About 100 Milwaukee faith leaders launch campaign against Christian nationalism
Milwaukee faith leaders on Thursday launched a campaign against Christian nationalism, saying they want to protect American democracy.
About 100 leaders from a variety of faith backgrounds, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism, rallied outside the Martin Luther King Jr. statue on North King Drive before marching to Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church, where they received training on how to engage their congregations in conversation about the issue.
"America is not a Christian nation," said the Rev. Paul Erickson, bishop of the Greater Milwaukee Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, or ELCA.
The U.S. is at its best, Erickson said, when Christianity is one faith among many in the public sphere.
Christian nationalism is a right-wing movement that argues Christian values should influence government and that church and state should not be separate. Some also believe in waging "spiritual warfare" against what they see as an erosion of conservative cultural values in American society, including on gender, sexuality and race.
Christian nationalist symbols were seen at the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, and prominent leaders in the movement railed in recent years against pandemic shutdowns. Experts say the ideology's influence can also be seen in local school board elections around the country over parental fights to ban library books or control curriculum.
The faith leaders who spoke Thursday see Christian nationalism as a wide-ranging threat to the country's future. Among the key issues they mentioned were voting laws, antisemitic and anti-Muslim attacks and state lawmakers' efforts to defund college diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
More: Republicans have a lot to say about UW diversity programs. So do students
Timothy Ramthun, a former Republican state lawmaker who ran for Wisconsin governor in 2022, is one who fused Christian sentiments with pledges to decertify the 2020 election, the New York Times reported.
The clergy — who were affiliated with MICAH, or Milwaukee Inner City Congregations Allied for Hope — said the values Christian nationalists espouse don't align with the true teachings of Jesus. Their new "We All Belong" campaign aims to share a message of religious inclusivity. Several public events are planned over the next year and a half.
"Leaders and the faithful of all denominations must condemn the bastardization of the message of Jesus that dog-whistles exclusion and white nationalism," said the Rev. Mike Bertram, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Benedict the Moor Catholic churches.
Janan Najeeb, president of the Milwaukee Muslim Women's Coalition, said she was concerned about anti-immigrant sentiments and the spread of the "great replacement" theory, which posits non-white immigrants are part of a plot to undermine or replace the political power of white residents, according to the National Immigration Forum.
Christian nationalists believe the country has a "special mission from God, and that Christianity should therefore be privileged over other religions," Najeeb said.
"In clear violation of our Constitution they are pushing this agenda," she said.
The clergy encouraged people to start conversations with their families and congregations about the ideologies associated with Christian nationalism.
Among those at the rally was Tracey McNeely and her 104-year-old mother, Ruth McNeely-Wells. Tracey, a former English teacher, attended political marches with her mother starting at 5 years old. It was important to support the faith leaders' cause Thursday, Tracey said, because she is concerned about changes to school curriculum that eliminate diverse perspectives.
"They only want one point of view," Tracey said. "That's not right."
As she walked along King Drive with other clergy, Rabbi Taylor Poslosky said she was concerned about rising antisemitism but heartened by how many people of different faiths were pledging support as part of the campaign.
"We're not alone in this," said Poslosky, who is the assistant rabbi at Congregation Shalom in Milwaukee. "We have the support of the entire Milwaukee community."
Tony Bell, who has attended Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church for 40 years, was another marching along King Drive toward the church for training on implementing the new campaign.
"We need prayer, but you also need action after the prayer," he said.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Milwaukee faith leader launch campaign against Christian nationalism
