Documentary ‘Bad Faith’ gives powerful look at the rise of ‘Christian nationalism’

Stephen Ujlaki said he and Chris Jones made the documentary “Bad Faith,” which investigates the rise of “Christian nationalism,” to “understand what’s happening in the country.”

“Regrettably, what’s happening now is much worse than what was happening then, and the film is an attempt to explain how we got here,” Ujlaki said before a screening of the movie Thursday night during the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

“Bad Faith” features interviews with author and lecturer Anne Nelson, and minister and social activist William Barber II. Steve Schmidt, a political strategist and founder of The Lincoln Project, also appears in the film and participated in the Q&A following the showing at Regal Cinemas in Palm Springs.

“We’re at a very serious moment in the nation’s history,” Schmidt said.

Later, he said: “You have a minority of the population that thinks it’s an army. They’ve got enough (voter) apathy to join with them and they can make a very thin majority. I think this is a phenomenon that’s not understood across vast swaths of the country, how dangerous it is, how well-funded it is, how organized it is, how coordinated it is, and how approximate to power it is.”

During the opening credits, the definition of Christian nationalism appears on screen, explaining it’s the notion that America is a nation by and for Christians alone. The film, which is co-directed by Ujlaki and Jones, begins with an interview and footage of Pastor Ken Peters, the founder of the Patriot Church in Knoxville, Tennessee. Peters is shown welcoming congregants and delivering a politically fueled sermon. Peters acknowledges without hesitation speaking at then-president Donald Trump’s “Save America” rally on Jan. 6, 2021, at the Ellipse in Washington, D.C., which was followed by the riot at the U.S. Capitol building.

Footage captured by the filmmakers at the rally shows several attendees holding crosses, waving Christian flags and displaying Christian nationalist-toned messaging on signs and clothing. A few people are shown carrying large crosses, as well as a small group of people holding a large portrait of Jesus wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat.

A mixture of original and news footage shows many of the rioters storming into the Capitol carrying and wearing the same items into the building, and some were shown praying outside and in the House Chamber in celebration.

Elizabeth Neumann, a former homeland security official who served in the Trump administration, explained in the film how U.S. extremist groups were never a domestic security concern during her tenure, and that the riot was planned and carried out mostly by Christian nationalists.

The film’s reporting of what led to the modern Christian nationalist movement starts during the 1970s and the origins of what’s known as “the religious right.” Early religious conservatives who embraced segregation in the southern states, such as Rev. Jerry Falwell Sr. and Bob Jones III, were affected by parts of the Civil Rights Act that stripped private religious institutions opposing integration of their tax-exempt status.

In 1973 after Roe v. Wade legalized abortion, Falwell, religious conservative political activist Paul Weyrich and other associated figures founded the political action group “Moral Majority.” The group had a role in former president Ronald Reagan’s election victory in 1980, but Weyrich became disillusioned with the Republican Party for not following through on several items in the Moral Majority’s platform.

Weyrich started the Council for National Policy in 1981 and was a dominating force in shifting the Republican Party during the 1990s and 2000s further to the right and planting the seeds of Christian nationalism into the current platform. The group is known to be private and members are asked not to reveal any affiliations. In 2020, a list of its membership leaked to the public, revealing prominent Republicans, business leaders and religious extremists.

The New York Times describes the Council for National Policy as "a little-known club of a few hundred of the most powerful conservatives in the country.”

The documentary’s examination of Weyrich’s influence on prominent conservatives and the rising support of Christian nationalism by Evangelicals is comprehensive for a 90-minute film, but leaves more to be desired and many questions. A manifesto Weyrich wrote before he died in 2008 calling for an insurrection could have been examined further.

But Schmidt did leave the audience with a compelling afterthought during the Q&A: “Democracy is what keeps us safe.

“All of the world’s religious doctrines and texts talk about the innate dignity of the human being, the human soul made in the image of God. All men are created equal, endowed by our creator with inalienable rights. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” Schmidt said.

Desert Sun reporter Brian Blueskye covers arts and entertainment. He can be reached at brian.blueskye@desertsun.com or on Twitter at @bblueskye.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Documentary ‘Bad Faith’ shows the rise of ‘Christian nationalism’