Christians against Christian Nationalism
Yesterday was one of those days where it was difficult to keep up with the news. We had a new Speaker of the House elected (I’ll have something on that tomorrow in Politico), there was another devastating mass shooting, and in between, congressional testimony on the threat of Christian nationalism.
Catching up this morning, I watched some of the footage from the House subcommittee and wanted to share some highlights here. The first video is Amanda Tyler’s testimony on the threat of Christian nationalism. Amanda is executive director of BJC (Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty) and heads up their Christians against Christian Nationalism effort. I’ve participated in a number of events with Amanda and am always impressed with her precision and clarity. She is also a devout Christian and is doing this work both to protect democracy and to protect Christianity from being distorted into something else entirely.
You can find her full written remarks here, but here are a few highlights from her testimony:
The single greatest threat to religious liberty in the United States today – and thus our reputation as leaders in the fight for religious liberty to the rest of the world – is Christian nationalism. Christian nationalism is a political ideology and cultural framework that seeks to fuse American and Christian identities. Christian nationalism seeks to privilege Christians and Christianity in law and policy.
We see what happens when religious nationalism in a country is allowed to flourish and use the power of the state to attempt to force a set of religious beliefs or create only one accepted form of religious belief.
To oppose Christian nationalism is not to oppose Christianity. In fact, a growing number of Christians – and I am one of them – feel a religious imperative to stand against Christian nationalism.
Yesterday’s testimony also included a wonderful exchange between Tyler and Rep. Maxwell Frost. I strongly recommend taking just 5 minutes to view this:
Hemant Mehta has provided a transcription of Frost’s remarks on his Substack, and I’ve borrowed from that here to give you a sense:
Religious [persecution] and violent extremism globally are very serious threats to U.S. security and human rights abroad. Today… I want to focus in and hone in on religious extremism happening here in the United States, domestically, because I believe it's also a very important part of this conversation.
Christian Nationalism is a form of religious extremism making its way into our policies and undermining our democracy. These extremist actors are coopting the language of Christianity and religious freedom to push an undemocratic agenda that seeks the very opposite of what they claim to do.
… As a man of faith, I know that Christianity is not Christian Nationalism. I oppose my faith being used to whitewash a racist, violent, and dangerous ideology…
… Christian Nationalists have played vital roles in very violent attacks, even recently. The killing of 11 people attending services at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. The killing and murder of 9 people attending a Bible study at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The Emanuel 9. The killing of 33 people shopping at Walmart and Tops in El Paso and Buffalo…
This threat to democracy has made its way to Congress. I mean, my colleague, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has said Christian Nationalism is “actually a good thing. It is an identity that Republicans need to embrace. And I am being attacked by the Godless Left because I said I'm a proud Christian Nationalist.”
My colleague, Representative Lauren Boebert, said, “The church is supposed to direct the government. The government is not supposed to direct the church. I'm tired of the separation of church and state junk.” Junk being the Constitutional and Bill of Rights.
The Bible itself, in 2 Corinthians, actually warns us against this. Paul warned against this. He warned us against people who would preach of a Christ that differs from the true Christ that we learn about in the Bible. That's exactly what Christian Nationalism is doing.
I condemn religious extremism everywhere, globally and domestically. We have to recognize the threat it poses to our most sacred freedoms and rooted out everywhere. And I think it's incumbent, especially upon us as Christians, and me as a Christian, to be at the forefront of the fight to ensure that white nationalism and Christian Nationalism doesn't see the light of day.
Given our new Speaker of the House, I imagine discussions of Christian nationalism will only intensify in the coming months. As Tyler and Frost demonstrate, it will be critical for Christians themselves to speak into this and to refuse to conflate Christian nationalism with Christianity itself. Conflating the ideology with the faith plays into the hands of Christian nationalists who are invested in presenting ordinary Americans with only two options: Christian nationalism (that gives them unconstrained power) or a secular hellscape where Christians are persecuted and maligned.
The fearmongering around this false dichotomy is a page right out of the authoritarian playbook, and it’s Christians themselves who are best positioned to disrupt this narrative.
For further reading, consider picking up a copy of David Gushee’s brand new book Defending Democracy from its Christian Enemies.
Or tune into this fabulous podast here with Andrew Whitehead, author of American Idolatry: How Christian Nationalism Betrays the Gospel and Threatens the Church.
ncG1vNJzZmijop7AtbXNnaymnapjwLau0q2YnKNemLyue89omqGqmajBqq3NrGSan5Geu7TAjJyfq6GjqbaiuoynmK2hn6OurbXSpg%3D%3D