Christian Nationalism Can’t Restrain Its Extremism
Christian Nationalists go back to the myth of a Christian founding of the United States precisely because American Christianity is withering in our own time. At a campaign stop in Pennsylvania, Donald Trump grasped at this false history, promising to use the power of government to restore Christian supremacy in America.
“We will proudly uphold the JudeoChristian values and principles of our nation’s founding.”
What are these JudeoChristian values of Christian Nationalism, and where do they lead? Author Stephen Wolfe has written a book in which he claims that Christian Nationalism is nothing more than simple, harmless religious patriotism.
“I was like, wait a second. I’m a nationalist. I love my nation. I’m a nationalist and I’m a Christian. Why not be a Christian Nationalist? I want to see my nation ordered to the things of god and heavenly life, so I was just like, we should just, I think it’s a good term.”
If Christian Nationalism is just Christians loving their country, what’s the big deal? Of course, that’s not what Christian Nationalism is.
Elsewhere, while promoting his book, Stephen Wolfe has stated that, as a manifestation of the will of the Christian god, people of different races should not marry each other. He believes that, in accordance with the ideology of Christian Nationalism, everyone in America should stay with their own kind. He’s arguing for a return to segregation.
Stephen Wolfe has also argued that seeing the United States “ordered to the things of god and heavenly life” means that women should not be allowed to vote, stating that “The head of household is the sole public person as household representative. He alone would vote, and he would vote on behalf of the household.” When he was asked point blank if he would affirm the right to vote for both men and women, Stephen Wolfe answered, “No.” Wolfe’s Christian Nationalism means that half of the US population will be deprived of the right to vote, and that’s just to start with. Women aren’t the only people Christian Nationalists want to disempower.
So it is that the Christian Nationalist preachers at True Christian Talk recently attempted to have a conversation where they would demonstrate that Christian Nationalism is nothing to be afraid of. Even as they sought to reassure their listeners, they just couldn't keep up the act. Like Stephen Wolfe, their conversation quickly swerved into a radical obsession with excluding people, persecuting people, forcing people into Christianity.
“You know, Christian Nationalism believes that the US is meant to be a Christian nation. What are we if we’re not a Christian nation? I don’t understand that. A melting pot? Muslim? You know, Jewish? What is it that you’re saying here? LGBT? What kind of nation is it, and want to take back this US or this country for god. Okay. That sounds like Christianity. I’m missing something somewhere… We did not come out and say we’re never going to allow a transgender to come into our church. Will we say that a transgender can’t hold a position in our church? A lot of your organizations are saying that. We don’t want a transgender because, you know it’s just doesn’t promote the mission statement of the company, so, you know… Well, the argument they seem to want to make is that Christians want to force their religion, which is true, I mean the Great Commission.”
This is what Christian Nationalists sound like when they're trying to appear reasonable. They believe that they’re being generous, but to groups that are marginalized by Christianity, their approach does not feel at all generous.
Listen to the other language that the Christian Nationalist preacher uses. He talks about having “a transgender” come into his church. What is a transgender? The word “transgender” is an adjective. It's not a noun. So why is this Christian Nationalist preacher talking that way?
As a Christian Nationalist, the preacher cannot bring himself to acknowledge that he was dealing with a human being, and not an object. This Christian Nationalist preacher cannot bring himself to say the simple phrase “transgender person”, because he doesn’t see transgender people as people. He perceives transgender people as things, and so retreats to the dehumanizing phrase, “a transgender”.
The preacher then started to brag about how he would allow “a transgender” to come into the church physically, but then wouldn’t recognize that person to be treated an equal human being. The goes on to say that he wouldn’t allow “a transgender” to use the bathroom of their choice, because it’s presumed that if “a transgender” goes in the bathroom, they’re the sort of person who's just going to rape a bunch of people in the bathroom.
The truth is that there is not a crisis of bathroom rapes by transgender people. It's simply not happening. It’s a fake problem that Christian Nationalists are making up out of thin air.
The Christian Nationalist preacher shows us what people would have to suffer through if the United States was transformed into a Christian Nation. People who don’t comply with Christian Nationalist rules would be treated like garbage, with the expectation that they should appreciate it simply because they’re being allowed to survive at all.
This is what the Great Commission is really about. It’s about forcing people into Christianity while disrespecting them. The Christian Nationalist Great Commission is about humiliating people. The Great Commission is a display of raw power.
