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Christian supremacy

Christian supremacy is the belief that Christianity is superior to other religions or referring to a form of identity politics that asserts that Christians are superior and are better suited to rule thus marginalising religious minorities. Christian supremacy overlaps with and can be considered a core tenet of Christian nationalism.[1] The New Apostolic Reformation, a dominionist political movement, is described by The Washington Post and scholar Bradley Onishi as promoting Christian supremacy through a mix of hard-right politics and prophecy.[2][3] Joseph Wiinikka-Lydon of the Southern Poverty Law Center and religion scholar Matthew D. Taylor points to the Seven Mountain Mandate as the plan for Christian dominance and supremacy.[4][5][6][7]

Discourse

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Christian fundamentalism is a major undercurrent and central ideology in Christian supremacism and there are overlaps with Theonomy and Dominion theology. Additionally, premillennialism[failed verification] and to an extent postmillennialism[failed verification] has been cited to influence Christian supremacy over its emphasis of the end times especially with regard to the New Apostolic Reformation, its wider relative; the Apostolic-Prophetic Movement and potentially even Evangelical Christianity.[8] Christian supremacy may coexist with antisemitism and Islamophobia to varying degrees while homophobia, transphobia and misogyny maintain a high presence within Christian supremacist discourses often through the belief and promotion of conspiracy theories such as LGBTQ grooming conspiracy theory and that of Cultural Marxism.[9][10] Additionally, sectarianism may arise over different denominations of Christianity through vying for supremacy.[11]

Christian supremacy often intersects with other forms of supremacy such as White supremacy with various White Christian supremacist groups existing such as the Ku Klux Klan and Christian Identity. Scholars such as Jenny L Small and others have highlighted that Christian supremacy is related with Christian privilege and Christian hegemony of which it is characterised as a system of interlocking discourses that privileges Christians and marginalises non-Christians thus assuming the universalization of Christian values. Christian hegemony and privileges are deeply embedded in western societies which sustains Christian supremacy. Even when religious plurality is acknowledged, the entrenchment of Christian values serves to obscure Christian privilege and sustain it.[12]

History

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This section is an excerpt from Supremacism § Christian.[edit]
Academics Carol Lansing and Edward D. English argue that Christian supremacism was a motivation for the Crusades in the Holy Land, as well as a motivation for crusades against Muslims and pagans throughout Europe.[13] The blood libel is a widespread European conspiracy theory which led to centuries of pogroms and massacres of European Jewish minorities because it alleged that Jews required the pure blood of a Christian child in order to make matzah for Passover. Thomas of Cantimpré writes of the blood curse which the Jews put upon themselves and all of their generations at the court of Pontius Pilate where Jesus was sentenced to death: "A very learned Jew, who in our day has been converted to the (Christian) faith, informs us that one enjoying the reputation of a prophet among them, toward the close of his life, made the following prediction: 'Be assured that relief from this secret ailment, to which you are exposed, can only be obtained through Christian blood ("solo sanguine Christiano")."[14] The Atlantic slave trade has also been partially attributed to Christian supremacism.[15] The Ku Klux Klan has been described as a white supremacist Christian organization, as are many other white supremacist groups, such as the Posse Comitatus and the Christian Identity and Positive Christianity movements.[16][17]

In the United States

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Further information: Trumpism § Christian Trumpism

Christian supremacy was used as one justification for stealing lands from Native Americans and enslaving Africans around the founding of the United States.[18]

In the 1930's, Father Coughlin believed in and hoped to promote Christian supremacy by recruiting a militia he called the Christian Front.[19]

Erik Prince of the mercenary company Blackwater was accused of being a Christian supremacist and deploying Christian supremacists to Iraq that he hoped would murder Iraqis.[20] The company used large amounts of imagery from the Crusades.[20]

The growing role of Christian supremacy in the GOP since Donald Trump's election in 2016 has drawn concern from leaders of other faiths.[21][22] Al Sharpton and Doug Pagitt both called for Christians to reject Christian supremacy ideas promoted by Trump in 2020.[23]

The storming of the US Capitol following the fallout of false accusations of electoral fraud was partially motivated by Christian nationalism which was undergirded by notions of Christian supremacy with many rioters flying the Appeal to heaven flag and extensive use of Christian imagery albeit with heavy use of militarized themes.[24]

In 2021, NBC published an article outlining how some Asian American Christians felt discrimination within their churches, citing professors Lucas Kwong and K. Christine Pae on the connections between white supremacy and Christian supremacy.[25]

Kristin Kobes Du Mez described Mike Johnson as believing in Christian supremacy.[26]

Dutch Sheets has promoted the belief of Christian supremacy.[27]

