Undoing the Christian nationalism of the Doctrine of Discovery
Also: Ep. 4 of AMERICAN IDOLS podcast is out!
I don’t want to bury the lede here—Americans who embrace Christian nationalism are much more likely agree with the statement: “God intended America to be a new promised land where European Christians could create a society that could be an example to the rest of the world.”
This data comes from a 2023 PRRI/Brookings survey and I which I wrote about for the Religion News Service back in May. Since yesterday was Indigenous Peoples Day (Columbus Day), I thought it was worth highlighting.
In the piece I write how—
“Surveys of the American public demonstrate that the influence of the theological justifications for dominion and violence created by the Doctrine of Discovery is still strong, primarily through the cultural framework of Christian nationalism.
and that
“The declarations of the Doctrine of Discovery were the earliest iterations of many of these ideas and formed a theological foundation for the white Christian nationalism we see in our body politic today. The Doctrine of Discovery created a binary society of European Christians on the one hand and those deserving of domination on the other. Only such a society would align with the will of the Christian God.”
I go on to show how the Doctrine of Discovery sowed the seeds of the racial hierarchy of the modern-day US. And of course this connects to the idols of Christian nationalism:
“At its root, Christian nationalism idolizes self-interested power, fear of outsiders and violence toward those who threaten the boundaries between “us” and “them.” The Doctrine of Discovery was essential to creating these idols of Christian nationalism.
And as the heinous actions of those expounding the doctrine through history show us, quests to protect self-interested power based on hierarchical relationships between “us” and “them”— founded on fear of “them” — usually results in violence.”
I hope you check it out! And for an in-depth look at the legacy of the Doctrine, be sure to read
new book, THE HIDDEN ROOTS OF WHITE SUPREMACY. It debuted on the NYT bestseller list and is an incredible follow-up to his prior books which I’ve loved.
AMERICAN IDOLS episode 4 is live!
I also wanted to highlight that part 4 of the Christian nationalism podcast I recorded is now live! In it I explore what we can expect next and where do we go from here. There are wonderful insights shared by Robert Jones, Anthea Butler, Andrew Seidel, Sam Perry, and Mendi and Chris Tackett whose story provides the through-line of the episode.
Of course, you’ll want to check out episodes 1-3 to set the foundation for episode 4. Thanks for listening, sharing, and rating! We’ve been so pleased with the response.
And finally…
I’m parenting solo this week! I’m accomplishing much less of one type of work and much more of another! So yeah, pat on the back for getting at least one form of writing completed!