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<\/p>\nIdentity and narrative are two of the most powerful driving forces in our lives. The questions \u201cWho am I?\u201d, \u201cWhere have I been?\u201d, \u201cWhere am I now?\u201d and \u201cWhere am I going?\u201d influence not just the way that we see ourselves, but the way that we see the world. But what happens when our narratives and identities come into conflict with others? When worlds collide, how do we navigate the tensions that inevitably ensue?<\/p>\n
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Andrew L. Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry\u2019s book Taking America Back for God<\/em> seeks to provide context to the narrative of Christian nationalism that has taken root in the American identity.\u00a0 The duo defines Christian nationalism as \u201ca cultural framework \u2013 a collection of myths, traditions, symbols, narratives, and value systems \u2013 that idealizes and advocates a fusion of Christianity with American civic life.\u201d<\/a>[1] They identity four types of Americans when it comes to Christian nationalism \u2013 each with their own narratives of what it means to identify America as a \u201cChristian nation\u201d: Rejecters, Resistors, Accommodators, and Ambassadors.<\/p>\n During the 2016 election, a question that I kept seeing over and over again was over the conservative evangelical response to Donald Trump. \u201cHow could a Christian vote for a man like this?\u201d popped up across social media with people both defending Trump and attacking his character. Simultaneously, one saw attacks on and defense of the Hillary Clinton campaign. While one can argue it was the mentality that Trump would defend the \u201cChristian heritage America holds so dear\u201d and Clinton would destroy it, the issue at hand goes much deeper than that.<\/p>\n A war for both power and identity has been raging. Being away from America for six years has given me both an insider\u2019s look and an outsider\u2019s look into what is happening. The language and narrative that I\u2019ve heard used is one of fear \u2013 fear of a loss of power. The conservative response to Donald Trump\u2019s rise to power blew me away as conservative evangelical leader after leader gave Trump a moral pass on the grounds of the hope he would restore the nation\u2019s \u201cChristian\u201d identity. We feel most vulnerable or hostile when we perceive that the identity we hold closely as our own is under attack.<\/strong> In this case, the narrative became \u201cIf you\u2019re a true Christian, you will vote for Trump.\u201d The idea of an American identity was hijacked using Christian language. What believer could stand against a blunt accusation of, \u201cHow could you, a Christian, not vote for someone who wants to reinstate Christian values?\u201d Though between the lines, they were saying, \u201cWhy do you not want to reestablish the place of power we once held?\u201d<\/a>[2] If I learned anything during the election, it was that much of American evangelicalism is a political party that masks itself with the name of Christ.<\/p>\n One of the beautiful parts of America is that it is a nation that is composed of many people groups from around the world and brings with it a myriad of cultures. However, this brings with it a set of challenges in and of itself in its heterogeneity. Everyone has a different idea of what it means to be an \u201cAmerican\u201d. I often wonder if there is any such universal idea that truly binds Americans together in a common identity. When I read the news or scroll through my friends\u2019 social media accounts, Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt\u2019s \u201cUntruth of Us vs. Them\u201d becomes ever clearer as the language of fear is used to mobilize one group against the other.<\/a>[3]<\/p>\n America is and has been suffering from an identity crisis. How do we navigate the American identity going forward? We say <\/em>that America is a Christian nation and try to \u201cChrist-Wash\u201d our history and identity, but this only adds to the myriad of competing narratives for America\u2019s identity. Can America be \u201ctaken back for God\u201d if its identity was never truly founded upon God? At the end of the day, what does it mean to be \u201cChristian\u201d and<\/em> \u201cAmerican\u201d?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Footnotes<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/a>[1] Andrew L. Whitehead & Samuel L. Perry, Taking America Back for God <\/em>(New York: Oxford University Press, 2020), 10.<\/p>\n