Power and fear: Christian Nationalism is on the rise in Idaho

Written by the TIMES-NEWS EDITORIAL BOARD

Idahoans are a patriotic bunch. We love America. The vast majority of us are also Christians.

Many of us feel a natural connection between love of God and country. But a growing movement called Christian Nationalism seeks to tie politics and religion much more tightly — and it’s on the rise in Idaho.

Christian Nationalism is a broad movement, but here’s one simple definition: It is the belief that America is defined by Christianity — from top to bottom and in every way. It also believes that the government should actively promote — or even enforce — keeping it that way.

Christian Nationalism is not the same as patriotism. Rather than just love of country, it is about maintaining power over those who believe differently, often by utilizing fear. It also doesn’t represent most Christians. Instead, Christian Nationalists interpret the Bible in a way to push a nationalist agenda, weaponizing Christianity in pursuit of political power.

Some of them, for example, insist that “non-Christians” should not have the right to vote or run for office. By their definitions, even Catholics and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would likely be considered “non-Christians.” And what about the 33% of Idahoans who are religiously unaffiliated? Those excluded — or won’t submit to the nationalists’ cultural demands — thus become second-class citizens.

That kind of power over fellow Americans can only be maintained by force.

It’s the way things tend to go when religious nationalists take control, self-righteously certain they’re on God’s side, and that anyone with different views is wrong – or even evil. Take the mullahs in Iran or the Taliban in Afghanistan. They’re religious nationalists who suppress dissenters and shut them out of power. They persecute people with minority beliefs. Scripture reading is required in schools. Strict moral laws are enforced — eventually with violence.

Those are dramatic examples, but there may be a lesson to learn from them.

Boise Pastor Benjamin Cremer — who teaches against Christian Nationalism — put it like this: “Christian nationalism looks like not wanting the government to infringe on your freedom as a Christian, while simultaneously working to have the government infringe on the freedoms of others in the name of Christianity — and refusing to see this as a contradiction.”

Of course, this isn’t the type of society our Founders envisioned. They wanted religious freedom for all. America should have no second-class faiths.

Many Christians, like Pastor Cremer, oppose this movement — and not only because it’s very un-Christlike to non-Christians. They also believe it is corrosive to Christianity itself.

“Christianity Today,” the flagship magazine of American Evangelicalism, warned that Christian Nationalism is “a serious problem” for Christians. It “takes the name of Christ for a worldly political agenda, treating the message of Jesus as a tool of political propaganda, and the church as the handmaiden and cheerleader of the state.”

Christian author and attorney David French added, “one of the best ways to de-Christianize a country over time is to marry church and state, because … state starts to swallow church…. If you want to slowly throttle Christianity, if you want to choke it out, marry it to the government.”

Despite these warnings, Christian Nationalism is growing in Idaho — infiltrating our society and politics. For example, some Idaho politicians, such as Sen. Glenneda Zuiderveld and Rep. Clint Hostetler — both from District 24 — have embraced the “Christian Nationalist” label. Many others support it through their speech and actions.

Idaho Pastor Doug Wilson is perhaps the most prominent Christian Nationalist in the state. He is the founder of New Saint Andrews College and the lead pastor at the fundamentalist “Christ Church,” both in Moscow. He also owns a book publishing company and a homeschooling empire that reaches across the country and the world. His influence is vast. Often using imagery of spiritual warfare, he seeks to prepare the next generation to have “godly dominion” over every aspect of America.

Here are two examples of his Christian nationalist teachings. Wilson and his followers believe it is a grave sin to have empathy for other people. Yes, you read that right. Wilson also believes — based on his literalist interpretations of the Bible — that society should be highly patriarchal, that women should be subservient. He published and “highly recommended” a book which argues — consistent with his own teachings — that women should not vote.

Another prominent Christian Nationalist in Idaho is Vincent James, who moved here from California in 2021. He ran for Idaho Young Republicans chair and, in online videos, he said, “We are going to take over this state…. This is the era of Christian Nationalism. Christian Nationalism is on the rise…. And we are the Christian Taliban, and we will not stop until the Handmaid’s Tale is a reality.”

Part of their mission, James said, is to “roll back the past hundred years of rights that were given to women.”

If those examples don’t sound much like Jesus to you, you’re not alone.

Christian scholar Andrew Whitehead wrote, “Through idolizing power, fear, and violence, White Christian Nationalism betrays the gospel in which Jesus’ sacrifice liberates us from our enslavement to sin…. (It) is fundamentally opposed to the ethics and teachings of Jesus.”

On his podcast, “Extremely American: Onward Christian Soldiers,” Boise-based reporter Heath Druzin examined Christian Nationalism by taking a look inside Doug Wilson’s empire. The movement, Druzin says, “aims to end American democracy as we know it and install theocracy, taking rights away from the vast majority of Americans in the process.”

We think that sounds worth learning more about.

Druzin will speak from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, June 19, at the College of Southern Idaho’s Fine Arts Center. The presentation is free and open to the public.

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This article was written by the Magic Valley Times-News Editorial Board and published with their permission.