["If we dont confront Christian nationalism then we are leaving
ourselves open to future attacks, like what we saw on January 6," said
one critic. ]
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JAN. 6 REPORT DOWNPLAYS ROLE OF CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM  
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Julia Conley
December 30, 2022
Common Dreams
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_ "If we don't confront Christian nationalism then we are leaving
ourselves open to future attacks, like what we saw on January 6," said
one critic. _

Former President Donald Trump's supporters clash with police and
security forces as they storm the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. on
January 6, 2021., Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

 

In an effort to fill in what they say are critical gaps in the U.S.
House select committee's report on the January 6, 2021 attack on the
U.S. Capitol, faith leaders are pushing the corporate media and the
American public to confront the role Christian nationalism played in
the insurrection, warning that ignoring the link could make similar
violence more likely in the future.

The committee's report
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released last week, laid out extensive evidence showing that former
President Donald Trump was the driving force behind the attack aimed
at stopping lawmakers from certifying the 2020 presidential election
results, but mentioned Christian nationalism just once, despite the
fact that many of the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol openly
expressed Christian nationalist beliefs before, during, and after the
attack.

As _Religion News Service_reported
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last week, some Trump supporters who attempted to overthrow the
government carried flags displaying a so-called "Jesus fish" painted
red, white, and blue like the American flag along with the words
"Proud American Christian." Hundreds took part in what they called a
"Jericho March" and prayed for the election results to be overturned
the day before the insurrection, and some were heard chanting, "Christ
is king" in Washington, D.C. on January 6.

"The symbols of Christian nationalism were on full display not only on
January 6 itself, but at numerous rallies leading up to the attack,"
Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for
Religious Liberty (BJC), told Alicia Menendez on _MSNBC _on Wednesday.

The report, however, only noted that supporters of white supremacist
Nick Fuentes, who was in Washington on January 6 but has not been
accused of breaching the Capitol, have "repeatedly promoted white
supremacist and Christian nationalist beliefs."

The inclusion of just a single reference to Christian
nationalism—the belief that the government should actively ensure
that the U.S. is a Christian nation—was something faith leaders
warned against earlier this year when they called on lawmakers to
closely examine the role the belief system played in convincing
thousands of people to storm the Capitol and continue to question the
2020 election results long after January 6.

In June, Christians Against Christian Nationalism, a project of the
BJC, wrote
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in a letter to the House committee that "Christian nationalism helped
motivate and intensify the insurrection" and that lawmakers should
"thoroughly investigate the role that Christian nationalism played in
the attack."

"This seditious mob was motivated not just by loyalty to Trump, but by
an unholy amalgamation of white supremacy and Christianity that has
plagued our nation since its inception and is still with us today,"
wrote
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P. Jones, president of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI),
at the time.

As _Religion News Service_reported
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last week, a spokesperson for committee member Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy.)
suggested weeks before the report was released that the congresswoman
objected to focusing seriously on Christian nationalism, telling
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The Washington Post _that Cheney "won't sign onto any 'narrative'
[that] suggests every American who believes God has blessed America is
a white supremacist."

Lawmakers including Cheney, who leaves office next week, "fear that
confronting Christian nationalism might be misconstrued as an attack
on Christianity or Christians, and nothing could be further from the
truth," Tyler told _MSNBC_. "We are trying to draw attention to what
Christian nationalism is... Christian nationalism turns Christianity's
gospel of love into a false idol of power. It turns John's gospel
teaching us that God so loved the world on its head, saying falsely
that God has a special plan for the U.S. or that God loves the U.S.
more than any other country, or that God has preordained election
results."

Faith leaders are working to explain "why that's not the case," added
Tyler, "because if we don't confront Christian nationalism then we are
leaving ourselves open to future attacks, like what we saw on January
6."

Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel
free to republish and share widely.
Julia Conley is a staff writer for Common Dreams.
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