Respecting Religion

What do people mean when they say we were founded as a "Christian nation"? Is that true? 
Revisit this 2019 conversation on the political and religious history behind that idea. BJC Executive Director Amanda Tyler talks with Dr. Steven Green, author of Inventing a Christian America: The Myth of the Religious Founding, about the political history of this concept, including how, when and why it originated. They also discuss misguided claims that the Ten Commandments are the basis of our legal system. On the second half of the episode, we hear from church historian Bill Leonard on what religious leaders said and did during the founding of the United States and how that relates to the freedoms we have today.
This conversation was part of our podcast series on the dangers of Christian nationalism, first released on August 14, 2019. 
 
SHOW NOTES
Segment 1 (starting at 02:22):  Steven Green on the political history of the idea
This program originally aired August 14, 2019, as episode 3 in our 10-part BJC Podcast series on the dangers of Christian nationalism.
Dr. Steven Green is the Fred H. Paulus Professor of Law and Affiliated Professor of History and Religious Studies at Willamette University. His most recent book – released in 2022 – is Separating Church and State. He is the author and co-author of several books, including Inventing a Christian America: The Myth of the Religious Founding; Religious Freedom and the Supreme Court; and The Third Disestablishment: Church, State, and American Culture, 1940-1975.
 
Segment 2 (starting at 21:18): Bill Leonard on the religious history of the idea
The Rev. Dr. Bill Leonard is the founding dean at the Wake Forest University School of Divinity, who now holds the title of "professor of divinity emeritus." He has written some 25 books, and his research focuses on church history with particular attention to American religion, Baptist studies, and the Appalachian religion. 
During the episode, Amanda Tyler mentions an article he wrote for Baptist News Global: Legislating 'In God We Trust': using the state to do the Church's work.
To learn more about BJC's work countering Christian nationalism, visit ChristiansAgainstChristianNationalism.org or BJConline.org/ChristianNationalism. You can also access our discussion guide to go with this podcast series.
Respecting Religion is made possible by BJC's generous donors. You can support these conversations with a gift to BJC.

Is the separation of church and state in the Constitution? How does Christian nationalism overlap with white supremacy? Why do we keep seeing so many proposals to post the Ten Commandments? In this wide-ranging conversation from 2024, Amanda Tyler talks about these issues and more as she discusses her book "How to End Christian Nationalism" with the Rev. Dr. Bill Leonard. 
"How to End Christian Nationalism" is a vital companion for countering the dangerous ideology, and it is available from your favorite local bookseller. 
This conversation was recorded Oct. 29, 2024, and was first released Nov. 7, 2024.
 
SHOW NOTES
Segment 1 (starting at 01:30):  Amanda Tyler and Bill Leonard on "How to End Christian Nationalism"
You can order Amanda's book, How to End Christian Nationalism, wherever you get your books. Visit EndChristianNationalism.com for more information.
The Rev. Dr. Bill Leonard is the founding dean at the Wake Forest University School of Divinity, who now holds the title of "professor of divinity emeritus." He has written some 25 books, and his research focuses on church history with particular attention to American religion, Baptist studies, and the Appalachian religion. 
You can watch a video recording of this conversation (and entire podcast) on BJC's YouTube channel.
This event was a partnership between Knollwood Baptist Church, First Baptist on Fifth, and Ardmore Baptist Church – all three churches are located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. 
Respecting Religion is made possible by BJC's generous donors. You can support these conversations with a gift to BJC.

Christian nationalism was on full display at the ReAwaken America tour, which was a series of conferences that fused Christian language and symbols with conspiracy theories and election denials. Amanda went inside a Miami event in 2023, and she shared her experiences in this podcast – from assembly-line baptisms to the reaction of the crowd as speakers moved seamlessly from religious worship songs to calls for political violence. 
This episode originally aired May 18, 2023, and it is our most downloaded show of all time.
 
SHOW NOTES
Segment 1 (starting at 01:18): The Christian nationalism of the ReAwaken America tour
Amanda and Holly discussed the ReAwaken America tour in episode 5 of season 4: Christian nationalism and the midterm elections
This conversation was originally Episode 22 of Season 4.
Amanda and Holly mention this article about the ReAwaken Tour in The New York Times by Michelle Goldberg: Whose Version of Christian Nationalism Will Win in 2024?
Amanda wrote a response to Michael Flynn's call for "one religion" in 2021, published by Baptist News Global: If you're paying attention to Christian nationalism, you won't be shocked by Michael Flynn's call for 'one religion under God'
 
 
Segment 2 (starting at 06:08): The Pastors for Trump event
Amanda and Holly mentioned this article on the Pastors for Trump group by Peter Stone for The Guardian: Pro-Trump pastors rebuked for 'overt embrace of white Christian nationalism'
During this segment, we played a clip of Pastor John Bennett speaking during the Pastors for Trump event in Miami.
 
