Communities of Faith Are Sounding the Alarm About Christian Nationalism 

By Shara Smith and Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush

At a highly contentious time for the future of American democracy, one of the most alarming political phenomena in Colorado and across our country has been the surge in politicians and political movements embracing and espousing Christian nationalism. 

The principles of religious tolerance and healthy boundaries between religion and government are core to the founding of our country and our constitution. Yet the advocates of Christian nationalism believe that we are, and should be, fundamentally a “Christian nation” – distorting or disregarding the constitution and the actual history of our founding. 

This is not a religious movement - it is a political project. Its adherents seek to weaponize faith in order to manipulate our laws and all levels of government to impose a narrow and extreme worldview and set of beliefs on all Americans. 

As people of faith and interfaith leaders who work with a wide range of religious communities in Colorado and nationwide, we recognize these efforts as a major threat to the future of our country as a multi-faith democracy. At a pivotal moment in our nation’s history, we believe it’s critical that diverse religious communities work together to defend a shared vision of America as a place where people of all faiths and beliefs are equally respected and allowed to flourish.

While Christian nationalists often claim to act in the name of “religious freedom,” their project is actually premised on using the power of the state and the courts to suppress religious freedom and marginalize other people of faith. That includes the many millions of Christians who do not share their views, and do not wish to see their faith distorted into a tool for suppressing the rights and freedoms of their fellow Americans. 

Here in Colorado, we have repeatedly seen how Christian nationalists and their political allies weaken our democracy and undermine our fundamental rights. 

In Woodland Park, the Christian nationalist Truth and Liberty Coalition has sought to “take over” the city, electing candidates to city council and school board while their leader stated that the county “ought to be totally dominated by believers.” In Pueblo, a city councilor and her group have sought to enact extreme ordinances restricting access to abortion and reproductive care, on the basis of their Christian nationalist beliefs. 

Tina Peters, the former Mesa County Clerk, was found guilty of allowing a far-right election denier to tamper with our state’s election system – part of her commitment to promoting the false conspiracy theory that the 2020 election results were invalid or illegitimate. That conspiracy has found a lot of support and purchase with Christian nationalists, many of whom appear prepared to use undemocratic methods to seize and maintain power. With a critical election just around the corner, we are once again seeing these movements prepare to target the legitimacy and safe functioning of our elections themselves. 

These trends in Colorado echo those from across the country, where again and again, politicians and activists have sought to use their particular religious beliefs to dominate public education and pass laws oppressing and marginalizing communities who don’t share their views. We see LGBTQ+ rights and reproductive freedoms restricted; books banned and censored in schools and libraries; mandatory teaching of the Bible and Ten Commandments introduced in public school classrooms.  We also see rising hate against Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh communities, who are effectively being told by Christian nationalists that they should be satisfied with second class citizenship.  

We must be clear: while Christian nationalists claim to represent a Christian majority that should dominate and dictate our laws, cultures and values, in truth, they are an extreme but well-organized minority – and their ideas are unpopular. Polling has found that 70% of Americans reject calls to declare America a Christian Nation.  Close to 75% of Americans  said they preferred a country made up of a diversity of faiths and not just Christianity.  80% of Americans reject the idea that Christians should exercise dominion over all areas of American society.

In order to uphold our basic rights and preserve the American tradition of religious toleration and mutual respect, all of us who form this large majority – no matter what our particular faith or creed – need to work together, mobilize, and speak out. 

This week we are holding public events in Denver and Colorado Springs about the Christian nationalist movement, and how we can collectively counter it. We are meeting with the wide variety of Coloradans who agree that our country is a better place when people of all faiths and beliefs have the freedom to live alongside one another in equality and peace. 

Christian nationalists are entitled to their views, however extreme. But we cannot and must not allow them to dominate and control our institutions, trample on our freedoms, or suppress the vibrant diversity of belief and background that defines our country, and the State of Colorado, at its best. 

Shara Smith is the CEO of Interfaith Alliance of Colorado.

Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush is the president and CEO of national Interfaith Alliance, and an ordained Baptist minister.