Beware the Devil Wearing the Mask of Christian Nationalism

By Harold W. Anderson, Ph.D., M.A., M.Div.

Note: This article is longer than normal, but it contains a great deal of information on Christian Nationalism and how to oppose it. Claiming that it is a fascist organization, I offer six ways that we might oppose this group along with the MAGA movement. I think it is an important read and hope you accept the challenge.

I have been researching Christian Nationalism and its relationship not only to Christianity, but to the Republican Party and Donald Trump.  As a person who has studied theology, church history and the Bible for over 50 years as a minister, an educator and yes, as a theologian and philosopher, I am appalled by the claims of Christian Nationalism. Even a cursory study of Christian Nationalism reveals a skewed reading of history, an inept understanding of theology and eisegetic blindness to biblical interpretation.  The result is a unification of church and state that replaces democracy with autocracy or a dictatorship, a religious narrative that is Christian only in name, cherry-picked references to the Bible that shames even Luther’s idea of a canon within a canon, and oh yea…a complete transformation of the Republican Party into a propaganda platform demanding absolute loyalty instead of faith.  Christian Nationalism embraces and exploits apocalyptic narratives that look to a glorious end for their party.  I can’t accept these narratives as a serious rendering of the apocalyptic passages of scripture, but I do believe that if people in this country embrace the Christian Nationalist platform, it will bring an end to our democracy and destroy our freedom to worship as we see fit.

Why are so many people willing to embrace Christian Nationalism?  Why do they seem so willing to give up on the democratic experiment started more than 200 years ago?  Why are they so willing to give up their rights?  Why do they think being “woke” is a bad thing? 

The simple answer: They drank the Kool-Aid.  The narratives of Christian Nationalism have convinced them that their lives are miserable, they are being persecuted, that the United States is moving away from what it needs to be, and that the way things “used to be,” a mythological time of greatness, can be restored if they are just loyal to what the party preaches.  The result is that in this country MAGA people (the Kool-Aid drinkers) live with ideological blinders refusing to consider alternative narratives more beholden to the facts, narratives that while sometimes flawed, are actually moving this country forward.   MAGA people condemn those who are heroes in favor of criminals and thugs identifying all who are not loyal to the party line as enemies to be loathed and opposed at all costs.  All of this is done in the name of God and…Donald Trump.

Most authors, when speaking of Christian Nationalism, get bogged down in definitions.  I’m not going to do that.  Want to know what a Christian Nationalist is?  look at the likes of Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson or Representatives Margorie Taylor Green and Lauren Boebert.  Or look at the religious leaders who support Trump like Franklin Grahm or Trump’s spiritual advisor Paula White.  An extremely clear picture can be had by studying those associated with the New Apostolic Reformation like Lance Wallnau.  All of these people support the conflation of the United States political system with their brand of Christianity,

Authors often equivocate about the fascist nature of this movement.  They look to the history of fascist movements to evaluate whether the MAGA platform, Donald Trump and Christian Nationalism embrace fascism.  If one is looking for the political platform of the MAGA and Christian Nationalism crowd to use the term “fascist” or “fascism,” these terms are often but not always absent.  But if one were to compare the behaviors and personalities of these folks to those of Nazi Germany, Mussolini Italy or Spain under the control of Francisco Franco, the similarities are striking.  As Professor Mattias Gardell (2021) warns, even though the terminology might be vague, Trump’s “MAGA campaign positioned the key fascist vision of national rebirth at the center of political attention, and we are well advised to remember that also Hitler and Mussolini could be dismissed as egomaniacs, half-insane rascals, big-mouths, and buffoons, by mainstream commentators at the time.”  The commentators were wrong.  Hitler and Mussolini were fascists and so too are those who lead the MAGA party including Donald Trump. 

The thing I seldom read, however, is what can be done about all of this.  If Christian Nationalists and the MAGA people want to subvert U.S. democracy by electing an extremist and fascist president, electing congressional leaders loyal to this extremist agenda, and erasing the independence of the judicial branch of government by appointing justices whose loyalty is to the party more than the Constitution, what can we do about it?  Is our country doomed?

