Steven Lichty
The Confluence of Faith, Nation, and Global Power
The contemporary political crisis in the United States, marked by intense polarisation and disputes over democratic legitimacy, is not merely a secular phenomenon but a conflict deeply rooted in religious-nationalist worldviews. An influential and systematised form of religious nationalism, American Christian Nationalism (ACN), poses a fundamental threat to the foundational tenets of American constitutional democracy, particularly the principle of universal religious freedom and the equality of civic standing for all citizens. This ideology fuses a specific, exclusionary strain of fundamentalist Christianity with nativist, patriarchal, and often white identity politics, driven by the conviction that the United States was established as a Christian nation and must return to this idealised state (Graves-Fitzsimmons & Siddiqi, 2022).
This article argues that America’s internal democratic conflict is tied to U.S. hegemony and the rise of ACN undermines global leadership by fuelling instability, eroding norms, and weakening soft power and trust. Mainstream discourse often spotlights spectacles while missing steady institutional advances and the religious–mythic drivers of political behaviour. Ignoring these obscure power mobilisation, leading to policymakers misdiagnosing problems, activists choosing ineffective tactics, and scholars overlooking epistemic and ethical roots of the polycrisis (Lichty, 2023).
ACN’s ascent creates a geopolitical paradox. Seeking to “Make America Great Again,” adherents pursue divine exceptionalism and greater hegemony (Treene, 2023), yet the ideology’s illiberal, exclusionary thrust hastens the decline of the U.S.-led neo-liberal order. Abandoning liberal values—human rights, democracy, pluralism—jeopardises America’s supposed role as moral guarantor, appears abroad as hypocrisy, erodes trust, and gifts rivals a narrative to challenge the rules-based system (Stokes, 2018).
Causal Layered Analysis of American Christian Nationalism
The ACN ideology is not a fringe movement. In a 2024 survey of Americans on Christian nationalism (n=22,000), 10% of were Adherents and 20% Sympathizers (vs. 37% Skeptics, 29% Rejecters). Support was higher among Republicans (20%/33%) than independents (6%/16%) or Democrats (5%/11%) and positively associated with older age and lower education. However, ACN is not monolithic and can be clustered into three distinct strands—charismatic dominionism, Calvinist nationalism, and Catholic integralism—each with its own theology, leaders, and preferred path to a “Christian America” (Saiya, 2025). Despite a shared goal of privileging Christianity in public life, these strands differ (and sometimes clash) over prophecy, race and gender hierarchies, and church–state models, producing both tactical alliances and deep fissures.
To get a broad overview of ACN, Causal Layered Analysis (CLA) unpacks four layers of this ideological movement. CLA is a futures tool that examines a topic across four layers: litany, systems/structures, worldviews/mindsets, and myth/metaphor (Inayatullah, 2008). This analysis reveals how surface-level events connect to deeper cultural narratives related to ACN and expounds on its impact and consequences. Subsequent sections explore the worldview and myth/metaphor layers in greater detail, as these better explain the actions and attitudes of the ACN adherents as it relates to U.S. hegemony.
