By Mish Quan
In recent years, the rise of white Christian Nationalism has posed a grave threat to the principles of democracy and the constitutional separation of church and state. Its influence runs deep in U.S. political and educational systems, culminating in projects like Project 2025, a sweeping anti-democratic blueprint aimed at dismantling our government under the guise of religious and “America first” national revival.
But white Christian Nationalism isn’t new. Rooted in a long history of American exceptionalism, it fuses white identity politics with a specific brand of fundamentalist Protestant Christianity to create a racist form of a national identity. President Donald Trump and other extremist politicians have used this ideology to invigorate their base, aligning policies with Christian Nationalist ideals, whether that’s opposing reproductive rights, inhibiting inclusive education, or dismantling protections for marginalized communities.
One of the most dangerous aspects of Christian Nationalism is how it stealthily infiltrates education. From textbook content to university funding, white Christian Nationalism ensures that what counts as “American” is shaped through a narrow lens. This doesn’t just mean overt indoctrination; the effects of implicit propaganda, such as teaching Manifest Destiny without critique or portraying the U.S. as the world’s moral leader, can be just as dangerous to our diverse community. Theocracy creeps in not only through overt policies like hanging the Ten Commandments in classrooms and allowing proselytizing in public schools, but also through biased lesson plans, student censorship and the criminalization of protests.
Despite growing religious diversity in the U.S., with rising numbers of Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists and nonreligious people, white Christian Nationalism reinforces a framework where “Americanness” is equated with whiteness and evangelical Protestant Christianity. Non-Christian and non-white groups are often cast as the “other” to Westerners in educational materials, perpetuating supremacist ideologies inherited from Western imperialism.
Edward Said describes this concept in his book Orientalism, pointing specifically to how Middle Eastern and Asian cultures are portrayed as exotic and less moral in Western academia. Sometimes educational materials may erase this “other” history entirely. In 2019, Advanced Placement World History underwent a major change to split into a new course “AP World History: Modern,” cutting out history before Western colonization, minimizing the importance of non-Western cultures where civilization truly began.
To dismantle white Christian Nationalism, we must commit to a cultural shift grounded in educational reform. This means defending the separation of church and state both in legal courts and in classrooms, rejecting the idea that Christian Nationalism should dictate our understanding of foreign affairs and promoting inclusive education that encourages critical thinking and alternative perspectives.
In addition to advocating for inclusive public schools and fact-based curricula, we can also take educating our communities into our own hands. This can take many forms: zines, panels, reading lists, discussions and other spaces where marginalized voices can be highlighted and the U.S.’s role in historical forms of oppression is scrutinized, not celebrated.
Christian Nationalism thrives on ignorance and fear of going against the dominant narrative. It withers when met with truth, diversity and collective resistance. Faith should be used to inspire justice, not as a weapon to silence others. Together, we can build an America where religious freedom truly thrives, and that begins with our political education.
Mish Quan is a member of Americans United’s Youth Organizing Fellowship. This blog post represents the personal views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Americans United.
