What curdles the fibers of my soul is symbol stealing. Christian symbols are meant to mediate divine grace to forlorn and sin-sick souls. The cynicism endemic to American Christian nationalism subverts symbols of divine grace and redirects their energies to bolster not just patriotism but also manifest destiny, jingoism, militarism, and most importantly, the dominance of the Republical Party. What we may be witnessing is the theft of the human soul by powers that could become as destructive as they are demonic. Christian nationalists steal Christian symbols for politcal use.
The roots of Americans invoking the devil for political purposes go far deeper than the 1980s. They reach all the way back to the American Revolution. Understanding this history broadens our comprehension not just of the revolutionary era, but of how and why connections between religion and politics persist to this day in a nation in which church and state are ostensibly separated.