Christian Nationalism Is Not About Christ
Their voices are focused on drowning out Christ in pursuit of their own agenda - political power, rampant greed, and exploitation of the vulnerable and least protected. When you live on the margins, as I do (and so many others), and have long endured oppression (both individually and collectively), you recognize falsehoods which come wrapped as truth.
We continuously witness the hijacking of Christianity in the name of “Christian nationalism” - whether through the violence and attempted coup on Jan.6, Trump-backed candidates and judges bent on tearing down gains in civil rights, the erasure of BIPOC people from history texts, and the increasing normalization of hatred for our LGBTQ+ siblings. While all of these actions are deeply troubling, this American bending of the faith towards hegemony has historic roots.
As I type these words in Black August, a month to honor freedom fighters for Black liberation, alongside significant events in African-American history (such as the arrival of ensalved Africans in 1619 to the British colony of Virginia, I am reminded of Frederick Douglass’ searing words as he unapologetically called out the hypocrisy of a slave-holding “Christian” nation profiting from the pain of Black bodies:
“I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ; I therefore hate the corrupt, slaveholding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial, and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity. I look upon it as the climax of all misnomers, the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels.”
Philip Gorski, co-author of The Flag and the Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy said in a recent interview with Yale News about Christian nationalism: “ It is an ideology based on a story about America that’s developed over three centuries. It reveres the myth that the country was founded as a Christian nation by white Christians and that its laws and institutions are based on Protestant Christianity. White Christian nationalists believe that the country is divinely favored and has been given the mission to spread religion, freedom, and civilization. They see this mission and the values they cherish as under threat from the growing presence of non-whites, non-Christians, and immigrants in the United States…”
In Christians Against Christianity: How Right-Wing Evangelicals Are Destroying Our Nation and Our Faith Dr. Obery Hendricks (who we interviewed last year) writes: “Trump’s evangelicals carried a pernicious message directly counter to the faith they profess: that it is acceptable to commit transgressions of virtually any kind against other human beings simply because their skin bears a different hue or they speak in unfamiliar tongues. The extent to which Christians enact, support, or tolerate these behaviors is the extent to which they are at war with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Far too often, American churches preach a rhetoric of inclusion for a few, while justifying the exclusion of everyone else whether on the basis of race, ability, sexuality, or gender. God’s spirit does not live within this egregious decimation of our faith. The current iteration of pseudo Christianity is built upon a shallow foundation of patriotism which rejects critique and worships uncompromising allegiance to the state.
Groups such as Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) , and politicians like Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, “who just won a fourth term in office,” according to Democracy Now, lift up a brand of “Christianity” which is inextricably linked to xenophobia, racism, and hatred for anyone who doesn’t look, worship or love like them. But in the end, every sentence and speech uttered remains hollow, rooted in the worship of ego and unchecked political ambition. They step over the poor to lift up the powerful. It’s the opposite of how Christ calls each of us to live: “When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbours; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (from the passage of Luke 14: 12-24).
Mom and I often say to each other: What Bible are they reading?
As we sit with the word, we hear:
“Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith & inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you?” - James 2:5-6
“Away with your noisy hymns of praise!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice,
an endless river of righteous living.” - Amos 5:23-24
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Oh Holy One,
Continually awaken us to the ways we justify barriers when you call us to community and compassion - especially for those who are pushed to the margins of society. Fill us with righteous anger and holy resistance so we may pray not just with our mouths, but with our feet. Guide us in the fight against racism, the false ideology of white supremacy and every other form of exclusion which have become normalized. Fill us with your revolutionary and boundless love.
In Jesus Holy Name, Amen.