This is a frightening question that I must admit keeps me up at night.  Not much has been written on how to oppose these people.  The most common form of opposition I hear about is the vote.  Some suggest the solution is to vote them out of office, and while I agree with that, I also realize that voting them out of office does not truly end the problem.  Or as Gardell (2021) puts it, “Trump’s ousting will hardly be the end of the story.  Even if he sticks to golf and his Florida resort, Trump’s 74 million voters and their grievances are still out there, and there are already contenders to his throne elected to congress and other institutions of mainstream politics.”  Voting these people out will not get rid of them. But make no mistake.  They are enemies of democracy, and we must take the offensive by developing a way to protect ourselves and our country from their fascist ways.

Here are some ways we can begin our opposition to Christian Nationalism:

1.  Study United States History

Historians John Witte, Jr., Joel Nichols, and Richard Garnett, in their book Religion and the Constitutional Experiment, open their work with this observation:

• Thomas Jefferson once described America’s new religious freedom guarantees as a “fair” and “novel experiment.” These guarantees, set out in the new state and federal constitutions of 1776 to 1791, defied the millennium-old assumptions inherited from Western Europe that one form of Christianity must be established in a community and that the state must protect and support it against all other forms of faith. America would no longer suffer such governmental prescriptions and proscriptions of religion, Jefferson declared. All forms of Christianity had to stand on their own feet and on an equal footing with all other religions. Their survival and growth had to turn on the cogency of their word, not the coercion of the sword, and on the faith of their members, not the force of the law (p. 1; emphasis is my addition).

It is not the force of law that compels one to be a Christian as Christian Nationalists would have us believe.  Their behaviors and the agendas they forward are a betrayal of Christian doctrine on the right and left, and their embrace of a theocratic form of government betrays the “novel experiment” announced by Thomas Jefferson so long ago.

In another interesting work, historian David Holmes discusses the early religious landscape of the eastern seaboard in North America.  Not only is there a large contingency of Protestants, but Roman Catholics also have a strong presence in the newly established colonies.  However, the Protestantism of the early colonial days was also diverse, many fleeing Europe in search of the freedom to practice their brand of Christianity.  This included not only the Anabaptists, but Quakers, Puritans, Methodists, Presbyterians, and Congregationalists. Interestingly, when these groups arrived, they often started settlements founded upon the principles of their brand of Christianity, which became law, ironically embodying the intolerance they fled.  By the time of the Revolutionary War and certainly by the period in which the Constitution was framed, religious tolerance was not a luxury, but something that had to be addressed if peace was to be sustained.

Into this mixture not only of Christian diversity, but also diversity comprised by other world religions such as Judaism, Buddhism and Islam, the Constitutional framers put together a document free of religious dictates yet tolerant of religious diversity that included deists and atheists (Holmes, 2006).  If the United States is to have a future, they reasoned, it could not favor any religion, but neither could it oppress the diverse beliefs embraced by its people.  The response was the establishment and free exercise clauses of the First Amendment, which begins “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…” 

Some argue that this establishes a wall between Church and State.  Others argue that tolerance of religious diversity is built into the Constitution.  Either way, the framers held that democratic freedoms are founded upon the toleration of religious diversity and if Congress is to be true to this amendment, Congress will name no form of Christianity or Protestantism as the official religion of the land.  People are free to worship and believe as they see fit.

The philosophy of religious tolerance built into the Constitution seems a far cry from what Christian Nationalism is preaching.  Claiming that the framers were of their Protestant  stock, they believe this nation is a “Christian” nation despite the fact that “God” does not appear in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence appeals only to the amorphous phrases “Creator,” “Laws of Nature and Nature’s God,” “the Supreme Judge of the world,” and “firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence.”  While it might be argued, as Christian Nationalism does, that these phrases “prove” the United States is a Christian nation, in reality these phrases are, as one historian put it, grounded in the language of independence and revolution more than theology.  Indeed, “Laws of Nature” is an appeal to reason (natural theology), which most Protestants reject but is embraced by Roman Catholic theologians, especially in the Aquinian and Jesuit traditions.  It should also be noted that Christianity does not own the term “God” for there are many religions that use the term and divine providence is relative to the theological spin they put upon the word “God.”  The genius of the founders is their realization of this, and they also had experienced the conflict religion can create.  If the United States were to succeed, they realized, the authority of their appeal for liberation would pack a greater punch if they utilized “God-talk,” and American “public (civil) religion” was born.

