Some observations on the role of Christian nationalism in the 1/6 coup attempt

Treasonous Christian nationalists in the US Senate, praying to God

for thanks in helping them attack the US Capitol on 1/6 and restoring 

America as the Christian nation God intended

“Mark my word, if and when these preachers get control of the [Republican] party, and they're sure trying to do so, it's going to be a terrible damn problem. Frankly, these people frighten me. Politics and governing demand compromise. But these Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them.” -- ascribed to the old fashioned Republican conservative, Barry Goldwater, presumably said in the 1960s (today, Goldwater would have been RINO hunted out of the FRP as a radical liberal)

A July 28, 2021 article by Andrew Seidel writing for Religion Dispatches, THE JANUARY 6 SELECT COMMITTEE CANNOT IGNORE THIS CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT, discusses the overarching role of Christian nationalism (CN) movement in the attack on the capitol.  RD writes:

Yesterday, for the first time, we heard about Christian Nationalism in a government conversation about the January 6 insurrection. The conversation some of us had been having about Christian Nationalism may have entered the mainstream in the wake of that attack, but politicians—even those promising to get to the bottom of the attacks—ignored the role this political theology played in the attack. They can ignore it no longer.

Christian Nationalism is an identity based around the claim that America was founded as a Christian nation, that we’re based on Judeo-Christian principles, and, most importantly, that we’ve strayed from that foundation. It’s a political identity based on lies and myths. It’s a permission structure that uses the language of return, of getting back to our godly roots, to justify all manner of hateful public policy—and even attacks on our democracy.

Every day I learn more about how the permission structures within Christian Nationalism motivated the terrorists and how it cuts across the other motivations and identities we saw that day, including the absurd Qanon conspiracy. They believed that they were fighting for God’s chosen one. And if God was on their side, who could be against them?

Trump’s second impeachment featured the first full airing of the January 6 attacks. But, despite the conversation entering the mainstream, nothing was said about the Christian Nationalist aspect of this assault. I feared—and still fear—that the January 6 Select Committee would do the same. When Rep. Cheney trotted out in her opening statement the Christian Nationalist war cry frequently heard in the lead up to January 6, “One Nation, Under God,” I was worried all over again that they were going to ignore, or cover for, Christian Nationalism.

 
Officer Hodges, who was the officer trapped and nearly crushed to death between the doors as the mob surged through the Capitol, spoke about the Christian Nationalist aspect of this assault, though not in those terms: “It was clear the terrorists perceived themselves to be Christians. I saw the Christian flag directly to my front. Another read ‘Jesus is my savior, Trump is my president.’ Another, ‘Jesus is King'”

That Christian flag was carried into battle against America—carried alongside the Confederate flag.  

The idea that “the United States of America [should] be reborn” and reborn “in Christ’s holy name,” which is how the prayer concluded, is central to Christian Nationalism. We cannot understand what happened on January 6 without understanding Christian Nationalism.

Seidel’s description raises two aspects of CN that most Americans, probably ~85%, are mostly or completely unaware of. First, is the degree to which CN ideology is integrated into the fascist Republican Party (FRP) and controls it. The only other overarching influential in FRP ideology is the capitalist profit motive. That influence billionaires and multi-millionaire elites who dictate policy and tactics. They pay to buy that power. Probably most of those elite influencers, i.e., rich anti-government radical conservatives, are themselves Christian nationalists or allied to the movement. The two main influences in the FRP are inextricably intertwined and overlapping. 

This lack of understanding of the radical fundamentalist nature and influence of CN on the FRP is why Officer Hodges didn't refer the Christian symbolism in terms of CN influence. He just thought they were regular garden variety Christians. He did not understand that he was facing radical Christian fundamentalists intent on overthrowing secular government and replacing it with White male-dominated Christian Sharia. He probably still does not understand it.

The second, equally important point that Seidel’s article raises is that probably most rank and file FRP voters and supporters honestly believe that God really is on their side, and/or God chose Lyin' Donnie (the ex-president) to restore America to its fundamentalist, anti-secular, pro-White race Christian roots. The CN movement opposes secular public education and desegregated public schools. The White race is seen by God as superior and destined to rule above all others. At least, that's a core CN belief. It is a key lynchpin underlying the core CN myths (lies) that (i) America was founded as a religious nation, (ii) the US Constitution is a religious document, not secular, and (iii) American secularist society and government constitutes severe persecution of peaceful, humble Christians who just want to live and worship as they wish in peace. That is how radical and inherently anti-democratic, authoritarian, theocratic and autocratic the CN movement really is. That is why Goldwater would be RINO hunted out of the modern FRP.

Thus, more than influence from QAnon, anti-vaxxers, and other secular influences in the FRP, CN is simply bigger and more unifying than all the rest. It easily sweeps in racism and bigotry because those influences are quite compatible with the ideology. It also easily accommodates the current FRP assault on voting by rigging elections (God destined morally superior wealthy White males to run the country) and by suppressing votes, including Democratic, racial minority and LGBQT community votes (God destined White race heterosexual Christians to dominate). In my opinion, CN ideology and beliefs are the single most dominant influence in the modern FRP.

Question: Are CN ideology and beliefs the most dominant influence in the modern FRP, i.e., even more important than special interest money and rich donor money? Or, is the money, or something else, the main influence?