Why an Atheist Gay Jew Says Christianity Must Save American Democracy

Jonathan Roush argues that Christianity functions as a "load-bearing wall" of American civic life, and its collapse threatens the very foundations of liberal democracy.

An unlikely defender reveals how the decline of authentic Christianity has created America's ungovernable political crisis—and why secular liberals must help restore it.

Key Takeaways

• Christianity serves as democracy's essential "load-bearing wall" by providing republican virtue, community cohesion, and moral grounding that secular institutions cannot supply
• America has experienced two waves of Christian secularization: "thin Christianity" in mainline churches and "sharp Christianity" in evangelical Trump alignment
• The founders designed American democracy assuming Christian moral substrate would provide civic virtues the Constitution cannot teach
• Evangelical embrace of Trump represents a Faustian bargain trading Jesus's teachings for political power and cultural dominance
• Christian nationalism appropriates religious symbolism while abandoning biblical teachings, creating secular movement disguised as faith
• Post-modern right mirrors post-modern left by subordinating truth to power, threatening liberal democratic guardrails
• Recovery requires both Christian return to Jesus-centered faith and secular liberal accommodation of religious participation in public life

Christianity as Democracy's Load-Bearing Wall

Jonathan Roush's central thesis challenges both secular assumptions and religious complacency by arguing that American democracy depends fundamentally on Christian moral substrate for its survival. This represents a dramatic intellectual reversal from his 2003 Atlantic article celebrating "apatheism"—the growing indifference to religion.

• American society relies on faith organizations, predominantly Christian, to perform essential social functions including child socialization, community building, and meaning-making
• The founders explicitly warned that constitutional structures could not sustain themselves without "republican virtue" derived from civil society institutions
• Christianity historically provided civic virtues like tolerance, truth-respect, and minority rights protection that the Constitution assumes but cannot teach
• Secularization has removed this moral foundation while leaving democracy's structural demands unchanged, creating unsustainable governance pressures
• Two core existential questions—"Why am I here?" and "What is good and evil?"—cannot be answered by secularism but require religious frameworks
• Social indicators including loneliness, depression, anxiety, and polarization have worsened as Christian influence declined over past two decades

Roush acknowledges this places him in the paradoxical position of an atheist arguing for Christianity's indispensability, but maintains that observable social outcomes demonstrate religion's irreplaceable civic function regardless of personal belief.

The Founders' Christian-Liberal Synthesis

The standard secular narrative oversimplifies the founders' relationship with Christianity by emphasizing church-state separation while ignoring their assumption that Christian moral culture would sustain republican institutions. This represents historical revisionism that obscures democracy's actual philosophical foundations.

• Jefferson and Madison invented modern religious liberty concepts while simultaneously depending on Christian social substrate for republican virtue
• The founders rejected calls to Christianize America officially while assuming Christianity would provide essential civic education through families, communities, and churches
• Three core Christian pillars directly parallel liberal democratic requirements: fearlessness enabling peaceful power transitions, egalitarianism supporting minority rights, and forgiveness allowing political coexistence
• "Don't be afraid" translates into accepting electoral losses without apocalyptic panic or demagogic appeals to fear-based politics
• "Be like Jesus" with focus on society's most marginal members becomes Kantian principle of treating all people as ends rather than means
• "Forgive each other" enables Madisonian liberalism where political opponents remain fellow citizens rather than existential enemies

The synthesis worked because Christian teachings provided moral grounding for democratic behaviors that pure constitutional mechanics could not generate or sustain independently.

Thin Christianity and Mainline Collapse

The first wave of Christian secularization occurred in mainline Protestant denominations through well-intentioned attempts to remain culturally relevant by adapting to secular progressive politics, ultimately destroying their distinctive appeal and social function.

• Mainline churches including United Methodists, Episcopalians, and Lutherans became "unmoored from biblical teachings" while pursuing social justice activism
• Pastoral leadership shifted left-wing politically beyond their congregations, creating internal tensions and ideological conflicts
• Religious services increasingly avoided explicitly Christian content, with some church groups never mentioning God during meetings
• The effort to compete with secular progressive movements by imitating their priorities created inferior versions of activism available elsewhere
• Congregants could pursue social justice causes more effectively through dedicated political organizations than through religiously-diluted church programs
• Christianity's countercultural distinctiveness—its essential appeal throughout history—was abandoned in favor of cultural accommodation

This "thin Christianity" failed because it misunderstood religion's unique social role: providing transcendent meaning and moral authority that secular institutions cannot replicate through political engagement alone.

Sharp Christianity and the Trump Accommodation

The second wave of Christian secularization paradoxically occurred within biblically-grounded evangelical churches through political partisanship that prioritized Republican electoral success over Jesus's actual teachings, creating what Roush terms "sharp Christianity."