Litany:
Overwhelming Evangelical support for Trump
Support/engagement with Jan 6 insurrection
Legislative efforts for placing Bibles in schools
Opposition to LGBTQI+, women’s and minority rights
Climate change denial
“Righteous crusade” rhetoric and saviour mentality
America founded as a Christian nation
Rhetoric framing opposition as “Satanic” forces
Systems & Structures:
Powerful and well-funded organisations such as Focus on the Family and the Family Research Council lobby extensively
Groups like the New Apostolic Reformation mobilise voters through churches and prophecy-driven activism
Economic insecurity linked to globalisation and automation intensifies receptivity to nationalist framing
Churches provide cultural meaning and organisational strength, creating a feedback loop where hardship is reinterpreted through a religious-nationalist lens Mainline denominations remain divided, though the Presbyterian Church (USA) has explicitly denounced Christian nationalism as oppressive and unbiblical
Worldviews, Paradigms, and Mindsets:
Adherents see America as a divinely favoured Christian nation, engaged in “spiritual warfare” against evil
Hierarchical gender, racial, and social orders are justified as God’s plan and outlined in their biblical interpretations
“Real American” identity is equated with being Christian, fostering exclusion of secular and minority voices
Political struggle becomes a cosmic battle where ends justify illiberal means
Myths & Metaphors:
Archetypal myths portray America as the “New Jerusalem” or “God’s chosen nation”
Founding documents seen as divinely inspired “In God We Trust”
Pledge stating “One nation, under God”
Metaphors of dominion and salvation reinforce calls to Christianise society and “resist Satanic forces”
Eschatological Engines and the Allure of End-Times Escapism
ACN draws momentum from Christian eschatology—beliefs about the “end times”—that frame politics as sacred warfare and justify illiberal projects. A dominionist subset explicitly seeks the subordination of society (and even nations) to biblical law, fuelling anti-science stances and scapegoating of LGBTQ+ people, secular liberals, Muslims, and immigrants (Gabbatt, 2025). An “end-times economy” of films, books, media, and conferences continually recycles used apocalyptic narratives, validating belief regardless of outcomes and powering mobilisation (Lichty, 2023).
Religious escapism manifests as: 1) apathy toward VUCA challenges and civic duty; 2) doomsday spending that imperils livelihoods; 3) a chronic, subdued terror that drains daily joy; and 4) gospel escapism that deems earthly justice secondary. These dynamics are readily weaponised by demagogues using “hate spin” to mobilise supporters and vilify out-groups (Wels, 2023; George, 2016).
History records a long chain of failed prophecies—Miller (1844), Russell (1874/1914), Armstrong (1972–75), Camping (1994/2011)—often leaving followers disillusioned or financially ruined (Wels, 2023). The pattern continues today. In 2025, South African pastor Joshua Mhlakela revised his rapture dates from 23/24 September to 6/7 October after the first rapture failed to materialise, citing a “calendar error” (Adediran, 2025). Despite a documented 100% failure rate for date-specific prophecies, belief persists via interpretive strategies (e.g., “Double Coming”) that immunise prophecies from falsification (Lichty, 2023). Yet each failure is reinterpreted, not abandoned, sustaining community and mission while deepening disengagement from real-world problem-solving.
A contemporary atavistic current sacralises biology, hierarchy, and masculinist order, yearning for a purifying collapse that will replace decadent modernity with a stronger humanity. This eschatological-political loop resolves cognitive dissonance by offering identity, belonging, and certainty—often producing rapture-focused apathy toward climate risk or even a morbid welcome of ecological or nuclear catastrophe as prophetic signs (Burton, 2017). Demographic anxiety and a siege mentality intensify the call for the state to enforce Christian morals (Everton, 2024; Rotolo et al., 2024).
These eschatological worldviews are not on the fringe. Political figures—including Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and Mike Pompeo—are firm adherents (Lichty, 2023). Pete Hegseth has endorsed “sphere sovereignty,” recasting the state as an instrument of divine punishment (Gabbatt, 2025), while U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson roots his worldview squarely in the Bible (Pengelly, 2023). Such cues legitimise policy agendas that privilege Christianity in public life.
The Pulls, Pushes, and Weights of American Christian Nationalism
To analyse this complex, dynamic threat, Inayatullah’s (2008) Futures Triangle is used to assess the interplay between three forces: 1) the aspirational goals and visions of the future (Pull of the Future); 2) the current drivers and trends (Pushes of the Present); and 3) the historical cultural and legal constraints (Weights of the Past).
