'Fight this wicked ideology': Evangelical fundamentalist declares war on white Christian nationalism

The Religious Right has had a stranglehold on the GOP since the early 1980s, when conservative Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona) warned that members of his party were making a huge mistake by embracing far-right evangelical Christian fundamentalists. More than 40 years later, the GOP/Religious Right alliance is as strong as ever. And the term "Christian nationalism" is being used to describe MAGA-minded white evangelicals who are extreme even by Religious Right standards.

In an article published by Religion News on August 23, reporter Bob Smietana takes a look at the activities of Owen Strachan — a right-wing evangelical Southern Baptist seminary professor who is now calling out some of the overt racism he is seeing among Christian nationalists.

Strachan, according to Smietana, has described Christian nationalism as "the unbiblical view that we must preserve white ethnicity to build a Christian nation." And the extremists he is calling out include Gab founder Andrew Torba and author Matt Walsh (a self-described "theocratic fascist").

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On August 18 on X, formerly Twitter, Strachan declared, "By the minute, we are smoking out white nationalism — godless ethnocentrism — in Christian circles. By grace, we will fight this wicked ideology."

Smietana explains, "(Strachan) felt the need to call out the trend earlier this month after a video appeared of Walsh saying that white Americans needed to have more children to save the country from outsiders. Strachan had already seen comments from Torba on social media, since deleted, saying that God created different ethnic groups with a purpose and that preserving them 'is to preserve God's creation and is therefore an inherent good.'"

Smietana notes that Christian nationalism has become "a hot topic."

"In its extreme form," the reporter warns, "the ideology claims special privileges for Christians — including the right to rule, no matter what the outcome of elections — and often views Jews, Black Americans, immigrants and progressives as God's enemies. Early forms of Christian nationalism were outspokenly antisemitic and racist and were especially opposed to interracial marriage."

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Bob Smietana's full report for Religion News is available at this link.