This edition of From Our Eyes features Sahara Zúñiga Fernández (’26 Sociology and Film & TV Production). Zúñiga is currently completing two degrees at Chapman University and serves as a research assistant to several Chapman faculty members. Recently, they attended the Wilkinson College event “Christian Nationalism, White Supremacy, and the Future of Democracy” sponsored by The Institute for the Study of Religion, Economics, and Society, as well as the Sociology Department, which Zúñiga said, “created a space for a sociological analysis of religious and political movements”.

Photo by Ann Hoang (’27 Dodge College)

Throughout my time at Chapman, I have attended many events sponsored by Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. There are always new things being discussed, researched, and explained, and I’m always interested in learning something new. On this occasion, I attended a panel discussion on  “Christian Nationalism, White Supremacy, and the Future of Democracy” for my Foundations of Criminal Justice course, taught by Dr. Pete Simi (Sociology), who moderated the event.

The event featured panelists Dr. Andrew Whitehead (Indiana University), Dr. Heidi Beirich (Researcher on American & European Extremist Movements), and Dr. Joseph Baker (Tennessee State University). All three are involved in research regarding Christian Nationalism in the United States, including how the general public perceives it, its core ideas, and its goals as a political project.

I have always been interested in the intersection of religion and politics. I had a Catholic upbringing, and the community I lived in was almost all Catholic. I never had the opportunity to observe any other religious upbringing during my childhood. It is only more recently that I’ve had the opportunity to meet and speak to people from different religious backgrounds and have begun to understand how my Catholic upbringing left me with certain morals and ideals that are not necessarily my own, but inherited. In these moments, I found myself confronting how might my beliefs change if my curiosity in the world around me provides the opportunities to learn and grow beyond my upbringing.

During the panel, the idea of people using Christian Nationalism as an identity came up several times. I believe it is challenging for some people to discover who they are without tying themselves to an existing narrative, even if it may be harmful to them or others. It is easier to think of your way of being as the right way and everyone else’s way as wrong. It is simpler to categorize things in binaries and employ black-and-white thinking to protect ourselves, but in the long term, we lose a great deal when we are not open to new ideas. When we live without critically examining ourselves, we can never really understand who we are.

As I grow and learn, I am glad to know that I can attend these types of events and meet with curious people who not only want to better understand the world but also how they fit into the puzzle. Understanding the world can be challenging, but it becomes easier when we rely on one another and gain new insights from others’ experiences and opinions.

(Pictured in header: (Left to right) Panelists Dr. Heidi Beirich (Researcher on American & European Extremist Movements), Dr. Joseph Baker (Tennessee State University), and Dr. Andrew Whitehead (Indiana University). Photo by Ann Hoang (’27 Dodge College).