CHRISTIAN NATIONALISM, ZIONISM, HINDUTVA: The Dangers and Similarities of Religious Nationalism Around the World

February 3, 2025 Communications Staff

Presented by UMKR and MFSA

Religious nationalism in the United States, Israel, and India: what threats do these dangerous ideologies bring to our lives and our communities, and what do they have in common?

Religious nationalism has roots in racist perspectives about humanity and unholy beliefs about God's favoritism, conflating those in order to grant power and privilege to one people over another.

Varieties of religious nationalism - the merging of religious faith, political philosophy, and national loyalty – have long served to justify political oppression and condone colonialist greed.

We know religious commitment can be a positive force that inspires care for all people and for the planet.

However, the misuse of religious traditions such as Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism to harm and exclude whole segments of populations betrays the essential values of these faiths, while also violating universal human rights and greatly damaging our societies.

In recent years, religious nationalism is sweeping the globe in ways that promote violence and authoritarianism.

In this webinar, we look at three prominent and timely examples of religious nationalism today: White Christian Nationalism, Zionism (Jewish Nationalism), and Hindu Nationalism.

The similarities between these ideologies are striking. When we expand our understanding of each to see the common ground they share, we can build strength in our mutual efforts as faith advocates to refute them and stem the harm they can do in our faith communities and in the world.

An exceptional panel of experts presents and discusses the distinct features of each of these dangerous ideologies and helps us to understand the compelling intersections among them.

OUR PANEL:
REV. KENDAL L. MCBROOM is the Director of Civil and Human Rights at the United Methodist General Board of Church and Society. He is responsible for managing and developing the agency’s legislative and policy advocacy in support of civil and human rights. He also collaborates with United Methodist faith and secular coalitions to develop and implement strategies that advance GBCS priorities. Before joining GBCS staff, Kendal served as the senior pastor of Turners Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church in High Point, North Carolina and is an ordained elder in the AME Church.

RABBI ALISSA WISE is an organizer with over two decades of movement building experience. She is currently Lead Organizer of Rabbis for Ceasefire. She was a staff leader at Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) from 2011-2021, serving as Co-Director of Organizing, Deputy Director, and interim Executive Director. Alissa is a national public speaker and commentator, and her work has appeared in such news outlets as Newsweek and The Guardian. She lives in West Philadelphia, where she facilitates and coaches human rights and movement-building NGOs toward deeper strategy, organizing, and leadership.

PRANAY SORAYAJULA is the Director of Organizing and Advocacy for Hindus for Human Rights (HfHR), and a writer, researcher, and cultural critic who is passionate about dismantling systems of hate and oppression to build a more equitable world. His writing has appeared in The Nation, Jacobin, The Drift, and Electric Literature, among other news and literary outlets. He also writes the Substack blog “Culture Shock,” where he covers everything from the climate crisis to South Asian diasporic identity. Pranay has a MSc in Human Rights from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

M. THERESA BASILE, Moderator of the panel, is Communications Director, Education Chair, and a co-founder of United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR), and she has served in national leadership with Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA) and US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR). Over the last 30 years, Theresa has engaged in inclusive and intersectional justice and peace advocacy on a wide range of issues, in the United Methodist Church, interfaith circles, and beyond.

This Webinar was recorded on January 30, 2025

Additional Resources with this Webinar:

RESOURCES FROM THE UMC GENERAL BOARD OF CHURCH AND SOCIETY (GBCS) and the GENERAL BOARD OF RELIGION AND RACE (GCORR)

What is Christian Nationalism?
Faith & Facts: Civil and Human Rights
GBCS
https://www.umcjustice.org/documents/233

Christian Nationalism in the U.S.
GBCS
The rising influence of Christian Nationalism has increasingly seeped into U.S. politics threatening the vibrancy and the cultural fabric of U.S. democracy.
https://www.umcjustice.org/what-we-care-about/civil-and-human-rights/christian-nationalism

White Christian Nationalism, Hate and Extremism:
An Interview with Dr. Joseph Wiinikka-Lydon of the Southern Poverty Law Center
GBCS
https://www.umcjustice.org/latest/white-christian-nationalism-hate-and-extremism-an-interview-with-dr-joseph-wiinikka-lydon-1801

What is White Christian Nationalism
GCORR
https://www.r2hub.org/library/what-is-white-christian-nationalism

BOOK RECOMMENDATION FROM KENDAL MCBROOM

“The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy”

by Philip Gorski and Samuel Perr

A great primer for anyone interested in digging deeper into white Christian nationalism.

WEBSITE RECOMMENDED BY GBCS

Christians Against Christian Nationalism

https://www.christiansagainstchristiannationalism.org/

FROM/BY ALISSA WISE

Solidarity is the Political Version of Love:
Lessons From Jewish Anti-Zionist Organizing
by Rebecca Vilkomerson and Rabbi Alissa Wise

In this book, two key leaders and former staff of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) — Rebecca Vilkomerson and Rabbi Alissa Wise — focus on the important role of anti-Zionist Jewish organizing within the broader Palestine solidarity movement, reflecting on their decade of leadership of JVP and drawing lessons especially relevant to those organizing from a position of solidarity.

The American Jewish Consensus Is Fracturing—and That’s a Blessing
by Alissa Wise
The Nation
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/american-jewish-divisions-zionism/

FROM/BY PRANAY SOMAYAJULA

Webinar

UNPACKING HINDU NATIONALISM:

Its Influence and Islamophobic Narratives in the American Context

The Bridge Initiative

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ty_sQ-AXszI&t=5s

In episode 18 of Unpacking Islamophobia, Bridge Associate Director Mobashra Tazamal speaks with Safa Ahmed, the Associate Director of Media & Communications for the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), and Pranay Somayajula, the Organizing and Advocacy Director for Hindus for Human Rights, on the topic of Hindu nationalism in the United States.

Podcast

HINDUTVA WITH PRANAY SOMAYAJULA

https://open.spotify.com/episode/0ZJ0ybgGuEacIIlKQSm6gh

In this episode, Pranay Somayajula helps us unpack the term Hindutva as a keyword in Critical Zionism Studies. Hindutva is specifically anti-Muslim, and – like Zionism – it has been fueled by British colonialism. In the present, Hindutva is more and more entwined with Zionist politics. Pranay untangles hindutva’s parallels and connections to Nazism and to Zionism.

We discuss the close military, political, and diplomatic relationship between India and Israel, the ideological underpinnings of the two countries’ nationalist regimes, the growing alignment of Hindu American organizations with the Israel lobby groups, and the solidarity and collaborations between anti-Hindutva and anti-Zionist organizers.

Hindus for Human Rights is a core member of the Savera coalition which has released a series of reports on the Hindutva ecosystem in the US, and its ties to the broader American far-right: https://www.wearesavera.org/resources/reports/

The most recent report focuses specifically on the Hindu American Foundation: https://www.wearesavera.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/HAFWaytoSupremacy.pdf

ON THE DOCTRINE OF DISCOVERY, A RELATED TOPIC

UMC RESOLUTION

#3331 Doctrine of Discovery

https://www.umcjustice.org/latest/3331-doctrine-of-discovery-131

WEBINAR SERIES

Stealing the Earth: The Conquering of Indigenous Peoples, the Role of Christianity, and
What Can Bring about Justice

https://www.mfsaweb.org/stealing-the-earth

WEBINAR

Doctrine of Discovery: Stand Against Racism Discussion

https://www.umc.org/en/content/doctrine-of-discovery-dismantling-racism-panel-discussion-11-18-2020

WEBSITE