• White evangelical Trump support represents a Faustian bargain mirroring Satan's temptation in Matthew 4: trading spiritual integrity for worldly power
• Trump's January 2016 Dordt College speech explicitly offered evangelicals "power like you've never had before" in exchange for unconditional loyalty
• The deal parallels Satan's mountain-top offer to Jesus of "all human dominion" in exchange for worship, which Jesus rejected
• Evangelical embrace accelerated beyond reluctant accommodation to enthusiastic identification, making Trump's base more loyal than traditional Republican constituencies
• Church members increasingly demand partisan political engagement from pastors rather than spiritual formation and biblical teaching
• 42% of pastors report seriously considering quitting within the past year, with politics in church ranking as the third-leading cause of ministerial stress

The evangelical-Trump alliance demonstrates how political success can corrupt religious institutions when churches prioritize winning elections over maintaining theological integrity and Jesus-centered focus.

Christian Nationalism as Secular Power Movement

Christian nationalism represents not authentic religious revival but rather a secular political movement that appropriates Christian symbolism while abandoning biblical content, creating dangerous precedents for democratic governance and religious authenticity.

• Christian nationalism focuses on political dominance rather than spiritual formation, emphasizing "winning" in temporal power struggles
• The movement rarely quotes Jesus or biblical passages, instead utilizing Christian imagery for political mobilization purposes
• Leaders promote visions of "Christian nation" governance that conflicts with Jesus's explicit separation of worldly and spiritual authority
• The ideology proves especially influential in Pentecostal and non-denominational churches lacking traditional institutional constraints
• Tech-savvy global networks coordinate political action while maintaining theological vagueness about actual Christian doctrine
• January 6th participants displayed Christian symbols while engaging in behaviors fundamentally opposed to Jesus's teachings about forgiveness and peaceful resistance

Matthew Taylor's research documents extensive Christian nationalist influence within Trump administration circles, though the movement's exact size and scope remain difficult to measure due to its decentralized organization.

Democracy's Governability Crisis

The collapse of authentic Christianity has created what Roush identifies as America's core political problem: the transformation of politics from practical governance into religious warfare where compromise becomes impossible and elections acquire apocalyptic significance.

• Extreme polarization now involves "affective polarization"—literal fear and hatred of opposing political parties rather than mere policy disagreement
• Citizens increasingly derive primary identity from partisan politics rather than religious, professional, or community affiliations
• Politics itself has become a religion with absolute moral stakes, making normal democratic compromise appear as betrayal or surrender
• Every election becomes apocalyptic because political loss threatens total worldview collapse rather than temporary policy setbacks
• The absence of shared moral framework means competing political movements cannot find common ground for negotiation or peaceful coexistence
• Foreign democratic allies face similar governability crises as traditional religious and social institutions lose authority and influence

This crisis extends beyond normal political cycles because it represents fundamental breakdown in the social substrate that enables democratic governance rather than temporary partisan disagreement.

Solutions for Secular Liberals and Christians

Recovery requires coordinated action from both secular liberals who must accommodate religious participation and Christians who must return to Jesus-centered faith rather than political power-seeking, though Roush acknowledges uncertainty about whether such transformation remains possible.

• Secular liberals must abandon hostility toward Christianity and create welcoming environments for religious expression in workplaces and universities
• Religious diversity and inclusion programs should explicitly include people of faith rather than treating religious commitment as backward or discriminatory
• Secular Americans should demonstrate curiosity about religious belief and practice, potentially including attending religious services to understand faith communities
• Christians must practice "discipleship" in civic life by modeling Jesus's teachings in political engagement rather than adopting partisan combat tactics
• The church needs internal reformation prioritizing spiritual formation over political mobilization, with pastors focusing on biblical teaching rather than electoral outcomes
• Both communities must resist "post-modern" approaches that subordinate truth to power, whether from progressive left or nationalist right movements

Roush's ultimate hope rests on Christianity's historical resilience and the gospel's proven power to inspire renewal movements that restore authentic faith practices and democratic civic virtues.

Common Questions

Q: How can an atheist legitimately critique Christian theology and practice?
A: You don't need personal belief in Jesus as savior to recognize the profound importance and practical wisdom of his teachings for democratic governance.

Q: Why couldn't other religions or secular humanism provide the same democratic foundation?
A: Christianity specifically shaped America's founding and constitutional framework, while other systems may work elsewhere but lack the historical integration required here.

Q: Isn't it hypocritical for evangelicals to support Trump while claiming Christian values?
A: Many evangelical leaders and pastors privately express concern, but political pressure from congregations has created hostile environment for Jesus-centered teaching.

Q: How serious is the threat from Christian nationalism compared to other democratic challenges?
A: Christian nationalism represents part of broader "post-modern right" movement that subordinates truth to power, paralleling dangerous trends on the progressive left.

Q: What specific actions can secular Americans take to support healthy Christianity?
A: Include religious people in diversity programs, show curiosity about faith, avoid forcing all religious businesses to conform to secular progressive policies, and attend religious services occasionally.

Jonathan Roush's analysis reveals how the decline of authentic, Jesus-centered Christianity has removed essential moral infrastructure supporting American democracy. His call for both Christian renewal and secular accommodation offers a pathway toward restored democratic governance grounded in shared civic virtues rather than polarized identity warfare.