This is a non-pejorative academic label, says John Avlon

John Avlon: Some labels are just about chasing normal people out of the polite mainstream.

Avlon says the term " Christian nationalist" is used to marginalize and manipulate them.

He says the label acts as both an allegedly dispassionate sociological descriptor and, usually with “white” attached at the front, a catch-all for the bad people.

He writes: Some people even call themselves Christian nationalists in defiance of the condemnation.

Mike Johnson is being called a Christian nationalist because, while he may not identify as such, he is one, according to the progressive frame.

The goal is clear: to make unapologetic conservative Christianity unacceptable in public life.

So long as progressives control the frame of Christian nationalism, they can suggest it is disqualifying.