[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, in an Oct. 26 seminar at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., reiterated The Episcopal Church’s position that white Christian nationalism is a gross perversion of Christianity, and that Christians must refute such ideologies.
As our nation’s politics grow more extreme, so do the outside influences on our people in our pews. Our faith traditions reject Christian nationalism, and are working to respond to “the single greatest threat to democracy…and the integrity of the Christian witness.”
What is Christian nationalism? Despite some folks dismissing Christian nationalism as “a scare tactic,” Christian nationalism has an academic definition. Professors Samuel Perry and Andrew Whitehead define it as “a cultural framework that idealizes and advocates a fusion of Christianity with American civic life.” Professor Perry notes that white Christian nationalism is the biggest threat to religious liberty because its proponents have weaponized the Christian identity. The professors’ research found that the weaponized ideology exists in various forms across educational, racial, geographic, and denominational demographics.
To help congregations de-weaponize the Christian faith, our national partners at the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, the Episcopal Church, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have worked with Professors Perry and Whitehead to produce a curriculum for congregations. The video below accompanies the curriculum.
In the video, the professors discuss what Christian nationalism is; how it permeates even the more moderate mainline Protestant, Black Protestant, and Catholic traditions; and how it dominates white evangelical Protestantism. In the second half, Presiding Bishop Curry of the Episcopal Church and Presiding Bishop Eaton of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America discuss the theological problems with Christian nationalism. The BJC is also spearheading a sign on letter for people of faith to reject Christian nationalism.