Former US Vice President Mike Pence describes himself as “a Christian, a conservative and a Republican, in that order”. In his memoirs, published in November, the religious convictions of Donald Trump’s former right-hand man appear as the common thread of his decisions. And offer a look at a current at the heart of concerns for the future of American democracy: Christian nationalism.
“Christian nationalism is a belief that America was founded as a Christian nation and must be defended as such,” explains Kristin Du Mez, professor of history at Calvin University in Michigan. And what that looks like can take different forms. For many, it is aligning our laws with biblical commandments and prioritizing the Christian faith in government and society. »
Even if Mike Pence does not immediately describe himself as a Christian nationalist, there is no doubt for the author of Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted Faith and Fractured a Nation that it falls into this category. “I think he is a textbook case of a kind of traditional Christian nationalism, very committed to his faith, not only in his personal life, but also politically,” said Ms.me Du Mez. And who wants to use his position of power to make America more Christian and restore that Christian identity. »
The former vice president has not yet announced whether he intends to enter the race to become the Republican Party’s candidate for the 2024 presidential election. So Help Me Godnevertheless confirms that the former governor of Indiana has no intention of disappearing from the public sphere.
PHOTO JOHN MINCHILLO, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
On January 6, 2021, among the supporters of Donald Trump who had invaded the Capitol in Washington, some sported Christian symbols, a sign of the place that the Christian nationalist movement occupies more and more within American democracy.
On January 6, 2021, he found himself at the heart of the discontent when supporters of Donald Trump – some wearing Christian symbols – invaded the Capitol in Washington, demanding in particular his hanging. If he returns to this event in his memoirs, it is not so much to denounce the false allegations of massive fraud as to justify his actions decried by the angry crowd; he certified the results of the vote because he sees the US Constitution as a sacred text that he had sworn to protect “with the help of God” – “ so help Me God “.
Concerns
By putting forward the idea of a people guided by God, Christian nationalism worries the experts – both the more extremist fringe and the moderates.
Although [Mike Pence] is not as extremist as those who attacked the Capitol, his embrace of this idea that Christianity should be supreme and privileged has created space for this extremism to take root.
Andrew L. Whitehead, professor of sociology at IUPUI, an Indiana university
He sees the movement as a threat to democracy. “We have heard and read of people who embrace Christian nationalism saying that democracy is not in the Bible,” says the co-author of Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States.
“They are able to take the parts of the Bible that help them, at the expense of Christians of different expressions or Americans of other faiths or without religion. »
Political weight
Nearly two-thirds of Americans in 2021 identified as Christian, with their numbers declining for a decade as more people say they have no religious affiliation, according to a Pew Research Center poll.
Those who see the United States primarily as a Christian nation are a minority, but they continue to carry significant weight in American politics, despite an official separation between church and state.
Americans who strongly embrace Christian nationalism make up about 15-16% of the population and even though that seems small, because of the primary process in the United States and because these people are more politically active, they do matter.
Andrew L. Whitehead, professor of sociology at IUPUI, an Indiana university
These Americans loudly claim their freedom of religion when rights contradict their values, such as same-sex marriage or abortion.
Last December, a former evangelical activist testified before the US Congress about the lobbying carried out by religious groups with judges in an attempt to influence them in their decisions.
Supreme Court
“There are a lot of concerns about the federal courts. There is a fear that these individuals who are now on the Supreme Court will dramatically change the way we understand the nation, and the prime example of this would be the abortion ruling,” notes Eric McDaniel, a professor at the University of Texas and co-author of The Everyday Crusade: Christian Nationalism in American Politics.
PHOTO J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE, ASSOCIATED PRESS ARCHIVES
On many societal issues in the United States, Christian nationalist groups are loudly claiming their freedom of religion, particularly in the files of same-sex marriage or abortion.
Christian nationalist groups are “well-funded, well-organized,” he said, adding that not all religious activists should be lumped together. Christian nationalism, generally defined as conservative, white and traditionalist, does not encompass all Christians involved in politics, with some advocating more liberal values.
“Congress will have a role to play in thwarting the power of the courts if it wants to protect certain rights, as it did recently to cement same-sex marriage rights,” he said.