Christian nationalism: The nasty tip of a bigger (and even nastier?) iceberg

Christian nationalism: The nasty tip of a bigger (and even nastier?) iceberg

Commentary by James Downard | FāVS News

There’s a “Unite Against Hate in the PNW” conference being set up for Oct. 25-26 here in Spokane on the threat of Christian nationalism. Speakers to include Andrew Seidel and Brad Onishi from the national stage, and our own author Sarah Hayward, late of that movement herself.

As someone who’s been following this topic for some time (from the perspective of the subculture that objects to the reality of natural evolution), I will be interested in seeing how many of the interconnected players are discussed.

You see, while the subculture of “Christian nationalism” would tick off such figures as Lance Wallnau, prophesying the rise of their prophet (or is it “profit”?) Donald Trump; rancid theocrats like Douglas Wilson (trying to establish a baby Jonestown over in Idaho, and who 30 years ago was extolling how OK biblical slavery was for the old Confederacy); and “they-wrote-this-stuff-down?” Russell Vought, whose Project 2025 vomited from the Heritage Foundation has been proving a hot potato Saint Donald is suddenly wanting not to be served — even as so many of his associates had a hand in cooking it — unless downsized to the fast food fry level.

Working through the cast of characters in this sorry improv theater quickly filled up a sheet both sides, which I intend to have as an available handout for attendees in October.

The cast

Of course there’s no shortage of up-front crazies:

• Marjorie Taylor Green (“Jewish space lasers”) dishonoring Georgia even as Matt Shea would like to do the same for us in Washington
• Christopher Rufo, apoplectic 24/7 over the boogieman of CRT
• “Mr. Giggles” Tucker Carlson, the $787 million liar who burbled over Trump at the RNC last month
• And the current Speaker of the House (are there enough exclamation marks to measure the astonishment of that!!!!) Mike Johnson, who can as easily envisage there being dinosaurs on Noah’s Ark as he can the equally imaginary 2020 election fraud

And let’s not forget lower echelon extremists, salivating in the wings in hopes they’ll get to bring their vision of “Amerika” into legislative focus, like Pastor Joel Webbon, who thought a big problem in this women’s rights thing was giving them the vote a century ago. Just this month he opined, “I think the 19th Amendment should be repealed. I think that because, first and foremost, I’m a Christian. That is the Christian position.”

A 1920s mind for the 1620s, to be sure. Spoiler alert: It’s 2024.

Project 2025

The first door opening on a bigger world of extremism is that Heritage Foundation report, from the theocratic authoritarians writing it, to the just-as-revealing cast of characters who have jumped on its bandwagon — a veritable Who’s Who of culture war ideologues. Let’s sample a bit alphabetically:

• Jay Sekulow’s American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), the legal arm of screwy 700 Club theocrat Pat Robertson (1920-2023). Sekulow, you may recall, was prominent on the legal team defending their golden-plated calf, Donald Trump, in his assorted impeachments
• The American Institute For Economic Research (AIER), an innocuously named gateway mélange of antivax and Jan. 6 extremists, such as Jay Bhattacharya, Simone Gold and James Todaro
• Beverly LaHaye’s Concerned Women for America (put a pin on that LaHaye name)
• The election-denying Conservative Partnership Institute, with such luminaries as Ed Corrigan, Cleta Mitchell and John Eastman — the now notorious “Stop the Steal” legal strategist
• The antievolutionist Discovery Institute, though when the temperature heated up they pulled back their endorsement faster than Stephen Meyer misrepresenting the Cambrian explosion (Meyer is a favored “science” pundit at Dennis Prager’s PragerU btw)
• The Eagle Forum, founded by Phyllis Schlafly (1924-2016), an articulate and influential ideologue as opposed to the Equal Rights Amendment as she was supportive of Kent Hovind brand young earth creationism. Intelligent Design groupie and rabid anti-immigration pundit Ann Coulter was profoundly influenced by Schlafly (and gosh doesn’t it show)
• Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council, who never met a recent Democrat President they weren’t willing to call a closet socialist. Like Speaker Johnson, Perkins is a Ken Ham brand young earth creationist
• James Dobson’s Focus on the Family (traditional biblical edition only — and they get to decide what that is)

Wait, there’s more!

• The fossil-fuel-funded Heartland Institute (just the thing to keep up with 21st century climate science, at least in the sweeping under the “Drill, Baby Drill!” rug)
• The Falwells’ Liberty University, where you won’t be spared full doses of young earth creationism in their “science” curriculum
• Tiffany Justice’s Moms for Liberty (for them at least)
• The National Association of Scholars, whose 2022 “American Birthright” book laid out their plans to do for education what Project 2025 has in mind for everything else
• Wayne LaPierre’s National Rifle Association (keeping things way too exciting for school kids for many decades)
• Marjorie Dannenfeiser’s Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life, giddy as all get-out ever since the Dobbs ruling overturned Roe v. Wade, brought about by all those Federalist Society judges Mitch McConnell shepherded onto the court with as great a speed as the Discovery Institute rescinding their Project 2025 endorsement
• Jenny Beth Martin’s Tea Party Patriots (not any actual tea, and even less true patriotism)
• Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point theocratic movement

Are we done with the connections? No, you guessed it, there’s more. Way more.

