Decoding Fundamentalist Religion

High-control American Christianity operates through coded language and seemingly innocuous slogans that mask deeply problematic ideologies—from "smiling wives" signaling patriarchal submission to "stand for the flag, kneel for the cross" encoding Christian nationalist and anti-Black sentiment. These religious communities aren't actually "biblical literalists" as they claim; they're scripturalists who selectively interpret texts to maintain authority while dismissing critics through gaslighting tactics like claiming deconstructing believers "were never serious about faith." Understanding these codes reveals how fundamentalist religion functions as a system of control that threatens both individual wellbeing and democratic institutions through its fusion of theological authority with white supremacist politics.