Pulls: Polak’s Images of the Future, Dualism, and Theocratic Certainty
Polak (1973) argues societies move—or stall—by their shared “images of the future.” After a 20th-century collapse of renewing, positive images, ACN seeks to fill the vacuum with a rigid, exclusionary dualism (Graves-Fitzsimmons & Siddiqi, 2022). ACN fuses Polak’s two positive image types in corrupted form:
- Secularised Eschatology: destiny via superhuman agency. ACN frames Christians as divinely mandated to exercise dominion, and a rapture hope provides maximal cognitive closure that legitimises political rule.
- Corrupted Utopia: earthly betterment narrowed by nationalism into a geographically confined “Christianised nation” of institutional preference.
The apex image of “Hegemonic Dominion” institutionalises religious preference and implicitly relegates non-Christians to second-class status, casting them as less “truly American” (Public Religion Research Institute, 2024). This promised spiritual reward for political action hardens the movement against compromise (Stewart, 2022; Mora-Ciangherottil, 2024). These images of the future serve as powerful myths that endure not for accuracy but for their power to shape identity, belonging, and destiny, thus fuelling nationalist mobilisation across the U.S. These “used apocalyptic futures” of ACN may represent preferred futures for the chosen elect, but simultaneously exhibit hellish scenarios for most of the U.S. population, especially for minority and marginalised communities.
Pushes: The Neurocognitive Cascade to Uncritical Alignment
Specific neurocognitive drivers and structural forces push ACN toward these images of the futures. Chronic uncertainty drives rigid politics (Morriss et al., 2023). ACN usurps a neurocognitive cascade that consists of three stages. In Stage 1 (Affective Arousal), economic and political instability heightens threat physiology. Sustained stress functionally sensitises the amygdala, biasing ambiguous cues as danger and creating an urgent drive to resolve uncertainty (Zhang et al., 2018; Boukezzi et al., 2022). Within Stage 2 (Cognitive Simplification), the urgency manifests as a high Need for Cognitive Closure (NFC)—a preference for fast, definite answers that privileges speed and “sticking” to first conclusions. Under high NFC, executive-network connectivity wanes while internal consolidation dominates, promoting dichotomous, all-or-nothing thinking (Kossowska et al., 2019). Finally, during Stage 3 (Ideological Alignment), ACN supplies simple, absolutist narratives—casting politics as light vs. darkness—and promises externally imposed order (Graves-Fitzsimmons & Siddiqi, 2022). Its aim to establish a “Christian society” meets the stressed need for stability and control, providing neuro-affective relief that quiets threat signals (Xhang et al., 2018). The result is an authoritarian exchange whereby authority bias facilitates outsourcing judgment to strong leaders, trading democratic complexity for immediate psychological safety—hence uncritical support for rigid, illiberal rule.
Beyond neurobiological dynamics, structural forces propel ACN toward political, cultural, and social dominance—pressing for a government-declared Christian nation, laws rooted in Christian values, and divinely mandated rule (Graves-Fitzsimmons & Siddiqi, 2022; Public Religions Research Institute, 2023). The Seven Mountain Mandate targets the capture of government, media, arts, business, education, family, and religion (Mora-Ciangherottil, 2024), while Project 2025 operationalises this agenda by weakening civil-rights enforcement, narrowing discrimination definitions, and embedding ideologues. Strategic ambiguity—selling takeover as benign “influence”—lowers defenses (Stewart, 2022). The MAGA movement fuses this religious nationalism with populist politics, casting Trump as a divinely chosen “vessel” and elections as spiritual warfare (Treene, 2023). Eschatological Zionism aligns policy with prophecy, with some resisting peace, lest it disrupt timelines (Lichty, 2023). MAGA Christian nationalism amplifies nativism, patriarchy, and bigotry, exemplified by calls for biblical law and punitive anti-LGBTQ+ measures (Saiya, 2023; Gabbatt, 2025).
