake Tribune 3/15/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
AR-15 LAPEL PINS ARE MORE THAN POLITICAL PROVOCATION — THEY’RE SYMBOLS OF THE VIOLENCE AT THE HEART OF WHITE CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM
Violence has always been at the center of White Christian nationalism: the vow to impose order on those perceived as un-American, if need be with force, either by the police or by wielding a gun themselves. And while the absolute right to gun ownership has been a core belief on the American Right since at least the Reagan years, the allegiance of today’s GOP to guns has never been so brazen or flamboyant. The AR-15—the gun with which a disproportionate number of mass shootings in the US are committed—has become a central part of White Christian nationalist iconography, as well as a stark expression of the violent ideology behind it. On January 6, 2021 a banner with the slogan “God Guns and Guts Made in America, Let’s Keep all Three,” was carried by insurrectionists storming the Capitol. Yet despite all this, Republicans aren’t shy about their reverence for the AR-15. In fact, members of Congress, like Representatives Ana Paulina Luna (R-FL) and George Santos (R-NY), have recently taken to wearing AR-15 lapel pins on the House floor. It was Representative Andrew Clyde (R-GA), however, who made the cruelty behind this trend crystal clear for anyone who might have been foolish enough to think he wasn’t aware of the symbolism (Annika Brockshmidt/Religion Dispatches 3/14/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
Violence has always been at the center of White Christian nationalism: the vow to impose order on those perceived as un-American, if need be with force, either by the police or by wielding a gun themselves. And while the absolute right to gun ownership has been a core belief on the American Right since at least the Reagan years, the allegiance of today’s GOP to guns has never been so brazen or flamboyant. The AR-15—the gun with which a disproportionate number of mass shootings in the US are committed—has become a central part of White Christian nationalist iconography, as well as a stark expression of the violent ideology behind it. On January 6, 2021 a banner with the slogan “God Guns and Guts Made in America, Let’s Keep all Three,” was carried by insurrectionists storming the Capitol. Yet despite all this, Republicans aren’t shy about their reverence for the AR-15. In fact, members of Congress, like Representatives Ana Paulina Luna (R-FL) and George Santos (R-NY), have recently taken to wearing AR-15 lapel pins on the House floor. It was Representative Andrew Clyde (R-GA), however, who made the cruelty behind this trend crystal clear for anyone who might have been foolish enough to think he wasn’t aware of the symbolism (Annika Brockshmidt/Religion Dispatches 3/14/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
MPs links to Christian Nationalism Revealed
The National Conservatism Conference (NCC) due to be held in May at the Emmanuel Centre in London in May provides evidence of the growing influence of US Christian Nationalism in the UK. Held in several countries, NCCs are aligned with Peter Thiel, the tech billionaire behind the data and surveillance company Palantir.
(Karam Bales/BylineTimes 3/10/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
The National Conservatism Conference (NCC) due to be held in May at the Emmanuel Centre in London in May provides evidence of the growing influence of US Christian Nationalism in the UK. Held in several countries, NCCs are aligned with Peter Thiel, the tech billionaire behind the data and surveillance company Palantir.
(Karam Bales/BylineTimes 3/10/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
For FBI legend J. Edgar Hoover, Christian nationalism was the gospel truth, argues new book
Lerone Martin’s new book began with a cup of coffee that led him to sue the FBI. While working on a book about religious broadcasters, a colleague suggested over coffee that Martin, a religion scholar, research the FBI to see if they had any related files. At the time, the colleague, scholar William J. Maxwell, author of “F.B. EYES,” had been studying the FBI’s surveillance of Black writers. Perhaps the FBI had been keeping an eye on religious broadcasters as well. Martin, then living in St. Louis, began filing Freedom of Information requests. Around the same time, he was also hearing from local pastors in St Louis who had been contacted by the FBI in the wake of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson. The FBI, they told Martin, wanted to know what the pastors were going to do to calm protests in that city. (Bob Smietana/Religion News Service 3/10/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
Lerone Martin’s new book began with a cup of coffee that led him to sue the FBI. While working on a book about religious broadcasters, a colleague suggested over coffee that Martin, a religion scholar, research the FBI to see if they had any related files. At the time, the colleague, scholar William J. Maxwell, author of “F.B. EYES,” had been studying the FBI’s surveillance of Black writers. Perhaps the FBI had been keeping an eye on religious broadcasters as well. Martin, then living in St. Louis, began filing Freedom of Information requests. Around the same time, he was also hearing from local pastors in St Louis who had been contacted by the FBI in the wake of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson. The FBI, they told Martin, wanted to know what the pastors were going to do to calm protests in that city. (Bob Smietana/Religion News Service 3/10/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
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Christian nationalists are enamored with Putin, even if they oppose Russia, new research says
Russian President Vladimir Putin has found support in an unlikely place: the U.S. Specifically, Christian nationalists, a subsection of America's religious right, have flocked to the country's autocratic leader, according to new research from a team of social scientists, including Sarah Riccardi-Swartz, an assistant professor of religion and anthropology at Northeastern University.Riccardi-Swartz says this level of support for Putin among Christian nationalists is especially notable given their simultaneous opposition or indifference to Russia itself. (Cody Mello-Klien/Phyhs.org 3/9/23) READ MORE>>>>> |
“Even if Christian nationalists are ambivalent to Russia as a geopolitical construct or if they view it as a threat, they are still favorable towards Putin as a political figure,” Riccardi-Swartz says. “This seems to suggest that Americans who subscribe to Christian nationalist ideology are attracted to Putin as a strong man and ethno-nationalist leader just as they were with Trump.” |
Christian nationalists are enamored with Putin, even if they oppose Russia, new research from Northeastern professor says
Russian President Vladimir Putin has found support in an unlikely place: the U.S. Specifically, Christian nationalists, a subsection of America’s religious right, have flocked to the country’s autocratic leader, according to new research from a team of social scientists, including Sarah Riccardi-Swartz, an assistant professor of religion and anthropology at Northeastern University. (Cody Mello-Klein/Northeastern Global News/34/8/23) READ MORE>>>>> |
In North Idaho, religious and secular activists work to fight Christian nationalism
Lerone Martin’s new book began with a cup of coffee that led him to sue the FBI. While working on a book about religious broadcasters, a colleague suggested over coffee that Martin, a religion scholar, research the FBI to see if they had any related files. At the time, the colleague, scholar William J. Maxwell, author of “F.B. EYES,” had been studying the FBI’s surveillance of Black writers. Perhaps the FBI had been keeping an eye on religious broadcasters as well. Martin, then living in St. Louis, began filing Freedom of Information requests. Around the same time, he was also hearing from local pastors in St Louis who had been contacted by the FBI in the wake of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson. The FBI, they told Martin, wanted to know what the pastors were going to do to calm protests in that city. (Jack Jenkins/Religion News Service 3/8/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
Lerone Martin’s new book began with a cup of coffee that led him to sue the FBI. While working on a book about religious broadcasters, a colleague suggested over coffee that Martin, a religion scholar, research the FBI to see if they had any related files. At the time, the colleague, scholar William J. Maxwell, author of “F.B. EYES,” had been studying the FBI’s surveillance of Black writers. Perhaps the FBI had been keeping an eye on religious broadcasters as well. Martin, then living in St. Louis, began filing Freedom of Information requests. Around the same time, he was also hearing from local pastors in St Louis who had been contacted by the FBI in the wake of the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson. The FBI, they told Martin, wanted to know what the pastors were going to do to calm protests in that city. (Jack Jenkins/Religion News Service 3/8/23)
READ MORE>>>>>
March 8, 2023: Religion Dispatches: SHOULD WE EXPECT TO SEE A RISE IN CHRISTIAN NATIONALIST VIOLENCE IN THE US?
