KANSAS CITY – Some Missouri religious leaders are pushing back against Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and his public embrace of Christian nationalism.
Hawley, last week at the National Conservative Convention, said "some will say now that I am calling America a Christian nation. So I am. And some will say that I am advocating Christian nationalism. And so I do."
Christian nationalism is a far-right belief structure that overlaps with Christian fundamentalism, white supremacy, and American militia movements. Believers think the United States is a Christian nation and that only Christians are "true Americans". They believe the Founding Fathers never intended for the separation of church and state as spelled out in the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Many supporters wish for a theocratic-style, authoritarian state with their brand of Christianity as the governing law of the land.
"When one limited ideology is given the authority to dictate the freedom of all the rest of us, we Americans call that tyranny, and we reject it," said Rev. Molly Housh Gordon of Unitarian Universalist Church in Columbia, Missouri.
Rev. Phil Snider of Brentwood Christian Church in Springfield, Missouri says thinking like those of Hawley and Christian nationalism is dividing us.
"Christian nationalism preys on the fear and the desperation that people frequently feel," said Snider. "Christian nationalism is not rooted in love. It rooted in idolatry. It is a false gospel. It tells people their wounds can be healed not by love neighbor, but by fear of neighbor."
Christianity is extremely diverse, but Christian nationalism favors only a small sector of the religion, usually white, conservative evangelical Christians.
"There's no theological thread linking it all together," said Rev. Nathan Empsall, an Episcopal Priest who is also the executive director of Faithful America.
"The thread is power and some leaders in the movement have even said so, that they need to change their theology of the end times to become winning theologies because it's about winning first and foremost. And anything that builds power for them is the ultimate goal."