Of course, it would be impossible to know this early history of our country if people don’t read history and listen only to their preferred news source, which sadly to say, is all too often social media platforms.  This plays into the hands of Christian Nationalism who prefer their followers not read history but embrace the narratives fed to them by these purveyors of autocracy and indeed, fascism.  One of the ways to counter Christian Nationalism, then, is to read history.  Study the authors of these texts and learn their biases.  Take a critical stance towards what you read and when you decide you have a good understanding of how our country began and the influence of religion upon these beginnings, put together your own narrative that you can defend yourselves against the onslaught of the propaganda machine of the GOP, MAGA, and Christian Nationalism.

2. Know the difference between “public religion,” Christianity, and Christian Nationalism. 

Whether one uses the term “civil religion” or “public religion,” it is important to distinguish this from the Christian religion or any other religion such as Judaism or Islam.  As stated above, public religion received its more or less “official status” following the Revolutionary War during the work of the Constitutional Framers in the time it took to write and ratify the Constitution.  Public religion distinguished itself from established religious traditions in that while it may use the term “God” or other synonymous terms, it does not endorse a specific religious tradition.  Drawing upon religious narratives that sometimes predate colonization of North America, public religion blesses the establishment and trajectory of this new nation with, as the Declaration of Independence called it, “divine Providence.”  While heavily indebted to Christian narratives, public religion stubbornly refuses specific terms that would align it with a religious tradition, and while it may draw upon the biblical narrative, it endorses a religious tolerance that its message might inspire anyone who hears it whether they are Protestant, Catholic, Deist, Jewish, Islamic, Buddhist, etc.  Its purpose, in other words, is unity, not division.  It seeks to unite the diverse people living in this country so that we might move forward to a common end determined not only by the mythological narratives of our country’s early years, but also the zeitgeist of the time, and to this end, has been utilized by Presidents as well as civil rights leaders such as Martin Luther King, Jr.

Public religion is a powerful narrative, and it is no wonder that politically motivated groups such as MAGA and Christian Nationalism want to adopt it as its own.  They do not and cannot own it.  Christian theology in general and Fundamentalism in particular are theological perspectives that place Jesus as the Christ at the center of their narratives thereby distinguishing itself from public religion.  Christianity proclaims that it is the Christ who will save humanity from all sinfulness whether in this age (postmillennialism) or in an age to come (premillennialism).  Christian theology, then, is threefold.  First, Christian theologians seek to define who the person of Jesus is and Jesus’ relationship to the Christ and the Christ’s relationship to God.  Second, it seeks to spell out what the person of Christ means to the Christian believer.  What are the merits of salvation and how does salvation impact the existential reality of human existence.  Why is salvation necessary and what are the merits of Christ’s death and resurrection in addressing these issues?  Finally, Christian theology addresses the “Great Commission” given by Jesus to his disciples.  Here, Jesus tells his disciples that all authority has been given them to go into all corners of the world making disciples of all whom they meet.  It is the job of believers, then, to proselytize others that the world might become a Christian world.

While theology can be a rather “heady” enterprise, how the practice of Christianity is worked out in civil institutions has been the fodder of prolonged wars such as the Thirty Years War, which nearly destroyed European society, or the Crusades, which launched European Christianity into a deadly war with Islam, a conflict that still marks the lines of demarcation between Christianity, Judaism and Islam, a conflict being played out in the Gaza Strip today.

Given these and a myriad of other conflicts Christianity has elicited through the centuries and still elicits today, unity does not seem to be its end except in some imagined eschatological period where the world will be united under the leadership of Christ or pay the consequences of eternal death for opposing him. Rather, division and conquest are the essence of the Christian mission.  Convert, and if you don’t convert, be cast out and/or die.  While more mainline and progressive forms of Christianity seek to moderate this, there is always this problem.  How can one truth, one God, one religion tolerate diversity? 

