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Adam Russell Taylor writes in this week's SojoMail that voters need to be savvy in recognizing when candidates’ behavior and rhetoric aligns with anti-democratic beliefs: If the first debate for the 2024 Republican primary is any indication, we’re headed toward a combative and chaotic presidential race. The first debate, held last night in Milwaukee, was most notable for who didn’t attend, namely former President Donald Trump, who, despite facing four separate criminal indictments, is the leading Republican candidate by a margin of nearly 40 points. [...] But my main interest in watching the first Republican primary debate was to get a sense of whether Republican candidates would challenge the growing anti-democratic forces within their party. For example, will Republican candidates continue to defend Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results? And will they continue to embrace the “us-versus-them,” fear and grievance-based politics that propelled Trump to power? I was also on the lookout for indicators of candidates’ support for white Christian nationalism, a set of ideas enjoying an alarming resurgence (and super-charging the anti-democratic forces) that pose a grave threat to both our democracy and the witness of the church. The term “Christian nationalism” gets used in different ways, but some experts define it as “a constellation of beliefs — that the founding of the United States was ‘divinely inspired’ or that God is invested in the success of the U.S. — that manifest in political goals.” In politics (and some churches), these ideas are part of a coordinated strategy to ensure white Christians maintain their ongoing dominance in all sectors of U.S. society. When I think about examples of Christian nationalism, I think of the subtle ways some people imply that one must be Christian to be a “true” American, or argue that the growing presence of non-white people and non-Christians pose a threat to “traditional” values, or stoke fear by saying that Christianity is under attack. But Christian nationalism exists on a spectrum — and we need to resist it in all its forms.
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Our Latest Young Evangelical Activists Face a Key Climate Barrier: Their Elders (by Bekah McNeel) In a world of adult inaction, a recent Montana ruling is a rare win for youth climate activists. With 2,646 churches on the island of Ireland, the initiative has the potential to make a difference to local biodiversity. One Church's 20-Year Quest for Carbon Neutrality (by Lynette Wilson, Episcopal News Service) “The demise of the old HVAC system was an action of the spirit,” said one congregant. When Christian Colleges Fire ‘Woke’ Professors, Who Will Stop Them? (by Sierra Lyons) The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities has remained silent as some institutions restrict racial justice and gender equity on campus. |
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From the Magazine Rich Mullins Was the Misfit Christian Music Needed (by Mitchell Atencio) The witness of the writer of “Awesome God” still challenges white evangelicals. |
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