Did Christian Nationalism Win? Matthew Taylor on the Vote and the Future

Christian Nationalism has seemingly grabbed the levers of power in America. With an overt passion for power over democracy, the agenda of this authoritarian, exclusionary movement needs to be examined now, more than ever. This week on The State of Belief, host Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush turns to concerned experts who have been telling this story and sounding the alarm in book and documentary form.

We get Matthew Taylor’s take, with a focus on the nomination of Pete Hegseth for Secretary of Defense, and his Crusades-evoking tattoos. Matt’s also got a lot to say about the role Christian Nationalism played in getting out the vote in the 2024 election – and ways it’s sure to be a driving force in the incoming administration. None of it is a surprise for Matt, who’s the author of the important book The Violent Take It By Force: The Christian Movement That Is Threatening Our Democracy.

Matthew D. Taylor, Ph.D., is a senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic Jewish Christian Studies, specializing in Muslim-Christian dialogue, Evangelical and Pentecostal movements, religious politics in the U.S., and American Islam.

Paul also gets the insights of two of the creators of Bad Faith: Christian Nationalism’s Unholy War on Democracy – Executive Producer Todd Stiefel and Director Stephen Ujlaki. Featuring a who’s-who of knowledgeable voices, many of which you’ve heard on The State of Belief, the film traces the history of corrosive theocratic movements like Christian Nationalism back to the Moral Majority and Council for National Policy, and sounds a credible alarm about what the end game may well be.

Stephen Ujlaki is a professor of screenwriting at Loyola Marymount University and a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). He has produced over 30 feature films and documentaries, and wrote, directed, and produced his most recent project, Bad Faith.

Todd Stiefel is the founder and president of the Stiefel Freethought Foundation and Heretical Reason Productions, and chairs the ScienceSaves campaign. An investor, activist, and philanthropist, Todd is the executive producer of the film Bad Faith.