A short history of Christianity in America & Christian nationalism

Until recent years, Christianity never bothered me much. It was always there but it mostly existed in peace and cooperation with things other than religious worship and practices. Despite the decline in Christian practice in the US in recent decades, the rise of radicalized authoritarian Christian nationalism has made me uneasy ever since I came to learn of its existence and power in American politics. In the last couple of years, my unease has turned into increasingly intense fear.

Christian nationalism is a political wealth and power movement, not a Christian religious movement. Nonetheless, the elites who control the movement use strict Christian fundamentalist dogmas to shield the wealth and power agenda from the rank and file. Poll data indicates that most rank and file Christian nationalism supporters do not know what Christian nationalism is or that its agenda is anti-democratic authoritarian wealth and power for the elites, not Christian religion for the benefit of all.

This 21 minute video outlines the origins and practices of Christianity in the US since the time of the colonies. In the past, educational content like this would not have fazed me. Now all of it scares me. I look differently at history that was never troubling until now. 

Faithful America, a Christian group that opposes Christian nationalism writes about the authoritarian threat.

What is Christian nationalism, and why is it a threat?

As defined by multiple sociologists and academic researchers, Christian nationalism is a political ideology and cultural framework that claims America was founded to be a "Christian nation" where Christians should receive special legal treatment not available to non-Christians. This merges the previously separate Christian and American identities, proclaiming that the only true Americans are the country's Christians (and a specific subset of conservative Christians, at that). This means that Christian nationalism is antisemitic and Islamophobic, and poses a threat to the religious freedom of America's Jews, Muslims, Indigenous peoples, mainline Protestant Christians, and more.

As the "Christians Against Christian Nationalism" coalition notes, "It often overlaps with and provides cover for white supremacy and racial subjugation," which is why you will also often hear the related and important term "white Christian nationalism." Christian nationalism also falsely teaches that there is no separation of church and state -- and that conservative Christians should seize complete power by any means necessary.

Driven by that lust for power, Christian nationalism is the ideology that inspired and guided the deadly January 6 insurrection; organizes countless attacks on the equal rights and religious freedom of non-Christians, immigrants, women, the LGBTQ community, people of color, and other Americans; and now threatens to incite a new wave of political violence with never-ending rhetoric about "holy war," the "armor of God," and "the angel of death" coming for the movement's political opponents. 

Is Christian nationalism Christian?

No, Christian nationalism is a political ideology and a form of nationalism, not a religion or a form of Christianity. It directly contradicts the Gospel in multiple ways, and is therefore considered by many Christian leaders to be a heresy. While Jesus taught love, peace, and truth, Christian nationalism leads to hatred, political violence, and QAnon misinformation. While Jesus resisted the devil's temptations of authority in the wilderness, Christian nationalism seeks to seize power for its followers at all costs. And while Christianity is a 2,000-year-old global tradition that transcends all borders, Christian nationalism seeks to merge faith with a single, 247-year-old, pluralistic nation.

If Christian nationalism is a political ideology, not a religion, why call it "Christian?"

We still say "Christian nationalism" because, just as white nationalism seeks to define national citizenship by a particular race, Christian nationalism seeks to define national citizenship by a particular religion. We need to note which faith is being hijacked -- our faith -- in order to highlight the danger to the church as well as to explain why we are the ones speaking out.

Equally importantly, while the ideology of Christian nationalism isn't Christian, individual Christian nationalists are. We should not question anyone else's stated faith or relationship with God the way that some of our own critics have questioned us. Instead, it is precisely because we are their fellow Christians that we can say to the pastors and politicians who abuse their power, "This is not what our shared faith is supposed to look like. This hunger for power and this mistreatment of others is not the love that Jesus wants from us." 

Why should Christians oppose Christian nationalism?

Pro-democracy, pro-love Christians must speak out together to show the country that Christian nationalism does not represent Jesus or our faith. When we do this, we prove that the biggest critics of the Christian-nationalist ideology are in fact Christians, and thus disprove the source of its biggest power: the false perception that the religious-right speaks for all American Christians.

Scared of losing this power, Christian-nationalist leaders like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Michael Flynn, and Tony Perkins have worked very hard to convince their followers of the lie that all critics of Christian nationalist are "atheistic globalists" from "the godless left" who want to "marginalize" Christians. Others, like Franklin Graham, warn that "progressive Christianity will lead you to hell." They are desperate to sideline or silence our voices, but their backlash simply shows that speaking out for the Gospel's message of love works.

In reality, it is Christian nationalism that marginalizes the Black Church tradition, mainline Protestants, Roman Catholics, progressive evangelicals, and millions of other members of the Body of Christ by trying to erase our faith and our relationship to the public square. To assist such Christians and churches in recognizing and responding to Christian nationalism when we see it, Faithful America has compiled the following list of helpful resources.

Some Christian nationalist rhetoric and thinking:

“Mercy is more than undeserved kindness. It is either a full pardon from a crime you are guilty of committing or it is a stay of execution.” ― Lance Wallnau (a major Christian nationalist advocate), God’s Chaos Code: The Shocking Blueprint that Reveals 5 Keys to the Destiny of Nations

“The fact that companies are as influential as nations should reshape how we see corporations. Nations now compete with corporations for influence and political power.” ― Lance Wallnau, God’s Chaos Code: The Shocking Blueprint that Reveals 5 Keys to the Destiny of Nations (Here is where a fight between the autocrats and the plutocrats against the theocrats could come from - how the three power sources will reconcile their endless lust for wealth and power is not at all clear to me)

Christian Ethics,Volume 33, page 26,

Number 1,   Aggregate Issue 127, Winter 2023