Regarding the role of Christian nationalism in the 1/6 coup attempt

At the 1/6 insurrection

Experts have been analyzing the role of the Christian nationalist political movement in the 1/6 coup attempt. Results of that research is pointing to a significant but complex role. The Washington Post writes:

University of Oklahoma sociologist Samuel Perry, another participant in Thursday’s event, has written several books about religion and politics. New research for “The Flag and The Cross,” which comes out next month, shows a powerful correlation between people who subscribe to Christian nationalist beliefs and anti-democratic beliefs.

The book, co-written by Perry and Yale sociologist Philip Gorski, lays out a scale of Christian nationalism based on agreement with seven points, including “the federal government should declare the United States a Christian nation,” and “the success of the United States is part of God’s plan.”

Their research shows how, the higher people are on the Christian nationalism scale the more they tend to agree with the statement “we make it too easy to vote.” The same thing happens when people agree with the statements “the best way to stop bad guys with guns is to have good guys with guns,” and “authorities should be able to use any means necessary to keep law and order” and “if national security is at risk, I support torture.”

“Even after accounting for partisanship and political ideology, the more strongly White Americans affirm Christian nationalism, the more likely they were to respond to Trump’s election loss with a view that voting access should be restricted even more,” the book says.

“White Christian nationalism is not just in the people who stormed the Capitol but it’s powerfully associated and a leading predictor of whether people affirm authoritarian tactics to control populations they think are problems,” Perry told The Post.

Perry and other experts say new data does not indicate that an expanding percentage of the U.S. population hold these views. He says that is because of younger Americans being more secular and the Trump presidency heightening awareness of the issue.

However, it is wrong to see this group as “ineffective or in a dying grasp,” he said. Instead, they are becoming more angry and, he believes, dangerous. The book’s research showed that the same group more powerfully believed “it’s too easy to vote” after the 2020 election compared with before.

“As this group of Americans — Whites who believe the country is for people like them — the more they feel marginalized, in a corner, and can lean into that, there is more potential for them to become more radical, more militant,” he says. The topic becomes wrapped up in partisanship, with followers saying: “If the liberals hate this Christian nationalism, it must be good.”

Regarding Christian nationalism, NPR reported last January. NPR commented that CN beliefs include (i) masks and vaccinations violate religious freedom, (ii) the Jan. 6 insurrectionists were proud patriots, and (iii) the Biden administration is evil and illegitimate. NPR noted that “this movement of ultra-conservative, politicized churches is apparently on the march, though there are no firm numbers because the congregations are mostly nondenominational.”

NPR reported about the Patriot Church in Lenoir City, TN, where Rev. Ken Peters spoke to his congregation in a sermon entitled How Satan Destroys the World. Peters said: “Don't let the mainstream media or the left tell you that we were not a Christian nation. You know why there's churches everywhere and not mosques? Because we're a Christian nation! .... You know he's not the most popular president in America. How many Biden parades did you see? Yet he beat Trump with 70 million? Give me a break. We know something's up.”

After the sermon, one of the parishioners commented: “This is a spiritual battle. It's good versus evil. And, unfortunately, evil has taken charge.”

That is how Christian nationalism sees America and what it stands for.

The professional media awakens?

It may be the case that the professional new media are beginning to wake up to the existence, authoritarian fundamentalist agenda and toxic influence on the Republican Party and American society of the Christian nationalist political movement. If so, that would be some good news.

In the next few days, a post focused on the findings of a recent research report on the role of Christian nationalism in the 1/6 coup attempt will follow.