Christian Nationalism
February 24, 2024
MerriamWebster.com has this definition essential to this essay:
1: loyalty and devotion to a nation, especially : a sense of national consciousness (see CONSCIOUSNESS sense 1c) exalting one nation above all others and placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other nations or supranational groups — Intense nationalism was one of the causes of the war.
My urgency of this discussion is not centered on the workaday framework of “loyalty and devotion,” but more on what is indicated in the example, as used in a sentence, “one of the causes of war.”
Now, dictionaries are not noted for their political positions, but rather, for their extreme intellectual neutrality. Their only purpose is for us to know what every word means.
So, having made that clear, I will proceed…
As for myself, I do have political positions. They are based on words. Those words are found in research — research of everything from History to Science to Biblical contexts to personal experience and conclusions. Therefore, if you do not trust my research, please, feel free to do your own.
I advocate for the philosophy of not believing everything you hear, but everything said must be proven to each person from a meat and potatoes view, that is, in an existential reality true to life and living.
Christian Nationalism is a political movement I have recently heard about. They have been around for quite a while, working behind the scenes, incognito. In the name of Christ they are “placing primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of other” groups.
Superiority to the exclusion of others is never a good thing.
One of their foundational “truths” is that America is a Christian nation founded on Biblical precepts.
Well, no, and furthermore, no
There’s something nefarious going on behind their smiling masks of virtue…
First of all, the Founding Fathers were Deists, not precisely orthodox “Christians.” https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Founding-Fathers-Deism-and-Christianity-1272214.
They belonged to a variety of Denominational Churches — Anglican, Protestant, Roman Catholic, Quakers, and so on. However, in their daily lives, in their thought, they were primarily Deists. They thought of themselves as practical and intellectual realists…
So, first question:
Which denomination makes America a “Christian” nation?
Second question:
What about the other 50% — the half of the populace that is unaffiliated, religious and/or nonreligious? For that matter what about us other Bible believing souls? What’s the plan? Exile us to the Moon, Jupiter, or Mars?
The other blatant error with this fascist movement is, again, about the “Christians Nation” nonsense.
Look, all the Founders made their arguments for support of the Federal Government and for uniting the country as one Confederation under that one central government based on intellectual reasoning, using a lot of words — not religion- words which the listeners understood. For proof, and if you want to really stretch your brain, try reading one or two of the “Federalist Papers” — https://guides.loc.gov/federalist-papers/full-text
Third question (you may have more):
Are these people serious? And are they a serious threat to our way of life and our democratic form of popular thought, freedom, and self-government?
Absolutely.
Never heard of them? You ought to find out if there’s a bear in the woods before you wander off.
