Confronting Christian Nationalism - Part 1 with Rev. Dr. David Rice

The Allender Center Podcast

The Allender Center

Psychology, Religion & Spirituality, Mental Health, Christianity, Trauma, Health & Fitness, Theology

4.6 • 628 Ratings

🗓️ 28 February 2025

⏱️ 47 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Christian nationalism is a growing issue in the U.S., raising important questions about the relationship between faith and politics.

How does our faith shape the way we engage with political issues? And are our political allegiances influencing our faith in ways we may not realize?

While we’re certainly not a news or political network, this is a timely and necessary conversation. Power—both religious and political—can be used to bring about justice and healing, but it can also be wielded in ways that cause harm.

In the first episode of a two-part conversation, we're joined by Rev. Dr. David Rice, an alumnus of The Seattle School and Digital Strategist for BJC, where he leads online engagement and the Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign.

David begins by sharing his personal story—how his upbringing, ministry experiences, and cultural influences shaped his understanding of faith and politics. He also speaks to the challenges pastors and faith leaders face when addressing national issues from the pulpit, often being accused of being “too political.”

We invite you to come back next week for part two of this conversation as David, Dan, and Rachael dive deeper—defining Christian nationalism, exploring our collective longing for control, and considering how we can engage with our communities in meaningful ways.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Thank you for listening to the Allender Center podcast.
0:06.7	I'm Dr. Dan Allender.
0:08.7	And I'm Rachel Clinton-Centen.
0:10.5	We're fiercely committed to providing hope and healing to a fragmented world.
0:14.7	And restoration for the heart.
0:17.2	Thank you for joining us.
0:18.5	Let's get this conversation started.
0:31.7	Thank you for joining us. Let's get this conversation started. Well, Dan, we have entered the waters of our conversation today, often in some of our conversations around spiritual abuse, around what it means to be faithful Christians at such a time as this.
0:46.6	But today we're going to talk a little bit more explicitly about Christian nationalism.
0:53.1	And to do so, we're very fortunate to have one of my friends and I would say
1:00.8	former colleague in the sense that we graduated from the Seattle School together in the M-Div program.
1:06.5	David Rice is here to join us. So welcome, David.
1:10.4	Hey, Rachel. Hey, Dan. Thanks for inviting me on.
1:14.0	Well, and your credentials are amazing. So Rachel, you need to just sort of give this man his proper due.
1:22.6	Yeah. Well, David is a Reverend Doctor. As I mentioned, he is a graduate of the Seattle School. He's a pastor
1:29.3	and currently serves at the digital strategist for Christians against Christian nationalism.
1:34.7	He oversees their social media accounts and growing Facebook community. But what I want to
1:39.5	mostly say is my experience of David, not just in school, but over the years, as we've had a few
1:45.9	touch points, is that he's an incredibly wise, kind, and humble person. And he's been courageous
1:54.3	and faithful in ways that I know have been incredibly costly at such a time as this. And so I
2:00.4	actually deeply trust him to join us in this
2:03.4	conversation. And I look forward to you getting to hear more from him. He lives with his family in
	...

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