Christian Nationalism is no longer just a leftist buzzword used to discredit conservatives. While progressives have long wielded the term dishonestly as a smear against anyone to the right of Bernie Sanders, its definition has shifted. Today, it is being co-opted to describe an actual authoritarian movement seeking to upend the constitutional order and merge Church and state into a new sacralist regime.
This version of Christian Nationalism — promoted by figures like Joel Webbon and Stephen Wolfe — pushes for theocracy, monarchism, and neo-integralism, rather than the constitutional republic the Founders established. Unlike the religious influence that shaped early America, which protected liberty while upholding moral order, this movement seeks government-mandated religious conformity while throwing individual freedom to the wind. And in doing so, it betrays the very principles conservatives (and Christians, mind you) have historically defended.
“I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it” — Thomas Jefferson
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America was never designed to be a theocracy. The Founders, while overwhelmingly Christian, rejected the European sacralist model, which entangled church and state to disastrous effect. Instead, they built a system that allowed faith to flourish freely—not by government compulsion, but by the conviction of individual conscience.
“The Religion then of every man must be left to the conviction and conscience of every man; and it is the right of every man to exercise it as these may dictate. This right is in its nature an unalienable right” — James Madison
The Founders were not opposed to Christian influence in government. But they were adamant that Christianity should never be enforced by government power.
Church seizures and religious purges
Self-avowed Christian Nationalists Joel Webbon and Wesley Todd, hosts of the Right Response podcast, have officially — if they hadn’t already (which they have)—crossed the Rubicon of insanity. In a recent episode, they propose that the U.S. government should have the legal authority to seize church properties that aren’t “state-approved” and redistribute them to those deemed “faithful.”
Todd goes even further, advocating for a government task force — armed soldiers included — to comb through every church website in America, physically inspect tens of thousands of buildings, and log them for potential seizure.
“That’s not American!” Correct. It’s Christian” — Todd in a recent X post
Why such a drastic measure? Because, according to Todd, evangelizing the old-fashioned way takes too long — decades, in fact. Their solution? Seize the means of worship and redistribute resources — without payment — to those who conform to state-approved religious standards.
Webbon, of course, is thrilled, calling this authoritarian pipe dream “glorious and kind,” claiming it’s better than “jail or the guillotine.”
There’s just one problem (well, many): This proposal is not only wildly unconstitutional, but it also flies in the face of the most fundamental principle of American identity: religious liberty.
Webbon and Todd’s proposal is a direct assault on the First Amendment — that pesky thing standing in the way of abusive tyrants for nearly 250 years. The Establishment Clause ensures that the state cannot favor one church over another, while the Free Exercise Clause guarantees that individuals and churches can practice their faith without government interference.
“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between Church & State” — Thomas Jefferson in Letter to the Danbury Baptists, 1802
Doing away with the First Amendment
In order to enact such laws, these Christian Nationalists would have to do away with the First Amendment entirely.
By advocating for the government to decide which churches are “faithful” and worthy of property rights, Webbon and Todd are promoting the very thing the Founders sought to prevent — a state-controlled church. Their vision is indistinguishable from the European sacralist models that led to centuries of religious wars, persecution against faithful Protestants, and, ultimately, the necessity of constitutional protections for religious liberty.
Furthermore, their proposal violates the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause, which states that private property cannot be taken for public use without just compensation. But let’s be clear — there is no legitimate public use in seizing a church’s property simply because it does not align with the state’s religious preferences. This is outright theft — a violation of the Eighth Commandment — dressed up in pseudo-theological justification.
Even if one were to entertain the notion that the state could favor a particular church tradition, there remains a crucial question: Who gets to define what a “faithful” church is?
C.S. Lewis had a prescient warning about this kind of thinking:
“Mankind is so fallen that no man can be trusted with unchecked power over his fellows. Aristotle said that some people were only fit to be slaves. I do not contradict him. But I reject slavery because I see no men fit to be masters.”
What happens when the wrong people are in power
Webbon and Todd assume they will be the ones in power under their sacralist regime. But what happens when a different administration — one not so kind — assumes control?
What if a progressive regime — like Biden and Harris, who jailed nonviolent pro-lifers for praying outside of Planned Parenthood clinics — decides that a “faithful” church is one that affirms LGBT ideology, critical race theory, or feminism?
If the government has the authority to seize and redistribute church property based on subjective whims, what’s to stop the next administration from using the same power to destroy their so-called “conservative” churches?
By granting the government the power to regulate church legitimacy — without constitutional safeguards — Webbon and Todd want to create a weapon that will inevitably be used against them. Their proposal is not a safeguard for Christianity; it’s a Trojan horse for tyranny.
Christian nationalism is sacralism
This isn’t the first time Webbon has revealed his authoritarian tendencies. In a previous Right Response podcast, Webbon and fellow Trashworld Conference speaker David Reece laid out a bizarre vision of citizenship under their form of Christian nationalism.
According to them, only those who “swear an oath to the Reformed Religion” would be granted full legal rights and citizenship. This means that the overwhelming majority of faithful Christians in America — who are not Reformed — would be considered second-class citizens.
This is sacralism — government-mandated religious conformity. It is the same ideology that fueled the worst excesses of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England, and the religious persecutions that drove the Pilgrims to America in the first place.
Webbon and Todd are not advocating for a return to biblical Christianity. They are reviving the worst abuses of church-state entanglements that Protestant Americans historically fought to dismantle.
Christianity doesn’t need the state’s sword
Perhaps the most revealing aspect of Webbon and Todd’s proposal is their admission that traditional evangelism is “too slow.” This betrays a fundamental misunderstanding of Christianity itself.
The Great Commission (Matt. 28) was never about coercion, brute force, or political grandstanding. It was about persuasion. Christ’s Kingdom is advanced through the power of the Gospel within the hearts of individuals, not the confiscation of property or government edicts.
Webbon and Todd’s approach is not just unconstitutional — it’s anti-Christian and Pharisaical. It replaces faith with force and voluntary belief with state-mandated allegiance.
If their version of Christian Nationalism means relying on government power to enforce theological purity, they’ve already admitted their faith is weak. Christianity doesn’t need the state’s sword to flourish. If anything, history shows that Christianity thrives most when it is free from government control.
Mikale Olson is a contributor at The Federalist and a writer at Not the Bee, specializing in commentary on Christian theology and conservative politics. As a podcaster, YouTuber, and seasoned commentator, Mikale engages audiences with insightful analysis on faith, culture, and the public square.
