“We the People” against “Religious Nationalism”

“This world is in deep trouble, from top to bottom,

But it can be swiftly healed by the balm of love.”

                                                                                             Rumi

In “Polarization and Depolarization in the U.S.,” David Tassell, a Research Fellow at CFIG, defines “religious nationalism” as “another force in American life under the umbrella of religion to be examined that is arguably antithetical to American civil religion.” In the U.S., religious nationalism shows itself in the form of “Christian nationalism,” which is idealized as a “mythic society in which real Americans – white, native-born, mostly Protestants – maintain control over access to society’s social, cultural, and political institutions” by Andrew Whitehead and Samual Perry in their extensive scholarship in “Taking America Back for God.”

Living in the DMV area and working in D.C. for the last ten years, I have seen the shift towards a more divisive language and dehumanizing rhetoric against ethnic, cultural, and religious minority groups and immigrant communities. This becomes more apparent when the action turns into violence and advocacy becomes weaponized, as in the case of the January 6, 2021 incident. Before this insurrection attempt, most people may not have fully recognized the dangers of “Christian nationalism” ideology and its societal destruction over the years.

As a 2023 Fellow, I am glad that BJC addresses this persistent threat to our religious communities and democracy with “Christians Against Christian Nationalism,” a grassroots movement of Christians from across the theological spectrum launched in 2019. 

Regardless of our faith tradition, we are commanded to love one another. Whether we worship at a church, mosque, synagogue, or temple, America has no “second-class” faiths, which are all equal under the U.S. Constitution. As Americans, we value our system of government and the good that can be accomplished in our constitutional democracy.

As a result, we can take this initiative one step further and call it “We the People Against Religious Nationalism” to reject this political ideology that seeks to distort religious identities and democratic ideals of America. According to Tassell, “Understanding religious nationalism in the U.S. helps illuminate a significant cause of polarization but also helps to differentiate civil religion and its potential use in depolarization.”