Christian nationalism is a cultural framework, not a political theology

Evidence

To insist that nationalism should be seen as religion, or even as having been “shaped” by religion is, in my view, to miss the nature and consequence of the revolution brought about by modern doctrines and practices of the secular in the structure of collective representations. Of course modern nationalism draws on preexisting languages and practices—including those that we call, anachronistically, “religious.” How could it be otherwise? Yet it doesn’t follow from this that religion forms nationalism. — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 946 (#complicates, via linked claim)

Christian nationalism is not a religious creed but, in my view, a political ideology. It promotes the myth that the American republic was founded as a Christian nation. It asserts that legitimate government rests not on the consent of the governed but on adherence to the doctrines of a specific religious, ethnic, and cultural heritage. It demands that our laws be based not on the reasoned deliberation of our democratic institutions but on particular, idiosyncratic interpretations of the Bible. Its defining fear is that the nation has strayed from the truths that once made it great. Christian nationalism looks backward on a fictionalized history of America’s allegedly Christian founding. It looks forward to a future in which its versions of the Christian religion and its adherents, along with their political allies, enjoy positions of exceptional privilege and power in government and in law. — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 28 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Christian nationalism bundles political ideology with cultural religious claims; Winning the culture for Christ is not in the gospel’s mandate — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 109; Christian nationalism fuses moral traditionalism, authoritarian control, and ethno-racial boundaries — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 142 (+8 more)

Related

• Christian nationalism is a political ideology, not a religious creed. (similarity 0.93)
• Christian nationalism bundles political ideology with cultural religious claims (similarity 0.89)
• Christian nationalism is a dynamic ideology, not a single founding belief (similarity 0.88)
• Christian nationalism fuses ethnic, racial, and political hierarchy with religious identity (similarity 0.88)
• Christian nationalism seeks power, not pluralistic cultural influence (similarity 0.88)
• Christian nationalism is a civic-political commitment, not mere chauvinism. (similarity 0.87)
• Christian nationalism fuses moral traditionalism, authoritarian control, and ethno-racial boundaries (similarity 0.87)
• Nationalism’s borrowings from religion do not make religion its source (similarity 0.86)
• Only Christian statism, not traditionalism, predicts ethno-nationalist symbolism. (similarity 0.85)
• Christian nationalism differs from the Christian nation narrative in its boundary-preserving intent (similarity 0.85)
• Christian nationalists may reject the label theocracy while pursuing the same ends (similarity 0.85)
• Christian nationalism is radical, not conservative, and undermines democratic institutions (similarity 0.85)
• Scholars conflate Christian nationalism with its statist variant. (similarity 0.84)
• Christian nationalism splits between religious traditionalism and support for a Christian state. (similarity 0.84)
• Christian nationalism is not synonymous with white evangelicalism. (similarity 0.84)

Broader Connections

• Calling nationalism a religion uncritically presumes a fixed definition of religion #complicates (0.80)
• Nationalism’s borrowings from religion do not make religion its source #complicates (0.78) — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 946
• Christian nationalism is a political ideology, not a religious creed. #corroborates (0.70) — Katherine Stewart, The Power Worshippers, 28