American Christian nationalism
The gaps in older literature on nationalism, and how a more nuanced approach allows for a discussion of this movement’s three central tactics.
Introduction
Americans today live in a political age in which judges turn back precedent-- not in the interest of human rights, but in opposition to them. A time in which politicians openly take pride in their harmful and elitist ideologies and where leaders gain more leverage with each destructive act. Christian nationalism sits at the root of these issues, and its sphere of influence continues to expand. In this essay, I explore the foundational elements of American Christian nationalism: its victim narrative, imagined (hi)stories, and religious rhetoric. By first briefly discussing Gellner’s (1983) and Anderson’s (2006) prevalent theories on nationalism, I highlight how such theories cannot accurately aid in exploring these three elements, as they lack an examination of the often intricate link between religion and nationalism. Therefore, this essay will create a more nuanced understanding of nationalism with the aid of more recent literature on the subject. With the cross-analysis of Rieffer's (2016) text I will demonstrate why religion cannot be neglected in this discussion and then set the foundation for American Christian nationalism. By utilizing present examples of Christian nationalism, this essay will then serve as an exploration into the three central aspects of the movement. My analysis of these three concepts, with the help of Rieffer (2016), Bialecki (2017), Gorski and Perry (2022), and Seidel's (2022) detailed accounts of recent demonstrations of Christian nationalism, reveals the cruciality of each of these concepts to the movement, and how these concepts are used to negotiate, challenge, and circumvent certain democratic ideals.
Gaps in past nationalist understandings
One can hardly discuss theories of nationalism without the work of Anderson (2006) and Gellner (1983). Both authors have had a profound influence on studies of nationalism; their texts, however, as well as most of the available literature on nationalism, lack a consideration of religion (Rieffer 2016). In his book, Nations and Nationalism, Gellner (1983: 1) describes nationalism as a political principle "which holds that the political and national unit should be congruent." His approach to nationalist sentiment is undeniably valuable; he continues, "nationalism as a sentiment, or as a movement, can best be defined in terms of this principle. Nationalist sentiment is the feeling of anger aroused by the violation of the principle, or the feeling of satisfaction aroused by its fulfillment" (Gellner 1983: 1). His argument cannot be faulted that nationalism "has been defined [...] as the striving to make culture and polity congruent, to endow a culture with its own political roof, and not more than one roof at that" (Gellner 1983: 43). It is not his argument itself that I seek to point out, but rather the gaps in it. His text, as Rieffer (2016) highlights, speaks thoroughly on the political and economic side of nationalism; however, it overlooks the potential religious dimension of nationalist groups and their ideologies. The same is true for Anderson; in his book, Imagined Communities, his discussion of imagined communities sheds a crucial light on the nature of nationalist groups. He argues that nations are imagined political communities since “the members of even the smallest nation will never know most of their fellow-members, meet them, or even hear of them, yet in the minds of each lives the image of their communion” (Anderson 2006: 6). This perspective provides an explanation for why a lack of empathy between different groups exists in any nation, and why nationalist groups can emerge that harbor such exclusionary ideologies. He writes of nationalism as “an anticipatory strategy adopted by dominant groups which are threatened with marginalization or exclusion from an emerging nationally-imagined community” (Anderson 2006: 101). Again, this argument is very useful, but as with Gellner’s, it lacks the religious perspective (Rieffer 2016).
Both Gellner’s (1983) and Anderson’s (2006) approaches no longer serve the current political and social climate, having been originally published before the emergence of the mass media and the shifting of far-right groups to the center stage of American politics. The world grows more complex each year, as do nationalist ideologies and the layered reasons for their formation. Crucially, both texts lack an exploration into the effects of religion on many past nationalist groups and its potential influence over future ones (Rieffer 2016). Perhaps one reason the religious perspective is largely absent is due to the urge to separate religion from politics, to classify events as either a religious or political conflict. Take the Protestant-Catholic conflict in Northern Ireland, for example; as Rieffer (2016: 216) states, "a question much debated is whether the tensions in Northern Ireland are religious or nationalist in orientation." However, the reasons for the formation of nationalist groups are hardly ever so black and white. In this instance, "while the initial difference between the two groups is one of religion, nationalism also lies at the heart of these problems. Protestants in Northern Ireland identify with and want to remain a part of Great Britain, while Catholics would like to see the entire island joined together under the flag of the Republic of Ireland" (Rieffer 2016: 216).
