'White Christian nationalists' have a 'troubling' appetite for violence — and we're in for 'a rough ride': expert

06 November 2023

In his new book, "The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy: And the Path to a Shared American Future," author Robert P. Jones — founder of the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) — examines the role that far-right Christian nationalism has played in white supremacy. Jones discussed his book and the disturbing results of PRRI's latest American Values Survey during an interview with Salon's Chauncey DeVega.

The survey, Jones warns, found a "rise in support for political violence" to be "particularly troubling."

Jones told DeVega, "The main findings of the survey are pretty stark, troubling and worrisome. We're clearly in for a pretty rough ride in this country over the next 12 months. There is all the awful violence in Israel, and that is spilling over into the U.S. A child was stabbed to death near Chicago by his landlord in a hate crime against Palestinians. Many Jewish students are not feeling safe on university campuses. There are threats against both synagogues and mosques around the country. These are tough times."

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The author/PPRI founder added, however, "But I do have hope. This fall, as I’ve been touring the country in the wake of the publication of my new book, 'The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy: And the Path to a Shared American Future,' I've encountered countless people working in local contexts doing the hard work of reckoning with the injustices of our past, repairing the rifts in their communities, and protecting our democracy — not just in blue states, but in places I feature in the book like Mississippi and Oklahoma."

Jones discussed Trump's popularity among Christian nationalists, who, he warns, have a very racist mindset.

"For many of these leaders, be it Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, or Mike Johnson, when they use the word 'Christian,' it is racially coded," Jones told DeVega. "When they say 'Bible-believing Christians,' they are not talking about Black folks and the AME Church. They're not talking about Latino Catholics. They are specifically talking about white evangelical Protestant Christians."

Jones was vehemently critical of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) during the interview, citing him as a prime example of how dangerous "white Christian nationalism" is.

"Mike Johnson is a white Christian nationalist in a tailored suit," Jones told DeVega. "He believes that America is a promised land for white European Christians and that protecting that reality and future is above everything else. Johnson is deeply steeped in that white Christian nationalist worldview, which also includes not believing in the separation of church and state. Behind Johnson's polished public persona is a fairly extreme kind of vision of a white Christian America and a willingness to make the country fit that reality. And that includes overturning an election, such as on January 6, which Johnson supported."

Read Chauncey DeVega's full interview with Robert P. Jones at this link.

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