Dr. Bradley Onishi is a religious scholar, professor, author and co-host of the “Straight, White American Jesus” podcast.
A professor at the University of San Fransisco, Onishi has spent his career studying the history and impact of white Christian nationalism on the United States. In 2023 published “Preparing For War: The Extremist History of White Christian Nationalism – and What Comes Next” and I recently got the opportunity to interview Onishi for an article I’m working on about the Wenatchee Valley’s McPherson family and their impact on culture and community in the region.
Most cities and towns across America have a McPherson family, or a Mark Driscoll, or a Douglas Wilson, and this quote from chapter two of his book sums up perfectly the worldview of reformed evangelicals like them in so many ways.
“Since the 1960s conservatives Christians have deputized themselves as the guardians of the ‘traditional’ family and its patriarchal structure,” Onishi wrote. “They envision a familial unit in which the husband-father is the head of household and breadwinner. The wife-mother is a submissive companion who orders the domestic space. And obedient children are raised to think of their dad’s voice as the voice of God.”
This family patriarchy is then superimposed on a vision for society where abortion is criminalized, the LGBTQ+ community is relegated to second-class citizenship, the expectation for women is to be homemakers rather than professionals and “correctly-ordered” (aka white Christian nationalist) churches teach the people how to think, act, interact and vote.
And woe betide anyone with the temerity to deviate from established norms.
