Dorhauer: Christian nationalism threatens democracy and Christianity

United Church of Christ General Minister and President the Rev. John Dorhauer spoke April 11 at Elmhurst University in Illinois on the need for people of faith to confront Christian nationalism. In his talk, “Christian Nationalism: A Threat to Both Democracy and Christianity,” Dorhauer addressed how this far-right religious movement has grown to the point that some national politicians espouse its oppressive ideology.

“These elected officials are working hard to rewrite the story of America through the lens of a narrow, fringe view of Christianity that will not tolerate any deviance from their narrative that says that America was intended from the beginning to be Christian, white, heterosexual and run by men,” he said. “The attack on wokeness, the attack on critical race theory, the attack on religious pluralism, the attack on secular ideology, the attack on trans children and their parents, the attacks on interracial marriage, the attack on women’s reproductive rights, the attack on the rights to privacy, the attacks on access to birth control, the attacks on drag culture — all staples of a thriving democracy and all critical to the pursuit of one’s happiness without fear of government intervention — are all byproducts of a religious fundamentalism parading its patriotism and known simply as Christian nationalism.”

He warned the audience that these extremists don’t just want to rewrite the history of the United States but its laws, too.

“What Christian nationalism wants, what it demands, what it is willing to fight and, yes, kill for is the eradication of any idea inconsistent with its own,” Dorhauer said. “It also espouses the eradication of those who propagate those ideas. It wants written into the Constitution the instantiation of Christian fundamentalism and the recognition of biblical literalism that uses strict — though utterly contradictory — moral codes within their canon as the foundation of law.”

Watch the full speech in the video below.

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