Shayne Looper: Christian Nationalism a seduction of a different gospel
In an article from 2019, Newsweek summarized a Pew Research Center Study this way: “While Americans largely have a positive view of the role of religion in public life, they overwhelmingly want religious institutions to stay out of politics.” I do not know if that is an accurate summary of Pew’s research. It is, however, a sentiment that one hears expressed with increasing frequency.
The enemy du jour is Christian Nationalism. The Speaker of the House of Representatives has been labeled a Christian nationalist and considered by some to be a threat to society, democracy and interestingly, morality. Andrew Whitehead and Samuel Perry, writing in Time, claim that Speaker Johnson is “a near perfect example” of a Christian nationalist, longing for a society that “revolves around patriarchy, heterosexual marriage, and pronatalism” — the promotion of high birth rates to avoid national decline.
According to Whitehead and Perry, the Speaker’s agenda will provide “certain citizens” — think white and Christian — “easy access to various civil rights and liberties, while others should be denied access.” In other words, in the kind of nation the Speaker of the House desires, white Christians will have it made. Everyone else will be robbed of their civil liberties.
Perhaps Whitehead and Perry are correct about the Speaker, although he has not, like other members of his caucus, identified himself as a Christian nationalist. But even if the Speaker is a hard-core Christian nationalist — the Time article provides insufficient context to prove it — that is only part of the story.
The Christian brand of nationalism is not the only one on the market, and all are determined to remake America after their own image. Secular nationalists want to reshape America just as much as their Christian counterparts. Their idea of a just society is based on a worldview that is atheistic, a morality that is postmodern, and a sexual ethic built on the alarmingly nebulous principle of consent. Their ideal society is characterized by gender equality, intellectual superiority, and reproductive rights.
Why are secularists allowed to be political while religionists are not? The fact is that our citizenry is comprised of both secular and religious people, and both are guaranteed the right to express their opinions politically. America is not, and has never been, a theocracy.
Christian nationalists have the same right to pursue their vision of a better society as any other nationalists, whether they are Jews, Muslims, or atheists. I do not object to Christian Nationalism because of what it wants to do to America, but because of what it is already doing to the church. Naïve Christians are transferring their loyalty from Christ to politics, and they don’t realize it.
St. Paul would call the gospel of Christian Nationalism “a different gospel.” It proclaims the present realization of the kingdom of God through political might. America, rather than the Church of Jesus Christ, is the proverbial city on a hill. Legislation takes the place of God’s Spirit in conforming people to the image of Christ — whether they want to be conformed or not.
In the gospel of Christian Nationalism, it is the blood of our men and women in uniform that saves us, not the blood of the Lamb. What strength does a Lamb have compared to a Navy Seal? Christian Nationalism’s saints are soldiers. To honor soldiers is a good thing. To dishonor Christ, through neglect and inattention, is not. Christians give more than lip service to Christ. They give him their highest loyalty.
The problem, once again, is not that Christians want to shape society by legislation. That is their right and, in some cases, their responsibility. The problem is not even that some secularists want to silence Christians in the public square. Let them try.
The problem is that Christians themselves are silent about Christ. They would rather talk about politics than about Jesus. They display more confidence in the power of the president than in the power of God. They have been seduced by a different gospel.
That may be nationalism, but it is not Christian. Christians put Christ first.
— Shayne Looper is a writer and speaker based in Coldwater, Michigan. Contact him at salooper57@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Shayne Looper: Christian Nationalism a seduction of a different gospel
