On October 28, 2024, the West Virginia Council of Churches will host its 143rd Annual Assembly. This year’s theme is “Christ or Caesar: An Exploration of Church and State.” We’ll spend the day reflecting on this relationship and hearing from several thought-provoking speakers, including Dr. Laura Harbert Allen.
We hope you’ll be able to attend this year’s Annual Assembly and hear the entirety of Dr. Harbert Allen’s session. You can register to attend by clicking here, and registration closes on October 21.
But for now, here’s a brief Q&A with Dr. Harbert Allen to give you a taste of what you’ll learn if you attend.
“For the longest time journalism schools weren’t teaching how to cover religion—and most still aren’t. But now things are changing a bit. People are recognizing that Christian nationalism didn’t start in 2016. It’s always been part of our country. And if we’d had better religion reporting for the last hundred years, we might not be in the same place we’re in right now.” — Dr. Laura Harbert Allen
West Virginia Council of Churches (WVCC): What drew you to religion reporting?
Dr. Harbert Allen: I’ve always been interested in religion, and I’ve always been ecumenical. I was previously a candidate for ministry in the United Methodist Church. I was born and christened as a Lutheran. I’ve been an American Baptist. At one point I was seriously dating a Catholic man, and I began the process of converting. I’m now married to a United Methodist pastor.
My more recent background is in media studies and journalism. While pursuing my Ph.D., I started thinking about how the media portrays religion and faith. Then a job opened at 100 Days in Appalachia, and they wanted a religion reporter. And 100 Days has a research arm and a public-facing arm. So sometimes I do journalism, but I’m also frequently doing research and working on resources for journalists doing religion reporting.
My work right now is at this intersection between public-facing journalism and research on how journalists can do better when it comes to portraying religion. And that includes Christian nationalism and the Christian Right.
I feel like I fit in both the media world and the religious world, and I think sometimes those two worlds need a translator. So, I view my work as translating.
WVCC: So what have you been “translating” lately through your reporting?
Dr. Harbert Allen: There are all kinds of phrases that I’ve heard the religious community use over the years. For example, the phrase “America is a Christian nation.”
I don’t think that phrase in and of itself is necessarily a harmful one. Many people would say, ‘Well, America does have some Christian values.’ And a lot of Christians think that means helping each other and embracing a social Gospel. More orthodox believers might think the phrase is about faith and salvation. I would say most people think it’s a combination of both.
But a lot of my recent reporting has focused on the New Apostolic Reformation, Dominionism, and everything that’s happened since roughly 2016 with the American Christian Right. And within these spaces, that phrase—”America is a Christian nation”—can take on an entirely different meaning.
With Christian nationalism as we’re seeing it today, there is this desire to create a form of Christian supremacy in which one form of Christianity—a form that’s extremely conservative, extremely orthodox, extremely intolerant— is viewed as more important and better than anything else. And the folks within that movement want America’s government to be run based on these beliefs.
WVCC: Tell me a little more about the New Apostolic Reformation and Dominionism, for folks who aren’t familiar with these terms.
Dr. Harbert Allen: One thing I like to do is divide this into tiers. I would describe Dominionism as a theological belief, based on Genesis 1:26-28, where God tells mankind to have dominion over the earth. There are different interpretations of this passage, and Dominionism is about dominating the Earth and dominating the government.
The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is a movement. And the theology of Dominionism informs this movement. NAR believes there is a supernatural war going on. And NAR adherents will say things like ‘Kamala Harris is possessed by a demon.’ And they believe it.
So, there’s this aspect of spiritual warfare, and spiritual warfare takes on many different forms. Some of them are pretty innocuous. For example, you might pray the demon of addiction out of a friend. That might be weird for people who don’t believe in it, but it’s not hurting anyone.
But when you say that the politicians you disagree with are possessed by demons, you’re taking the idea of spiritual warfare into the political arena. And what can happen then is that those politicians must be defeated by any means necessary. It’s okay to use violence to fight back against these “demons.”
So Dominionism is the theology. NAR is the movement. And then the strategy is sometimes called the “Seven Mountains Mandate.” NAR adherents are working to dominate seven mountains—seven areas of life: religion, family, government, education, media, entertainment, and business. They believe conquering those seven mountains will remake society in their vision and make the world perfect. They also believe that doing so is the only way to get Jesus to return.
WVCC: So you work as a reporter, but you also perform research as an academic. What kind of research have you been doing lately?
Dr. Harbert Allen: Right now, I’m a project lead on a Henry Luce Foundation grant called “Reporting on Religion.” And the idea behind that group is to bring together clergy, scholarly experts, reporters, and editors; get them to talk to each other; and figure out how to cover religion better.
I want journalists to know that religion is not all extremism. I want clergy and journalists to trust each other. And if clergy want a different version of Christianity to be communicated, then they have to talk with journalists. And there’s a lot of mistrust—for very good reason—between journalists and clergy, but that rift has to be repaired. That’s another big part of my work—creating resources and groups for people to start to break down those barriers.
WVCC: I imagine part of the problem is that there are so few religion reporters today. Why do you think that is?
Dr. Harbert Allen: I think there are a couple of reasons for that. One is there’s been this rising sense of secularism. People think we’re not religious anymore. And certainly, there’s evidence to back that assertion up. Now almost a third of Americans say they are not affiliated with a religion at all.
But I think in journalism you’re also trained under these notions of objectivity and fairness, so you’re taught that religion is a bias. You’re kind of taught that religion is unimportant because we’re a secular country, and religion is just for old people who are out of touch. So, for the longest time journalism schools weren’t teaching how to cover religion—and most still aren’t. But now things are changing a bit. People are recognizing that Christian nationalism didn’t start in 2016. It’s always been part of our country. And if we’d had better religion reporting for the last hundred years, we might not be in the same place we’re in right now.
About Dr. Laura Harbert Allen
Dr. Laura Harbert Allen is a Report for America corps member covering the intersection of religion, politics, and culture for 100 Days in Appalachia. Prior to joining 100 Days, she contributed to podcasts such as “Making Contact,” “Us & Them,” “Freakonomics Radio,” and “Inside Appalachia.” She has been a host, reporter/producer, and manager at various public radio stations, including West Virginia Public Broadcasting. Dr. Harbert Allen also worked for eight years as the West Virginia United Methodist Conference’s communications director. In 2022, she completed her Ph.D. at Ohio University’s Scripps College of Communication, where she has taught media criticism and audio storytelling/podcasting for three years.