Identification as a white evangelical doesn’t necessarily mean a Christian has become a follower of Christian nationalism, but it certainly doesn’t rule it out, said Amanda Tyler, executive director of Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.
Speaking during a recent episode of BJC’s “Respecting Religion” podcast, Tyler cited a February survey by Public Religion Research Institute that reported 66% of white evangelicals are either adherents or sympathizers of the political ideology bent on merging Christian and national identities.
“That is alarming to me that this one particular manifestation of Christianity seems to be embracing Christian nationalism more than Hispanic Protestants, Latter-day Saints, Black Protestants, white Mainline non-evangelical Protestants, white Catholics, Hispanic Catholics and all other non-Christian religions,” she said. “Those are the different categories in this particular PRRI study.”
Amanda Tyler and Holly Hollman
Tyler and BJC General Counsel Holly Hollman devoted the March 21 episode to questions they frequently receive from people confused by the term “Christian nationalism” and how and where they can spot it in political and religious life.
Tyler defined the term as a “political ideology and a cultural framework that seeks to merge American and Christian identities. Christian nationalism suggests that ‘real’ Americans are Christians and not just any kind of Christian, but Christians who hold a particular set of fundamentalist religious beliefs that often align with certain conservative political positions.”
BJC and its Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign are cautious about the language used to describe adherents of the ideology, Tyler said. “We don’t label certain people as Christian nationalists, and we do our best to avoid this kind of us-versus-them thinking. Christian nationalism isn’t a diagnosis.”
It’s more accurate to measure levels of adherence on a sliding scale, she said. “Christian nationalism, like racism, is present in society, and we each have a continuing opportunity to either embrace it or reject it on a daily basis.”
From there, Tyler and Hollman launched into a question-and-answer session touching on the levels to which religious leaders, churches, symbols and political preferences may embrace or express Christian nationalism.
One frequent question is whether conservative political views necessarily equate to Christian nationalism, Hollman said.
“Just holding conservative political positions alone does not mean that someone is trending towards Christian nationalism.”
The ideology is not synonymous with any political position, Tyler responded. “One’s faith can inspire political positions that are conservative, progressive and everything in between. And those same positions can be inspired by secular ideologies as much as they are by religious convictions. So, just holding conservative political positions alone does not mean that someone is trending towards Christian nationalism.”
Tyler said she has been asked many times about the connection between Christian nationalism and more liberal expressions of faith. “Is progressive, faith-based advocacy — in the mold of a Martin Luther King Jr. — a form of left-wing Christian nationalism? How about a progressive member of Congress arguing for student debt relief by referencing the Hebrew Bible’s rules around jubilee? Is that Christian nationalism?”
Hollman said no. “There is a distinction between bringing one’s religious values and religious principles into one’s thinking about political issues and even elections and espousing Christian nationalism.”
Voting based on religious conviction also is not a form of Christian nationalism, Tyler added. “I vote based on my religious beliefs and would say it’s not Christian nationalism — it’s just a fact. We all vote based upon what our conscience tells us is the best thing to do.”
Black churches are not inspired by Christian nationalism when they hold voter-registration drives or organize transportation to the polls, Hollman said.
Voting based on religious conviction also is not a form of Christian nationalism.
“Encouraging or assisting people in voting is not Christian nationalism. It doesn’t violate the restrictions on 501(c)(3)s to encourage voting or assist in getting people to the polls. The restriction is on endorsing candidates or opposing candidates — that is, interfering in elections,” Hollman said.
Displaying American flags in sanctuaries, however, definitely is an example of Christian nationalism, Tyler said, because the practice represents a merger of national and Christian identities, “especially when it’s up there with a Christian flag.”
“It suggests everyone here is Christian and everyone here is an American, and those two identities are synonymous. For that reason, I encourage people in Christian communities to have a conversation about why is this American flag in our sanctuary? What signal is it sending? Is this sending the signal of inclusion and focus on the gospel that we want to send, or is it detracting from that?”
Displaying “In God We Trust” messaging in public schools is another effort to combine faith and national identities, Hollman said. “The idea that it needs to be in public schools because it’s somehow formative of political development and the beginnings of our democracy is certainly problematic and veers toward Christian nationalism.”
“See You at the Pole” events, in which students form a circle around a flagpole to pray, do not present a constitutional violation if held before school, she said. “But you have to question, why do you do that around a flagpole? It certainly sends a visual cue that prayer and the flag go together in ways that we would question.”
Hollman asked Tyler if she considered the January 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol to have been inspired by Christian nationalism.
“The best way to answer this is that it played a significant role in the January 6 insurrection,” Tyler replied. “It alone does not explain what happened, but without Christian nationalism, I do not believe we would have seen the kind of intensity and violence we saw at the Capitol that day.”
The incident appalled many Christians who were alarmed to see their faith used to incite an attack on the U.S. government, Hollman said. “People look at January 6 as a time that opened their eyes and made them start wanting to investigate this idea of Christian nationalism and to find out where it came from and investigate how their own religious experience might be infected by this ideology.”
Tyler said she’s also troubled when pastors and congregations ally themselves with particular candidates and parties, whether on the left or the right.
“There should always be some separation between one’s religious convictions and a party platform or the promises that any candidate is making during in an election,” she advised. “Those things are not synonymous. If they are, then that’s Christian nationalism.”
Hollman said Christians should be concerned when their favored candidates align seamlessly with their own faith convictions. “If your religion lines up specifically with a political platform — because we’ve seen how these political platforms change and go to extremes — then maybe your religion is a political platform.”
Related articles:
‘Christian nationalism is more than attitudes; it’s a political dysfunction’
The threat of Christian nationalism in all 50 states, illustrated in eight charts | Analysis by Robert P. Jones
Isn’t it really fundamentalist Christian nationalism? | Opinion by Bill Leonard