You may wonder just what “paleo-Confederate” means. I did when I saw this term used in the title of a piece by New York Times columnist David French (August 14, 2025).
“Paleo-confederate” is a term Pastor Douglas Wilson uses to describe himself. Wilson is a founder of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), a network of Christian nationalist churches established in 1993. At least 500 Classic Christian grade schools have been established by CREC. The other Christian nationalist churches in this network look to Wilson, pastor of a church in Moscow, Idaho as their leader.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth belongs to this denomination, whose members see Donald Trump as divinely appointed to lead America.
David French wrote that as a self-described “paleo-Confederate,” Wilson “believes that Southern slavery was wrong, but that the Confederacy was otherwise right on all the essential constitutional and cultural issues surrounding the war.”
In addition, like other CREC pastors, Wilson believes that women should not have the right to vote, but that men should vote on behalf of all in their home, something called “household voting.”
Wilson is not only extremely patriarchal, but also a racist who believes that Muslims and Hindus citizens should not be included in the new Christian republic he would like to see created in America.
David French also noted that Pastor Wilson’s influence is growing, indicated by Secretary Hegseth’s public support when Pastor Wilson “reiterated his support for Christian nationalism.”
Basically, Christian nationalists believe the falsehood that America was founded as a Christian nation and that our government and laws should reflect the values, dogma, and beliefs of conservative Evangelical Christianity. It is conjoined with belief in white superiority, rejects any idea of separation between church and state, and wants the government to pass laws that would require Americans to accept the dogma and moral code of very conservative Evangelical Christians.
Such actions would nullify the freedom of religion protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution, and would turn America into a theocracy — literally a state ruled by God — in which only far-right wing Evangelical Christian males would have full citizenship.
For a fuller account of Christian nationalism and of how it is being used by Defense Secretary Hegseth, I recommend these two articles from Forward Kentucky: “The looming threat of Christian Nationalism” and “The Christian Nationalist at the Pentagon.”
It is important to know that not all those who call themselves Evangelical Christians agree with the extreme views of the CREC. Many are compassionate and kind people who love their neighbors and reject the racism and sexism of Doug Wilson. Yet Wilson and others like him try hard to spread their views through the Christian home-schooling movement. And they have the ear of President Trump for a good reason. Trump received about 82% of the Evangelical vote while receiving less than 40% of the vote from other categories of voters, according to David French (NYTimes. April 6, 2025).
We should also remember that Christian nationalism was a significant motivation for many of the people who attacked our capitol building on January 6, 2021. Christian images, language, and symbols were prominently displayed in that attack.
The authors of Project 2025 are also supportive of this distortion of Christianity. It calls for a government based upon “biblical principles” led by a president with unfettered power.
Many of us who claim to be Christian are shocked, not only by the violence and self-righteousness of Christian nationalists, but also by the Christian nationalist ignorance of the real teachings of Jesus which emphasized love of neighbor, and regarded all as neighbors. Remember his acceptance of Samaritans, disliked by his Jewish neighbors, and the famous parable of the Good Samaritan.
Even without much attention from the media, who focus on more dramatic issues like Ukraine, Gaza, and Jeffrey Epstein, Christian nationalists have become a major threat to American democracy. Even other evangelical Christians are troubled, as indicated by the title of a book by Baptist Amanda Taylor: How to End Christian Nationalism, published last year.
Why aren’t we more alarmed?
Christians should unite with other Americans of all flavors to stop this threat to our freedom. If we don’t, it will be more than religious freedom that we will lose.
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