"Jesus answered, 'My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over.'"
John 18:36
The kingdom of Christian Nationalism is right here on earth.
Political Christianity isn't about religion. It's about identity, power, and dominance.
Today's Guest Post by John Coster describes the phenomenon of Christian nationalism. Christian nationalism is not an expression of spiritual faith. It is an expression of identity. It is an America understood to be under siege by the forces of the modern world. Coster writes that Christian nationalism is not just different from Jesus' teachings; it is antithetical to them. But Evangelical Christians were made a seductive offer, and they took it. Trump would help Christians win.
Coster currently leads technology strategy and innovation teams at a large wireless telecommunications company. Over his 40-year career, he oversaw the design and construction projects for large energy users including Toyota, Microsoft, TELUS, and CenturyLink. He brings an unusual combination of talents and interests. He operates at the highest levels in the Seattle technology world; he does hands-on missionary work in Africa and Asia; he is in an advanced program studying philosophy and religion.
Guest Post by John Coster
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| John Coster |
Back in the 80s when the Moral Majority was gaining prominence, I was concerned that my faith was being co-opted by a political movement. It turns out my concerns were justified. I used to identify as an Evangelical Christian. But over the past four years, I have felt increasingly estranged from that label.
Christianity Today is a magazine well known to Evangelical Christians because it was founded by Billy Graham. I have been familiar with it for decades. This blog quoted at length this week from Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, but curiously enough Christianity Today contains an article warning fellow Christians about the support the Evangelical Christian community gives Donald Trump. But the seduction began long before Trump.
The magazine recently carried out an interview with Paul Miller, Professor of the practice of International affairs at Georgetown, and the author of Christian Nationalism in the Age of Trump. He says that Trump made Evangelicals an offer to restore their dominance. But to get it they had to ignore or justify the more unsavory aspects of their Champion. Trump successfully exploited the biblical naiveté of many Evangelicals (including leaders), many of whom still see their faith NOT through a Christian lens, but through that of Christian Nationalism. Miller has done such a commendable job describing it, that I summarize it here.
First, of course, Christianity is a religion. It is about ultimate things: about the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is drawn from the Bible and the ancient creeds of the early Church.
Christian Nationalism, on the other hand, is a political ideology about American identity, not Christian identity. It is a cultural framework filled with myths, traditions, symbols, narratives, and value systems. It creates its own version of history which says, “Here's the story of the world and how the world should be.” It is a political ideology that celebrates America. It is not drawn from the Bible. It holds that America is defined by Christianity and the government’s job is to maintain that heritage. Adherents are likely to see America’s founding documents as divinely inspired, and Christian symbols of a political ideology. One belief for example would be that the Second Amendment is God-ordained.
Christianity Today |
| Painting by John McNaughton |
gives space for Miller to essentially say that the rah-rah Trumpian, America-first-and-best,--with its own suite of views on taxes, guns, political parties, and Donald Trump--are the Provence of political power seeking, not Christianity. Miller is not anti-American. He believes that America works best when it adopts traditional Christian values, like justice, the common good, and care for the poor, and he advocates that Christians have a place in the public square. An example might be MLK’s public arguments that both equal rights and non-violence were based on his Christian understanding of the divine sacredness of all people. However Christian nationalists distract from that message by presenting Christianity as being almost exclusively about religious liberty and the unborn.
During the 2016 election many thought it unlikely that Trump could attract, much less keep, Christian support because of his personal conduct. But he pitched his campaign towards Christians saying he would “defend Christian Americans” and assert “Christian power.”
Christian dominance rather than Christian principle is Christian nationalism in a nutshell.
In seeking domination via Trump, we allowed Christianity to lose its universality. It became a weapon of race and ethnicity because Trump--not Christ--was defining who we were. Miller wrote that our political bedfellows, the alt-right and white nationalists, are unambiguously racist. They rarely talk about Christianity except the heritage of Christendom. Not all Christian nationalists make outwardly claims of White superiority, but there is considerable alignment with White nationalists, believing for example, in pure meritocracy, and denying structural factors like systemic racism.
