In 2015, I asked my uncle what was meant by the saying “We want our country back?” Now, a decade later, his answer still nails the underlying motive. He said, “We want to get back to a time when women and the colored knew their place.”
Christian Nationalists overlap with far-right Evangelicals, Christian Dominion sects, and various other fringe groups. When all the code words are stripped away, “Chistian” Nationalism can best be described as the hope of regaining a White Male Old-Testament-style hierarchy, in the home, in the Church, and in the State.
Christian Nationalism is anti-Christ
The “Christian” designation is a clumsy attempt to hijack the imprimatur of a religion of love and equality. Christian Nationalist groups show open contempt for Christ’s teachings to feed the hungry, tend the sick, lift the downtrodden and welcome the stranger. It is impossible to characterize a movement as Christian when it is so blatantly anti-Christ.
Christian Nationalism in anti-woman
Perhaps the Christianity the nationalists have in mind comes from the letters of Saint Paul that tell women to keep silent and slaves to obey their masters. Some Biblical scholars now contend that these letters were written decades after Paul’s death. What we know for sure is that The Acts of Paul and Thecla tell the opposite story of women’s place in the church. Thecla was a female preacher and disciple, but the book of her ministry with Paul was omitted by the men who chose which writings to include in the official Bible.
This anti-woman attitude from the ancient Jews and Greeks persists in the “White Male Authority” trope in today’s Christian Nationalism.
First on the agenda of these right-wing Christian groups was the “pro-life” push to strip women of their constitutional right to control their own bodies. This was Trump’s deal with the Evangelicals for their support. He gave them just what they asked for: a Supreme Court stacked in favor of overturning Roe vs. Wade. This faction may be a small minority, but they do not plan to stop until all abortion and contraceptive measures are outlawed.
Christian Nationalism is anti-American
Christian Nationalist groups overlap heavily with Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s playbook for Trump’s second term. Many billionaire-funded far-right Christian-fundamentalist/nationalist groups are also aligned with Project 2025. Russ Vought, the editor of Project 2025, now heads Trump’s Office of Management and Budget.
Beyond denying reproductive rights to families, Project 2025 has policies to favor traditional nuclear families with Christian women at home raising and homeschooling as many (White) kids as possible. The libertarian wing of Christian Nationalism wants to do away with public schools altogether or turn them into places of religious indoctrination.
Of course, merging religion with public school curricula is unconstitutional. Yet Republicans now have Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which has been passed by the House of Representatives and is now moving through the Senate, that includes a nationwide private-school-vouchers scheme. If passed, billions of taxpayer dollars will be diverted from public schools to private and religious schools over which the public has no authority.
“Christian” Nationalists and even mainstream Republicans seek to “put God back in the classroom.” This may sound praiseworthy until we ask which name for God you have in mind. Some of America’s most patriotic citizens call on God as Yahweh, Jehovah, Allah, or the Great Spirit. They should have the choice to guide their own children’s spirituality, not have it imposed. School should be evidence-based, NOT faith-based.
We must stick with what works. The Constitutional plan to keep the secular government completely separate from any religion was a brilliant innovation. It has served us well and has protected us from violence for 250 years. This wall between Church and State is absolutely required to preserve the religious liberty of all. The Constitution bans, in the starkest of terms, the intent to fa- vor any single religion.
But Christian Nationalistaligned groups even discuss using violence to establish Christian Dominion. They believe that Christian men are called to dominate all aspects of society. These Christians claim the right to dominate the family, religion, education, media, arts, business, and government (https://biblehub.com/q/ what_defines_christian_dominionism. htm.)
This just cannot be. We must not let any religion take our Constitution hostage. To surrender to Christian Nationalists is to betray our most closely held values. Without freedom of religion, America is not a free nation.