• Who We Are
    • Who We Are
    • Mission
    • History
    • General Synod
    • Leadership and Ministry
    • Staff
    • United Church of Christ Board
  • What We Believe
    • What We Believe
    • Worship Ways
    • Daily Devotional
  • What We Do
    • What We Do
    • Office of the General Minister & President
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
  • News
  • Church Finder
  • Donate Now
  • Search
UCC Logo United Church of Christ
  • Church Finder
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Store
  • Frontline Faith Portal
  • Donate Now
  • Search
  • Who We Are
    • Column
      • About
        • Mission
        • Constitution and Bylaws
        • History
          • UCC Archives
        • UCC Brand Guidelines
        • General Synod
          • Synod 33 Worship Videos
          • Past General Synods
        • Abuse Prevention
    • Column
      • Structure
        • Conferences
        • Affiliated Ministries
          • The Pension Boards
          • Cornerstone Fund
          • Insurance Board
          • The Council for Health and Human Services Ministries
          • Church Building & Loan Fund
          • Convergence
    • Column
      • Team
        • Elected Officers
        • Staff
        • United Church of Christ Board
          • Board Minutes
        • Office of General Counsel
        • UCCOSSN
    • Column
      • Career Opportunities
      • Annual Reports
  • What We Believe
    • Column
      • Worship
        • Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ – La Declaración de Fe de la Iglesia Unida de Cristo
        • Worship Ways
        • Daily Devotional
        • Sermon Seeds
  • How We Serve
    • Column
      • Office of the General Minister & President
        • Welcome to Human Resources
          • Employee Relations Resources
        • Center for Analytics, Research & Development and Data (CARDD)
          • General CARDD FAQs
          • About The Center for Analytics, Research & Development, and Data (CARDD)
          • Authorized Minister Opt Out
          • Access UCC
          • Archived Reports
          • Assessment Resources
          • Information Policies and Requests
          • Faith Communities Today (FACT) Survey
          • MissionInsite
          • Statistics and Reports
          • Vital Signs and Statistics Blog
          • Data Hub FAQs
          • Data Hub
          • Yearbook and Directory
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Justice
          • Faithful Action Ministries
            • Environmental Justice Ministries
            • Economic Justice
            • Racial Justice
          • Office of Public Policy & Advocacy in Washington D.C.
            • Justice and Peace Action Network
            • Our Faith Our Vote
            • Justice Training Resources
            • Action Center
          • Health and Wholeness Advocacy
            • Disabilities and Mental Health Justice
            • Encuentros Latinx
            • UCC HIV & AIDS Network-UCAN
            • LGBTQ Ministries
            • Our Whole Lives
            • Overdose and Drug Use Ministries
            • Scouting
            • Wellness Ministries
          • The Pilgrim Press & Stillspeaking Publications
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Local Church
          • The Faith Education, Innovation and Formation (Faith INFO)Team
            • Weekly Seeds
            • Youth & Young Adults
          • Worship Resources
            • Worship Ways
            • Sermon Seeds
            • Synod 33 Worship Videos
            • Music and Liturgical Arts
          • Stewardship & Generosity Resources
          • Ministerial Excellence, Support & Authorization (MESA)
            • History, Polity, and Theology
            • Search and Call
            • Ministerial Profiles
            • Ministry Opportunities
            • Manual on Ministry
    • Column
      • Wider Church Ministries
        • Global Ministries
        • Global H.O.P.E.
          • Volunteer Ministries
          • Refugee and Migration Ministries
          • Disaster Ministries
          • Recovering Hope
        • Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations
  • Resources
  • News
    • Column
      • News
        • United Church of Christ News
    • Column
      • Columns
        • Witness for Justice
        • Into the Mystic
        • Getting to the Root of It
        • The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog
        • UCC Roots
        • Encounters at the Well
        • Reflexiones
    • Column
      • Upcoming Events
        • Webinars
      • Subscriptions at the United Church of Christ
      • Changes & Deaths
  • Giving
    • Column
      • Donate Now
      • Ways to Give
        • Giving Tuesday
        • General Synod 2021 Thursday in Black Offering
        • General Synod 2021 Racial Justice Offering
        • Disaster Ministries: How to Give
        • Our Church’s Wider Mission
          • Our Church’s Wider Mission Basic Support
          • Strengthen the Church
          • One Great Hour of Sharing
          • Neighbors in Need
          • Christmas Fund
          • 5 for 5
    • Column
      • Ways We Give
        • Scholarships & Grants

