A review by jiujensu
Taking America Back for God: Christian Nationalism in the United States by Samuel L. Perry, Andrew L. Whitehead

informative fast-paced

5.0

Kindle edition. 

Books like these are helping me make sense of my evangelical past. I grew up in what became an increasingly Christian nationalist environment. I wrote and occasionally talked to people I trusted about my concerns around what I called "politics in/and the pulpit." It was Christian nationalism, I found out later. 

The four categories in the book - rejector, resistor, accomodator, ambassador - are a more nuanced way to look at the problem than most political assessments I've seen. While in the church, I was in the camp of strong belief  prayer, attendance, etc but those things reinforced my support for social safety net, anti-war efforts, questioning patriotism narratives as opposed to the legislating the Bible into everyone else that was the prevailing view of everyone I worshiped with. 

It will take time to understand why I rejected Christian nationalism and those around me embraced it, but now there are ways to describe the trends and correlations I saw.