The Atlantic

White Christian Nationalists Want More Than Just Political Power

And Washington, D.C., looms large in their struggle.
Source: Win McNamee / Getty

“Leave all snacks on the bus!” our guide shouted over the intercom as we readied ourselves to go through security at the U.S. Capitol a few years ago.

“What about my gun?” a man in the back called out, prompting laughter from us all.

That he had brought his gun wasn’t surprising. I was with a busload of white conservative Christians who had come to D.C. from all over the country to learn a Christian nationalist interpretation of the history of the United States. They loved the Second Amendment almost as much as the First. The man reluctantly disarmed and disembarked with the rest of us, and we began the trek up Capitol Hill. What followed was a series of indignities that made most of the group

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