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The pulpit of Robert Jones childhood church, a Southern Baptist congregation in Mississippi, was flanked by two flags an American flag and whats called the Christian flag , with a blue canton and a red cross on a white field. During Vacation Bible School, a summer kids program, Jones remembers that he and other children were taught to recite three pledges of allegiance to the American flag, the Christian flag and the Bible.

Last week, an insurrectionist carried this Christian flag onto the Senate floor as rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol to interrupt a joint session of Congress and attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. As Jones watched the siege unfold on social media, he was disturbed to see this flag among the symbols the rioters were using but he wasnt surprised.

Theres a potent mix of nationalism, Christianity and white supremacy at work in the U.S., and its not new. Jones, the CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute , says it has been part of Christianity in America from the very start .

Jones and other U.S. Christians are now piecing together what it means that their faith was so brazenly invoked during a deadly insurrection and what responsibility Christians have to address white supremacy and nationalism in their ranks .

We are indeed at a moment of reckoning for white Christianity, which has been complicit in legitimizing and baptizing white supremacy throughout the entire American story, Jones told HuffPost. We white Christians need to speak out, not just for the sake of repairing the damage we have done to our Black and brown brothers and sisters, but for the sake of ourselves and our faith.

You will know them by their fruits.
*Note: the white flag with the blue canton containing a Red Cross is the Christian flag, used regularly in many white evangelical churches. As a child, I was led in a pledge of allegiance to this flag in vacation Bible school.#WhiteTooLong pic.twitter.com/ejayJ5aArQ

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You will know them by their fruits.
*Note: the white flag with the blue canton containing a Red Cross is the Christian flag, used regularly in many white evangelical churches. As a child, I was led in a pledge of allegiance to this flag in vacation Bible school.#WhiteTooLong pic.twitter.com/ejayJ5aArQ
Robert P. Jones (@robertpjones) January 6, 2021

Christian nationalism is a movement that seeks to affirm and codify Americas identity as an explicitly Christian country, by leveraging the religions influence in the public sphere. Many Christian nationalists believe the federal government should advocate for Christian values, allow prayer in public schools, and allow religious symbols to be displayed in public spaces, according to Andrew Whitehead , a sociologist at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, and others working with him.

White conservatives dont have a monopoly on Christianity, an incredibly diverse faith practiced worldwide. But in America, Christian nationalism has long been wrapped up in protecting whiteness. Many white evangelicals have grown anxious in recent years about Americas increasing racial diversity , and believe they are losing ground on culture-war issues.

Symbols of white Christian nationalism were present before and during the Jan. 6 insurrection. People carried crosses and Christian-themed flags . One sign declared Jesus Saves. An American flag bore the words Jesus is my savior, Trump is my President. Religious rituals and imagery were incorporated into events leading up to the riot, including communal prayers and Jericho marches .

The presence of these symbols highlights how Christian imagery has been co-opted by Christian nationalists, according to Whitehead.

These powerful symbols serve to legitimate their goals and desires in the transcendent, he told HuffPost. And by doing that, they can claim that the Christian God is on their side.

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