White Christian Nationalism is taking over American evangelicalism under the spell of Donald Trump. Political disagreements are not just fracturing family relationships but they are impacting the Body of Christ and jeopardizing its charter to evangelize all nations and people.
Today, 2/16/2024, Newsweek reported Rob Reiner and Dan Partland had released a documentary called God & Country. According to Christianity Today, “In the end, the movie raises more questions than it answers and will be limited in its persuasiveness to viewers who don’t already share its concerns.”
Unfortunately, the very people who should see this won’t. According to many, Reiner is part of the Hollywood elite—a group they claim indulges in bizarre practices. The web of conspiracies is so outlandish and intricate that it’s hard to keep up with them. The one getting the most ink this week involves Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, who are apparently involved in underhanded dealings intended to reelect the current president.
If you are a member of my congregation or a regular visitor to this website, you know I am opposed to two modern heresies of orthodox Christianity. The first is the prosperity gospel, and the second is White Christian Nationalism. On January 12, 2024, Christianity Today published an article positing those who support Donald Trump will not be shaken from their faith in him.
Ironically, in the same month, Trump forwarded an internet video in which he claimed God made him to be a caretaker. Using an AI version of Paul Harvey’s voice, the video asserts, “God made Trump.” While that may be true since we are all God’s creation, Donald Trump is not his representative except in the minds of fearful white Christians.
An Existential Threat
The video was even more egregious than his proclamation four years ago, “I am the chosen one.” There can be only one “Chosen One.” His name is Jesus. Yet the former president has been called David and Goliath. He has the best traits of both in the minds of some of his supporters.
They view him as a good, bad guy, going so far as to compare him to Assyrian King Cyrus who allowed God’s people to return to Jerusalem after their Babylonian exile. God once used a donkey to achieve his will, so it is possible that he would employ a twice-divorced, racist, misogynistic, narcissistic, pathological liar to consolidate political power in the hands of evangelicals. But I doubt it. Christianity is not about power.
This is an updated version of an article I wrote last year about White Christian Nationalism. White Christian Nationalism is an existential threat to American democracy, evangelicalism, and our First Amendment-guaranteed freedom of religion. If you believe I am overreacting, please keep reading.
In cooperation with the Brookings Institution, the Public Religion Research Institute, PRRI, recently published the results of a November-December 2022 survey involving more than 6,000 participants entitled, “A Christian Nation? Understanding the Threat of Christian Nationalism to American Democracy and Culture.”
According to Jemar Tisby, “White Christian Nationalism is the most urgent threat to democracy and the witness of the Church in the United States today.”1. He also posits that “White Christian Nationalism is an ethnocultural ideology that uses Christian symbolism to create a permission structure for the acquisition of political power and social control.”2.
Christian nationalists use fear tactics and methods contrary to Christ’s teaching to gain and wield political power while keeping others powerless. Their focus on power and control flies in the face of the Christianity of Jesus ((Matthew 5:39) and Paul. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Romans 12:18 | NIV It is ironic that fear has historically motivated evangelicals who proudly wear “Faith Over Fear” t-shirts.
They disregard Paul’s teaching regarding obedience to authority by their actions and rhetoric. They do it by claiming, absent any proof, that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. Romans 13:1-2 | ESV
Where is Your Loyalty?
The PRRI study should cause Jesus’s followers to remember our citizenship loyalty is owed to the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33), not the United States of America. It is easier to find an American flag in some churches than it is to find a cross. For many professed evangelicals, partisan politics is idolatry. We are ambassadors to the world (2 Corinthians 5:20), not citizens of it.
When we allow our political opinions and objectives to affect our relationships and where we worship, there is no other way to say it: politics has become an idol. Our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). We should focus on taking as many people there with us as possible. (Matthew 28:19-20)
There is certainly no reason we cannot vote for the candidates of our choice, but we should ask ourselves if they represent our Christian values and live a life consistent with Christ’s teaching. Don’t team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? 2 Corinthians 6:14 | NLT
Not New
According to Kristen Du Mez, author of Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, Christian nationalism is not new. “From seventeenth-century Puritans to early-twentieth-century liberal Protestants to Black civil rights activists, what it means for America to be a Christian nation has taken dramatically different forms. Since the 1970s, the dominant expression of Christian nationalism is that of the Christian Right, and this is the form of Christian nationalism reflected in the new PRRI/Brookings survey.”3.
