Russell Moore on Christian Nationalism

The New Yorker Radio Hour

WNYC Studios and The New Yorker

Politics, Arts, News, Wnyc, Books, David, Storytelling, Society & Culture, Yorker, New, Remnick

4.2 • 6.2K Ratings

🗓️ 4 November 2022

⏱️ 31 minutes

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Summary

Russell Moore, a prominent figure in the Southern Baptist Convention, resigned over the church’s response to racism—which Moore considers a sin—and documented sexual abuse allegations. The theologian sits down with David Remnick to reflect on the intersection of Christianity and American politics. “Jesus always refused to have his gospel used as a means to an end,” Moore says. “People who settle for Christianity or any other religion as politics are really making a pitiful deal.” Plus, the contributing writer Eliza Griswold reports on an energized movement of Christian nationalists aiming for statewide power in Pennsylvania. They believe that the authority to rule comes from God, not from a plurality of voters. “This isn’t about injecting Christian values into society,” Griswold notes, “this is about overthrowing secular democracy.”

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is The New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.
0:09.1	Welcome to The New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick.
0:12.9	Our contributor, Eliza Griswold, has been reporting from Pennsylvania on the political trends affecting the midterms.
0:20.0	There's the Senate race between Mehmet Oz, Dr. Oz, and a lieutenant governor, John
0:24.6	Federman, who suffered a stroke this year that's impacted his campaign, particularly after he struggled
0:30.1	in a recent debate.
0:31.7	But there's also something else going on in Pennsylvania, an energized movement of Christian
0:36.6	nationalists aiming for power in state government.
0:39.8	Those nationalists see God, not the will of voters, as the source of authority and government.
0:45.1	Our writer Eliza Griswold says the movement is truly significant at the state level,
0:49.9	where it can put far-right candidates into the legislature.
0:54.6	Eliza, this is not your old-school Christian right that we used to talk about,
0:59.4	the era of Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell, is it?
1:03.5	Not at all, David.
1:04.6	This is something really different.
1:06.1	This isn't about injecting, you know, Christian values into society.
1:13.3	This is about overthrowing secular democracy.
1:15.1	In what sense?
1:25.1	In the sense that what we see is people who believe that a God-ordained government requires that they take over the institutions of democracy. It's actually kind of thinking called dominionism
1:30.0	that's growing very popular in some circles in Christianity.
1:34.9	So how is that influencing the races in Pennsylvania?
1:39.1	Well, let me take you back to an event that happened in early July.
	...

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