Season 2, Ep. 03: Religion and politics: Decision 2020 and beyond

How did Christian nationalism show up on the campaign trail and at the ballot box? What is the possibility for religion to be a positive and unifying force for our politically divided country? How did President-elect Joe Biden talk about religion in his acceptance speech? Amanda and Holly look at religion and politics this election season — the good, the bad and the confusing.

Segment one: Christian nationalism in the 2020 election (starting at 00:52)

For more on the political ideology of Christian nationalism, visit BJConline.org/ChristianNationalism

Read and sign the statement at ChristiansAgainstChristianNationalism.org

Amanda mentioned two episodes from season one to take a deeper dive on Christian nationalism:

•         Episode 11: Christian nationalism during the coronavirus pandemic
•         Episode 15: Protests, the president, and the photo op with a Bible

For more on the speech by Vice President Mike Pence on Old Glory, read this Religion News Service story by Jack Jenkins and Emily Miller: Citing Scripture, Pence switches out Jesus for the American flag in convention speech

For more resources from BJC on the Johnson Amendment, visit BJConline.org/JohnsonAmendment

Amanda mentioned Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry and their book Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States

Read the one-page explainer on Christian nationalism at this link.

Samuel Perry tweeted about the importance of noting a voter’s proclivity toward Christian nationalism to see who they supported. Read his Tweet here.  

Holly mentioned the work of Robert P. Jones at PRRI about how the percentage of the voting populace that identifies as religious is shrinking. You can read their many different research studies on their website.

Amanda mentioned this opinion piece by Elizabeth Bruenig in The New York Times: Why Evangelicals Aren’t What They Used to Be

Segment two: Takeaways and what’s next (17:14)

For more on the video put out by Idaho lawmakers that included a handgun on a Bible, read this story by Nicole Blanchard in the Idaho Statesman: Idaho Republicans, including Lt. Gov. McGeachin, decry pandemic measures in new video

For an egregious example of Christian nationalism in a pseudo-religious setting, see this article in The Washington Post about Patriot Churches, written by Sarah Pulliam Bailey: Seeking power in Jesus’ name: Trump sparks a rise of Patriot Churches

Holly and Amanda discussed this article from The Washington Post Magazine by Richard Just: How Religion Can Help Put Our Democracy Back Together

Segment three: President-elect Biden and civil religion (33:50)

We played two clips from President-elect Joe Biden’s speech on Saturday, November 7, 2020. You can watch a video from CSPAN here.  

The BJC Podcast series on the dangers of Christan nationalism ran in 2019, and all 10 episodes are available here. You can access a podcast discussion guide here.