Christian Nationalism and the January 6 Capitol Attack
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Christian Nationalism and the January 6 Capitol Attack
The January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol generated extensive debate about the relationship between religion, nationalism, political identity, conspiracy beliefs, and political violence in the United States. Scholars, journalists, religious leaders, legal commentators, and advocacy organizations subsequently examined the presence of Christian symbols, prayers, religious rhetoric, and Christian-nationalist ideas among some participants and organizations connected with the events surrounding January 6.
The available research does not treat Christianity, evangelical Christianity, political conservatism, or Christian political participation as synonymous with Christian nationalism. Instead, much of the literature describes Christian nationalism as an ideology or cultural framework that connects Christianity with ideas about American national identity and political authority. Researchers disagree about the precise boundaries of the term and how broadly it should be applied, making careful distinctions between Christian nationalism and ordinary religious belief or political participation important.
Christian Nationalism and American Identity
Christian nationalism is generally examined in the sources as a fusion of religious identity with a particular conception of the American nation. Scholars studying the phenomenon have connected it to narratives about the United States as a specially chosen or divinely favored nation, beliefs about the proper relationship between Christianity and government, and disputes over who represents authentic American identity.
Historical treatments place these ideas within a much longer American tradition rather than viewing January 6 as their beginning. Researchers have examined Puritan ideas of national chosenness, the relationship between Christianity and American expansion, racial hierarchy, national mythology, and political movements that linked religious and national identities.
The sources also emphasize disagreement over terminology. Some scholars argue that "Christian nationalism" can become too broad if it is applied indiscriminately to Christians who participate in politics. Others regard it as a useful concept for identifying a specific set of beliefs in which Christian identity and American national identity are closely connected.
Religious Symbols and Rituals on January 6
One of the most visible issues examined in the material is the presence of religious imagery during events surrounding January 6. Reports and contemporary accounts documented crosses, Christian flags, "Jesus Saves" signs, public prayers, biblical language, and other forms of Christian symbolism.
Researchers and commentators have interpreted these displays in different ways. Some argue that they provide evidence that Christian nationalism formed part of the ideological environment surrounding the attack. Others caution that the presence of Christian symbols does not establish that all participants shared the same religious beliefs or motivations.
Religious practices were also incorporated into political gatherings before and during January 6. Sources discuss prayer events, public rituals, "spiritual warfare" language, and religious appeals associated with efforts challenging the results of the 2020 presidential election.
For scholars studying religion as a social practice, these rituals are significant because political identity can be expressed not only through formal doctrines but also through collective prayer, symbols, ceremonies, narratives, and public performances.
Political Mobilization Before January 6
The material places January 6 within a larger period of political mobilization following the 2020 presidential election. Religious rhetoric and Christian-nationalist themes appeared alongside election-fraud claims, conspiracy theories, partisan activism, and efforts to prevent or delay certification of the presidential election results.
Reports examining the period between the election and January 6 identify overlapping networks of activists, religious leaders, political organizations, rallies, and protest movements. Events associated with "Stop the Steal," Jericho March gatherings, and the January 6 "Save America" rally are among the activities discussed in this literature.
The sources do not suggest that everyone participating in election protests was motivated by Christian nationalism. Rather, they examine how Christian-nationalist ideas and organizations intersected with a much broader coalition of people challenging the election outcome.
This distinction is important because political movements frequently contain participants with different motives. Religious identity, partisan loyalty, distrust of institutions, conspiracy beliefs, racial attitudes, and perceptions of political or cultural threat may overlap without being identical.
Christian Nationalism and Political Violence
A major area of academic research concerns whether Christian-nationalist beliefs are associated with greater acceptance of political violence.
Survey-based research included in the material examines relationships among Christian nationalism, perceived victimhood, racial identity, conspiracy beliefs, and support for the January 6 Capitol attack. These studies generally analyze statistical associations rather than claiming that religious identity alone causes political violence.
Researchers have also studied how Christian nationalism interacts with other characteristics. Work examining gun ownership, for example, asks whether the combination of strong Christian-nationalist attitudes and attitudes toward firearms is associated with greater support for political violence.
