One of my tasks at our Clergy Men’s Retreat last week was to talk about Christian Nationalism, the end of the world as we know it, and hope. (Yikes!) I have written and spoken a lot about the dangers to democracy that CN poses, and I believe we are at a time in our nation’s history when we should take seriously how religion and politics should be handled. One of the points I made – which got some pushback – was that before we in the Mainline Church point fingers, we should confess to the contributions we have made to this very troubling situation. Christian Nationalism has been with us since Emperor Constantine embraced Christianity in the early 4th century, changing Christianity’s course forever. We middle-of-the-road Christians benefited from CN for 200 years; we got some ‘splainin to do.
For example: our flag is an important symbol, and for many people, seeing the American flag on the altar is normal and comforting. I wonder, though, if a member of our church who came from another country wanted their flag next to it, how we would react. I have seen some megachurches with flags of every nation around their worship spaces, but the American flag is always exalted above all others. The church should have no nationality, yet many of us think of God and Country as being one and the same. Or, what about singing patriotic songs in worship? What does that say about how we view ourselves as a church in this secular, rule-of-law nation? Both of these examples, while seemingly innocuous, are examples of Christian Nationalism.
I am not saying that these two practices are dismantling democracy; what I am saying is that they have added to it, and before we blame others for our present situation, we need to admit that we have benefitted from CN in many ways. Good Friday used to be a day when everything was closed. What about Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur? Nope – only if you grew up in a place like I did; otherwise, if you are Jewish, suck it up. Christmas and the days before and after are always school breaks, but Passover? Nope. Little accommodation is given for Ramadan, and what about Blue Laws, which have largely disappeared? You still can’t buy a car in Pennsylvania on Sunday. I believe that one reason we are having such a problem with people trying to turn America into a Theocracy is that we are seeing the loss of Christian privilege, and a lot of people do not like it one bit. Their fear and anger are being played out in unhealthy and dangerous ways.
Jesus said, “Before you help someone take the speck out of their eye, remove the log from yours.” We must admit that many of us have benefited from Christian privilege, and that privilege has made us uneasy about other people’s faith practices. We have been a multi-religious nation since before we were a nation, and they were all preceded by Native American spirituality. If we are not a place where religious freedom is real, then we are as bad as Iran, a place where Islamic Nationalism is the rule. I doubt we want that here. Or maybe we do. We are the ones who have to make sure the Constitution continues to guide us, not the New Testament.
Prayer – Holy God, You are the God of all people, and You inspire us to either be accepting or abusive. Help us to choose wisely. Amen.
Today’s art is “Calling Upon a Storm” by Marisa White.