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| McNaughton: Jesus and the Constitution |
Miller observes that Christian nationalism is about Whiteness, not Christianity. Poll data shows Black Christians and White non-Christians tended to view issues similarly, while White Christians see them in their own way. Christian nationalism subsumed much of White Evangelicalism. Rather than embodying religious reflection and practice, it became a narrow, provincial ethnic-religious community.
Why were my fellow Christians so susceptible to the nationalist temptation? As America grew less Christian and less White, it put White Christian conservatives on the defensive. They see non-Christians and foreigners taking the country away from them. They feel under attack and persecuted. The “us-versus-them” dichotomy is fertile ground for conspiracy theories. Some of them carried Jesus/Trump signs, praying and singing at the rally on January 6, prior to storming the Capitol.
I do expect a great many Christians to back away from Trump now that he left office. Trump was about worldly power. Jesus was not. Possibly those caught up in this ideology will see how idolatrous it has been. Possibly they will abandon the fearmongering of Christian nationalism that is so antithetical to Jesus’ teaching.
Miller is cautiously optimistic that this is possible. But it relies on people distancing themselves from old media habits and relationships, and seeking out tribes that promote ideals that lead to flourishing.
6 comments:
Get real. Historical Jesus very likely was a black man, or at least very brown. Walk the talk ye hypocrites.
Dear Anonymous,
I agree. He would probably look something like people who currently live in Syria or Iraq. Dark brown skin.
The post by Coster was not asserting that Jesus was White, although the Christian Nationalists he describes do have a notion of Jesus that seems that way. The two images by McNaughton, who paints these crazy-cliched images of Jesus-Trump-Amerian presidents, all working together in a timeless pool linking Christianity, our founding documents, presidents, Trump, and piety are a pretty good example, I think, of the image of Christian Nationalism.
Again, just in case it was not utterly clear, Coster isn't praising that. He is exposing it and saying it is why he feels estranged from the Evangelical community that embraced it.
Peter Sage
A house divided can not stand. In my mind evangelicals gave their allegiance to evil, not Christ/God. They gave Christianity a bad name. It is my hope that Christianity will eventually stand for love for all people, helping the poor, caring. You know, the teachings of Christ.
I always thought Jesus, Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy were the same person...but I digress...
Drum roll, please....
"As America grew less Christian and less White..."
Evangelicals and Trump are a mutual admiration society. Con to con respect. In another universe Trump would have been a mega church preacher, fleecing the flock every Sunday, with a TV network, private jet and tax free mansion. It's not too late...
The Republican "moral majority" was a fund raising bonanza. All they had to do was whisper promises of abortion prisons and forced prayer in pre-school to get the dollars flowing. And, of course, accuse Progressives of plotting state atheism, and the nightmare of revoking tax exemption.
I think Coster’s post does an excellent job of explaining how evangelical Christianity and right wing Republicanism are forever linked in my understanding of both. Yes, evangelical’s bit into the forbidden apple 🍎 of power to have more national dominance. They lost their souls in the process and are now seen as a group lacking any understanding of the message “love your neighbor as your self.”
Thanks to all who read and commented. Just to clarify - I don't sit in judgement of anyone. We are all shaped by the stories we tell ourselves.
I grew up in a Christian nationalist time and place and it defined me without my knowing. But I became disabused of that when I started traveling and working abroad. Those who have been to Thailand or India for example, know that religious nationalism isn't the exclusive domain of Christians. It's just expressed itself so powerfully here.
We all yearn for identity and belonging and this ideology fits the bill for many people. The two questions I have for those who criticize and mock them: 1, do you have the grace to accept those who may have been misled? Or will you rub their face in it? And 2, do you have the courage and humility to critically examine your own beliefs and practices for hypocrisy?
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