Against Christian Nationalism
I believe one of the greatest threats we as Americans currently face is not an outside force. Rather, it's right here within our borders and spreading rapidly. That threat is Christian Nationalism. I have been especially disturbed in recent months after realizing its prevalence within my own extended family.
The 20th-century theologian Reinhold Niebuhr once said,
Niebuhr examined the notion of American exceptionalism in his 1952 book The Irony of American History and warned that a powerful nation might confuse its own ambitions with a divine mission, a tendency that could lead to tragic outcomes.
I remember reading this early work of Niebuhr's and other works, including Moral Man and Immoral Society (1932), while in college and seminary in the late 1980s and, yet, three decades later I still find myself returning to Niebuhr anytime the subject of church and state arises in contemporary discourse. He is always my go-to reminder about who Christ asked his followers to be - and it had nothing to do with being American.
Niebuhr's message offers a powerful caution against the misuse of religion to sanctify political positions. His insights suggest that true faith requires a degree of humility that recognizes the moral ambiguity inherent in all human endeavors, especially politics.
Sometimes an issue so overwhelms my own thoughts, I believe I am determined to write about it in my next monthly meditation.
And then, I come across an essay written by another that so perfectly puts forward my own perspective on the issue that it only makes sense to let that author speak for me.
This Op-Ed by Dr. David Vazquez-Levy, President of Pacific School of Religion, was published in November of 2023. PSR is a progressive Christian seminary, graduate school, and center for social justice committed to a radically inclusive Gospel. PSR is accredited by both the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) and the Association of Theological Schools (ATS).
Please give a listen to what Dr. Vazquez-Levy has to say:
I am deeply concerned about the rise of Christian
nationalism in this country. I say this not just as a Christian but as the
president of a Christian seminary founded in 1866.
Christian nationalism, and the ideologies that have fueled
it from the very founding of our nation, have left a centuries-long trail of
devastation that continues to this day. Through an alliance with White
supremacy, it has served as a justification for many of our country’s sins: the
genocide and dispossession of Native peoples; the establishment of chattel
slavery and the structural racism that replaced it; the subjugation of women
and LGBTQ+ people; and the physical and political exclusion of migrants in this
country. So yes, I am deeply concerned.
Christianity began as a tiny movement trying to make sense
of the life and teachings of a man killed by state violence. The core of
Jesus’s story is that God is not found in the power of the state, but in the
powerlessness of the One whose call for liberation led to His execution. The
belief that God is with those on the margins, along with His commandment not
just to love our neighbors, but to welcome the stranger, should be a guide to
leaders who attempt to lay claim to the Christian tradition.
Instead, Christian nationalists twist the experience of a
group who believed God was on the side of the oppressed and use it to describe
the most powerful nation in the world. It denies privilege and whitewashes
actions that are antithetical to the tradition they’re derived from by relying
on violence, exclusion, and a hatred of the diversity God has created.
We can already see this dangerous ideology at work in our
country now, from the January 6th assault on the Capitol to the countless
legislative and legal efforts to restrict voting rights, turn back the clock on
LGBTQ+ equality and reproductive rights, and pass xenophobic and inhumane
immigration policies.
Because extremist Christian rhetoric is behind much of the
leadership, financing, and rhetoric attacking equality and civil rights today,
many progressive social movements have despaired over the role of religion in
public life. But ceding the power of religious narratives to extremists can
have serious consequences. I urge secular progressives not to discount the
voices of those of us who engage in religious narratives, including progressive
Christians who have historically contributed immensely to movements for social
justice.
I urge my fellow Christians to engage their communities and churches to foster understanding and inclusivity across the political divide. Let’s actively challenge the narratives of exclusion and intolerance by advocating for policies that uphold justice and equality for all, embracing the true teachings of love and compassion that lie at the heart of Christianity.
Further clarification:
While the U.S. has historically and demographically resembled a "nation of Christians," Christians, after all, being the majority group among a diverse set of many different religions practiced here, it must be remembered that this is different from claiming the founders intended a Christian state.
While the founders were often religious, their intent was not to create an officially Christian government but a nation where diverse beliefs could exist without persecution. The U.S. Constitution is a secular document, and the First Amendment establishes a separation of church and state, preventing any official religious preference. While many founders were Christian, this does not mean the nation was established as Christian. In fact, the founding fathers descended from European families that knew all too well the horrors of bloody religious wars that had long plagued the European continent and made it their goal to create a new society where each man's freedom of conscience was ensured.
The idea of a "Christian nation" is a myth held by a minority, it is an idea that is fully in contradiction with the secular nature of our government's foundational documents.
But, more importantly in my view, the good Lord himself would have been horrified at the thought of a singular, temporal state arrogantly elevating itself in this manner above all the other children of the world.
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