Who Are They, and Where Do They Get Their News?
The PRRI found most white, evangelical Protestants were supportive of Christian nationalism, while most non-Christian religious Americans, Jewish Americans, and religiously unaffiliated respondents were either skeptics or rejecters of it. Not surprisingly, there was also a high correlation between support for Donald Trump and Christian nationalism.4.
There is also a high correlation between Christian nationalists and their trusted news sources. Seventy-nine percent of those who trust far-right news sources leaned toward Christian nationalism, along with 54% of those who trust Fox News. Those who trust mainstream news (74%) were either skeptics or rejecters. As educational attainment increased, people were less likely to lean toward White Christian Nationalism and increasingly away from the former president.
Mostly White Republicans
So far, for those of us who have been warning of the dangers of White Christian Nationalism to the Church and nation, the data supports what we have long suspected. Its strongest proponents are white, evangelical Republicans who are about four times as likely as Democrats to be adherents of Christian nationalism.
Christian Nationalism Defined
To ensure we are all talking oranges, here is how Robert P. Jones, President and Founder of PRRI, described Christian nationalism. “Christian nationalism is a new term for a worldview that has been with us since the founding of our country — the idea that America is destined to be a promised land for European Christians. While most Americans today embrace pluralism and reject this anti-democratic claim, two-thirds of white evangelical Protestants and most Republicans remain animated by this vision of a white Christian America.”5.
Racism, Antisemitism, and Islamophobia.
Christian Nationalism is linked to prejudice toward numerous minority groups.6. Two-thirds of whites who adhere to or sympathize with white nationalism disagree that white supremacy is still a major problem in the U.S. today. And 66% percent of sympathizers, along with 81% of adherents, believe in the replacement theory that posits immigrants are “invading our country and replacing our cultural and ethnic background.”
The Old Testament, which White Christian Nationalists are so fond of quoting, requires that immigrants and aliens be properly cared for. While in office the former president was responsible for having infants taken from their mothers’ arms, many of whom were not reunited. On February 7, 2024, Senate Republicans rejected the first significant, bipartisan immigration legislation in decades. They did it to appease the former president, even though it contained what that party demanded.
Recently, Donald Trump has been using a dog-whistle comment that originated with Adolph Hitler, “They’re destroying the blood of our country. That’s what they’re doing. They’re destroying our country.” There was some controversy about his choice of words since he quoted Mein Kampf but denied reading it.
Only 39% of All Americans believe Muslim values are at odds with American values, while 58% of sympathizers and 69% of adherents to White Christian Nationalism believe that they are. It would be interesting to know how many Americans believe White Christian Nationalist values are at odds with democracy.
Violence
The PRRI survey found that Christian nationalists are more prone to resort to violence under the right circumstances and are nearly seven times as likely as rejecters to support political violence. Jesus taught there is no place for violence or retribution in the life of a disciple. He certainly had the power to resist the Roman authorities but chose, instead, to do the will of God. Warrior Jesus is a myth.
When the Israelites were in the Desert of Sinai, God spoke to them, and they were terrified. (Exodus 20:19) They begged Moses to talk to them for God rather than hear from him themselves. From that point on, they moved further away from the covenant that they had made with God. (Exodus 19:8, 24:3) Their distancing from a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6) led to idolatry. (Exodus 32). They turned their backs on the God who saved them and placed their trust in a golden calf.
