Note: This is the first of a two-part interview.
The insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, was not a blip or an aberration.
In his latest book, Preparing for War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism and What Comes Next, religion scholar and former insider Bradley Onishi maps the origins of White Christian nationalism. Combining his own experiences in the youth groups and prayer meetings of the 1990s, Onishi examines how the New Religious Right gave birth to violent White Christian nationalism during the Trump presidency and beyond.
Dr. Bradley Onishi is a scholar of religion and cohost of the Straight White American Jesus podcast. His writing has been published in the New York Times, LA Review of Books, and Religion & Politics, among other outlets.