The findings contribute to a broader literature examining the circumstances under which people may come to view political conflict as an existential struggle. When political opponents are regarded not simply as people with different policies but as threats to the nation, religion, or social order, researchers have investigated whether willingness to justify extraordinary political measures increases.
Victimhood, Conspiracy Beliefs, and Political Grievance
Several sources identify perceived victimhood as an important component in understanding support for political violence. Christian-nationalist narratives can include perceptions that Christianity, traditional culture, or a particular understanding of American identity is being displaced or unfairly marginalized.
Research cited in the material also examines conspiracy beliefs. The political mobilization preceding January 6 occurred amid widespread claims that the 2020 presidential election had been stolen. Religious narratives sometimes overlapped with these claims, allowing political events to be interpreted through concepts such as spiritual warfare, good versus evil, or divine purpose.
Scholars studying January 6 therefore frequently analyze Christian nationalism alongside other variables rather than treating it as a complete explanation. Partisanship, racial attitudes, political grievance, conspiracy thinking, authoritarian attitudes, and perceptions of cultural displacement appear repeatedly in this broader research.
Race and White Christian Nationalism
Race is another recurring theme in the literature. Several scholars use the more specific term "white Christian nationalism" to describe historical connections among Christianity, whiteness, national belonging, and political power in the United States.
Historical accounts connect these issues to slavery, segregation, westward expansion, immigration, and earlier definitions of American citizenship and identity. From this perspective, January 6 is interpreted by some scholars as one episode in a much longer struggle over who belongs within the symbolic boundaries of the American nation.
Some commentary also compared law-enforcement responses to January 6 with responses to racial-justice demonstrations. These comparisons generated broader debates about policing, political legitimacy, race, protest, and perceptions of threats to public order.
Not all scholarship uses Christian nationalism and white Christian nationalism interchangeably. The distinction depends on the specific research question, population, historical context, and definition being employed.
Christianity and Christian Nationalism
A central theme throughout the material is the distinction between Christianity and Christian nationalism.
Many Christian writers and religious leaders responding to January 6 argued that Christian faith should not be equated with a political ideology that gives Christianity a privileged national or governmental role. Some evangelical commentators called on churches to explicitly reject Christian nationalism after seeing Christian imagery displayed during the Capitol attack.
Other religious commentators examined how biblical interpretation may contribute to competing understandings of political authority, nationalism, democracy, race, and citizenship.
These debates demonstrate that responses within Christianity itself are diverse. Christians have both supported and opposed nationalist interpretations of American political identity, and numerous Christian organizations have organized explicitly against Christian nationalism.
Legal and Religious-Freedom Questions
The events also produced legal discussion about the relationship between religious motivation and unlawful conduct.
Legal commentators emphasized that religious conviction does not by itself provide immunity for otherwise unlawful behavior. The presence of prayer, biblical language, or sincerely held religious motivations therefore raises questions about ideology and motivation without automatically transforming political violence into protected religious exercise.
Other commentary considered broader church-state questions. These discussions connect January 6 to disagreements over government-sponsored religious expression, public schools, religious displays, and the constitutional relationship between religion and government.
The resulting debate extends beyond January 6 itself and concerns competing interpretations of religious liberty, governmental neutrality toward religion, and the place of Christianity in American public life.
Congressional Investigation and the Debate Over Christian Nationalism
Christian nationalism also became part of the debate surrounding the congressional investigation of January 6.
Scholars, religious-liberty advocates, and other experts submitted material describing Christian-nationalist imagery, organizations, rhetoric, and mobilization. Andrew L. Seidel and other analysts presented arguments that this dimension should be considered when investigating the events leading to the Capitol attack.
After the House January 6 committee issued its final report, some religious-liberty organizations and journalists argued that the report devoted insufficient attention to Christian nationalism. This was an interpretation advanced by those organizations and commentators rather than a conclusion unanimously shared by researchers or investigators.
