When Christian Nationalism Comes to the Department Of Homeland Security
Kristi Noem Brings a New Level of Incompetence Steeped in Religious Nationalism
From the first day that Kristie Noem became the governor of South Dakota in 2019, she has made no secret of her Christian Nationalist proclivities.
Christian Nationalism in South Dakota
On Jan. 6, 2019, her first full day as governor of South Dakota , Gov. Kristi Noem sponsored a church service in the Capitol rotunda. The event was billed as an “Inaugural Worship Service with Governor Noem,” explicitly tying this religious event to her inauguration and public office. Despite assurances that “all [were] welcome,” this event made no attempt at being an “interfaith” service; every aspect was decidedly Christian and evangelical in nature.
Holding sectarian evangelical religious services on public grounds has been a performative exercise for Christian Nationalists. It sends a message that is unmistakable. This state (or country) is a Christian state and we control it. It is a state for Christians (who believe like we do)….all others need not apply.
The service featured Christian music, a full sermon by a pastor, and multiple group prayers. One of these prayers, led by a woman who identified herself as the new governor’s family friend, endorsed a Christian nationalist vision for South Dakota, praying:
“You are the Lord and King of South Dakota” and “We thank you, Lord God, that we have faith — faith in You. And that Holy Spirit is filling this place now as we worship you, and the Holy Spirit absolutely takes over every corner and every crevice of this Capitol and of this state.”
The woman then pivoted from Christian nationalism to exorcism, praying that “any demon that may try to come in this place is kicked out.”
Kristie Noem’s worship service alienated nearly 30% of South Dakotans including Muslims, Hindus, Jews, atheists, and other religions. The percentage is higher if you consider the Christians who do not adhere to evangelical theology.
Then there are the nonreligious which are the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. population by religious identification, now making up 28 percent of Americans, and 38 percent of younger Americans. It is safe to assume that over 50% of South Dakotans were left out of that rotunda evangelical worship service.
Noem went on to pass a swath of Christian nationalist legislation in her state. She signed Senate Bill 124, a religious refusal bill that could grant a license to discriminate against LGBTQ people in South Dakota.
Additionally, her “Christian faith” caused her to disavow science during the COVID pandemic. She resisted any guidance by the medical community to encourage masking and shutdowns of any sort. She even attended the motorcycle rally at Sturgis, S.D., in 2020, where she made an appearance on a horse brandishing a flag. That event resulted in what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called “widespread transmission” of Covid-19.
Let me be clear. I am not criticizing Kristie Noem because of her religious faith. Many politicians appeal to their personal religious convictions while in office. What Noem has done and is doing is way beyond the clear separation of church and state. Additionally, she is making decisions that ultimately harm people. That is where I have to draw the line.
The Constitution has a “no religious test” clause which means a person’s personal religious faith is not the litmus test for holding public office. The founders were crystal clear about keeping religion out of public policy and spaces. It is also enshrined in the 1st Amendment. If the founders had wanted to establish a “Christian Nation” they would have said so. They didn’t, and I take them at their word, and their silence.
Noem summarily signed legislation handing public money over to parents to use to send their children to private religious schools, another requires the phrase “In God We Trust” be displayed in all public school classrooms, and a raft of bills to erase the history of non-white people in South Dakota classrooms, including Indigenous history which is so critical to the history of that state.
Noem Brings a White Christian Nationalist Agenda to Washington
It is with this Christian Nationalist agenda that Kristie Noem assumed the role of Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. It is a role for which she has no experience beyond her irrational loyalty to Trump and her Christian Nationalist theology. It is impacting how she runs that department and it doesn’t end well.
Privileging One Religion
Noem has repeatedly stated that she felt a “divine calling” to public service, that her political actions must “line up with the Word of God,” and that her relationship with the Lord is the foundation of her decisions. This religious alignment has found its way into Department. She said, “If you’re not about Jesus, I’m not about you” and “We need partners in the kingdom, not the chaos.”
Right away Noem declared a NGO funding freeze. She added a religious litmus test to federal programs, emphasizing faith-based criteria over secular mission alignment. She has prioritized faith-based NGOs for department contracts. This as a bold step toward privileging Christian ideology within federal programs which clearly violates the establishment clause of the 1st Amendment.
Christian Nationalism & Immigration Policy
Noem has consistently pushed hardline immigration enforcement, rejecting humanitarian justifications even for families or asylum seekers. No room for Christian mercy or compassion at the Department of Homeland Security.
She's reinstated Trump-era rules like “Remain in Mexico” and narrowed eligibility for asylum, explicitly prioritizing national security over what she dismisses as "open-border compassion." Noem describes undocumented immigration as "lawlessness" and emphasizes the need for restoring "godly order" to the nation.
And she promotes “faith-justified border control.” She’s stated that “Scripture commands order,” and national borders are part of God’s design—framing strict immigration policy as a divine imperative. (Please give us a chapter and verse for this one Kristi)
This month she ended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for over 76,000 Hondurans and Nicaraguans seeking asylum. She offered $1,000 “exit bonuses” and DHS-paid repatriation flights, saying: “This isn’t about punishing anyone—it’s about restoring divine order and rule of law.” (nypost.com) This rhetoric blends fiscal policy with a religious moral frame, using taxpayer dollars to expel migrants under a god-and-country ethos.
