Christian nationalists frighten neighbors in rural Appalachia

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Footage from the documentary Bad Faith: Christian nationalism's unholy war on democracy (Image: Screengrab via Panarea Productions / YouTube)

In rural Appalachian areas of Tennessee and Kentucky, Josh Abbotoy operates a real estate company called Ridgerunner. And he uses socially conservative rhetoric to promote his company, declaring, "Faith, family and freedom — those are the values that we try to celebrate."

According to BBC reporters Ellie House and Mike Wendling, some of Abbotoy's clients are far-right Christian nationalists who openly push extreme ideas like repealing the U.S. Constitution's 19th Amendment — which gave women the right vote — and overturning civil rights legislation of the 1960s.

"Initially, he didn't attract much local attention after setting up shop in Jackson County, (Tennessee)," House and Wendling explain in a late December article. "But in late 2024, a local TV news report broadcast controversial statements made by two of Mr. Abbotoy's first, and most outspoken, customers: Andrew Isker, a pastor and author originally from Minnesota, and C. Jay Engel, a businessman from California. They are self-described 'Christian nationalists' who question modern values, such as whether female suffrage and the civil rights movement were good ideas, and call for mass deportations of legal immigrants far in excess of President Donald Trump's current plan. Another thing they sometimes say: 'Repeal the 20th Century.'"

The BBC reporters note that although "Abbotoy himself does not identify as a Christian nationalist," his tenants' extreme views are worrying their neighbors."

House and Wendling quote Jackson County resident Nan Coons as saying, "You don't know who these people are, or what they're capable of. And so, it's scary."

Engel has even called for deportations of legal non-white immigrants, writing, "Peoples like Indians, or South East Asians or Ecuadorians or immigrated Africans are the least capable of fitting in and should be sent home immediately."

Gainesboro, Tennessee resident Diana Mandli, however, is calling Isker's church out.

Mandli told the BBC, "I believe that they have been attempting to brand our town and our county as a headquarters for their ideology of Christian nationalism."

Read the full BBC article at this link.

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