“God, Guns, and Guts”: Christian Nationalism from a Psychoanalytic Perspective

• Published in: Religions (Basel, Switzerland ) Vol. 14; no. 3; p. 292
• Main Author: Cooper-White, Pamela
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.02.2023
• Subjects: American Christianity; Analysis; charismatic leaders; Christian nationalism; Christianity; Christians; Conspiracy; Evangelicalism; Freud; God; group psychology; gun culture; Nationalism; Political activism; Political aspects; Political campaigns; QAnon conspiracy theory; Rebellions; Religion; Religious aspects; Religious right; Religious Right (American politics); Right to bear arms; White supremacy; United States; United States > US
• ISSN: 2077-1444; 2077-1444
• DOI: 10.3390/rel14030292

This article explores the motivations behind adherents to Christian nationalism using several inter-related psychoanalytic theoretical lenses. Following a description of Christian nationalist beliefs, four conscious motivations for joining will be outlined first, including recruitment tactics/evangelization that fulfill the need for belonging and a sense of sacred purpose, the fear of loss of white social status, fear of loss of patriarchal authority and hierarchy, and the allure of conspiracy theories such as QAnon for conservative Christians. This will be followed by a more in-depth discussion of unconscious dynamics that can fuel individuals’ adoption of a Christian-nationalist belief system, including group dynamics and Freud’s insights into the power of a charismatic leader, the allure of guns reflecting deeper unconscious fears of emasculation, paranoid splitting and the role of trauma, and, finally, the ways in which this segment of American Christianity may be unconsciously carrying disavowed and split-off aggression towards other Christians—and how better integration might be achieved through nonviolent resistance to injustice, and positive political engagement.