Missouri’s Josh Hawley embraced Christian nationalism in speech. What does that mean?

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Sen. Josh Hawley began his speech Monday night at the National Conservatism Conference with Augustine of Hippo.

As the Roman Empire was crumbling, Hawley said, the Christian philosopher was writing about a City of God – a civilization built on the love of the Bible, family and labor. The Puritans, Hawley said, brought that vision to the United States and made the nation in Augustine’s vision.

“I’m sure some will say now that I’m calling America a Christian nation. So I am,” Hawley, a Missouri Republican, said. “Some will say that I’m advocating Christian nationalism. So I do. My question is: Is there any other kind worth having?”

Hawley’s open embrace of Christian nationalism – the idea that American politics and culture are, and should be, rooted in the Christian faith – marked a significant change.

While the Missouri Senator’s work has often centered his faith – from writing his college thesis about President Theodore Roosevelt’s faith to working on Supreme Court cases protecting religious freedoms – he has chafed at being called a Christian nationalist.

The belief is often associated with anti-democratic impulses, like being more supportive of authoritarian leaders and believing that a certain type of American citizen – like Christian families – deserve to be held in higher esteem than others.

But in the midst of a reelection bid, Hawley is among a group of conservatives seeking to redefine the term as he tries to build support among his base of rural, working-class voters.

“I think it speaks to the ongoing efforts to normalize the idea of Christian nationalism,” said Ruth Braunstein, a sociology professor at the University of Connecticut. “And in some ways, to kind of reclaim the title and to make it politically palatable.”

What is Christian Nationalism?

In surveys of the American public, researchers don’t ask people if they consider themselves Christian nationalists.

Instead, they rely on five questions: whether the government should declare America a Christian nation, whether the country’s laws should be based on Christian values, whether they believe we will not have a country if the country moves away from Christian foundations, whether being Christian is part of being a good American and whether “God has called Christians to exercise dominion over all areas of American society.”

If someone agrees with all or most of the questions on the list, they are considered an adherent or sympathizer of Christian nationalism. The Public Religion Research Institute found that 30% of Americans qualify as sympathizers or adherents, including 40% of Missourians and 38% of Kansans.

Christian nationalism is not new to American politics. It’s been around since before the American Revolution and played a significant role in efforts to forge a national identity as politicians grew concerned with the rise of communism in the 1950s.

It can have a broad definition – there are people who are on the extreme end, who embrace white nationalism, and people who are drawn to a more moderate version of the ideology, that focuses more on “Judeo-Christian” values and is more tolerant and inclusive.

But researchers have found that people who are open to Christian nationalism often have anti-democratic instincts. Christian nationalists tend to see the world as a chaotic place and are comfortable with a strong ruler to enforce order. They are open to efforts to limit access to voting and consider certain people as more authentically American.

“There’s key threats in limiting access to the vote,” said Andrew Whitehead, a sociologist at Indiana University in Indianapolis. “There’s key threats in embracing political violence, and then key threats and kind of giving over power to an authoritarian leader and denying a fair, free election to ensure that who they want to be in power, stays in power.”

Hawley’s definition

Hawley thinks the old Republican Party is dead.

Over the past two years, he’s strongly denounced the traditional Republican establishment in Washington in favor of a new coalition focused on the rural, working-class voters who helped elect former President Donald Trump in 2016 and turned Missouri from a bellwether state into a solidly conservative one.

His speech Monday night was the latest example. He used Christian nationalism to argue that the Republican Party has abandoned Church-going voters – of all races – in favor of helping large corporations chase greater profits.

“He’s not only embracing Christian nationalism, but he’s kind of yoking it to his version of economic populism, where the bad guys in his version of the Christian nationalist narrative are corporate elites, Wall Street, the money crowd, usurers,” Braunstein said.

Hawley argued that the Republican Party should back policies that are geared toward helping families – from supporting private labor unions so that Americans can support a household on just one salary to giving larger tax breaks to families.

“These Republicans forget that economics is first and last about people and the things they love,” Hawley said. “About providing for family, about personal independence, about having a place to call home and a job that gives you pride.”

Hawley also said he supported a Christian nationalism of tolerance and defending liberty, rather than one focused on despair and fear. He condemned Christian nationalism that was centered on ethnicity.

But he repeatedly claimed progressives were seeking to eliminate religion and replace it with support for the LGBTQ community.

“The left wants religion. They want the religion of the pride flag,” Hawley said. “We want the religion the Bible.”

He argued for removing the pride flag from federal buildings and replacing it with the country’s motto “In God We Trust.” Later in the speech, Hawley claimed progressives saw diversity, equity and inclusion as their “new Holy Trinity.”

“Instead of Christmas they want pride month. Instead of prayer in schools they venerate the trans flag,” he said.

Braunstein said that Hawley appeared to be trying to present a more mainstream version of Christian nationalism, one that fits in with America’s Judeo-Christian heritage, similar to efforts during the Eisenhower administration to make “In God We Trust” the national motto.

But his speech still reflected several elements that have come to define the ideology, including efforts to portray Christians in a fight with a common enemy – in Hawley’s case the corporate executives and the LGBTQ community and its allies.

“He wants to promote this as something that’s not extreme,” she said. “But it’s really important to recognize that that will resonate with extremists.”