I found this quite an interesting read! Amanda Tylers's 244 page book on Christian nationalism has lots of great information, but focuses a lot more on offering solutions and I really appreciate that. Sometimes this subject can feel infuriating and very doom and gloom- and I am so pleased that she offered up solutions.
If you are new to the ideas of Christian nationalism this is a fantastic starting point! Amanda gives her own personal experiences to this book as well and I found that helpful.

I would recommend this book to anyone who feels frustrated by the ideology of Christian Nationalism or is curious to learn more.
Thank you NetGalley for the digital ARC of this book.
#NetGalleyARC #NetGalley

I got an early copy of Amanda Tyler’s new book, How to End Christian Nationalism. Tyler is the executive director of the BJC and the lead organizer of their Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign. I have long followed her work and was lucky enough to get to spend some time with her last year when I was named as a BJC Fellow.

Of course my Christianity plays a huge part in my civic participation and in the decisions I make about what issues are important to me. But Christian nationalism is when those beliefs become, rather than personally-held values, a way to legislate a version of morality. When we see Christian nationalism, we often see one very narrow set of morals or beliefs being legislated. In our society it is crucial that we stand for religious freedom for all, and Tyler has written a book that helps us see how to do that across several areas of American life.

She does of course explain Christian nationalism very clearly and why it is dangerous, and then gives clear areas where it is important to advocate against Christian nationalist values. She encourages us to denounce violence, commit to the separation of church and state, and (my favorite chapter) protect religious freedom for all in public schools. She cites experts and personal experience as she explains a path forward. This would be a great book for a group discussion or for a church to work through - Christian nationalism is a huge part of American Christian culture and unpacking it is important work.

I am increasingly interested in how to combat Christian nationalism, so I was intrigued by the premise of this book, "How to End Christian Nationalism" by Amanda Tyler. Tyler is the lead organizer of Christians Against Christian Nationalism, as well as a highly educated attorney. The author asserts that Christian nationalism and racism are deeply connected and says that "Christianity is not what unites us as Christians. Belonging in our society must never depend on how (or if) we worship, what we believe (or don't), or how we identify (or don't) religiously. " In order to end this dangerous ideology, we must name it and denounce it. Tyler then finishes each chapter with a challenge and some Scripture.

While I thought this book was fairly helpful, it is very similar to other books that have been published recently, some of which were better. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

How to End Christian Nationalism by Amanda Tyler, founder of @endchristiannationalism is another brief book to add to our growing library of books regarding the subject of American Idolatry. The movement and media in her "Christians Against Christian Nationalism" group review and update the tenets of the 2020 book "Taking America Back For God" by Andrew Whitehead. This is to define what CN is, to determine what its ideals are, and how much someone agrees with the ideas of CN. The ultimate book on the subject is Tim Alberta's "The Kingdom, the Power and the Glory," which was one of Barack Obama's books of 2023. That book is 512 pages, though, and that isn't for everyone. It includes a lot of his personal experience and is part dissertation and part memoir, written by a journalist.

There is a lot of confusion as to what Christian Nationalism actually IS. When people know more about it, they are much more likely to reject it than to embrace it. Tyler defines CN as "a political ideology and cultural framework that seeks to fuse American and Christian identities. It suggests that “real” Americans are Christians and that “true” Christians hold a particular set of political beliefs. It seeks to create a society in which only this narrow subset of Americans is privileged by law and in societal practice."

This new debut book is 244 pages, and has more of a focus on solutions. I learned a lot reading this book, which is saying something, since I have read most books on this subject. Tyler focuses more on politics and constitutional law, the difference of opinion in how Americans interpret the relationship between the church and the law.

As a Christian, it bothers me quite a bit at how this movement mocks and mimics Christianity, co-opting the language of my faith to advance a political agenda. I learned that most atheists and agnostics, when pressed about their criticisms of Christianity, they almost always describe this particular ideology. That is bad news. This is something most of these books don't emphasize enough... the ideology is loud and frankly, can make Christianity look bad. How sad is that?