Troubling new details regarding the violent propensity of Christian nationalism have been revealed by a new survey on American Christian nationalism released last month. According to the PRRI/Brookings Institution data, adherents of Christian nationalism are almost seven times as likely as those who reject it to support political violence. A stunning 40 percent of Christian nationalism supporters believe that “true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.”
Troubling new details regarding the violent propensity of Christian nationalism have been revealed by a new survey on American Christian nationalism released last month. According to the PRRI/Brookings Institution data, adherents of Christian nationalism are almost seven times as likely as those who reject it to support political violence. A stunning 40 percent of Christian nationalism supporters believe that “true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.”
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Mar 2, 2023: Baptist News Global: Why aren’t we talking about the theology that drives white Christian nationalism?
Poll after poll and webinar after webinar lays out the data on white Christian nationalism. The facts of this threat to both democracy and faith are well-documented. |
As a historian, she said, “this is not ultimately a story of politics hijacking religion. … We can make claims about you got Christianity wrong, but people who think they’re Christians, who claim the Christian faith, are from the grassroots up inculcating this, articulating this, and reinforcing it.” |
March 1, 2023: Network Lobby for Catholic Social Justice: We Must Repent From Christian Nationalism
God says to Abram in the First Reading this Sunday, “I will make of you a great nation.” Way too many people take those words to heart and twist them. For Christian nationalists, a great nation means a place that is made for and ruled by white Christians. As we saw in Charlottesville, on January 6, 2021, and elsewhere, this rule is meant to be a violent one. As Robert P. Jones’s research reveals, “White Americans who agree that ‘God intended America to be a promised land for European Christians’ are four times as likely as those who disagree with that statement to believe that ‘true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.’” And violence can be much more subtle than tiki torches, angry mobs overtaking the Capitol building, or vandalism at synagogues. Erasing Black history, banning books in school libraries, and denying gender-affirming care for transgender youth are all forms of violence. We must remain vigilant to these forms of violence, and, as God is described in the Psalm, “love justice and right.”
God says to Abram in the First Reading this Sunday, “I will make of you a great nation.” Way too many people take those words to heart and twist them. For Christian nationalists, a great nation means a place that is made for and ruled by white Christians. As we saw in Charlottesville, on January 6, 2021, and elsewhere, this rule is meant to be a violent one. As Robert P. Jones’s research reveals, “White Americans who agree that ‘God intended America to be a promised land for European Christians’ are four times as likely as those who disagree with that statement to believe that ‘true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.’” And violence can be much more subtle than tiki torches, angry mobs overtaking the Capitol building, or vandalism at synagogues. Erasing Black history, banning books in school libraries, and denying gender-affirming care for transgender youth are all forms of violence. We must remain vigilant to these forms of violence, and, as God is described in the Psalm, “love justice and right.”
Jan 4, 2023: Religion & Politics: How Mainline Protestants Help Build Christian Nationalism
As the first members of the pro-Trump mob waltzed into the U.S. Senate chamber on Jan. 6, 2021, they looked for “evidence” of wrongdoing. A few made their way to the podium, where one shouted, “Jesus Christ, we invoke your name!” That declaration inspired Jacob Chansley—nicknamed the “QAnon Shaman” for pushing conspiracy theories while wearing face paint and a furry hat with horns—to lead the group in prayer. After some removed their red caps and Chansley took off his furry hat, he prayed through a bullhorn.
As the first members of the pro-Trump mob waltzed into the U.S. Senate chamber on Jan. 6, 2021, they looked for “evidence” of wrongdoing. A few made their way to the podium, where one shouted, “Jesus Christ, we invoke your name!” That declaration inspired Jacob Chansley—nicknamed the “QAnon Shaman” for pushing conspiracy theories while wearing face paint and a furry hat with horns—to lead the group in prayer. After some removed their red caps and Chansley took off his furry hat, he prayed through a bullhorn.
Our Founders felt that religion was something sacred and should always remain so by being kept off-limits to political wolves in sheep’s clothing.
--Frank Breslin
--Frank Breslin
Feb 22, 2023: Religion News: Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod president calls for excommunicating white nationalists
The president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has called for the excommunication of unrepentant white supremacists in the church’s ranks, rebuking an extremist effort to exert influence within the conservative Lutheran denomination.
The president of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has called for the excommunication of unrepentant white supremacists in the church’s ranks, rebuking an extremist effort to exert influence within the conservative Lutheran denomination.
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Feb 22, 2023: Religion News Service: How big Christian nationalism has come courting in North Idaho
Earlier this month, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican, addressed the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, whose purview runs from this small resort city up along the Washington state border. Before she spoke, a local pastor and onetime Idaho state representative named Tim Remington, wearing an American flag-themed tie, revved up the crowd: “If we put God back in Idaho, then God will always protect Idaho.” |
The origin of North Idaho’s relationship with contemporary Christian nationalism can be traced to a 2011 blog post published by survivalist author James Wesley, Rawles (the comma is his addition). Titled “The American Redoubt — Move to the Mountain States,” Rawles’ 4,000-word treatise called on conservative followers to pursue “exit strategies” from liberal states and move to “safe havens” in the American Northwest — specifically Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and eastern sections of Oregon and Washington. He dubbed the imagined region the “American Redoubt” and listed Christianity as a pillar of his society-to-be. Rawles made an exception for Orthodox Jews and Messianic Jews, saying they would also be welcome in the Redoubt because they “share the same moral framework” as conservative Christians. But the post, which has been updated multiple times since, concludes with a list of “prepper-friendly” congregations in the Reformed Church tradition (Rawles is a Reformed Baptist). “In calamitous times, with a few exceptions, it will only be the God fearing that will continue to be law abiding,” writes Rawles, who declined to be interviewed for this article. ---Jack Jenkins; Religion News Service; 2.22.23 |
Feb 21, 2023: Politico: What It Looks Like When the Far Right Takes Control of Local Government
In a Western Michigan county, far-right Republicans overthrew a county board run by more traditionalist members of the GOP. What's unfolding is a test of what happens when hard-liners take charge.
In a Western Michigan county, far-right Republicans overthrew a county board run by more traditionalist members of the GOP. What's unfolding is a test of what happens when hard-liners take charge.
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Feb 19, 2023: Alaska Native News: Pompeo Says Bible Tells Him Israel Not Illegally Occupying Palestine
Former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo—who once suggested that his boss, then-President Donald Trump, may have been sent by “God” to save Israel—waxed biblical again this week in defense of Israel’s illegal occupation and apartheid regime in Palestine. Interviewed by Julia Macfarlane and Richard Dearlove for an episode of the “One Decision” podcast that aired Wednesday, Pompeo—a potential 2024 Republican presidential candidate who also previously served in Congress and as CIA director—denied that Israel is even occupying Palestine. |
Pompeo—who played a leading role in negotiating the historic Abraham Accords between Israel and multiple Arab dictatorships—countered that Israel “is not an occupying nation.” “As an evangelical Christian,” he asserted, “I am convinced from my reading of the Bible” that “this land… is the rightful homeland of the Jewish people.” 2.19.23 |
Feb 19, 2023: Dissident Voice: Christian Nationalism vs. the Separation of Church and State
We have a long tradition in America of Separation of Church and State that prohibits government’s promotion of religion on the one hand, and interference with its free exercise on the other. In their refusal to establish a state church or to favor one religion over another, the Founding Fathers didn’t think that religion was bad but that there was something amiss in human nature, a certain tendency, a will to power and a lust for domination, that always bore watching.
