The First Amendment established the separation of church and state in America — but is that principle truly being upheld today? A powerful contingent on the right is working to erase that line entirely, pushing policies that fuse religion and government to advance a Christian nationalist agenda — from efforts to mandate the Ten Commandments in classrooms to reshaping laws around their ideology.

This week, host Akilah Hughes is joined by Heather Weaver of the ACLU, professor Matthew Gabriele, and journalist Talia Lavin to unpack the rise of Christian nationalism in American politics and culture — and its deep ties to authoritarianism and the alt-right.

This episode is sponsored by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. To learn more and get involved, visit ⁠⁠au.org/COURIER⁠⁠.

CHAPTERS:

00:00 Americans United

01:15 How is Christian Nationalism better?

02:35 The history of American separation of church and state

04:32 The start of the American Christian narrative

07:00 What is Christian Nationalism?

09:44 AU

10:14 How has religious extremism crept into our culture?

14:30 Christian Nationalism & Authoritarianism

19:01 The far right, fascism, and more

22:26 Trump’s authoritarian slide

24:36 Priming Christians for fascism

27:49 Christian Nationalism is not better.

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