by Barb Woolard
Among the most disturbing images from the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol building is that of a man holding about an eight-foot-tall wooden cross, leaning his head against it as if praying, surrounded by other people in various postures of prayer. The strange marriage of American religion and politics over the past several decades has led to such paradoxical ideas as “God and guns” and God as accomplice to evil deeds. I’ve heard coaches and players pray for God’s aid in winning a game, a misguided but innocuous request; however, there is nothing Christian or godly about asking God to assist in destroying public property, attempting to kill elected representatives, and brutally assaulting police officers. It’s enough to make atheists out of everyone.
The large cross was far from the only Christian symbol on display in the Capitol that day. At least one Christian flag, along with many signs carrying such captions as “Jesus saves” and “In God we trust” were accompanied by chants “Jesus is my Savior, Trump is my president” and “Shout if you love Jesus!” followed by “Shout if you love Trump!” Conflating the images of Jesus and Donald Trump is the outcome of a decades-long belief among evangelical Christians that the United States was founded as a Christian nation but has departed from the faith of its founders and therefore must be restored to its original Christian ideals. Thus, as Gina Ciliberto and Stephanie Russell-Kraft write in a January 15, 2021 article in “The Conversation,” “The notion of restoring American greatness, such as Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ mantra, was prevalent in evangelical circles long before Trump arrived on the scene, [Kristin Kobes] Du Mez told Sojourners.”
The resulting religion is Christian Nationalism, with beliefs as remote from anything intended by our founders as it is from the biblical description of Christianity. Yet Christian Nationalists comprise the largest contingent of Trump supporters and therefore of the modern Republican Party. The twisted theology of this religion includes white supremacy, denial of LGBTQ rights, making abortion for any reason illegal, and using guns and violence when necessary to accomplish their ends. Bedfellows have included such deplorables as the KKK and the NRA. The moral authority that comes with the façade of faith lends legitimacy to otherwise repugnant ideas and justifies otherwise abominable deeds.
Much of the confusion in our current public conversation is caused by word definitions. Juliet said “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” Freud said “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar,” and Bill Clinton said “It depends upon what the meaning of ‘is’ is.” In today’s dialogue, the definition of a term depends on which group is saying it. Words like “conservative,” “Christianity,” “patriotism,” “nationalism,” “freedom,” and “rights” can have diametrically opposite meanings in different groups’ vocabularies.
Such simple words as “freedom” and “rights” have escalated a public health crisis to a life-and-death political battle. People who insist they have the freedom to choose how they will respond to attempts at controlling a deadly virus and that it is their right to reject mandates which they find inconvenient or nonsensical ignore the fact that with rights come responsibilities and the fact that rights have always had limits. Among those groups, all sense of acting in the common good has been erased; responsibility to the whole has completely given way to freedom of the individual, consequences be damned.
The capitol rioters of January 6 marched to the beat of patriotic duty: saving their country from the grip of “evil” forces which have brought about an apostasy from the founders’ intent, and which must be defeated in order to return the USA to its original state of righteousness and integrity. Never mind that the country to which they want to return never existed, that much of our national image is built on a myth. When others among us speak of patriotism, we’re talking about our desire to see this country live up to the hype, to reconcile with the sins of our past and forge a better future for all citizens–not just white heterosexuals–because we love our country and want to help correct error and injustice wherever we can.
The next question we might ask is whether patriotism is the same as nationalism. Good question! Patriotism is generally agreed to be love of one’s country, but nationalism is somewhat different. Nationalism is more about how to define one’s country, determining how and what a country ought to be, and that is a much bigger debate.
“Christianity” is a word not found in the Bible. “Christian” does appear two or three times, depending on the translation, to designate followers of Jesus. Therefore, any basis for what it means to be Christian will necessarily be found outside religious texts. Much good has been done in the name of Christianity but also much evil, because apparently humans have very different concepts of the Jesus they claim to emulate.
The term “Christian nationalism,” according to Paul D. Miller, in a February 3, 2021, article for Christianity Today, “is relatively new, and its advocates generally do not use it of themselves, but it accurately describes American nationalists who believe American identity is inextricable from Christianity.” Miller defines Christian nationalism as “the belief that the American nation is defined by Christianity, and that the government should take active steps to keep it that way.” Miller cites Samuel Huntington who argues that “America is defined by its ‘Anglo-Protestant’ past and that we will lose our identity and our freedom if we do not preserve our cultural inheritance.”
Christian nationalism, with all of the havoc it has wreaked, has no connection to real Christianity, which I believe can be defined by three short biblical passages.
We might as well start with Jesus, since he’s the one Christianity is named after. In the book of Matthew is a conversation between some Pharisees and Jesus: “’Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ 37 He said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (22:36-40)
I think the key is verse 40: “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” In other words, it’s that simple: love God and love each other. Period. Christian nationalists claim to love God; it was all over their signs and their chants as they invaded the Capitol. But they showed no love for their fellow humans when they shouted “Hang Mike Pence,” called Nancy Pelosi a bitch, and pummeled capitol police officers, leading to the deaths of five officers. Obviously they also never thought to ask themselves the critical question, “What would Jesus do?”
Then there’s one of my favorite verses, Micah 6:8: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” This verse follows a list of questions from humans about how best to please God. To paraphrase the response, “Dude, why do you keep asking these questions? He’s already told you all you need to know.” Christian nationalists also appear unfamiliar with this concept of Christianity. Loving justice would mean advocating for the rights of immigrants, people of color, the LGBTQ community, the downtrodden, and every other human being. Loving kindness is incompatible with performing acts of violence and circling the wagons around perpetrators of violence. And walking humbly with God would preclude attempts to seize power for oneself while depriving others of their basic human dignity.
Then there’s James 1:27: “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” Widows are mentioned often in the Bible, because in the culture of that time and place, women could not be wage earners nor did they have social standing except by connection with a man. That made widows the poorest and most socially powerless group, and their children were at the mercy of their mothers’ destitute condition. Therefore, a great deal is said in Christian texts about the social responsibility to look out for and take care of these people. In 21st-century America, widows have far greater opportunities to care for themselves; but as Jesus said, “The poor you will always have with you.” Pure, undefiled religion is looking out for and taking care of “the least of these”–being God’s hands and feet in the world.
Christian nationalism has defiled the beauty of simply being responsible citizens of the planet, loving and respecting our fellow humans, and living in harmony with all of creation. Christian nationalism is not Christianity, and the nation which Christian nationalists want to create is not one I wish to live in.
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