The crux of this discussion resides in the pressing necessity for heightened awareness, community engagement, and proactive activism to safeguard democracy and religious freedom from the insidious encroachments of Christian nationalism. This episode elucidates the alarming ways in which this movement distorts fundamental democratic principles, advocating for a fusion of a particular expression of Christianity with American civic life, thereby imposing a narrow definition of identity that marginalizes diverse groups. We delve into the ramifications of political actions influenced by Christian nationalism, which demand loyalty over law and undermine the legitimacy of democratic processes, as evidenced by events such as the January 6 insurrection. Our conversation with Larry Michael, an advocate for religious freedom, illuminates the imperative for collective action and informed participation in the defense of our shared values. By understanding these dynamics, we empower ourselves to resist the encroachments of authoritarianism and promote a more inclusive democracy.

Key Takeaways:

• Christian nationalism advocates for a close fusion between a conservative, fundamentalist form of Christianity and U.S. civic life, threatening pluralism and democracy.
• Its rise is often linked to undermining elections, politicizing justice, and creating in-groups that exclude others based on race, sexuality, and faith.
• The movement envisions returning the U.S. to its supposed Christian roots, which involves promoting sexism, racism, and homophobia.Christian nationalism merges religion with state institutions, impacting public policy, Supreme Court decisions, and education.
• The movement also aligns with white supremacy and wealth concentration, converging towards authoritarianism and marginalizing non-white, non-Christian populations.
• Grassroots efforts like Anchorage Against Christian Nationalism focus on education, advocacy, and activism, fostering religious freedom and separation of church and state.
• Practical actions include community organizing, protests, educational campaigns, and engaging in voting and policy advocacy.
• Collective action grounded in shared values and strategic organizing is crucial to resisting and countering Christian nationalist influence.

Resources & Links:

• Andrew Whitehead - How Christian Nationalism Interferes with the Gospel and Democracy
• Stand Up Alaska
• Project Against Global Extremism and Hate
• Lisa Murkowski's Office

When I look at how policy has expanded the presidential power versus checks and balances.

It demands loyalty over law.

It undermines elections and democratic legitimacy.

I mean, whenever you claim that God is on your side, then of course that election was legitimate in the eyes of someone who holds Christian nationalism.

Welcome to Hot Spots.

So glad you're with us.

The situation in our country continues to deteriorate.

A reason for that decline is the influence of Christian nationalism, a movement which embeds a particular violent strain of Christianity into law, policy and public life.

It posits, incorrectly, that the country was founded as a Christian nation and should therefore now return to those roots that which includes sexism, racism and homophobia.

As we think about how Christian nationalism is influencing our country today, we'll consider the actions of Pete Hegse, Secretary of War, formerly defense and outspoken evangelical Christian, the poster child for Christian nationalism and one of the most influential advisors in Trump's cabinet.

He's the man who oversees the most powerful military on earth, who holds in his hands the lives, at the very least, of hundreds of millions of human beings, and who is exercising his duties in an alarming manner.

He has Deus Volt tattooed on his arm, which means God wills it, a rallying cry used by crusaders with his Christian nationalist war cry.

Hegseth is publicly promoting his Neanderthal fantasies and has reportedly authorized military commanders under his control to reframe the war in Iran as a holy war designed to hasten Armageddon and the End Times.

He has expressly, explicitly framed the Middle east war through the lens of faith, his faith weaving in scripture, praying for overwhelming violence against his enemies, and insisting that God stands with the United States against Iran, a Muslim majority nation.

It's not a stretch to say that Hegseth and his Christian nationalist beliefs have helped drag us into an ill conceived, globally destabilizing and destructive war in Iran.

And his prophetic end time narratives are only going to make it harder to reverse course and find a peaceful resolution.

In addition to dropping lots of bombs in Iran and killing civilians and children, he's entertaining the President daily with videos of blowing stuff up.

And he's also waging holy war here at home on the Constitution.

Last fall, having promoted a video that claimed women should not have the right to vote, he truly wants to take a back.

And that's some of what we're up against.

