Earlier this week, during a panel titled "The Crisis of Meaning and Morality in the West" at the National Conservatism Conference (NatCon4) in Washington, D.C., Albert Mohler was asked if people of other religions would have a place in an America where conservative Christians have fully engaged politically.
He began by pointing out that a variety of religious faiths already agree on a religious foundation for the country.
"You have traditional Roman Catholics, conservative Protestants, and conservative Jewish people who basically already live in the same world and acknowledge that," he said.
When the moderator asked specifically about Muslims, Hindus, and those of other religious affiliations, Mohler said freedom of religion and a thousand other American values only thrive if built on a Judeo-Christian foundation.
"I don't think a nation can survive without theological commitments," he stated. "That does not mean it cannot allow others to be a part of the community — and even invite others, in a certain sense, into the community — but it does mean that there has to be the explicit acknowledgement that this is a nation with specific theological accountability and theological commitments."
"I'm not claiming that … every citizen is going to be a confessing Christian," he continued. "I'm going to say that does not mean they are not obligated to the acknowledgment of the Christian structure of this civilization and its commitments. Those coming should respect that, must respect that, and understand that."
Regarding the political role Christianity ought to play, Mohler said he would like those in the state to "maximize the Christian commitments of the civilization."
"There's a lot of people who think their walk with Jesus means to be disengaged from the wider world, and that's not consistent with New Testament Christianity," he submitted.
By contrast, he said religious liberty and other freedoms die when divorced from God's law.
"The kind of modern secularists' dream is, I believe, a constitutional nightmare," he stated.
Pastor Douglas Wilson, who was also a part of the panel discussion, agreed.
"Christians [need] theological substance to their political thinking," he said, adding that such is sorely lacking today.
During an interview with Tucker Carlson earlier this year, Wilson defended Christian nationalism and asserted that the problems facing the U.S. transcend politics and require a spiritual solution.
