When Christian Nationalism Becomes Public Policy
As Republican vice presidential hopeful J.D. Vance spoke at a charismatic political event on Saturday (Sept. 28), he justified his ticket’s push for mass deportations and other extreme immigration policies by trying to frame it in Christian terms.
“I think that fundamentally that we have to always root our politics and our political views in an understanding that we are called to a higher purpose and we’re called to treat every human life with inherent dignity,” Vance said before trying to apply that to immigration. “There is this Christian idea that you owe the strongest duty to your family and then you owe the next duty to your community and then to your country and then to everybody else. It doesn’t mean that you have to be mean to other people, but it means that your first duty as an American leader is to the people of your own country.”
Vance offered that answer after highlighting “one of my favorite Bible verses, which is John 3:16.” He said the verse teaches that “whether you’re rich or poor, whether you come from the right side of the tracks or the wrong side of the tracks, God loves you. And that love is the source of human dignity and it’s why we have to respect every human life in this country.” He added that it’s “fundamentally Christian social teaching” that “every human life has inherent meaning and inherent worth.”
Putting aside the “who is my neighbor” retort Vance offered as he suggested a hierarchy of “Christian” duty, it’s pretty ironic to invoke John 3:16 and the human dignity of all people after spending weeks lying about Haitian immigrants in Ohio and inspiring attacks on them. The crowd at the event, however, applauded Vance’s call for harsh immigration policies in the name of Christian “compassion.” But even if one disagrees with his policies, Vance’s point was a desire to implement into policy his theological interpretation.
Vance’s comments came as part of the “Courage Tour,” a series of political worship events organized by “prophet” Lance Wallnau, a leading figure in the New Apostolic Reformation. Wallnau’s best known for his work to popularize the “seven mountain mandate” and the claim Trump has been ordained by God to be a Cyrus-like ruler. Now, he’s hitting the road in swing states to preach a mix of Trump “prophecies,” election denialism, Jan. 6 revisionism, and other conspiracies.
Many reporters and commentators rightly highlighted Saturday’s event as proof of the Trump-Vance desire to connect with Wallnau’s charismatic version of Christian Nationalism. And Vance clearly worked to win over the crowd by talking about the Bible and describing his public policy positions as the result of a calling. It adds to concerns about the Christian Nationalistic plans for the next administration as detailed in Project 2025 and other Trumpian projects like the Center for Renewing America.
But whether Trump and Vance win in November or not, Christian Nationalism will still be working its way into public policy. That’s because it’s not merely something implemented in the White House or other places in the nation’s capital. So this issue of A Public Witness explores alarming new moves to implement Christian Nationalistic ideas in Indiana and Oklahoma before considering a glimmer of hope in Texas.
Christian Nationalism in the Crossroads of America
In June, a small political earthquake rocked Indiana’s Republican party. At the state GOP’s convention, a pastor and political outsider named Micah Beckwith upset the frontrunner candidate for lieutenant governor. Beckwith’s victory came over the candidate preferred by current U.S. Senator Mike Braun, who is running as the party’s nominee for governor and who is now stuck running with Beckwith.
Beckwith’s rise to prominence followed a familiar trajectory in far-right politics. He gained notoriety during the COVID-19 pandemic for anti-vaccine related activism. He waged a culture war campaign to gain a seat on a local school board, then used his power to implement a controversial policy (since rescinded) that censored children’s books. He launched his campaign for lieutenant governor as a self-styled insurgent fighting against the GOP establishment.
Rather than condemning the violence of Jan. 6, 2021, Beckwith claimed the events were divinely inspired. In a video reflection on social media, he reported that God spoke to him in prayer and said, “Micah, I sent those riots to Washington. What you saw yesterday was my hand at work.”
His extreme positions fostered anxiety within Indiana Republican circles. Jim Bopp, a conservative attorney with a long history of party leadership, wrote in a leaked memo to Braun’s campaign that Beckwith posed a “serious threat” not only to Braun’s election but also to his administration should he win. The senator-turned-gubernatorial-nominee tried to offer reassurance in response to Beckwith’s unexpected convention victory.
“My running mate can say whatever he wants,” Braun said. “If it doesn’t make sense or it doesn’t resonate, remember: I’m going to be the governor.”
The only problem with Braun’s logic is that Indiana’s lieutenant governor has a broad portfolio that includes presiding over the state senate and leading a variety of state agencies and boards, including the Department of Agriculture. With the Braun-led ticket leading in the polls, the gubernatorial understudy is planning out his agenda for the next four years. And Christian Nationalism appears to be at the center of it.
Reports emerged last week that Beckwith is inviting people to serve on an advisory board focused on the “alignment with Christian, Constitutional, and Conservative principles” within the lieutenant governor’s portfolio of responsibilities.
“The Bible says there’s wisdom in a multitude of counselors,” Beckwith told the Indiana Capital Chronicle. “And so it’s really just building a coalition of people that would have some good insight on the L.G. role.”
Beckwith’s merging of public policy with his brand of religious belief is not a surprising development from a self-described “Christian Nationalist.” However, it raises questions about how a statewide office holder will wield his power for the privilege of some and to the detriment of others, not according to democratic principles but according to a particular theological worldview.
“The basic assumption of Christian Nationalists like Micah Beckwith is that they have a God-given right to social and legal dominance,” Sheila Kennedy, professor emerita in law and public policy at Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, explained to us. “That assumption is diametrically opposed to what I call ‘the American Idea,’ which is based in respect for the integrity of the individual conscience and expressly forbids government to either endorse or burden any particular religious viewpoint. The Constitution and Bill of Rights are expressly antithetical to the sort of theocracy advocated by Beckwith.”
