Bill Berkowitz and Gale Bataille for BuzzFlash: Is Josh Hawley the New Point Man for Christian Nationalism?
January 25, 2021
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) is desperately and shamelessly trying to inherit Trump’s mantle by becoming the authoritarian leader of Christian Nationalism (Rebecca Hammel)
By Bill Berkowitz and Gale Bataille
He’s smart, photogenic, speaks his mind, and has had an elite education. As the January 6th attempted coup at the Capitol was unfolding, he gave the mob a clenched-fist salute, before running off to a secure location to escape the mob. After the Capitol was cleared of the insurrectionists, he persisted in leading the challenge to the election of Joe Biden. With Donald Trump banished to the sidelines – at least temporarily -- is 41 year-old Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley the new point man for Christian Nationalism? And, how will his allegiance to Trump play out for his future in politics?
If you’re looking for unity, healing and reconciliation, Josh Hawley is not your man. Hawley is a Christian warrior; a graduate of Stanford University and Yale Law School; a Brooks Brothers version of Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and Franklin Graham, with a sprinkling of Jim Bakker and Jimmy Swaggart hucksterism thrown in to the mix. He clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts and served as an attorney for Becket, a prominent right-wing ultra-Christian legal group.
If you’re looking for someone to depolarize the political landscape, it will not be Josh Hawley. If you’re looking for a far right true believer in a (white) Christian nation, then Josh Hawley might be your man.
Hawley as a Christian nationalist, holds a biblical world view that traces the ills of modern day society back to the philosophy of Pelagius, a British-born monk who lived in the 4th century. Paul D. Miller defines and discusses Christian nationalism in a recent Christianity Today International interview titled “Christian Nationalism is Worse Than You Think”. Miller, a professor of the practice of international affairs at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service and a research fellow with the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, is currently finalizing a book tentatively titled Christian Nationalism in the Age of Trump for InterVarsity Press.
According to Katherine Stewart, Hawley “appears to be at war with both truth and democracy.” In a recent The New York Times story titled “The Roots of Josh Hawley’s Rage”
Stewart, author of The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, wrote: “In multiple speeches, an interview and a widely shared article for Christianity Today, Hawley has explained that the blame for society’s ills traces all the way back to Pelagius. In a 2019 commencement address at The King’s College, a small conservative Christian college devoted to “a biblical worldview,” Hawley denounced Pelagius for teaching that human beings have the freedom to choose how they live their lives and that grace comes to those who do good things, as opposed to those who believe the right doctrines..
Stewart uses Hawley’s analysis of the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey Supreme Court case to further highlight this extreme Christian doctrine: “Hawley cited Justice Anthony Kennedy’s words reprovingly. ‘At the heart of liberty,’ Justice Kennedy wrote, ‘is the right to define one’s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life.’” Hawley maintained that condemning Pelagian’s vision was the correct decision by the fifth-century church fathers: “Replacing it and repairing the harm it has caused is one of the challenges of our day.”
In a 2017 speech to the American Renewal Project, Hawley said: “We are called to take that message into every sphere of life that we touch, including the political realm. That is our charge. To take the lordship of Christ, that message, into the public realm, and to seek the obedience of the nations. Of our nation!”
Stewart argues that “Although many of the foot soldiers in the assault on the Capitol appear to have been white males aligned with white supremacist movements, it would be a mistake to overlook the powerful role of the rhetoric of religious nationalism in their ranks.”
While some Christian nationalist leaders have condemned the Capitol violence, they have failed to criticize Hawley’s attempts to overturn a legitimately conducted presidential election.
However, the press, the political establishment and previous supporters have not given Hawley a pass. Two of Hawley’s home state newspapers – the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the Kansas City Star – roundly condemned him. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial Board wrote that Hawley “had the gall to stand before the Senate Wednesday night and feign shock, shock at what happened — hours after he had fist-pumped and cheered the rioters as they arrived on Capitol Hill. Hawley’s tardy, cover-his-ass condemnation of the violence ranks at the top of his substantial list of phony, smarmy and politically expedient declarations.”
“Assault on democracy: Sen. Josh Hawley has blood on his hands in Capitol coup attempt,” read the headline of the Kansas City Star’s Editorial Board condemnation of Hawley.
His mentor, former Missouri Senator John Danforth (who is also an ordained minister) has disavowed him; mega donors, including the Kansas City-based Hallmark, have dropped him, at least temporarily; a book deal with publisher Simon & Schuster has been cancelled; and he has been called upon to resign, which he has vowed he will not do.
Asked by CNN reporter Manu Raju if he regretted his role in what happened, Hawley said he did not. “I was representing my constituents,” Hawley claimed. “I did exactly what I said I was going to do. And I gave voice to my constituents, and I have condemned mob violence in all its forms.”
Hawley and his buddy, Texas Senator Ted Cruz are at risk of being censured or punished in some other way by the Senate for encouraging the January 6th insurrection. It is highly unlikely that they will be expelled as that hasn’t happened since the 1860s, when several traitorous lawmakers -- including two each from Texas and Missouri -- were kicked out for supporting the Confederacy against the United States.
The reputations of Hawley, Cruz and other legislators may be further tarnished when/if a commission is formed to investigate the groups and individuals that participated in actions to overturn the election, including the storming of the Capitol.
Josh Hawley may be smarter than Donald Trump and his suits definitely fit better, but he is not nearly as politically savvy. A course in “Roy Cohn 101” might be necessary to elevate his game. Trump has no deeply help religious beliefs but benefitted from the almost religious fervor of his followers. Hawley is a committed soldier for Christ but has yet to demonstrate that he has the charisma to become Trump’s “apprentice” in waiting.
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