And so it is with Christians who have taken their eyes off Jesus and placed them on politicians and political objectives. They have stopped listening to the voice of God and, instead, trust what is delivered through unholy sources, pastors preaching politics, or politicians preaching religious heresy. Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. 4 When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing. 5 Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God. (Psalm 146 3-5 | NIV)
Voices in Opposition
You don’t have to look too hard to find respected Christians using the term “idolatry” to describe Christian nationalism, beginning with Kyle Edward Haden’s work, Embodied Idolatry: A Critique of Christian Nationalism(Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2020), available August 2023. Another author who makes this bold assertion is Andrew L. Whitehead in American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church (Brazos Press, a division of Baker Publishing Group). His work is a continued examination of Christian nationalism begun in collaboration with Samuel L. Perry in Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020). More recently, Tim Alberta recently released a highly personal yet scholarly work, The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory. (New York: Harper Publishing, 2023).
Proponents of White Nationalism
Only recently have American Christians begun to self-identify as Christian nationalists—not only prominent figures like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Gab founder and CEO Andrew Torba but also certain conservative evangelical pastors and leaders.7. Some have even used conservative politics and Christian nationalism as litmus tests of faith.
Greg Locke, a Tennessee pastor, said, “If you vote Democrat, I don’t even want you around this church. You can get out. You can get out, you demon. . . . You cannot be a Christian and vote Democrat in this nation.” Sadly, Locke is not alone in using political affiliation to judge other believers.
Robert Jeffress, a Texas megachurch pastor and Donald Trump point man since the disgrace of Jerry Falwell, Jr., said this in 2016. “Every Christian has the right to his own opinion about a presidential candidate, but no Christian has the right to impose his preference as a litmus test for someone else’s Christianity or spirituality.” He should have stopped there. But he has since flip-flopped to embrace Christian nationalism and the imposition of Christian values on all Americans. He doesn’t have a golden calf, but according to Tim Alberta, he does have a significant shrine to Trump in his church office. Furthermore, he does not believe the actions of Christian Nationalists have any impact on evangelizing the lost.
On July 3, 2022, Jeffress told his congregation he was not a Christian nationalist. But just four months later, he changed course when he said Christian nationalists had a right to impose their values on everyone else. “If that’s Christian Nationalism, count me in, because that’s what we have to do. And what’s so hypocritical about this is the left don’t mind at all imposing their values on our country through the election process. They don’t mind forcing their pro-abortion, pro-transgender, pro-open borders policy upon our nation.”8.
It doesn’t take a Ph.D. in political science to conclude Jeffress is willing to sacrifice the will and voice of the people, the bedrock of democracy, to achieve a political agenda. And that is precisely what the survey found. Christian nationalists tend to support obedience to authority and the idea of authoritarian leaders who are willing to break the rules. While half of all Americans agree that society is in trouble because people do not obey authority, this number rises to 69% among sympathizers and 74% among adherents.
Only about three in ten Americans (28%) agree that “because things have gotten so far off track in this country, we need a leader who is willing to break some rules if that’s what it takes to set things right.” However, nearly four in ten White Christian Nationalism sympathizers (38%) and half of adherents (50%) support an authoritarian leader. The one they support repeatedly threatened retribution against those who opposed him and admitted he would be a dictator for only a day.
A Historical Precedent
In my mind, there is an apparent parallel between the words and actions of White Christian Nationalists and what happened in Germany during the rise to power of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi Party in the 1920s and 30s. This is especially true when many Republicans admit they “held their nose and voted for Trump.” Many German pastors, including Paul Althaus, said the same thing about Hitler.
By the mid-1930s, the Nazis controlled the German church. Today, White Christian Nationalists want to control the government. Fortunately, our representative democracy survived its first assault on January 6, 2021. Perhaps we can learn from history before the next election is contested with bullets, not ballots, as former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee believes it will.9.
Following her loss in World War I and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was forced to take responsibility for the war and bear a heavy burden of reparations while simultaneously being threatened by the Communists. To make matters worse, for many Christians, a robust, homosexual enclave that had taken root in Berlin was morally intolerable.
The legacy of a failed Weimar Republic had left the people hungry for change. The Nazis promised voters they would turn back the clock to a time of national prominence—essentially to make Germany great again. Many feared the church was losing power and non-Germans were diluting Aryan purity. The Nazis stoked the people’s fears and promised to protect the church and the national bloodline.