Another reason for this desire to separate religion from nationalism, as Rieffer (2016: 222, 223) suggests, is that a “modern understanding of nationalism" views nationalism as secular; she writes, "modern societies are thought to be those societies that, inter alia, progressed past religion or at least past the influence of religion on political institutions. [...] nationalism is associated with modernity and modernity is inherently thought to be secular." In other words, our approach to labeling and categorizing the development of societies has limited our scope for understanding the rise of complex nationalist groups within such societies-- groups with ambiguous reasons for their formation. However, examples of religious nationalism are plentiful: take the conflict between the Catholics and Protestants discussed above over political control, "the independence movements of Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus [and] Kashmiri Muslims" in South Asia, "the Islamic revolution in Iran," or the evolution of Israel, among others (Juergensmeyer 1996: 5; Rieffer 2016: 225). Religion, it should be noted, does not play a role in every nationalist group; it is crucial to some and completely absent from others. However, as Rieffer (2016) demonstrates, literature on the history of nationalism is incomplete without an appreciation for religion's complex role in many nationalist groups, ideologies, and reasons for mobilizing.
This more nuanced perspective can guide one's understanding of one current, and very powerful, religious nationalist group. American Christian nationalism has made its mark on policy at the federal level, most recently with the overturning of Roe v. Wade (Posner, 2022). Its power continues to expand, and therefore a broader understanding of the movement’s crucial elements, and how these elements negotiate and challenge political institutions and American democratic standards, is paramount.
Before exploring Christian nationalism specifically, a discussion of the shared aspects of religion and nationalism is necessary to highlight the importance of the introduction of religion into the realm of nationalism discourse; these similarities reveal just how easily the two can and do overlap. As Bialecki (2017: 47) states, “[nationalism] and religion frequently ‘rhyme.’” Rieffer (2016: 216) elevates Anderson’s perspective on imagined communities to reveal some of these similarities, writing that “[both] share an imagined community and rely on the importance of symbols (flags, crosses, and so on) to provide shared meaning for members (Anderson, 1983: 6).” Moreover, both nationalism and religion offer members a rooted sense of identity, and a community of people with whom to share this identity. Following Rieffer’s (2016: 216) argument, “both offer a belief system to members to assist them as they navigate through a complex world.” Religious and nationalist groups serve as a guide, providing direction and purpose for their members, which explains the incredible influence many religions and nationalist groups have over a body of people, over a nation. Thus, the strength of religious nationalist groups, Christian nationalism specifically, is in no small part thanks to this incredible sense of identity it inspires.
Defining Christian Nationalism
Definitions of Christian nationalism vary; however, the tone remains consistent: it is a movement to fear for the ways in which its central elements allude to the negotiation and challenging of democratic ideals that stand in opposition to the Christian nationalist agenda (Whitehead, 2022). Most simply stated, and as defined by Christianity Today, "Christian nationalism is the belief that the American nation is defined by Christianity, and that the government should take active steps to keep it that way" (Miller, 2021). This definition is very fitting with Rieffer's (2016: 225) definition of religious nationalism as "a group of people heavily influenced by religious beliefs who aspire to be politically self-determining" and with the desire for "[governance] according to religious beliefs." As Whitehead, a celebrated sociologist and well-known author on the subject, explains, its central ideology "asserts all civic life in the U.S. should be organized according to a particularly conservative ethnocentric expression of Christianity," which "centers and privileges the white, Christian experience" (Whitehead, 2022). The Christian nationalist goal is to restore and uphold the pillars of Christianity through voting, laws, and Christian influence within the government. Christian nationalists fight for a variety of beliefs; as highlighted by Christians Against Christian Nationalism, these include anti-immigration and anti-refugee sentiments, the use of authoritarian control and violence when necessary, “fear and distrust” of religious minorities, discriminatory views against Black Americans and other minority groups, and-- as I have personally witnessed-- traditionalist views of marriage, gender, and sexuality, among others (“What is Christian Nationalism,” n.d.).
