Tip of the Christian Nationalist Iceberg
Christian nationalism has been building for decades. Mendi and I became aware of it living in Granbury, as it took over our hometown. This is my attempt to tie together where we’ve been, what’s happening, and what’s next.
This is Lance Wallnau in 2009 explaining 7 Mountains dominionism.
David Barton (and his WallBuilders org) is a false, debunked historian, but he has the ear of many leaders in the Republican Party, including Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Here is Barton in 2011 discussing 7 Mountains dominionism on his WallBuilders Live broadcast.
The push to take over levers of power, to impose religion on all, isn’t just a Texas thing (although many of the CN drivers and oligarchs are based in Texas). In 2013, CBN did a story on Pastors & Pews in Iowa. You will see Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Farris & Dan Wilks.
The “history” advanced by David Barton and WallBuilders is cherry picked & taken out of context. The message is delivered via evangelical channels as “gospel”. Here is Texas State Senator Brian Birdwell (a former speaker for WallBuilders) presenting at Stonewater Church in 2015.
Stonewater Church in Granbury, TX, not only was the recipient of the Birdwell / WallBuilders “history” presentation, but they also had church leaders present 7 Mountains dominionism in 2016, right before the November election, as part of a “One Nation Under God” series.
Granbury, TX, has been a hotbed of Christian nationalism / 7 Mountains ideology. Rafael Cruz (Ted’s father) has been a regular in Granbury at churches and “voter engagement events”. Here is Cruz in 2018, right before November elections, speaking to a congregation.
It’s impossible for me to watch the videos above without referencing the speech Paul Weyrich gave to a Religious Right gathering in Dallas in the fall of 1980. They don’t want everyone to vote. Their leverage in elections goes up when the voting populous goes down.
This is Frank Zappa on Crossfire in 1986. What he said then was true. It’s still true. Look at what we face today. It’s coming from the same source, attempting to do the same thing with our books, schools, and people they don’t like. And their vehicle is the government (and churches).
The attacks on Public Education are another hallmark of the long tail of Christian nationalism. It has been that way since 1954 and Brown v Board of Education. This is Milton Friedman in 2006 at an ALEC conference: “The ideal way would be to abolish the public school system”
When Mendi and I and I started speaking up in 2017, we put on a Celebration of Public Education event in Granbury, with Pastors for Texas Children. Empower Texans showed up and made a video that I guess was supposed to intimidate us and slow us down. NOPE!
How is the message of Christian nationalism, with its intertwining of political and religious identity, spread? Why via churches, and “voter engagement events”. Fort Worth hosted one in February 2020. Here are a few snippets. Allen West & Rafael Cruz were speakers.
Throughout 2020, these Voter Engagement Events were held all over Texas. This one was in Frisco, TX, at Kingdom Life Church. Allen West, who by this time has been selected as the Chair of the Texas GOP (who then decided to run for TX Gov in 2022) showed up to speak.
January 6, 2021. An insurrection. And Christian nationalism was at the heart of it. Of course, folks from Granbury were at the heart of it as well. These are a few Facebook live videos from Kellye SoRelle, and Stuart Rhodes strolls by a few times.
The open endorsement of candidates from the pulpit has only gotten worse. 2021 saw the focus in North Texas go heavily into local races. Across the DFW area, churches, many in concert, started putting the names of “members of the church family” on screen during services. Here are three blatant examples.
Lance Wallnau (remember him from the beginning of the post) up next, from 5/23/2021, continues talking about 7 Mountains themes, focusing in on where things are heading next. And none of it is good.
More Lance Wallnau from 5/23/2021. Remember the politics from the pulpit video above? It worked. And Lance touches on it, discussing the churches working together to successfully win elections in DFW, but they didn’t endorse anyone, right?
January 2022. Kingdom Life Church in Frisco. 7 Mountains. Christian nationalism. On full display.
I can’t make a post about Christian nationalism and not include the Granbury Superintendent and banning books. He wanted books off the shelves and was recorded by a librarian. Word got out. We tried pushing back. Glenn and the same board are still there. Books are gone.
The Christian nationalist playbook will tell anyone who cares to pay attention that public schools indoctrinate kids. That isn’t true. But the CN’s definitely want to indoctrinate. They create whole “academies” to make it happen. Oh, and Rick Green is Wallbuilders connected.
Chris Rufo, who started the nonsense CRT panic, is also pushing vouchers and during a speech at Hilldale College in April 2022, he spelled it out. “To get universal school choice, you need universal public school distrust” That really explains everything over the past few years.
This is the most important video in the post
In December 2022, Amanda Tyler of the BJC (Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Freedom) testified to a congressional committee on the dangers of Christian nationalism. She gave a definition that Mendi and I use regularly. Remember: Opposing CN is not opposing Christianity
Ok, let’s look at how Christian Nationalism impacted the 2023 #txlege session. This is Rocky Malloy, CEO of the National School Chaplain Association, discussing a bill (now law) to allow school districts to hire Chaplains, and potentially take the slots of School Counselors. Julie Pickren, State Board of Education and State Senator Mayes Middleton, pushed the Chaplain bill. This makes clear the agenda.
Texas passed a number of anti-LGBTQ laws in 2023, banning gender affirming care, drag, transgender athletes. There were many passionate voices speaking out asking for humanity and empathy. This one gets to the core of it.
David Barton (WallBuilders) spoke at a Patriot Mobile event in Grapevine on 3/23/23. The question was asked “What to do now?” They know the courts are infected. They want lawsuits to challenge the constitutionality of bills stripping away rights. It’s part of the plan.
The term Christian nationalism and the intent of Christian nationalists catches some off guard. Not Sean Feucht. He’s all good with all it means. From an event in Oklahoma, 4/20/23.
Nate Schatzline is a Texas House member, elected in 2022. He is a part of Mercy Culture in Fort Worth, TX. On 4/30/23 he gave an update to the church during a service on how things are going in Austin.
The DFW area hosted the Turning Point USA Young Women’s Leadership Summit on June 9–10, 2023. To understand where these folks want to see young women heading, here is Alex Clark to fill you in.
All of noise above is a build toward a moment. That’s the 2024 election. They got a sniff of power from 2017–2020. Now they want it all. The Heritage Foundation and a ton of other “conservative” organizations created Project 2025. They want to dismantle democracy.
- Xenophobic laws
- Anti LGBTQ agendas
- Guns and more guns
- Anti-vaccine/science
- Sexism / patriarchy / anti-choice
- Overt racism
- Forcing Christianity into public Ed
- Pro-Voucher / “School Choice”
These are the weeds. Christian nationalism is the root.
What I’ve shared in this post is just the tip of the iceberg, things we’ve seen and thought important enough to document.
I’m sure in your community, the same things are happening.
Christian nationalism is attempting to grab all levers of power.
It’s up to us to stop it. That requires us to See it. Name it. Fight it.
