Rural evangelical communities fused Christian and American identity as one

Evidence

The congregations in this community instilled in me a love for Jesus, the Bible, and the Christian church. It was in this context that I learned what it meant to be a Christian: accept the correct beliefs, care for those around you, stand up for what is right, and ensure that our Christian convictions prevail in the public square. Doing these things made you a good Christian and a good American. The American flag and the Christian flag at the front of the sanctuary symbolized this relationship. To be one was to be the other. — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 53

Categorization

• XREF: Directly parallels the fusion of national and religious flags described in studies of Christian nationalism and American civil religion. — connects to: Billy Graham fused Christian identity with American patriotism as early as the 1950s — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 237; Political coalitions replaced shared theology in defining conservative evangelical identity — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White…, 121; The postwar era forged evangelical identity from gender, militarism, and nationalism — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne: How White…, 27 (+13 more)

Broader Connections

• White Christian nationalism fuses a specific Christianity with American civic life #expands (0.85) — Andrew L. Whitehead, American Idolatry, 141
• White evangelical identity centers on patriarchy, gender difference, and Christian nationalism #expands (0.82) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 16
• White Christian nationalism fuses race and faith into one ethno-traditionalist identity #expands (0.80) — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross, 122
• Christian nationalism conflates whiteness with Christian American identity #expands (0.79) — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 14
• The postwar era forged evangelical identity from gender, militarism, and nationalism #expands (0.78) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 27
• Christian nationalism fuses free-market capitalism into American Christian identity #expands (0.76) — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross, 161
• Militant masculinity fused family life, politics, and foreign policy into evangelical identity #expands (0.76) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 665
• Rural folk religion reinforces group boundaries through local sacred markers #exemplifies (0.75)
• Evangelical identity is formed more by cultural heroes than by theology #qualifies (0.74) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 23
• Christian nationalism fuses ethnic, racial, and political hierarchy with religious identity #expands (0.74) — Andrew L. Whitehead; Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God, 66
• Religion unified American identity while race divided it #qualifies (0.73) — Carl W. Ernst, Islamophobia in America_ The Anatomy of…, 286
• Political coalitions replaced shared theology in defining conservative evangelical identity #qualifies (0.72) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 121
• Evangelical identity has become a contested and ambiguous polling category #complicates (0.72) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 709
• American colonial identity was built from medieval Christian and biblical archetypes #qualifies (0.71) — Sophia Rose Arjana, Muslims in the Western Imagination, 569
• Evangelical identity may be defined by culture-war militarism rather than doctrine #complicates (0.71) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 552