As Rieffer (2016: 217) points out, "the stronger the degree of religious influence on a national movement, the greater the probability that there will be violence, discrimination, intolerance and exclusionary policies in the nation state." Following this argument, Christian nationalism is extremely dangerous, as it rests upon a religious foundation; Christian beliefs are the catalyst for all action taken. A Christian nationalist acts on their view that America is a Christian nation and that their job is to uphold and restore Christian values that invariably harm and exclude millions across the nation. Violence is justified for the sake of restoring such values, even violence as blatant as the storming of the Capitol. These views connect every Christian nationalist; every Christian nationalist stands upon this hyper-religious foundation.
Therefore, we must turn to present examples of the movement to ground the urgency of this discussion. Examining Christian nationalism with the aid of Rieffer (2016), Bialecki (2017), and Gorski and Perry (2022), as well as Seidel's (2022) detailed accounts of the capitol insurrection and the movement's protests leading up to it, will reveal how Christian nationalists rely on a victim narrative, imagined (hi)stories, and religious rhetoric to pursue their goals by challenging American democratic ideals through public discrimination and violence.
The Victim Narrative
The foundation of the Christian nationalist argument centers around a victim narrative, and it is used both in gaining and maintaining support and as justification for the movement's ideologies. It is the fuel behind the fight. As the nation has grown increasingly secular and diverse, white American Christians' fear of losing their status has grown into a frenzied panic (Gorski and Perry 2022). As Gorski and Perry (2022: 110) note, "for nearly four centuries, many white American Christians had imagined themselves as racially, politically, and religiously superior to their opponents du jour. Today they imagine themselves playing defense rather than offense. 'Fighting' has replaced 'winning.'" Christian nationalists feel victim to this demographic shift, this loss of power. Their loss of status has been met with a sense of anxiety on the one hand, and self-justified urgency on the other to regain their power. In other words, and as Bialecki (2017: 42) suggests, the movement is "a racialized Christian nationalism that envisions itself at once as an entitled majority and as an embattled minority."
This shift in demographics, and the subsequent rise of the victim narrative, is especially dangerous because, as Gorski and Perry (2022: 8) argue, Christian nationalism can only exist relatively peacefully within the American democratic system if white American Christians are in the majority; however, as they explain, “the basic principle of democratic government is majority rule,” and this demographic is losing its grip on majority status (Gorski and Perry 2022: 8). As Whitehead and Perry (2020: 8) contend, “[the] United States cannot be both a truly multiracial democracy—a people of people and a nation of nations—and a white Christian nation at the same time. This is why white Christian nationalism has become a serious threat to American democracy, perhaps the most serious threat it now faces.” This inability for Christian nationalism and American democracy to live side-by-side is increasingly demonstrated as their panic builds and Christian nationalists circumvent democratic ideals to pursue their goals and regain a sense of power and control-- demonstrated most blatantly on January 6, 2021. As Christian nationalist protestors and politicians continue to demonstrate, the movement is willing to use whatever means necessary in their fight against their loss of power, whether acts of violence, discrimination, or voter suppression, because of the panic caused by this victim narrative.
This narrative has led to the argument that "American Christians need to prepare to fight, physically, to preserve America's identity" (Miller, 2021). Christian nationalist leaders manipulate the sense of panic felt by white American Christians and all Christian nationalists, by using rhetoric surrounding this victim narrative skillfully and strategically to connect with the demographic and gain influence. As Kristin Kobes du Mez, author of Jesus and John Wayne, notes, this is one of Trump's tactics; she speaks to his skill in "giving this sense that his followers [...] were the ones who were under attack, and therefore they needed to be militant, they needed to strike out first, a kind of preemptive strike" (PBS NewsHour, 2022, 4:18). The victim narrative is skewed into a need to fight, to preempt any further changes, to protect the power this demographic maintained for so long.
