Multiple speakers noted the influence of Christian nationalism among white evangelicals in particular, citing a recent poll that revealed three-quarters of Republican evangelicals support the federal government declaring the country to be a Christian nation.
Connie Ryan, left, and Rev. Dr. Richard Cizik speak during a panel hosted by the organization on Christian nationalism. Ryan is Executive Director of Interfaith Alliance of Iowa and Rev. Cizik is President of the New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good and Executive Director of Evangelicals for Democracy. RNS photo by Jack Jenkins
However, the Rev. Richard Cizik, executive director of Evangelicals for Democracy and onetime staffer at the National Association of Evangelicals, suggested some in his tradition may be moving away from Christian nationalism — particularly younger churchgoers. His organization, he said, is hoping to reach persuadable evangelicals ahead of the midterms with targeted advertisements that focus on biblical concepts of love. Challenging Christian nationalist ideology, he said, could spur his fellow faithful to rethink their approach to politics.
“Christian nationalism often influences behavior in the opposite direction — other than traditional religious commitments,” he said. “Therefore, being an evangelical doesn’t sour one to gun control, but Christian nationalism does. Same thing with border walls with Mexico.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin, Democratic congressman from Maryland who serves on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection, was also slated to speak, but instead ended up on the House floor during the event. Even so, Raushenbush told Religion News Service Raskin and his staff made the briefing “possible,” and celebrated the willingness of some lawmakers to speak out against Christian nationalism.
“This is not about anti-Christianity, and it is not about anti-patriotism,” said Raushenbush, a Baptist minister. “It is about recognizing this particular manifestation.”
Raskin has publicly acknowledged the role Christian nationalism played in fueling the insurrection, as has fellow Jan. 6 committee member Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, himself an evangelical Christian who has condemned the ideology by name. Raskin, who told RNS in May of last year that he read the book “Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation” to better understand evangelical support for Trump, was also among a group of lawmakers who attended a virtual briefing in March led by activists and scholars on a report detailing Christian nationalism’s outsized influence on Jan. 6.
Tayhlor Coleman, a voting rights advocate, speaks during the Interfaith Alliance panel on Wednesday, Sept. 28. RNS photo by Jack Jenkins
However, Christian nationalism has not been directly mentioned during the Jan. 6 hearings themselves, with lawmakers instead often highlighting the faith of those negatively impacted by the Capitol attack. Meanwhile, few Republican lawmakers — aside from Kinzinger — have condemned or distanced themselves from fusions of God and country amid calls from Greene for the GOP to become the “party of Christian nationalism.”
Even so, Ali said Raskin’s affiliation with the event is important, given the congressman’s role as “one of the folks who has been sounding the alarm about our national security threats.” More attention should be paid to Christian nationalism because, Ali argued, it will likely outlive Trump’s time on the national stage — especially as governors such as Gregg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida embrace the ideology alongside others popularized by Trump.
“People say when Trump is gone, the spread is gone. Nope — Trumpism is here to stay,” Ali said. “It will just create a new avatar. That avatar right now is DeSantis, Abbott and Marjorie Taylor Greene.”
This article originally appeared here.
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