Christian nationalism is an extremist political movement made up of many groups. What they have in common is their intolerance and hate of people who are not white, not Christian, and not far-right. They uphold the idea of white supremacy and believe our nation’s laws and institutions should be guided by their extreme interpretation of biblical values. Christian nationalists are a leading source of domestic violent extremism (DVE) and many advocate for violence in Jesus’ name. They were very visible during the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. No matter how they may present themselves, Christian nationalism is not Christian. Hate has no place in Christianity.
Four hundred years after Jesus’ crucifixion, the early church became part of the Holy Roman Empire. With mixed results. While it made Christianity a global religion, it also became a tool of power and control.
Today, Christian nationalism is a dangerous extremist political ideology disguised as religion. Fusing together extremism and American civic life, it calls itself religious freedom. Christian nationalists manipulate religious imagery to fuel disinformation, conspiracies, election denial, prejudice and discrimination, and violence. The ultimate goal is to preserve white Christian male authority and power at any cost, with all others subservient, including Christians who aren’t on board.
White Christian nationalism perpetuates some dangerous and disturbingly influential conspiracies. The “two-seed theory” says Jews are the literal spawn of the devil because Eve had sex with the serpent and from that union the Jewish people are descended through Cain. It goes further, calling nonwhites soulless beasts. Only White Christians are descended from Adam and Eve through Abel.
The Charlottesville chant, “Jews will not replace us” did not spring out of thin air, nor did the gallows erected on Capitol Building grounds on January 6th. A 1970s dystopian novel called The Turner Diaries has become the extremists’ working bible. It tells how to overcome the secret Jewish global power that is out to replace whites with nonwhites and foreigners, called “The Great Replacement Theory.” In this fictional diary, heroic white revolutionaries overthrow “the system,” a federal government run by Jews. Jews are to be executed on the “Day of the Rope” alongside the “mud races”
{people of color) who were to replace white people. These extremists seek a racial holy war called RAHOWA, and some think January 6th was a hopeful sign RAHOWA is near.
Perhaps scariest of all is the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) because it has embedded itself all the way into the Oval Office. For NAR, the return of Jews to Israel is a necessary step for the Second Coming of Christ, who will return once unconverted Jews are murdered, or as they prophesy, cast into “the lake of fire.”
America was founded as a Christian nation, on Christian principles, and should be a Christian nation today. Rhetoric framed around “Christian values” or “national heritage” appeals to and normalizes white racial grievances and anxieties; and it helps mobilize voters.
Christian nationalists call for the takeover of seven key institutions that shape most aspects of American culture and society, called the Seven Mountains Mandate: family, religion, government, education, arts and entertainment, commerce, and media. Dominion theology, based in Genesis, believes God gave man, particularly Christians, a mandate to rule over all aspects of creation with the goal to establish a global Christian theocracy.
Some embrace violent rhetoric like “holy war” and believe they are the soldiers of Jesus, the “warrior-king.” Violence becomes a Godly mission. These ideas, and Christian flags, were well-represented at the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
Christian nationalism is dangerous on so many levels, including to Christianity itself. It becomes a barrier to faith by pushing people away and is not the kind of evangelism and voluntary relationship with God that Paul and Jesus asked of us.
The Seven Mountains Mandate pours billions of dollars into their own media in an effort to actively replace American democracy with a Christian state. Some believe certain elected leaders are anointed by God, and therefore personal weaknesses or failures are part of God’s plan.
As the Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign notes, Christian nationalism “often overlaps with and provides cover for white supremacy and racial subjugation.” It is especially antisemitic, misogynistic, and racist. It alleges our government is secretly controlled by Jews. The privileged Christian class in the U.S. should be promoted to leadership above all others—mostly white, male and straight.
White Christian nationalism is one of the main routes to radicalize and mobilize domestic terrorists among white supremacists, anti-government militias, and violent activists. One movement in particular, called Christian Identity, provides the religious roots for radical conspiracies and violence. Christian Identity perpetuates the “two-seed theory” that Jews are the spawn of the devil and non-whites are subhuman soul-less beasts. It perpetuates “The Great Replacement Theory” that seeks to replace white people. To be clear, these “theologies” are not affiliated with any legitimate Christian denomination, nor do they appear anywhere in the Bible. But its influence is dangerous and its adherents consider themselves Christian. However, as wacky as they may sound, the Christian Identity movement is small in size but big in impact. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), the leader in tracking antisemitism, says Christian Identity “influences virtually all white supremacist and extreme anti-government movements. It has also informed criminal behavior ranging from hate crimes to acts of terrorism.”
Christian nationalists advocate for oppressive legislation at all levels of government. They take away rights from Christians who do not accept their extremist beliefs, as well as non-Christians, women, people of color, immigrants, and the LGBTQ+ community. To say these ideas are the opposite of Jesus’ teaching and Christian values is an understatement.
This notion of theocracy—combining church and state—has never ended well for church or state. Enemies of the state always become the enemies of the church.
A philosopher put it like this, “patriotism is loving your country for what it has done; nationalism is loving your country no matter what it’s done.” Christians cannot allow Christian nationalism to go unchecked. From vandalism and violence against houses of worship (including churches), to mass murder, Christian nationalism is an abuse of Christianity that divides the public and provokes violence in a clear threat to American democracy, religious liberty, and Christianity itself.
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