The disagreement illustrates a larger methodological question: whether Christian nationalism should be viewed as a central explanatory factor, one factor among several, or primarily part of the cultural and symbolic environment surrounding January 6.
Public Opinion After January 6
Research conducted after January 6 has expanded beyond examination of the attack itself to investigate public attitudes toward Christian nationalism, political violence, democracy, accountability, and partisan identity.
PRRI survey research divides respondents into categories based on their responses to questions concerning Christian nationalism and examines how those categories relate to views on political and social issues. Its 2025 American Values Atlas research, published in 2026, reported that about one-third of Americans fell into its combined Christian-nationalism "Adherent" or "Sympathizer" categories, while roughly two-thirds were classified as "Skeptics" or "Rejecters."
PRRI has also examined differences between these groups concerning January 6 accountability and political violence. Such surveys measure correlations among attitudes and should not be interpreted as demonstrating that every individual within a category holds identical political beliefs.
Religious and Partisan Backlash
An additional development in the research concerns whether January 6 may have produced a backlash against the perceived mixture of Christianity and partisan politics.
A 2026 study by political scientists David E. Campbell and Geoffrey C. Layman examined people who remembered Christian-nationalist imagery or rhetoric associated with January 6. Using panel survey data, they reported evidence of changes in both religious and partisan attitudes among some respondents.
Their analysis found declining religious commitment among some Republicans and independents who perceived Christian nationalism among the January 6 participants. They also reported decreased favorability toward Donald Trump and the Republican Party among some respondents and evidence that some Republican identifiers subsequently identified as independents or Democrats.
These findings suggest that highly visible combinations of religion and political conflict may influence attitudes not only among opponents of Christian nationalism but also among some people who previously identified with the political constituencies most closely associated with conservative Christianity.
The study does not establish that January 6 explains broader national trends in religious affiliation or partisan change. Instead, it contributes evidence to an existing body of research examining whether close identification between religion and partisan politics can sometimes generate backlash.
Competing Interpretations
The sources collectively demonstrate that Christian nationalism is a contested concept as well as a subject of empirical study.
One interpretation emphasizes the historical continuity linking Christian identity, racial hierarchy, national mythology, and political power. Scholars working from this perspective often interpret the Christian imagery and nationalist rhetoric surrounding January 6 as manifestations of a longstanding political tradition.
Another approach emphasizes the need for narrower definitions and careful measurement. Scholars following this approach warn that treating every mixture of Christianity, patriotism, conservatism, or Republican politics as Christian nationalism can obscure important differences among religious and political beliefs.
There is also disagreement about explanatory weight. Even researchers who identify Christian nationalism as relevant to January 6 generally examine it alongside election denial, partisan polarization, conspiracy beliefs, racial attitudes, political grievance, perceptions of victimhood, and other factors.
For this reason, Christian nationalism is best understood within the source material as one component of a complex political event rather than as a single explanation for every participant or organization associated with January 6.
January 6 in the Broader History of Christian Nationalism
Several works included in the material place January 6 within a historical framework stretching far beyond contemporary electoral politics.
They trace ideas about Christian America through colonial religious traditions, national chosenness, territorial expansion, slavery, racial hierarchy, immigration, twentieth-century conservative Christianity, and the modern Religious Right.
From this perspective, January 6 became significant partly because long-standing narratives about religion and nation appeared in an unusually visible setting. Christian flags, crosses, prayer, nationalist imagery, and political claims about saving or restoring the country brought debates that had previously occupied academic and religious circles into wider public discussion.
At the same time, January 6 also changed the study of Christian nationalism. Public interest increased, researchers developed new studies of its relationship to political violence and democratic attitudes, religious organizations launched initiatives addressing the ideology, and scholars increasingly debated how Christian nationalism should be defined and measured.
Conclusion
The January 6 Capitol attack became an important focal point in research and public debate about Christian nationalism in the United States. The material reviewed here documents the presence of Christian symbols, prayer, biblical rhetoric, and explicitly religious political narratives among some participants and organizations involved in events surrounding the attack.
