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

by Philip S. Gorski

But until the insurrection, it was invisible to most Americans. It was invisible to most conservative white Christians, because for decades it has been the water they swim in and the air they breathe.3 It was invisible to most secular progressives, because they live in a bubble of their own in which white Christian nationalism seems “fringe” rather than mainstream.

Today, the secularized version of white Christian nationalism is almost as important as the religious one.

Freedom is understood in a libertarian way, as freedom from restrictions, especially by the government. Order is understood in a hierarchical way, with white Christian men at the top. And violence is seen as a righteous means of defending freedom and restoring order, means that are reserved to white Christian men.

So long as white Christians were in the majority and could call the shots, they were willing to tolerate a certain amount of pluralism, provided that “minorities” did not insist too much on equality. Now faced with the prospect of minority status themselves, some members of the old white majority are embracing authoritarian politics as a means of protecting their “freedom.”

For some white Christian nationalists, the fight has become more important than the faith.

They wanted a fighter for Christians (read: people like us), not someone who fights like a Christian.

Ironically, the more some conservatives insist on “American exceptionalism,” the less exceptional it becomes.

to impugn the racial history of the nation is to dispute the chosenness and fundamental goodness of white Christians.

Conversely, whites were less likely to prioritize the vulnerable the more they adhered to Christian nationalism.16

As other studies have shown, white Christian nationalism and religious commitment are not the same,

the myth of a Christian nation was far more important to them than Christianity itself.

“Disaster” is one of his favorite words.

Christian nationalism is an authoritarian populism, one that happily exchanges democratic procedure for tribal victory.