We have a long tradition in America of Separation of Church and State that prohibits government’s promotion of religion on the one hand, and interference with its free exercise on the other. In their refusal to establish a state church or to favor one religion over another, the Founding Fathers didn’t think that religion was bad but that there was something amiss in human nature, a certain tendency, a will to power and a lust for domination, that always bore watching.
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Feb 16, 2023: The Guardian: We need to talk about extremism and its links to Christian fundamentalism
The Australian far right, which inspired the white Australian Christchurch terrorist Brenton Tarrant, continue to be active in efforts to recruit. Sovereign citizens, anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists are also highly active, while misogynists such as Andrew Tate continue to spread their messaging through social media. These are internationally linked movements that are tied in to racist, antisemitic, anti-democratic and anti-women worldviews. Militant forms of Christianity such as those that have emerged in the United States (for example Christian nationalism) will also be taking hold among some Australians. Notwithstanding the diversity of these movements, many adherents are white, middle-aged Australian men and women. |
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Feb 14, 2023: NPR: More than half of Republicans support Christian nationalism, according to a new survey
Long seen as a fringe viewpoint, Christian nationalism now has a foothold in American politics, particularly in the Republican Party — according to a new survey from the Public Religion Research Institute and the Brookings Institution. |
According to the PRRI/Brookings study, only 10% of Americans view themselves as adherents of Christian nationalism and about 19% of Americans said they sympathize with these views.Kristin Kobes Du Mez, a history professor at Calvin University, said it's important to note that this is not a novel ideology in American families. "These ideas have been widely held throughout American history and particularly since the 1970s with the rise of the Christian Right," she said. 2.1.423 |
We tend to think of Christian nationalism, the political ideology based on the belief that the country’s authentic identity lies in its Christian roots and in the perpetuation of Christian privilege, as having burst upon the scene to accompany and facilitate the rise of Donald Trump. But as Philip Gorski and Samuel Perry explain in The Flag and the Cross, Christian nationalism—white Christian nationalism, to be more accurate, since the ideology has no place for nonwhites—is “one of the oldest and most powerful currents in American politics.” They trace it back to the New England Puritans’ wars against the indigenous groups who dared to stand in the way of the claim by self-described chosen people to their new Promised Land, and follow it through the Lost Cause of a post–Civil War South destined to “rise again”—a Christological narrative of crucifixion and redemption “crucial to understanding contemporary claims of Christian victimhood and vengeance among white Christian nationalists.” The drive for western expansion, aptly known as Manifest Destiny, was widely understood as part of a divine plan handed to those who would “civilize” an entire continent. --Linda Greenhouse; The New York Review; Feb 9, 2023
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Feb 8, 2023: A Christian Nation? Understanding the Threat of Christian Nationalism to American Democracy and Culture
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Feb 7, 2023: Grand Forks Herald: Lloyd Omdahl: America not founded as Christian nation
The Constitution turned out to include compromises that the God of the New Testament would not accept. If God had a hand in this process, He would not have tolerated counting His black people as three-fifths of human beings for purposes of representation in Congress. The reason many so-called Christians need to believe in the myth of a Christian Founding is that they need it to justify a collection of deviant beliefs now found acceptable under the umbrella of Christian Nationalism. Nationalism is not Christianity; Christianity is not nationalism. But the idea that nationalism could be Christian gives license to an array of destructive beliefs. |
February 7, 2023: The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover: How the FBI Aided and Abetted the Rise of White Christian Nationalism by Lerone A. Martin:
On a Sunday morning in 1966, a group of white evangelicals dedicated a stained glass window to J. Edgar Hoover. The FBI director was not an evangelical, but his Christian admirers anointed him as their political champion, believing he would lead America back to God. The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover reveals how Hoover and his FBI teamed up with leading white evangelicals and Catholics to bring about a white Christian America by any means necessary.
Lerone Martin draws on thousands of newly declassified FBI documents and memos to describe how, under Hoover’s leadership, FBI agents attended spiritual retreats and worship services, creating an FBI religious culture that fashioned G-men into soldiers and ministers of Christian America. Martin shows how prominent figures such as Billy Graham, Fulton Sheen, and countless other ministers from across the country partnered with the FBI and laundered bureau intel in their sermons while the faithful crowned Hoover the adjudicator of true evangelical faith and allegiance. These partnerships not only solidified the political norms of modern white evangelicalism, they also contributed to the political rise of white Christian nationalism, establishing religion and race as the bedrock of the modern national security state, and setting the terms for today’s domestic terrorism debates.
Taking readers from the pulpits and pews of small-town America to the Oval Office, and from the grassroots to denominational boardrooms, The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover completely transforms how we understand the FBI, white evangelicalism, and our nation’s entangled history of religion and politics.
On a Sunday morning in 1966, a group of white evangelicals dedicated a stained glass window to J. Edgar Hoover. The FBI director was not an evangelical, but his Christian admirers anointed him as their political champion, believing he would lead America back to God. The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover reveals how Hoover and his FBI teamed up with leading white evangelicals and Catholics to bring about a white Christian America by any means necessary.
Lerone Martin draws on thousands of newly declassified FBI documents and memos to describe how, under Hoover’s leadership, FBI agents attended spiritual retreats and worship services, creating an FBI religious culture that fashioned G-men into soldiers and ministers of Christian America. Martin shows how prominent figures such as Billy Graham, Fulton Sheen, and countless other ministers from across the country partnered with the FBI and laundered bureau intel in their sermons while the faithful crowned Hoover the adjudicator of true evangelical faith and allegiance. These partnerships not only solidified the political norms of modern white evangelicalism, they also contributed to the political rise of white Christian nationalism, establishing religion and race as the bedrock of the modern national security state, and setting the terms for today’s domestic terrorism debates.
Taking readers from the pulpits and pews of small-town America to the Oval Office, and from the grassroots to denominational boardrooms, The Gospel of J. Edgar Hoover completely transforms how we understand the FBI, white evangelicalism, and our nation’s entangled history of religion and politics.
Feb 2, 2023: Religion Dispatches: CHRISTIAN NATIONALIST LEGISLATOR INTRODUCES ANTI-TRANS ‘MILLSTONE ACT’ SUGGESTING BIBLICAL RETRIBUTION
Abiblical death sentence. In America, in 2023, a legislator has proposed The Millstone Act, which he openly confesses “was named in reference to Matthew 18:6, ‘but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea.’”
America embraced the separation of church and state as a core, fundamental value precisely to prevent religious despots from abusing government power to impose their personal religion on all of us. But Oklahoma State Senator David Bullard is a Christian nationalist out to make Oklahoma into a Christian state.
Abiblical death sentence. In America, in 2023, a legislator has proposed The Millstone Act, which he openly confesses “was named in reference to Matthew 18:6, ‘but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depths of the sea.’”
America embraced the separation of church and state as a core, fundamental value precisely to prevent religious despots from abusing government power to impose their personal religion on all of us. But Oklahoma State Senator David Bullard is a Christian nationalist out to make Oklahoma into a Christian state.
