To the editor: Robin Abcarian’s article wittily describes the effort by Christian nationalists to roll back decades of social progress in the United States. These “Christians” pursue an ideology of white supremacy disguised as religion, and Donald Trump is “their vehicle and their wrecking ball.” In this fervent quest, they are actively aided by the conservative majority on the Roberts court. By attempting to steer the country away from two of the Founders’ most fervent goals—the elimination of symbols of monarchy and the escape from religious intolerance—they are returning America not to the 1950s, but to the 1760s.
Noel Johnson, Glendale
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To the editor: Thanks to Robin Abcarian for shedding light on the dark corners of the rapidly expanding Christian nationalist movement. Stories like this should be featured much more prominently in mainstream media so that people are aware of the existence of secretive, anti-democratic organizations like the seemingly harmless National Policy Council and its interconnection with other extreme conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation.
The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 document is horrifying in its goals of demolishing the government and concentrating power in the hands of their personally chosen executive branch puppet: currently Donald Trump.
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts recently commented that the country is in the midst of a “second American revolution” that will be bloodless “if the left allows it,” adding that the group is “in the process of taking this country back.” Back to the Dark Ages, it seems.
Lynn Eames, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Reading Robin Abcarian's column reaffirmed for me that the most important issue we face in the upcoming election is that our democracy depends on people understanding what is at stake and voting to preserve it.
The issue is not Biden versus Trump and whether to replace one or the other on the ballot: the horses in the race have already been chosen. The Times would do a better service to its readers, to democracy and to itself by focusing on the elements of Project 2025 and analyzing one or two points each day. If you want to focus on polls, forget about the candidates, address the issues and how people feel about the elements of Project 2025. Cover their actions and proposals, not what they say.
If The Times did so, it would be serving the people, the fourth estate, and would likely displace another newspaper as the nation's newspaper of record.
Andrea Portenier, Oceanside
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To the editor: Robin Abcarian rightly describes Christian nationalism as “a white supremacist political ideology masquerading as a religion.” It is precisely because its followers are “fake Christians” that they can support Trump.
I differ with Ms. Abcarian only in that she dates the origin of the Christian nationalist movement back only 50-odd years. In fact, it goes back at least 150 years, to the pre-Civil War Know Nothing Party. Any candid description of the Know Nothing Party's positions is eerily applicable to MAGA supporters.
People who wonder how such a large group of professing Christians could embrace an immoral con man should understand that there is no conflict in the minds of these people. They are not looking for, nor are they interested in, a Christian leader. They are looking for someone who will help them lead the nation out of centuries of struggle to realize its founding ideals.
We may not have a uniformly shared ancestry, but we embrace a shared expectation that has proven capable of uniting us: the only thing special about America or Americans is the firm certainty that there is nothing more meritorious or special about any religion, class, or ancestry. The only thing America asks newcomers to leave behind is any insistence that they are more deserving than anyone else.
Jack Quirk, Porter Ranch
