When I start imagining the Republican convention, the first image that comes to mind is a drill team performing a dance number, with half of the participants carrying a cross, and the other half brandishing assault rifles. It is a right-wing response to Beyonce’s “Formation.”
The two icons have equal and complementary meanings to reactionaries. The cross stands for the imagined divine support for a social order in which white Christian men are on top, and everyone else isn’t. The gun means strength, independence, and limited government, as opposed to noisy women and minorities whining about privilege and demanding free stuff from the government.
That’s the message that Trump will be sending next week. He and his allies–the defenders of the cross and the gun–are the only true Americans; everyone else can love it or get out.