Scholars have subsequently investigated connections between Christian nationalism and political violence, perceived victimhood, racial identity, conspiracy beliefs, political grievance, and national identity. Other researchers have explored the historical development of Christian nationalism and the distinction between the ideology and Christianity or Christian political participation more generally.
The evidence also reveals substantial disagreement over interpretation. The presence of Christian-nationalist rhetoric does not establish that every January 6 participant shared the same ideology or motivation, and Christian nationalism operated alongside numerous other political and social forces.
Religious responses have likewise been diverse. Many Christian leaders and organizations have explicitly rejected Christian nationalism, while scholars continue to debate its definition, historical boundaries, measurement, and political significance.
Research published since January 6 indicates that the event may also have affected public perceptions of religion and politics. Studies of political violence, public opinion, religious identity, and partisan backlash suggest that January 6 was not only an important event for understanding contemporary Christian nationalism but also a catalyst for a rapidly expanding field of research into the relationship among religion, national identity, democracy, and political conflict in the United States.
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Academic Research, Books, Definitions, and Historical Frameworks
1. Backlash to Christian Nationalism: The Impact of the January 6th Insurrection on Americans’ Religiosity and Political Partisanship [SOURCE 1 | David E. Campbell; Geoffrey C. Layman | Politics and Religion | July 13, 2026]
Examines whether the January 6 attack produced a public backlash against Christian nationalism, including changes in religious identification and political attitudes.
2. An Army for God: Gun Ownership, Christian Nationalism, and Support for Political Violence [SOURCE 9 | Donald P. Haider-Markel; coauthors | Political Science Quarterly | 2026]
Investigates how Christian-nationalist attitudes and gun ownership interact with support for political violence in contemporary American politics.
3. Christian Nationalism: Since January 6 [SOURCE 4 | Richard T. Hughes; Christina Littlefield | Oxford Academic | February 25, 2025]
Examines the development of Christian nationalism after January 6 and considers the attack as part of a longer struggle over American Christian identity.
4. We the (Chosen) People: Christian Nationalism Now [SOURCE 16 | Philip Gorski; Eliyahu Stern | Yale Center for Faith & Culture | January 8, 2025]
Discusses ideas of national chosenness and Christian identity and reflects on their continuing political importance after January 6.
5. Christian Nationalism as a Social Practice: Prayer, Violence, and the Politics of Public Ritual [SOURCE 3 | Joel Day | Religion, State & Society | 2025]
Studies Christian nationalism through public religious practices, including prayer and ritual associated with political conflict and January 6.
6. Christian America and the Kingdom of God: White Christian Nationalism from the Puritans through January 6, 2021 [SOURCE 6 | Richard T. Hughes; Christina Littlefield | Oxford University Press | 2025]
Traces ideas connecting Christianity with American national identity across U.S. history and concludes with the religious dimensions of January 6.
7. Defining Christian Nationalism [SOURCE 7 | Richard T. Hughes; Christina Littlefield | Oxford Academic | 2025]
Defines Christian nationalism and distinguishes the ideology from ordinary Christian religious practice or political participation by Christians.
8. The Roots of Christian Nationalism Go Back Further Than You Think [SOURCE 10 | Robert P. Jones | CrossCurrents | December 2024]
Argues that the religious and racial narratives visible around January 6 have deep historical roots in American ideas about Christianity, nation, and belonging.
9. What Does “Christian Nationalism” Even Mean? [SOURCE 113 | Jonathan Tran | The Christian Century | July 2024]
Examines disagreements over the meaning and usefulness of the term Christian nationalism, including its widespread use after the January 6 attack.
10. White Christian Nationalism’s Heritage of Extremism [SOURCE 112 | Philip F. Hayes | The Christian Century | April 2024]
Reviews scholarship on the history of white Christian nationalism and considers January 6 within a longer tradition of religiously framed political extremism.
11. White Christian Nationalism and the Capitol Riot: How Did We Get Here and What Comes Next? [SOURCE 20 | Brad Onishi; Matthew D. Taylor | Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies | January 6, 2023]
Discusses theological and political movements that preceded January 6 and the subsequent development of Christian nationalism.