Ziklag was described by Matthew D. Taylor as a Christian supremacist organization working to ensure the election of Donald Trump in 2024.[28]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Taylor, Matthew D. (October 1, 2024). "Chapter 4". The Violent Take it by Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy. Broadleaf Books.
  2. ^ Kornfield, Meryl; Allam, Hannah (2024-10-01). "Vance appears at event hosted by hard-right Christian nationalist". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  3. ^ Chastain, Blake (August 4, 2022). "How to answer when Christian nationalists embrace the label as a badge of honor". Religion News Service. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
  4. ^ Taylor, Matthew D. (April 4, 2024). "Opinion: The peril radicalizing some evangelicals goes beyond Christian nationalism". religionnews.com. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  5. ^ Taylor, Matthew D. (October 1, 2024). "Chapter 5". The Violent Take it by Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy. Broadleaf Books.
  6. ^ Silk, Mark (October 31, 2024). "Authoritarian movements depend on political religions — not least in America". religionnews.com. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
  7. ^ Carless, Will. "As Trump support merges with Christian nationalism, experts warn of extremist risks". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  8. ^ Wiinikka-Lydon, Joe (May 31, 2024). "Christian Supremacy and U.S. Politics: An Interview With Theologian André Gagné". SPLCentre.org.
  9. ^ M. Freidenreich, David (November 18, 2022). "How Christians Have Used Anti-Jewish and Anti-Muslim Rhetoric for Their Own Ends". ucpress.edu.
  10. ^ Onofrio, Alba (October 13, 2020). "Christian supremacy is a front for power: Reverend Alba Onofrio explains". opendemocracy.net.
  11. ^ Mahoney, J (2022). "Protestant Christianity and Status Inequality".
  12. ^ Small, Jenny; Edwards, Sachi; Sayers, Matthew R.; Bowling, Renee L.; Collett, Julia R.; Kaur-Colbert, Simran; Nielsen, J. Cody (31 October 2022). "Recognizing Christian Hegemony as Broader than Christian Privilege: Critical Religion Scholars Respond to Glanzer(2022)". SPLCentre.org.
  13. ^ Carol Lansing; Edward D. English, A companion to the medieval world, Vol. 7, John Wiley and Sons, 2009, p. 457, ISBN 978-1405109222
  14. ^ Albert Ehrman, "The Origins of the Ritual Murder Accusation and Blood Libel", Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought, Vol. 15, No. 4 (Spring 1976): 86
  15. ^ Mary E. Hunt, Diann L. Neu, New Feminist Christianity: Many Voices, Many Views, SkyLight Paths Publishing, 2010, p. 122, ISBN 978-1594732850
  16. ^ R. Scott Appleby, The ambivalence of the sacred: religion, violence, and reconciliation, Carnegie Commission on Preventing Deadly Conflict series, Rowman & Littlefield, 2000, p. 103, ISBN 978-0847685554
  17. ^ "PublicEye.org – The Website of Political Research Associates". publiceye.org. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
  18. ^ Small, Jenny L. (January 2024). "Combatting White Christian Supremacy in Higher Education Research, Policy, and Practices". About Campus: Enriching the Student Learning Experience. 28 (6): 36–40. doi:10.1177/10864822231195846. ISSN 1086-4822.
  19. ^ Brown, Ethan (2022-03-09). "Facing Political Defeat, Father Coughlin Begins to Incite Violence". Exploring Hate. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
  20. ^ a b "Erik Prince and the last crusade". The Economist. August 6, 2009. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  21. ^ Samuels, Ben (October 27, 2022). "One in Six American Jews Say U.S. Should Be a Christian Nation, Pew Survey Finds". Haaretz.
  22. ^ Longhurst, John (November 6, 2018). "Trump's presidency, 'Christian supremacism' criticized at Parliament of World Religions". religionnews.com. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  23. ^ Sharpton, Al; Pagitt, Doug (2020-08-27). "Opinion: The Election Is a Test of Faith for White Christian Voters". TIME. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  24. ^ Perry, Samuel (January 15, 2021). "The Capitol siege recalls past acts of Christian nationalist violence". theconversation. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  25. ^ Ngu, Sarah (2021-09-08). "The pandemic released a wave of anti-Asian hate. Now they're fighting bias in their own pews". NBC News. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  26. ^ Fossett, Katelyn (October 27, 2023). "'He Seems to Be Saying His Commitment Is to Minority Rule'". Politico.
  27. ^ Hahner, Leslie; Varda, Scott J. (2024-05-30). "Outside Supreme Court justice's home, a Revolution-era flag, now a call for Christian nationalism". The Conversation. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
  28. ^ Kroll, Andy; Surgey, Nick (2024-07-13). "Inside Ziklag, the Secret Organization of Wealthy Christians Trying to Sway the Election and Change the Country". ProPublica. Retrieved 2024-10-09.

Further reading

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