MOSCOW, Idaho (FāVS News) — In Pastor Doug Wilson’s Christian nationalist America, there would be no minarets — only the sound of church bell towers. There would be no statues of Hindu deities or other non-Christian religious symbols in public spaces. Adultery would carry legal penalties, and Obergefell v. Hodges would be overturned. Wilson says he’s not trying to get there tomorrow. But he and his Moscow, Idaho, church are building what he calls “a working prototype.”

“What I mean by Christian nationalism is America being what it was founded to be,” said Toby Sumpter, a pastor at Christ Church, the congregation led by Wilson.

Sumpter joined Wilson and Pastor Jared Longshore, dean at New Saint Andrews College, the school run by Christ Church, at a town hall on the University of Idaho campus, where the three laid out their vision for America’s future.

The trio made national headlines last year after they appeared together in a CNN profile examining Wilson’s Christian nationalist movement and its ties to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.   

Turnout for Thursday’s (April 9) event, hosted by Collegiate Reformed Fellowship — a student organization affiliated with Christ Church, was small and subdued compared to previous town halls, which drew standing-room-only crowds, protesters and outbursts from local residents.

At the beginning of the town hall, Longshore said the term “Christian nationalist” was slapped on Christ Church by others. 

“We didn’t pick this name for ourselves — it was picked for us,” he said. “Other people slapped it on us because we said Jesus is Lord of the state.”

The pastors argued that Christian nationalism isn’t a new idea — it’s a return to America’s founding. They pointed to state constitutions that acknowledged the Christian God and held religious tests for officeholders. They said it had been done before and could be done again. A number of the original 13 colonies that made up the United States had established state churches at the founding, but those ties between church and state were cut early in the country’s history.

What would America look like for the roughly one-third of Americans who are not Christian?

Wilson claimed members of minority religions would actually have “more liberty” than they do now, though he did not elaborate. He was clear, however, about the limits. The pastors argued that what the Bible defines as sinful behavior would not be treated as private — that it has consequences for society as a whole. 

“We’re living in the nuclear fallout of the destruction of the American family,” Sumpter said.

Under that framework, public celebrations of LGBTQ+ identity would not be tolerated. Wilson said Pride Month and Pride parades would receive no government support, and Obergefell v. Hodges would be overturned.

Wilson went further, offering praise for the 1969 Stonewall raids — the police action against a New York gay bar that sparked the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement. He added that said sodomy laws — which were on the books in some of the 50 states until 2003 — should be restored, though not aggressively enforced. “I would not want a sexual Gestapo,” he said.

Their vision extends beyond sexuality and into the structure of the family — including who should have the right to vote. Wilson and the other pastors also argued for cutting the number of voters. Under their model, voting rights would belong to the head of each household — not to individuals. Women in households led by a husband would not. That means women who are widowed, divorced or otherwise head of their own households would vote.

The household view is part of a broader argument made by the Reformed Christian movement Wilson is part of, which seeks to overturn the 19^th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

“We don’t believe that the fundamental building block of society is the individual,” Wilson said. “We believe the fundamental building block of any social order is the family.”

Wilson said their own church already operates this way. In Christ Church elections, members vote by household rather than individually. He did not call for immediately repealing the 19th Amendment but said its passage was an example of federal government overreach into state elections.

The primacy of the family unit also shaped their views on marriage law. Longshore said that their vision for America would eliminate no-fault divorce, which he blamed for enabling the breakdown of the American family. Adultery would carry legal penalties, with the unfaithful spouse penalized in divorce proceedings.

He connected the issue directly to same-sex marriage, arguing that no-fault divorce represented the same radical individualism that eventually led to Obergefell.

“The fact that I can divorce my wife because she burnt the biscuits — that’s crazy,” Longshore said. “What happened to our bonds and our allegiance?”

The issue of blasphemy arose when an audience member sent in a question about the First Amendment and free speech.

Wilson drew a distinction between sincere differences of opinion — which he said should never be prosecuted — and violent public blasphemy, which he said should be treated as disturbing the peace. The pastor also acknowledged that his vision is far from reality. But he said Christ Church isn’t waiting.

“What is happening here in Moscow is building out a working prototype of what this kind of society looks like,” he said. “All of it is peaceful. But we see ourselves as being directly commissioned by the Lord in the Great Commission to disciple America.”

For those skeptical of his vision, Christian and non-Christian alike, Wilson had a simple message: Come see for yourself.

“Retain all your skepticism,” he said. “But have it be open-palm skepticism. Just visit and see — you’re going to find a lot of surprisingly normal people.”