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A review by kevin_shepherd
Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism--and What Comes Next by Bradley Onishi
5.0
The Case For Inevitability
It is author Bradley Onishi’s contention that the Capital Insurrection of January 6, 2021, was neither an aberration nor some peaceful protest gone tragically awry. Onishi maintains, with solid reasoning, that J6 was not only predicable but, given the trajectory of White Christian Nationalism in American history, it was logically inevitable.
Darker Days Ahead
Dr. Onishi is himself a former Christian Nationalist turned scholar with advanced degrees from both Oxford and UC Santa Barbara. With unique insight he effectively argues that what happened in Washington D.C. that brisk winter day was not the last gasp of a fading fringe fueled by the prodding of a desperate and narcissistic demagogue. On the contrary, Onishi believes the violence perpetrated that day was merely the first battle in MAGA Nation’s assault on American democracy; the first of many steps toward their ultimate goal of a theocratic state.
Dogma Over Democracy
“My elders in the church had always told me that if I read too many books, my brain would railroad my heart and lead me away from the church. Turns out they were right.”
Having once resided within the White Christian Nationalist sphere, Onishi is well versed in the rhetoric. He knows well the virtual inseparability of White evangelicalism and White supremacy, of patriotism and patriarchy, and of America First and xenophobia.
“The calls for a nation’s renewed loyalty and obedience to God are also calls for a return to a time when straight, White Christian men had exclusive control . . . It is a movement, in essence, to right-size America by taking it back from people of color, women, immigrants, and LGBTQ people as well as Muslims, secularists, and other religious or nonreligious groups.”
Those With Eyes To See
The arguments presented in Preparing for War are persuasive. Dr. Onishi shines an illuminating spotlight on the shameful history and dark underbelly of White Christian nationalism maintaining that—for them—adapting to racial, religious, and LGBTQ diversity is not an option.
“This was not the last stand of a dying faction. It was the first violent battle in what they foresee as the coming civil war.”
It is author Bradley Onishi’s contention that the Capital Insurrection of January 6, 2021, was neither an aberration nor some peaceful protest gone tragically awry. Onishi maintains, with solid reasoning, that J6 was not only predicable but, given the trajectory of White Christian Nationalism in American history, it was logically inevitable.
Darker Days Ahead
Dr. Onishi is himself a former Christian Nationalist turned scholar with advanced degrees from both Oxford and UC Santa Barbara. With unique insight he effectively argues that what happened in Washington D.C. that brisk winter day was not the last gasp of a fading fringe fueled by the prodding of a desperate and narcissistic demagogue. On the contrary, Onishi believes the violence perpetrated that day was merely the first battle in MAGA Nation’s assault on American democracy; the first of many steps toward their ultimate goal of a theocratic state.
Dogma Over Democracy
“My elders in the church had always told me that if I read too many books, my brain would railroad my heart and lead me away from the church. Turns out they were right.”
Having once resided within the White Christian Nationalist sphere, Onishi is well versed in the rhetoric. He knows well the virtual inseparability of White evangelicalism and White supremacy, of patriotism and patriarchy, and of America First and xenophobia.
“The calls for a nation’s renewed loyalty and obedience to God are also calls for a return to a time when straight, White Christian men had exclusive control . . . It is a movement, in essence, to right-size America by taking it back from people of color, women, immigrants, and LGBTQ people as well as Muslims, secularists, and other religious or nonreligious groups.”
Those With Eyes To See
The arguments presented in Preparing for War are persuasive. Dr. Onishi shines an illuminating spotlight on the shameful history and dark underbelly of White Christian nationalism maintaining that—for them—adapting to racial, religious, and LGBTQ diversity is not an option.
“This was not the last stand of a dying faction. It was the first violent battle in what they foresee as the coming civil war.”