Event Event 2001–2008

September 11, 2001

The 9/11 attacks were immediately framed by Christian nationalist leaders as divine judgment and as a call to holy war. The event accelerated both pro-war theology and Christian nationalist claims on American identity.

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Within days of September 11, 2001, Jerry Falwell Sr. and Pat Robertson gave an interview in which Falwell said the attacks were God's punishment for 'the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians... the ACLU, People for the American Way.' Robertson agreed. Both later offered partial retractions, but the framework had been stated: America's suffering was caused by internal moral enemies. This was not simply a moment of bad pastoral judgment. It was the consistent logic of Christian nationalism applied to a national trauma. If America is a covenant nation under God's protection, then catastrophe must indicate covenant violation. The enemies within (feminists, LGBTQ people, secular liberals) became theologically responsible for the attacks. Simultaneously, the war that followed was framed by significant segments of the evangelical world as a holy war. Military chaplains used crusade language. General William Boykin gave speeches in uniform saying the enemy was Satan and that 'our God is a real God' while the enemy's god is an idol. Franklin Graham called Islam 'a very evil and wicked religion.' The post-9/11 period saw Christian nationalism's pro-war theology and its domestic culture war fuse completely: America was God's nation, under attack from without (Islam) and within (secular liberals), and the response was righteous force in both directions.

Documented themes

  • Christian Nationalism
  • Anti-Democratic
  • Gender & Patriarchy

Connections to September 11, 2001

  • Jerry Falwell Sr. exploited (2001) — Falwell stated on Robertson's 700 Club that the 9/11 attacks were God's punishment for pagans, abortionists, feminists, gays and lesbians, the ACLU, and People for the American Way. This framing cast domestic political opponents as responsible for the deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans.
  • Pat Robertson exploited (2001) — Robertson agreed with Falwell's framing on air, reinforcing the claim that America's tolerance of LGBTQ people, feminists, and secular institutions had removed God's protective covering.

Sources

  • Jesus and John Wayne — Kristin Kobes Du Mez (2020), pp. 190-210