Christian Nationalism as Media

Abstract

Christian nationalist strategy hinges on owning media technologies. Responding to the urgent need to understand this strategy, this essay develops a theory of Christian nationalism rooted in media ecology. Through criticism of Christian nationalist platforms, I contend that Christian nationalism aspires to replace the mediating function of the public sphere by rejecting the sensemaking capacity of racialized and gendered outsiders. First, I review Wynterian challenges to media ecology and re-situate Christianity as essential to “Man,” whose senses media extend. Second, I show that centering mediation reveals the White male supremacist meaning behind the Christian nationalist “deep story.” Third, I compare the media anxieties expressed by televisual and digital Christian nationalist networks. Finally, I apply the theory in an extended reading of the communications policies of “Project 2025.” Christian nationalism as media, not just using media, retrieves White supremacist measures of humanity to enhance conservative hegemony.