For many the events of the day were surreal and unfathomable. Others saw this as the obvious outcome of the Religious Right’s rhetoric. The events of January 6th can be best understood through the lens of Christian Nationalism.  Christian nationalism is the ideology that claims the institution of Christianity is God ordained and therefore justifies whatever means necessary to keep this system in power. The system, thus charges forth as a chariot of fire and burns all that is in its path, leaving behind a wake of shattered lives and confused identities… “for Jesus”.   This system could not look more different than the example of Jesus in the Gospels.  Jesus demands his followers leave all they have and not cling to money or power. Jesus tells his followers to share their second coat and not bat an eye to visiting the sick, the needy, and the prisoner.  Jesus invites his followers to nuance, embodiment, and empathy.  He demands taking care of and welcoming the stranger (immigrant).  Christian Nationalism, on the other hand, according to Whitehead and Perry is “used to defend against shifts in culture toward equality for groups that have historically lacked access to the levers of power- women, sexual, racial, ethnic, and religious minorities.”  (see also Marie Griffith and Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Sophie Bjork-James, Sara Moslener) 

The invasion on the country's capital cited by Trump was the epitome of Christian Nationalism.  Those that besieged the capital “invoked Christ’s name” and prayed against the “communists and globalists”  All of this takes so much to unpack. But it is important to note that globalization is seen as a bad thing due to an incorrect interpretation of the book of Revelations and the heightened value of national security and borders through the myth that the United States is the “city on a hill” that is to shine brighter than any other nation.  World peace, global currency or universal healthcare are seen as signs of the antichrist which all point to a lack of understanding of apocalyptic literature.   Christian nationalism requires an emphasis on borders and binaries- the opposite of the type of community and world Jesus envisioned and invited his followers to.  

Christian Nationalism takes place when religion and hegemony meet. Randall Balmer states that “religion functions best on the margin”, but Christian Nationalism has enabled it to take up the entire page. It has white washed the page and created a homogeneous (that is to say white, Christian, straight, cis, able bodied, patriarchal) view of what a nation should look like.  When Christianity is taught in schools, offered government holidays, and the means through which we swear in our new president, it is functioning far outside of the margins. This inevitably will marginalize those of other faiths, and those who do not fit into the bounds of what evangelical Christianity deems a “moral” lifestyle.  This again is a far cry from Jesus’ invitations to take in the stranger, to love your neighbor as yourself, and to lay down your life for your friend.  

How did Christian Nationalism get so far away from the message of Jesus? It was both a slow burn with some bouts of extreme change. There are multiple gospels and epistles that were written that are not included in what is considered the Christian Bible, and we must acknowledge that what we have is a skewed picture of who Jesus was and what he said in the first place. Bart Ehrman reveals how in the year 367 Athanasius,  a Bishop of Alexandria, was the first man on record to come up with the list of the 27 books that are now canonized as The New Testament. This is 300+ years after the books were written! And beyond that… “It wasn’t until about the 5th century, around the world, people pretty much agreed on the 27 books that we have. There was never an ecumentical church council that made the final decision until finally the Roman Catholic church did at the council of Trent… in the 16th century!” (Bart Ehrman) The 27 books that remain have more to do with the convenience of the printing press than the original heart and intention in which these scriptures were written.  Elaine Pagels teaches the books that focused on feminism and personal connection to the Divine were systematically removed and deemed as “heretical”. 

Furthermore, the union of Christianity and hegemony is argued by James Carrol to have begun with Constantine.  Constantine used the image of the crucifix, an image of power and death, to represent his reign and the purpose of Christianity after he claimed receiving a message from God saying, In Hoc Signo Vinces, “In this sign conquer”.  And that the Catholic church did. For hundreds of years Rome, and then other European powers were wed to the Catholic Church- conquering and ruling over the world.  This ideology led way for Manifest Destiny that justified the murder and removal of Indigenous and Hispanic people in what is now called the Americas.  This same ideology eventually rooted itself into missions and “development” work throughout the world. 

All this to say- what happened on January 6th was nothing new for the conquering and “destiny” that is claimed through Christian Nationalism. Perhaps the primary difference is that it was not only focused on bodies of Color, but all bodies. The white evangelical church has turned a blind eye to the brutal history and legacy of Christianity against bodies of Color in the US and abroad. We must, as Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz writes, “unforget.” The truth is that January 6th should not have been a shock or a surprise.  It is the inevitable outcome of decades of using the name of Jesus, the sign of the cross, and the selective misinterpretation of Scripture to invoke harm and power.  This has primarily been against Indigenous bodies across the world, as all bodies and cultures were indigenous to somewhere before being overtaken through the crusades and colonization.  The invitation of January 6th is to unforget, to learn, to educate, and to do better.  To follow the call to truly love our neighbor as ourselves, to have empathy, to share what we have and not hoard power or resources. This is essential if there is to be any hope of a future for our country and our world.