12. The Full Armor of God: The Mobilization of Christian Nationalism in American Politics [SOURCE 8 | Paul A. Djupe; Anand Edward Sokhey; others | Cambridge University Press | 2023]
Examines political mobilization around Christian identity and nationalism, including developments surrounding the 2020 election and January 6.
13. The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy [SOURCE 5 | Philip S. Gorski; Samuel L. Perry | Oxford University Press | April 21, 2022]
Places January 6 within a broader history of white Christian nationalism, national mythology, racial hierarchy, political power, and perceived threats to social status.
14. Yale Sociologist Phil Gorski on the Threat of White Christian Nationalism [SOURCE 15 | Mike Cummings | Yale News | March 15, 2022]
Interviews sociologist Philip Gorski about white Christian nationalism, its historical development, and its relevance to the January 6 Capitol attack.
15. Christian Nationalism and Political Violence: Victimhood, Racial Identity, Conspiracy, and Support for the Capitol Attacks [SOURCE 2 | Miles T. Armaly; David T. Buckley; Adam M. Enders | Political Behavior | January 4, 2022]
Uses survey data to examine relationships among Christian nationalism, perceived victimhood, racial identity, conspiracy beliefs, and support for the January 6 Capitol attack.
16. White Christian Nationalism: The Deep Story Behind the Capitol Insurrection [SOURCE 102 | Philip Gorski | ABC Religion & Ethics | January 13, 2021]
Places January 6 within a longer history of white Christian nationalism, examining ideas about national chosenness, race, violence, and the relationship between Christianity and American identity.
17. Christian Nationalism Explained: An Interview with Rutgers Professor Joseph Williams [SOURCE 17 | John Chadwick | Rutgers University | 2021]
Explains the history and meaning of Christian nationalism and discusses why religious symbolism at the Capitol attack generated debate within American Christianity.
Reports, Surveys, Testimony, and January 6 Investigations
18. Public Perceptions, Polarization, and Accountability [SOURCE 14 | Public Religion Research Institute | PRRI | 2026]
Provides survey evidence on Americans’ attitudes toward January 6, political violence, accountability, and Christian-nationalist orientations several years after the attack.
19. Despite Ample Evidence, Christian Nationalism Mostly Absent from Final Jan. 6 Report [SOURCE 23 | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | December 23, 2022]
Reports that the House January 6 committee's final report gave comparatively little attention to Christian nationalism despite evidence submitted by religious-liberty advocates and scholars.
20. Jan. 6 Committee Must Address Christian Nationalism [SOURCE 25 | Amanda Tyler | Religion News Service | June 9, 2022]
Argues that congressional investigation of January 6 should consider Christian nationalism as one component of the ideological environment surrounding the attack.
21. Christian Nationalism and the Capitol Insurrection [SOURCE 12 | Andrew L. Seidel | U.S. House Select Committee / GovInfo | March 18, 2022]
Presents congressional testimony describing Christian-nationalist imagery, rhetoric, organizations, and religious justification associated with January 6.
22. New Report on (White) Christian Nationalism and the J6 Insurrection Shows Just How Dire the Threat Is [SOURCE 106 | Chrissy Stroop | Religion Dispatches | February 15, 2022]
Reviews research documenting Christian-nationalist rhetoric, events, organizations, and leaders involved in mobilization between the 2020 election and January 6.
23. New Report Details the Influence of Christian Nationalism on the Insurrection [SOURCE 24 | Jack Jenkins | Religion News Service | February 9, 2022]
Summarizes a major BJC and FFRF report documenting Christian symbols, rhetoric, leaders, organizations, and events connected with January 6.
24. Christian Nationalism and the January 6, 2021 Insurrection [SOURCE 11 | Amanda Tyler; Andrew L. Seidel; Samuel L. Perry; Katherine Stewart; Jemar Tisby; Andrew L. Whitehead; others | BJC and Freedom From Religion Foundation | 2022]
Collects scholarly and investigative analyses of Christian-nationalist symbols, organizations, rhetoric, networks, and religious practices connected to January 6.