The Christian religion, then, seems to be given to monarchy at best, autocracy at worse, and this is where Christian Nationalism enters the picture.  Under the influence of Dominionism, which takes its inspiration from the Genesis story where human beings are told to “take dominion over the earth” (Gen. 1:28), Dominionists believe this means that Christians are mandated by God to take over all governments and make them Christian.   Eschewing the premillennial convictions of its Calvinistic heritage, Dominionist are postmillennialists who believe that through their efforts, God’s reign under the lordship of Christ can and will be established on earth.  When the United States becomes the Christian nation God intended it to be, they hold, it will be governed by laws inspired by biblical law. This is the substance of the New Apostolic Reformation’s theology, a movement that has heavily influenced Christian Nationalism and Donald Trump.  Keep in mind, while Christian Nationalism claims to be grounded in Christian theology, it is a narrative that draws, often inconsistently, on American public religion, MAGA extremism and Calvinist theology.  As with any system, however, these deep structural changes transform the narrative from one of Christian theology and United States democracy to one of a theocratic autocracy that embraces a would-be dictator all in the name of God.

The distinctions outlined here can sometimes be subtle, but it is important to maintain their distinctiveness.  Public religion is the voice of unification that seeks the authority of divine Providence to lead the American people into a unified future.  Christianity is a world religion that holds Jesus at the center of its theological convictions.  It would be virtually impossible to be a Christian theologian, a Christian minister or a Christian believer without evoking the name of Jesus as the essence of its message, the pivotal nature of which makes it impossible to eliminate the words “Jesus,” “Christ,” “Word,” etc. by collapsing them into an amorphous usage of the term “God.”  Finally, Christian Nationalism is neither public religion, nor I would argue, is it true to the message of Christianity.  Christian Nationalism confuses loyalty to a man with its commitment to Christ as its ultimate concern.   Because of this its followers all too often confuse the man Donald Trump with the divine figure, the Christ, something Christians would call “idolatry.”  Christian Nationalism is not about unity; it is about divisiveness and hence, is an affront to public religion.  Given this, Christian Nationalism is an aberrant amalgam of Bible stories, strange apocalyptic scenarios woven from conspiracy theories more than the biblical texts, and a pathetic historical narrative that draws upon American mythological stories more than established historical facts.  At its heart it is idolatrous for it worships a dictator, a man often deemed to be Christ or God. 

Again, how can someone know this unless they do the research?  To combat Christian Nationalism takes effort and study if one is not to fall prey to their lies and substitute loyalty to a man for commitment to God.  Know what the differences are between public religion, Christianity and Christian Nationalism for unless you do, you become a prime target for Christian Nationalism’s deceptive and dangerous narratives.

3.  For those so inclined, learn how to study the Bible

When Martin Luther led his Protestant Reform, one of the problems he had with the existing Church was with its version of the Bible.  It was written in Latin.  That meant the German people, unless they were highly educated, could not read the Bible.  They were wholly dependent upon priests to read it to them, and if in Latin, tell them what the Latin meant.  For Luther, this was outrageous  God’s Word resides in the words of scripture, and everyone should have opportunity to be blessed by the Word.  So, provoking the ire of the Church—control of what the Bible means is control of believers—Luther translated the Bible into German so all could read the Bible.  Akin to his notion of the “priesthood of believers,” Luther felt that the Church’s hierarchy of control should be broken up, and anyone who wants to read the Bible should be able to do so.

Today, the radical nature of Luther’s actions are taken for granted.   If anyone wants to read the Bible, the biggest challenge is figuring out which version they want to read: The King James Version, the New International Version, the Revised Standard Version, etc.  Once that decision has been made, everyone has opportunity to read the Bible, but many do not.  Of those who decide to read it, they are confronted with a very complex text, the meaning of which is often obscured by ancient mythologies, beliefs, and strange cultural practices.  So, like the time before Luther, many today rely upon ministers to tell them what is in the Bible and most importantly, what it means for our world today.  I fear that we have gone backwards.

For many in our country today, all of this is a moot issue because they are not concerned about the biblical text to begin with.  They are not Christians, or if they are, they are Christian because of heritage and may look to other sources for their spiritual inspiration.  Groups like Christian Nationalism prey upon biblical illiteracy and have a litany of biblical texts that seem to support and validate their message of theological vitriol and antidemocratic threats to our government even though their proof-texting distorts the meaning of the text.  So, to combat that, I think it is important that those holding the Bible in high esteem learn now to study it.

I cannot in this space teach readers how to study the Bible.  I can only point out a few guiding points that may be helpful.

