Now, as we attempt to understand white Christianity in the United States, particularly the beliefs, values, and actions of white Christians, we draw on Durkheim. We can think of White Christianity as a tribe, with three principal clans: Catholicism, Mainline Protestantism, and Evangelical Protestantism.7 Some of these white Christians have adopted sacred symbols beyond the cross. We argue that these sacred symbols include most centrally representations of a white, blue-eyed Jesus, the merging of the American flag and the cross, and, increasingly, firearms.8 For some clans of the tribe, the
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