To better understand the events of the January 6 insurrection, you have to understand the role Christian nationalism played in that fateful day. A new film explores the upsurge of religious extremism and its potential dangers to our nation.
God + Country chronicles the rise of Christian nationalism — a cultural and political ideology championing the formal fusion of church and state — and its threat to democracy. The 90-minute documentary, which will be in theaters Feb. 16, makes an impressive attempt to reveal foundations and throughlines of a political ideology wrapped in Christian rhetoric.
Amethyst Holmes
In the film, prominent theologians, scholars and pastors who have studied Christian nationalism describe a version of conservative evangelicalism that views America as an exclusively Christian nation with extraordinarily well-funded and highly organized efforts to sway public policy and gain government control, all while abandoning core principles of the Christian faith to exert political power.
This is coupled with a devotion to former President Donald Trump, whom many immersed in this ideology see as “God’s chosen one” with a magnetism similar to a televangelist who is divinely ordained to rule over our nation.
To see evangelicals who historically have championed morality and decency show consistent support for Trump — a twice-impeached former president who made more than 30,000 false or misleading statements during his time in office and who is the current front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination facing 91 felony counts across four cases — is not surprising, yet it is unnerving.
The documentary gives a glimpse of a significant portion of the country’s electorate that is deeply invested in realizing a theocracy and a type of exceptional American mythology by any means necessary in response to a changing world, rather than accept a true rendering of our nation’s history and its inclusive future.
This brand of religious extremism and the rise of this movement’s political influence has rightly captured national attention, but this threat of religious violence, anti-democratic views and anti-pluralism always have existed throughout our nation’s history. The film takes time to outline how Christianity has been used to justify everything from slavery and genocide to the terroristic nature of the Ku Klux Klan and the bitter fight against integration waged by white evangelicals. Those same threads of nativism, militarism, white supremacy and patriarchy continue to guide today’s politics.
The first screening of the film was held Jan. 11 at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center, an event organized by the Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign and the office of Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., who is a founding member of the Congressional Freethought Caucus.
Watching a film that contextualized the insurrection from a faith perspective in the very building where it took place was a bit disconcerting. I’m grieved and infuriated that a perverted expression of Christianity — one that betrays core tenets of the faith tradition, abandons the teachings of Jesus and is characterized by an insatiable appetite for power — is the one most seen recognized as “Christianity” by many in the U.S.
Not only is this type of spiritual malformation and biblical illiteracy a serious threat to our American experiment, it is a clear indicator that those of us who are Christians have a duty to call out a version of our faith that is antithetical to the gospel.
During a post-screening Q&A, director Dan Partland said he hopes the film will be an entry point of conversation for viewers to reconnect around the core ideas of the Constitution and what it means to live in a free society that honors equality and fairness for all.
“All countries are a people movement, especially democracies. It really is on us, on ‘we the people’ to make it that country that we want to be,” Partland said.
Film producer Rob Reiner says the 2024 election presents an ”existential choice” voters have to make in order to preserve democracy. “What we can do as an electorate is to make sure that 248 years of self rule is not destroyed,” Reiner said during the Q&A.
The creators of God + Country said they hope the documentary will spark conversations. My hope is that the film would compel Christians to deepen our call to embody the teachings of Jesus: to do justice, welcome the stranger, love our neighbor and to be courageous in speaking truth to power.
We have a responsibility to take seriously the witness and experiences of people of color and religious minorities who have been on the receiving end of violence inspired by Christian nationalism. My hope is that Christians would join interfaith coalitions, build relationships across spiritual differences and work toward the common good together by supporting a democracy struggling to find its strength.
As William J. Barber II says in the film, “Christianity at its best is committed to love and truth and justice. If we do this right, what a country this will be.”
Amethyst Holmes is a freelance journalist based in Washington D.C. She is an Ethical Leadership and Racial Justice Fellow at Howard University School of Divinity and is a member of the 2023 class of BJC Fellows.
This article is part of a series of columns written by present and past BJC Fellows and made possible by a generous grant from the Prichard Family Foundation.
Previous articles in this series:
More religion in public schools raises concerns about religious liberty | Opinion by Bryan Kelley
Religious freedom takes practice, not just legislation | Opinion by Sofi Hersher Andorski
The Respect for Marriage Act helped de-escalate the culture wars | Opinion by Tanner Bean
Faith freedom for all calls for justice and reconciliation | Opinion by Sabrina Dent
The stupidity of Christian nationalism | Opinion by Claire Hein Blanton
‘Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife’ and other posters I do not want in a first grade classroom | Opinion by Britt Luby