Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Important Distinctions Between "Christian Nationalism" and "Christianity"

There are many Christians who are allies and supporters of the progressive political movement, including many under the "Evangelical" label, who are pointing out the distinctions between a movement that exhibits none of the values or virtues of the gospel of Jesus Christ, known as "Christian Nationalism," or "White Christian Nationalism," and the Christian church, or Christian churches.  

Florida Baptist Pastor Distinguishes "Christian Nationalism" from Christian Faith 

This isn't something that people are just now waking up and discovering.  Christian nationalism, in multiple forms, has been a heresy present in the American church since colonial days, and it is also a very real presence in the state churches of European Protestantism, where heads of state were made heads of the national church.  In this country, the religious liberty we have should be something we appreciate and protect, since some of those who came here did so to escape the coercion, manipulation and destruction of their faith in churches where doctrine was bent to the will of the state.  

The "no true Scotsman" criticism that Christians who defend the faith against the heresy of Christian Nationalism often experience does not apply.  Christianity is defined by a set of identifiable, objective core beliefs and practices derived from the Bible, primarily the New Testament, directly from the record of Christ's words and instruction, which not only provides the philosophical basis for Christian faith, but which provides the criteria and context for interpreting the rest of the biblical narrative.  Christian nationalism does not rely on a correct hermeneutical standard to arrive at their beliefs, in fact, there is no specific teaching anywhere in the scripture to which they can appeal for substantiation.  

It's not possible to claim fidelity to the Bible and be a Christian Nationalist, according to Christopher McKee, pastor of the Baptist-affiliated Church of Oakland in Jacksonville, Florida.  McKee said the language of Christian nationalism "becomes the language of subjugation and oppression which, sadly, has been so much a part of this nation's fabric, which builds into this myth.  It makes it OK for us to have this false idea that to be racist, to be complicit in systems and structures of oppression, makes you 'Christ-like.'  For me, that's the antithesis of who Jesus is."  

Along with McKee, Amanda Tyler, who is the Executive Director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, a lobby and legislative advocacy institution in Washington that is supported by almost all of the Baptist groups in the United States, supported the idea that Christian nationalism is a false ideology. 

"Not only does this Christian nation myth belie history in the constitutional texts," she said, "but it also works against a Christian understanding of a global church.  In John's gospel, 'God so loved the world," not 'God so loved the United States," she said. 

"This idea that America is singled out for special treatment by God goes against the gospel itself." 

Thank you, Ms. Tyler, and Pastor McKee, for affirming what Signal Press has been saying for almost its entire existence.  And thank you for wrecking the "no true Scotsman" criticism.  Ms. Tyler, Pastor McKee and many, many others have been on top of this discussion for a longer time than I've been writing about it.  I guess I should say that Signal Press is affirming them in their work, rather than the other way around.  Read the Baptist News Global website regularly and there will be multiple authors and sources from within American Christianity who will point out the heresy involved in white, Christian nationalism. 

How Seriously is this Myth Taken by Republican Politicians? 

Two members of Congress, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, have promoted Christian nationalist ideology, Taylor Greene does it openly, while Boebert relies on cliches and statements in her speaking engagements to make her point.  Neither of them cite support for their belief, they depend on those listening to them to be as ignorant of the Bible as they are, and to blindly accept whatever they say based on political affinity.  

It's part of the political rhetoric, in that it fits with the narrative of using whatever it takes to rally the base.  Trump himself, who has made it clear that he neither recognizes nor submits to any authority outside of his own, including his own god who he has invented to suit his own ego, is obviously attracted to the racism.  Whether he believes this out of conviction, or that he thinks his base are the most ignorant suckers he's ever known and is just using this to his advantage, he's on board to reap the benefits of the support it gets him. 

And that's most likely the position that some other GOP politicians take.  It's part of the rhetoric of their religious right wing followers, so they go along and hope no one asks them any really deep theological questions or makes some really frightening, extremist comment that becomes identified with the politician's campaign.  But there are others who really do believe that, because this is America, if all of the Christians just get in line and believe the right way and vote the right way, we will be bestowed with massive material benefits.  And the only way to do that, in their mind, is to "restore" America to being the Christian nation that it never was, and which our founding fathers never intended to establish. 

There's no question that the United States has been a Christian-influenced nation, especially by Protestant Christianity.  And there have been many times when that influence has violated the boundaries of the establishment clause.  There are those who claim that Pierre L'Enfant, who was commissioned by George Washington to lay out the city of Washington, DC, designed the national mall in the shape of a cross.  If you look at a map, you can see it clearly.  The Capitol is at the foot, the Lincoln Memorial is at the head, the White House on the north side and the Jefferson Memorial on the south with the Washington Monument at the point where the two lines cross.  The two memorials and the White House are at equal distances from the Washington monument, the Capitol is exactly twice as far.  

While a later re-design added equal amounts of space on an angle from the top to the sides, and the government quarter is all included inside those four triangles, the cross is still visible and it is outlined by the streets that run along its edges.  The fact that not much is mentioned of it, and most of the historical references leave it out because it clearly violates the establishment clause is an indication of an awareness of the need for the government to take a neutral position as far as religion is concerned.  

And that serves as a good example to make this point.  Christian nationalism is not democratic.  It takes the position that Christianity is a favored religion and should be the beneficiary of favors that other religions don't receive, and should be able to promote its doctrine and theology above that of other religious beliefs.  It is, in fact, very likely that a Christian nationalist government in the United States would also put Catholics at a disadvantage, along with Protestants who don't share conservative practice.  

Christian Nationalism is Slowly Destroying Evangelical Christianity

The nation's largest Evangelical denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, is meticulous when it comes to tracking statistics and keeping membership records.  The denomination reported a collective membership of 16 million in 2006.  At its next annual meeting, messengers to the convention were shocked to receive a report indicating that membership had not increased during the previous year, but had, for the first time since World War 2, declined.  It wasn't a huge decline, the leaders said, and it would "bounce back."  

But it has not bounced back.  Since 2006, the decline in membership has grown larger each year.  By the 2022 annual meeting, the numerical decline exceeded 400,000 in just one year.  The average weekly attendance in the churches, which is always a lower figure than membership, declined by over a million between 2006 and 2019, just prior to the COVID pandemic.  

That pattern has been mirrored all across the Evangelical spectrum.  According to Census data, there are 17 million fewer people who identify with an Evangelical denomination or church in the 2020 report than there were in 2010.  The most significant declines in both attendance and membership have occurred between 2015 and 2020.  Put that together with the secular politics that are getting folded into churches and pulpits and you have an accurate explanation for the decline.

It's no coincidence that declining church attendance and membership among Evangelicals, something their leaders have criticized happening in the Protestant mainline for decades, is accelerating as the political rhetoric has become more hostile and churches become filled with individuals who turn the preaching of the gospel into a political circus.  Some congregations become so politically oriented, they are driving out their pastors and church leaders who stand by their convictions and refuse to cave in.  Others are places where pastors have become so hostile and angry in their sermonizing of politics that church members are walking out, sometimes in the middle of worship services.  I did. 

This is being called out, as organizations like the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty are helping create awareness, provide facts and give information about what congregations and individual Christians can do to help stop this evil from spreading.  And there are efforts being made, not only to encourage Christians who see this fraud for what it is to vote in support of politicians who are opposed to it, but to help inform people who might not have a lot of knowledge or experience with it to cast their ballot against a system that would take away their personal freedom.  

The Signal Press advocates for a free church in a free state, and universal religious liberty. Join us and cast a ballot on November 8th for the Democratic politicians on yours who will support these principles.

 


 



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