Character of Josh or Character of the Social Movement: Who is Josh Hawley and Why Should We Care?:
Christian Nationalism Christian Identity
“Although many of the foot soldiers in the assault on the Capitol appear to have been white males aligned with white supremacist movements, it would be a mistake to overlook the powerful role of the rhetoric of religious nationalism in their ranks. At a rally in Washington on Jan. 5, on the eve of Electoral College certification, the right-wing pastor Greg Locke said that God is raising up “an army of patriots.” Another pastor, Brian Gibson, put it this way: “The church of the Lord Jesus Christ started America,” and added, “We’re going to take our nation back!”
Katherine Stewart, N.Y. Times, Opinion Section, January 11, 2020
This is the first in a 6-part series on Christian Nationalism. Leonard Zeskind, author of Blood and Politics and a MacArthur recipient, was writing about Christian Identity in 1980s, long before others were thinking about Christian Identity as a social movement. And academics are still trying to catch up with Leonard’s work on the subject. Few have managed to do so with anything close to the depth of his experience-near research and insight. And many journalists have aped his work, sometimes without citing him. What do we need to know about the Christian Identity Movement? What is Christian Nationalism? And how does Josh Hawley relate to this movement? We do not propose to answer these questions in this post. It is our purpose here to begin a conversation.
We will be inviting others to contribute to the series and will soon release a podcast, On Caring Podcast: What is Christian Nationalism? We begin the series with a post on the American Renewal Project. Below, please take time to listen to U.S. Senator Josh Hawley’s speech at a 2017 (he was at the time the Missouri Attorney General) meeting of the American Renewal Project.
“Christian Identity is a belief system so strange, indeed bizarre, that most Americans who know anything about it dismiss it outright and relegate those who believe it to the quaint and quirky fringes of the nations religious subcultures. How seriously, for example, can one take the notion that God created Adam as a white man and that other races are sub-human? Or the belief that the lost tribes of Israel traversed Europe, landed in Great Britain, and crossed the Atlantic to inheritas white Christian racialiststhe promises of God? Or that Jesus came only to reach out to and save this particular Israel, comprised solely of white supremacists? Little wonder that Americans do not take this ideology seriously, or that American Christians and their church leaders pay it scant attention. An occasional news story on the white supremacist movement may mention Christian Identity, and most readers quickly recognize the obligatory description of its basic racist and anti-Semitic beliefs. In American history, and particularly in American Christian history, these ideas are not as bizarre as they may seem at first glance.” Rev. David Ostendorf
“For me personally, I greatly appreciated the bridge that was created between politicians and pastors. Hearing state politicians such as AG Hawley and other politically minded speakers discuss the need for the Gospel and Christian involvement in government was encouraging and challenging. As a millennial, I was thankful to hear an emphasis on God alone being sufficient for America, rather than a demigod politician. When I had an opportunity to ask AG Hawley privately about his views on whether Christians should reinvest efforts for justice and morality away from government and instead to religious sectors, he answered by quoting Romans 13:4 (“for it [government] is a minister of God to you for good.”) He then described the importance of Christians – especially millennials – striving to be agents of reform within the government for the kingdom of God.”
American Renewal Project, 2018 READ MORE
David Lane, founder of the American Renewal Project, said to a ballroom full of pastors,
“If the Lord were to call 1,000 pastors in America — 1,000 — and they ended up with an average of 300 volunteers per campaign in 2016, that would be 300,000 grass-root, precinct-level, evangelical conservatives coming from the bottom up,” he said to the ballroom full of pastors. “It would change America.”
“His goal now is to get 1,000 pastors to run for public office, and their potential support has drawn a virtual pilgrimage of conservative candidates eager to join the tours Mr. Lane organizes to Israel and to his “Pastors and Pews” events.” New York Times, March 15, 2015 READ MORE
“Government is not going to save America. Wall Street is not going to save America. The Republican party is not going to save America. If America is going to be saved, it will be done by Christian men and women restoring a Judeo-Christian culture to the country.” – Washington Times, 11/23/2014 David Lane
“Let’s make it crystal clear: Those who embrace homosexual marriage and homosexual Scouting – or homosexuality in general – know little and practice nothing of Christianity.” – “Wage War to Restore a Christian Nation,” World Net Daily, 6/5/2013 David Lane
“Between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, this is an easy choice. What and how will Mr. Trump do? I don't have a clue. But with Hillary we do know, the progressives that she will stack on the Supreme Court alone will set-back America for a century. ... Codifying transgender bathrooms rights will only be the beginning of nine unelected and unaccountable justices imposing a godless agenda, tearing America apart brick-by-brick.” David Lane, 2016
References
Burghart, D., & Zeskind, L. (2010). Tea Party nationalism: A critical examination of the Tea Party movement and the size, scope, and focus of its national factions (pp. 57-67). Kansas City, MO: Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights.References
Zeskind, L. (2009). Blood and politics: The history of the white nationalist movement from the margins to the mainstream. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Ostendorf, D. (2002). Christian Identity: An American Heresy. Gonzaga University Institute for Action Against Hate.