MY TURN: Christian nationalism is not Christianity

The Christian nationalism movement has gained influence and momentum over the past decade locally, statewide and nationally. Under the influence of this movement, a minority of people is creating a political identity around a hatred for others rather than acknowledging and appreciating shared values and worth. 

We are seeing more and more of the Christian nationalism agenda imposed upon us by our elected officials in their lawmaking and policies. They are threatening to lock up our library books in “smut” rooms while placing us under surveillance at our libraries. Our local legislative delegation has broadly rejected funding for public education. They have taken actions to disenfranchise voters. 

The increasing fear characterized by the Christian nationalism movement has created destructive divisiveness, growing violence, instability in our government and a lack of civility in our communities. 

So, what actually is Christian nationalism? 

According to New York Times conservative columnist, David French, “Christian nationalism is a deeply felt emotional connection between the fate of religion and the fate of the nation.”  

But Christian nationalism is a perversion of the Christian message. This movement is certainly not based on the values of the Gospel. Rather, Christian nationalism is leading the charge of malice, cruelty, division and grievous partisanship. There is no way an authentic Christian can look at Jesus and the Gospel and put them on the side of such injustices as mentioned. This movement seeks a form of power over others to protect and preserve its own self-interest aspirations. 

Being Christian is about the values of love for our neighbor and inclusion, working for justice and meeting the needs of the less fortunate — it is peace-building.  

Christian nationalism seeks controlled chaos. Thirty-eight percent of United States citizens believe or are friendly to this movement, believing America was founded as a Christian nation (Amazon documentary, "Bad Faith").   

Jonathan Wilson Hartgrove, in his book, "Revolution of Values," tells us, “The worst evils never present themselves as evil. The worst evils always present themselves as the good.” 

The Christian nationalism identity is made up of myths and disinformation. It is largely an oppressive political movement, not a Christian one in spite of the word Christian used in its title. The movement’s objective is to change American society through politics while changing churches into partisan political cells.  

Christian nationalism anger feels like a deep conviction for its followers, when in essence it is mere theater; a position that is magnetic, attracting others who embrace a victim mentality and lack sound social skills. 

Modern Christian nationalism took form in the 1970s during the Jerry Falwell Moral Majority movement. The movement used anti-abortion rhetoric to raise money and to increase support and momentum. The driving force for this movement, however, was racism, a rejection of desegregation in public schools (Kathleen Stewart, "The Power Worshipers"). 

Members of this movement confuse nationalism, a belief in superiority based upon ethnicity or religion, with patriotism, a love and support for one’s country. 

As stated in the Amazon documentary, "God and Country," the Christian nationalism ideology adheres to a form of dominionism, complete control over seven areas of influence: education, media, religion, entertainment, family, the economy and of course, government. The accepted belief is the United States has a special God-ordained role in human history — the U.S. is irreplaceable in God’s story. Should democracy get in the way of this God-ordained role, democracy has to go. This agenda has placed us on a course of fighting for the fate of our democratic republic. 

Using emotional appeals, Christian nationalism encourages its members to believe their faith, church and religion are in danger. 

Christian nationalism was the structure behind the attack on the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, with participants believing it was their calling — their mission from God to overthrow the government as we know it. Consensus building is not their objective; being the Party gatekeeper is.   

Christian nationalism in America is well-established, well-organized and, most importantly, it is well-funded. Members place voter guides in their local churches and in their communities. The benefits of democracy are used to cement in place minority rule through data mining. Information is gathered from church directories and voter registration in order to track voters and to recruit new ones. This information is used to increase voter participation in their favor. Much deceptive information has been disseminated through text messaging, printed propaganda sources and social media. Sound familiar?  

It is difficult for those not fully engaged politically to determine fact from fiction regarding the messaging from this movement.  

A basic tenet of a well-functioning society is caring about the well-being of others. This is not the case with Christian nationalism. This movement believes it has been given a mandate from heaven to control their fellow citizens. Based on their own messaging, they want to establish a theocracy under authoritarian principles (Andrew Whitehead, "American Idolatry").

Christian nationalism uses religion as a way to justify overthrowing our constitutional republic, communicating disrespect for our state and federal constitutions. The movement wants you to believe God ordains injustice.  

This movement permits its followers to attack the beating heart of America’s democratic republic. It is broadly recognized that Christian nationalism does not support equal rights for women, the movement does not like the idea of secular public schools — they want our schools Christianized — or they want to move to a taxpayer-funded voucher system. The movement also wants to control the materials available in our public libraries and public schools.  

In a country where a large percentage of people don’t vote, Christian nationalism doesn’t need a majority of voters to win elections, it just needs a disproportionate, organized and aggressively committed minority to take over a community’s government.  

In making observations regarding behavior manifested by certain local groups, does this activity and agenda appear familiar? It should to anyone paying attention to local politics and current events. 

Christian nationalism claims our nation was founded on Christian principles. This notion is not true. Our Founders deliberately established a secular society, rejecting the Pilgrim’s failed theocracy. Our Founders understood the only way to have true religious freedom was to establish a secular government (Andrew Seidel, "The Founding Myth").  

The U.S. Constitution bans religious tests for public office, Article VI, Clause 3; “...no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office.” Then, even more protection was added with the First Amendment, which states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ...” This effort was done to keep government out of the church and the church out of government. 

True Christianity works to advance Christian principles. In the end, we will all be judged by the breadth and depth of our humanity. What will your legacy be? 

• • •

Deborah Rose is a Kootenai County resident.