Christian Nationalism as an Illiberal Interpretation of Religion

Whereas Christianity can be read through different political lenses, conservative as well as progressive, the phenomenon of Christian Nationalism in the United States has taken a distinctly illiberal turn. Christian Nationalism has become the “deep story” behind the rise of Donald Trump and the transformation of the Republican Party, offering it a powerful millennialist political framework. In Christian Nationalism, executive authority is ordained by God, the nation is blessed by God’s special favor, natural-born citizens have claim to a unique status in God’s divine plan for his chosen nation, and social, racial, and gender hierarchies are a part of His plan. Social imaginaries such as these are tapped into by political organizations to mobilize supporters of Republican candidates. Similar “divine plans” can be found in other national political dynamics. This opening article provides an overview of the contributions to this special symposium on religion and politics around the 2024 US elections as it adumbrates an analytical framework for understanding a potential illiberal turn in the growing embrace of Christian nationalism.