Christian Nation Research Articles

White Christian nationalism in Black education: Breaking bread at the kitchen table

This kitchen table dialogue brings together two scholars, one Black woman assistant professor and one white male doctoral student, unified in our research interests in the history of Black education and our faith as Christians. We gathered on the Zoom video conferencing platform to “break bread,” engaging in a cultural and spiritual tradition to share and commune with each other. The purpose of the kitchen table talk was to discuss the current state of white Christian nationalism (WCN) and how it has been foundational to the structure and establishment of U.S. schools. We explicitly explore its implications on Black education across time and offer critical theoretical perspectives and liberatory theological insights. We are hopeful that this discourse furthers critical conversations, teaching, and scholarship at the intersections of education, race, and religion that move U.S. education toward constructing educational structures that recognize the sacred nature of our work and care for the spirit and souls of all students.

Religious Nationalism and The Legal Rejection of LGBT Rights in Zambia: Examining the Intersection of Religion, Law, And Social Exclusion

In the 21st century, national identities are shaped by more than just belonging to a nation-state; factors such as ethnicity, culture, gender, and religion also play a significant role. Individuals can align themselves with imagined communities, where national identity exists only in the mind. However, when religion becomes a symbol of national identity, it often leads to the rejection of beliefs that contradict religious values. This paper explores the influence of religious nationalism on the social rejection of LGBT rights in Zambia. Through a review of various theories of nationalism and an analysis of the conflicts between state, ethnic, and religious nationalisms, the paper highlights how strong religious identities can foster hostility toward LGBT communities. Zambia, a Christian nation by constitutional declaration, exemplifies how religious nationalism enables the criminalization of homosexuality, described as an unnatural offense punishable by imprisonment. The conclusion demonstrates that religious nationalism not only conflicts with LGBT rights but also fuels social rejection, leading to stigma and legal consequences for LGBT individuals in Zambia.

Selling Sex in the States: Religious Fundamentalism, Christian Nationalism, and Public Acceptance of Moral Problems

The extent to which commercial sex, particularly sex work, should be regulated is an important and controversial policy conversation in the United States. Despite the salience of religion to informing attitudes about morality and bodily ethics, little is known about how some key dimensions of U.S. religion (e.g., religious fundamentalism and Christian nationalism) influence the public’s moral acceptance of prostitution. We investigate this gap using nationally representative survey data ( n = 1,219). Fundamentalist beliefs and Christian statism are both associated with lower moral acceptance of prostitution, adjusting for other religious and sociopolitical characteristics. Disaggregated models also revealed differences in the strengths of these associations by sex. Implications for policy and opportunities for future research are discussed.

Countdown to the apocalypse: the legitimization of white Christian violence in religious programming on the History Channel

ABSTRACT This paper describes the results of a content analysis of the History Channel’s religious programming, which shows that roughly 44% of episodes about religion from 1996 to 2020 prioritize violence. Additionally, an ideological critique of 17 selected episodes reveals that non-Christian violence is portrayed as inherent to geographic contexts outside the United States while Christian violence is portrayed as justified, heroic, and exceptional. From this we show how the History Channel’s telling of religious history perpetuates the deep and troubling alliance between American identity and violent forms of white, Christian nationalism.

‘To Each Their Own’

Abstract In 2014 a violent encounter unfolded at the royal cemetery of Betsioka between Christian evangelists and their antagonists: spirit mediums, shrine caretakers, and monarchical-ancestral spirits (tromba). The narratives provided by members of the Malagasy Church of Jesus Christ, alongside those offered by spirits and their human supplicants, paint an intimate portrait of the two groups’ competing ideologies. The event emerged from longstanding tensions between indigenous Sakalava communities and highlander Protestant migrants who demonize possession rituals attached to the Sakalava monarchical system. Critically, both parties mediated their disagreement through the shared understanding that each individual has a unique destiny and should be free to follow their own religious commitments. Discourse on predestined individual difference challenged the actions of evangelists who saw the ‘traditions of the ancestors’ as incommensurable with Christian life. Increasing Christian nationalism on the island highlights the awkward place that aggressive proselytization occupies in religious rights debates.