25. Expert Statements on Christian Nationalism and January 6 [SOURCE 13 | Amanda Tyler; Andrew L. Seidel; scholars and experts | Just Security | 2022]
Compiles expert assessments addressing Christian nationalism, political violence, religious symbolism, and organizations involved in mobilization surrounding January 6.
26. The January 6 Select Committee Cannot Ignore This Christian Movement [SOURCE 105 | Andrew L. Seidel | Religion Dispatches | July 28, 2021]
Argues that investigators examining January 6 should consider the role of Christian nationalism, religious symbolism, and religious-right organizing in the events surrounding the attack.
Religious Symbolism, Theology, Evangelicalism, and Christian Responses
27. We’ve Finally Begun to Confront White Christian Nationalism; But What About Its Source Text? [SOURCE 108 | Dianne M. Stewart | Religion Dispatches | August 2, 2021]
Examines biblical interpretation, racial hierarchy, and nationalism in the aftermath of January 6 and calls for greater attention to religious texts and traditions used in political movements.
28. A Horn-Wearing ‘Shaman.’ A Cowboy Evangelist. For Some, the Capitol Attack Was a Kind of Christian Revolt [SOURCE 101 | Michelle Boorstein | The Washington Post | July 6, 2021]
Examines the religious beliefs, symbols, and personalities associated with January 6, including participants who understood the political conflict in explicitly Christian or spiritual terms.
29. Capitol Violence Brewed from Nationalism, Conspiracies, and Jesus [SOURCE 111 | Jack Jenkins | The Christian Century | February 10, 2021]
Examines the convergence of Christian symbolism, conspiracy theories, election-fraud claims, nationalist rhetoric, and political mobilization surrounding January 6.
30. Onward Christian Soldiers: Addressing American Christianity and Trump [SOURCE 121 | Deirdre Jonese Austin | Canopy Forum | February 10, 2021]
Examines Christian flags, crosses, prayer, and “Jesus Saves” imagery during January 6 and considers how American churches should respond to religious nationalism.
31. How Americans Can Address Christian Nationalism in Their Congregations and Communities [SOURCE 115 | Mya Jaradat | Deseret News | February 7, 2021]
Interviews religious leaders and scholars about how congregations might respond to Christian nationalism after its increased public visibility during January 6.
32. I Grew Up Evangelical and the Christian Nationalist Insurrection Did Not Surprise Me [SOURCE 104 | Deirdre Sugiuchi | Religion Dispatches | January 28, 2021]
Presents a personal and historical analysis of evangelical subcultures, authoritarian teachings, Christian nationalism, and the political environment preceding January 6.
33. After Orthodox Priest Suspended for “Stop the Steal” Activity, a Renewed Spotlight on the Orthodox Far-Right [SOURCE 109 | Sarah Riccardi-Swartz | Religion Dispatches | January 26, 2021]
Investigates far-right political activity among some Orthodox Christians and the relationship between religious traditionalism, election denial, nationalism, and January 6.
34. Religion, Insurrection, and Social Forgiveness [SOURCE 122 | Joseph Margulies | Canopy Forum | January 22, 2021]
Explores religious concepts of forgiveness, accountability, reconciliation, and social repair in the immediate aftermath of the Capitol attack.
35. Christian Nationalists Didn’t Seek to Desecrate the Capitol But to Purify It [SOURCE 110 | Adam Willems | Religion Dispatches | January 20, 2021]
Argues that some participants viewed entering the Capitol not as desecration but as a religiously meaningful effort to reclaim a sacred national space.
36. Scholars of Religion and Politics Respond to the Capitol Insurrection [SOURCE 18 | Washington University scholars | Washington University in St. Louis | January 15, 2021]
Presents scholarly reactions to January 6 addressing religion, nationalism, racial identity, political polarization, and threats to democratic institutions.
