MICAH rally rejects Christian nationalism ahead of Milwaukee RNC

As some Milwaukeeans looked to the sky Sunday to glimpse the arrival of former President Donald Trump, waiting to hear what message he will share after an apparent assassination attempt, a coalition of local faith congregations gathered in an east side performing arts center to send their own message while their city has the spotlight.

Ahead of the Republican National Convention, Milwaukee faith leaders drew more than 500 supporters to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Zelazo Center to condemn Christian nationalism, a movement that seeks to set government policy based on Christian values.

Speakers referenced Project 2025, an initiative by RNC-sponsor Heritage Foundation, which has been characterized as a Christian nationalist platform that would gut federal agencies, set laws based on conservative Christian beliefs and give the president more power.

Richard Shaw, president of Milwaukee Inner-City Congregations Allied for Hope (MICAH), which organized the "rally for democracy" Sunday, said it was important to the diverse organizers to come together as a "group of religious leaders who do not stand for white Christian nationalism."

“It's necessary because the group who's meeting here in Milwaukee, they pushed an ideology that separates us,” said Shaw, a pastor at St. Matthew CME Church. “But we want to show that regardless of our race, regardless of our religion, regardless of our origin, our sexual origin, our gender, that we come together.” 

Civil rights activist and minister Al Sharpton had been scheduled to speak at the rally but canceled after being asked to offer eulogy for D'Vontaye Mitchell, who died after being held down by security guards outside a Milwaukee hotel June 30.

The MICAH coalition, which has been organizing social justice campaigns for 36 years in Milwaukee, represents 42 congregations, including Christian, Muslim, Jewish, Unitarian, Buddhist, Quaker and other groups.

Janan Najeeb, who serves as director of the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition and is the first non-Christian chair of MICAH’s religious leaders caucus, said the caucus’ work is to build “beloved community that believes in the intrinsic worth of all people.” 

Najeeb condemned Trump's choice to call Biden a "bad Palestinian" during the June 27 debate, a remark that some felt seemed to be employed like a slur.

"I am a proud, proud Palestinian-American Muslim, and you can call me a bad Palestinian until you're blue in the face, because I know, like the communities of color that dealt with this before me, that my existence is resistance," Najeeb said to applause.

At the five-hour gathering Sunday, the performing arts center felt at times like a church and at times like a lecture hall, featuring a lineup of singers, dancers, preachers, and scholars who discussed the history of white Christian nationalism.

Dennis Jacobson, a founding pastor of MICAH, cited surveys by the Public Religion Research Institute that found about 30% of Americans qualified as Christian nationalism adherents or sympathizers, agreeing with questions like whether the U.S. should be declared a Christian nation or whether laws should be based on Christian values. Jacobson said the ideology posed an urgent threat to democracy.  

“To privilege Christianity would destroy our multicultural democracy and kill the dream of a beloved community for which so many people are striving,” Jacobson said. “If white Christian nationalism prevails, you may soon know what it's like to live in an authoritarian society.”

As part of the event's call to action, organizers urged attendees to get involved in voter-turnout drives through Souls to the Polls and 100 Women on the Move.

“Preachers, where are you?" asked Brenda Jackson, a member of MICAH and 100 Women on the Move. "It’s time to come out the pulpit and hit the pavement."