‘Greatness Is Our Birthright’ Nicole Scott Free Inquiry

These were the words of the Republican nominee for president at the Republican National Convention held in Milwaukee in July 2024. The event was a classic case of American exceptionalism on steroids. American exceptionalism is not simply the claim that America is unique; most countries are unique in some way or other. American exceptionalism is the claim that America’s excellence surpasses all other nations, making her uniquely qualified (if not divinely ordained) to lead or rule the world.

So, what are the unique qualities that account for American greatness? Interestingly, there has never been agreement on that matter—past or present. There are at least two major contenders that seem to be mutually incompatible: religious and secular, conservative and liberal, Republican and Democratic. I will focus on the Republican version on display at the convention: Christian virtue and manliness.

The United States was first and foremost a creature of British colonialism and radical Protestantism. This accounts for both its violence and its religiosity. In 1629, the Massachusetts Bay Company was authorized by King Charles I to colonize the New World through “trade” and the spread of European civilization. John Winthrop, a radical Puritan, was elected leader of the Company and arrived on the Arbella in 1630, followed by more ships carrying more radical Puritan colonists to the Eastern Seaboard.

Winthrop and his fellow Puritans were eager to leave England because they thought the Anglican Church was too much like the Catholic Church—which they regarded as a hierarchical, soulless agent of Satan. As a self-proclaimed saint, Winthrop hoped to create a Christian community that would be a monument to true Christianity, blessed by God, and admired by the world—a “city on a hill.” In the Massachusetts of John Winthrop, only those who experienced the grace of God in their lives, and thereby destined for salvation, were worthy of holding political office or any position of power. Dissidents, such as Roger Williams and Anne Hutchinson, were banished as heretics. This theocratic colony could not afford to be indifferent to either the beliefs or the private vices of its citizens, because private virtue was a prerequisite for political and military success, and private vice was a route to collective annihilation.

The Christian nationalists, who were among the staunchest supporters of Donald Trump at the convention, are the heirs of the original Puritans. Like them, they believe that only true Christians should qualify for elected office and that the laws of the land should impose Christian morality in private life. Like the original Puritans, they believe this is how America can recapture her lost greatness. The more cynical Republicans are inclined to believe religious discipline increases the prospect of military success—as the triumph of the Taliban over the militarily superior Americans illustrates.

Those who believe that this view of the world inclines to isolationism in foreign policy are mistaken. Like Jonathan Edwards, the most iconic American theologian, radical Protestants—past and present—understand human history as the progressive triumph over the satanic forces that account for the evils of the world. They believe the United States was chosen by God to be at the forefront of this struggle.

Another presence at the convention was masculinity. According to Frederick Jackson Turner (The Frontier in American History), the fact that Americans were at the “frontier of civilization” cultivated a manly independent spirit that made anything other than democracy and self-government unpalatable. Turner is surely right in thinking that the frontier made some men self-reliant and manly, but it also made some lawless, gun-toting, and violent. This may explain the proliferation of guns in America and the exceptional levels of gun violence and mass shootings.

Hulk Hogan, the famous wrestling champion, was one of the stars of the convention. Having recently found Jesus and been baptized in a public ceremony along with his young bride, Hogan managed to bridge the gulf between the manly types and the devout Christians. The vice-presidential nominee, J. D. Vance, also represented the manly types—he is opposed to female empowerment and reproductive freedom—but with his emphasis on fatherhood and family values, the violent machismo was largely tamed and presented as civilized. None of the fiercely lawless and violent types who led the assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, were mentioned.

Peter Navarro arrived at the convention directly from four months in prison for his refusal to comply with a subpoena from the House Select Committee that investigated the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. “I went to prison, so you don’t have to,” he told the crowd. This was an echo of Jesus, who is said to have died for our sins, sparing us. As with Christ, it is not clear what the audience was guilty of.

The core of the convention was resentment—the resentment of those who believe that they were born for greatness. Then, they found themselves dispossessed—by the elites who invented globalization and robbed them of their livelihood. Vance was a symbol of the devastation of the American Rust Belt—joblessness, addiction, and death, which Vance described in his autobiographical work, Hillbilly Elegy. This is a legitimate complaint; the elites of both parties were champions of globalization. The flawed vision was part of the fantasy of American exceptionalism. Supposedly, the United States will not need manufacturing jobs, which are appropriate for less-developed countries. Once released from these jobs, Americans will supposedly assume superior jobs in the information age.

Another source of resentment was directed at the strangers who have unceremoniously “invaded” their land, as Americans did to Mexico in the 1840s. It is not just the “invasion” at the southern border that irks them; it is the whole idea of America as a multicultural society. How can those born to greatness claim their birthright if the borders of their nation are open to the riffraff of the world? In this light, the Republican shift toward dictatorship and ethnonationalism is not a move in the direction of isolationism and against the endless wars. The use of force in foreign policy will be indispensable for displaying American greatness—because it is hard to be great if others won’t acknowledge it, if not freely, then by force.

The convention ended with the Christian spirit of love and forgiveness appearing on stage in the form of Melania Trump, who kissed her husband in reconciliation and renewal. Donald Trump was reborn as the unlikely dictator who will establish the Christian nation that the Puritan forefathers longed for.