As a growing number of voters and politicians appear to be blending their faith with anti-Covid restrictions, gun rights and election lies, experts fear some extremist values are going mainstream by the way of Christian nationalism.
At a recent Turning Point USA conference, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called herself a "Christian nationalist," saying "that’s not a bad word. That’s actually a good thing, right? …I think that’s what the Republican Party needs to be about.”
And in June, North Carolina's Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson referred to a passage of the Bible that is often used by Christian nationalists: “We find ourselves in a pitched battle to literally save this nation... I don’t know about you, but I got my pack on, I got my boots on, I got my helmet on, I’ve got on the whole armor.”
Meanwhile, the number of Americans who identify as Christians has declined 12% over the past decade, according to Pew Research Center surveys.
With laws and lawmakers on the Christian-right growing in prominence in the U.S., we discuss Christian nationalism and what it means for North Carolina and beyond.
GUESTS
Katherine Stewart, journalist and author of “The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism”
Jack Jenkins, national reporter for Religion News Service
Gene Zubovich, assistant professor of history at the University at Buffalo and author of “Before the Religious Right: Liberal Protestants, Human Rights, and the Polarization of the United States”
