American Christianity is at an inflection point.
There is “a war for the essence and character of American Christianity,” writes Tim Alberta, national politics reporter for the Atlantic.
The son of an evangelical pastor from Michigan, Alberta, challenges conservative Christian culture from an insider’s perspective in his new book, Kingdom, Power, and Glory: American Evangelicals in the Age of Extremism.
Feeling like you own the country and it’s moving away
“What is clear to me is that within the American evangelical movement, far too many believers have begun to view their faith through the lens of their national identity rather than viewing their national identity through the lens of their faith,” Alberta told Yahoo News.
Alberta says that for decades, American evangelicals have been taught that the United States is theirs by right and is being taken away from them. Figures such as the founder of Liberty University Jerry Falwell Sr., Ralph Reed of the Faith and Freedom Coalition and David Barton of WallBuilders and, more recently, others like Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA, Jerry Falwell Jr.. and evangelical radio host Eric Metaxas spread this message.
“A lot of evangelical Christians are convinced that the government is out to get them, that secular culture is somehow plotting to bring them down,” Alberta told Yahoo News. “And it’s contagious, this fear and this persecution complex. »
Growing extremism
Alberta visited churches across the country and concluded that many evangelical Christians have fallen further into conspiracy theories and talked about violence in the nearly three years since the January 6, 2021 attack against the U.S. Capitol on behalf of the then-president. Donald Trump. Evangelical leaders were among the strongest supporters Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election, and many rioters that day used religious symbols and rhetoric to justify their actions.
“Something was happening within the religious right, something more threatening and extreme than anything that came before it,” Alberta writes. “It was no longer about winning elections and preserving culture. It was about destroying enemies and dominating the country by any means necessary. »
Alberta documents example after example of evangelicals, after January 6, becoming more politically radicalized.
“Next January 6 should be an open day,” John Zmirak, a right-wing writer popular among evangelicals, said during an appearance at an evangelical church in Washington state. earlier this year. Zmirak, sitting alongside Metaxas, also “repeatedly made occasional calls for violence, at one point citing the takeover of Middle Eastern societies by Islamic fundamentalists as a model for how Christians can “take this one back,” writes Alberta.
The Alberta Book traces the history and evolution of Liberty University, the college founded by Falwell Sr. in 1971. Falwell and his son Falwell Jr. married Republican politics with conservative evangelical beliefs.
“Jerry Jr. has perfected the art of using fear and hatred as a growth strategy” for the university, a former Liberty professor told Alberta. Falwell Jr. resigned as chairman of Liberty in 2020 after a series of scandals.
Internal struggles
Some evangelicals have opposed Trumpism. But Alberta writes that it has often been “an unfair fight for the soul of American Christianity” between “decorated veterans of the culture wars, arch-conservative Christians who live for the conflict” like the Falwells, and “their more conservative counterparts.” “moderates” who are “inherently reluctant to enter the fray.” »
The relational networks of far-right activists, donors and celebrities have been built over decades, while attempts to reform evangelicalism are still in their infancy.
But Alberta reports that efforts to stop the decline of evangelicalism have become more organized and have had some success. Leading figures in the effort include Christianity Today editor Russell Moore, New York Times columnist David French, and attorney and abuse survivor advocate Rachael Denhollander.
“The children of the moral majority…have inherited something that makes no sense to us,” Alberta told Yahoo News. “And what really interested me was in all my travels and all my reporting, every time I went into spaces with young Christians, young evangelicals… they have a totally different framework of thinking about all of this.
“And it seems like there’s a generational shift in these churches,” he said. “I have to think there’s a real reckoning to be made here.”