 
Segment 3 (starting at 16:14): ReAwaken America, baptisms, and our counter-witness
Amanda and Holly mentioned Brian Kaylor's reporting on the ReAwaken America tour. You can see his twitter thread with clips from Miami and read his piece in the A Public Witness newsletter, which is part of the Word&Way network: Michael Flynn's Soup for the Soulless
For more about Baptism and different ways Christian denominations approach it, check out this story from 2001 by the PBS program Religion and Ethics Newsweekly.
BJC and Faithful America created electronic billboards that were on trucks and a boat in Miami. See the video of the billboards in this post on the @EndChristianNationalism Instagram account.
Visit ChristiansAgainstChristianNationalism.org to explore the resources provided by the Christians Against Christian Nationalism movement. 
Respecting Religion is made possible by BJC's generous donors. You can support these conversations with a gift to BJC.

A 2022 decision from the Supreme Court continues to sow confusion and misguided claims four years later. Today, we're revisiting our conversation on the Kennedy v. Bremerton decision, where the Court ruled for a public school official and abandoned long-standing Establishment Clause protections in ways that harm the religious freedom rights of students. Hear Amanda and Holly react right after this decision and ponder just what, exactly, would actually constitute "coercion" for this Court. The Supreme Court did not overrule the previous school prayer cases with the decision, but it did gut some of the consensus that protects the religious liberty rights of everyone at public schools.
This conversation was recorded in front of a live audience on June 29, 2022, and was first released July 7, 2022. 

SHOW NOTES
Segment 1 (starting at 02:57): Not solving a problem, but creating one: Kennedy v. Bremerton decision
You can read the Bremerton opinion here, written by Justice Neil Gorsuch. Justice Sonia Sotomayor's dissenting opinion includes photos of the prayer practice at issue (see pages 9 and 10 of the dissent, which are on pages 49 and 50 of the opinion PDF document).
We released three podcasts on this case: 
We previewed the case in April 2022 in Episode 14 of Season 3 in an episode titled "#NoPrayToPlay."

We recapped the oral arguments in Episode 15 of that same season: "The coach is the loudspeaker and the field is his classroom: Recapping the arguments in Kennedy v. Bremerton"

We released this episode as our season 3 finale. The full episode is titled "Not solving a problem, but creating one: Dissecting the Kennedy v. Bremerton decision"

 
Segment 2 (starting at 26:51): Concluding thoughts
For all of BJC's resources on this case, visit BJConline.org/Bremerton.
Respecting Religion is made possible by BJC's generous donors. You can support these conversations with a gift to BJC.

What is the cost of speaking out against Christian nationalism? In 2024, Rob Reiner came on the podcast to talk about a film he produced, called "God & Country." In this episode from our archives, Amanda Tyler talks with Reiner and Dan Partland, the director of the film. "God & Country" discusses the dangers of Christian nationalism to the country, to the faith, and to pluralism. 
This program originally aired January 18, 2024
SHOW NOTES
Segment 1 (starting at 02:22): Rob Reiner and Dan Partland on Christian nationalism
Released in February 2024, "God & Country" is available to watch on several streaming platforms. You can learn more at GodAndCountryTheMovie.com.
About the guests:
Dan Partland, the director of the movie, is a veteran documentary producer and director for film and television. His work includes several landmark nonfiction features and series over the past three decades, and he's a two-time Emmy winner for best nonfiction series.
Rob Reiner was a producer of the film. He first came to fame as a two-time Emmy award winning actor in the landmark television series "All in the Family." He went on to become an acclaimed director of some of the most popular and influential motion pictures in American film history, and he remained a dedicated political activist until his death in 2025.
The exact phrase "separation of church and state" is not in the U.S. Constitution, but the concept is laid out several times, including Article VI's prohibition on any religious test for office, the First Amendment's prohibition of a government establishment of religion, and the First Amendment's guarantee of the free exercise of religion. Read more in Brent Walker's "Top 5 Myths of the Separation of Church and State."
Learn more about the Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign – a project BJC began in 2019 – by visiting ChristiansAgainstChristianNationalism.org.
 
Segment 2 (starting at 20:56): Post-screening Q&A with Partland and Reiner
BJC and the Freedom From Religion Foundation released a comprehensive report on the role of Christian nationalism in the January 6 attack on the Capitol. You can access it here.
Dan Partland mentioned The Power Worshippers, a book by Katherine Stewart on the rise of religious nationalism. It serves as a basis for the movie. 
 
Segment 3 (starting at 40:39): Closing
Michelle Boorstein covered the screening for The Washington Post in this article: 'God & Country' film spotlights Christian nationalism's threat to democracy
Respecting Religion is made possible by BJC's generous donors. You can support these conversations with a gift to BJC.