One of the biggest threats to American democracy, especially as Donald Trump returns to the presidency, is the influence of Christian Nationalism. We took a deep dive into the movement with our limited series podcast, Sacred Politics, so let’s take a look at what we learned.
What is Christian Nationalism?
To be clear, Christian Nationalism is not Christianity. It is not even a religion — it is a political ideology and movement on the extreme right that has weaponized their religion to further their agenda. Christian Nationalists believe that America was founded by Christians for Christians. They believe that our government should give them privilege and power, and base our laws on their beliefs. They are against reproductive rights and same-sex marriage, and want to infuse religion into public education. They are often behind book bans, challenges to public school curriculum, and regressive policies on marriage and family planning.
Where did Christian Nationalism come from?
The movement grew in the 1960s and 1970s in response to the Civil Rights movement, feminism, the sexual revolution, and secularism. This new faction of the conservative right was largely White Christians who saw social progress as evidence of moral decline. They felt their values and power were under attack. They’ve been trying to return our country to what they consider a time of greatness — the time before the 1960s — ever since.
They want us to forget that pre-1960s America lacked equality for almost anyone who wasn’t a white, straight male. Their version of our history ignores slavery and segregation to make the past seem more idyllic. But knowing that this goal wouldn’t be palatable to the general public, they united around the issue of abortion instead.
The movement started by using the existing, organized communities of Christian churches, getting tens of thousands of pastors and televangelists to mobilize their congregations. This is still how they organize today. They use fear and anger to energize their base. They tell them they are being persecuted by progressive movements. They call opposing political “enemies” the “anti-Christ”. This perception of being under attack fuels their righteousness and solidarity.
How do Christian Nationalists Justify Supporting Immoral Leaders?
It’s really hard to understand why and how anyone who considers themselves a Christian can support politicians like Donald Trump, who does not seem to be religious or to live by religious values. But they don’t see him as a betrayal of their values. They just consider him “God’s flawed vessel” and they forgive him for those flaws because the ends justify the means. They don’t care if he embodies Christian values as long as he has the power to give them the political outcomes they want. And that’s exactly what he’s done for them so far.
What are Christian Nationalists’ Goals?
During Trump’s first term, he gave religious leaders insider access and appointed many Federalist Society judges, three of whom helped the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade — a decades-long goal of Christian Nationalists. That’s why they worked so hard to get him elected again — to accomplish more of their agenda.
It’s all spelled out in Project 2025, the far-right extremist plan created for Donald Trump’s second term by the Heritage Foundation and other allies. They want to take away more of our reproductive rights, they’re targeting the rights of LGBTQ+ people, immigrants and women, and they want to teach their biblical worldview in our public schools. The plan gives them a detailed roadmap for how to do it. This damage could take generations to reverse.
How do we stop the Christian Nationalist Movement?
Don’t be discouraged. We can push back. Only 14% of Americans are White evangelicals, the group most closely associated with the movement. They are far from the majority. In the coming weeks, we’ll talk about what we can do to stop them from making any more progress.
Want to dig deeper into this topic? Read more from these guests of our Sacred Politics limited series podcast:
- April Ajoy, “Star-Spangled Jesus”
- Shane Claiborne, shaneclaiborne.com and redletterchristians.org
- Kristin Du Mez, “Jesus and John Wayne”
- Karla Kamstra, aka Rev Karla, revkarla.com
- Talia Lavin, “Wild Faith”
- Jess McIntosh, jessmcintosh.org
- Katherine Stewart, “The Power Worshippers”
- Jemar Tisby, “The Spirit of Justice”