What her Christian Nationalist worldview has given us is a new model for immigration incarceration: Alligator Alcatraz. Assuming that immigrants are a godless lot, she is prescribing Christian rehabilitation for this detention center. She describes these facilities not just as security infrastructure, but as places where detainees can be “reformed through discipline and faith.”
A leaked draft of her internal DHS memos reference “Christian rehabilitation programs” for detained immigrants. This is an establishment of religion by the government, a violation of the Establishment Clause if implemented.
Christian Nationalism and FEMA Disaster Relief
Right now Noem is in the hot seat for her lack of FEMA response reflecting her incompetence, to the flood disaster in Texas. As of today (July 13), the death toll has reached 129 people, many being children from a Christian camp along the Guadalupe River.
When the devastating floods hit waters rose more than 23 feet in under an hour in the early morning hours of July 4, dozens were swept away in the raging flood waters that surged around the Guadalupe River.
The response of FEMA under Noem has been characterized as everything from “poor” to “disasterous” to “incompetent.” According to a CNN report, by Monday, July 7, only 86 FEMA staffers had been deployed, a ”fraction of the typical response for a disaster of this scale.” It took five days for Noem to sign the necessary contracts to provide assistance to desperate families.
While thousands of families clung to lifelines, Noem stayed in Washington enforcing her rule that no DHS contract over $100,000 could proceed without her personal signature. During those five days while Noem holed up in Washington, she posted smiling selfies on Instagram, asked followers which portrait to hang in her office, and attended ceremonial events at DHS headquarters, according to Yahoo News.
Remember that time when George W. Bush was tardy in his response to Hurricane Katrina? Yeah, a similar procrastination took place here, the only reason was a provision that Secretary Noem has put in place. In this case, her signature took 72 hours to activate, while people were drowning and dying.
According to the New York Times, the impact of Noem’s policy was disastrous for those victims who called in seeking help and relief. Here is a section taken from the Times:
On July 5, as floodwaters were starting to recede, FEMA received 3,027 calls from disaster survivors and answered 3,018, or roughly 99.7 percent, the documents show. Contractors with four call center companies answered the vast majority of the calls.
That evening, however, Noem did not renew the contracts with the four companies, and hundreds of contractors were fired, according to the documents and the person briefed on the matter.
The next day, July 6, FEMA received 2,363 calls and answered 846, or roughly 35.8 percent, according to the documents. And on Monday, July 7, the agency fielded 16,419 calls and answered 2,613, or around 15.9 percent, the documents show.
Jeffrey Schlegelmilch, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, told The Times that.
Responding to less than half of the inquiries is pretty horrific. Put yourself in the shoes of a survivor: You've lost everything, you're trying to find out what's insured and what's not, and you’re navigating multiple aid programs. One of the most important services in disaster recovery is being able to call someone and walk through these processes and paperwork.
This was the direct result of Kristie Noem’s policy which she described as a way of limiting "waste, fraud, and abuse." Her stated goal is to eliminate FEMA altogether, a policy that Trump supports.
Noem’s Christian-nationalist convictions shaped her disaster policy in two main ways:
First, by spiritually framing her mission, she wrapped FEMA’s response in religious language, portraying aid as divine mission. Noem said during a news conference:
“…this is a time for all of us in this country to remember that we were created to serve each other. I’m extremely grateful for God’s hand in that whole situation because hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people were saved.”
Hey Kristi, maybe God could have saved even more people with a faster FEMA response. Ya think?
Noem added, “Americans helping one another… proof that God created us to take care of each other.”
I wonder if she has considered that God could use FEMA to help save people. But I wouldn’t want to interrupt her social media time with those kinds of theological details.
Second, by centralizing structural control authority in DHS, Noem is free to insert her religious principles into federal disaster operations, potentially using religious tests for contracts, leading to contract delays and slower life-saving aid.
Kristi Noem Should Resign
Ultimately, Kristie Noem should be criticized for her incompetence. The Christian Nationalist philosophy that she brings to this role only increases the incompetence and creates a Constitutional conflict that has never existed in that department before this.
Noem should resign; however, Trump would likely appoint another incompetent Christian Nationalist in her place because he is indebted to the Christian right. He owes them much for his re-election.
Welcome to the world of Christian Nationalist governance in the Trump era where theological alignment “trumps” competence, and loyalty to the authoritarian ruler overules common sense.
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Thanks...this post is spot on! As governor of SD, Noem's level of incompetence in handling flood emergencies was showcased in the McCook Lake flooding near North Sioux City in June of 2024. She showed the same disdain for public welfare that she did this year with the flood in Texas. In the lingo of Christian Nationalists, the SD flood "presaged" the Texas flood. It's not the Creator that poses the problem, it's the MAGA minions that ARE the problem.
This is absolutely horrible. Christian Nationalism is dangerous and unconstitutional. Unfortunately, it seems to be taking hold more and more. People and politicians need to stand up and put an end to this movement before we are completely overrun and become a Christian Afghanistan.