Christian Nationalism and White Nationalism are the same side of the same coin. Any effort to proclaim otherwise is a smokescreen with dangerous consequences for those that love our country and the freedoms it stands for. Don’t fall for the disguise, racism is the very core of Christian Nationalism.

Christian Nationalism is the belief that the United States was founded by Christians, for Christians and should be governed by as well as defined by (their version of) Christianity. Many believe the nation is a favorite of God’s and has been chosen by Him to further their agenda throughout the world.

Dominionism , another mask of this movement, is the theocratic idea that regardless of theological camp, means, or timetable, God has called conservative Christians to exercise dominion over society by taking control of political and cultural institutions. The term describes a broad tendency across a wide swath of American Christianity. People who embrace this idea are referred to as dominionists.

White Nationalism is a term that originated among white supremacists as a euphemism for white supremacy. Eventually, some white supremacists tried to distinguish it further by using it to refer to a form of white supremacy that emphasizes defining a country or region by white racial identity and which seeks to promote the interests of whites exclusively, typically at the expense of people of other backgrounds.

Where this all comes together is in our history, the very thing these people want to return to and then preserve. And while the Christian historical aspect of their reasoning is debatable at best or blatantly untrue at worst (the founding fathers were painstaking with each letter in the Declaration of Independence as well as The Constitution and neither mention Christianity) the actual historical record exposes them all.

The nation these groups long to return to is a nation of white supremacy, slavery and genocide, a country that used the Bible to justify the dehumanization of non-whites for the purposes of political power, economic domination and absolute larceny.

Let’s not be fooled by the numerous ways these persons dress up, they are one in the same with an agenda as clear as the history they so love. We’ve come a long way as a country with a much stronger understanding of who “We the people” are and what “All men are created equal” means but the struggle is far from over and we can’t be satisfied or complacent until the freedom we each cherish is achieved for everyone.    

What makes this nation great is surely not its history or certainly not its present but rather what it may well become. There is more than good reason for hope but we’re going to have to put in the work to get there.