Christian nationalism is danger to faith, democracy
The hearings of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol have yet to address the many examples of a clear and present danger complicit in the violence that horrific day. It’s called Christian nationalism. It is a political ideology and cultural framework that conflates a narrow version of Christianity with American civic life. Its basic premise is that in order to be a “true” American, one must also be a Christian. More specifically, a white, evangelical Christian.
The vivid display of Christian language and symbols co-opted Jan. 6 by the militant rioters included Christian flags, wooden crosses, “Jesus saves” signs, chants of “no king but Jesus” and impromptu prayers offered in Christ’s holy name. They were mingled with iconography used by far-right conspiracy theorists and white supremacy and anti-government militias, including “OK” hand symbols, “Stop the Steal” banners, Confederate flags, crusader crosses, a hanging noose and gallows signed with phrases like “In God We Trust,” “God Bless the USA” and “Amen.”
This toxic enmeshment that links religious radicalism with political fanaticism is perverting Christian faith and poisoning democracy. Its power relies on a “big lie” of another kind that America is a de facto Judeochristian nation. This mythology is infused with a belief in a divinely ordained white Christian cultural privilege, which must be “taken back for God” no matter the costs. Nothing could be more contrary to Christianity and antithetical to the Jesus of the Bible’s Gospels than this insidious manifestation of a misguided Manifest Destiny.
The Jan. 6 coup is only a culmination of the continuing threat Christian nationalism is to healthy-minded faith and democratic government. Colorado’s very own Rep. Lauren Boebert is also a torch-bearer of this religiopolitical defamation of Christ’s character and defrauding of the First Amendment. At a recent religious service in our state, she told worshipers: “The church is supposed to direct the government. The government is not supposed to direct the church…i’m tired of this separation of church and state junk that’s not in the Constitution.”
It’s true that these precise words are not in the Constitution. Neither are the words “separation of powers” or “right to a fair trial.” Yet who would deny such constitutional principles?
The disturbing reality remains that unprincipled Christian nationalism will stop at nothing to ensure that the nation is made in the image and likeness of religious theocrats and political autocrats who cannot separate God’s will from their own. Wise and witty spiritual author and activist Anne Lamott has said: “You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.”
This is what is so perilous about Christian nationalism. Despite it being a minority view, it is not a fringe phenomenon. It is growing with a dangerous intensity. Not only is it the anti-christ of the Gospels, it is anti-democratic. It leads its advocates to make targets of our fellow citizens considered intruders and impostors. It includes but is not limited to LGBTQIA+ persons, immigrants, Muslims, Jews, people of color, and even liberal-minded Christians and other people of faith who oppose a theocratic nation.
There are hopeful signs emerging in grassroots organizing such as the Christians Against Christian Nationalism project endorsed by thousands of leaders around the country. Christians of good faith and even people of no faith at all can play a huge part in stopping the advancement of this threat to faith and democracy. It is a call to those who hold sacred the constitutional principles of religious freedom for all people and who still believe that the separation of church and state is good for both.
We are now confronted once again with what Martin Luther King Jr. called “the fierce urgency of now.” It’s time to acknowledge the truth. It’s time to act. Faith is at stake. Religious liberty is at stake. Democracy as we know is at stake. People’s lives are at stake. We ignore the threats of Christian nationalism to our collective peril.