My guest today is Larry Michael, one of the organizers of Anchorage Against Christian Nationalism.

He's a certified school psychologist, a father, a Christian, an educator, and a gay man.

He has five wonderful children and two grandchildren that reflect the rainbow of Alaska Natives, black, Latina and white.

He reconnected to a progressive Christian faith four years ago, having come from a conservative high control church as a child for more than 30 years delivered school psycho.

Excuse me, he delivered school psychological services to indigenous villages and urban Anchorage.

In the midst of all that, he was navigating his identity as a gay man.

Not an easy task.

And all of this has informed Larry's life experience and made him very aware of the importance of religious liberty and freedom to live his life in a democracy without fear.

So thanks for chatting with me, Larry.

Let's start with what is Christian nationalism and why is it harmful?

Thanks, Kay.

It's great to see you again.

So, Christian nationalism.

I have a definition for you.

Can we start there?

It's a definition of experts.

They say that it's an ideology that desires a close fusion of a particular expression of Christianity.

I mean, there's many versions of Christianity, but this is about a conservative fundamental brand of Christianity and fusing that with American civic life.

So it demands that our government vigorously defend the ideology as central to our national identity, our public policy, and our social belonging.

It's something that has definitely been on my mind in the last five years as being dangerous to both the gospel and to our democracy.

How do you see those harms playing out on the stage today?

Well, there are a few things, you know, when I look at how policy has expanded the presidential power versus checks and balances.

It demands loyalty over law.

It undermines elections and democratic legitimacy.

I mean, whenever you claim that God is on your side, then of course that election was not legitimate in the eyes of someone who holds Christian nationalism.

And then it politicizes the justice system.

I mean, we know how much retaliation has been a part of this administration for anybody that' stood up against Trump.

And again, must be God's will targeting LGBT persons and minority rights it establishes in groups and out groups.

I mean, it's about a national identity who belongs and who belongs is narrowly defined.

I'll just stay for a moment.

State for a moment.

My favorite podcast is Straight White American Jesus.

It's a great title, great content, but it's purposely titled that way because in order to be a true American, somehow you have to be straight, white, a heritage American, and Christian.

All others are suspect.

And then Christian nationalism merges religion with state institutions in an unhealthy way.

I mean, we've seen that in the expansion of prayer, some Supreme Court decisions, and then specific Christian interpretations into public school and policy.

The Ten Commandments should be written.

I mean, that's not healthy for a pluralistic democracy.

And we've all known that there are attacks on the truth and media.

I mean, the media has for a long time now been an enemy of the people.

And if you're going to have authoritarianism under a Christian nationalism model, then you have to sow doubt and chaos.

And then finally there is a kind of alignment with wealth and elite power.

So we see that.

I see Christian nationalism in an even broader way that includes not only Christian supremacy, but white supremacy and wealth supremacy.

And they all converge on the idea of authoritarianism.

It privileges straight white heritage Americans.

You get extra points if you're a male.

And so those are a few examples of how Christian nationalism has currently affected our public square.

You helped organize a group, Anchorage Against Christian Nationalism.

How did that get started?

And what are you doing in there in that group?

It's personal, as folks heard in your introduction, that with a modern family, as I call it, of two gay grandparents with five children who are the colors of the rainbow and trying to live out a life, this.

This is not the normal structure of a family.

So why get interested in the topic of Christian nationalism?

Well, I have some very personal reasons for doing that.

Entering the public square.

I've always felt uncomfortable with MAGA and its emergence.

I mean, it more than not favored the wealthy through more tax cuts and cut actual social programs to help the vulnerable.

And the kind of Christianity that I grew up was all about helping the vulnerable.

And it's about all people, not excluding versions of people.

So I've always resonated with that.

And when I was on the board at First Presbyterian Church, I vocalized that.

And a couple of times you were there.

And Matt Schultz, our pastor, said, hey, why don't we co teach a class?

So we, we had about 60 people that attended.

It was about educating folks on what Christian nationalism looks like.

