“I want religion out of government, and I feel like these people are taking over my country,” said, Kendrea Wilson, a Valley business owner who caters to a diverse clientele but has watched GOP religious extremists representing her own district continually introduce anti-gay and anti-abortion laws.

Northeast Valley News conducted opinion polling at several different Valley locations to ask Arizonans their thoughts on Christian extremism and the phenomenon of white Christian nationalism being promoted at the federal, state and local government in the U.S. by certain lawmakers.

Over the week long polling, Arizonans were clear—keep religion out of government.

A sharp majority, 64.1% of those questioned would like to see less religion (identified as right-wing religious extremism and specifically as Christian nationalism) in all government offices.

But this polling majority from Arizona (and other polls around the country) has not stopped the growing number of MAGA and white Christian nationalist candidates and lawmakers in or seeking various government and even school board offices across the U.S. from trying to push extreme policy with their religious tenets at the helm.

The recent election by Republicans of the of the most extreme MAGA supporter and now, the U.S. House Speaker, Rep. Mike Johnson, reveals the extreme right working at the highest echelon in Congress.

Johnson’s report card on his extreme Christian views in governance propels him to the top of the class of those who unapologetically promote governance steeped in a religious theology.

Johnson led the House effort to challenge, although unsuccessfully, the Biden win and was a fierce opponent of investigation attempts into Donald Trump.

What is white Christian nationalism?

The Southern Poverty Law Center’s describes white Christian nationalism this way: – it “refers to a political ideology and identity that fuses white supremacy, Christianity and American nationalism, and whose proponents claim that the United States is a `Christian Nation.’”

Arizona is the home to many of Christian nationalist faithful.

Over the summer, a West Valley Republican state senator proudly displayed a white flag tied to Christian nationalism and other extremist movements on her desk on the floor of the Arizona Senate.

The flag originally had a historical significance and reference to George Washington and the Continental Army. But today the flag is being used

In recent years, the flag has been adopted by evangelical Christians and Christian nationalists, who see the flag as a rallying call.

Rolling Stone referenced that Christian nationalists believe that the United States is Christian nation that should base its laws and practices around the teachings of Christianity. For followers of the movement, the flag symbolizes what they view as America’s Christian roots. 

The flag has also been embraced by far-right extremist organizations like the Proud Boys and some neo-Nazi groups.

An Arizona State University professor who requested anonymity told Northeast Valley News that white Christian nationalism is not only a threat to our democracy and the way we govern but it is a movement on education as well and if not kept in check will restrict educators in “teaching factual information in the classroom without some kind of dangerous prior restraint rules.”

“It’s ok to have a personal belief, but this movement wants to govern based on their religious beliefs and we should reject that at all stops.”

Last month, the publication, Michigan Advance highlighted the growing white Christian nationalist movement and their resilient danger that is already weaved through our local, state and federal lawmaking governments.

“White Christian nationalism is a key ideology that inspired the failed Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection and fueled multiple failed political campaigns in 2022 . . . however, white Christian nationalism remains a persistent and growing threat to U.S. democracy. Any person with a modicum of intelligence knows European colonists immigrated to America to escape religious persecution, expand their economic opportunities and live in a country where there was separation of church and state. Followers of the white Christian nationalism movement want to contradict the principles and norms of democracy and make America an authoritarian country.

Adherents of white Christian nationalism are the drivers of antidemocratic conspiracy theories and election denialism and possibly book banning, LGBTQIA denigration, “sanitized” black history curriculum, anti-female reproductive rights, gerrymandering and attacking diversity, equity and inclusion.”