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Historian says Christian nationalism threatens democracy SIOUX COUNTY—According to historian Scott Culpepper, one of the greatest threats to American democracy is not an enemy outside the United States, but a movement gaining momentum within. “Christian nationalism is not a new thing, necessarily, although it is being expressed in some new and very aggressive sorts of ways in recent years that should concern everyone who cares about the future of both freedom and of faith,” he said. (Aleisa Schat/Northwest Iowa 2/28/23) READ MORE>>>>> |
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On a sliding scale of white Christian nationalism, Greene, Boebert and Cruz represent the extreme right wing that believes “the success of the United States is part of God’s plan.” But more moderate varieties exist, not as staunch and more open to accommodating themselves to evolving realities. Nevertheless, conflict persists between what the dominant American tradition is thought to have been and where demographics in the last half century indicate society is headed.
Underlying white Christian nationalism today are a number of factors: demographic changes involving a declining number of white Americans, fear among political conservatives that their power is diminishing, growing secularism and growth in wealth differentials, combined with uncontrolled immigration and toxic racial resentment. All appear in flux; what once were taken as permanent social and cultural hierarchies are now crumbling. As a consequence, we suffer from political and cultural polarization such as has not been seen since the Civil War. -Ron Lora op/ed; University of Toledo 2.23.23
Underlying white Christian nationalism today are a number of factors: demographic changes involving a declining number of white Americans, fear among political conservatives that their power is diminishing, growing secularism and growth in wealth differentials, combined with uncontrolled immigration and toxic racial resentment. All appear in flux; what once were taken as permanent social and cultural hierarchies are now crumbling. As a consequence, we suffer from political and cultural polarization such as has not been seen since the Civil War. -Ron Lora op/ed; University of Toledo 2.23.23
Jason Rapert has likened himself to an Old Testament seer, conveying hard truths on behalf of an angry God. On his broadcast Save the Nation, the 50-year-old preacher and former Arkansas state senator calls himself a “proud” Christian Nationalist, insisting: “I reject that being a Christian Nationalist is somehow unseemly or wrong.”............Thanks to Rapert, the Christian Nationalist movement now commands a burgeoning political powerhouse, the National Association of Christian Lawmakers. A first-of-its-kind organization in U.S. history, NACL advances “biblical” legislation in America’s statehouses. These bills are not mere stunts or messaging. They’re dark, freedom-limiting bills that, in some cases, have become law. ...........By the time that bill passed in Texas in Sept. 2021, it had been adopted by NACL as model legislation. The reproductive-rights group NARAL later tracked copycat legislation in more than a dozen states. Rapert takes substantial credit for that spread: “NACL was the first and only para-legislative organization in the country to adopt the Texas methodology as a model law,” he tells Rolling Stone, “and we promoted it to be passed in every state.”
The NACL logo is a crusader’s shield: red emblazoned with a white cross. Rapert says the red represents “the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross as a sacrifice for the salvation of all humanity.” The emblem, he says, is meant to evoke the biblical “shield of faith” that promises to “extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
Yet far from the defensive posture suggested by its shield, NACL is unabashedly on the offense. Rapert brags that NACL is at “the forefront of the battles to end abortion in the individual states” and also seeks to drive queer Americans back into the closet. “For far too long,” Rapert insists, “we have allowed one political party in our nation to hold up Sodom and Gomorrah as a goal to be achieved rather than a sin to be shunned.” ........Rapert would not share NACL’s current legislative lineup, though he promised the group’s website would soon be updated with its model bills “posted for public viewing.” Meantime, Rapert shared that NACL’s top priorities include the fight to block “radical LGBTQ indoctrination in our public schools” and to halt “radical transgender ideology and irreversible genital mutilation of minor children.".......Rapert has touted NACL as “basically ALEC from a biblical worldview.” Rapert is a paradoxical figure, a man who wraps himself in language of Christian love while preaching a doctrine that sounds a lot like hate. Rapert calls gay marriage a “stench in the nostrils of God.” He sees the growing rights of trans Americans, whom he calls the “transgenders,” as a mortal threat: “Now is the time to fight to save the country,” he’s said. “Do you think that America is going to be free with a bunch of drag queens running this place?”
--Feb 23, 2023: Rolling Stone: The Christian Nationalist Machine Turning Hate Into Law
The NACL logo is a crusader’s shield: red emblazoned with a white cross. Rapert says the red represents “the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross as a sacrifice for the salvation of all humanity.” The emblem, he says, is meant to evoke the biblical “shield of faith” that promises to “extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.”
Yet far from the defensive posture suggested by its shield, NACL is unabashedly on the offense. Rapert brags that NACL is at “the forefront of the battles to end abortion in the individual states” and also seeks to drive queer Americans back into the closet. “For far too long,” Rapert insists, “we have allowed one political party in our nation to hold up Sodom and Gomorrah as a goal to be achieved rather than a sin to be shunned.” ........Rapert would not share NACL’s current legislative lineup, though he promised the group’s website would soon be updated with its model bills “posted for public viewing.” Meantime, Rapert shared that NACL’s top priorities include the fight to block “radical LGBTQ indoctrination in our public schools” and to halt “radical transgender ideology and irreversible genital mutilation of minor children.".......Rapert has touted NACL as “basically ALEC from a biblical worldview.” Rapert is a paradoxical figure, a man who wraps himself in language of Christian love while preaching a doctrine that sounds a lot like hate. Rapert calls gay marriage a “stench in the nostrils of God.” He sees the growing rights of trans Americans, whom he calls the “transgenders,” as a mortal threat: “Now is the time to fight to save the country,” he’s said. “Do you think that America is going to be free with a bunch of drag queens running this place?”
--Feb 23, 2023: Rolling Stone: The Christian Nationalist Machine Turning Hate Into Law
When Elizabeth Powel stopped Benjamin Franklin outside the Pennsylvania State House to inquire about the type of government that the delegates had devised, Franklin's portentous reply was, "a republic, if you can keep it." One suspects that the framers would be much more surprised by how long Americans managed to keep it than by the swelling desire to do away with it. Tragically, those who hasten the demise of the republic are galvanized by an unbending faith in the plasticity and goodness of man that history is bound to repudiate yet again. And, what is more tragic still, they do so for naught.
--David A. Eisenberg; National Affair; Winter 2023
--David A. Eisenberg; National Affair; Winter 2023
Brian Kaylor Files
Christian nationalism did not suddenly appear in U.S. culture in the last couple years. As sociologists Philip Gorski and Samuel Perry noted in their book The Flag and the Cross, this ideology traces its lineage all the way back to the Puritans. What’s often ignored in contemporary denouncements is how mainline Christianity fueled its rise.
Consider that when the National Council of Churches, of which the mainline denominations have long exercised leadership within, released the Revised Standard Version of the Bible in 1952, its leaders prominently gave the very first copy to President Harry Truman at the White House. Similarly, when work began on the Interchurch Center in New York City (often referred to as the “God Box” for its historical housing of mainline Protestant denominational offices and ministries), President Dwight D. Eisenhower laid the cornerstone.
