Amanda Tyler denounces Christian nationalism as idolatry

Christian nationalism threatens democracy and substitutes coercive idolatry for authentic faith, Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, told a gathering at a North Texas church.

“It divides us into nation states and merges political and religious authority in ways that are really idolatrous—that really can lead us to worship country over God,” Tyler asserted.

Christian nationalism also “undercuts all the foundational values of a pluralistic democracy, especially with regard to religious freedom,” she added.

Tyler spoke Oct. 20 at her home church, Royal Lane Baptist in Dallas, to promote the launch of her new book, How to End Christian Nationalism. She participated in a question-and-answer public conversation with Pastor Victoria Robb Powers.

Christian nationalism is “a political ideology and cultural framework” that merges American and Christian identities, Tyler explained.

“To put it another way, Christian nationalism suggests that to be a real American one has to be a Christian—and not just any kind of Christian, but a Christian to holds certain religious beliefs that are more fundamentalist in nature and that align with more conservative political views,” she said.

Christian nationalism promotes the view that the United States was founded as a Christian nation by Christians “in order to privilege Christianity in law and policy,” said Tyler, lead organizer of the Christians Against Christian Nationalism movement.

Rather than emphasizing God’s love for all people globally, Christian nationalism supports the idea that the United States plays a special role in God’s plan, she said.

“Christian nationalism departs from the life and teachings of Jesus—Jesus who was always on the side of the marginalized and the oppressed; Jesus who was killed by the state for speaking truth to power,” she said.

“Jesus, who was all about love—loving our neighbors, loving everyone without regard to difference … has nothing to do with the Jesus who is a mascot for Christian nationalism.”

In contrast, she said, “Christian nationalism is all about power—seeking power and holding onto power.”

Christian nationalism a threat to faith freedom

Christian nationalism threatens religious liberty in the United States, Tyler asserted.

“To protect everyone’s religious freedom in a pluralistic democracy, we must insist on the institutional separation of church and state,” she said. “There cannot be any kind of state religion or religious laws.

“Any time the state tries to take any religion—including our own—and assume it for itself and impose it on everyone else, that’s where religious freedom ends. And really, that’s where faith ends, because for faith to be authentic, it must be freely chosen and not imposed by any authority.”

In a sense, Christian nationalism traces its roots back to the Roman Emperor Constantine’s merger of Christianity and empire, Tyler asserted.

“That’s when I think that the teachings of Jesus and the religion of Christianity started to be polluted by Christian nationalism and this idol of power,” she said.

Religious nationalism takes varied forms around the world, she said, pointing to Hindu nationalism in India and Vladimir Putin’s appropriation of Russian Orthodoxy in Russia as examples.

However, she noted particular ways Christian nationalism and white supremacy have been woven together into the fabric of the United States since its beginning.

She cited the Doctrine of Discovery, along with the use of Christian Scripture to provide theological justification for slavery, as well as the fact that decision-making power granted by the U.S. Constitution originally was limited to white males.

“It’s impossible to think about Christian nationalism in the American context without thinking about white supremacy,” Tyler said.

“The ‘America as a Christian nation’ narrative perpetuates this sense of cultural belonging that’s limited to the people who held power at the beginning of the country.”

Texas public schools a ‘proving ground’

Efforts to impose Christian nationalism are seen most clearly in legislation related to public schools, and Texas is the “proving ground” for some national initiatives, Tyler noted.

She pointed to proposals for school vouchers that divert public funds to private religious schools, efforts to require the posting of a particular version of the Ten Commandments in every public-school classroom and recommended reading curriculum based on Bible stories.

She also noted the bill approved by the Texas Legislature that allows schools to employ chaplains—or accept volunteer chaplains—who are not required to be certified or trained.

However, she cited a hopeful sign. While lawmakers approved the measure, they left its implementation to the discretion of local school districts. The BJC is aware of only one district in Texas that approved school chaplains.

Without minimizing the importance of the upcoming national election, Tyler emphasized Christian nationalism is so pervasive, it will not be resolved once and for all at the ballot box.

“No matter what happens, Christian nationalism is still going to be a problem after Nov. 10,” she said.

She stressed the value of doing the “hard work” of having honest conversations—face-to-face, not on social media—with neighbors who may embrace Christian nationalism to some degree, while remembering the Christian duty to love all neighbors.

Resist the ideology, don’t attack the people

Tyler emphasized the importance of resisting and rejecting Christian nationalism as an ideology without demonizing individuals who hold to some of its principles.

“The book is called How to End Christian Nationalism, not How to Get Rid of Christian Nationalists, and it’s intentional,” she said.

Christian nationalism is an ideology and cultural framework that exists on a continuum, and it “operates a lot like racism,” in that it is a pervasive systemic problem, she said.

As such, it presents daily opportunities for individuals to reject or embrace it in a variety of ways and to different degrees, she asserted.

“It’s not an immutable quality that you can’t choose to move away from,” she said. “It’s also not an immutable problem that you’re safe from.”

By looking at Christian nationalism in those terms, rather than assigning a negative label to people and creating an “us-versus-them” dynamic, it offers the opportunity for meaningful conversations with neighbors who hold different views, she noted.

Tyler differentiated between patriotism and nationalism, noting “language really matters.”

“I define patriotism as a love of country that can be expressed in a lot of different ways, whereas nationalism is an allegiance to country that demands allegiance over everything else,” she said. “There’s usually one narrow way to be a nationalist.”

The challenge for Christians who have a heartfelt love for their country comes when patriotism makes demands that conflict with their faith.

“Is our patriotism causing us to violate our religious convictions? Are we being asked to put our duty to country over what our faith is calling us to do?” she asked.

Christians need to remember the teaching of Jesus to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s,” she observed. A person can be patriotic and also be Christian, but the two are not the same, she noted.

“We can be both, but we are not one because of the other,” Tyler said.