The desire for a sustainable authoritarianism among MAGA Calvinists, such as the ‘Theobros’ and a coalition of Southern Baptist Reformed leaders, has lovers of democracy sounding the alarm.
These days, it can feel like Christian Nationalism is the majority opinion. But while Christian Nationalists have grabbed significant power, many times — like with ‘Rededicate 250’ — it’s just that they’re being extra loud.
Given Pete Hegseth’s insistence on co-opting a biblical term and employing it out of context as an insult against reporters doing their job, this issue of A Public Witness takes a look at the real Pharisees and the lesson the ‘secretary of war’ is missing.
‘Most — nearly all — serious historians agree that America was not founded as a Christian nation in any meaningful legal, philosophical, or constitutional sense,’ says the group Americans United for Separation of Church and State.
During the Faith250 kickoff dinner with fried chicken, mac and cheese, and sweet potato casserole, many congregants said they decided to participate because they felt disillusioned and dismayed at the direction of the country.
‘Church-state separation ensures we are all free to live as ourselves and believe as we choose, as long as we don’t harm others,’ Rachel Laser of Americans United for Separation of Church and State countered.
The phrase is often used as ‘a declaration of Christian Nationalism’ asserting that ‘the nation should be brought under the dictates of Christ,’ said Brian Kaylor.
Political theorist Laura Field provides an intellectual tour of the MAGA New Right, a movement that has twice carried Donald Trump into the White House.
A virtual media briefing titled ‘America at 250: Religion, Democracy, and the Promise of Pluralism’ covered solutions to the pressing issues of social isolation, political polarization, and bridging divides in the workplace and on college campuses.