In both instances, the presidents ritually affirmed and legitimated the work and witness of mainline Christianity. At the request of mainline leaders, Truman and Eisenhower signaled that their particular version of church and American identity reinforced each other. If Donald Trump had christened a conservative church building while president or made time to receive the first version of a new Bible in the Oval Office, it would be counted as evidence of his support for Christian nationalism—even more than when he held up a Bible outside “the church of presidents,” an Episcopal church located next to the White House. It should be no less so when discussing the actions of Truman and Eisenhower or the role played by the mainline denominations in their critical era that shaped our nation.
Then there’s the pesky issue of the American flag. Brought into mainline church sanctuaries in response to the wars of last century, Old Glory represents a powerful symbol of patriotism that makes for an odd fit in a sacred space devoted to worshiping a God who ostensibly rules over all the nations. To make matters worse, the U.S. Flag Code requires the banner to be placed in a “position of superior prominence.” This rule means that if a church decides to fly a Christian flag as well—in a nod to a two-kingdoms theology—the U.S. flag will by placement be the one of first allegiance. Even in moderate and progressive mainline congregations today, many preachers proclaim the word of God with the Star-Spangled Banner as their backdrop, helping to merge Christian and American identities.
Undoubtedly, many mainline Christians saw this kind of soft nationalism as harmless civil religion. Yet as the Boy Scouts led the Pledge of Allegiance on Scout Sunday during worship, as the U.S. flag stood near the cross in the sanctuary each Sunday, and as congregants turned to the patriotic hymns section of their songbooks on the Sunday closest to the Fourth of July or Memorial Day, they were discipled into a version of Christian nationalism that still affects how people today think about church and state. Mainline Christians, both past and present, arrived at church each week seeking to celebrate both God and country.
The events of Jan. 6, 2021, revealed what this legacy has wrought. The insurrectionists performed religious rituals, carried signs with Bible verses and Christian imagery, and prayed to Jesus as they desecrated the Capitol in their quest to “take the country back.” The long history of uncritically blending spiritual and temporal loyalties had unintentionally fostered an uncivil religion that threatened American democracy.
---Rev. Brian Kaylor; How Mainline Protestants Help Build Christian Nationalism; Religion & Politics; 1.4.23
Consider that when the National Council of Churches, of which the mainline denominations have long exercised leadership within, released the Revised Standard Version of the Bible in 1952, its leaders prominently gave the very first copy to President Harry Truman at the White House. Similarly, when work began on the Interchurch Center in New York City (often referred to as the “God Box” for its historical housing of mainline Protestant denominational offices and ministries), President Dwight D. Eisenhower laid the cornerstone.
In both instances, the presidents ritually affirmed and legitimated the work and witness of mainline Christianity. At the request of mainline leaders, Truman and Eisenhower signaled that their particular version of church and American identity reinforced each other. If Donald Trump had christened a conservative church building while president or made time to receive the first version of a new Bible in the Oval Office, it would be counted as evidence of his support for Christian nationalism—even more than when he held up a Bible outside “the church of presidents,” an Episcopal church located next to the White House. It should be no less so when discussing the actions of Truman and Eisenhower or the role played by the mainline denominations in their critical era that shaped our nation.
Then there’s the pesky issue of the American flag. Brought into mainline church sanctuaries in response to the wars of last century, Old Glory represents a powerful symbol of patriotism that makes for an odd fit in a sacred space devoted to worshiping a God who ostensibly rules over all the nations. To make matters worse, the U.S. Flag Code requires the banner to be placed in a “position of superior prominence.” This rule means that if a church decides to fly a Christian flag as well—in a nod to a two-kingdoms theology—the U.S. flag will by placement be the one of first allegiance. Even in moderate and progressive mainline congregations today, many preachers proclaim the word of God with the Star-Spangled Banner as their backdrop, helping to merge Christian and American identities.
Undoubtedly, many mainline Christians saw this kind of soft nationalism as harmless civil religion. Yet as the Boy Scouts led the Pledge of Allegiance on Scout Sunday during worship, as the U.S. flag stood near the cross in the sanctuary each Sunday, and as congregants turned to the patriotic hymns section of their songbooks on the Sunday closest to the Fourth of July or Memorial Day, they were discipled into a version of Christian nationalism that still affects how people today think about church and state. Mainline Christians, both past and present, arrived at church each week seeking to celebrate both God and country.
The events of Jan. 6, 2021, revealed what this legacy has wrought. The insurrectionists performed religious rituals, carried signs with Bible verses and Christian imagery, and prayed to Jesus as they desecrated the Capitol in their quest to “take the country back.” The long history of uncritically blending spiritual and temporal loyalties had unintentionally fostered an uncivil religion that threatened American democracy.
---Rev. Brian Kaylor; How Mainline Protestants Help Build Christian Nationalism; Religion & Politics; 1.4.23
Broadleaf Books (January 3, 2023)
Bardley Onishi makes the distinction between white evangelicalism and white Christian nationalism. While the terms are not the same, they are closely linked. Evangelicalism teaches that “the Bible is the errorless Word of God,” which “should be read and followed as literally as possible.” White Christian nationalism goes further, embracing the idea that America was founded as a Christian nation and, as such, is superior to all other nations, and one chosen by God to play a central role in world history. Other foundational components of Christian nationalism are nostalgia for past glory – when white men were most highly privileged – and an apocalyptic view of the nation’s future.
Onishi explains that white Christian nationalism is not so much an established ideology or a cogent theological belief system as it is a marker of cultural identity. And it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with personal religious practice or identification with a specific denomination. This goes a long way to explaining the proliferation of Christian imagery and symbols at the Jan. 6 insurrection. Among the various religious banners on display, one of the most popular read “Jesus is My Savior – Trump is My President.”
How did things get to this point? Onishi points to the 1960s and the immense transformation of American society that decade ushered in. While many welcomed the achievements of the burgeoning civil rights movement, new freedom for women, and other sweeping changes, others did not.
For many, he writes, “the sixties were the time when numerous serpents tempted Americans away from the bedrock values of faith, family, and freedom and toward a new social order, a sexual revolution, and an abandonment of the nuclear family.”
The John Birch Society, an anticommunist organization steeped in libertarianism and informed by the idea that Christianity and American democracy are inextricably linked, was one of many organizations that flourished as a corrective to the sweeping changes of the 1960s, a counterrevolution held together by Christian identity.
In 1964, Barry Goldwater was able to tap into this reserve of white Christian nationalism and, much like Donald Trump 51 years later, became the unlikely Republican nominee for president. While his campaign against Lyndon Johnson went down in flames, his candidacy gave rise to the New Right, a grassroots coalition of American conservatives. In the late 1970s, the New Right joined forces with televangelist Jerry Falwell’s Religious Right and changed American politics by inspiring tens of millions of people of faith in the South, the Midwest, and the Sunbelt to vote for Ronald Reagan, the Republican presidential nominee, rather than Democrat Jimmy Carter. (Though Carter’s faith was without question, his politics did not fit the Religious Right’s agenda.)
By 1980, the extremism of Goldwater had become the mainstream of the GOP. Twenty-six years later, Onishi explains, when it came to voting for Donald Trump, Christian nationalists had a precedent in prioritizing politics over morals.
“[Trump] was not an imperfect candidate who somehow managed to garner the votes of White Christians. He was the prototype of the candidate White Christians had been searching for since the early 1960s,” Onishi writes.
