President Joe Biden's attorney general, Merrick Garland, announced several times that the greatest domestic terror threat in the United States came from white supremacists. That's old news now, as progressives have a new right-wing bogeyman: Christian nationalism. The New York Times reports that, at a day-long prayer rally on the National Mall on Sunday, speakers "drew connections between the nation’s founding and Christianity."
President Donald Trump did not attend, but Secretary of War Pete Hegseth made liberals' blood boil by telling the crowd, "Let us pray for our nation on bended knee and let us ask our Lord and savior Jesus Christ."
Ruth Graham and Elizabeth Dias, who "have reported extensively on the rise of conservative Christian political power in the United States," write:
Thousands of people gathered on the National Mall on Sunday for a daylong rally blending Christian prayer and political fervor, a gathering President Trump had touted as an opportunity to “rededicate America as one nation under God.”
…
With speeches and Christian music performed against a symbolically potent backdrop at the heart of American government, the rally aimed to crystallize the narrative that the nation’s founding was an intentionally Christian project, a framing disputed by many scholars. The separation of church and state has long been a bedrock principle of American democracy. The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
Yeah, we're familiar with the First Amendment, and no one was trying to make a law establishing Christianity as a state religion. It was an opportunity for Christians to freely exercise their religion, Hegseth happening to be one of them.
University of Michigan law professor Barb McQuade posted in response that "theocracy is the stuff of ISIS."
A bedrock principle of America’s founding was religious freedom, not a national religion. Theocracy is the stuff of ISIS. https://t.co/Q4kvBWbclT
— Barb McQuade (@BarbMcQuade) May 18, 2026
The bedrock principle of America’s founding was religious freedom. Not freedom from religion. Freedom of religion. I hope that helps. You moron.
— ElisaNYJM (@CaffMomREDACTED) May 18, 2026
We don't have freedom from religion, but freedom of religion. Learn the distinction.
— Life (@IrishLady0071) May 18, 2026
Comparing the founders' belief in God to ISIS is why your opinions are meaningless, especially in Alabama. In my opinion, you're basically a commie & and that's your right as an American... but most Americans don't agree with you.
— The Daily Controversy With Chris Reid (@DAILYCONTROVERS) May 18, 2026
As long as Congress doesn’t pass a law establishing a state religion we’re good.
— Ed Carney (@EdCarney172811) May 18, 2026
Everyone listen to the misinformation czar. She would never push misinformation.
— OLAF MARTIÑEZ (@OlanBreecy) May 18, 2026
There were next to zero Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, etc. in our country at its founding. Most state constitutions had religious requirements to hold office. Those requirements were profession of belief in Jesus. Freedom to worship the God of our Founding is not theocractic
— Sara Malone (@SaraMaloneOH) May 18, 2026
I don’t think they were compelled to come or punished if they didn’t. Nor has any propaganda been issued to shun those who didn’t come. Look back at history and see what real state religion looks like.
— Ravonda (@Ravonda12) May 18, 2026
Religious freedom is something every American enjoys, even those in government all the way to president.
— Bill Kriebel (@BillKriebel) May 18, 2026
To hold colonial office or vote, you had to be a white male, own land, attend the kings church every week and pledge allegiance to the Crown. Just visited Colonial Williamsburg. Reminders of our history at its source is always welcomed.
— wvviews (@wvviews) May 18, 2026
The Founders rejected theocracy and a national religion, but they bet on a bedrock Christian moral culture to sustain liberty. Religious freedom was never a suicide pact allowing supremacist ideologies to replace the Constitution with divine domination.
— XenlinSays (@XenlinSays) May 18, 2026
Pretending Christianity had no influence on our nation’s founding ignores history. Acknowledging Christianity during America’s 250th anniversary isn’t “forcing religion” on anyone. No one is compelled to believe, attend, or convert.
— ConstitutionFirst🇺🇸 (@StacyGallina) May 18, 2026
It's disingenuous for McQuade to bring up "theocracy" over a voluntary prayer service. People exercised their First Amendment right to peacefully assemble and practice their religion. Liberals want the U.S. to be The Handmaid's Tale so badly that they dress in cosplay to pretend they're oppressed.
***