American Christian Nationalism: The Modern Face of Nazi Ideology
It’s easier to hijack the religious mind that relies on faith than to hijack the scientific mind that relies on evidence.
American Christian Nationalism has been on the rise in recent years, with conservative politicians and religious leaders advocating for policies that limit the rights of marginalized communities, roll back reproductive and gender affirming healthcare, attack intellectual freedom and propagate election lies. However, the impact of this ideology goes beyond mere political differences and actually threatens to undermine the very fabric of American democracy. Growing up in the United States, I never imagined I would live during an era of rising Nazism especially rooted in the evangelical movement which pioneered civil rights and slavery abolition. I grew up in the evangelical movement and knew as a teenager that Christian Nationalism was not for me. It’s the reason I went into the military and got emancipated at sixteen. My entire life has been trying to escape this horrific worldview. In the last six years the American Christian Nationalist movement looks identical to early phases of Hilter’s Nazi Movement.
One of the key ways in which American Christian Nationalism is similar to German Nazism is in its treatment of women. Just as the Nazi regime saw women as property to be controlled by men, many American Christian Nationalists seek to roll back women’s reproductive rights and limit their access to healthcare. The recent Supreme Court ruling that allowed Texas to ban most abortions after six weeks is a prime example of this dangerous trend (American University, 2022).
Furthermore, many states are passing laws that restrict access to reproductive healthcare and limit women’s ability to make choices about their own bodies. This echoes the fascist philosophy of Mussolini and Hitler, who saw women as little more than breeding machines for the benefit of the state. By controlling women’s bodies and limiting their reproductive rights, American Christian Nationalists are perpetuating this dangerous and oppressive ideology (Politico Europe, 2022).
Another way in which American Christian Nationalism resembles German Nazism is in its attack on intellectual freedom as well as the denial of free and fair elections. The Nazi regime burned and banned books that were deemed to be “subversive,” and in many ways, American Christian Nationalists are doing the same thing. By attacking sex and gender studies, and denying the existence of transgender people, they are attempting to erase the experiences and identities of entire communities. Ever since I was a child, I have had a love affair with science that still persists today. When I was about eight years old my parents got me a microscope I wanted for my birthday. I carried this microphone everywhere. This same year my parents put my siblings and I in a Christian school called the Yorktown Christian Academy and a teacher there took my microscope and broke it and told me it was against God’s wishes. Mind you – I went home and threw the biggest tantrum ever and refused to go back to that school. My siblings joined me in the protest which led me to go back to public school, thankfully. My parents weren’t helpful and acted as obstacles in my pursuit of scientific knowledge because of their indoctrination into ACN. It’s a movement built on white supremacy and anti-intellectualism and I’ve had to accept the fact that my parents are beyond reach and will never be able to deconstruct the web of delusions they live under. My home life was oppressive and abusive. It prevented me from spreading my wings. As a child and teenager I didn’t fully understand that I was growing up within a hate-cult that was rooted in Nazi ideology and I honestly don’t think my parents even understand the gravity of their indoctrination. It’s impossible to communicate any form of logic or scientific reasoning with them. I made a choice to keep my distance and I’ve continued my pursuit of scientific knowledge without their support. I entered the U.S. Military as a Nuclear, Biological Chemical Defense Specialist with the hopes of pursuing my scientific education. My story of living in America isn’t an isolated story. This is reflective of Nazi Era Germany.
One notable example is the work of Magnus Hirschfeld, a German physician and pioneer of gender-affirming care. His work was targeted by the Nazis, who burned his books and destroyed his research. Today, American Christian Nationalists are engaging in a similar kind of censorship, seeking to limit access to information and ideas that challenge their narrow worldview.
Magnus Hirschfeld was a trailblazer in the field of sexology, advocating for the rights of transgender and homosexual people at a time when they were considered deviant and subjected to intense persecution. Hirschfeld, a German physician and sexologist, founded the Institute for Sexual Science in Berlin in 1919, which quickly became a leading center for research and education on sexuality and gender identity.
However, Hirschfeld and his work came under attack from the Nazi regime, who viewed his research and advocacy as a threat to their white supremacist and patriarchal ideology. In 1933, the Institute for Sexual Science was ransacked and burned by the Nazis, along with Hirschfeld’s extensive library and archives.
Hirschfeld was forced to flee Germany and spend the remainder of his life in exile. He continued to advocate for the rights of LGBTQ+ people, traveling the world to speak and write about his work. However, he never fully recovered from the trauma of the Nazi attacks, and died in France in 1935, just two years after the destruction of his life’s work.
The persecution of Hirschfeld and other LGBTQ+ people under the Third Reich is a tragic reminder of the dangers of allowing supremacist ideologies to go unchecked. It is a call to continue fighting for the rights of all marginalized communities, to honor the memory of those who have been persecuted and to ensure that such atrocities never happen again (Plant, 2021).
In the end, the similarities between American Christian Nationalism and German Nazism are striking and alarming. Both seek to limit and rollback the rights of marginalized communities, control women’s bodies, create election lies that undermine free and fair elections and restrict access to information and ideas that challenge their worldview. If we are to build a truly just and equitable society, we must reject these dangerous ideologies and work towards a more inclusive and compassionate future.
The persecution of Magnus Hirschfeld and the LGBT+ community by the Nazi regime serves as a stark reminder of the dangers of allowing extremist ideologies to take hold in society. The suppression of sexual and gender diversity and the dehumanization of certain groups were central to the Nazi agenda, and we must remain vigilant against any attempts to replicate these oppressive tactics in our own time we are witnessing these horrific events take place in Florida as Ron DeFascist and Mom’s for Illiteracy are banning books on anything other than white supremacy ideology (ABC News, 2023).
Our democracy depends on a commitment to tolerance, respect, and human rights for all people, regardless of their race, gender, sexuality, religion, or other characteristics. We must take a strong stance against any attempts to promote supremacist ideologies or to marginalize and discriminate against marginalized groups. By learning from the lessons of history and standing up for the principles that underpin our democracy, we can build a more just and inclusive society for all.