After that, you and I co facilitated a On American Idolatry, which is Andrew Whitehead's book, How Christian Nationalism Interferes with the Gospel and with Democracy.

So what came up each time at the end of these seminars, these book groups is okay, what do we do about it?

So that was kind of the Next step.

Well, what, what are you trying to accomplish?

What sorts of things are you doing about it?

Because I know everybody's that's feeling angst and distress about the situation is asking the question, what can we do?

What is the group doing and what are you hoping to accomplish?

So we tried to form a mission statement and that's what we came up with, is promoting religious freedom for all through education, advocacy and action to ensure secular governance and church state separation.

Now, we had a model for that in the Baptist Joint Committee's Christians Against Christian Nationalism.

So we networked first with them.

They have many local organizations, many chapters across the United States that are trying to advocate and take action more than just education.

So it was great to have that initial connection.

But the co facilitators and I, I just am very grateful for them.

They have a particular skill set and background in organizing and mobilizing.

So we recognized that folks with whom we needed to network beyond Baptist Joint Committee were our local clergy.

We met with them, including our own pastor Matt Schultz.

We met with a group called Stand Up Alaska.

They're the overarching umbrella in our community that gets people to join protests, for example, the no Kings rally.

So we network with them.

We've networked with the aclu.

In other words, I feel like we have this particular niche of fighting against Christian nationalism and for religious freedom.

But there are many collaborators that have their niche.

And together we fight against authoritarianism and for democracy and of course, religious freedom for all.

So eventually where we landed Kay again is with that mission statement.

And we meet once a month with in person folks like Rabbi Abram, like Matt Schultz, like the director of the aclu, like a couple of our local legislators and our candidate for governor.

And each of them could speak to their part of what they are doing and how we can help in the public square.

So that's one piece.

Another piece is that in the middle of the month we have a, what we call mid month pick me up.

We virtually meet with people all across the nation.

So we've had folks from organizations such as the Project Against Global Extremism and Hate.

We had a pastor who visited Minneapolis who was part of the clergy, the a thousand clergy that showed up in Minneapolis to help during that very stressful time.

So that's another piece.

But at each of our in person meetings, we also have an activity now that could be like sending postcards to get out the vote.

We can create a democracy bag like a painted bra.

Put it in a little baggie.

It even has a little Pocket constitution in it, a button, maybe a no Kings button.

And are you familiar with the term zines?

It's kind of a shortened version of magazine, but they're little pamphlets that you can, you know, put on a mirror in a public restroom.

It says, what's the danger of Christian nationalism?

We've written public opinion messages.

We actually were called by the Baptist Joint Committee to give testimony to Lisa Murkowski's office on protecting sensitive locations for immigrants.

As we know, ICE was invading spaces like schools, health centers, court systems.

And this particular legislation was about.

No, these are people that oftentimes were actually came in the United States legally, and they're just trying to complete their process.

So maybe that gives you a little bit of an idea.

I could go on, but we are trying to teach people in their own way, with their own skill set, with their own capacity, how can you join the resistance in a way that makes you feel like you belong to this group of people and you are contributing?

I think the best way to combat chaos and fear is to actually take action and know that you're doing something with people of like mind.

And we're seeing that all play out now.

It's very distressing, but I love the emphasis on doing education is part of it, but it's just the beginning, and it's going to take organizing and advocating and action.

And thank you for sharing, showing the way, and for reaching out to others across the nation for groups.

If you are out there and wondering what you can do, here's something you can do.

And what can we do is the question of the hour.

Democracy needs all of us right now to get engaged and involved.

We, the people have the momentum.

We are in the streets demanding regime change, protesting for a better, peaceful future.

We all have the crucial primary elections this spring and summer and midterm elections this fall.

So make a plan to vote at every opportunity, and we'll see you next time on Hotspots.

Thank you, Larry.

Thank you so much for being with me today.

Thank you, Kay.

I enjoyed it very much.

Hotspots is hosted by Kay Brown, produced by Sam Page and executive producer Joy Silver, and is production of the United American Network uan.

This is what democracy sounds like.