The topic of Christian Nationalism caused quite an uncharitable reaction at the True Texas Project’s conference in Fort Worth last weekend.
Protesters, equipped with firearms, drums, megaphones, and signs, came out in droves on July 12 and 13 to sound off against the True Texas Project (TTP) conference as attendees entered Fort Worth Botanic Gardens, the event’s venue.
Many of the protesters called TTP a “hate group,” “fascists,” and “white supremacists.” I was called a vulgar word as I entered the venue, despite the protesters not knowing I was a reporter who was there to hear both sides.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, I interviewed the couple who purportedly spearheaded the demonstration: David and Rona Smith, who traveled from Houston with “Houston United Front Against Fascism” to protest TTP.
“Can you explain Christian nationalism from your perspective?” I asked.
“Basically, those are nice words for saying you are a Christian white supremacist. They believe our society should be Christian and white; very simply, that is their belief. This is not a theocracy,” said Rona.
“This organization has been pushing the Republican Party to the far Right in Texas for 15 years. Now they are openly embracing this Nazi rhetoric about there being a war on white people in this country. It’s like, let’s stop right there. Our country has lots of issues, and one big problem is systemic racism, and that is against black and brown people. There is no war against white people,” added David.
You can see the protesters’ signs and read the full backstory here.
Having clearly heard the protesters’ viewpoint, I attended the conference to try to understand the controversy. I sought out Stephen Wolfe, an expert on Christian Nationalism.
Wolfe is a West Point graduate who served as a chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear officer in the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade. He holds a PhD in political philosophy from LSU and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Princeton. Wolfe is best known for his book The Case for Christian Nationalism.
He was one of the featured speakers at the conference. His talk was divided into two sessions: “The Case for Christian Nationalism” and “Objections to Christian Nationalism.”
Not having previous knowledge on the subject, I was curious if Rona was misguided, partially correct, or spot-on.
In an exclusive interview with Wolfe, I shared Rona’s definition of Christian Nationalism and asked him to speak to what, if anything, was incorrect or truthful in her description.
“First of all, accusing us of being white supremacists is just a tool the Left uses. The Left is always going to paint what they don’t like as white supremacy,” said Wolfe. “Christian Nationalism is not a white supremacy unless people want to say that Christianity and whiteness are the same thing, and we know that is false.”
“The United States is a nation historically of whites, blacks, and different races. So, in America, Christian Nationalism is not white supremacy or white nationalism. It is a recognition of our historical heritage of having a multi-racial, Christian society,” he said. “The argument of Christian Nationalism is that whatever the nation is, it should be Christian.”
“As George Washington said, ‘It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God.’ Since God is a Christian God, we should recognize the Triune God. That’s the syllogism; that’s the argument. … We order ourselves around Christian virtues,” claimed Wolfe.
In a panel discussion, other speakers voiced similar sentiments, including how the Left is allegedly engaged in an all-out assault to bring disorder to the nation’s Christian foundation by injecting chaos and hatred into the landscape, attempting to make others think that it is the Christians who are radical if they object to left-wing positions.
“The [Left] hates the heritage of America that is Christian … they want to destroy the cultural memory of Christianity … that’s what they hate,” said Andrew Isker.
To read more about Isker’s talk and interview with DX, click here.
“Wokeism makes sense to a lot of people who are center-left liberals because it is a means to fulfill the promise of equality. So, instead of making a procedurally fair system in which everyone can compete and seek to do the best they can according to their abilities, we have to engineer equal outcomes by policy,” said Wolfe.
He also discussed how the critiques from the Left have been perpetually reduced to ahistorical accusations of fascism.
“Our political imagination is captured by Nazi Germany. Meaning that everything that we don’t like is fascist; every individual that we don’t like is Hilter. So, everything has to be evaluated through ‘Is this going to create a new Holocaust?'” he said.
“If you want to have a strong moral vision for American society, you are called a fascist. If you’re a politician who has a strong moral sense and wants to see that in society, who are you called? You are called Hitler,” explained Wolfe. “We have been engineered in our minds to act that way. We have to stop playing this game.”
The nature of power was also discussed.
“Power is a tutelary function: it can train and teach people and teach people what is false,” said Wolfe.
“Anyone who lived through the civil rights revolution, as I did … knows it profoundly affected our culture. From this, we know that the government has enough institutional control to enforce the morality that it legislates,” speaker Paul Gottfried said.
Paul Gottfried, PhD, is the editor-in-chief of Chronicles: A Magazine of American Culture. He is a political theorist, author, and historian. For 25 years, he was the Raffensperger Professor of Humanities Emeritus at Elizabethtown College and is a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship.
“The government does legislate morality,” Gottfried stressed.
Gottfried’s statement made the fear of America losing its moral integrity palatable in the conference room.
“We need to dismiss the guilt and manipulation that comes our way,” said C. Jay Engel, the host of the Chronicles Magazine podcast and co-host of the Contra Mundum podcast.
“We need to reassert heritage America – reassert the things that we love – don’t apologize for them – don’t operate within the Left’s world framework,” he added.
“[The Left’s radicals] are not moral relativists; they are absolutists. Their morality is evil and destructive … and when you understand that, you can dismiss [their attacks],” added Isker. “When you actually see what is going on, you can fight back.”
“The conservative disposition is to want to be left alone. The fact is, the [Left] will never leave us alone. And so, we have to never leave them alone. We have to go on the offense and stay on the offense,” said Wolfe.
“There’s no way to win the argument [against the Left] because if you disagree with them, you will be called a racist, sexist, Nazi … they’re just going to call you names,” added Gottfried.”There will be no end to this cultural conflict unless we [bring the battle to the Left].”
In an exclusive interview with Ingel, I asked him to please address “the scare tactics the Left is using with their bullying and name-calling as a way to deflect from what they are allegedly doing to tear down America’s moral code.”
“My response is that those scare tactics don’t work anymore,” Ingel said. “We don’t care what you call us; we’re just trying to stand up for those who came before.”
“If someone called you a racist because of your talk here today, what would you say?” I asked Ingel.
“That those words don’t work. Those words don’t work anymore,” he replied.
Isker agreed, asserting that “the [Left] uses language to deconstruct things, to make you question things. They make you question reality. They do this with gender reassignment surgery. What is that? They’re making up a new reality. That’s not reality. Men are men, and women are women,” argued Isker. “[The Left] is concocting a false reality.”
Isker continued to explain that the Right must step up and oppose degeneracy rather than back down.
“The answer is not to say, ‘We just need to reaffirm our belief in the Constitution,'” claimed Isker, adding, “Although true, the Right must actively counter the false reality manufactured by the Left’s language.”
I couldn’t help but think about the demonstrators’ signs that labeled the TTP as a hate group while the protestors were the only ones I heard spewing hate. It reminded me of what the speakers had said about the Left using language to scare people into staying quiet to purportedly create a reality of distrust and destruction.
As Ingel said, “Those words don’t work anymore.”