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An Ongoing Threat to Our Democracy
The Christian Nationalist perspective: This nation is ours, not theirs . . . freedom for me, but not for thee.
By Dale Anderson – Choose Democracy Now
The Republic Party and its billionaire and corporate supporters remain mute while radical leaders of their party promote unconstitutional fascist ideologies. One such political ideology is Christian Nationalism.
It doesn’t appear to matter to the GOP wealthy elites and GOP corporate donors whether our nation devolves into a personalist dictatorship with Trump in charge; a Hungarian-style illiberal democracy with permanent minority party rule (DeSantis in charge); or a Michael Flynn Christian theocracy.
The Republican Party and their donors have given up on democracy.
They seem to believe any authoritarian model will be better than our democracy for protecting their enormous wealth and privilege.
Consider the following statements of Christian Nationalist leaders funded by these GOP Donors .
These comments display a profoundly dangerous anti-democratic and anti-constitutional ideology about America. The first amendment of the U.S. Constitution unequivocally states “Congress will make no law respecting the establishment of religion.” Theocracies are not democracies.
The major democracy tracking and scoring organizations rate all existing global theocracies as autocracies (dictatorships) and “not free”. These include Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Mauritania, and Yemen. All are led by a Supreme Leader believed to be divinely appointed. Theocracy and Democracy are incompatible.
The Story Justifying White Christian Supremacy
According to Philip Gorski, co-author of “The Flag & The Cross”, White Christian Nationalism is deeply rooted in the American psyche. He explains their mythology consists of a story, justifying White Christian supremacy, that goes something like this:
The belief that the U.S. should be declared a Christian Nation is widespread among older Republicans. In a 2022 survey publish in Politico, over 70% of Republican Baby Boomers and members of the Silent Generation favored declaring the U.S. a Christian nation (see chart).
Four books can provide important perspectives on “Christian Nationalism” which should more precisely be termed “White Christian Nationalism.”
To better understand White Christian Nationalism and its ideology, read one of the above recommended books. To see how Sarasota Florida has become an epicenter for Christian Nationalism, view the PBS FRONTLINE report, “Michael Flynn’s Holy War” below.
To understand the “sects” of Christian Nationalism, read this Washington Post article, A Brief Taxonomy of Christian Nationalism.
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“Anyone who cares about what is happening in American politics today needs to know about this movement and its people.” Katherine Stewart, author, The Power Worshippers. 2022
“A dizzying array of resources . . . has been deployed to defend the idea of supremacy of whites over other ethnic groups. By far, the strongest were theological arguments that presented white supremacy as divine mandate.” Robert P. Jones, author, White Too Long, 2021.
“The Constitution says absolutely nothing about God, the Bible or the Ten Commandments.” Philip Gorski, author, The Flag & the Cross, 2022
“Christian Nationalism is entangled with the holy trinity of Christian freedom, racial order, and male violence.” Samuel Perry, author, The Flag & the Cross, 2022
Chris Hedges’ ethics professor at Harvard warned him in the early 80’s that the Nazis were not going to return with swastikas and brown shirts. Their ideological inheritors in America had found a mask for fascism in patriotism and the pages of the Bible. American Fascists by Chris Hedges, 2008
Looks Can Be Deceiving:
For white people, it’s often hard to believe that “normal” appearing white people that look like themselves could be capable of fascist-style atrocities. Especially women. But we make a mistake in dismissing the violent rhetoric of Christian Nationalists like Marjorie Taylor Green or Lauren Boebert. Rep Taylor recently stated that if she and Steve Bannon had organized the January 6th rally, they would have “won” not to mention they would have been “armed.” And Boebert loves brandishing military-style weapons that have been used to murder school children .
Consider Lisolotte Meirer. According to author Wendy Lower, Lisolotte Meirer volunteered for office duties in Eastern Europe and eventually engaged in a romantic relationship with Nazi official Hermann Hanweg. At the office, papers regarding deportations and mass shootings of Jews routinely passed through her desk. Off duty, Hanweg and Meier would engage in the shooting of Jews for entertainment on their estate in Lida, occupied Poland (now in Belarus).
Wendy Lower, “Hitler’s Furies: German Women in the Nazi Killing Fields“
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