  • Home
  • News
  • Column
  • Our Faith Our Vote: Blog
  • A Looming Threat

A Looming Threat

by Sandy Sorensen | published on Oct 4, 2022

White Christian Nationalism: The 2022 Midterms and Beyond

Images from the January 6, 2021 attempted insurrection are still clear in my mind. I stood facing the west front of the Capitol in disbelief and horror as I watched the attack, taking place not far from our UCC Washington office. I noticed two men handing out Bibles as the crowd descended on the Capitol following a rally for then President Trump on the Ellipse. Individuals in military grade combat gear mixed with people draped in American flags and signs declaring “Jesus Saves” surged past lines of overwhelmed Capitol police.

Photo taken by Sandy Sorensen outside the Capitol on 1/6/2021

Seeing symbols of Christian faith juxtaposed with a violent, illegal attempt to overthrow the government was chilling, and also a reminder – this distortion of Christian faith is not new. History gives us many examples of the harm and destruction caused by those who would co-opt and distort Christian faith and teachings to achieve the domination of white supremacist ideology. Crusades against those of other faiths, the subjugation of women, the genocide of Indigenous people around the world, slavery and Jim Crow laws in the United States, and, more recently, acts of hate-motivated violence from Pittsburgh to Charlottesville to Buffalo and beyond.

The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty offers this definition of white Christian nationalism:

“Christian nationalism seeks to merge Christian and American identities distorting both the Christian faith and America’s constitutional democracy. Christian nationalism demands Christianity be privileged by the State and implies that to be a good American one must be Christian. It often overlaps with and provides cover for white supremacy and racial subjugation.”

Christians Against Christian Nationalism, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty

After the horrific attacks on September 11, 2001, the Rev. Loey Powell, former UCC Justice and Witness team leader, wrote:

“We are citizens and we are Christians. We are members of a denomination that has declared itself to be a Just Peace Church affirming ‘the unity of the whole human community’ and opposing ‘the use of nationalism to divide this covenant of friendship’ …. As Christians, we claim an identity that has no regard for national boundaries when it comes to loving our sisters and brothers.”

Rev. Loey Powell

We saw on Jan 6, 2021 the very real threat that white Christian nationalism poses to our democratic process and the peaceful transfer of power through elections. John Lewis once noted that the vote is “the most powerful nonviolent tool we have for social change.” Rising white Christian nationalism poses a grave threat to these core national values.

The threat looms in the form of election deniers and those threatening to forcefully suppress the votes of communities of color. Proponents of white Christian nationalism are spreading damaging disinformation about the electoral process, intimidating poll workers and election officials, and threatening violence at the polls.

We must act to reclaim our Christian faith from hatred and domination and defend the nonviolent, peaceful right to vote and have that vote counted. We must counter disinformation and misinformation with accurate, reliable information about the electoral process. And work with local election officials to help people know their rights and how to address problems at the polls by providing the Election Protection hotline number. This is work for all of us to do as Christians and as citizens. 

Sandy Sorensen is the Director of the UCC Washington D.C. Office

Learn More About OUr Faith OUr Vote

We want to hear from you! Would you like to share how you are engaging in the election process in your congregation or community? Email UCCTakeAction@ucc.org and share your story! 

Categories: Our Faith Our Vote: Blog

Get the UCC in your inbox!

Sign up for the weekly UCC News Digest

Privacy Policy
 
 

Related News

Our Faith Our Vote: Blog

Responsible Voting Takes Research and Balance

Now more than ever it is important that our UCC members cast their votes based on their values....

Read More
Our Faith Our Vote: Blog

What (Climate) Justice Demands of Us

We are in the midst of ongoing climate and environmental justice crises. And with the moral...

Read More
Our Faith Our Vote: Blog

What’s Race Got to Do with It? Considerations for the Antiracist Voter

If you’re like me, when you are discerning how you will vote on different ballot initiatives or...

Read More
  • Column
    • Local Church and Conference Resource Directory
    • Mission
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
    • General Synod Resolutions
  • Column
    • Contact
    • News
    • Store

Content on ucc.org is copyrighted by the National Setting of the United Church of Christ and may be only shared according to the guidelines outlined here.

1300 E. 9th Street, Suite 1100
Cleveland, Ohio 44114

  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Subscribe on YouTube

Donate Now


UCC CrestUCC Crest
© United Church of Christ 2023. Privacy Policy.
Crafted by Cornershop Creative