The events leading up to and on January 6, 2021 exemplify this logic. The urge to preempt any further loss of power is felt in the rhetoric used at the Jericho march's "Let the Church ROAR" Christian nationalist rally on December 12, 2020. Seidel (2022: 16) writes that there were "crowds chanting 'fight for Trump' and multiple speakers talking about losing the nation, losing freedom, the last stand, and 'fighting' to prevent that: 'we will stand up and fight! [...] this is our fight, this is for our freedom.'" This rhetoric stresses how the victim narrative is skewed to serve Christian nationalist goals, and how their sense of panic has morphed into a fight for freedom. Following Gorski and Perry's (2022: 117) argument, when "white Christians were the dominant group, numerically and culturally, they did not need to directly challenge America's democratic institutions. [... However,] some are now prepared to reject liberal democracy in favor of 'stronger measures.'" In this sense, the victim narrative is very compelling; it manages to create not only a sense of shared burden within the movement, but also a sense of collective action-- it rallies Christian nationalists to fight, to use anti-democratic violent means to restore the democracy that served them first.
Imagined (Hi)stories
This aspect of Christian nationalism and nationalist groups more broadly remains relatively unexplored in the older literature available on nationalist movements. Imagined histories, imagined stories, or in Hobsbawm's and Ranger's (1983) phrasing, invented traditions, set the foundation for the movement's justification. Building off of Anderson's work on imagined communities, Bialecki (2017: 44) explains how imagined history plays into Christian nationalists' strength: he writes that the "wealth" of this movement "has something to do with America's particular (as opposed to exceptional) origins: there is something about depths of imagined history, and the temporalities and geographies of rupture, that allow for degrees of play on this issue." Bialecki is not the only one to tie this concept to the movement. Gorski and Perry (2022: 4) further this notion, contending that "[white] Christian nationalism's 'deep story'" is that "America was founded as a Christian nation by (white) men who were 'traditional' Christians, who based the nation's founding documents on 'Christian principles.' The United States is blessed by God, which is why it has been so successful; and the nation has a special role to play in God’s plan for humanity. But these blessings are threatened by cultural degradation from ‘un-American’ influences both inside and outside our borders.” In this story, they write, the “heroes” are the white Christian nationalists, while the “villains” are “racial, religious, and cultural outsiders” (Gorski & Perry 2020: 4,5). Just as Anderson (2006: 101) notes how nationalist groups emerge in opposition to “marginalization or exclusion from an emerging nationally imagined community,” this movement relies on their imagined (hi)stories to fuel their purpose and validate their cause. The story is crucial in their fight, as it justifies any violent or exclusionary measures taken.
The argument for religious stories as a form of imagined stories must also be made. The foundation of Christian nationalism is, after all, a Christian story that many do not believe to be true, but imagined for the benefit of a select group. As Denker (2022: 4) argues, Christian nationalists employ the “perversion of the story of Jesus to support their own wealth and power.” Rieffer (2016: 225) speaks to the importance of religious stories, symbols, and leaders to the power of religious nationalist groups, writing that these groups “[adopt] religious language and modes of religious communication, [build] on the religious identity of a community, [cloak themselves] in the religion and [rely] on the assistance of religious leaders and institutions to promote [their causes].” Turning to the Jericho March and the capitol insurrection will demonstrate this fact quite clearly.
The Jericho march's "Let the Church ROAR" rally was a blatant recreation of the biblical Battle of Jericho. As Seidel (2022: 16) explains, in the battle, "God orders his followers to march around the city of Jericho while blowing shofars (ram's horns) and carrying the ark holding the Ten Commandments. God brings the walls down and orders his followers to violently sack the defenseless city, steal the silver and gold, and murder every living being, including animals." As dramatic a comparison to the actual event as it may seem, this battle is what the Jericho March is named after. Seidel (2022: 16) writes that Rob Weaver, co-founder of the march, said, "God told me to let the church roar.” Seidel (2022: 16) continues, “as God's army marched around Jericho, God now wanted Americans to march around the 'spiritual walls of this country.' By which Weaver meant the Capitol, the Supreme Court, the Department of Justice, and the capitals of the swing states." Reverend Kevin Jessip also spoke on the day, calling out, "Today, I call this the warrior mandate, a battle cry, a call to arms" (Seidel 2022: 17). As this march revealed, Christian nationalism's imagined religious (hi)story calls for a violent present. Speeches made on the day of the insurrection reveal a similar tone, although this time focused on the nation's Christian destiny. Alabama representative Mo Brooks spoke out about America "straying from its godly foundations" and “our God-given right to control our nation's destiny" (Seidel 2022: 26). He went on, "we American patriots are gonna take America back and restore the foundational principles that have combined to make us the greatest nation in world history" (Seidel 2022: 26). As argued in the text, Christian nationalists see the need to bring back to life this imagined (hi)story or "Godly foundation-- a foundation it does not actually have" as their first and ultimate goal (Seidel 2022: 26).
