Finally, Christian Nationalism
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Establishment Clause
15 min read
The article centers on the First Amendment's religion clauses but readers may not know the specific legal history, Supreme Court interpretations, and landmark cases (like Lemon v. Kurtzman) that define what 'establishment of religion' actually means in American law
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Jefferson Bible
10 min read
The article mentions Jefferson cutting supernatural content from his New Testament but doesn't explain this fascinating historical artifact - 'The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth' - which reveals the Enlightenment religious views of the founders that Balmer references
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Second Great Awakening
13 min read
Understanding how evangelicalism actually flourished in America after disestablishment requires knowing about this massive religious revival (1790s-1840s) that transformed American Christianity precisely because of the free marketplace of religion the article describes
The book has been gearing for its last chapter as one would find in a good novel, when at the end the whole story makes better sense. The case for the First Amendment and thus the case against the establishment of religion in the USA are the heart of Randall Balmer’s America’s Best Idea: The Separation of Church and State. His last chapter leads from yesterday’s Substack (about the nativist international policies of the current administration) directly into Christian nationalism (CN).
“When the Bible comes bundled with the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the Pledge of Allegiance, as was the case with the God Bless the USA Bible that Donald Trump promoted for $59.99 while a presidential candidate in 2024, you can bet something more is at stake.” My money is on Balmer’s “more.” Balmer punches a nose with “Despite–or perhaps because of–the messenger, the message of Christian nationalism has been amplified in recent years, although this is nothing new in American history.” As Balmer’s tract for our times has already shown.
Confederates were upset by the absence of God and Christianity in the US Constitution enough that they drew up their own “Christian enterprise.” Lincoln wisely contended that we ought not to be revising the Constitution “hastily.”
Instead of CN proposing a new Constitution, though I’m not persuaded the current administration might not have that in mind, CN folks have two agendas. First, “To subvert the First Amendment, both by legislation and by judicial rulings” and in some states taxpayer funds fund Christian schools (cf. Espinoza v. Montana and Carson v. Makin). Second, “Simply declare that, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, the United States is and always has been a Christian nation.” The influence of David Barton is noticeable in the second strategy. By the way, Warren Throckmorton and Michael Coulter have taken to pieces the shabby, ideological scholarship of David Barton. Their book is called Getting Jefferson Right: Fact-Checking Claims about Thomas Jefferson.
The fact is that the founders intentionally and in writing made clear that “The new government should have no entanglement with religion.” They knew what they meant in the First Amendment: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Balmer observes that CN advocates love to say that separation of church and state are not words found in the Constitution, and they
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