Weights: Constraints and Condemnation
The weights can be divided into two categories—internal to the ACN movement and external for minority and global communities. The most durable constraint on ACN remains the Establishment Clause, which bars a state religion and thus blocks any formal declaration of the United States as a Christian nation. Ironically, an authentically Originalist reading strengthens this constraint. James Madison—the principal architect of the First Amendment—argued for a “complete separation between religion and government” (Tyler, 2020). ACN counters with Project 2025, which aims to hollow out these safeguards through judicial capture and placement of ideologues within the civil service, turning constitutional barricades into symbolic shells that delay open conflict but heighten long-run system risk (Leadership Conference Education Fund, 2024).
Externally, ACN’s privileging of Christian identity subverts equal civic standing and normalises discrimination across policy domains. In practice, this translates into rollbacks of LGBTQ+ protections and healthcare access (Graves-Fitzsimmons & Siddiqi, 2022; Public Religions Research Institute, 2023). Nativist restrictions endanger asylum seekers and weaponise civil-rights law against DEI efforts, and efforts to erase the disparate-impact standard, mask systemic racial bias (Leadership Conference Education Fund, 2024).
Geopolitical Dynamics: ACN, Hegemony, and the Illiberal Alliance
ACN inflects U.S. foreign policy with a sacred-mission frame, casting America as divinely mandated to “combat evil” and legitimising choices through religion (Treene, 2023). Proponents claim this will restore U.S. greatness via the image of “Hegemonic Dominion.” Yet the illiberal, exclusionary turn erodes soft power rooted in democracy, human rights, and pluralism, diminishing legitimacy and trust (Stokes, 2018). Examples include eschatology-motivated moves like the U.S. Embassy shift to Jerusalem and a drift toward “sclerotic militarism” justified by theological exceptionalism. As faith drives a pivot from diplomacy (soft power) to competition (sharp power), partners are alienated and multilateral norms weakened. Just as codifying prejudice in the U.S. accelerates domestic harm, U.S. soft power and credibility on human rights erode globally, inviting international censure and diminishing American influence (Lichty, 2023).
This trajectory strains the U.S.-led neo-liberal order. Economic nationalism, scepticism of alliances (e.g., NATO), and EU-fracturing rhetoric signal retreat from the rules-based system the U.S. built (Stokes, 2018). Abroad, ACN validates kindred illiberal projects—Brazil, Poland, Hungary—united by “traditional values” and anti-LGBTQ agendas (Graves-Fitzsimmons & Siddiqi, 2022). In Hungary, Orbán’s “illiberal democracy” gains cover. Putin’s Christian-nationalist posture and anti-LGBT laws are laundered as value defense mechanisms (Plattner, 2019; Alberta, 2023). The net effect is regimes modelling a democratic veneer with shrinking rights—accelerating the fracture of the neo-liberal order (Stokes, 2018).
Conclusion: Navigating a Future of Intersecting Crises
The strategic analysis provided by the Futures Triangle reveals that ACN is an existential, systemic threat, operating through sophisticated institutional infrastructure and exploiting fundamental human psychology. The powerful Pushes of neurocognitive distress and institutional blueprints actively work to neutralise the Weights of constitutional separation of church and state and global democratic norms. If these forces remain unchecked, the gravitational Pull of the exclusionary image of “Hegemonic Dominion” will fracture American democracy, accelerate internal instability, and definitively hasten the collapse of U.S. global hegemony through the strategic validation of illiberal regimes worldwide (Stokes, 2018; Alberta, 2023).
ACN is not merely a political faction. As a powerful ideology, it demands the destruction of the concept of equality of civic standing (Graves-Fitzsimmons & Siddiqi, 2022). Its core tenet—that one’s religious affiliation must determine one’s status in the civic community—inherently requires that non-Christians be relegated to second-class citizenship. This fusion of faith and nation constitutes a theological error and a threat to religious freedom globally. For futurists and the foresight community, navigating competing preferred futures demands justice-based, transformative foresight. This mandate should move from diagnosis to design—convening plural coalitions, crafting counter-images of inclusive democracy, stress-testing institutions against illiberal scenarios, and seeding scalable interventions that inoculate publics against authoritarian certainty.
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