Christianity was the non-negotiable core of civilized status in the antebellum Americas

Evidence

Likewise, John Hick challenged the paradigm of the absoluteness of Christianity, as articulated in 1901 by Ernst Troeltsch, by pointing out the harmful effects of religious absolutism. One of these effect, Hicks says, is that during the colonial era, “the conviction of the decisive superiority of Christianity infused the imperial expansion of the West with a powerful moral impetus and an effective religious validation without which the enterprise might well not have been psychologically viable.” — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 734 (#expands, via linked claim)

In later centuries, European settlers engaged in a similar program of vilification and genocide of American Indians. While early explorers were functioning in a medieval world, later settlers still appealed to the narratives and themes embedded in the Middle Ages. Early colonists from England and elsewhere in Europe were also engaged in a slightly different project from their ancestors. Concerned with the conquest of land and the elimination of its inhabitants, they were also engaged in the project of formulating a new identity based on notions of Christian destiny, Anglo-Saxon mythology, racism, and Gothic sensibilities rooted in the medieval episteme. … The emergence of these communities is a broad subject not taken up here, except in the context of early US colonial history. The manner in which early Americans spoke about the land they occupied was situated in a Christian doctrine that validated white privilege, a mindset that was extended to the indigenous inhabitants of “New Israel.” In Robert Bellah’s oft-quoted article on American civil religion, he illustrates how the belief in an America determined by Christian destiny formed the basis of American political discourse, a language that necessitates, even today, the inclusion of Christian language in order to be legitimate. … As Bellah points out, American identity is rooted in a sense of divine agency and Christian destiny. “Behind the civil religion at every point lie Biblical archetypes: Exodus, Chosen People, Promised Land, New Jerusalem, Sacrificial Death and Rebirth. But it is also genuinely American and genuinely new.” — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 569 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Christian belief in its own superiority gave colonialism essential moral validation — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 734; American colonial identity was built from medieval Christian and biblical archetypes — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 569; Twelfth-century Christian learning constructed non-Christians as occupying the margins between humanity and animals — James Renton, Ben Gidley (eds.), Antisemitism and Islamophobia in…, 221 (+8 more)

Related

• American colonial identity was built from medieval Christian and biblical archetypes (similarity 0.87)
• Christian belief in its own superiority gave colonialism essential moral validation (similarity 0.84)
• American colonists founded a new identity on medieval Christian destiny and Anglo-Saxon mythology. (similarity 0.80)
• Christianity adapted to Europe but not to non-Western cultures. (similarity 0.79)
• Theology justified slavery and genocide by marking whiteness as Christian (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Christian belief in its own superiority gave colonialism essential moral validation #expands (0.85) — Frans Dokman, Beyond Bantu Philosophy_…, 734
• Citizenship in America has historically been tied to whiteness and Christianity #expands (0.82)
• American colonial identity was built from medieval Christian and biblical archetypes #expands (0.80) — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 569
• Racist theological ideas sanctioned and made American slavery acceptable to Christian churches #corroborates (0.80) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 20
• Colonial empire was read as proof of God’s favor on Christianity #corroborates (0.78) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 169
• Religion served as the lens for early racial difference in the New World #expands (0.75)
• Colonial universalism disguised European Christian values as transcendent truths #corroborates (0.75) — David Theo Goldberg, The Racial State, 49
• Twelfth-century Christian learning constructed non-Christians as occupying the margins between humanity and animals #expands (0.72) — James Renton, Ben Gidley (eds.), Antisemitism and Islamophobia in Europe, 221
• Christianity obscured itself by promoting secular critique during colonial expansion #qualifies (0.72)
• US government has used religion to justify racial subordination throughout history #corroborates (0.72) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 1068