A Preface to Challenging the Justifications of Domination Through Religion: “We Were Planting Corn, and They Were Planting Crosses”

This introduction sets the stage for an edited volume arising from the December 2023 conference, “The Religious Origins of White Supremacy: Johnson v. M’Intosh and the Doctrine of Christian Discovery,” held at Syracuse University. Anchored in the 200th anniversary of Johnson v. M’Intosh, the project critically interrogates the enduring influence of the Doctrine of Christian Discovery (DoCD) and its foundational role in shaping United States Indian Law, racism, land dispossession, and Christian imperialism. Through collaboration among scholars, activists, and Indigenous communities, the volume is organized around three core themes: religion, law, and pedagogy. Essays explore the DoCD’s theological and legal architecture, its entrenchment of white supremacy, and strategies for dismantling legal and educational systems of domination. With contributions from leading Indigenous and allied thinkers, the collection highlights transnational impacts—from North America to Brazil and India—while foregrounding Indigenous epistemologies, sovereignty, and calls for justice. This volume advances the global movement to repudiate the DoCD and reimagines justice through frameworks grounded in relationality, accountability, and decolonization. The introduction honors the memory of Sally Roesch Wagner and situates the collection within a growing intellectual and activist tradition.