Is White Christian Nationalism Christian?
Some say "yes" and others say "no." Here's another way to think about it.
White Christian nationalism is a ethnocultural ideology that uses Christian symbolism as a permission structure for the acquisition of political power and social control.
That’s my definition, anyway.
But however you define it, people often ask, “Is white Christian nationalism Christian?”
The question usually isn’t a question at all. It comes in the form of an accusation or an assertion. “There’s nothing Christian about white ‘Christian’ nationalism,” they’ll say.
I understand the sentiment. And on one level, the answer is clear…
Of Course Not
No. White Christian nationalism is not Christian.
It does not resemble Christ’s teachings or example. It is not gentle, wise, or loving.
White Christian nationalism raids the Capitol building seeking to overturn a lawful presidential election. It insists that being a “Christian nation” means forcing a fundamentalist conception of a single religion on all people. It feels threatened by people who aren’t white, aren’t native-born American citizens, or who aren’t Christians.
Nothing about white Christian nationalism is Christian. But there’s a problem with this view.
It’s too easy to shrug off white Christian nationalism as someone else’s responsibility.
Other than a general civic concern for the preservation of democracy, if Christians take the stand that white Christian nationalism is not Christian, what impetus do they have for counteracting it?
If white Christian nationalism is simply not Christian, then others who call themselves Christians have no responsibility or obligation to refute white Christian nationalism.
It’s In the Church
Instead, I say white Christian nationalism is Christian, not because it resembles Christ but because it’s in the church.
White Christian nationalists attend church. They may not be the kind of churches you would want to join, but they are there.
White Christian nationalists look to the same sacred text, the Bible, that other Christians do. It may not be how you interpret scripture, but it’s the same book.
White Christian nationalists would largely claim the resurrection of Jesus, the Trinity, and other core, historical Christian doctrines. They may not derive the same meaning from those theological principles as you do, but they believe them.
White Christian nationalists use Christian symbols and rituals—crosses, prayers, spiritual songs, and fasting. These may not soften their souls in the ways we’d expect, but they are present nonetheless.
Another Perspective
The most relevant question is not “Is white Christian nationalism Christian?” Instead we should ask, “What responsibility do Christians have for addressing white Christian nationalism?”
It would be more accurate to say that the “Christian” in white Christian nationalism is more of an ethno-cultural and political identity-marker than a purely religious term.
But if we are saying that white Christian nationalist are not Christians in a “no true Scotsman” type of logical fallacy, then we are effectively skirting the responsibility of addressing this ideology by saying “they’re not one of us.”
If white Christian nationalists are simply “fake Christians,” then we’re not dealing honestly with the ways people who hold these beliefs are in the assembly.
We are not acknowledging that, perhaps until recently, we were sitting in the same churches, singing the same songs, and listening to the same sermons as the people we now recognize as white Christian nationalists.
Maybe it’s true that they were the tares among the wheat, but it’s hard to distinguish one from they other when they’re all mixed together.
If you call yourself Christian, then it’s just not that easy to deny that white Christian nationalists are, at least in some senses, within the camp.
The misuse of the term “Christian” in white Christian nationalism does not absolve other believers of the duty to set forth an alternative witness of the faith.
Only by taking white Christian nationalist claims that they are Christian seriously can we set forth a truer, more loving example of what it means to follow Christ.
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What do you think? Is white Christian nationalism Christian? Let us know in the comments!
Just to get the conversation started..... as a former church organist/choir director, I sometimes used to get requests for "military-sounding" hymns and songs. My response would be "don't wrap the Cross up in the flag -- it makes it impossible for people to worship God without also worshipping the country, and worshipping a country is idolatry."
In churches I've seen where White Christian Nationalism tolerated or promoted, that's what the leadership of the church is doing: presenting the Cross/the Bible inextricably bound up with the American flag. The end result is the people in the pew, if they're going to worship at all, end up worshipping both. It's a damnable betrayal of trust.
This was definitely not what I was expecting! Thank you for this thoughtful examination. I would love to read a Pt 2 with some practical ideas of things white Christians can do to expose the fallacies of white Christian nationalism. (Or maybe fellow commenters have ideas?)