With the publication of the 1920 Nazi Party platform, Article 4 marginalized the Jews, while Article 24 guaranteed religious freedom. Less than one percent of Germans were Jews living in a nation whose church founder was known for his antisemitism. In the 1930s, it was not uncommon to see antisemitic signs in train stations and public places long before soldiers began arresting Jews.
Nearly all Germans considered themselves Christians, much like the majority (69%) of American adults do today.10. The Nazis used what they called “positive Christianity” that preyed on the Germans’ faith by promising to strengthen and revitalize the church. By 1934, Germany had a state church, and pastors were state employees required to swear allegiance to Hitler. Roman Catholics quietly stood against the Nazis, although some bishops openly opposed membership in the party.
Most German Protestants belonged to the German Evangelical Church, GEC. As the Nazis gained power, the GEC gave rise to the German Christians (Deutsche Christen) who supported the party. Hitler and the Nazi Party became the governing power in 1933. Nazi leadership urged Protestants to unite all regional churches into a national church.
In a national referendum, the German Christians were supported by two-thirds of GEC voters, and Ludwig Müller won the national election to lead them. He was appointed Reich bishop. One pastor, Hermann Gruner, told his congregation: “Christ has come to us through Adolph Hitler.”11. However, not all members of the GEC agreed with Gruner. An offshoot calling itself the Confessing Church (Bekennende Kirche) opposed Hitler, his party, and his church.
In 1934, many of Germany’s most prominent religious leaders met in Barmen to create the Confessing Church. The Confessing Church considered the Nazis a threat to both Germany and orthodox Christianity. Its slogan was “Church must remain Church.” And it opposed the German Christian movement’s changes to the Bible.
The Confessing Church began with the Barmen Declaration. Its primary author was one of the most respected theologians of the twentieth century and one of the most formidable academics in German history, Karl Barth. Two other well-known members of the Confessing Church were Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Niemöller. Because of their vocal opposition to Hitler, Niemöller was imprisoned for seven years. Bonhoeffer was imprisoned and executed in April 1945.
Heresy
Rev William Barber II, summarized Christian nationalism like this. “Christian nationalism attempts to sanctify oppression and not liberation. It attempts to sanctify lies and not truth. At best, it’s a form of theological malpractice. At worst, it’s a form of heresy.”12. Not only does it attempt to sanctify lies, it worships and platforms liars. Fortunately, along with Barber, many other pastors see Christian nationalism for what it is, especially since January 6, 2021.
“After the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, a coalition of more than 100 pastors and other faith leaders wrote an open letter condemning the role that radical Christian nationalism played in feeding the political extremism that led to the violent insurrection. Part of that letter reads, quote, ‘We recognize that evangelicalism and white evangelicalism in particular has been susceptible to the heresy of Christian nationalism because of a long history of faith leaders accommodating white supremacy. We choose to speak out now because we do not want to be quiet accomplices in this ongoing sin.'”13.
In another open letter, a coalition of 500 pastors in response to the insurrection called Christian nationalism “heretical.” The letter included the following:
“We recognize the damage done by radicalized Christian Nationalism in the world, the church, and in the lives of individuals and communities. We know from experts on radicalization that one of the key elements is a belief that your actions are ‘blessed by God’ and ordained by your faith. This is what allows so many people who hold to a Christian Nationalism view to be radicalized. While we come from varied backgrounds and political stances, we stand together against the perversion of the Christian faith as we saw on January 6, 2021. We also stand against the theology and the conditions that led to the insurrection.”14.
The survey did not and could not adequately define what constitutes a Christian. The best it could do is look at church attendance. But that is like concluding anyone who drives a Toyota is Japanese. “Despite 69% claiming the faith, in reality only a tiny minority of American adults (6%) possess a biblical worldview and demonstrate a consistent understanding and application of biblical principles.”15. Christian nationalism thrives in undiscipled soil.
