I don’t know about you but I sense Christian nationalism is far more serious of an issue than some seem to think. Yes, we are in our own silos and people in my silo are not Christian nationalists. Not even a whiff of it.
Here’s what is difficult for me to comprehend: first, the idolatry of some who have connected cross with flag, tying the gospel to America, and enmeshment with the GOP/Right/even Trump so much one wonders if such persons are talking their faith or their politics.
Numbers why I think this is more significant than many think.
Listen to this statistic: 70% of white evangelicals think the US Constitution is inspired. I don’t know what to think of this result on p. 84 of Philip Gorski and Samuel Perry, The Flag and the Cross. I’m bothered that any evangelicals would believe this; forget the 70%.
So I’m not so sure we can say “them guys are nutso” and pretend they’re fringe. There’s more of this around than we think.
“The Tea Party, the MAGA movement, and the Capitol insurrection all sprouted from” the “same soil.” The leader is a white man claiming to be a Christian; he’s “aggressive but disciplined, ready to use violence to defend (his) ‘freedom’ and impose ‘law and order’.” Yes, they say, think of John Wayne, or also Sarah Palin or Marjorie Taylor Greene. That is, “Christian libertarianism joined free markets, racial purity, and authoritarian religion into a unified ‘Biblical worldview’.”
Half of the Tea Party self-identifies as born-again evangelicals. The Tea Party had lots of anti-immigration beliefs; they had contempt for Obama; more than 70% thought our economic struggles were caused by “undocumented immigrants.”
MAGA’s deep story is a “semi-secularized version of white Christian nationalism” but it is “shorn of biblical references.”
Who is the hero of the movements? Who gets applause? How deep is that adoration? Gorski and Perry appeal to the story at work in Du Mez’s book. “John Wayne could not be made into Jesus, so Jesus was made into John Wayne.” They think the MAGA movement made Trump the new John Wayne.
Here are the core themes: “(white) men exercising (righteous) violence to defend (their) freedom and impose (racial and gender) order.” They are not alone in thinking religious freedom is a dogwhistle. In this movement freedom is for “us” and order is about “them.”
Another of their conclusions: “Conservative whites fear and abhor violence in some contexts (… from Blacks, immigrants, or Muslims). But they applaud it in other contexts (… by police, soldiers, and other ‘good guys with guns’).”
“The more that white Americans seek to institutionalize “Christian values” or the nation’s Christian identity, the more strongly they support gun-toting good guys taking on (real or imagined) gun-toting bad guys, the more frequent use of the death penalty, any-means-necessary policing, and even torture as an interrogation technique.”
There is clear evidence (Weyrich, Shlafly, Huckabee) that the Christian Right thinks only some are worthy of voting.
They put together some other terms with white Christian nationalism: freedom, order, hierarchy, violence.
I’m thinking some will offer dismissive remarks about the numbers at work in this book, but I’ve watched (esp) Perry’s work on other topics and he knows his sociological method. I’ve read Gorski’s books and I find his grasp of history and ideas expansive and penetrating.
People need to know what’s happening in this movement.
It’s idolatrous, this white Christian nationalism is, and it needs to be denounced.
Frankly, this is terrifying. And yes, it is far more serious than many folk think. As a dogwhistle for oppression, it violates the value God places on every one of us, turning our faith into the liberty to destroy any and all who might stand in its way. Its strength lies in its powerful use of fear-mongering.
The sad part is that most evangelicals don’t know the whole story of white nationalism. Many think they are just “Christian” because it is framed as Christian. The comprehensive understanding is missing and they rely on their “Christian” news sources and other leaders to tell them what is true. It’s frustrating as a pastor when calling the church to faithfulness to Christ and the way of Jesus. So many voices drown out the historic faith.