Many letter signatories have been involved in opposing Christian nationalism for some time. Within weeks of the insurrection, the Christians Against Christian Nationalism effort organized an online event to discuss how Christians can respond to Christian nationalism, featuring the heads of two of the largest mainline Protestant denominations in the country, Curry and Eaton.
Both previously had signed on to the BJC’s 2019 letter calling on Christians to push back against fusions of religion and government that the letter says are distortions of their faith.
“We reject this damaging political ideology and invite our Christian brothers and sisters to join us in opposing this threat to our faith and to our nation,” the 2019 letter read.
The ELCA’s Churchwide Assembly also had passed a resolution at its 2019 denominational meeting naming violent rhetoric in the name of Christian nationalism as “not a true Christian faith.”
“It is idolatry and we condemn it,” the resolution read.
The ELCA, the largest Lutheran denomination in the U.S., reiterated that declaration in a tweet posted Wednesday (Nov. 2) alongside an image reading, “I’m a Christian against Christian Nationalism.”
“Christian Nationalism is a threat to the gospel and to American democracy,” the tweet said.
At least one member of the House select committee, Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, was briefed about Christian nationalism earlier this year by Tyler and others, and the lawmaker was originally slated to speak at an Interfaith Alliance event last month on Capitol Hill focused on the topic. Raskin also publicly acknowledged the role “white Christian nationalism” played in the insurrection during multiple public appearances this year, and fellow committee member Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois has similarly condemned Christian nationalism by name. Kinzinger told Christianity Today the ideology “100%” contributed to the Capitol attack.
“Had there not been some of these errant prophecies, this idea that God has ordained it to be Trump, I’m not sure January 6 would have happened like it did,” Kinzinger said.
Andrew L. Seidel, one of the authors of the joint BJC-FFRF report chronicling Christian nationalism’s role in the insurrection, said earlier this year he planned to send his testimony to the committee.
But the ideology was not directly mentioned during the Jan. 6 hearings themselves. Instead, lawmakers often focused on the faith of those impacted by the Jan. 6 attack, such as prayers said that day by then-Vice President Mike Pence.
There was at least one indirect reference to Christian nationalism during the hearings, however. In July, District of Columbia police officer Daniel Hodges, who was among those who rushed to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 to defend it from insurrectionists, noted during his testimony the presence of Christian symbols — including ones that fused faith with the U.S. flag or images of weaponry — among the crowd. Members of that same crowd would later attempt to crush Hodges in a doorway as he screamed in agony, a harrowing moment documented in now infamous footage from that day.
“It was clear the terrorists perceived themselves to be Christians,” Hodges said.
This story was produced under a grant from the Stiefel Freethought Foundation.
This article originally appeared here.
