Op-ed about the Museum of the Bible calls it a “safe space for Christian Nationalists”

Katherine Stewart wrote an opinion piece about the recently opened Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., saying that it is the focal point for many Christian Nationalists, hosting an “intensely politicized religion.”  The Museum opened on November 17, 2017.  Rather than being a typical museum and exploring the rich complexity of the Bible and its history, the Museum of the Bible offers a single message and interpretation.  “If you walk in thinking that the Bible has a single meaning, that the evidence of archaeology and history has served to confirm its truth, that it is the greatest force for good humanity has ever known and that it is the founding text of the American republic — well, then, you will leave with a smile on your face and a song in your heart.”  The Museum hosted Revolution 2017, a gathering of speakers “who intend to ‘transform nations’ by ‘igniting a holy reformation in every sphere of society.'”  Another event at the Museum this past year was Revive Us 2, broadcast from the museum to movie theaters across the country. It proclaimed that the only path to national unity was through religious “awakening” and commitment to conservative Christianity.  The Museum was founded by Steve Green, president of the Hobby Lobby chain. It is backed by the Dick and Betsy DeVos Family Foundation and other conservative Christian foundations with political leanings.  It has been called “God’s base camp,” by supporters, an “‘Ark of the Covenant’ for our nation,” as promotional materials for Revolution 2017 proclaimed.  Ralph Drollinger, founder and president of Capitol Ministries, who leads a Bible study attended by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Vice President Mike Pence, and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, held a training conference for about 80 international participants, discussing “creating and sustaining discipleship ministries to political leaders.”  With such backers and patrons, it’s not hard to understand the Museum of the Bible’s message.  Katherine Stewart puts it well: “The aim isn’t anything so crude as the immediate conversion of tourists to a particular variety of evangelical Christianity. Its subtler task is to embed a certain set of assumptions in the landscape of the capital.”