White supremacy now operates unconsciously inside white Christian identity

Evidence

After centuries of complicity, the norms of white supremacy have become deeply and broadly integrated into white Christian identity, operating far below the level of consciousness. To many well-meaning white Christians today—evangelical Protestant, mainline Protestant, and Catholic—Christianity and a cultural norm of white supremacy now often feel indistinguishable, with an attack on the latter triggering a full defense of the former. — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 40

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: The claim that defense of whiteness is experienced as defense of faith — an attack on supremacy triggering defense of Christianity — captures how ideology is felt as identity rather than belief.
• XREF: connects to: White supremacy deflects blame from Christianity onto culture when exposed — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 70; Racism predicts white Christian identity better than church attendance does — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long: The Legacy of White…, 543; White Christian identity is conflated in conservative rhetoric with whiteness itself — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian…, 165 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• White supremacy deflects blame from Christianity onto culture when exposed #expands (0.82) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 70
• White Christian identity is conflated in conservative rhetoric with whiteness itself #corroborates (0.80) — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross, 165
• Racism predicts white Christian identity better than church attendance does #corroborates (0.75) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 543
• White Christian theology adapted to changing times only by shifting to subtler racism #expands (0.75) — Robert P. Jones, White Too Long, 234
• White evangelical identity centers on patriarchy, gender difference, and Christian nationalism #expands (0.73) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 16
• White supremacy operates as an idea undergirding Western social structure #expands (0.72) — Ibram X. Kendi, Stamped from the Beginning, 1151