The Godless Crusade

Religion, Populism, and Right-Wing Identity Politics in the West

May 17, 2023
12:30 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. EDT
Location: Berkley Center 3rd Floor Conference Room Map

How Christian is Christian nationalism? Tobias Cremer’s new book The Godless Crusade argues that the rise of right-wing populism in the West and its references to religion are driven more by the emergence of a new secular identity politics than by a resurgence of religious fervor. Based on his exclusive interviews with 116 populist leaders, key policymakers, and faith leaders in the United States, Germany, and France, Cremer shows how right-wing populists use Christianity as a cultural identity marker of the “pure people” against external “others” while often remaining disconnected from Christian values, beliefs, and institutions. However, right-wing populists’ willingness and ability to employ religion in this way critically depends on the actions of mainstream party politicians and faith leaders. They can either legitimize right-wing populists’ identitarian use of religion or challenge it, thereby cultivating “religious immunity” against populist appeals.

This event will feature Tobias Cremer, a Junior Research Fellow at Pembroke College, Oxford, and former Berkley Center visiting research fellow. Berkley Center Senior Research Fellow Judd Birdsall will moderate the discussion. This event will be in person at the Berkley Center only. Lunch will be served.

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Participants

Judd Birdsall Toggle

About Judd Birdsall

Judd Birdsall is assistant professor of the practice in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at Georgetown University, where he is also a senior fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs and the project director of the Transatlantic Policy Network on Religion and Diplomacy (TPNRD). From 2011 to 2020 Birdsall was based at Cambridge University, where he earned his Ph.D., founded a research center on religion and international studies, and served as an affiliated lecturer in the Department of Politics and International Studies. Prior to his time at Cambridge, he served in the U.S. State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom and on the Secretary of State’s Policy Planning Staff. Birdsall is the editor of Religion & Diplomacy, and his work has appeared in the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Guardian, Huffington Post, Christianity Today, and Religion & Politics. He is also a senior editor and a frequent contributor at the Review of Faith & International Affairs.

Judd Birdsall's Profile

Tobias Cremer Toggle

About Tobias Cremer

Tobias Cremer is a junior research fellow in the Religion and the Frontier Challenges program at Pembroke College Oxford. He was a visiting research fellow at the Berkley Center from October 2019 to January 2020. Cremer previously was a McCloy Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, where he received an MPP. He also holds a B.A. from Sciences Po Paris, and an M.Phil. and Ph.D. from Cambridge University. He is the assistant editor for the Transatlantic Policy Network on Religion and Diplomacy.

Tobias Cremer's Profile