Christian Nationalism

Part 1: Introduction

8 · 18 · 24

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Part 1: Introduction

It is Sunday morning, August 18^th, 2024. And it’s a beautiful morning here in Beaverton, Oregon!

Surfing the early Sunday morning TV channels naturally led me to various preachers quoting the bible and looking for money. Sadly, surfing the news channels sometimes is not all that different! They aren’t quoting the bible necessarily (unless they’re Fox), but using their own playbooks instead, and all in the name of making money. Over the past few years, a conflict has been exposed between investigative reporting and religion. More recently, this conflict has spread to the electorate at large and religion and if left unchecked it could lead to an all-out war. It is a war fueled by the conflict between facts and faith. It is a war that has infected our political system. It is a war that good people everywhere ignore at their peril. It is a war we have to fight, we have to win.

As a nation, we are headlong into the 2024 presidential election and the stakes could not be greater. The Republican candidate, Donald Trump, is making his rounds, repeating his litany of doom and gloom to his followers. To Trump, our country is a failed nation-state, with everything going very wrong, with no hope for a future under his competitor, Kamala Harris. The future that Trump sees for our country is essentially a redo of the four years of his past presidency i.e., tax cuts for the wealthy, the promise of massive cruel deportations, the threat of huge tariffs, threats to our allies, banning reproductive freedom, etc. We know the drill. We’ve been here before.

Harris, on the other hand, is basing her campaign on hope for the future, a welcome contrast. She will unveil her vision of the future this week in Chicago, during the Democratic National Convention. That said, while Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, preach the politics of hope, they also dole out their own fair share of doom and gloom whenever describing what a Trump presidency is going to mean for this country. Neither party has sole exclusive rights to doom and gloom.

My purpose with this mini blog series is not to make specific political arguments for Harris or against Trump, although these are threads that inevitably will be exposed. Instead, I want to focus on describing what I consider to be one of the most serious threats facing us with a Trump presidency, the threat to our democracy. It is called, Christian Nationalism.

What is Christian Nationalism? Quite simply, Christian Nationalism is an ideology that seeks to integrate Christian beliefs with national identity, often advocating for the government to promote or enforce Christian values as a central part of a nation’s character. It is not a religion or even a religious denomination, as the beliefs of adherents can vary widely. In some cases, and this would include our own, Christian Nationalism is a political movement that hopes to influence our laws so they reflect Christian values.

However, don’t jump to the wrong conclusion that Christian Nationalism is the same as Christianity. They are different in scope, purpose, and implications. Thus, Christian Nationalism is a different animal. Let me highlight some of the differences.

Christianity, for example, has a global scope, its moral and spiritual teachings are applicable to people around the world. Christian Nationalism, on the other hand, is focused on shaping national political policies based on Christian values. Granted, Christians generally feel, I think, that the views they have as citizens should influence our nation and, thus influence politics; but, if this is what is meant by “Christian Nationalist,” then every Christian would wear the label, and we know this is not the case.

The Christian Nationalist seeks to fuse Christianity with civil life. They believe that our political processes should be overhauled to serve their Christian God. They believe our laws should be explicitly Christian. If this sounds familiar, like ISIS perhaps, but with a different God instead of Allah, that’s understandable. I jokingly sometimes refer to Christian Nationalists as Christian Jihadists, but hey, if the shoe fits…

Christianity seeks to exert its influence through personal transformation and adherence to faith. Christian Nationalism usually involves political advocacy and the imposition of Christian values through legislation.

Lastly, Christian Nationalism is a distortion of Christian faith and democratic principles. It often overlaps with other nationalist ideologies that may include elements of racial or cultural superiority. Alternatively, Christianity is a global faith focused on individual spiritual growth. I hope this clears up any confusion anyone has about this.

My interest in writing on this topic has evolved after watching the growth of the Christian Nationalist movement in our country and across the world. This is not to say that the Christian Nationalists are a threat solely due to their large numbers, at least not directly. After all, the survey numbers vary, sometimes wildly.[i] The most recent PRI survey (22,000 Americans in 2023) shows us what support looks like in all 50 states[ii]. This new survey shows that only 3 in 10 Americans can be classified as identifying with, or adherents of, Christian Nationalism, while 2/3 of Americans can be classified as Christian Nationalist skeptics or rejecters.

Some claim these numbers demonstrate that Christian Nationalism is not a threat to democracy. I beg to differ, based on the fact that the Christian Nationalist movement has found a secure home within the campaign of Donald Trump, and therefore there is a real chance that he may win the presidency, ushering in what could turn out to be our very own, real Handmaid’s Tale.[iii] Yes, this may be an exaggeration, but I want to make the point about how dangerous I think this threat is.

Make no mistake, Christian Nationalism is not just a threat to our democracy, it is a global threat! While I could not find statistics listing the numbers of Christian Nationalists across the world, countries like Hungary and Poland show clear evidence of being Christian Nationalist; others like Russia (aligned with Russian Orthodox), and Brazil, are candidates with more or less, clear Christian Nationalist values and agendas.

I hope to provide you with the information required to start seeing Christian Nationalism, as it is often like those tricky motorcycles, ie., hidden, tucked out of sight, buried within a traffic jam of more acceptable, seemingly innocuous rhetoric, only to make an appearance when it is too late to stop. Further, I want to incentivize you to join me in wanting to stop it and fight it when you see it! If there was ever a fight worth participating in, this is it! We have the tools needed to fight it, the most powerful of which is… the vote. But first, we have to know what it is, and to do that we must start seeing it!

I intend to make this blog series as informative as I can. You will have to be the judge as to whether I accomplish this or not. Here then, is what I intend to cover in this series: