November 9, 2025 Meeting
Washtenaw Alliance 2026+
These slides come from Timothy Snyder’s book, On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century.
You can follow Timothy Snyder on Substack here, and watch John Lithgow read the Twenty Lessons here.
Christian Nationalism v. Democracy
Religion is one of major pillars of any human society, as a force for liberation as well as for oppression. Today, one of the most frightening and powerful forces in the authoritarian takeover of the US government is Christian nationalism.
Joe Summers’ presentation and the following discussions from the meeting are available on the WCDP YouTube Channel. Click on the link – Christian Nationalism
What do J.D. Vance, Pete Hegseth, Mike Johnson, Russell Vought, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Lauren Boebert have in common? They are all fervent believers in and supporters of various forms of Christian Nationalism, often combined with white supremacism.
We need to understand how powerful their movement has become and how their message has twisted the teachings of Christianity. Vought is the architect of the destruction of the federal government and the push to eliminate all social programs, while Johnson is the executor, cheerfully chipping away at the power of the legislature to fulfill the objective of complete control of government. A majority of the Supreme Court shares these perspectives. Destroying the Constitutional separation between church and state and establishing a white Christian patriarchy is the underlying goal. Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, once seen as a wild fantasy, has become very close to a reality.
Those of us who are not affiliated with any religion may not see this as important, but for these true believers, being secular is itself an unacceptable position. You are either with them, and ready to conform to their calls for a patriarchal society where your pastor is the ultimate authority, or you are the enemy to be vanquished. For those who do find community and meaning at a place of worship, you are still at risk, if your manner of faith does not conform to their precepts. The attitudes of Christian Nationalists toward adherents and members of other faith traditions, particularly Judaism, are complex and often contradictory – but ultimately their vision of worship seeks to dominate if not eradicate other beliefs and believers.
We will look at the growth and significance of this dangerous movement, how they have taken hold of the levers of power and their threat to democracy (hint: they aren’t fans) and explore how faith communities and secular groups alike can respond to take back the political power the Christian Nationalists have amassed in pursuit of their anti-democratic agenda.
If you have examples of counter-messaging and organizing against this perverted interpretation of Christianity, please bring them to share with others.
Resources
If you have some time before the meeting to learn more about this threat, here are some resources we recommend. It’s a lot, but it’s not homework – just some opportunities to delve, if you have the interest and time.
John Fugelsang, Separation of Church and Hate
- Here is Simon & Schuster’s summary of Fugelsang’s book
- Interview of John Fugelsang on MSNBC with Ali Velshi
- Interview of Fugelsang on “The Daily Show” with Jordan Klepper
Robert P. Jones, White Too Long
If you don’t have time for the whole thing, see mins 1-2, 4-18, 19-24, and 30-41
Tim Alberta, The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory: American Evangelicals and an Age of Extremism
Anthea Butler, White Evangelical Racism: The Politics of Morality in America (2nd ed., 2024)
- See her on panel from Political Research Associates, The New Apostolic Reformation and the Threat to Democracy
Kristin Kobes DuMez, Jesus and John Wayne, 2020 (she’s in Grand Rapids at Calvin University)
Talia Lavin, Wild Faith: How the Christian Right is Taking over America (2024)
Katherine Stewart, Money, Lies, and God (2025)
Jim Wallis (of Sojourners Magazine), The False White Gospel (2024)
Religion Dispatches, a project of Political Research Associates, whose researchers and writers have been addressing the intersection of Christian Dominionism, misogyny and homophobia (pro-patriarchy), and racism for decades.
- Probably Jeff Sharlet (The Family; C Street) is the best-known regular contributor
- Frederick Clarkson also writes regularly on the infiltration of the U.S. armed forces by the Christian Right.
Christian Nationalists and tech bros:
Gil Durán covers the issue regularly in his newsletter The Nerd Reich, like this post and this video “Trump, Tech, and “The Nerd Reich” from the Commonwealth Club World Affairs of California
Kelly Hayes interviewing Astra Taylor, Traitors to the Earth: Fascism, Christian Nationalism, and the Tech Elite
Other key researchers/works:
Long but comprehensive written primer: A Reporter’s Guide to the New Apostolic Reformation [Revised for 2025] | Religion Dispatches (by Frederick Clarkson, who is one of the national experts on this subject; updated for 2025. Includes glossary!).
Continual resource, Public Religion Research Institute, covering all manner of issues related to religion in U.S. public life
Big Catholic news this month: Pope Leo is lowering the boom against Opus Dei, the revanchist Catholic group to which many on SCOTUS and in Trump administration give fealty
Help
Christians against Christian Nationalism
