Battle for America's Identity 

   Excerpts from Sharon Dierberger and Emma Freire

     January 6, 2021. A Regent University professor waiting at Dallas-Ft. Worth airport knew nothing of events taking place at the U.S. Capitol. 

     A reporter emailed, asking him to comment on Christian imagery among the protesters. He began scrolling through online videos, appalled by the riots, seeing no Christian imagery within a mile of the Capitol. Except, a rioter with crazed look and a Christian symbol, dressed all in black holding a Bible. He told the reporter the man didn't look like any Christian he'd ever known. 

     "The next day," the professor said, "the headline was, 'Christian nationalists have attacked the U.S. Capitol building.' She didn't mention anything I said." 

     That was the beginning of the mainstream media's adoption of "Christian nationalist" as its new pet contempt. A 2020 academic book, Taking America Back for God, sparked commotion. The authors used a six-question survey to conclude that most Americans are somewhat supportive of Christian nationalism. Critics called the survey seriously flawed. 

     Supporters of Christian nationalism disagree among themselves, but most want to see laws that are grounded in Biblical teaching and promote Christian living. 

     Gregg Frazer, a college dean, examined the private writings of eight founders: Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Morris, Wilson, Madison, Hamilton and Washington. He says personal diaries and correspondence reveal their most candid thoughts about belief. "And it wasn't Biblical Christianity, even though they believed in God and used Christian-like terminology." Some scholars see it differently than Frazer. 

To be continued