Christian Nationalism
Do you know what a Christian Nationalist is? No, it’s not a rhetorical question, and as we work together to understand this label-du-jour, the first aspect that leaps out is the fact that no one chooses to be a Christian Nationalist.
It is a group you are thrown into. It is an epithet.
In many ways Christian Nationalism seems to go beyond the “normal” amount of faith—something we studiously keep to ourselves, something that remembers to humble itself before the supreme separation of Church . . . and . . . State. It is the prayer before a meeting, after a meeting, or—Heaven forbid—that erupts during a meeting.
In a way, it is understandable why people might be so fearful. They think of theocracies and zealotry, heathens and heretics.
But the truth is, this recently recoined concept of “Christian Nationalism” is based entirely upon ignorance. It is a failure of the curriculum and of the culture. If we studied and observed our history—how the founding fathers held God in the highest esteem, how the removal of God above destroys each and every one of our rights below, and how despite this supposed “separation” they conducted Bible studies in the same rooms where they governed—we’d eliminate this fear and confusion.
Yes, this is a Christian nation. And it is only when we honor this fact that we assure all other religions, or lack thereof, are protected.
At the same time, when someone calls you a Christian Nationalist, their ignorance, or simple dishonesty, is compounded. First, there is an attempt to equate Christian Nationalists with Republicans. Second, there is an attempt to conjoin the term with fascism and racism. And, simply put, this is a brazen attempt to either ignore or rewrite history.
True, fascism, as demonstrated by Nazi Germany, did possess a zealousness for the fatherland, which the Left has worked tirelessly as a reason to denigrate patriotism. However, Republicans champion the ideals of individualism—government, at best, is a necessary evil that needs to be limited and held in check. Or, to employ the words of Thoreau, “That government is best which governs least.”
Rather, it is the penchant of the far Left, the socialist—as in the National Socialist Party, a.k.a. The Nazi Party, the United Soviet Socialist Republic, or even the Democrat Socialist Party—to bow, instead, at the altar of big government.
Finally, as mentioned, when someone throws out the term, Christian Nationalist, they are trying to insinuate some vague connection to racism. Seriously? Well, let’s try again to put a nail in this straw coffin one final time.
We, the United States of America, fought an empire to create a unique Representative Republic on the premise that “ALL MEN” are created equal, built upon the Christian ideal that all men are our brothers . . . and when that freedom was restrained within our own country we fought a Civil War—killing neighbor and brother—to ensure that this freedom was equally applied. We are the party of Lincoln, of Douglass. We are the country that broke the back of the Third Reich and that threw open the gates of concentration camps. And if Israel calls, I pray that we will cross oceans to prevent it from ever happening again. We don’t give lip service about freedom and equality—we pay in blood, and life, and limb.
Thus, like most epithets, Christian Nationalism is simply projection. It reveals more about the person using the term than their victim. Likewise, it is an attempt to alienate, not to educate.
It is wrong to label our new Speaker, Mike Johnson, as a Christian Nationalist.
I strive to be a Christian. I love this nation. And if someone wants to compound these concepts and turn them into a pejorative, if this is their line in the sand . . . just what side are they choosing to stand on?