• Unless you are well versed in the study of scripture, DO NOT use the Internet as your source for learning how to study the Bible.  The uncritical, intuitional and subjective instruction found on the Internet could be used to make the Bible say anything we want it to say, but it does little to help us hear what is being said.  There are some websites that may be used to access the biblical text such as “Bible Gateway,” which displays the biblical text in various versions.  It is a good source for reading the Bible, but the so-called “tools” are of limited use.
• Use commentaries and Encyclopedias or Dictionaries of the Bible to help you to wade through the sometimes-confusing wording and mythological images.  I like the New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary along with the New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible.  I also use the Anchor Bible Commentaries, and the Old and New Testament Commentaries published by Westminster Press.  Keep in mind, these books are expensive, so the local library might be your best friend.
• Read articles on the history of the Bible as well as articles about archaeological findings concerning the Bible.  These histories and archeological discoveries are valuable information when studying the Bible.  Here are some sources:
  • National Geographics section on archaeology.
  • The Biblical Archaeology Society
  • The History Channel’s section on the Bible
  • The Historical Bible Society
  • American Society of Church History
• Use study methods that contextualize the biblical passages both historically and sociologically.  The thoughts and beliefs of those who lived 2,000+ years ago are radically different from our thoughts and beliefs today.  Knowing the difference will help you to determine a more objective interpretation of Scripture and in that, may provide a better avenue through which God’s Word might come to life.  A helpful resource for this is the “Religion Online” website.  Here are two queries I did, one on “Interpretation of the Bible,” and “Critical Study of the Bible.”

Studying the Bible in this way reveals Christian Nationalism for what it is, a political arm of the MAGA movement that uses the Bible for its own ends, but rarely tries to hear what the Bible truly has to say.

4.  Fight the process of normalization

In his article on normalization and political discourse, Michal Krzyzanowski (2020) points out that the normalization process is often begun by political deviance where political leaders break with social norms and traditions to insult, attack, or belittle political opponents and the political ideology they oppose.  So, for example, Marjorie Taylor Green yelled out during the State of the Union Address given by President Biden, “liar” an act of deviance that probably would not have been tolerated by even her own party 10-15 years ago.  Prime Minister Boris Johnson called members of British Parliament “traitors,” and Donald Trump regularly belittles his political opponents and calls the news media “fake news” because he does not like what they are reporting about him.  This is not just oppositional rhetoric.  It is a method whereby political agendas are introduced to the public, picked up and reported on by the news media, and utilized by sympathetic media platforms who through endless repetition begin to convince their listeners that even a lie is the truth.  Writing to introduce this issue of Social Semiotics, Krzyzanowski hopes articles in this issue will show

• that such new/changing public discourse, characterized as it is by uncivility, dogmatic politicization and ideologization as well as fact denial and norm-breaking, is just a token of a much deeper transformation of norms of public expression and ways in which contemporary public discourse reflects and represents, as well as imagines, social relations. This transformation is referred to here as normalization, i.e. a set of simultaneous or subsequent discursive strategies which gradually introduce and/or perpetuate in public discourse some new – and in most cases often uncivil or untrue – patterns of representing social actors, processes and issues. Importantly, these discursive strategies are initiated and recontextualized as part and parcel of wider – and in most cases pre-determined – forms of social, political and economic action designed to not only change the norms of social conduct but also to gain legitimacy from such a change and from the introduction of a related, “new” normative order (p. 432)

This is a weighty paragraph, but its meaning can be succinctly distilled:  The process of political normalization takes a lie and makes it look as if it were the truth to support positions that might otherwise be unpopular and unwanted by the general public.  When lies are substituted for truth so that deviant social standards become the norms of society, the seeds of fascism are planted.  To oppose the process of normalization requires, “a really macho, powerful, violent response.” 

Christian Nationalism is one of the largest and most pervasive platforms for the introduction of deviant standards into the general public and into politics.  When you hear Christian Nationalists trying to normalize a lie, don’t sit idly by believing they will go away.  They won’t.  If this type of deviance is met by forcefully calling the perpetrators to task, however, even if they are not silenced, opposition allows others to hear an alternative narrative, which may be compelling.  Be proactive.  Don’t allow your reluctance to speak up become a doorway to Christian Nationalism and with Christian Nationalism, fascism.