"A clear-eyed, compelling study of the road to Jan. 6 and the possible future of the politics-versus-religion battle in the U.S." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Bardley Onishi makes the distinction between white evangelicalism and white Christian nationalism. While the terms are not the same, they are closely linked. Evangelicalism teaches that “the Bible is the errorless Word of God,” which “should be read and followed as literally as possible.” White Christian nationalism goes further, embracing the idea that America was founded as a Christian nation and, as such, is superior to all other nations, and one chosen by God to play a central role in world history. Other foundational components of Christian nationalism are nostalgia for past glory – when white men were most highly privileged – and an apocalyptic view of the nation’s future.
Onishi explains that white Christian nationalism is not so much an established ideology or a cogent theological belief system as it is a marker of cultural identity. And it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with personal religious practice or identification with a specific denomination. This goes a long way to explaining the proliferation of Christian imagery and symbols at the Jan. 6 insurrection. Among the various religious banners on display, one of the most popular read “Jesus is My Savior – Trump is My President.”
How did things get to this point? Onishi points to the 1960s and the immense transformation of American society that decade ushered in. While many welcomed the achievements of the burgeoning civil rights movement, new freedom for women, and other sweeping changes, others did not.
For many, he writes, “the sixties were the time when numerous serpents tempted Americans away from the bedrock values of faith, family, and freedom and toward a new social order, a sexual revolution, and an abandonment of the nuclear family.”
The John Birch Society, an anticommunist organization steeped in libertarianism and informed by the idea that Christianity and American democracy are inextricably linked, was one of many organizations that flourished as a corrective to the sweeping changes of the 1960s, a counterrevolution held together by Christian identity.
In 1964, Barry Goldwater was able to tap into this reserve of white Christian nationalism and, much like Donald Trump 51 years later, became the unlikely Republican nominee for president. While his campaign against Lyndon Johnson went down in flames, his candidacy gave rise to the New Right, a grassroots coalition of American conservatives. In the late 1970s, the New Right joined forces with televangelist Jerry Falwell’s Religious Right and changed American politics by inspiring tens of millions of people of faith in the South, the Midwest, and the Sunbelt to vote for Ronald Reagan, the Republican presidential nominee, rather than Democrat Jimmy Carter. (Though Carter’s faith was without question, his politics did not fit the Religious Right’s agenda.)
By 1980, the extremism of Goldwater had become the mainstream of the GOP. Twenty-six years later, Onishi explains, when it came to voting for Donald Trump, Christian nationalists had a precedent in prioritizing politics over morals.
“[Trump] was not an imperfect candidate who somehow managed to garner the votes of White Christians. He was the prototype of the candidate White Christians had been searching for since the early 1960s,” Onishi writes.
"A clear-eyed, compelling study of the road to Jan. 6 and the possible future of the politics-versus-religion battle in the U.S." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review
White Christian Nationalism And The Gospel Of Peace (Ephesians 2:11–22)
In the first week of May, 43% of baby formula supplies were out of stock across the United States. This followed a recall on formula by Abbott Nutrition, after four babies developed a bacterial infection after using the formula—two of them subsequently dying. Since Abbott Nutrition is one of only three major producers of baby formula in the United States, their recall created a nationwide shortage. Last Thursday, the governor of Texas issued a fiery statement about the federal government’s response to the shortage. But instead of criticizing the federal government for not doing more to address the shortage, the governor used it as an opportunity to scapegoat migrants: “While mothers and fathers stare at empty grocery store shelves in a panic,” he wrote, the current administration “is happy to provide baby formula to illegal immigrants coming across our southern border.”
(David C Cramer: Anabaptist Revisions 5/16/22)
READ MORE>>>>>
In the first week of May, 43% of baby formula supplies were out of stock across the United States. This followed a recall on formula by Abbott Nutrition, after four babies developed a bacterial infection after using the formula—two of them subsequently dying. Since Abbott Nutrition is one of only three major producers of baby formula in the United States, their recall created a nationwide shortage. Last Thursday, the governor of Texas issued a fiery statement about the federal government’s response to the shortage. But instead of criticizing the federal government for not doing more to address the shortage, the governor used it as an opportunity to scapegoat migrants: “While mothers and fathers stare at empty grocery store shelves in a panic,” he wrote, the current administration “is happy to provide baby formula to illegal immigrants coming across our southern border.”
(David C Cramer: Anabaptist Revisions 5/16/22)
READ MORE>>>>>
Leslie A Hahner
“Christian Nationalism,” she explained, “is a set of ideological beliefs expressed by [some] white, evangelical Christians. Their beliefs champion the U.S. as a Christian nation, as one that is ordained by God. It’s often connected to, if not an outright embodiment of, ideologies of white supremacy.........Christian Dominionism is a set of beliefs and practices [that] often manifest through a smaller sect of white, evangelical Christians and some sections of Catholicism.” According to Hahner, followers of Christian Dominionism, many of whom are supporters of former Pres. Trump, believe that “God gave [them] the [United States]…and that God’s battle with Satan is currently playing out in the arena of politics and elsewhere.” In that way, she says, “Dominionism suggests that white supremacy manifests through God’s hand.”
-Leslie A Hahner; 2.14.21
-Leslie A Hahner; 2.14.21
january
Premiered Jan 31, 2023
In this video, Caleb Campbell—lead pastor at Desert Springs Bible Church, uncovers false ideas animating Christian nationalism and his experience walking with people to disarm the logic and demonstrate a love that redirects them back towards the kingdom of God described by Jesus the Messiah.
Jan 31, 2023: Daily Kos: Christianist nationalism is the greatest danger to America, and it now rules at the Supreme Court
It would be difficult to identify with certainty the most profound and damaging disruption of our country currently being wrought by a fanatical six-person “conservative” majority on the United States Supreme Court.
It would be difficult to identify with certainty the most profound and damaging disruption of our country currently being wrought by a fanatical six-person “conservative” majority on the United States Supreme Court.
.....one of the most insidious attempts at re-engineering this nation in accordance with the Court majority’s now routine, precedent-ignoring abandon is the elevation and weaponization of Christianity — specifically a muscular, white evangelical and conservative Catholic Christianity, invariably couched and defended in terms of religious persecution and victimization — with an evident goal of blurring (and ultimately eliminating) the so-called “separation” between church and state. The basis for this drastic alteration of existing law is the assumption of an innate “Christian nationalism,” aptly described as “based on the belief that the country’s authentic identity lies in its Christian roots and in the perpetuation of Christian privilege.” In modern, right-wing parlance this attempt to impose a religious dogma on the rest of the country is excused and justified as an attempt to exercise religious "freedom;” in other words, it’s a vehicle to promote and promulgate their intolerance on everyone who doesn’t accept their “faith.” --Daily Kos 3.31.23
Jan 31, 2023: Word & Way: Christian Nationalism and a Bagel
President Joe Biden is planning to eat breakfast on Thursday. He’s also planning to pray. From what we know about him, neither of those two things is unusual. But unlike most days, he’ll show up on TV for both moments on Feb. 2.
That’s because he’ll be at the National Prayer Breakfast, a quasi-official event that’s been increasingly controversial in recent years. And this year the NPB is getting a facelift. But some critics are questioning if the reforms are actually enough. Is it just cosmetic public relations? Can the event even be saved?
President Joe Biden is planning to eat breakfast on Thursday. He’s also planning to pray. From what we know about him, neither of those two things is unusual. But unlike most days, he’ll show up on TV for both moments on Feb. 2.
That’s because he’ll be at the National Prayer Breakfast, a quasi-official event that’s been increasingly controversial in recent years. And this year the NPB is getting a facelift. But some critics are questioning if the reforms are actually enough. Is it just cosmetic public relations? Can the event even be saved?
