The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism and What Comes Next
To many, watching the January 6th insurrection unfold was both jarring and unthinkable; however, for Brad Onishi, it was the logical outcome of long-standing tensions within Christian nationalism. As a former conservative evangelical, his horror was two-fold: one response shared with most Americans, and another shaped by the unsettling question of whether he himself might have been present had he continued in his former faith. In Preparing for War, Onishi traces the history of Christian nationalism and its buildup to the Capitol riot, drawing on his personal story to illuminate the emotional and cultural pull of this ideology.
By situating January 6 within its broader historical context, Onishi begins by humanizing those in the movement through reflections on his own past. Converted to evangelicalism at fourteen and serving as a youth pastor in a megachurch in his early twenties, he was deeply embedded in a Christian nationalist worldview before leaving Christianity during his graduate studies at Oxford. For Onishi, the roots of Christian nationalism are not only culturally significant but personally revealing, emerging from grievances held by white nostalgic Christians. The coalition built in the 1970s on these racial and cultural anxieties—fortified by purity culture and political organizing—transformed this sentiment into a powerful movement. As politics took on an increasingly ritualistic and identity-defining role, the Obama presidency intensified fears within the movement, setting the stage for January 6 as the culmination of decades of escalating tension.
Onishi concludes with a call to action: without a renewed commitment to democratic plurality, Christian nationalism will not fade but reorganize, continuing to shape and destabilize American culture. Overall, Onishi elicits that reckoning with Christian nationalism’s past is a necessary step towards safeguarding America’s future.
Reviews and Endorsements of this Publication include the following:
“In this compelling and scholarly mix of memoir and cultural and political history, Onishi brings to bear his experience as a former Christian nationalist movement insider to expose the radicalism behind the January 6th insurrection. Gripping and essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the threat that this movement poses to American democracy.”
– Katherine Stewart, Author of The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous World of Religious Nationalism
“In Preparing for War, Bradley Onishi traces the history of White Christian Nationalism from the John Birch Society to the Big Lie and the January 6 terrorist assault on the U.S. Capitol, a narrative enlivened by the author’s own occasional intersections with the movement. This is an excellent and important book, both chilling and prophetic.”
– Randall Balmer, Professor of Religion at Dartmouth College and Author of Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the Religious Right
“Onishi takes us on a sweeping yet personal journey through modern American religious and political history to understand the violent, extremist strains of white Christian America that led to the January 6th insurrection. With insight from hundreds of interviews, deep scholarship, and his own escape from white Christian Nationalism, Onishi’s Preparing for War is a clear account of what happened and clarion warning about what is coming. Compelling and timely.”
– Andrew Seidel, Constitutional Lawyer at Americans United and author of American Crusade: How the Supreme Court Is Weaponizing Religious Freedom
For more information on this publication, click here:
For more of “On the Lived Theology Reading List,” click here. To engage in the conversation on Facebook and Twitter, @LivedTheology, please use #LivedTheologyReads. To sign up for the Lived Theology newsletter, click here.