Are We Ready for the Next Christian Nationalist Attempt at a Government Takeover?

For those of us who are more attuned to religious intrusions into American public life and politics than the average American, it is not difficult to believe that religious extremism—specifically white Christian nationalism—is a threat to the American way of life. It’s certainly something that American Atheists and many of our partners within the atheist and secular community have been saying for decades.

Like so many diffuse systemic threats, the urgency of the moment isn’t always readily apparent. These attacks on our values, and their successes, don’t happen all at once. They’re the product of patience and disciplined action over decades.  

Consider our current Supreme Court. Despite the announced retirement of Justice Stephen Breyer, the ideological composition of the Court is unlikely to change for decades. Identifying, cultivating, and confirming ideologically reliable jurists willing to radically expand the power and privilege of religion in our nation’s laws has been a pet project of well funded groups like Alliance Defending Freedom, the Federalist Society, and others. The investments those groups made in building a bench of committed ideologues were not overnight successes. But they have been unquestionable successes with massive payoff.

Frighteningly, that ideological capture of our institutions isn’t just happening at the Supreme Court or the federal judiciary. And while it commands the most attention and most coverage from the media, it isn’t the gravest threat we face.

At the state and local levels, similar groups invested hundreds of millions of dollars into training candidates and funding races for school boards, town and city councils, state legislatures, and other elections that escape notice in the mainstream press. While most Americans were focused on who would be sitting in the White House, these groups successfully took over the policymaking apparatus that most directly affects our day-to-day lives—and the lives of our children.

Those elected offices that are closest to our front doors often have a far greater and more direct impact on our daily lives than almost anything that happens in Washington. Every textbook or lesson your kids receive in their public school? Decided on by a state board of education or the local school board. Decisions about which teachers will be standing in front of the classroom in the first place? School board. Will the local megachurch receive a zoning variance exempting it from parking requirements? The town council decides.

There are more than 500,000 elected positions in the United States. One-tenth of one percent of those are in Washington, D.C.

Those who’ve spent the past decades focusing primarily on what’s happening in Congress or the presidency have ceded the fight in our communities to people who quite literally want to install a Christian government, relegating us to second-class citizenship and entrenching their advantage even as their numbers continue to decline.

Christian nationalism, by its nature, is not a popular or mainstream position. It relies on rigging the system to entrench Christian nationalists’ political power through voting restrictions and gerrymandering, counter-democratic institutions like the courts, the complacency and exhaustion of voters and elected officials at all levels of government, and sometimes—as we saw one year ago on January 6, 2021—outright violence.

That violence pushed the ugly truth about Christian nationalism to the forefront of American political discourse. There were countless photos of people storming the U.S. Capitol with Christian nationalist slogans like “Jesus is my Savior, Trump is my President” and “Jesus has the throne.” Protestors erected crosses—and a gallows. They flew the Christian flag and even carried it into the Senate chamber. And after storming the Capitol, they even delivered a Christian prayer from the dais of the Senate Chamber.

Our colleagues at the Freedom from Religion Foundation, in partnership with the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, released a report chronicling the Christian nationalist influences of the January 6 insurrection. The evidence is both compelling and overwhelming that Christian nationalism was the uniting force of the disparate groups at that riot. This ideology gave them a “divinely” sanctioned permission structure for political violence.

While they didn’t succeed at keeping Donald Trump in the White House or installing a Christian nationalist federal government, we shouldn’t pretend that this was the end of it. We’re already seeing their own narrative change from a somewhat sheepish embarrassment in the immediate aftermath to a defiant pride in their actions. And they’re organizing for what comes next.

On his “War Room” podcast, which boasts tens of millions of downloads, former Trump advisor and far-right Christian nationalist figure Steve Bannon recently urged supporters to run for local office. His call to action went viral on websites, social networks, and media aligned with the Christian nationalist movement, but also those affiliated with the QAnon conspiracy theory.

Even without these newly inspired Christian nationalists in office, we have our hands full at the state level. Already this year, state legislatures across the country have introduced dozens of pieces of legislation straight out of the Project Blitz playbook. These bills put atheists, racial and religious minorities, LGBTQ people, children, and others in the crosshairs.

Jason Rapert, the Arkansas State Senator we’re suing because of his practice of blocking atheist constituents who are critical of him on social media, has said that his organization, the National Association of Christian Lawmakers, is prioritizing mandatory “In God We Trust” display laws and advocating for abortion bans similar to the Texas “bounty” law that allows private parties to sue abortion providers.

This legislative session alone, ten states have introduced bans on abortion after 12 weeks, and legislators in 24 states have introduced laws banning abortion outright.

In Oklahoma, Florida, and Kansas, they’re advancing legislation that would not only ban teachers from discussing or even mentioning LGBTQ people; in some cases, they are actually attempting to criminalize doing so. At the very least, these laws put educators on the hook for costly and frivolous lawsuits by parents who are offended by the fact that LGBTQ people exist.

So even if these Christian nationalists don’t again resort to violence—which may be assuming too much—they can still remake this nation to reflect their radical views. If they succeed in winning even more seats in your state legislature, or city council positions, or school board elections, they won’t have to resort to violence next time.

We have to be prepared to confront these extremists wherever they are. That means stepping up, volunteering, and yes: running for office. And if you’re worried about whether or not you’re qualified for office, the simple fact that you’re concerned about the future of our nation and how the government is being weaponized against people in the name of religion means you’d be far better than the people currently occupying many of those chairs.