How Positive Psychology Can Help Us Respond to White Christian Nationalism

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In August 2017, the United States was shocked to see white supremacist supporters openly advocating for their agenda while carrying torches and chanting anti-Semitic slogans in Charlottesville, Virginia. The physical violence around that demonstration led to the death of a counter protester, Heather Heyer.

In the five years since the “Unite the Right” rally there have been many instances of violent white males attacking women and minorities often while issuing political manifestos explicitly endorsing an ideology of White Christian Nationalism (WCN), including the January 6th attack at the US Capitol. While some label this “populism,” this movement is more than that. White Christian Nationalism seeks to end the separation of church and state and envisions the creation of a government under a fundamentalist interpretation of the Bible rather than the constitution due to their view on American History. It explicitly rejects the equality of races and sexes; sees sexual minorities and other minorities as threats to the majority; and values tradition and hierarchy above science and inquiry. 

The rise of WCN and the political violence of the movement demands a response. As someone who has been actively working for a welcoming church for three decades and someone educated in positive psychology, I recognize that simple opposition to White Christian Nationalism is unlikely to be effective. To change hearts and minds requires an affirmative approach drawn from the strengths of positive psychology.

Who are these adherents?

The United States is not alone in dealing with the fusion of religion and politics. Looking around the world we see religious movements taking secular power. See for example the Iranian Revolution (Shia Muslims), Turkey (Sunni Muslims), Israel (Jewish religious parties), India (Hindu nationalism), Hungary (Christian nationalism), Russia (Orthodox Christian) and the list goes on. In the US, leading voices of authoritarianism come from many faith traditions and different ethnic and racial backgrounds, yet their actions support WCN. Political figures calling to abolish the line between church and state, those seeking to impose outcomes with no acknowledgment of past and present inequities, and those seeking to marginalize and eliminate sexual and racial minorities, among others -- each are supporting a WCN agenda. 

Psychologically, followers of WCN often operate with a fixed mindset, a scarcity mindset, and an authoritarian love of hierarchy and order. 

  • The fixed mindset can be displayed in their lack of acceptance of transgender (nonbinary) people, or in their belief in pure unchanging racial and ethnic categories, as two examples. 

  • The scarcity mindset shows up in immigration issues (with a perception that “foreigners” are taking jobs) healthcare issues (with a belief that there are only so many doctors, nurses, and beds, and that if the poor use those resources none will be left for “those who pay the bills”), and most recently in student loan forgiveness (“I paid my bills, why should I also pay yours?”). This view sees the world as a zero-sum contest where a benefit for one must by definition be a detriment for everyone else. WCN sincerely believe in a world where shared prosperity is not possible, and statistics and other evidence of an increasing pie are discarded and disbelieved. 

  • The authoritarian love of hierarchy and order leads to a rejection of pluralism, democracy, and diversity. Love thy neighbor is not a guiding principle of WCN.

WCN see themselves as defending purity, tradition, love of country, and other values under attack in a more modern, secular, pluralistic society. Their focus is on recapturing an imagined, better past -- usually a white, male Christian past of privilege. Among other tools, WCN uses shame and guilt, in group/out group divisions, and the power of contamination/disgust in “othering” their opponents. There is no middle ground of compromise. Every fight is a total war (zero sum rather than win/win). WCN claims the mantle of classical education, but denies the enlightenment.

How Positive Psychology Can Help

Calling someone a bigot, racist, or homophobe is not the way to change someone's mind or behavior. This is where positive psychology can be so helpful in reframing the terms of discussion so interventions aren't perceived as personal attacks.  By focusing on virtues, positive psychology offers a way of approach that followers of WCN have not been indoctrinated to reject out of hand. It also offers the chance to address WCN adherents one by one instead of as a group. 

