Christian nationalism today is premillennial and frames war as God-sanctioned conquest.

Evidence

Next are fears about the moral decay of the nation and belief that, following this decline into depravity, Jesus will literally whisk Christians to heaven, an event known as the Rapture. This affirms that contemporary Christian nationalism is more characterized by a “premillennial” worldview, one that interprets Christians’ responsibility as delaying America’s inevitable decline, as opposed to a more optimistic “postmillennial” view that sees Christians as victorious in the here and now. Sandwiched between these views is Americans’ belief that “God requires the faithful to wage wars for good.” This is entirely consistent with Philip Gorski’s observation that Christian nationalism has historically been used to justify bloody conquests, often taking the form of imperialist and jingoist projects under the banner of God’s blessing and mandate for his people. — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 82

Categorization

• XREF: Supports the reader’s Islamophobia thread: Christian nationalism’s divine-sanction-for-conquest logic is the domestic mirror of the Crusade framing documented in Muslims in the Western Imagination and The New Crusades. — connects to: Fusing religion with nationalism amplifies collective violence and self-sacrifice. — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 138; Premillennial theology insulated fundamentalists from the war’s disillusionment — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White…, 48

Broader Connections

• Fusing religion with nationalism amplifies collective violence and self-sacrifice. #expands (0.85) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 138
• Premillennial theology insulated fundamentalists from the war’s disillusionment #corroborates (0.75) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 48