(Image by Brett Davis / CC)
The Founding Myth and Christian Nationalism Intersect
By Zoe Sullivan
“I contend that America is a religion…Our religious symbols are guns and dollar bills. We hold those symbols to be sacred,” the Rev. Dr. Emma Jordan-Simmons told me on inauguration day. We were discussing the role religion played in the January 6th insurrection. Jordan-Simmons runs Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), which focuses on overcoming social injustice through interfaith efforts that embrace active non-violence.
“One does not have to be a Christian to be a white supremacist,” she went on. “And I would dare say that those who were among that crowd on January 6th had a lot in common. And though you saw the flag, the Christian flag, and you saw the cross, there was a lot more for people to bond over. They’d have had everything to do with what it meant to be American and what it meant to be white.”