Christian Nationalist identifies something deeply embedded within who they are as a person. It refers to a mix of select evangelical religious beliefs, conservative political commitments, cultural practices, values, and rituals.
Consider Aunt Betty.
She is a kind, earnest, patriotic, hard-working woman that loves Jesus, her family, and her country.
For over fifty years she has faithfully attended church services, Sunday school classes, and even the occasional revival when Billy or Franklin Graham would visit the nearest stadium.
Aunt Betty faithfully engages her community, hosting the check-in station at the fourth of July parade, voting every two years, and occasionally helping out at the polling station. She organizes a group that places wreaths on the graves at the nearby veteran’s cemetery on Memorial Day and often buys meals for those in uniform when she sees them in a nearby booth at the cafe.
Aunt Betty loves going to baseball games, watching fireworks on the 4th of July, singing in the church choir, and visiting with friends after church.
For decades, Aunt Betty has experienced the American Civil Religion and Christianity as one interwoven reality.
- Her hymnal houses The Battle Hymn of the Republic and My Country ‘tis of thee.
- She sees the Red, white and blue Bible cover at the Cracker Barrel store.
- Daily she sees the ‘Faith, Family, Friends’ sign from Hobby Lobby hanging near her front door.
- Her nephew has a ‘Stand for the flag, kneel for the cross’ sticker on his truck.
- She has heard a lifetime of patriotic sermons on the 4th of July, Veterans Day, and Memorial Day.
- She has a commemorative plate on her wall with a picture of George Washington praying at Concord.
- She frequently sees social media posts that mix ACR and Christianity.
- The conversations at Sunday School trend towards conservative politics.
For Aunt Betty, singing the National Anthem before the ballgame and singing Amazing Grace in the chapel is the same experience.
Aunt Betty’s Civil Religion is interwoven with her Christian Religion. She does not distinguish between the two.
For her, to question America is to question Christianity.
Aunt Betty’s Christian Nationalism resides not primarily in her head but in her heart. If we are to reach Aunt Betty, we must engage with her, heart-to-heart.
This means that we must understand what it is that she loves about her country and her faith. We must enter into her story, see the world through her eyes, and feel what her heart feels.
Only then can we hope to join her on the journey of deconstructing and reinterpreting her commitments to American Christian Nationalism and point her back to Jesus.