The headlines on May 4, 2023 grabbed our attention as another January 6 conviction was announced. Five national leaders of the Proud Boys, a militant anti-democracy hate group, were convicted of “seditious conspiracy,” and sentenced to decades in prison. Over 1,000 people have been charged for the January 6 coup and riot, with over 600 convictions. It is now well-known that President Trump encouraged a national conspiracy to overthrow the presidential election, which he had lost by millions of votes. Scores of right-wing groups rallied to stage a coup that would keep Trump in office. It failed and the insurrectionists are going to jail. Here’s something important: the testimonies leading to convictions have exposed a myth that is still being preached. It is the myth of Christian Nationalism.
I’m Larry Payne, your host of TFJ, a channel dedicated to your well-being. In this episode of TFJ I want to explore this potent devil’s brew of a false God and fake history that threatens our neighbors and our well-being as a nation.
You remember as well as I do the unbelievable, live-stream pictures of the January 6 insurrection. The religious factors couldn’t be ignored. On the Capital grounds were rioters carrying large banners saying, “Jesus Saves,” depicting giant crosses, quoting Bible verses, mixed with insignias of white supremacy, antisemitism, homophobia, and threats of violence. Reporting later traced a source of this violent ideology: nationalist politicians and fundamentalist Christian preachers had declared a “holy war,” flooding the media with the Big Lie of a stolen election that would remove God’s chosen one, Trump, from office. Great numbers of believers had gathered for prayer rallies to plead for divine intervention that would stop the ratification of the results. The true patriots to be loved and supported were the ones willing to die for this war, to save the nation from godlessness, socialism, and people of color. Where did this fervor originate? Lying behind this religious movement is a belief in Christian Nationalism.
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Exactly what are we talking about when we say Christian Nationalism? It is a belief that merges fundamentalist Christianity with American civic life. Specifically, it teaches that the Unites States was founded as a Christian nation, thus, to be a good American is to be a conservative Christian. Further, America will only prosper when the God of the Bible is honored in laws, cultural mores, and political power. As Whitehead and Perry describe in their book, Taking America Back for God,
“Christian nationalism contends that America has been and should always be distinctively ‘Christian’ from top to bottom — in its self-identity, interpretations of its own history, sacred symbols, cherished values and public policies — and it aims to keep it this way…It is a political movement, and its ultimate goal is power. It does not seek to add another voice to America’s pluralistic democracy, but to replace our foundational democratic principles and institutions with a state grounded on a particular version of Christianity, answering to what some adherents call a ‘biblical worldview’ that also happens to serve the interests of its plutocratic funders and allied political leaders.” (Whitehead and Perry, Taking).
The term, “Christian Nationalism,” may be a new phrase for some. But you’ve heard the claims many times in statements like: “America was founded as a Christian nation.” Or “The federal government should declare the U.S. a Christian nation.” Or “Those refugees are taking our jobs, living on taxpayer money, and building criminal gangs.” Or “Schools are teaching our kids to hate America.” All these grow from the ideology of Christian Nationalism.
One example of this twisted teaching is ReAwaken America. Last year their rally in New York began with the declaration, “At this tour, Jesus is King and Donald Trump is our President!” Attendees heard speakers declare there is a spiritual war against godly patriots led by liberals, people of color, gays, immigrants, doctors, climate scientists, and international financiers. The separation of church and state enshrined in the First Amendment is a lie and the nation should have laws that uphold true moral values. At stake in this war is the loss of strict traditional values, personal freedoms, jobs, and American independence from global government. These messages also come from groups such as Faith Wins, Patriot Academy, Patriots Arise, Freedom Revival, Turning Point USA, and Kingdom to the Capitol. One leader proclaimed, “We want God in charge of government… we want God writing the laws of the land!”
Gerardo Marti wrote in his book American Blindspot,
“Their goal has become to authoritatively enforce behavioral guidelines through elected and nonelected officials who will shape policies and interpret laws such that they cannot be so easily altered or dismissed through the vagaries of popular elections. It is not piety but policy that matters most. The real triumph is when evangelical convictions become encoded into law” (Gerardo, Blindspot, 220).
Here is something even darker. The political rhetoric, demonstrations and ultimately the riot of January 6 revealed another part of this movement. For some, it is White Christian Nationalism. The Christian faith and the American dream are infiltrated with white supremacy that fights to maintain dominance over Jews, Muslims, Hindus, people of color, women, and non-Europeans. This is the ugly underbelly of the movement, heard in the chants of the white marchers, “You will not replace us,” seen in the waving of the Confederate flag, or spoken in school board meetings that resist lessons about Black history. Today, surveys show 40% of white evangelical Christians support using violence if necessary to protect their version of America. Think of that. Right now, millions of Americans would support the kind of insurrection seen on January 6 if their theology and ethical values are threatened. Folks, this is serious stuff.
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What is wrong with Christian Nationalism?