5.  Join groups that oppose Christian Nationalism and get involved.  Do what you can to challenge their lies and debunk their conspiracy theories.

Get involved.  Opposing voices to Christian Nationalism as well as MAGA Republicans can be found.  Support them and get involved that people who may be on the fence have an alternative voice to hear.  Here are some possible groups in which you may find interest:

• Religious Freedom Institute
• Christians Against Christian Nationalism
• Religion and Faith – Center for American Progress
• Alt-Right | Southern Poverty Law Center

Here are some books you might find interesting:

• MAGA Seduction: Resisting the Debasement of the Christian Conscience.  “How did we begin by serving a man who hung naked on a cross, but end by serving Donald Trump?” — Written by Patrick Kahnke, a retired evangelical pastor, life-long Republican, and pro-life activist, MAGA Seduction presents a compelling case for why Christians must reject [their] association with President Donald Trump.
• The Psychology of Christian Nationalism: Why People Are Drawn In and How to Talk Across the Divide.  In three brief, incisive chapters Pamela Cooper-White uncovers the troubling extent of Christian nationalism, explores its deep psychological roots, and discusses ways in which advocates for justice can safely and effectively attempt to talk across the deep divides in our society.
• FOR CHRIST‘S SAKE! Will Churches STOP and THINK?  From the author: “This book strike notes of deep concern, urgency, and hope. I spell out why the archaic enchanted forest worldview of churches turns off thoughtful, educated people. I call churches to reconstruct themselves from the ground up, to shed their thoughtless traditions, and form a radically different, authentic expression of Jesus’ ecclesia that I call Agapeic Beloved Communities (ABCs).”
• American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War On America.  Twenty-five years ago, when Pat Robertson and other radio and televangelists first spoke of the United States becoming a Christian nation that would build a global Christian empire, it was hard to take such hyperbolic rhetoric seriously. Today, such language no longer sounds like hyperbole but poses, instead, a very real threat to our freedom and our way of life. In American Fascists, Chris Hedges, veteran journalist and author of the National Book Award finalist War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning, challenges the Christian Right’s religious legitimacy and argues that at its core it is a mass movement fueled by unbridled nationalism and a hatred for the open society.

6.  VOTE!  It’s still one of the best ways of making your voice heard.

Here are some videos on voting that you may find interesting:

Conclusion:

There are many nights when sleep evades me, my mind begins to wander, and I worry about the future of our country.  Will it remain a democracy?  Will the freedoms this democracy affords us continue?  Will e pluribus unum (out of the many one) remain the motto of the United States, or will the divisiveness inherent to the MAGA movement and Christian Nationalism replace it with one of their own, one that eschews diversity by ridding our land of diverse populations and differing faiths amd embrace only like-minded people (mostly white people) whose loyalty is to a dictator?  As I have explained, the reality imagined by Christian Nationalism is not a Christian reality, it is not a democratic reality, and it does not promise a free state.  Christian Nationalism and the MAGA movement are fascist to the core, which is betrayed by deviant behaviors designed to normalize violence, hatred, racism and xenophobia.  If it becomes the way of our land, democracy is dead and so is our freedom to control our own destinies much less the freedom to worship as we see fit.

As I fret about these things, however, I take solace in the fact that no matter how bad things may seem, Christian Nationalism and the MAGA movement’s message of hatred and division is not well received by the majority of people living in the United States.  My hope is that this coming November, people will vote for freedom and democracy.  They will vote MAGA followers and Christian Nationalists out of government up and down the ballot. This will not end our struggles, however.  We must remain vigilant opposing Christian Nationalism and MAGA extremism wherever it raises its fascist head.  We cannot remain silent.  We must unify our voices in opposing these groups in every way we can.  Get involved in making this country a free country that our children can enjoy by opposing and overcoming Christian Nationalism.

Works Consulted:

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• Krzyżanowski, M., Ekman, M., Nilsson, P. E., Gardell, M., & Christensen, C. (2021). Uncivility, racism, and populism: Discourses and interactive practices in anti-& post-democratic communication. Nordicom Review, 42(s1), 3-15.
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• Neumann, E. (2024). Kingdom of rage: The rise of Christian extremism and the path back to peace. NY & Nashville: Worthy.
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