Senate Hopeful Calls National Prayer Breakfast "Christian Nationalism"
Maine Senate candidate Jordan Wood, a Christian, says of congressional prayer breakfasts and Bible studies: "Call it what it is"
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A U.S. Senate hopeful says the National Prayer Breakfast, along with weekly congressional Bible studies and prayer breakfasts, are “right-wing Christian nationalism.”
Jordan Wood, who’s running for the Democratic nomination in next year’s Maine Senate race, was previously a congressional chief of staff and linked the religious events to the same Christian extremism that forced him and his colleagues to hide in their offices on Jan. 6, 2021.
The race could be decisive in determining party control of the Senate.
Wood spoke with me for a wide-ranging discussion on Friday, discussing policy positions and diving into his own, extensive religious background.
Wood came out as gay in college and is now married with a boisterous toddler to boot. He attended a Catholic high school, a Christian college, and participated in Christian events and programs throughout.
Asked whether he believes literally in Biblical accounts of Jesus’s supernatural life events, such as the crucifixion, Wood said, “Whether this event literally happened or not has never been that important to me. The story is what’s important to me.”
He said the New Testament story of Jesus’s life and teachings “offers moral clarity about how you treat the rich, how you treat the poor, what your responsibility to each other is.”
It’s a similar approach to that of former Pres. Thomas Jefferson, who excised supernatural elements from the New Testament to compile his own version dealing solely with moral teachings. Jefferson prohibited the publication of his revision until after his death, knowing the controversy it could cause.
By contrast, Wood seemed comfortable going public. That’s perhaps not surprising in a nation where now something like a third of people don’t associate themselves with any religious tradition.
It’s not clear how well Wood knows the history of the congressional prayer breakfasts and Bible studies, or their sponsors, the Fellowship Foundation and Capitol Ministries respectively. The Fellowship, for instance, sponsored a congressional trip to support Uganda’s LGTBQ+ death penalty while the Capitol Ministries Bible studies teach that the Jews killed Jesus.
Whether he knew that background or not, Wood seemed almost eager to address issues some other Democrats still shy from: Religious institutions and events still embedded within the government and increasing their reach. Citing the White House and congressional Bible studies of Capitol Ministries, as well as the weekly and annual prayer breakfasts of the Fellowship Foundation, I asked Wood where he stands.
“Love this,” Wood said, launching into his response:
“I mean, call it what it is, which is right-wing Christian nationalism. It is this idea that America should be a theocracy, where there should be a very conservative understanding of Christianity that is inherently part of America and that that should be in power. That is so [antithetical] to the Christianity of my family, of my grandparents.”
His grandparents were missionaries, Wood said. His father a pastor. “Small-e evangelical,” Wood said, referring to those evangelicals who don’t share the right-wing politics so prominent in U.S. politics at the moment.
When I referred to House Democrats helping to whitewash elements of Christian nationalism from after-action assessments of the Jan. 6 attack, Wood nodded in agreement. And he returned to Jan. 6 in responding to my question about the congressional prayer breakfasts and Bible studies.
“I mean, I remember the images on January 6, on the U.S. Senate floor when the insurrectionists got there and they held a prayer on the floor and it is, it is a gut-wrenching feeling,” Wood said. “You’re like, what religion is this? Cuz it’s not the one that I belong to. But it is a very real threat.”
Wood evoked the history of Protestant traditions fighting in defense of separation of church and state, seeing it as mutually beneficial.
And he said he won’t let right-wing Christians sour him on his faith. Wood made a point of saying it’s not just Christian nationalism the nation faces right now. It’s “white Christian nationalism: I think it’s important to say ‘white’.”
He said, “My response to this is not, ‘Alright, I’m gonna leave this religion, I’m not gonna go to church, I’m not gonna participate.’” Instead, Wood said, “I think it should be more of a motivation for those of us as Christians who disagree with it to stand up and present why we believe this is wrong and anti-Christian, antithetical to our religion.”
If there’s one state where a gay, Christian Democrat stands a shot at winning while calling congressional prayer breakfasts and Bible studies Christian nationalism, it’s Maine.
Only 51% of the population identify as Christian, of any political persuasion. A whopping 39% describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated. Fourteen percent call themselves agnostic or atheist.
But the most important number in this race might simply be that Collins is now disapproved of by 54% of Maine voters. Meaning despite his heresy against Washington’s performative religiosity, Wood just might have a prayer.
TFN creator and writer Jonathan Larsen co-created Up w/ Chris Hayes and wrote for Countdown with Keith Olbermann at MSNBC, helped launch CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360° and Air America Radio, and has also worked at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and The Young Turks.
He is correct. The National Prayer breakfast has always been privately funded via evangelical
Christians. This was shared in Jeff Sharlet's book, The Family--which is well worth the read to understand how our government has been taken over through a slow and steady plan by Christian Nationalists. Russell Vought at OMB is one, Pete Hegseth is one and his pastor Doug Wilson just did a shocking CNN interview extolling the virtues of Christian Nationalism. Mr. Wilson stated emphatically that he wants the US to be Christian Nationalist.
I heard your interview with Jordan. His brand of faith is a lot closer to that of Unitarians and Reformed Jews than it is to the Bible thumping bigots Trump and his gang are promoting, which is good. Susan Collins should have been defeated last time by Sarah Gideon, and I don't understand why she wasn't other than the flood of PAC money spent on her campaign in the RW media juggernaut...but Gideon was well funded too. So does a thoughtful, mild-mannered Boy Scout like Jordan have a prayer? Maine...are you paying attention?