Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)
In 2009, Dr. William Cavanaugh deconstructed this myth in his text The Myth of Religious Violence. He tied this myth to the demonization of the Islamic world after the September 11 attacks. I believe that the contemporary deluge of material on Christian Nationalism refocuses this myth inward upon the religious Other in America. Contemporary scholars of Christian Nationalism, such as Dr. Bradley Onishi, are reproducing this myth. Their analysis is necessary, but further work is needed to avoid further reifying the imperial logic of the American nation-state and painting Christian Nationalists as the irrational other.