I learned that it is better to refer to this as an ideology rather than refer to a person as a "Christian Nationalist" because that ties them to it as an identity as if it cannot be changed. Rather, how much someone agrees with this ideology exists on a spectrum. I learned "separation of church and state" is an American invention.

The title is incredibly ambitious, it makes a promise that is hard to keep, but acknowledges this is a problem that won't be solved in our lifetimes. It started in 300 AD under Constantine and it was ultimately the framework of Adolf Hitler and the KKK. So it isn't new, nor exclusively American. We can't end the ideology everywhere, but we must, on a micro level, work to break down some of the most dangerous views in our own families and neighborhoods. It is up to each of us to confront and call it out as destructive and for the damage that it is causing our country.

Thank you to @netgalley and @broadleafbooks for the ARC. Book to be published October 22, 2024.

Thanks to NetGalley & Broadleaf Press for the ARC!

Amanda Tyler’s "How to End Christian Nationalism" cannot live up to the impossible expectations of its title, but it does feel like a meaningful addition to an ongoing conversation.

By this point, there are countless books on Christian Nationalism, but few of them are as academically robust as this one. It builds on Anthea Butler’s "White Evangelical Racism", and it is very thoughtful about the sources it draws from. I appreciate Tyler’s numerous interviews, and they complicate the discussion purposefully, ultimately making the book’s constituent chapters stronger than the project as a whole.

Unfortunately, I suspect Tyler’s background will deter the readers most in need of her message. A Georgetown grad? A “woman preacher”? An “unequally yoked” marriage? These arbitrary judgments will be dealbreakers for too many readers, and I think they highlight a problem inherent in the book:

The premise of Christian nationalism is that any sort of pluralism is wrong, so diversity in thought is a threat.

What Tyler frames as sociological exploration will be received as spiritual explosion, which almost makes me wish she were more aggressive in her theological critiques. Many of her well-intentioned best practices just feel toothless.

It’s not enough for the author to write that the constitution hasn’t aged well when Christians model their reading of it on notions of biblical inerrancy. Similarly, I would argue that one can’t speak truth to power when power is viewed as truth—when there’s a tacitly Calvinist understanding that social capital is karmic confirmation of God’s favor. When Donald Trump announces that Christians will only need to vote “one more time,” it’s interpreted as the ushering in of God’s kingdom rather than the combustible end of the American experiment. These are problems of theological origin.

Likewise, the sociological explanation of Christian bigotry feels inadequate; it isn’t simply that people act out of fear. Many Christians justify their cruelty through an apocalyptic view of salvation—"better for us to burn you now so you don’t burn later." Therefore, their gleeful willingness to minoritize people into oblivion follows the sickly logic of erasure—"put your identity in Christ or have your identity removed." It’s not a matter of misplaced hope; it’s a theological non-negotiable.

As a result, Tyler’s solution—collective action—seems a little optimistic for a faith tradition that has been so culturally mediated through individualism. When the author shares a necessary reflection on how this model originates in racial liberation, it feels out of place, not due to authorial weakness, but because individualistic, white supremacy eclipses alternative theological readings. 


Ultimately, the challenge with the book is that Amanda Tyler implicitly calls for a radical reformulation of theology without realizing it—what is a simple ask to her will be an unacceptable compromise to many people.

If this sounds like I hate the book, I don’t; I just think it’s telling—and sad—that the interviewees sound more like heretics than saints in the context of American religious discourse. This is not a fringe issue. Like all books on the subject, much of "How to End Christian Nationalism’s" success is the nuance it lends to the anger and grief people should feel about religious violence.

It can’t adequately imagine a way out, but maybe it can help people begin to work their way through.

One of many books highlighting the concerns of Christian nationalism and how to respond to it. It was good, even if familiar due to other books on the subject.

(I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)