Panel on Christian Nationalism

March 23, 2021 4:03 PM

About The Event

In March, the CFC held a panel on Christian Nationalism and its influence on the Capitol Insurrection on January 6th. We heard from secular and religious scholars Dr. Juhem Navarro-Rivera, Amanda Tyler, and Robert P. Jones and had robust discussion on the pervasive dangers of Christian Nationalism, its ties to White Supremacy and White Nationalism, and its influences on religious communities.

Click here to view a recording of the event. 

Moderator

  • Andrew L. Seidel is an author and a constitutional and civil rights attorney. He is the Director of Strategic Response at the Freedom From Religion Foundation, where he works to keep state and church separate and educate the public about nonbelief. His first book The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American came out 20 months before Christian nationalists attacked the Capitol and proved his subtitle correct. Andrew writes widely numerous outlets and is working on a second book, Weaponizing Religious Freedom, due out next Spring. 

Panelists

  • Amanda Tyler is executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee. Tyler often speaks in churches, educational institutions and denominational gatherings, and comments on church-state issues to the media. A lawyer with experience working in Congress and private practice, Tyler was named one of the nation’s top 50 nonprofit leaders in 2018. Tyler was named “Baptist of the Year” by EthicsDaily.com in 2019 for her work leading the Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign. She also serves as co-host of the Respecting Religion series on the Baptist Joint Commission Podcast.
  • Robert P Jones is the CEO and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute, as well as a committee member for the American Academy of Religion. He has published books such as White Too Long: The Long Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity and The End of White Christian America, both discussing white supremacy’s historic and current relationship with Christianity in America. Before creating the Public Religion Research Institute, Jones was a professor of religious studies at Missouri State University and was a consultant/senior research fellow at multiple think tanks in Washington DC. Jones’ work has been featured in a multitude of national news outlets such as CNN (This is a moment of reckoning on race for White Christians), NPR (Faith Leaders Condemn Assault on Capitol), and Washington Post (For some Republicans, it’s time to head for the exits).
  • Juhem Navarro-Rivera is a political scientist, writer, public speaker, and research consultant. He is the Political Research director and Managing Partner at Socioanalitica Research and is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Humanist Studies. Navarro-Rivera’s work has been featured in publications such as The Humanist (Nonedecision 2020: Are the Nones Punching below Their Weight? and The Importance of Organized Secularism in Politics), and Religious News Service (Hispanics increasingly identify as ‘nones’).