Keep Hope Alive: Preparing for White Christian Nationalism

The Religious Studies Project

In this week’s episode, Raymond Radford is joined by Bradley Onishi to discuss his new book Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism—and What Comes Next (2023). In 2021, as the Capitol building was being overrun in an attempt to stop a transfer of power, many of us were glued to our screens. Some such as Bradley Onishi were not only glued to their screen but counting the symbols and motifs he saw amongst the crowd. Onishi recognised the symbols as various religious organisations and thought back to his own past with Christian Nationalism, asking himself if he were still at his old church would he be storming the steps of the Capitol. Onishi’s new book chronicles the rise of the White Christian Nationalism movement in America, and its connections to the Evangelical movements as they navigate to institute a theocratic regime through creative use of politics and bargain-making. What they want to achieve and how they seek to achieve these powers are explored and discussed as Bradley and Raymond discuss history, motives, and the outcomes of these movements, and why hope is still an option to combat them.