Christian nationalism is a creed that seeks to align national identity and state power with Christian religious beliefs and authority. In the context of the United States, Christian nationalism is the creed that the U.S. was founded as a “Christian nation”: that American and Christian identities are, have always been, and always should always be, one and the same. This ideology has widespread support in the U.S., especially among conservative evangelical Christians aligned with the Republican Party. It is the foundation of the Dominionist project, which advocates and works for the goal of placing committed Christians in control over government, law, media, and other key sectors of America’s economy and society.
In this conversation, Athena Small and Peter Lupu discuss the ideas behind Christian nationalism, and their current political status. They examine the history and current status of the Dominionist political project, and consider whether and how Christian nationalism is compatible with the nature and character of our Constitutional democratic republic.
Spoilers: Peter Lupu argues that the fusion of Christian ideology and national identity have profound consequences for the nature and character of our nation. He holds that Christian Nationalism is antithetical to the spirit and letter of the Constitution; that it contradicts the Covenantal ideals embedded therein; that it aims to demolish the inherent ethnic, religious, cultural, and ideological diversity of America; and that it is an assault on the historical trajectory of American society to gradually expand rights to more and more traditionally marginalized communities. Christian Nationalism, in short, combines the worst sentiments of Christian domination and Nationalist zeal.