 Some possible lines of approach include:

1) Combating learned helplessness with hope, love, forgiveness, and honesty. Many of the adherents of WCN feel powerless in their own lives and feel that society is changing in ways that leave them feeling disparaged or left behind, resulting in learned helplessness. WCN gives these folks certainties in a sea of uncertainty. The primary virtue to combat learned helplessness is hope. The person must be given hope that the future has a place for them. This is why attacking the WCN followers for their beliefs only serves to drive them further away. An approach based on love and forgiveness is much more likely to reach other people and connect with their common humanity. Honesty is critical here, as any false note can undermine the connection and fail to offer hope to the person being influenced. I love the old movie Casablanca as it demonstrates these virtues. Victor Lazlo represents hope and the love of Elsa and their mutual forgiveness brings Rick back into the fight.

2) Bravery: the value of one person speaking out is that when one speaks out, others follow. Many folks within the WCN sphere never hear a negative or contradictory word said against the ideology from people they know and trust. If everyone you know and trust supports something, you are much more likely to uncritically accept it. It takes a brave person to stand up and point out the falsehoods being offered by trusted leaders or mentors. We know however, that when just one person speaks up, a second is much more likely to voice their previously hidden concerns. Remember the old movie 12 Angry Men? One man standing against the group and raising questions led to a different, fairer outcome.  

3) Humor: punch up, not down. Authoritarians love to strike at those with the least power, thus, one of the most effective ways of combating WCN is through humor aimed not at the followers of the ideology, but at the leaders. This is what makes Jon Stewart so effective as a critic. He always punches up, not down. Use humor to deflate the pretentious, the sanctimonious, and the unhinged leader – letting their followers see that the leader is not a source of certainty, but an object of derision.

 4) Teamwork: just as small steps lead to larger actions, small local groups provide support and camaraderie and make it possible to continue the work when one fails. Everyone has bad days. With a team to support you and carry on, when you falter another steps forward and carries the flag. The forces of WCN are organized and mutually supporting. To effectively counter this, those looking to counter this ideology must also work as a team. Miracle, a movie about the US hockey team's Olympic gold medal upset win, is a great example of the power of teamwork.

 5) Kindness, gratitude, and humility are more effective persuasion than argument and logic. Persuasion is about feeling, not thinking. Most of the pushback against WCN has been mounted by well educated folks skilled in logic and reason. Their well reasoned arguments have failed. The reason is that most of the folks swept up in WCN are not open to arguments based on reason and logic, but are instead moved by emotion and feelings. WCN answers a need that these individuals feel and promises them a place in the restored order. Where the authoritarians offer brutality, we must offer kindness. Where WCN stresses privilege owed, we must respond with gratitude for life’s blessings. Where WCN pushes triumphant domination of the weak and powerless, we must offer humility. Kindness, gratitude, and humility are not usually held up as “winning” virtues in our culture. I think the Shawshank Redemption is an excellent demonstration of how these patient virtues can win in the end.

 6) Perseverance: WCN was not born in a day and countering it will be the work of years, not moments. Just as Andy persevered in the Shawshank Redemption, so too each of the illustrations of virtues included above also demonstrates the power of perseverance.   

Moving Forward

Fighting the forces of authoritarianism will take time, patience, and the utilization of the virtues of positive psychology. V for Vendetta is a final film I’ll offer in the spirit of resistance. In the film while the forces of reaction have taken power and imposed their will and limited human dignity, the seeds of rebellion and freedom lie waiting to burst forth. In Europe, the nations of Italy, Germany, Portugal, and Spain have regained their freedom under liberal democracy after fascist rule. Eastern Europe has regained freedom after decades of communist rule. Many Latin American countries have regained democracy after living under authoritarian military rule. Positive psychology can both help prevent sliding into authoritarianism and also hasten a return to liberal democracy if it is lost.  

About the Author: Arthur Fullerton (C’08) was the first openly gay ruling elder to stand for Moderator of the PCUSA. He holds an undergraduate degree in ancient history and classics from Tulane University, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a MAPP degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in New York.

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Arthur Fullerton (C'08)

Arthur Fullerton was the first openly gay ruling elder to stand for Moderator of the PCUSA. He holds an undergraduate degree in ancient history and classics from Tulane University, an MBA from Harvard Business School, and a MAPP degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He lives in New York.