Christian Nationalism

We can, and should, separate Christianity and Nationalism

Photo by Anna Vander Stel on Unsplash

“I believe what God believes.”   Most of us were brought up in a church that taught us ethical behavior we were told was divinely inspired.  I do what God wants me to do.  Or at least I try, given my human limitations.

But this is not the same as saying, “God believes what I believe.” Thinking they are the same, is a serious problem.  When we confuse them, we get movements like Christian Nationalism.  Tish Warren in a NYT opinion column (July 30, 2023) quotes the noted evangelical Russell Moore (editor of Christianity Today).

“Christian nationalism takes a political claim and seeks to make it ultimate. It says: If a person disagrees with me, that person is disagreeing with God.”

I need to be clear about this.  I am all in favor of disagreement.  In a democracy we are asked to disagree.  It is necessary.  My experiences and those of my neighbor have been different.  Only by sharing what we have seen and felt and heard, and offering our interpretations, do we participate in democratic problem solving.  That is why the person who listens becomes so much wiser than the person who talks all the time. 

Nor, again let me be clear, I am not saying that evangelical Christians shouldn’t evangelize.  It is compelled by their religious beliefs.  And I will support their effort.  And I will listen to and respect their political and social views.  I will listen because I am a neighbor, because I seek to be a better person, because it is my civic duty to listen to others with compassion and attention. 

But I will be aware that I am listening to a person and not to God.  It is a bedrock belief of the Judeo-Christian tradition that God is not the spokesperson for any cultural claim, economic belief, or political party. 

We may feel called to be God’s representative, but not God’s voice.  (I recognize that there is a prophetic tradition in Christianity, but that is a different issue and requires a different discussion.)

On the political plane we are called to defend our ideas with secular language, with evidence, logic and example.  That is what is meant by separation of Church and State. 

If you choose to be a citizen of a democratic society composed of people with many different religious traditions and beliefs, you will need to defend your ideas with a common language.  You may quote authorities, even what you believe is “God’s Word,” but I, as your fellow citizen, have the right to evaluate your sources and your claims, in the light of reason and experience.  I will not be threatened; I will not be bullied; I will not be intimidated by your faith, your education, your degrees, your success, or your good works. 

I hope you are not thinking that this is just another debating distinction between academics. For democracy is all about you and I sharing our ideas in a common secular language.  It is about you suggesting to me and I suggesting to you what, with the common resources of society, we should do for the betterment of society.   The belief and the hope are that such a discussion will lead to tentative agreements that make a common life possible and better.