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

by Philip S. Gorski

Survey all the rioters who’ve been rounded up since the attempted insurrection on January 6, 2021, and it’s unlikely that many would describe themselves as “Christian nationalists” let alone “white Christian nationalists.” Even the overtly Christian ones—the guy carrying a “Jesus saves” sign, or waving a Christian flag, or saying a prayer in Jesus’s name on the Senate floor—would probably reject these labels. Nor would many (if any) admit to being “white nationalists,” “conspiracy theorists,” “insurrectionists,” “white supremacists,” or any other label with such obviously negative connotations. In interviews, most of the rioters have described themselves as something like “Christian patriots.”