America was founded as a constitutional republic with biblical principles codified in its constitution. In the early years of our democracy the ruling class didn’t see any inconsistency between their biblical values and the genocide of Native Americans and the enslavement of black people. They didn’t experience any dissonance going to church to praise God and then whipping their male slaves to encourage them to work harder and raping their female slaves.
Although America has had a high degree of secularization, evangelical Christianity still exerts an important influence on politics, especially on the Republican party.
Although the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln, emancipated the slaves, there is still a strong streak of racism in the white evangelical movement. It’s no surprise that most of the white nationalists who stormed the Capitol in an ill-fated attempt to keep their white messiah in power self-identified as evangelicals.
Christian nationalism is undermining inclusiveness, pluralism and democracy itself, and in order to survive as a democracy we must recognize white evangelicals as an existential threat.
The white supremacist-in-chief has been defeated at the ballot box, but Trump-supporting evangelicals are still a threat and we must fight their religious extremism tooth and nail.
As a writer I will devote the rest of my life to exposing the racism, fascism, misogyny and homophobia of white evangelicals, and we must all use our gifts, resources and talents to destroy white evangelicalism in America.