Division on the Christian right: Republican pastors and the use of force

Abstract Polarization in American politics has not produced unity among conservative Christians. Drawing from original survey and interview data on Republican pastors in North Carolina, this paper seeks to understand why these pastors are divided on the legitimacy of force defending the “traditional American way of life.” We find (1) that theological fundamentalism has a positive, though weak, influence; (2) Christian nationalism and White grievance are powerful in increasing support for the use of force; and (3) distrust of elections intensifies the effect of these attitudes.

Which political entities are “Friendly” to religion? The interplay of entity, identity congruence, and Christian nationalism

Abstract How do Americans perceive the orientation of political entities toward religion? Building on group identity theories and burgeoning Christian nationalism research, I theorize Americans' perceptions of friendliness, neutrality, or unfriendliness toward religion will be contingent on the interplay between the specific entity, “identity congruence” (how partisan and ideological identities correspond to the partisan character of the entity), and Christian nationalism. Analyses of data from a large, nationally representative sample of Americans support my expectations. Both Christian nationalism and congruence on political identities predict how Americans perceive the posture of the Democratic Party, Republican Party, and Supreme Court toward religion. Yet associations differ depending on whether friendliness to religion challenges the entity's legitimacy (e.g., the Supreme Court). Interactions also show the influence of Christian nationalism and political identities on perceptions of friendliness are contingent on one another and the entity. Findings reveal how religious evaluations reflect group interests in complex ways.

The Bible in Christian Nationalist Rhetoric

Christian nationalism is not a new phenomenon in American political and cultural life, nor is the invocation of the Bible in pursuit of power. This essay surveys the use of the Bible in Christian nationalist rhetoric in the United States, particularly in the context of American populism. The manner in which Donald Trump and his enablers employ the Bible as a political tool is a primary focus, particularly the comparisons to King David and Cyrus the Great. Both analogies reflect a concern with propagating a highly militant, masculine Bible in the service of White, Christian nationalism.

Jesus and Prophets like Jonah: A Message for Womanists and White Christian Nationalists

This essay explores the prophetic vocation vis-a-vis the challenge of contemporary Christian nationalism by reading the book of Jonah in the Hebrew Bible in conversation with what Jesus says about the sign of Jonah in Matthew 12. This essay puts two readings of Jonah into dialog—one for womanist prophets and one addressed to White Christian nationalists. These texts reveal God's relentless mercy for the outsider and God's unwavering love for the prophet of the oppressed. The essay considers what the sign of Jonah means for race relations and the troubling rise of White Christian nationalism in the United States today.

Conversational Preaching in the Era of Christian Nationalism?

In 2016, I wrote Preaching in the Era of Trump, in which I proposed a conversational, prophetic approach to challenging Donald Trump's attacks on immigrants, people of color, LGBTQ+ persons, women, and Muslims. This essay revisits the question of whether such a conversational approach can be effective in response to Christian nationalist support of Trumpism and an effective mode for social change. The essay proposes that preachers take a strong stand in the pulpit against injustice while doing so in a manner that invites instead of shuts down dialogue.

The Psychology of Christian Nationalism: Why People Are Drawn in and How to Talk Across the Divide

The Psychology of Christian Nationalism: Why People Are Drawn in and How to Talk Across the Divide

Internalized Racism? A Study of Christian Nationalism and Perceptions of Asian Hate and White Privilege Among Asians and Asian Americans

Prior studies have shown that Christian nationalism, an ideology combining Christian identity with American identity, is a powerful predictor of public attitudes toward racism. However, less is known about how Christian nationalism might affect Asians and Asian Americans’ racial attitudes, who have increasingly been the targets of anti-Asian hate crimes since the COVID-19 pandemic. This study surveyed 356 Asian and Asian American adults residing in the US. Among them, a stronger belief in Christian nationalism was associated with the perception that anti-Asian racism had stayed about the same or decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Surprisingly, this Christian nationalism effect on perceptions of anti-Asian racism during the pandemic was more salient among Asians and Asian Americans, who perceived a greater importance of Asian solidarity. Finally, Asians and Asian Americans who held a stronger belief in Christian nationalism also tended to deny the existence of White privilege.