It doesn’t take long to discover that, when you look at Christian tradition and theology, “Christian” and “nationalism” are mutually exclusive terms. At best, it should be called religious nationalism.16. Genuine Christianity is a dynamic relationship with a living Jesus, characterized by humility and love, not power and violence. His followers exhibit humble servitude rather than hurtful superiority. Absent Jesus, what people call Christianity is only religion in the same way football is a religion.
Christian Nationalists are fond of quoting Old Testament Scripture depicting violence (Joshua, David, etc.), but they disregard the Sermon on the Mount. Regardless of race, religion, or gender, all humankind is created in the image of God. (Genesis 1:26) And if you don’t love others, you do not love God. (1 John 4:20) There is no difference between Jews, Gentiles, men, or women who believe in Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)
Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Matthew 22:36-39 | NIV) In the Parable of the Good Samaritan, Jesus teaches everyone is our neighbor. We are even expected to love our enemies and pray for those who mistreat us. (Matthew 5:44)
The purpose of this paper is not to pass judgment on other believers. It is intended to encourage anyone who claims to be a Christian to examine themselves and their political engagement in light of Scripture. Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? (2 Corinthians 13:5 | NIV)
Footnotes:
[1] Jemar Tisby, “A Virtual Roundtable on the Threat of Christian Nationalism, Part 2 of 4,” A conversation with Kristin Du Mez, Jemar Tisby, and Robert P. Jones.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Kristen Du Mez, “A Virtual Roundtable on the Threat of Christian Nationalism, Part 3 of 4.” A conversation with Kristin Du Mez, Jemar Tisby, and Robert P. Jones.
[4] Robert P. Jones, “A Virtual Roundtable on the Threat of Christian Nationalism, Part 1 of 4: A conversation with Kristin Du Mez, Jemar Tisby, and Robert P. Jones,” White Too Long.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Andrew L. Whitehead; and Samuel L. Perry. Taking America Back for God (New York:Oxford University Press) Kindle Edition, p. 4.
[7] Du Mez
[8] Rodney Kennedy, “Robert Jeffress’ “Reversal” on Christian Nationalism,” https://wordandway.org/2022/11/02/robert-jeffress-reversal-on-christian-nationalism/, accessed February 15, 2023.
[9] Mike Huckabee as reported in The Hill, 9/6/2023, https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4190468-huckabee-2024-will-be-last-election-decided-by-ballots-rather-than-bullets-if-trump-loses-over-legal-cases/ accessed February7, 2024.
[10] Tracy Munsil, CRC Finds Nearly 70% of Americans Claim to be ‘Christian,’ But What Does That Mean?, Arizona Christian wbbsite, https://www.arizonachristian.edu/2021/08/31/crc-report-finds-nearly-70-of-americans-claim-to-be-christian-but-what-does-that-mean/, accessed February 7, 2024.
[11] Christianity Today, “Bonhoeffer,” https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/martyrs/dietrich-bonhoeffer.html, accessed February 15, 2023.
[12] John Blake, CNN, This prominent pastor says Christian nationalism is ‘a form of heresy,’ WLFI.com, January 21, 2013, https://www.wlfi.com/news/national/this-prominent-pastor-says-christian-nationalism-is-a-form-of-heresy/article_39e216b5-d937-55b9-805f-f3a6c96f143b.html, accessed February 7, 2024.
[13] NPR, All Things Considered, Faith Leaders Speak Out Against Christian Nationalism, https://www.npr.org/2021/07/04/1013044426/faith-leaders-speak-out-against-christian-nationalism, accessed February 16, 2023.
[14] Jessica Lee, Church Leaders Website, 500+ Faith Leaders Sign Open Letter Condemning Christian Nationalism, February 25, 2021, https://churchleaders.com/news/391005-open-letter-christian-nationalism.html, accessed February 16, 2023.
[15] Munsil
[16] The earliest use of that term I could find was by Barbara Ann Jennifer Rieffer in “Justifying Religious Nationalism in Historical and Contemporary Times,” published in