OPINION: Christian nationalism would give us the worst of religion and government

We’ve seen cars with a Jesus fish bumper sticker on the back cut people off and give the middle finger. We’ve seen families dressed in their Sunday church clothes berating their waiters. And we’ve seen the term “Christian nationalism” fly as a banner above all manner of hatred and xenophobia.

To act with cruelty while brandishing the label “Christian” is a pernicious form of identity theft, just as destructive and dishonest as if a person stole your name and social security number and destroyed your credit. They’re taking the peaceful name of Jesus and wielding it as a weapon. This slanderous identity theft is just one of the many evils of Christian nationalism, which is defined as “a political ideology that seeks to merge Christian and American identities, distorting both the Christian faith and America’s constitutional democracy.” Christian nationalism demands that Christianity be privileged and centralized by the state. Studies connect Christian nationalism with xenophobia, homophobia, misogyny, racism, and restricting the civil rights of those who fail to conform to the ideals of one small and shrinking sect of extreme-right Christianity.

In the past, Christian nationalism has been a primary force in some of the most egregious atrocities in U.S. history, including slavery, the mass murder and displacement of Indigenous peoples, and the demonization of the LGBTQ community. In the future, it promises to maintain its opposition to civil rights and religious freedom: Project 2025 is littered with Christian nationalist talking points and tropes, and will result in rights being stripped from immigrants, LGBTQ people, and people who do not identify with their sect.

This is antithetical to both the First Amendment’s freedom of religion, and to the message of the Gospels, which depict Jesus directly rejecting temptations to political might. In its attempt to merge Christianity with political authoritarianism, Christian nationalism has defiled and perverted both. Like identity theft, it destroys credibility: Why would anyone seek to follow Jesus when the name Jesus has been used to brand small-minded xenophobia? It’s not merely identity theft, it is identity destruction.

That sounds dire, and it is. But here’s some good news: An effort is underway to reclaim the identity of Christianity by uncoupling it from this small sect’s twisted form of nationalism. Here’s how you can help:

1. Speak against Christian nationalism wherever it comes up, whether that’s at home, at the office, on social media or in the public square. One of the ways harmful ideologies take root is through repetition and projecting the appearance of acceptability. Counter-speech prevents that.

2. Learn and support theology that counters Christian nationalism. One of the main ways that Christian nationalism gains a foothold is by presenting a theology that is poorly thought-out and Biblically unsound, but doing so with enough sound and fury that it sounds convincing. By learning actual theological and biblical scholarship, we can gently guide those who genuinely wish to be patriotic and be Christians to do both in a healthy way.

3. Vote against policies that align with Christian nationalism.

History has shown us repeatedly what happens when we try to brand our politics with the name of Jesus. The Spanish Inquisition murdered masses within a Christian nationalist construct. Slaveholding Americans quoted the bible in an effort to excuse their atrocities. And Nazi soldiers marched into battle emblazoned with the motto “Gott mit uns” — “God is with us.” These acts are evil on their own. And doing them in the name of Jesus did what America’s current mutation of Christian nationalism does: destroy the church by linking the name of the Prince of Peace with violence, the God of love with hatred. It is identity theft of the worst kind.

The Rev. Matthew Schultz is an Anchorage pastor and a member of the steering committee of Christians for Equality.

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