How #Trad Catholics Challenge Current Constructions of Christian Nationalism: Counterknowledge, Masculinity, and Elite Aesthetics on Instagram

ABSTRACT I analyze traditionalist Catholic (or Trad) content on Instagram to add digital hyperconnectivity to current conversations about Christian nationalism in the United States. Building on studies of both epistemological and affective shifts in the age of digital hyperconnectivity, I argue that some pockets of right-wing Christian content are not anti-intellectual, but rather construct alternative knowledge bases to challenge mainstream authorities. This populist strategy of counterknowledge is mediatized in Trad Instagram, creating an epistemic community to counter those of the mainstream. The affordances of Instagram as a platform, characterized by its emphasis on visual content, brevity, and rapid consumption, have resulted in the decontextualized presentation of fragmented elements of Catholic philosophy and social teaching. This reconfiguration not only reshapes the public perception of Catholic thought but also fundamentally alters the grammar of public discourse. I draw on studies of affective polarization to argue that counterknowledge is not primarily about building a substantive alternative knowledge base, but rather about constructing an identity around the media image of an epistemic community under threat. The Trad aesthetic representation of intellectualism is distinctly gendered, presenting intellectual pursuit and reason as masculine virtues. I conclude by explaining how Trad Instagram contributes to and challenges current discourses on Christian nationalism by centering digital hyperconnectivity instead of a rationalist analysis of motivating beliefs, providing insights not only about shifts in authority and populism, but also moving beyond ideology to highlight aesthetic, affect, and the algorithmic curation of knowledge.

Pastor Nevers Mumba’s Quest to Actualize the Declaration of Zambia as a Christian Nation through “Zambia Shall Be Saved” Campaign, 1993–2021

Abstract This article is grounded in the findings from qualitative and interpretivist research based on secondary and primary data. Two analytic frameworks have been used to make sense of the data. The first is Stephen Ellis and Gerrie ter Haar’s hypothesis that politics in sub-Saharan African societies cannot be fully understood without reference to religious ideas therein; and the second is the notion of African Political Theology which, according to Emmanuel Katongole, means going beyond addressing realities of violence, civil unrest, poverty, tribalism, and corruption, but deploying the story of salvation in Jesus as a concrete social, material, political, and economic reality in the African social imaginary for the construction of modern Africa. The article argues that through “Zambia Shall be Saved” orations from 1993 to date, Pastor Nevers Mumba has been calling for actualizing the declaration of Zambia as a Christian Nation (henceforth referred to as “Declaration”) made by President Frederick Chiluba in 1991. Katongole’s understanding of African Political Theology provides an invaluable lens for conceptualizing Mumba’s “Zambia Shall be Saved” discourse. The Declaration remains a topical issue among Zambian and international analysts and the significance of this particular article lies in the fact that it relates Mumba’s cry of “Zambia Shall be Saved” to the new conversation on “Actualizing the Declaration” coined by the government of the republic of Zambia in 2016. Overall, the article seeks to contribute to an ongoing discourse on Zambia’s Christian nationhood.

Christian nationalism and support for leaders violating democratic norms during national emergencies

Abstract During national emergencies, democratically elected leaders have sought to expand executive power in ways that violate democratic norms, ostensibly to guide their nation through crisis. Drawing from research on democratic backsliding, we anticipate support for such executive privileges may stem from different ideological and contextual factors, but primarily from inclinations toward ethno-nationalistic and authoritarian populism. We propose American Christian nationalism represent such inclinations. Analyses of nationally representative data reveal Christian nationalism is the strongest predictor Americans believe unspecified “national emergencies” might require leaders to suspend elections, suppress political opponents, and disregard checks and balances. However, political disinterest, stronger Democratic partisanship, and being Black (vs. White) are also positively associated with support for violating democratic norms, and these associations are amplified by Christian nationalism. Ancillary analyses suggest the interactions with race and party may be contextual, due to a Democratic President in office at the time of the survey. Findings suggest populist impulses characteristic of Christian nationalism may combine with political disinterest (perhaps reflecting disillusionment) and threats to in-group power to increase support for leaders suspending democratic norms during national crises.