I believe that the single biggest threat to religious freedom in the United States today is Christian nationalism. Christian nationalism is antithetical to the constitutional ideal that belonging in American society is not predicated on what faith one practices or whether someone is religious at all. The political ideology that seeks to merge American and Christian identities is deeply embedded in American society and manifests itself in a number of different ways, some more obviously harmful than others. -Amanda Tyler of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty
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Jan 29, 2023: Holland Sentinel: My Take: Anything that threatens Christian Nationalism is a threat to racists in power
I would like to address the abolition of Ottawa County’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and the tired, predictable, ridiculous assertion that racial equity is “divisive” and “Marxist.”
I would like to address the abolition of Ottawa County’s Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), and the tired, predictable, ridiculous assertion that racial equity is “divisive” and “Marxist.”
Jan 27, 2023: Politico: ‘There Is a Real Sense That the Apocalypse Is Coming’
Premised on the belief that America is a white Christian nation whose laws and culture should reflect its biblical heritage, Christian nationalism has attracted fresh scrutiny in recent months thanks to endorsements from prominent Republicans like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and failed Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano. But what’s been missing from the broader conversation about the movement, Onishi argues in his new book, Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism — and What Comes Next, is a nuanced sense of how contemporary strains of white Christian nationalism relate to earlier iterations of conservative Christian politics.
Premised on the belief that America is a white Christian nation whose laws and culture should reflect its biblical heritage, Christian nationalism has attracted fresh scrutiny in recent months thanks to endorsements from prominent Republicans like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and failed Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano. But what’s been missing from the broader conversation about the movement, Onishi argues in his new book, Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism — and What Comes Next, is a nuanced sense of how contemporary strains of white Christian nationalism relate to earlier iterations of conservative Christian politics.
Jan 24, 2023: Religion News: How Southern California helped birth white Christian nationalism
Bradley Onishi became a Christian at age 14 when his eighth grade girlfriend invited him to a Bible study at her church in Yorba Linda, California, just south of Los Angeles. Ten years later, he would serve as its youth minister.
Over that decade, he writes in his new book, “Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism — And What Comes Next,” Onishi grew to see his faith as less about Jesus and more about perpetuating a certain myth of the United States, one that he says forms the bedrock of white Christian nationalism.
Bradley Onishi became a Christian at age 14 when his eighth grade girlfriend invited him to a Bible study at her church in Yorba Linda, California, just south of Los Angeles. Ten years later, he would serve as its youth minister.
Over that decade, he writes in his new book, “Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism — And What Comes Next,” Onishi grew to see his faith as less about Jesus and more about perpetuating a certain myth of the United States, one that he says forms the bedrock of white Christian nationalism.
Jan 23, 2023: The Humanist: Chapter Spotlight: HumanistsMN Leads Efforts to Combat Christian Nationalism in Minnesota
Like many secular advocates across the country, humanists in Minnesota are becoming increasingly concerned about the rise of Christian Nationalism and the impact of religious dogma on our legal system.
Like many secular advocates across the country, humanists in Minnesota are becoming increasingly concerned about the rise of Christian Nationalism and the impact of religious dogma on our legal system.
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Jan 21, 2023: CNN: This prominent pastor says Christian nationalism is ‘a form of heresy’
There are some leaders who see faith and politics strictly as an either/or competition: You win by turning out your side and crushing the opposition. But the Rev. William J. Barber II, who has been called “the closest person we have to MLK” in contemporary America, has refined a third mode of activism called “fusion politics.” It creates political coalitions that often transcend the conservative vs. progressive binary. |
Some people cite the scripture where Jesus says, “The poor you always have with you” to argue that poverty is inevitable, and that trying to end it is a hopeless cause. Every time they say that, they are misquoting Jesus. Because that’s not what Jesus meant or said. He was saying, yeah, the poor are going to be with you always, because he was quoting from Deuteronomy [15:11]. The rest of that scripture says the poor will always be with you because of your greed — I’m paraphrasing it, but that’s the meaning of it. The poor will always be with you is a critique of our unwillingness to address poverty. To have this level of inequality existing is a violation of our deepest moral, constitutional and religious values. It’s morally inconsistent, morally indefensible, and economically insane. Why would you not want to lift 55 to 60 million people out of poverty if you could by paying them a basic living wage? Why would you not want that amount of resources coming to people and then coming back into the economy? -Rev William J Barber II; 1.21.23 |
For Wolfe, the future is a strong nation, and a strong nation happens to be the Christian one. The church’s witness of a future Kingdom, the faithfulness of God, and the “weak things of the world shaming the strong” barely register. Wolfe’s only response to opposition is a Nietzschean-like challenge: Does a Christian man (yes, male) have the strength of will to impose his vision of Christian life and law onto a vacuum of secularist life? There is only one answer he will accept. And anyone who disagrees with him has submitted to the contradictions of an Enlightenment-infused liberal agenda and is close to embracing the progressive excesses of the left.
Wolfe’s work could function all too well as a theological and philosophical foundation for some of the worst impulses in our all-too-human hearts. It lays the foundation for Caesaropapism, a renewing of racial divisions within society and church, blurred lines of church and state authorities, overly ambitious civil laws, and brute power politics. Wolfe is himself careful to avoid invoking the “nationalism” of the 1930s and ’40s, content to defend a “phenomenological nationalism,” or, “the lived experience” of associating with one’s own. Nonetheless, Wolfe writes a manifesto that in the wrong hands could do great harm.
As I read The Case for Christian Nationalism, I admit to empathizing in places. Often I even agreed. To the average college student, I am the bad guy: white, straight, male, upper-middle class, a Christian pastor. I know that the Gender Studies department on my campus teaches a vision of humanity that is, by my Christian lights, anti-human. Wolfe correctly senses these errors. But he goes the wrong way in search of a solution. He dignifies sinful natural impulses to generate a will to power, and he tries to match a leftist power narrative with a Christian nationalist one—an eye for an eye, or rather, a blow for a blow. For Wolfe, the meek not only cannot inherit the earth—they ought not. They simply don’t deserve it.
This is no way forward for Christians. Our faith depends on the power of weakness. The meek shall inherit the earth. God will use the weak to shame the strong. I trust this, not because I deduce or intuit it or even because my tradition confesses it, but because God’s Word tells me. That is enough for my family—and for my nation.
---------Jonathan Clark; Reformed University Fellowship in Colorado Springs, Colo.; Jan 18, 2023
Wolfe’s work could function all too well as a theological and philosophical foundation for some of the worst impulses in our all-too-human hearts. It lays the foundation for Caesaropapism, a renewing of racial divisions within society and church, blurred lines of church and state authorities, overly ambitious civil laws, and brute power politics. Wolfe is himself careful to avoid invoking the “nationalism” of the 1930s and ’40s, content to defend a “phenomenological nationalism,” or, “the lived experience” of associating with one’s own. Nonetheless, Wolfe writes a manifesto that in the wrong hands could do great harm.
As I read The Case for Christian Nationalism, I admit to empathizing in places. Often I even agreed. To the average college student, I am the bad guy: white, straight, male, upper-middle class, a Christian pastor. I know that the Gender Studies department on my campus teaches a vision of humanity that is, by my Christian lights, anti-human. Wolfe correctly senses these errors. But he goes the wrong way in search of a solution. He dignifies sinful natural impulses to generate a will to power, and he tries to match a leftist power narrative with a Christian nationalist one—an eye for an eye, or rather, a blow for a blow. For Wolfe, the meek not only cannot inherit the earth—they ought not. They simply don’t deserve it.
