Unraveling the Strands of Christian Nationalism - Part 6

Opening Prayer

At the beginning of the day, we seek your countenance among us, O God, in the countless forms of creation all around us, in the sun’s rising glory, in the face of friend and stranger. Your Presence within every presence, your Light within all light, your Heart at the heart of this moment. May the fresh light of morning wash our sight, that we may see your Life in every life this day.

• John Philip Newell, Praying with the Earth – A Prayerbook for Peace, p. 42.

Unraveling the Strands of Christian Nationalism:
What is Christian Nationalism? When did it emerge? What interpretation of scripture regarding the End Times drives Christian Nationalism? How does systemic racism undergird it? Can you be a patriot without being a Christian Nationalist?

What is a Judeo-Christian Nation? – Part Two

The Christian Nationalist Rewriting American History

“Douglas Wilson’s rising influence shows how the past is at the center of today’s culture wars. In his talk at the 2025 National Conservative Conference (NatCon) last month [September], [Idaho pastor and cofounder of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC) Douglas] Wilson argued that the United States is at war over two different ‘origin stores.’ One of these stories, he said, is built on ‘lies’ and is a form of ‘apostasy.’ It is advanced in colleges and universities by ‘regime historians’ advancing the ‘popular mythology’ that the American founding was ‘thoroughly deist.’”

“Wilson unequivocally believes that the United States was founded as a ‘Christian Republic’ for a Protestant population. He points to early state constitutions that upheld religious establishments and had Christian test oaths for office. He claims that fifty of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence were ‘orthodox Christians.’ He notes that the United States Constitution ends with the phrase, ‘The Year of Our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven.’ He mentions Church of the Holy Trinity v. United States, the 1892 Supreme Court decision in which David Brewer, the justice who wrote the majority opinion, claimed that the United States was a Christian nation. Wilson even goes so far as to claim that during the American Revolutionary War, George Washington led an army of ‘Calvinists.’”

“Wilson chides the ‘regime historians’ for manipulating the past to promote a progressive political agenda and secular worldview. But by ignoring a wealth of evidence that might complicate his preferred ‘origin story,’ he engages in the same form of manipulation that he despises in his political enemies.”

“Was the British American population largely Protestant at the time of the founding? Yes. Did they practice their Protestant faith? Some did. But it is also true that people joined churches at a much higher rate today than they did in the eighteenth century. Church membership in the colonies was less that 50 percent, and that is a very generous estimate. (Some scholars put membership as low as 17 percent.)”

“Very few of the founding fathers – and none of the major figures we studied in high school history classes (including Franklin and Jefferson) – were ‘deists’ in the pure sense of the word. They all believed in a God who sustained the world by his providence and sometimes even intervened in human affairs. Some were Christians. Some rejected Christian orthodoxy.”

“But they were all countercultural. They were all, even the Christians, men of the Enlightenment. They knew they were creating a government for a Christian people, but they built the republic with safeguards in place to prevent privileging one religion over others. In doing so, they drew heavily on modern ideas that were gaining traction in the eighteenth-century republic of letters. “

“The founders championed religious freedom, not religious toleration. The former celebrates liberty of conscience for all people; the latter suggests something akin to, ‘We don’t really want you here, but we will tolerate you.”

“Thomas Jefferson went out of his way to make sure the Declaration of Independence said nothing about a Christian God who died for the sins of the world and rose from the dead. The framers of the United States Constitution banned religious tests for officeholding.”

“Would the creators of a Christian republic reject the idea of an established church or offer the free exercise of religion to all Americans, as they did in the First Amendment? If they were serious about building such a “Christian republic,’ why didn’t they just openly declare that only Christians could run for office in the federal government? Why didn’t they make Christianity the official religion of the United States? History offered them plenty of examples of this sort of Christian civilization. In John Calvin’s Geneva and John Winthrop’s Massachusetts Bay, heretics were executed.”

“Douglas Wilson fails to tell the full truth about our history. He and the National Conservatives are building a political movement around an incomplete view of the American founding. As we approach the 250 th anniversary of the United States, let’s tell a more thorough, complex, and, frankly, more accurate origin story.”

• John Fea, “The Christian Nationalist Rewriting American History,” ARC Religion, Politics, Et Cetera, October 6, 2025.

White Christian Nationalism’s “Deep Story”

“White Christian nationalism’s ‘deep story’ goes something like this: America was founded as a Christian nation by (white) men who were ‘traditional’ Christians, who based the nation’s founding documents on ‘Christian principles.’ The United States is blessed by God, which is why it has been so successful; and the nation has a special role to play in God’s plan for humanity. But these blessings are threatened by cultural degradation from ‘un-American’ influences both inside and outside our borders.”

“But this story is a myth. The religious views of the Founders ranged widely: from atheism, through deism and Unitarianism to Congregationalism, Baptist, and even Roman Catholicism. The Declaration and the Constitution drew on various influences, including classical liberalism (e.g. Locke) and civic republicanism (e.g. Machiavelli). More than a little of the nation’s wealth and prosperity were derived from stolen land and slave labor. These are all well-established historical facts.”

• Gorski, Philip S., Samuel L. Perry, and Jemar Tisby, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy, 2022, pp. 4-5.

For this week: For reflection: Can religious traditions strengthen democratic values and principles? Why or why not?

An invitation to our virtual participants: Discussion and comments are very much encouraged and welcomed. Online discussions can be held in the comments section in the upcoming post on Social Media for this week’s Deacon’s Reflection which is part of adult formation at St. Francis Episcopal Church.

Closing Prayer – Prayer of Blessing

Peace where there is war, healing where there is hurt, memory where we have forgotten the other. Vision where there is violence, light where there is madness, sight where we have blinded each other. Comfort where there is sorrow, tears where there is hardness, laughter where we have missed life’s joy, laughter when we remember the joy.
May the light of God illumine the heart of my soul. May the flame of Christ kindle me to love.
May the fire of the Spirit free me to live this day, tonight, and forever. Amen.

• John Philip Newell, Praying with the Earth - A Prayerbook for Peace, p. 44.

“Unraveling the Strands of Christian Nationalism,” Deacon Joe Dzugan, St. Francis Episcopal Church, 2025.