Tag: white christian nationalism

Understanding the threat of white Christian nationalism. Explore the implications and dangers of this growing trend in American politics.

Voting is usually seen as a political act, but as this column explores, it is also an act of faith. Rooted in the Biblical idea that all people are made in God's image, denying someone's right to vote silences their divine voice. The piece examines how white Christian nationalism threatens this ideal through voter suppression under the guise of "election integrity." It argues voting is a sacred duty affirming human dignity, with leaders like Rev. Raphael Warnock calling a vote "a kind of prayer" enacting our spiritual values in the political sphere. The column calls on people of faith to vote their deeply held beliefs in favor of true democracy.

A few years ago, many of us might not have considered white Christian nationalism as a viable existential threat to American democracy. Not so now. And for all intents and purposes it is going to be on the ballot this November.

Last month, dozens of activists packed into a small room in the Post Falls library for a board meeting of the Community Library Network. Some came to defend the library, but video of the meeting suggests most were there to condemn administrators for allowing children access to what they insisted were “pornographic” books.

Earlier this month, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican, addressed the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee, whose purview runs from this small resort city up along the Washington state border. Before she spoke, a local pastor and onetime Idaho state representative named Tim Remington, wearing an American flag-themed tie, revved up the crowd: “If we put God back in Idaho, then God will always protect Idaho.” 

Area faith leaders are raising the alarm about an event coming to the Stateline Speedway in Post Falls on Sept. 16 and 17 featuring dozens of right-wing speakers. The ReAwaken America tour has been making stops around the country all summer. Key speakers include Eric Trump, My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, retired Gen. Mike Flynn and Roger Stone, all of whom have said that the 2020 election was stolen and Donald Trump should be president. The event is hosted by Clay Clark of the ThriveTime Show.

Perhaps this is part of my distress, even disgust, with the aggressive, often violent, presence of white Christian Nationalism in our culture today. I see nothing loving about this dangerous blending of patriotism and so-called Christianity.