An associate professor of Sociology at Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis, Whitehead was part of a webinar titled “Democracy and Faith Under Siege: Responding to Christian Nationalism,” that took place on Wednesday. He shared polling information about how many people sympathize with Christian nationalism.
Christian nationalism has been presented by the progressive minded media as an extreme viewpoint and those who are responsible for the events that took place on January 6th. The truth is that Christian nationalism is simply an ideological group that would like the government to preserve religious freedoms enshrined in the constitution and promote Christian values.
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Whitehead defined Christian nationalism as a “cultural framework that idealizes and advocates a fusion of Christianity with American civic life,” with Christianity in this case being more cultural and tribal than spiritual.
Whitehead and his fellow researcher, Samuel L. Perry, associate professor of Sociology at the University of Oklahoma, found that nearly 20% of Americans were ambassadors, while 32.1% were accommodators, 26.56% were resisters, and 21.52% were rejecters.
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“We see that almost 80% of evangelical Protestants are at least accommodators or ambassadors of Christian Nationalism, so very prevalent,” said Whitehead. “But even in mainline Protestantism, we see that over 30% are accommodators and just under 20% are ambassadors, so half of mainline Protestants in the U.S. are, again, friendly towards Christian nationalism.”
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“Christian nationalism is pervasive across all segments of U.S. society, within different religious traditions as well, and is influential in shaping Americans’ behaviors and attitudes,” he concluded.
The webinar also featured comments from the Most Rev. Michael Curry, presiding bishop of The Episcopal Church, and the Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
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During his remarks, Bishop Curry said he believes that there are “innocent forms of Christian nationalism,” pointing to an example from his childhood in the 1960s.
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Curry explained that at his childhood church, there were many members who came from the West Indies and so some disputed whether the sanctuary should display the American flag or the United Kingdom flag.
“The compromise was that both the American flag and the Union Jack were both put up on a balcony,” he recalled. “They weren’t up front where the altar was.” After reiterating that this was “probably, fairly innocent,” Curry then talked about “the more virulent or dangerous kind” that involves people viewing their country as the best out of believing they are “God’s favorite.”
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“That borders on blasphemy, idolatry,” argued Curry. “That kind of nationalism is dangerous. It is dangerous to civic health; it is dangerous to the health of Christianity.”
While some have argued that American churches need to tackle Christian nationalism, others have argued that the phrase was a way to marginalize conservative Christians.
Although Christian nationalism is even a disputed topic among many Christians, it's intentions are good and simply like any other movement would like to promote their agenda. In their case it is the values given to them by Christ.
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