Joyce M. Davis: Let’s talk about white nationalism in America
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Robert P. Jones has spent a lot of time studying white Christians in America. As president and founder of the Public Religion Research Institute, he’s done extensive research into the history of Christianity in the United States and has found one irrefutable fact: They don’t like to talk about tough topics like white nationalism and racism in the church.
Jones comes from a long line of Southern Baptists, “with a few Methodists” thrown in for good measure.
Jones has not just studied Christians in the South, he’s gathered significant research on the attitudes, beliefs and behaviors of Christians throughout the country. His research reveals a propensity among large numbers of white Christians to deny the facts about historic racism in the United States and to reject any responsibility to address it.
In fact, Jones’ research shows many white Christians not only deny the role their churches historically played in supporting slavery and the oppression of Black people in the United States, but they get angry if anyone — especially the pastor — talks about it.
Jones goes back into history to tell one story about a church in Mobile, Ala., whose members brought their slaves to worship with them. How nice, you say. Very nice. But when the church ran out of money to pay the pastor, members sold a few of their Black church-going slaves to keep him preaching.
That’s a part of the history of Christianity in America, and the Pennsylvania Council of Churches believes more Christians should know it. That’s why the coalition of mainline Christian churches invited Jones to come to Pennsylvania’s capital to share the results of his research into Christianity in America on Oct. 6.
And Jones has a lot of information to share. He’s the author of “White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity,” which won a 2021 American Book Award. He is also the author of “The End of White Christian America,” which won the 2019 Grawemeyer Award in Religion.
Jones’ academic and religious credentials grant him the authority to lead the conversation. He holds a Ph.D. in religion from Emory University and a M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
The Rev. Larry Pickens, executive director of the council, believes Jones was the right person to lead a conversation Christians in the commonwealth sorely need. Here are some reasons why, according to Jones’ research:
• Seven out of 10 white Christians, including mainline Protestant and Roman Catholics, strongly support flying the Confederate flag and maintaining the monuments, even if they are offensive to African Americans.
These attitudes persist not only in the South but throughout the United States.
• Seven out of 10 white Christians deny structural racism has any significant impact on the lives of African Americans today.
• White Christians are more likely than white non-Christians to deny systemic racism is a factor in how police treat African Americans.
• White Christians are less likely than white non-Christians to accept racism as a factor in the criminal justice system.
• White Christians are much more likely than white non-Christians to deny the enslavement of Black people and past discrimination have any impact on today’s society.
That’s just the tip of Jones’ iceberg. There’s another chilling fact for some: Most Americans are no longer white Christians. In 2008, Jones’ statistics show 54% of Americans were white Christians. Today, that’s down to 44% and dropping. And one quarter of Americans profess no religious affiliation whatsoever.
The number of Christians continues to drop because any Christian will tell you many young people no longer find mainline churches appealing. It’s not just because of persistent racism in the church, but because so many Christians reject the LGBTQ+ community. And Jones will tell you 80% of young Americans support LGBTQ+ rights.
There is some good news in all of this. The fact that the Pennsylvania Council of Churches hosted a forum on Christian nationalism is a sign of the soul-searching underway among church leaders. Many of them may not know what to do about the issues facing Christian churches today, but at least they’re willing to talk about it.
Joyce M. Davis is PennLive’s outreach and opinion editor and is a member of the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Council of Churches.