Christian imagery loomed large on January 6.
By Dr. Samuel Perry
Associate Professor of Communication
Director of the Fellowship in Interdisciplinary Rhetorical Studies
Baylor University
Christian imagery loomed large on January 6 as the “Stop the Steal” rally morphed into a violent mob siege. A group of Trump supporters prayed around a large wooden cross, and others carried “Jesus saves” signs and yelled “shout if you love Jesus” as they illegally occupied the Capitol building.
Meanwhile the Christian flag – the red, white and blue emblem designed by a New York City Sunday school teacher in 1887 to unite and symbolize Christians worldwide – was one of the flags carried through the Capitol. This blending of Christian imagery with Trump flags put Christian nationalism, the often militarized fusing of Christianity and American identity, on display during one of America’s darkest days.
As someone who has written about white nationalism during the Trump presidency, I find this somewhat unsurprising. As scholars of religion Andrew Whitehead and Samuel L. Perry argue in their book Taking Back America for God, Christian nationalism is predominant in Trump support.
Perry and Whitehead describe the movement as “as ethnic and political as it is religious,” noting that it takes in assumptions of white supremacy. Christian nationalism is not always violent, but Christian nationalist violence has been a presence during the Trump administration. More broadly it has been on the rise over the past few decades.
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