The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy

by Philip S. Gorski

put simply, the idea of a “Christian nation,” which was founded by people in favor of “our way of life” has not only become culturally inextricable from white Christian culture, but also from the “rugged individualism” that adherents associate with free-market capitalism. It is part of the whole identity. Economic self-interest and individualism are not just “rational” or “efficient,” they are what “real Americans” and “good Christians” value. What do the bad people value? In her 2020 book Socialists Don’t Sleep: Christians Must Rise or America Will Fall, conservative opinion writer Cheryl Chumley explains, “Here’s the real enemy: collectivism.”