Documentary ‘Bad Faith’ will tour Montana next week, describing the threat of Christian nationalism

A poster for the documentary "Bad Faith: Christian Nationalism's Unholy War on Democracy."

The challenge with Christian nationalism isn’t that it wants to redefine Christianity, according to renowned scholar and historian Nancy MacLean. It’s that it also seeks to reimagine American democracy.

MacLean is professor at Duke University and author of the best-selling “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America,” a national book award finalist.

MacLean will spend most of next week in Montana, touring with the documentary film “Bad Faith,” which addresses the growing issue of Christian nationalism. After the film’s screening, she’ll lead conversations with the audience. She’s been working with the producers of the documentary and other civic groups to help inform the public, and it’s been the response from Christians themselves which have given her the most inspiration.

“They feel like they have their voice back,” MacLean told the Daily Montanan during a phone interview earlier this week.

She said many Christians have seen the rising threat of Christian nationalism, a philosophy that rejects a separation between the state and religion, and instead replaces it with the idea that Christianity, especially a conservative brand of evangelicalism, is the foundation of the country. Many Christians, especially those who identify as evangelical, have noted its rise, but don’t know exactly how to counteract some of its toxic effects, which mix religion and politics.

“There are millions of Christians in America who are also patriots,” MacLean said. “That’s not who we’re talking about. You can be both a Christian and a patriot without being a Christian nationalist.”

Instead, what she is speaking out against in the film tour as well as in her book is a political movement that has used a decentralized network of religious leaders to redefine the most basic and fundamental institutions in America — a reworking of personal freedom, like reproductive rights, a recasting of the history of the United States as a fundamentalist Christian nation, rather than a secular democracy, and even a redefinition of the family.

“(James) Madison and (Thomas) Jefferson saw what happened because of established religion in Europe, and they were so proud that they established that separation,” she said.

She said the language and rhetoric used by nationalist leaders, both secular and religious, has been extreme — from amped up talk of killing babies to accusations of political leaders being enemies or being possessed by demons. That can leave many average citizens stumped with how to respond.

“How do you have a normal political conversation if you believe the other person is possessed by a demon?” MacLean asked.

The film focuses on the the rise of the Christian nationalism movement as well as its powerful economic backing, include the Koch Network. It describes the movement’s attempt to roll back civil rights, defund public education and dismantle parts of the federal government. The documentary has drawn the praise of noted documentarian Ken Burns.

“A great and powerful and timely film, filled with the dread this moment engenders; the cynical misuse of religion to advance aims diametrically the opposite of Christianity’s mission,” Burns said.

MacLean said that many people who see the film feel empowered after seeing it, saying they felt a sense of relief, too.

‘Bad Faith’ screenings and discussion

For a free screening and discussion with Nancy MacLean, Willian H. Chafe, distinguished professor of history and public policy at Duke University, “Bad Faith” will be shown at five locations in Montana. MacLean has written and won awards for her book, “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America.”

Oct. 21 : University Congregational Church, Missoula, 5:30 p.m. screening, followed by dinner and discussion at 7 p.m.

Oct. 22: St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, Helena, 7 p.m.

Oct. 23 : First United Methodist Church, Great Falls, 6 p.m.

Oct. 24: Pilgrim Congregational United Church of Christ, Bozeman, 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 25: Grace United Methodist Church, Billings, 6:30 p.m.

“They know this movement is not in my Bible. It’s heresy,” MacLean said.

MacLean said there are signs that some churches and religious leaders are drifting into nationalism. Those include pastors or leaders endorsing political candidates or telling parishioners how to vote; believing that another side is possessed by demons or demonic forces; or preaching that Jesus had a favored nationality.

“Some of these people are imbibing these nationalist messages without realizing it,” MacLean said. “There are religious leaders posing as political entrepreneurs.”

For their part, politicians have then used religion to drive some members out of politics.

“They’ve taken over the party and driven traditional politicians out as leaders, labeling them RINOs, or Republicans in Name Only,” she said.

Project 2025

The genesis of the movement hasn’t been religious either, MacLean said, it’s been combined with powerful political individuals and economic groups like the conservative Koch brothers or Leonard Leo, known as the architect of the conservative U.S. Supreme Court and co-chairman of the Federalist Society’s Board of Directors. They often have an agenda of their own that doesn’t have much to do with religion, but instead focuses on ending the Department of Education, repealing the Affordable Care Act, and privatizing government lands.

That used to sound like the stuff of conspiracy theories, but the larger plan was outlined extensively when the Heritage Foundation published its Project 2025, MacLean said.

“I think of it as property supremacy,” MacLean said.

While MacLean has been studying the movement and its goals for years, winning multiple awards along the way, she was nonetheless surprised when Project 2025 was published and revealed because it confirmed many of things that her research had been pointing to.

“I was gobsmacked,” MacLean said. “It proved all the radical fears of what they were planning to do.”

Meanwhile, leaders within the conservative movement have been increasingly sidling up to Viktor Orban, a far-right strongman who has radically transformed Hungary. MacLean said if people want to know what could happen next if Christian nationalism continues to grow in the United States, Orban provides a quick reference. She said he has been cheered by conservative political leaders for purging the civil service and cracking down on a free press, and welcomed in America as a model for the future.

She said that the pattern of leaders who are backing Christian nationalism are doing so by preying on otherwise good instincts of church parishioners.

“Weaponization is crucial because it’s hard to get humans to attack fellow humans,” MacLean said. “But you have make them feel righteous in serving a higher good, like God or country.”

Nowhere was that weaponization — and its attendant dangers — more on display than during the COVID-19 pandemic, MacLean said. She offered Fox News as an example. The network promoted some anti-vaccine conspiracies, but “you couldn’t go into a Fox location without vaccination and masking.” She said that kind of two-faced rhetoric wasn’t just troubling, it was deadly.

“But they spread vaccine doubt and pushed to get the economy ready before it was ready, and because of that, we had 200,000 people die prematurely according to health scholars,” MacLean said. “Imagine a cause that would lead followers to their deaths.”

For now, MacLean said the only remedy to stem the tide of Christian nationalism is by education.

“You have to expose it,” she said.

She said once people see the film, they can gather more information, which should help some stand up to the movement.

“What we’re finding is many have felt uncomfortable in their own families and their own congregations,” MacLean said.

Instead, she said that Christians and voters will have to place democratic norms above any political party or partisan issue.

“I can say: The Founders would be appalled,” she said.