IN PURSUIT OF A KINDER, GENTLER, STRATEGY FOR DOING POLITICS, GOVERNMENT AND LIFE
Except for their distinctive religious beliefs and practices and their voting habits, Christian Nationalists are pretty normal people. They walk, talk, dress, shop and work like most other Americans. Unless they verbalize their religious or political beliefs or attend a political rally or protest, you would probably not know that they were Christian Nationalists.
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We understand them better when we look carefully at their speech, their social policy preferences, and their legislation. We see that they stand out from most Americans on issues of justice, compassion, and how to care for and relate to others. In the old days of elementary school, they would have received negative comments from their teachers about playing well with others. They play well with one another, of course, but watch your back if you are not a Christian Nationalist.
We should expect much better from Christians because the bible has much to say about how we should relate to one another. When we look at God’s commands about how to get along with others, we can easily see that Christian Nationalists have not internalized in their hearts what God expects of them regarding relationships with all people — not just their tribe. When we compare the activities of Christian Nationalists who consider themselves to be “followers” of Jesus, we that the things they do are not at all like Jesus’ ministry functions. And, when we look at what God says about evil, deceptive hearts, they fit perfectly.
When we consider God’s commands about how to get along with others, and compare them with Christian Nationalist ideologies and behaviors, it is very clear that their beliefs and practices do not line up with God’s commands about loving one another and doing justice for others. In fact, it is very clear that everything they do is directly opposite of what God commands them to do and what Jesus taught.
Glaring disconnects exist between the practices and ideologies of Christian Nationalists and what should be expected from people who claim to love God and follow Jesus. The same is true for citizens who claim to love America.
These disconnects force the conclusion that they are religious frauds who have appropriated God’s name, Jesus’ name and biblical symbols and language to create religious cover for self-serving purposes that have nothing at all to do with God, Jesus or the bible. We come to the same conclusions when we consider the scope of their political activism relative to the the themes of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and Bill of Rights. Either they don’t know what the bible or the Constitution say or they don’t agree with what these guiding documents say. Whether out of ignorance or intentionally, they practice rebellion.
We must conclude that when they adopted the term “Christian Nationalism,” they did it only to give them religious and patriotic cover for hearts filled with rebellion against Constitutional law and God’s laws. In other words, the cross, bible and flag are props Christian Nationalists use to attract gullible religious, Americans to join, and support a rebellious political movement.
When we look at Christian Nationalists’ overt disobedience to God’s commandments, and compare it to the charitable, progressive social sensibilities of the American population in general, it can be argued that God’s commands have been internalized more in the hearts of people who don’t identify with religion at all, or less publicly, than in the hearts of Christian Nationalists. If this is an accurate observation, no doubt the reason is that the hearts and minds of religiously unaffiliated people and mainline religions are much more receptive to innately understanding and applying those commands than Christian Nationalist extremists who are busy practicing their religion, attending political rallies, watching conservative news and conquering the seven mountains of American culture and focus.
No doubt Christian Nationalists are sincere about their beliefs, but the clear fact remains that what they believe does not include obedience to God’s commands or the Constitution. Moreover, because their behaviors do not agree with Jesus’ teachings, they are not Jesus’ brothers or sisters no matter what they say or what they call themselves.
Since so much of what Christian Nationalists stand for is directly opposite of God’s commands and Constitutional law, we can only conclude that they are enemies of God and America. We have courts to deal with America’s enemies, but there are no courts to deal with God’s enemies. That is where Confronting Christian Nationalism comes into play. God will not confront or punish Christian Nationalists directly. But he does not let the guilty go unpunished.