This is no way forward for Christians. Our faith depends on the power of weakness. The meek shall inherit the earth. God will use the weak to shame the strong. I trust this, not because I deduce or intuit it or even because my tradition confesses it, but because God’s Word tells me. That is enough for my family—and for my nation.
---------Jonathan Clark; Reformed University Fellowship in Colorado Springs, Colo.; Jan 18, 2023
January 13, 2023
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Jan 13, 2023: Religion Dispatches: ‘EXPORTING GARBAGE TO THE NATIONS’: CONSERVATIVE CHRISTIAN RIFTS SPREADING LIKE CRACKED GLASS
The flashpoint was a full page essay by Chris Hume, the managing editor of The Lancaster Patriot, a weekly newspaper which is not available online (but Hume’s essay is posted here) in which he denounced neo-charismatics generally, and prophet Julie Green—who had appeared at a number of Doug Mastriano campaign and ReAwaken America events—in particular. Hume took specific exception to Green’s prophecies at a Mastriano event in Spooky Nook, where she casually equated Trump with Jesus. “God said ‘You can’t stop my son. Who is the rightful president. He is on his way back,” she prophesied, “and how he takes his position back on center stage, you will never see that coming because you won’t see me coming. And I am with him.” |
Hume calls her a “false prophet” and a “false teacher.” He repeated his charges in a November podcast just before the election, in conversation with Joel Saint, a regional Christian Reconstructionist leader and Pastor of Independence Reformed Bible Church in Morgantown. In their view, Christianity is being used as a “political prop” by ReAwaken America and the MAGA movement. Hume writes that “carelessness,” “excesses,” “sensationally false claims,” and “new prophecies” have marked charismatics since the early days of the church. What’s more, he declares, “Anti-intellectualism and emotionalism have given us modern day evangelicalism, which is a mile wide and an inch deep. And,” he adds, “we are exporting this garbage to the nations.” And, he claims, “Green’s shenanigans are just one example of how the co-opting of certain conservatives is creating a mass of duped people, ignorant of what God’s Law-Word actually says regarding salvation, revelation, and civil government.” |
Jan 11, 2023: New York Times: How Montana Took a Hard Right Turn Toward Christian Nationalism
Montana has a tradition of ticket-splitting and has long been one of the most politically independent states in the union, resisting the kind of single-party rule that has flourished in the neighboring states of Idaho and Wyoming. But in recent years, Republicans have managed to secure an ironclad grasp over state government, and the religious right is ascendant. “We’re a country founded on Christian ideals,” Austin Knudsen, the attorney general, told me. “That’s what’s made us the country that we are.” In 2021, the Montana Legislature passed a bill banning transgender athletes on sports teams at public schools and universities, an increased tax credit benefiting private Christian schools and numerous anti-abortion laws. “They’re trying to convert the state,” said Whitney Williams, who ran for governor as a Democrat in 2020. When the state G.O.P. gathered in Billings last July to formalize its platform, Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, told those assembled that Montana was “a symbol for the nation.”
Montana has a tradition of ticket-splitting and has long been one of the most politically independent states in the union, resisting the kind of single-party rule that has flourished in the neighboring states of Idaho and Wyoming. But in recent years, Republicans have managed to secure an ironclad grasp over state government, and the religious right is ascendant. “We’re a country founded on Christian ideals,” Austin Knudsen, the attorney general, told me. “That’s what’s made us the country that we are.” In 2021, the Montana Legislature passed a bill banning transgender athletes on sports teams at public schools and universities, an increased tax credit benefiting private Christian schools and numerous anti-abortion laws. “They’re trying to convert the state,” said Whitney Williams, who ran for governor as a Democrat in 2020. When the state G.O.P. gathered in Billings last July to formalize its platform, Ronna McDaniel, the chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, told those assembled that Montana was “a symbol for the nation.”
Jan 10, 2023: Baptist News Global: The New Apostolic Reformation drove the January 6 riots, so why was it overlooked by the House Select Committee?
These are some of the questions Matthew Taylor, a Protestant Scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies, seeks to answer in a series on the Straight White American Jesus podcast titled Charismatic Revival Fury: The New Apostolic Reformation.
Taylor says while the January 6 insurrection was a conglomeration of different groups and perspectives coming together, a significant portion of the attack holds the markings of “charismatic revival fury.”
Charismatic revival furyCharismatics are a Christian community that has been growing in popularity since the 20th century. They believe God continues to reveal God’s will for the world through apostles and prophets in the same way the early church wrote about in the book of Acts. As a revivalist movement, they present a hopeful vision of victory for the future, coming in a breakthrough of a third Great Awakening.
But in the meantime, they are furiously angry over the political landscape in the United States due to abortion, LGBTQ acceptance and the perceived threat of Islam.
These are some of the questions Matthew Taylor, a Protestant Scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian and Jewish Studies, seeks to answer in a series on the Straight White American Jesus podcast titled Charismatic Revival Fury: The New Apostolic Reformation.
Taylor says while the January 6 insurrection was a conglomeration of different groups and perspectives coming together, a significant portion of the attack holds the markings of “charismatic revival fury.”
Charismatic revival furyCharismatics are a Christian community that has been growing in popularity since the 20th century. They believe God continues to reveal God’s will for the world through apostles and prophets in the same way the early church wrote about in the book of Acts. As a revivalist movement, they present a hopeful vision of victory for the future, coming in a breakthrough of a third Great Awakening.
But in the meantime, they are furiously angry over the political landscape in the United States due to abortion, LGBTQ acceptance and the perceived threat of Islam.
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Jan 9, 2023: Baptist News Global: God save us from a Christian Congress
According to Pew Research, 88% of members of Congress identify as Christians. This raises some interesting questions: How are the Christians in Congress acting? In what ways are the Christians in Congress acting that are not Christian? How should we apply the saying of Jesus, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven”?
According to Pew Research, 88% of members of Congress identify as Christians. This raises some interesting questions: How are the Christians in Congress acting? In what ways are the Christians in Congress acting that are not Christian? How should we apply the saying of Jesus, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven”?
January 8, 2023:
Donald Trump Jr is selling what he calls a "We The People" Bible. He says: "The We The People Bible was designed with the patriot in mind and features a vertical reversed American flag design that represents a country in distress.......Our Bibles include copies of the United States Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and the Pledge of Allegiance. "
Oh, and if you order the Bible bundle (for only $150) you also get: A Bible
Hat, A T-Shirt, A Challenge Coin, A Bookmark. and an American Flag Lapel Pin.
(Everything you would need to show you are really an American Christian😂🤣😂)
#ChristianNationalismRising
Donald Trump Jr is selling what he calls a "We The People" Bible. He says: "The We The People Bible was designed with the patriot in mind and features a vertical reversed American flag design that represents a country in distress.......Our Bibles include copies of the United States Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and the Pledge of Allegiance. "
Oh, and if you order the Bible bundle (for only $150) you also get: A Bible
Hat, A T-Shirt, A Challenge Coin, A Bookmark. and an American Flag Lapel Pin.
(Everything you would need to show you are really an American Christian😂🤣😂)
#ChristianNationalismRising