Religious Rhetoric
As Bialecki (2017: 47) notes, "religion is often a source domain for nationalist framing and rhetoric." Christian nationalist leaders rely on religious rhetoric to build the movement's momentum and justify the use of violence to pursue their goals. Examining this aspect of Christian nationalism also reveals how closely tied the movement has become with the far-right movement; for many far-right politicians, the Christian nationalist agenda and their own political agenda are the same. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, for example, has said, "we need people all over the country to be willing to put on that full armor of God, to stand firm against the Left's schemes. You'll be met with flaming arrows, but the shield of faith will stop them" (PBS NewsHour, 2022, 1:09). Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene proudly stated, "I'm a Christian and I say it proudly. We should be Christian nationalists" (PBS NewsHour, 2022, 0:47). Colorado representative Lauren Boebert said, "the church is supposed to direct the government. The government is not supposed to direct the church" (PBS NewsHour, 2022, 0:51). These elected leaders found their arguments in Christian nationalist thinking, proudly and openly, and pit Christian beliefs against the political Left.
This kind of religious rhetoric and its overlap with the far-right is also blatant in Christian nationalist protests. At the start of the Million MAGA march on November 14, 2020, President of the Phyllis Schlafly Eagles Ed Martin led a prayer asking for the Lord's blessings, stating, "Our nation, Lord, you gave it to us as a gift [...] founded on Judeo-Christian principles and framed by a declaration and a constitution. You will not be led by CNN or cable news or fake news. [...] We ask you Lord, strengthen us in the fight because the powers of darkness are descending. They're saying, 'concession, not Constitution.' ... Finally, Lord, we ask you to expose the fraud" (Seidel 2022: 15). In the same manner as far-right politicians, this prayer reveals the use of religious rhetoric not only to promote Christian nationalist beliefs but to portray the Left and its associations-- in this case, CNN and other 'fake news'-- as the enemy of the movement. In drawing such a distinct line between Christianity and liberal politics, this kind of rhetoric argues that a true Christian cannot be a liberal; that Christianity is, at its core, aligned with the far-right that fights for Christian America.
The religious rhetoric, symbols, and undertones of the capitol insurrection are impossible to ignore, and stress both the overlap of Christian and far-right ideologies and the movement's blatant and proud alignment with violence. Notably, one assailant told an NPR reporter that he wanted to see the politicians who "stole this election from us hanging from a gallow out here in this lawn for the whole world to see" (Seidel 2022: 28). Flags, signs, and hats read "Faith over Fear," "Jesus is my Savior, Trump is my President," "An Appeal to Heaven," "JESUS HAS THE THRONE," and "God, Guns, Trump" (Seidel 2022: 27, 31). One poster displayed Jesus wearing a MAGA hat and with the hashtag WWG1WGA printed onto his robes, a phrase commonly used by QAnon (Seidel 2022: 32). Among the crowd were crosses, Christian flags, and bible verses, including Ephesians 6:10-17, "in which Christians are instructed to 'put on the armor of God'" (Seidel 2022: 32). The movement’s religious rhetoric not only speaks to its religious foundation, but also to its victim narrative and the imagined (hi)stories it relies upon. All combined, these three aspects provide the movement with a growing strength; as seen through the examples above, this language is not the language used by a movement ready to back down.
Conclusion
This essay has aimed to create a more nuanced understanding of contemporary religious nationalism by examining past literature on nationalism and exploring the three central concepts of American Christian nationalism. The movement's reliance on the victim narrative, imagined (hi)stories, and religious rhetoric all demonstrate anti-democratic means in the hopes of achieving the movement's ends of circumventing democracy to restore their idealized version of a system that puts white American Christians first. This essay has revealed the dangerous direction in which the movement is heading. The movement demonstrates growing pride and openness in its use of violence and anti-democratic sentiments (Gorski and Perry 2022: 116). Today, more than ever, Christian nationalism must be fervently opposed, not only because of this growing boldness, but because of how this boldness might exponentially increase with Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.
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