Country Music Against Christian Nationalism

In a podcast episode coming out later today, Stop Christian Nationalism is introducing a new feature: Country music against Christian Nationalism.

The powerful thing about country music is that it combines authenticity with emotional vulnerability in a way that’s rare to see in the hypermasculinity of American culture. Much of the time in mainstream country music, that emotional vulnerability is redirected into anger, such as in the recent violent taunt, “Try That In A Small Town”. I come from a small town, and I know very well what that means. It’s a small, immature imitation of strength that will be familiar to anyone who has spent much time in a rural community.

Think about Willie Nelson’s Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain, though, and you see another side of country music that’s possible. I want to try to work with that. There’s a space within country music that speaks to our basic humanity, with all the bullshit stripped away. There’s a heck of a lot of bullshit in Christian Nationalism, that’s for sure.

My first try at this approach is in the song Go On Home (this link is to the video version of it, up on YouTube). I wrote the lyrics to this song in reaction to the boast from South Dakota governor Kristi Noem about how she took a puppy dog one day, hauled it down into a gravel pit, and shot it dead. She hated that puppy, she said, because it misbehaved and embarrassed her.

Puppies will misbehave. No one denies that. The question is what we do when a puppy misbehaves.

A reasonable person understands that you have to be patient with a puppy, because a dog is going to be immature until it’s two or three years old. That’s just how dogs are. A puppy will do things that cause trouble. They’ll run loose and chew on things and make messes.

The job of a dog owner is to be a responsible leader, and that means being patient, and not freaking out. It means patiently working with a puppy to help it grow up. The rewards of a patient, compassionate approach to leadership are a great dog that more than makes up for its troublesome puppy mistakes. Kristi Noem showed that she doesn’t have the patience and maturity required for that kind of good leadership.

Instead, Kristi Noem demanded absolute obedience from a puppy that just wasn’t ready to give it. She wasn’t wise enough to maintain steady management of her puppy until it was ready. Instead, she let that puppy loose, and then blamed the young dog when it got into trouble. If Noem had been more reflective, she would have realized the mistake was hers.

The trouble is that Kristi Noem isn’t just in charge of her dog. She’s the governor of South Dakota - a small state with a sparse population, it’s true, but still a place where the quality of leadership matters.

Kristi Noem’s decision to shoot her dog dead is a reflection of the Republican style of leadership, an impulsive, barely-in-control approach that requires absolute obedience that is maintained through constant threats of violence. It’s a kind of weak leadership, because it doesn’t build a solid relationship between leader and follower. At the slightest crisis, it breaks apart.

This description of brittle leadership in the GOP should remind you of someone else. During his first term in office, Donald Trump couldn’t maintain effective working relationships with his own staff members, hiring and firing them at a rapid pace that left the government unstable, and unable to cope with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. Trump was the sort of President who screamed at his aides, throwing cheeseburgers at the wall when things didn’t go his way, creating a White House pervaded by fear instead of trust.

Some people will try to tell you that these kind of erratic outburst made Donald Trump a strong leader. That’s a load of bull. Only a weak leader has to scream at people to keep them in line.

That’s the inspiration for the lyrics of this first song of country music against Christian Nationalism:

A leader is not strong who has to scream to be obeyed.

I think that's wrong.

I know there's a better way.

If you got a dog you don't shoot him dead.

If you got workers you got to give them bread.

Go back on home Kristi Noem.

Donald Trump, you're a chump.

I want a leader who inspires,

not one who shouts and fires.

So Kristi Noem, go back on home.

(…and Donald Trump too.)