37. Attack on the US Capitol Has Many Journos Finally Taking White Evangelical Authoritarianism and Christian Nationalism Seriously [SOURCE 103 | Chrissy Stroop | Religion Dispatches | January 14, 2021]
Examines how journalists and scholars responded to the prominent Christian imagery and evangelical political rhetoric surrounding the Capitol attack.
38. An Analysis of the Capitol Protests Through Senate Chaplain Barry Black’s Prayer [SOURCE 120 | John E. King | Canopy Forum | January 14, 2021]
Uses the Senate chaplain’s prayer after the attack to examine moral responsibility, democratic institutions, truth, and religious language surrounding January 6.
39. Christian Nationalism Is Worse Than You Think [SOURCE 114 | Morgan Lee; Paul D. Miller | Christianity Today | January 13, 2021]
Discusses Christian nationalism immediately after the Capitol attack, distinguishing the political ideology from Christianity while examining its appeal among some white evangelicals.
40. Whither Dialogue After the Capitol Riot? [SOURCE 118 | Amy Uelmen | Canopy Forum | January 13, 2021]
Examines Christian-nationalist imagery, conspiracy theories, polarization, and the difficulties of constructive political and religious dialogue following January 6.
41. White Christian Nationalism at the Capitol [SOURCE 116 | Caroline Mala Corbin | Canopy Forum | January 12, 2021]
Examines the combination of Christian, Confederate, nationalist, and political symbols displayed at the Capitol and discusses whether Christian nationalism provides a framework for interpreting them.
42. Trump, Insurgency, and Religious Grievance [SOURCE 117 | Steven K. Green | Canopy Forum | January 12, 2021]
Analyzes religious grievance and Christian symbolism at the Capitol attack within the broader political relationship between conservative Christianity and Donald Trump.
43. Evangelicals Must Denounce the Christian Nationalism in Capitol Riots [SOURCE 21 | Jamie Aten; Kent Annan | Religion News Service | January 7, 2021]
Commentary written immediately after the attack urges evangelical Christians to distinguish their faith from the Christian-nationalist messages and imagery visible at the Capitol.
44. Taking the White Christian Nationalist Symbols at the Capitol Riot Seriously [SOURCE 22 | Robert P. Jones | Religion News Service | January 7, 2021]
Examines crosses, Christian flags, prayers, and other religious imagery visible during January 6 and places them within the history of white Christian nationalism.
45. A Biblical Attack on the Capitol? [SOURCE 19 | University of Chicago Divinity School | Sightings | 2021]
Analyzes biblical language and Christian symbolism associated with January 6 and considers how scripture can be incorporated into nationalist political narratives.
Church-State, Law, Race, and Political Order
46. The Link Between Texas’ Law Requiring “In God We Trust” Signs in Schools and the January 6 Insurrection [SOURCE 107 | Andrew L. Seidel | Religion Dispatches | August 31, 2022]
Connects contemporary church-state disputes to broader Christian-nationalist ideas that the author also associates with the religious rhetoric visible on January 6.
47. An Insurrection of “Law and Order”? The Cycle of Law-Preserving and Law-Making Violence [SOURCE 125 | J. Brent Crosson | Canopy Forum | February 11, 2021]
Uses political and legal theory to examine the relationship among claims of law and order, political authority, extralegal violence, and the Capitol attack.
48. Not an Act of Religious Freedom [SOURCE 119 | Patrick Hornbeck | Canopy Forum | January 15, 2021]
Considers whether religious motivations could have legal relevance for January 6 defendants and argues that religious freedom does not provide immunity for unlawful political violence.
49. Law and Order [SOURCE 123 | Adam McDuffie | Canopy Forum | January 11, 2021]
Examines January 6 through debates about law, racial inequality, political legitimacy, policing, and differing responses to political protest.
50. Capitol Riots Just One More Example of Racial Injustice in the U.S. [SOURCE 124 | Amin Sadri | Canopy Forum | January 11, 2021]
Compares responses to January 6 with treatment of racial-justice demonstrations and discusses the racial dimensions of political and religious identity.