The Council for National Policy

If you haven’t heard of the CNP, they’ve gone out of their way to make sure you don’t. It was founded back in 1981 by Tim LaHaye (1926-2016), hubby to Beverly. Besides penning the End Times “Left Behind” fan fiction series (which would bring us in turn the wonderment of Crocoduck-waving creationist Trumpista Kirk Cameron), Tim was among the seminal group of modern Christian nationalist pioneers, such as Rousas Rushdoony (1916-2001) and televangelist D. James Kennedy (1930-2007), who participated in George W. Bush’s prayer meetings.

The CNP intersects with Reagan-era politics was intentionally tight, via their other founders Howard Phillips (1941-2013), as well as Jim DeMint and Paul Weyrich (both, in turn, among the founders of, drum roll please, Project 2025’s Heritage Foundation).

There are many tags for the theocratic side of things: the Dominionism of the Rushdoony era, the more recent New Apostolic Movement and the Seven Mountain Mandate trope. But connecting them all is a worldview where only Christians (of only their brand) ought to be running things, and faiths not accepting that need to be actively excluded from political power or social influence.

Screeds again democracy

Elitist? Scary? Dangerously antithetical to our American traditions of tolerance and (small “d”) democratic principles?

All of the above. Especially as the screeds turn their invective on LGBTQ+ issues, anxious to find fresh scapegoats among the “other.” Why, there were drag queens at the Paris Olympics! Posturing harrumph.

But if Project 2025 is a window on the broader world of Christian nationalist allies, the CNP is the secret panel opening onto the even deeper basement of an influence network whose meddling fingers strive to be in everybody’s pies — and has been working at it for over forty years.

Associates of the CNP not only include a bunch of the figures listed above, from Jerry Falwell (1933-2007) to Tony Perkins, Jay Sekulow and Charlie Kirk, but an even broader array that practically defines political extremism and over-the-top pseudoscientific excess. They also supplied many of the foot soldiers to staff out the Trump administration.

How well did that go?

CNP’s cast of characters

Again a far from exhaustive alphabetical sampling of some names that stuck out for me:

• Ali Alexander “Stop the Steal” organizer
• Steve Bannon, creator of the rightwing propaganda network Breitbart, convicted fraud, conveniently pardoned by fellow convicted felon Donald Trump (“2000 Mules” election fraud faker Dinesh D’Souza was another fellow whose conviction was made to vanish by Trump)
• David Barton and his Wallbuilders movement, whose pseudohistory on “America as a Christian Nation” is held as oracular canon by the likes of Glenn Beck
• David Bossie whose Citizens United organization led to the Supreme Court’s infamous ruling affording corporations the free speech protection of individuals
• William Boykin, Tony Perkins’ go-to extremist general, known for his vitriolic Islamophobia
• Kellyanne Conway, the consummate Trumpista spin doctor, who never met an “alternative fact” she wouldn’t embrace if it furthered the political ambitions of their movement
• Thomas Fitton’s Judicial Watch, pugnacious authoritarian ideologue whose legal reach requires Trump being in power again for his obsessions to reach their finish line
• Leonard Leo, among the Federalist Society founders and financial spider behind many an extremist web
• Grover Norquist, guru of “tax reform,” which tended to favor people with already enough money
• Kenneth Starr, the Bill Clinton impeachment guy
• Virginia Thomas, the extremist Jan. 6th spouse of none other than corrupt Black nationalist Justice Clarence Thomas

There are even more conservative political figures connected to the CNP but this list is getting long enough.

I will close with another shoe to drop (hopefully) at the October conference: the Source Methods implications of seeing the behavior of the people orbiting the CNP and how media need to address politicians currently on the ballot.

Source Methods very much needed

In our district, Michael Baumgartner is seeking to replace Cathy McMorris Rodgers in Congress. Rodgers has been a consummate evader of clarity on many important issues of our time. Try to pin her down on relevant health care policy, for example. Or climate change. Or whether Trump lost the 2020 election and has been lying about that ever since.

So far, Baumgartner appears just as wiggly as Rodgers, such as answering a question on climate change by insisting how our dams must be preserved.

Underlying whatever beliefs he has though would presumably be some data set, some array of sources he has or has not drawn on, and it is the necessary duty of a Source Methods approach to pin that down, not just on GOP (or are they now all Trumpistas?) like Baumgartner, but all candidates at all levels.

For the bad methods and dogmatism of Christian nationalists and Project 2025 and the CNP are in principle open to inspection and critical comment, but only if they are asked about it.

To paraphrase “Lord of the Rings,” there is One Bad Method To Rule Them All, and the extremism circulating in our politics have raised the stakes so high that ignoring that aspect of how ideologues get to think and behave in the way they have is a lapse in our media coverage of elections that we as a people can no longer afford to leave out.

The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. FāVS News values diverse perspectives and thoughtful analysis on matters of faith and spirituality.