(New York) “God calls us to take up the sword and fight, and Christ will reign in the State of Idaho. »
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
Days before the state primaries for which she is lieutenant governor, Janice McGeachin floated the prophecy, hoping to convince Republican voters to choose her as their gubernatorial candidate.
Despite this appeal and the support of Donald Trump, Mme McGeachin bowed to incumbent Republican Governor Brian Little on May 17. But the elected official from Idaho remains at the forefront of a politico-religious movement which aims to establish the kingdom of God in the United States and to institute Christian values as an integral part of American policies. .
This movement, whose adherents deny wanting to create a theocracy, had its greatest electoral success the same day when Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano won his state’s Republican primary for governor.
In November, we will take back our State; my God will make it so.
Doug Mastriano, Pennsylvania state senator and ally of Donald Trump, on the night of his victory
“Let us choose this day to serve the Lord,” he added, referring to November 8, 2022, the date of the midterm elections.
Doug Mastriano refuses to be linked to Christian nationalism, the ideology that drives him just as much as Janice McGeachin and their most convinced supporters, according to experts. But he does not hesitate to describe as a “myth” one of the pillars of American democracy, namely the separation of Church and State, of which the first amendment of the Constitution is intended to be the guarantee.
Recently, Colorado Republican Representative Lauren Boebert summed up in her own way the thinking of Christian nationalists on this principle defined by two of the most important Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
The Church is supposed to run the government; the government is not supposed to run the Church. I’m sick of this bullshit separation of church and state.
Lauren Boebert, Republican representative from Colorado, in front of worshipers at a church in Aspen
Lauren Boebert received a standing ovation.
Fewer, more fervent
Christian nationalism has always been marginal in the United States. According to a 2017 survey by sociologists Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry, one in five Americans approve of the foundations of this ideology, which notably attributes to the United States a divine mission and aspires to declare this country a Christian nation.
A decade earlier, one in four Americans shared these ideas. Now, what the Christian nationalists have lost in numbers, they have gained in fervor and violence, as much in speech as in action.
Their presence among the January 6, 2021 rioters in Washington was likely greater than that of followers of the QAnon conspiratorial movement or members of extremist groups.
Moreover, religious feeling is not exclusive to one or the other of these groups. Before storming the Capitol, Proud Boys and Oath Keepers knelt in prayer. And the “QAnon shaman” himself said a heartfelt prayer in the Senate chamber.
But the biggest change is undoubtedly due to the fact that this marginal movement now has in the new conservative majority of the Supreme Court an ally whose power and influence make it possible to achieve several of its objectives. These include the abolition of same-sex marriage and the return of prayer in public schools.
“I am happy that the [Cour suprême] has decided to join me among the FRANGE! “, quipped on July 3 last Kandiss Taylor, Republican candidate for governor of Georgia, on her various social networks, adding in conclusion her electoral slogan: “Jesus, Guns & Babies. »
Kandiss Taylor posted this message after Supreme Court rulings ending the constitutional right to abortion, opening the door to more state funding for religious schools as well as the return of prayer in public schools .
“A vision that privileges the tribe”
Within the “fringe” of which Mme Taylor, some elected Republicans do not hesitate to claim Christian nationalism. Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene is part of this group. She sees this ideology as a way to fight “globalists” and “lies” about gender identity.
In The Flag and The Crosstheir brand new book, sociologists Philip Gorski and Samuel Perry insist on the “tribal” character of these “white Christian nationalists” who, according to them, have in common antidemocratic principles and beliefs.
These are beliefs that we believe reflect a desire to restore and privilege the myths, values, identity and authority of a particular ethno-cultural tribe.
Book’s extract The Flag and The Cross sociologists Philip Gorski and Samuel Perry
“These beliefs add up to form a vision that privileges the tribe. And they seek to put the other tribes in their place,” they point out.
In the eyes of sociologists, this tribe’s attachment to firearms and the Second Amendment is no accident, even if it may seem contradictory with regard to the message of Jesus.