Christian Nationalism: The Danger Within
The problems with Christian nationalism are numerous. There is a reason there have been multiple books written about the dangers Christian nationalism poses to individuals, marginalized groups, the US, and ultimately the larger global society. And don’t get me wrong, we all need to be vocal about the dangers of Christian nationalism. However, too often, the discussion on Christian nationalism seems to center on how the problem is with a subset of Christians: radtrad Catholics and white Evangelicals.
To be sure, they are some of the biggest proponents of Christian nationalism, but let’s not pretend that other Christian groups haven’t also benefited from the intentional mixture of church and state. (see book Baptizing America: How Mainline Protestants Helped Build Christian Nationalism) The problem with treating Christian nationalism as a problem only caused by a subset of Christians is that it ignores how any denomination and individual congregation can act in ways that reinforce it, even as they claim to want to challenge it.
For instance, it isn’t just radtrad Catholics who are advocating for abortion restrictions and who define marriage as between a man and a woman. That is a belief endorsed by the larger Catholic Church, reinforced by the new Pope Leo XIV, and embraced by everyone except the most progressive of Catholics. To be sure, I didn’t expect Pope Leo XIV to be some sort of “progressive” beacon of light, I just hope he will be better than some of the other more hard right conservative option. Which is to say, I don’t expect Pope Leo XIV to move the Catholic church too much forward, but hopefully he won’t drag the Catholic Church too many steps backward. But in this case, my issue isn’t necessarily with Pope Leo XIV affirming Catholic teaching, but rather how these beliefs are often accompanied by political action.
Unfortunately, affirming “pro-life” stances and “traditional marriage” has not been limited to what the priest preaches on Sunday morning but these stances often involve actively seeking to limit abortion access and marriage options for everyone, including those who aren’t Catholic. It would be one thing if only Catholics were bound by the notion that abortion is immoral or if the Catholic Church sought to limit its notion of traditional marriage only to whom it would allow to get married within its church doors.
Sadly, the reality is that many individual Catholics and dioceses have sought to limit abortion rights and marriage rights for Catholics and non-catholics alike. True, in many other ways Catholic social teaching stands in stark contrast to Christian nationalism. But Christian nationalism will never be defeated completely until all Christians, including those who claim to be against it, are honest about how aspects of Christian nationalism benefit them.
Before white Mainline Protestants think to themselves, “finally one blog post where Naiomi leaves us alone.” Sorry. For sure, there will be a blog post where I am not critiquing white Mainline Protestantism, but it is not today.
While Mainline Protestantism often prides itself on being much more progressive than other Christian groups, but the reality is a bit more complicated. First, because of the congregational nature of many Mainline Protestant churches, a denomination can pass progressive policies and individual churches can disregard them and still remain in good standing with the denomination. For instance I have been suprised at how conservative some congregations within progressive denominations can be. I have experiences where I have read denominational statements that would be very progressive and advocate for social justice, and I would seek out a church within that denomination, assuming they endorsed said values, to find out I was sorely mistaken. In other words, white Mainline Churches may be writing beautiful statements and think pieces against Evangelical Christian nationalism but not necessarily examining how some of the congregations within their own denominations might be endorsing problematic politics and theology.
Second, some congregations within Mainline denominations are having a difficult time letting go of whatever little power and relevancy they have left. I am specifically talking about congregations that still hold onto political power. They are often located either in state capital cities or in DC, or ironically in super rural areas, where national politics may not be a big deal but local politics are the end-all be-all. These congregations often pride themselves on how connected they are to seats of power: they mention their relationship to local or national politicians frequently and say with pride that insert politician's name can be found attending their services a few times a month (or year). They can be seen taking photos with said politicians. It’s much more obvious when a church in DC does this, but it may actually be more dangerous to democracy and the ideals of separation of church and state when rural congregations flaunt their relationships to local power.
The point of this post is to serve as a reminder and a warning about the ways in which Christian nationalism has become a core part not just of Evangelical Christianity but also of the Christian groups who often claim they stand in direct contrast to it. Christian nationalism can be found anywhere Christians think they have the right and authority to enforce their religious beliefs onto the larger society, whether it is seeking to ban abortion or limit who can get married. Christian nationalism can be found in progressive denominations that have within their midst congregations who are in close relationship to political seats of power.
Image: American flag across the top border. Text: Christian nationalism can be found even within the Christian groups who vocally claim to be against it