American Christian Nationalism

“Christian nationalism seeks to merge Christian and American identities, distorting both the Christian faith and America’s constitutional democracy. Christian nationalism demands Christianity be privileged by the State and implies that to be a good American, one must be Christian. It often overlaps with and provides cover for white supremacy and racial subjugation. We reject this damaging political ideology and invite our Christian brothers and sisters to join us in opposing this threat to our faith and to our nation. We believe that:

• People of all faiths and none have the right and responsibility to engage constructively in the public square. 
• Patriotism does not require us to minimize our religious convictions.”  

-- Christians Against Christian Nationalism 

“‘Let’s run the race marked out for us. Let’s fix our eyes on Old Glory and all she represents. Let’s fix our eyes on this land of heroes and let their courage inspire. And let’s fix our eyes on the author and perfecter of our faith and freedom and never forget that where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom — and that means freedom always wins.’ .... But Pence, who accepted his party’s nomination for vice president during the speech, sparked outcry in some Christian circles as he closed out his remarks when he combined at least two Bible verses — and replaced references to Jesus with patriotic imagery.” -- Mike Pence, August 2020, dog whistling to Christian Nationalists by conflating Jesus with the US flag based on 2 Corinthians 3:17 and Hebrews 12:1-2

“‘I should have seen this coming,’ writes John Fea in his new book, Believe Me. The toxic mixture of fear, nostalgia, and desire for power so vividly on display in 2016 was not an aberration, Fea tells us. Instead, it’s part of a long white evangelical tradition. The alliance with Trump may have come as a shock to some, but the roots of this strange embrace run deep into the white evangelical past. .... These deep roots are best seen in the most effective chapter of the book, a ‘short history of evangelical fear’. Fea describes Puritan narratives of moral decline and social decay–narratives begun almost before there was time for decline to occur!–as perhaps ‘the first American evangelical fear.’” -- Colorblind Christians, discussing Trump’s 2016 election and the role that Evangelical Christians played in it

A program, God Bless, produced by the NPR program On the Media discusses the phenomenon of Christian Nationalism (CN) in America. Most of the following comments summarize the first ~20 minutes of the broadcast, which also discusses the historical origin of the mostly mythical belief in severe persecution of Christians by various hostile influences throughout history.

This is of some interest because this group is one of the president’s core supporters. The president and vice president both play on mythical fears that CN ideology is partly based on. They pander to this group in ways that are opaque to most Americans but quite clear to people who believe in CN. 

About 75% of Evangelical Christians are Christian Nationalists (CNs), but the emphasis is more on nationalism than on a specific brand of Christianity. The core ideal is to see “people like us.” American-born white people are people like us and that is the focus of power and privilege. Religion is secondary to the in-group and people in the in-group do not need to be religious hardly at all. More than half the American electorate is CN and about 20% of those (~11% of the total electorate?) fiercely endorse the CN ideology, while about 32% are not strident but still hold these beliefs.

For this ideology, being Christian “like us” and an American citizen translates into social beliefs and symbolic boundaries that tend to exclude others from political parties, political offices, social services and even who is a citizen or qualified to vote. The religious component holds that because these God-willed beliefs are sacred, adherents should be willing to do anything to insure that this vision of America comes to pass. Basically, CNs want to see Christianity play a role at the center of American life, with less influence from other religious faiths, secularism and probably racial minorities. 

Christian Nationalism myths include the idea that America was founded as a Christian nation and that Christians are being persecuted in the form of infringements on their religious freedoms. Although the idea of persecution is false in modern America, it is a central complaint that CNs frequently raise. The idea of persecution of Christians dates back to the early days of Christianity and has been raised even at various times when there is no significant persecution. The modern fear is that Christianity is under attack by hostile forces such as secularism, moral relativism and feminism with much of the threat coming from Jews.

The president is aware of the CN ideology and its large following. In his rhetoric anyone who is not a CN is anti-Christian. He has attacked Joe Biden, incoherently and falsely claiming that he “will take away your guns, destroy your second amendment, no religion, no anything, hurt the Bible, hurt God, he's against God.” An ad the president has run shows Biden worshipping with a black congregation with a voice over saying that people will not be safe in America if Biden is elected. Apparently, this kind of incoherence appeals to some or most CNs. 

One can presume that believers in the CN ideology are among the president’s most loyal supporters. Since he is doing what God commands, presumably the ends mostly or completely justify the means. That may even be true if, in the name of CN ideology, the president murders someone in broad daylight with dozens of witnesses seeing it. Most of these people are not going to change their support for the president, no matter what.

In the CN ideology, one can see why so many religious conservatives have no qualms about ongoing widespread voter suppression by the GOP. They do not want minorities or democrats to vote because those people are not “like us.”