First, Christian Nationalism is bad theology. It distorts historic Christian teaching. Jesus actually taught the Kingdom of God transcends any nation or race. The Jewish people of Jesus’ day wanted a theocratic empire centered in Jerusalem, from which God would inhabit the Temple and rule the nations. Jesus rejected this Jewish Nationalism of the era to embrace spiritual transformation, not political power. In the Garden of Gethsemane he commanded Peter to put away the sword and healed the wounded soldier, as story that taught a fundamental truth of the faith. He also lifted a prophetic voice of non-violent protest against the power of the Roman Empire. It’s worth pointing out that the form of government we have, a representative democracy, is not found in the Bible. As the early church grasped the truth of the apolitical kingdom, it spread to live under many different political regimes and cultures, as leaven in a loaf of bread. Tragically though, within three centuries the leaders of the church wedded their influence to the Roman and Byzantine Empires, fostering centuries of repression, war, and intolerance. January 6, 2021 brought echoes of this bad theology against our democracy.
Second, the Nationalism viewpoint is bad political history. We know that the European settlers of America carried an ideology of Christian Colonialism. It was a blend of the sacred, the state, and racial superiority. Across the world the colonial powers crushed the native populations and religions to plant their own theocratic governments for economic gain. With that background, it is even more important to recognize the Founding Fathers and patriots of the 18th century specifically rejected the entanglement of the institutional church and the federal government, as clearly stated in the First Amendment. They were Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Deists, and Rationalists who united to create a secular state. This First Amendment was written following pleas from a liberty-loving Baptist named James Leland and others who met with James Madison, arguing for liberty of conscience and against the state being connected with a religion. Ultimately, Madison wrote much of what became the Bill of Rights for the U.S. Constitution. Dozens of laws and Supreme Court decisions have cemented this principle. Looking to Article 6 of the Constitution, where a religious test is prohibited as a qualification for public office, this strong wall of separation is further clarified. For more on this, look at the website of the Baptist Joint Committee, a non-sectarian group dedicated to religious liberty. Looking at the evidence, it is clear that the government of the United States of America is a secular nation. Period. Christian Nationalism is not the American way.
Did you watch the coronation of King Charles a few weeks ago? The elaborate ceremony wedded Anglican religion with the monarchy, as has been done for centuries. The King swore to defend the Church of England and is given the power to appoint all senior clergy. He was anointed with holy oil and given Communion by the Archbishop of Canterbury. This union of state and church is exactly what the Constitution forbids and, thank God, it does!
Finally, we must call out the shadow of White Supremacy. If you listen to the rhetoric, America is being destroyed by Blacks, Gays, Mexicans, Muslims, Jews, and Asians. This is bigotry. It shreds the community, dividing people into “Us versus Them.” Bigots dehumanize the persons who are different with negative stereotypes like “angry Black women,” “radical Muslims,” or “drag queen pedophiles.” Suspicion is fostered against the Outsiders and walls are raised to keep the home group pure. White supremacy lives in the deficit, the fear, and the anger that is toxic to personal happiness and community harmony. We know this bigotry has been baked into white culture across centuries. Its ugly head is raised today with violence against those who are deemed the enemies in Charlottesville, Buffalo, Orlando, Cincinnati, and somewhere in your city as well.
As a white male I didn’t even recognize how much my attitudes have been created in this environment. I’ve never knowingly discriminated against any person of color. But I’ve benefited from the racism of the past. The colonial war against Native Americans beginning in 1492 brought one of the worst genocides in history. One of the final battles of the U.S. Indian Wars took place in the Palo Duro Canyon of Texas, just a few miles from my current home. The Natives, considered savage, pagan, half-humans, were attacked and removed by the U.S. Army from land they had lived on for centuries. I now own land that was won in a war against Native people 150 years ago.
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In every church I served as pastor, the American flag and the Christian flag stood in the corners of the worship center. The display was never questioned or changed. Diverse Americans for generations have thrived with a pluralism that embraces all who see the uniqueness of this noble experiment. We must be wise in doing so, however. Last year more than 20,000 Christians signed a bold statement on the subject. Entitled “Christians Against Christian Nationalism” it made some key points. Since I signed it myself, here are a few of the assertions about what Christians who are patriots can follow in loving Jesus and loving our United States:
“As Christians, we are bound to Christ, not by citizenship, but by faith. We believe that:
- People of all faiths and none have the right and responsibility to engage constructively in the public square.
- Patriotism does not require us to minimize our religious convictions.
- Government should not prefer one religion over another or religion over nonreligion.
- America’s historic commitment to religious pluralism enables faith communities to live in civic harmony with one another without sacrificing our theological convictions.
- Conflating religious authority with political authority is idolatrous and often leads to oppression of minority and other marginalized groups as well as the spiritual impoverishment of religion.”
Christian Nationalism is a dangerous ideology in America. In truth, it is anti-Christian and anti-democracy. We must beware of how it is creeping into the center of political life in this nation. We must reassert a vision of faith that follows Jesus, not Caesar, and a democracy that offers liberty and justice for all.