'Threat to democracy' or media phantom? Christian nationalism debate takes violent turn
Evangelicals wrestle with language, political agendas, potential 'fusion of Christianity and the state'
The 'threat' of Christian nationalism
Starting on or around Jan. 6, 2021, and continuing through the attempted Trump assassination on July 13, the phrase "Christian nationalism" has gone from virtually nonexistent to now being commonplace among most mainstream media outlets, even though a March Pew survey found fewer than half of U.S. adults say they have ever heard or read anything about Christian nationalism.
Following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2022 abortion decision and accelerating under efforts in states like Oklahoma and Louisiana to allow the Bible to be taught in classrooms and mandating the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools, those on the political Left have accused some politically active Christians of seeking to establish a state-sponsored religion.
In fact, after the Butler rally, multiple media outlets linked Christian nationalism to the shooting, including Politico, which ran a July 21 editorial with a headline that warned the Trump shooting could mobilize "an insurgent group of Evangelical Christians."
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Other outlets linked the belief that God intervened in the shooting with Christian nationalism ideology, which Wired described as a "distinct political tendency … which envisions the United States as a divinely ordained promised land for Christians of European descent."
Despite its use as a pejorative among most mainstream media outlets, the label of Christian nationalist has seemingly been embraced by several high-profile Evangelical leaders, including Southern Baptist theologian Al Mohler and Republican lawmakers like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia.
It's even been the subject of a Rob Reiner-produced documentary, "God & Country," which claimed to examine "the implications of Christian nationalism and how it distorts not only the constitutional republic but Christianity itself."
While Reiner's film ultimately flopped at the box office. The film — which critics described as everything from "weighty" and "timely" to "alarmist" and "bland" — only served as a cinematic symbol for the onslaught of cable news programs warning their viewers about Christian nationalism.
With menacing lower third graphics like "Theocracy Rising" and "the threat of Christian nationalism," some of the world's most prominent media outlets have turned this alleged specter of an Evangelical takeover into regular segments.
NBC News and its cable TV counterpart MSNBC have perhaps been the most vocal — at times even overtly hostile — in their definition of Christian nationalism.
CBS News produced a special report called "An (Un)Civil War" which ominously warned of an "extreme faction" of Evangelical Christians who the report described as posing as a threat to American democracy and specifically linked this threat to white Evangelicals.
MSNBC, which has published hundreds of articles, videos and other pieces of content with the phrase Christian nationalism, has even gone so far as to equate Christian nationalism with white supremacy, with one host saying Christian nationalism is based on "the myth that America was founded as a Christian nation" and branding it an effort to "turn this country into a theocratic state."
The network routinely highlights the views of anti-Christian nationalism activists like UPenn's Chair of Religious Studies Anthea Butler, author of White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality In America, to speak on what MSNBC called the "racial violence of Christian nationalism."
"Let me say about [what] Christian nationalism is, it's a belief that the founders and framers wanted this to be a Christian nation, but more than that, what white Christian nationalism is saying [is], they want white people to be in power," said Butler.
"When you hear talk from people like the Speaker of the House Mike Johnson and others talking about America as a Christian nation, what they are also saying is they want white men to be part of that leadership."
The Christian Post reached out for comment on both CBS News and MSNBC for their Christian nationalism content and any potential role of influence or inspiration they may have played in the Trump shooting. Responses were not received from either network.
Ian M. Giatti is a reporter for The Christian Post. His latest book, THE ASSEMBLY ON THE ROCK, is set for release Sept. 2024. He can be reached at: ian.giatti@christianpost.com.