Biosoteriology and the Postsecular (In)Human: The Religio-Racializing Assemblages of Evangelical Nephilim Demonology

ABSTRACT This article explores the use of apocryphal narratives of the angelic Watchers and their offspring, the nephilim, in contemporary American evangelical demonology. It contends that such demonologies use the figure of the nephilim to galvanize reactionary political narratives of crisis, placing the source of cultural change and ecological collapse in an inhuman Other whose removal would permit the restoration of social and spiritual order. Drawing on Black studies and postsecular critique, the article contends that nephilim demonologies mobilize processes of “religio-racialization” rooted in antiblackness to create a paradigm of “biosoteriology”—a conflation of biological “purity” and soteriological possibility mobilized through religio-racializing assemblages. Situating this paradigm in the context of US Christian nationalism and a racialized “return” of religion, the article shows that the nephilim become figured as an alterity threatening white, cisheteronormative visions of the human and the futurity of (white, Christian) America.

Book Review: Christian nationalism and the birth of the war on drugs by Monteith, A.

Book Review: <i>Christian nationalism and the birth of the war on drugs</i> by Monteith, A.

Christian Nationalism and Violence Against Religious Minorities in the United States: A Quantitative Analysis

AbstractThis study examines the relationship between Christian nationalism—a political theology and cultural framework that seeks to amalgamate the Christian faith and a country's political life and privilege Christianity in the public square over other faith traditions—and attacks against religious minorities in the United States. Some Christian nationalists believe that it is justifiable to undertake violent actions in order to realize the goals of Christian nationalism. We theorize that the political empowerment of Christian nationalist ideology in the form of politicians expressing Christian nationalist sentiments corresponds to physical attacks on religious minorities carried out by self‐professing Christians. We test this theory using a cross‐sectional, time‐series analysis of antiminority violence in the United States. The results provide robust support for our theory.

Church and State relations in Lesotho: A historical review locating the voice of the church in Lesotho’s political and mainstream history

The year 2024 sees Lesotho celebrate 200 years since the formation of Basotho as a nation. In these 200 years, the church has played a significant role in nation building and development. This article explores and seeks to locate the voice and presence of the church both as an ecumenical body and as a prophetic voice within the tumultuous history of Lesotho’s politics with a specific timeframe from 1833-2002. A literature review of relevant academic articles as well as historical works is used to ensure that the accounts recorded are factually correct. The formation of Basotho in the 18th century is a direct result of violence and war in the form of Lifaqane. King Moshoeshoe I, founder of the Basotho nation believed that peace could be procured via the presence of missionaries, therefore denoting the establishment of the church as an important factor. Within Lesotho’s mainstream history, the role played by the church has often been referred to in passing. Common sayings like “Baruti ba Moshoeshoe (Moshoeshoe’s pastors/ministers), and Lesotho ke naha ea Bokresete (Lesotho is a Christian nation)” are often quoted, and yet the actual role that the church has played and continues to play in Lesotho’s history and development has been an after-thought. In light of this, this article locates the role that the church has played in different eras of Lesotho’s history. From the establishment of the 1 st church (Protestant Church) in Morija, to the formation of ecumenical bodies such as The Heads of the Churches and Church Council of Lesotho to the current emerging coalition democracies under the constitutional monarchy.

The Unlikely Alliance of Mormonism and Christian Nationalism

ABSTRACT American members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are typically seen as politically conservative and proponents of Christian natioanalism. However, this has not always been the case. This essay provides a historical overview of how the Mormon tradition evolved from being dissenters from America’s patriotic imagination to some of its most adamant promotors. I also highlight the paradoxes at the heart of the current cultural alliance between devout Latter-day Saints and evangelical activists.