Christian ministers are called to form communities according to the doctrines and dictates of their particular faith. Elected officials are tasked with serving the general welfare of all their constituents regardless of confession or creed. Beckwith’s statements and actions seem to indicate a candidate determined to pastor residents of the Hoosier State rather than democratically govern them. It begs the question, why is he wanting to change careers?
Where the Wind Comes Sweepin’ Down the Plain
In June, Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Schools Ryan Walters issued a mandate requiring the teaching of the Bible in public schools. He insisted “adherence to this mandate is compulsory” for all districts and teachers. Walters made the move two days after the state’s Supreme Court ruled against the creation of the first publicly-funded religious charter school — a sectarian effort backed by Walters.
In addition to public criticism, the Bible mandate from Walters also sparked a rebellion from public schools in the Sooner State. Several large school districts in the state quickly announced their teachers didn’t need to add a Bible to the back-to-school shopping list. As Norman Public Schools Superintendent Nick Migliorino explained, “We’re going to do right by our students and right by our teachers, and we’re not going to have Bibles in our classrooms.”
But Walters isn’t giving up. Last week he decided to seek more Mammon to support his Bible crusade.
Walters presented a proposed education budget for next year that would include $3 million for the purchasing of Bibles. And he said that would be in addition to $3 million his office earmarked for such purchases this year, though he won’t say where that money came from since the Bibles were specifically in this year’s budget.
Yes, that’s $6 million for Bibles! Which seems like a lot, especially considering there are only about 41,323 public school teachers in the state. So giving every teacher a Bible — to meet his mandate — means he thinks he needs about $145 per Bible. Maybe Walters hasn’t bought a Bible, but you can get them quite a bit cheaper than that. Even the “God Bless the U.S.A. Bible” that Donald Trump is grifting from costs much less than that! (Although a copy autographed by Trump is $1,000, so maybe Walters hopes to toss a few of those in.)
We were actually worried Walters might be trying to push the Trump-endorsed Bible when Walters said the chosen Bibles should have no commentary in them but could have historical documents like the Constitution. But then he also said he wanted them to be the New King James Version, which would knock out the “God Bless the U.S.A. Bible” that ironically puts an American flag on the cover of the old translation authorized by an English king.
Choosing the NKJV adds to the constitutional problems of Walters’s budget — so perhaps that’s another reason not to include the Constitution in with the biblical texts. By saying the NKJV is the Bible, Walters would have the state of Oklahoma declare that Jews and Catholics hold an incorrect view of what comprises the Bible. But even among Protestants the NKJV is not always a preferred choice as its readership is generally more conservative and evangelical. For instance, while only 13% of pastors overall use the NKJV, it is used by 25% of Southern Baptist pastors (behind only the New International Version with 26%). Pentecostal pastors also use the NKJV (15%), putting it behind the KJV (45%) and the NIV (23%). But among mainline pastors, it’s not a top choice as they primarily use the New Revised Standard Version or the NIV.
When Walters says the government should spend $6 million to buy copies of the NKJV, he proves he wants the government to pick winners and losers when it comes to religion. He’s saying his faith should win and be adopted and promoted by the state. After all, his father regularly uses the NKJV in sermons at a Church of Christ congregation.
That’s a problem with trying to push the Bible in public schools. In addition to students who don’t believe in God or read the Bible — and thus would feel othered in their own school — even among Christians who take the Bible seriously there are significant disagreements over what constitutes the Bible and how it should be translated. These are not minor things. There have literally been denominational schisms over what counts as the sacred text and how it should be translated. But when Christian Nationalism is implemented in public policy, it always means just one narrow slice of Christianity will win.
Deep in the Heart of Texas
These anecdotes may be canaries in the proverbial coal mine. Regardless of who wins this year’s presidential election, the effort to enact laws and policies rooted in Christian Nationalism will not abate. From school boards to statehouses to Washington, D.C., there are activists and public officials devoted to this cause.
But in some surprising ways and places, their agendas are being met with resistance. As noted earlier, some school districts in Oklahoma are keeping the Bible far away from the classroom. In Texas, a similar initiative from the state education agency that is aimed at increasing the prominence of Christianity within public school curriculums is encountering pushback. At a recent hearing, the public comments were overwhelmingly negative, featuring parents and religious leaders critiquing the proposal as historically inaccurate, coercive of students’ consciences, and antisemitic.
Thousands of Christians have signed a petition led by Faithful America opposing Texas’s plans. That statement provides a history lesson: “Our nation was founded on the principle of the separation of church and state — a phrase that comes from Thomas Jefferson’s own explanation of the First Amendment — and it has defined our country ever since. Forcing our faith on others is theocracy, and such coercion is not what Christ-like love looks like.”
These opponents of Christian Nationalism are speaking up in official meetings, using their voices in the media, assembling as groups to make visible the intensity of their resistance, and holding their officials accountable for actions that claim to be for the benefit of all but actually serve the interests and consolidate power on behalf of a few. They are pushing a counter-narrative of a nation that belongs to everybody who believes in the foundational values of liberty and equality that animate its democracy.
“The United States was not founded on the basis of religion, let alone a limiting view of Christianity not even shared by most Christians,” Donald Knebel, an Indianapolis-based lawyer, scholar, and interfaith leader told us. “Instead, our country was founded on the ideal of religious pluralism and freedom that continues to draw to our shores people with many religious beliefs and practices, including none at all. It is that ideal that all Americans have in common. Those who attack that ideal by seeking to conform the government to their narrow views are attacking the very essence of what holds us together and makes us great.”
As a public witness,
Brian Kaylor & Beau Underwood
Good critique. Thank you.